Page:The nomads of the Balkans, an account of life and customs among the Vlachs of Northern Pindus (1914).djvu/22

 chickens, an ill-tempered kitten and a dog, all of which excepting the last were enthroned on the mules’ pack saddles between the bundles of baggage (Plate II 1). One muleteer can work a team of about six mules and a horse. The average load for a mule is slightly over two hundred pounds, to which must be added the weight of the rider, but in hilly or rough ground all dismount except the old women or small children. The horse which leads the caravan usually has a lighter load, but is always ridden, for no Mach muleteer will walk when he can possibly, ride (Plate II 2). Imnāndălui which literally means on foot, is Vlach slang for being in the gutter. Attached to our party was a muleteer from Smiksi with his five mules, three of which were devoted to carrying an old woman, her daughter and their belongings, and the other two to transporting part of the property of our muleteer’s family. Thus on leaving Tirnavos we had in all a train of ten animals. Owing to the late start the first stage of the journey was soon finished, and at 7.30 p.m. we stopped for the night at a place not far from the ferry over the Peneus at Ghunitsa, where we found several other families already encamped, who had left Tirnavos shortly before us. The mules were soon unladen, the bundles piled up in an orderly row, rugs spread on the ground, and after discussing the roast lamb we turned in for the night, while the muleteers picked up their goat’s-hair capes and went to sleep and watch by their mules. Curiously enough no Vlach muleteer ever tethers or hobbles his mules at night when they are turned loose to graze. Consequently he must watch them as much to prevent straying as theft. Here as on most occasions when the night was clear conversation turned on Hailey’s comet which was then blazing in the western sky. It was pointing towards Macedonia, and was thought to be a sign of war.

The practice of starting late in the day and camping for the night after a journey of two hours or even less is common among Vlach muleteers, although not peculiar to them alone. At first sight there is little to recommend this plan, but in practice it is found to be the only effective means of securing an early and a punctual start on the following day.