its summit I reined in my horse with an
exclamation of delight and surprise.

The valley at our feet was, perhaps, five
miles in diameter, covered with rich, dark-
green pasture, intersected by two small rivers,
relieved by groves and hedges of hornbeam,
and dotted by flocks of sheep and herds of
cattle. Bounded on one side by the sea,
though separated from it by a belt of marsh
abounding in wild fowl, it was surrounded in
every other direction by hills, rising ridge
after ridge from the plain, until they were
lost in the purple mountains that limited the
distant prospect. No houses were visible
from where we stood; but here and there the
gleam of a white tent, or a little smoke curling
over the trees, indicated the temporary
abode of a herdsman. Pointing to a flock of
sheep, at no great distance from us, my
companion said he had promised to come that
morning to inspect them, with a view to
purchase, and that we should probably find the
owner awaiting his arrival. The surmise was
correct; and a Turkish farmer was soon seen
advancing towards us. He was a man past
middle age, with good features, a bright,
intelligent eye, and an upright, stately bearing.
The chocolate-coloured cloth of his braided
jacket and baggy trousers was of native
manufacture; but he was indebted to
Manchester for the shawls which formed his
turban, and his voluminous waistband. After
descanting upon that seller's theme, the
excellence of his property, he begged that we
would taste his coffee, and we followed him,
in order to do so, to the other side of a
plantation. There, to our no small surprise, a
horsecloth was so strained upon sticks, as to
afford shelter from the wind; and before
this, at a bright wood fire, a lamb was just
roasted to the last turn. Saddle-bags, hard-
by, gave promise of other materials for a
feast; and, with appetites sharpened by our
ride, we seated ourselves with great contentment.
Our host did the same, while his son,
a handsome young fellow, with a belt full of
pistols and daggers, decorated with coral and
silver, prepared to act as head waiter; and to
direct the proceedings of two servants who
assisted him. Our horses being first secured
to neighbouring trees, large, circular, flexible
cakes of unleavened bread were thrown upon
the ground, and on these, as on a dish, the
lamb was placed. A similar cake was handed
to each of us, to rest upon our knees, and to
serve plate, napkin, and bread, all at the same
time. Then, little glasses of white rum having
first been handed round, our host fell to work
vigorously with his knife; and kept us
supplied with titbits, to be eaten, of course, with
our fingers; while a heap of salt lay upon a
cake for common use. Ce n'est que le
premier pas qui coûte; and when the fingers
are once greased, there are worse methods
of eating than by their direct assistance.
The lamb was excellent, well-fed, juicy,
tender, exquisitely roasted: the air was keen,
we had the best of all sauces, and we
discussed the possibility of hereafter giving a
Turkish pic-nic to some English friends.
But the worst was to come; for, just as
we were beginning to flag in our exertions,
the old man armed himself with a mighty
mass of browned skin and half-cold fat, and
thrust it together with several of his fingers,
half-way down the throat of my companion,
from whence, to my astonishment, the
fingers returned alone. Cold perspiration
burst from me at every pore; but I
swallowed a glass of the white rum, poured out
another to be ready for any emergency,
shut my eyes, opened my mouth very wide,
and trusted in providence. My turn came;
but the second glass of rum saved me from
a catastrophe that might reasonably have
been expected. This crowning act of the
feast was followed by hot-water, soap, and
towels; and, after washing, we had grapes
and walnuts, with a relay of the white rum,
excellent coffee, and much pleasant talk.
The old Turk lived in the town of Sinope,
and his house was destroyed during the
bombardment. He told us that as soon as
the firing began, he gave up his property
for lost; but secured his person by climbing
over the wall on the western side, and
wading into the sea up to his chin. In
this comfortable position he remained until
the danger was over, repeating the
Mahommedan confession of faith all the time,
unless when an occasional shot came right
over the isthmus, and caused him to duck
his head from fright. The old fellow shivered
at the very recollection, despite the good
dinner and the genial warmth of the sun,
as he told us how cold he was in his bath;
and seemed glad to quit the subject, and
ask questions about the Queen of England,
with whose image and superscription he—
together with most of his neighbours—was
perfectly well acquainted. Indeed the
Commissariat and Land Transport depôts at Sinope
poured so much money into the town and
neighbourhood as to render them highly
prosperous; and the lavish, not to say
profligate, expenditure, which characterised all
English dealings, caused many a Turk to
bless Allah for bestowing upon the Giaours
wealth, without the prudence to guard it.
There was a story current during my visit,
to the effect that an English naval captain
lad bought twenty sheep from a Maltese
contractor in the place, at fifty shillings a-
head, or precisely ten times their value.
The lucky vendor was recommended by his
sleeping partner, the manager of the government
coal depot, and the very self-same
intelligent gentleman whom Admiral Dundas
wished to send as a spy into Sebastopol.

Our inquisition of the sheep, and the
hospitality of our entertainer, had consumed so
much time, that it was necessary to think of
sunset and the inexorable gates, and to abandon
all idea of proceeding to a miniature