Page:The nomads of the Balkans, an account of life and customs among the Vlachs of Northern Pindus (1914).djvu/46

 turf, and in spring and early summer bright with flowers, primroses, cowslips, meadowsweet, gentian and cypripedium. Arriving at the top we find ourselves on a small saddle that joins Ghumara, a large conical mountain covered with pine and beech on our left, to the Morminde proper, a long, grassy ridge also partially wooded. Immediately before us is Gorgul'u, a fine, rocky arête, still covered with patches of snow, and wooded on its lower slopes. Behind Gorgul'u and half hidden in cloud is the triple massif of Zmolku, of which only two peaks, Zmolku and Moasha (The Old Woman), are visible. Directly in front of us deep down in the valley under the summit of Gorgul'u is the junction of two small streams, one rising at our feet on the Morminde and separating that from Ghumara, the other rising on the col called La Greklu near the village of Furka, on the direct road leading from Ghrevena to Konitsa, and separating the western extension of the Morminde from Gorgul'u. Just above this confluence and on the slope below the pine woods of Gorgul'u is Samarina itself (Plate V). All eyes were at once turned towards the village. Our field glasses were hastily requisitioned, as all wanted to see the famous church on which grows a pine tree, and also their own homes, the more so since several houses collapse every year owing to the heavy snows, and the infiltration of water under the foundations. The small col of Morminde marks the watershed of North Pindus, for the stream by the khan of Philippei flows into the Venetiko, and so in time joins the Haliakmon which empties into the gulf of Salonica. The river of Samarina formed by the two streams just mentioned joins the Aous a few miles further down, and eventually reaches the Adriatic. Half an hour beyond the col we camp for a short time, and make a hasty lunch. But rain coming on again we hurry on over a cobbled track, made by the inhabitants of Samarina from their boundary by the wayside shrine on the col of Morminde into the village. Here almost every stone and clump of trees has its name, for instance a small ravine where there is a saw mill is known as La Skordhei, further on below the road is a boulder called K'atra N'agră (The Black Stone), one