They waited for the Caimacam of the Maronites, who,
however, did not long detain them; and, when he appeared, their suites
joined, and, cantering off at a brisk pace, they soon mounted in company
the winding steeps of Canobia.
The kitchen of Canobia was on a great scale, though simple as it was
vast. It was formed for the occasion. About fifty square pits, some four
feet in length, and about half as deep, had been dug on the table-land
in the vicinity of the castle. At each corner of each pit was a stake,
and the four supported a rustic gridiron of green wood, suspended over
each pit, which was filled with charcoal, and which yielded an equal
and continuous heat to the animal reposing on the gridiron: in some
instances a wild boar, in others a sheep--occasionally a couple of
gazelles. The sheep had been skinned, for there had been time for the
operation; but the game had only been split open, cleared out, and laid
on its back, with its feet tied to each of the stakes, so as to retain
its position. While this roasting was going on, they filled the stomachs
of the animals with lemons gashed with their daggers, and bruised
pomegranates, whose fragrant juice, uniting with the bubbling fat,
produced an aromatic and rosy gravy.
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