dustrious, and chiefly subsist by agriculture; for they are too weak to pursue, like their masters and protectors the Kabardians, the trade of arms, as the whole tribe consists of very few more than 250 families.

The soil is fertile, and produces abundance of wheat (budai), barley (arpá), millet (tari), and grass for pasturage; yet this spot is but eight wersts in breadth, the whole circumjacent country being covered with woods, in which wild pear-trees (körtmö) are frequently met with. Here grow likewise great quantities of cornel-berries, which are preserved with honey, and disposed of to the Kabardians and the Turks. The woods moreover abound with game, as bears, wolves, wild goats of two species, hares, wild cats, the skins of which are highly valued, and martens. They sell to foreign traders the skins of bears, hares, foxes, and martens; but those of the wild goats they keep for themselves, and use them for carpets, which they lay upon the spot where they kneel during prayer. They likewise make boot-legs and Tartar boots of them, and cut them into small strips to sew with. They keep many sheep, asses, mules (ckadra), and horses, which last, though small, are strong and spirited, and admirably adapted for travelling in the mountains. Their butter is excellent, and with the milk they make very good cheese (bischlik). A very common dish with them is kefir; so also is boiled mutton (schisslick), or meat roasted upon small sticks, or cakes filled with minced meat and other things. Their beer (ssra) is, like that of the Ossetes, the best in

the Caucasus, and resembles Eng. lish porter. They distil brandy from barley and wheat, and their bread they commonly bake in the ashes. They are very fond of tobacco, which they cultivate themselves; and there are several species of it, all of which are in great request. They sell it to the Nogays, Ssuanes, and Jews; these last export it to the Kabardah and to Russia.

When their horses are grown old and unserviceable, they cut off their tails and manes, and turn them out to feed in the woods, where they become extremely fat. When they kill them they keep the flesh dried till winter, and also cut it into small pieces, with which, when cleared of the sinews, they fill the intestines. This kind of sausage they set before their friends as a dainty. The stomach, liver, and other offal are likewise used in housekeeping. Kümiss, or milkbrandy, is never made by them.

The men wear, like the Tscherkessians, woollen garments resembling a close surtout, which are called Tschimek. Their cloth, which is held in high estimation throughout the whole of the Caucasus, is manufactured by themselves. The women also dress in cloth and furs when they go abroad; but in the height of summer they wear only a light under-garment of white cotton. females cover the head with a cap of silver lawn, and plait their hair, which is tied after the Tscherkessian manner with a white ribband, and falls down their backs. The women of more advanced age wear a white handkerchief over the head.

The younger

Their houses, which they keep

very clean, are built of fir; they have no fire-places, and small windows. Their principal household utensils consist of a variety of copper kettles, which are hung up by means of a hook over the fire, and come by way of Ssochumckala'h from Anadolia. The bedsteads are of wood, raised but very little from the floor, and covered with carpets and pillows.

Their arms at present are guns, pistols, sabres, and daggers; formerly they used shields (Ckalchan) also, and two different kinds of hunting-spears, called Ssungeh and Mudshurá. They have no wheeled carriages, owing to the mountainous nature of the country, but transport every thing upon packborses.

When one man has killed another, the relatives of the latter strive by all means to revenge his blood by the death of the murderer; and thus, according to their notions, to give rest to his and their own souls. Nevertheless it frequently happens that a prince endeavours to reconcile the parties, whom he invites to his house, with all their relations; an ox or a sheep is slaughtered and eaten, copious potations of beer succeed, and before they part a reconciliation is generally effected. If the person whose duty it is to avenge the death of his kinsman be poor, or deficient in spirit, or if the deceased have no relatives capable of imbruing their hands in the blood of the murderer, the reconciliation may also be brought about by means of presents to the value, very often, of more than 600 (silver) rubles. These are called Chanbabasé by the Ckaratschai. Should the murder have been un

VOL. LVI.

intentional, still it is considered as a crime; but a reconciliation is much more easy, and seldom fails to be effected.

The princes of the Ckaratschai marry daughters of Kabardian usdens, and these usdens take for their wives the daughters of those princes. The kalim, or price paid for a wife in arms and cattle, exceeds in value 1000 (silver) rubles.

The manner in which they bring up their children is very strict and commendable. When a son is disobedient to his parents, and fails to amend his conduct after repeated admonitions, he is placed in sight of the whole village at the door of the Messdshed, and seriously exhorted to alter his behaviour. Should this have no effect, his parents disown and turn him out of doors, having previously furnished him with such things as are most necessary, and never must he afterwards show his face in his father's house. If his conduct should still be too scandalous, he is even expelled from the village, and forbidden to return as long as he lives.

Treachery is a crime so uncommon as scarcely to be known to them even by name; and should any native be guilty of it, or a stranger come among thein as a spy, all the people fly to arms to apprehend him, and he infallibly pays the forfeit of his life for the offence. In general they do not rest till they have literally cut him in pieces.

