This was a great waste of time,
but there was no other way of avoiding the difficulty. Accordingly we
started, and after a few miles we cut across country to the high road,
while the vans slowly crawled along the uneven way until they reached
the turning-point. We halted at a very desolate spot, where sheep were
housed in large numbers. Several spacious pens were surrounded with
thorns, reminding me of the cattle zareebas of Africa, and a small
flat-topped building, built of stone and mud, formed the usual
accommodation for man and beast. A well of clear but brackish water
supplied this rude establishment, which was surrounded by a boundless
extent of undulating ground, more or less cultivated with cereals,
which, although only a few inches above the surface, looked weak and
perishing.
The vans did not arrive until late; in the meanwhile we had sat outside
the building in the cold air, fearing to venture beneath the roof, owing
to the swarms of fleas which are sure to be "at home" in all the
miserable dwellings of this island. At length the gipsy-van, which had
been in sight for a full hour, drew up on the flat surface in front of
the shepherd's hut, and real comfort was at once at hand. Although the
space within was limited, the furniture was so carefully arranged that
we had plenty of room to move about. The fall-slab table was usually
down, and was only required for writing; the chest of drawers was
American walnut: a good solid and well-seasoned wood, which did not
provoke the temper like English furniture by the drawers sticking when
in the act of opening, and leaving you in a hopeless position with a
detached handle in either hand.
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