It
was a rough dwelling, but I was kindly welcomed, and cheese, bread, and
curds were quickly arranged before me, together with a gourd-shell of
clear cold water, from the spring which issued from the rocks in the
gorge about fifty feet below the house. To the disappointment of my host
I was obliged to decline all his offerings, except a draught of cold
water, as I had breakfasted before leaving the camp. The Turk now showed
me his gun, which he explained was of little use, as he could not afford
a game licence, but he offered to show me a spot where hares were
abundant. The shooting-season was long since closed, therefore
partridges and francolins were sacred, but I should have had no scruples
in bagging a hare for a stew. My guide conducted me over very likely
ground down into ravines with bush-covered sides, then upon the
hill-tops, and among patches of cultivation where the hares had played
sad havoc in nibbling the wheat and barley; but we found none. My dogs
hunted every bush in vain, and the burning sun had dried out every
vestige of scent. I believe the hares escape the sun by taking refuge
beneath the rocks, otherwise we must have moved at least one or two. My
guide was much disappointed, but as game was absent he hunted for wild
asparagus, which grew in considerable quantities beneath the thick
clumps of bushes upon the hill-sides.
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