on low land. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, and sometimes we find a village on the side of a high mountain or even at the very top of a mountain pass. This is altogether out of the usual order of things, and may be accounted for on the ground that some enterprising families want to conduct wine shops and eating houses near the mountain passes, so that they may catch the tired and hungry travelers before they fall into the hands of the innkeepers at the foot of the mountain.
The best reason for locating the villages in the lowlands is for protection from the winds which sweep over the hilltops with such fury that the straw-thatched roofs of the cottages can hardly resist them. Then, too, it requires much less fuel to keep the house warm when it is sheltered by the hills around it. The water question comes in for consideration also, and this is much more easily settled in the valley than on the hill. If a well has to be dug, it is not often more than ten feet deep, making the cost very little. A whole chapter might be written on these village wells. It is here that the women come not only for the water for the ordinary purposes about the house, but here the clothes are washed, being pounded on the flat stones around the mouth of the well. No tubs are used, but water is poured over the clothes while they are being beaten with a paddle; and the water, after passing through the soiled clothes, often finds its way back into the well by the nearest route. Many of these wells are so shallow that the water may be dipped out with a gourd; and I have often seen women with one
