Page:The nomads of the Balkans, an account of life and customs among the Vlachs of Northern Pindus (1914).djvu/41

 cottons, silks, woollen goods, and watches and clocks were sold. But all except the jewellery, which was mostly silver filigree work, some of the watches, and the knives, were of European manufacture. In another part Gipsy coppersmiths squatting on the ground were offering for sale water pots and jugs of all shapes and sizes. Near them were many Vlach women with cast-off clothes which were finding a ready market with Hashiots, and cloaks and heavy woollen rugs and blankets of their own manufacture.

Shortly after midday it began to rain in Pindus, and late in the afternoon the storm reached Ghrevena. The fair quickly became a scene of confusion, and there was a rush from all sides to cross the river to regain the shelter of the tents. Only a few had crossed when a bore was seen coming rapidly down, and what a few minutes before had been a clear stream of not more than a foot deep, was quickly turned into a muddy, impassable torrent. Some seeing what was happening ran down stream, and cutting off a corner owing to a bend in the river crossed just in front of the flood. Most however cut off from their tents had to wait in the rain and mud till an hour later when the river regained its normal size. Our tent was pitched on the hill side, and the rain soon began to trickle in at the bottom, and flow in streams across the floor. No trench that could be dug with a baltaki, that typical Balkan weapon, which is used for all things and does nothing well, proved of the slightest use. A baltaki in shape is like a broad bladed adze on a short haft, but in use is a cross between a hammer, a chisel, a spade, a carving knife and a can-opener. When bed-time came the women went out and cut branches from the thorn bushes round about. These they strewed on the ground and covered with rugs, and so made a couch which, if not absolutely dry, was not wet enough to be noticed.

These sudden storms and floods are a common feature in certain parts of Northwestern Greece, and Macedonia, and at times do considerable damage as happened at Trikkala in June 1907 when many houses were destroyed. In most generalisations on Greek climate the year is divided into a dry season, summer, and a wet season, winter. But this is by no