DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0192
A NIGHT IN A CONVENT.
181
up a blazing stick from the fire, and conducted me
within ; and when I told him that I meant to sleep
there, he said it would be for him a night " white as
milk."
From the vestibule the door opened into the
chapel, which consisted of a long apartment run-
ning transversely, the door in the centre ; the floor
was covered with mats, ostrich-eggs were sus-
pended from the ceilings, and three or four recesses
contained altars to favourite saints. Directly op-
posite the door was a larger recess3 in which stood
the great altar, separated by a railing, ornamented
with bone and mother of pearl, and over the top
were four pictures of St. George slaying the
dragon. I walked up and down the chapel two
or three times, followed in silence by my swarthy
friends, not altogether with the reverential spirit
of a pious Christian, but with the prudence of a
man of the world, looking out for the best place to
sleep, and finally deposited my mat at the foot of
the great altar.
I might better have slept on the sand, after all,
for the walls of the church were damp, and a
strong current of air from the large window above
had been pouring in upon me the whole night.
When I first woke I felt as if pinned to the floor,
and I was startled and alarmed at the recurrence
of a malady, because of which I was then an exile
from home. I went outside, and found, although
it was late, that the guide had not come. If he
had been there I should no doubt have gone on,
but, most fortunately for me, I had time to reflect,
VOL. I.—Q
181
up a blazing stick from the fire, and conducted me
within ; and when I told him that I meant to sleep
there, he said it would be for him a night " white as
milk."
From the vestibule the door opened into the
chapel, which consisted of a long apartment run-
ning transversely, the door in the centre ; the floor
was covered with mats, ostrich-eggs were sus-
pended from the ceilings, and three or four recesses
contained altars to favourite saints. Directly op-
posite the door was a larger recess3 in which stood
the great altar, separated by a railing, ornamented
with bone and mother of pearl, and over the top
were four pictures of St. George slaying the
dragon. I walked up and down the chapel two
or three times, followed in silence by my swarthy
friends, not altogether with the reverential spirit
of a pious Christian, but with the prudence of a
man of the world, looking out for the best place to
sleep, and finally deposited my mat at the foot of
the great altar.
I might better have slept on the sand, after all,
for the walls of the church were damp, and a
strong current of air from the large window above
had been pouring in upon me the whole night.
When I first woke I felt as if pinned to the floor,
and I was startled and alarmed at the recurrence
of a malady, because of which I was then an exile
from home. I went outside, and found, although
it was late, that the guide had not come. If he
had been there I should no doubt have gone on,
but, most fortunately for me, I had time to reflect,
VOL. I.—Q