When the inhabitants of Ckaratschai have any important business to discuss and decide upon, the elders assemble in the Messdshed. In concluding agreements both parties must swear to observe 2 I

them,

them, and whoever breaks his oath forfeits five or ten sheep to the village. Should he again violate the covenant, he must, after paying the penalty, bind himself by a new oath to the faithful performance of the engagement, and no instance is known of a man having broken this double oath. In taking oaths the following ceremonies are observed: the parties meet in the ante-hall of the Messdshed, and the mulla holds up the Ckuran. The person taking the oath lays his hand upon the book, and calls God to witness the truth of his asseveration; on which the ceremony concludes, and the oath is considered inviolable.

When any one dies the women set up a terrible howl, beating their breasts, and tearing their hair; but the men who attend the funeral strike themselves vioJently with their horse-whips on the forehead, and mangle the lobes of their ears with knives. On their return, however, they drown their grief in copious libations of beer.

The Ckaratschai have recourse to divination, more especially before they mount their horses to undertake a journey or go a hunting. They lay forty-one small pebbles, peas, beans, or barleycorns, in several heaps, according to certain rules, and from their number and relative situations they predict the success or failure of an enterprise. If the omens prove propitious, they hasten to put their design in execution; but if unlucky, nothing can induce them to stir a step,-so thoroughly are they convinced of the infallibility of the prediction. It must be confessed, however, that many

of them have no faith in these absurdities.

For the rest, these people, like all mountaineers, are very superstitious, and relate numberless stories of dæmons and goblins that are said to haunt the mountains; of which the following may serve for a specimen :—A malignant spirit in female shape, and having very long hair, which they call in their language Ssalmasti, is reported to reside in a certain wood. About twenty-five years ago one of the inhabitants of the village caught this goblin, carried it home with him, and cut off its hair, which he carefully hid, and by which means he rendered the spirit subservient to him. One day he ordered it to make some bosa; on which it set the pot on the fire, boiled the pease, and when the soup was ready the master and mistress went out, leaving two little children only in the house. These soon begged the spirit to give them something to eat, which it promised to do, if they would tell where its hair was concealed. No sooner had they shown the place where it lay, than the dæmon snatched up the hair, and was thus released from subjection to its master. Upon this it threw the two children into the pot full of boiling bosa, and fled back to the wood, where it is still said to reside.

They deem it a great crime not to observe the fasts prescribed in the Ckuran, and to omit their daily prayers. Like all the Mohammedans of the Caucasus, they are Sunnites, and cherish an inveterate batred against the followers of A'li. The flesh of the wild and tame swine, of which they

were

were formerly very fond, they now hold in the utmost abhorrence, and they consider a person who only touches one of those animals as impure.

In temper they are extremely warm, and the smallest trifle that can be construed by them into an affront instantly inflames their resentment against the offender; but they are soon pacified again, and easily convinced of their error. Upon the whole, it may be justly asserted, that they are the most polished tribe in the Caucasus, and surpass all their neighbours in mildness of manners. To their superiors, the Kabardian princes, they pay the utmost respect and obedience, executing all their commands with cheerfulness and punctuality. They assist their poorer brethren with gifts, and in a variety of ways; the rich lend them their oxen, and find them employment, for which they pay them well, so that they are enabled to live in a comfortable manner.

The Ckaratschai manufacture themselves none of those articles which require great pains and patience, and procure even their guns, sabres and daggers from the neighbouring Tscherkessians, from Sochum-ckala'h, and from the Abasses. Their territory yields neither salt nor iron. These necessaries, together with lead and other metals, they purchase of the Tscherkessians and the Nogays. For salting their winter provisions they use the water of a spring not far from Chursuk, with which also they cook their victuals.

They have scarcely any other kinds of beverage than beer and bosa. From wheat and barley, indeed, they distil a brandy which

is very strong and intoxicating; but they seldom drink it, as it is forbidden in the Ckuran. They make a stock of beer and bosa for winter. They have no honey, because the climate is too cold for bees in winter, and they know nothing of the management of hives. What honey they want they obtain from the Kabardians, but use it only for preserving cornel-berries and other fruit.

Their mountains produce both sulphur and saltpetre; and to procure the latter they are not obliged, like the Tscherkessians, to sprinkle the ground of their sheepfolds and pens with ley. Their gunpowder is fine and remarkably strong.

The produce of their manufactures, as cloth (schal), felts (kuss) for carpeting, furs, hoods (baschlik), &c. they sell partly to the Imerethians and partly export to Ssochum-ckala'h, a Turkish fortress on the Black Sea, which contains great quantities of merchandize, and carries on a considerable trade with the western Caucasus. They receive in return cottons, silks, tobacco-pipes, for which there is a great demand, Turkish tobacco, needles, thimbles, and otter skins. Their traffic with the Kabardians, from whom they procure salt and other Russian produce, is much less extensive; indeed they can supply themselves much better with all they want through the channel of the Turks, and at a much cheaper rate, on account of the water-carriage from Constantinople. They have also some dealings with the Ssuanes, who are called Ebse by the Basianes, and principally supply them with sulphur and lead.

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