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254 ACROSS ASIA MINOR ON FOOT
only fuel. The thistles had been pulled up by the
roots, which were close and matted, and possessed
stems the size of cabbage-stalks ; and the fierceness
of their blaze was steadied by the peat-like burning
of tizek. Between the two a better fire could not
have been desired.
When asked what we would eat, Ighsan replied
that I had brought my food from England, but for
himself would have soup, yoghourt, and piYa/—
thoroughly good meal from the native point of view.
While the meal was being prepared, the village
mullah, the schoolmaster, and the elders came in.
The room was of the shape and arrangement common
to all of its kind—a low divan along each side, the
fireplace at one end, and the door opposite to it
the one small window was closed by a shutter. A
whole divan was given to me and my bed ; Ighsan,
the host and his children and friends, filled the other.
If I was the guest of honour I was also much the
entertainer, as soon became apparent ; for when my
stoves were alight and I began to cook, the spectacle
was so enthralling that dead silence fell, and even
our hostess, a vague flitting figure hitherto, left her
preparations in the other room and watched mine
from the doorway. She had to be reminded of her
duties by her lord, but still managed to peep into
the room from time to time.
From the earliest stages of the journey I had passed
my aluminium ware among on-lookers In the khans
at evening as a precaution, for the bright metal was
ever taken for silver till handled and well examined.
Here, more than in other places, perhaps, it seemed
wise to leave no doubts—not so much in fear of the
company, as for the wild reports that might be
spread. So plates and cups went the round of the
room, were thrown into the air and caught, were
weighed, were tossed from hand to hand and struck
with knives, till all were satisfied of the metal's
baseness, though scarcely of its little value.
Towards me, when natives were present, Ighsan