Page:My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus.djvu/373

320 We slept till late, and found the good-hearted shepherds had once more filled our water-bag with milk. Breakfast under these circumstances was a lengthy business, as Zurfluh felt it a duty to allow none of the precious fluid to be wasted. In deference to this necessity we abandoned the idea of making a pass across the mountains to the Gara Aonzu Su, and determined to merely walk down the valley to Bulungu, where we hoped to find a store of baggage.

We soon reached a small forest, where we indulged in a long siesta in the grateful shadow of the pines. I subsequently had a delightful bathe in the icy waves of the torrent. Lower down we met a native cooper, who was constructing clumsy pails by the laborious method of digging out the inside of a round block of pine till only a hollow tube was left. A groove was then cut round the lower inside edge to hold the bottom. In order to insert this the tube had to be split down one side and pulled slightly open. The bottom being duly fitted, the tube was squeezed together again and rude wooden hoops nailed round. The cooper regaled us with some milk, and seemed much pleased at the interest with which we watched his proceedings.

We found that the upper valley of the Bashil Su still boasts a fairly extensive forest, but the ring of the axe sounds ceaselessly amongst it, and the sheep and goats destroy every young