St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-10-15


their place. The tails of the sheep are
as wide as their bodies; in the autumn
when they come from the abundant
pasturage of some watered valley,
there is little swinging motion from
side to side, like that of young miss
who has on a new dress of which she is
little vain. Although the tails (tales)
of these sheep are large, yet they are
not nearly as large as the tails of the
sheep in Syria.
Mutton is the only meat, as we rarely
have beef, for no native kills an OK or
COW unless sick, old, or manned. Lamb
is much nicer than in America, except
in the spring. The sheep are not fed
much during the winter season, and if
there is much snow they cannot get
food, and seem to live upon the stores
of fat in their own bodies, and the meat
is so unpalatable that you can then use
it only in soups. Eggs at this season
are our most reliable food, and thrice
happy is the man who owns a COW but
you need at least two of them to give
you as much as an ordinary one in
America. Fowls rise in price during
the season for eggs, and you cannot af-
ford to keep your own, for barley is so
dear.
Coarse native bread and onions are
the principal food for thousands in this
land for many months of the year; in
deed only the rich get much beside, ex-
cept overt, which is kind of sour curd
made from either new or skim milk. 1t
reminds one of the buckwheat pitchers
in many families, where the bottom of
the pitcher is not seen all winter. To
every fresh quantity of milk, little of
the old is added, or the same dish used
with the old. 1t is a favorite dish of
the natives, and in some of the villages
you cannot persuade them to sell you
new milk, but will keep you waiting an
hour, then bring it to you hot from the
fire OF in the form of this curd. 1t is
very unfortunate for the traveller if he
cannot soon learn to like it (and the
taste is an acquired one), for often one
is compelled to eat it. The remark has
been made that all good missionaries eat
it, but duty is the convincing argument
in many cases. We eat green peas with
the pods all chopped together, and are
glad to get them, and our squashes
have no disagreeable taste about them,
in fact it is difficult to discover that
they have any taste. Cucumbers are
good, and often the lodge in the garden
of cucumbers is seen, and you quite
envy the keeper except at night when he
must sleep with one eye open. ApricOts
here are little like cling stone peach
es, but not as large they are called
"Kill-Franks" or "Kill-Johns," because
so many foreigners are made sick by
eating them. We obtained some plums
from the warm valleys, and small pears,
but often they are brought so far on
horseback that they are not eatable un-
til cooked. Beets and carrots are very
small, but cabbages are very fine; also
eggplant, and the lentiles of the Bible
times are abundant, and much small
Ter bean than that seen in other lands.
Potatoes are small, abundant, and very
good they were introduced a few years
since by an English Consul. During
the winter all vegetables except those
for immediate use are stored in pits and
kept until spring, without freezing, for
they have no cellars to their houses to
store things in.
The past week we have watched with
much interest the making of brick for a
wall. The earth is first spaded for a
rod square, then water turned on if
the bricks are for house, straw is put
in, but for wall, the brick is the same
as made by the Egyptians, when they
were required to make brick WithOut
straw. Three or four men and boys be-
gin to mix it with their feet by tread
ing it down; sometimes their bare
limbs will sink almost to their knees,
and they have to be helped out; when
well mixed, they begin to put it in
moulds, which are like box without
top or bottom, and left to bake in the
sun, and in about week they are ready
to use, having been turned several
times, so that they may dry alike. These
bricks are the material for the houses
and walls of this city, except when
there are wooden frames, and they are
filled in with clay and small stones.
The missionary houses and those of the
more civilized Turks and Armenians
have white plaster for the outside and
inside of their houses. This white plas-
ter is obtained from the limestone
rocks burned for the lime, and every
man prepares it for his own use, for nc
lime can be purchased. Every year in
creases the number of white houses il
this city. From the door in our street
wall, can be seen nine new houses
which are large for this country, anC
will be white on the outside. Carpen
ters can be employed for 80 cents day
but they work accordingly but what
could be expected of a man who works
until 10 a. m. without any breakfast
then eats bread and onions, but not il
limited quantity; then late in the af-
ternoon he feasts upon overt, and has
onions with his bread 7 The tops anG
all disappear together. Ordinary Ia