the independent Circassians are now restricted to the comparatively small region between the Kouban and the mountain tops. It comprises the northern declivities of the Caucasus, and sinks into a flat towards the banks of the river.

The Circassians call themselves "Adeches," a name denoting a mountain ravine on the sea; but their neighbors call them "Tcherkesses," a name which well expresses the ferocity of their disposition, being derived from tsherk, to cut off, and kes, the head; and from this word is derived the name Circassians. They are divided into tribes. These tribes bear the names of certain rivers or districts, or of individual founders, and number altogether, it is said, 272,400 males. The only class of society is the military; every head of a family being obliged to protect, as well as cultivate, his own property. Among some of the tribes, however, there is a sort of nobility, but destitute of privilege or influence. Some have slaves, who are not natives, but captive and purchased strangers.

In former times the Circassians were governed by despotic princes; but since 1769 the government has been vested in a sort of senate or council of elders. Of these assemblies there is one in every sub-division of a tribe, but their deliberations must be confirmed by the general assembly of the people, which often over-rules the decisions of the councils. This state of things gives rise to continual bickerings, animosities, and deadly hatred among the tribes. In religion the Circassians are Mahomedans, but in moral character they are a set of lawless plunderers, who respect only those of their own tribe and lineage; and have long been a scourge to the inhabitants of the neighboring provinces. In external appearance, however, the Circassians are a remarkably fine race, and their women are reputed to be the most beautiful in the Caucasus.

The Circassian language differs essentially from those of the other Caucasian tribes. It is never written, and when a Circassian has occasion to send a letter, he applies to his " mollah," who writes for him in the Turkish tongue. They are extremely ignorant, and have no taste for the arts or manufactures. Their houses are mere huts, and 40 or 50 of such huts ranged on a circle constitutes a village, in the centre of which they protect their cattle during night. Their horses roam freely in the fields, and are never stabled. A state of primitive simplicity characterizes their agriculture; but the great fertility of the soil makes up for their want of skill and industry. The management of bees forms an important part of their rural economy.

The original country of the Circassians is also called "Kabardah," which is divided into two portions, the Great and the Little; the former comprising the basin of the Kouba, and the other the upper and middle parts of the Terek. A small part of the first only is occupied by the Circassians at the present time.

7.-DAGHESTAN AND LESGHISTAN,

Comprise the mountainous country between the Caspian and the summits of the Eastern Caucasus, as far west as the Koisou, and extend into Georgia as far as the Alazan, an affluent of the Kûr. Along the coast, Daghestan extends from Terek to Abcheron, 260 miles, with a breadth of about 100 miles; the north-eastern part of Lesghistan is included in this measurement, but its southern portion extends beyond it, down the southern slopes of the mountain. As its name implies, Daghestan is a region of mountains; but the soil is extremely fertile, and well watered. The climate is mild.

The inhabitants of the lowlands are a mongrel race of Persian, Arabian, Syrian, Turkish, and Tartar origin, mixed with the original Caucasians. The mountains are inhabited by the Lesghis, the most predatory and ferocious of all the Caucasian nations. The majority of them are Mahomedans, but a few vestiges of Christianity may also be traced among them. They had long been the terror of surrounding nations; but, in 1742, they were driven by the arms of Nadir Shah to seek protection from Russia, and swear allegiance to the Tzar. They now pay a small tribute of silk or money; and the influence of Russia is effectively felt in the election of their rulers, and the power of that nation is rapidly subduing the country.

The Lesghis are divided into numerous tribes, whom the nature of their country keeps so isolated that no such thing as a general confederacy or national union can be maintained among them. Their language has no analogy with any known tongue except that of the Samoiedes, to which it has a distant resemblance. It is divided into numerous dialects, which have been reduced to eight classes, and the people using them comprise so many small states. The first of these is the Avar, which comprises the Avars, and 14 other tribes resembling them, who all dwell in the northwestern parts of Daghestan. The Avars are believed to be the remains of the Avars or Huns, who took refuge in this part of Caucasus. The only other tribes worthy of notice are-the Akushas, and the Kubashas, and the Kasi-Coumyks. The Akushas dwell on the Koisou, and form a republic, composed of about 30 villages. The Kubashas live also near the Koisou in a large town of the same name, and eight dependent villages. They are known throughout the East as the Zer-kherans, or makers of coats-of-mail; they manufacture splendid arms, and fine cloth or shawls, which they exchange for cattle and produce. They are a very peaceful tribe, and neither make war nor levy taxes; but have protected their territories by forts and fastnesses from their more rapacious neighbors. They are governed by a council of twelve elders, elected by the people. The Kasi-Coumyks live on a branch of the same river, and are governed by a khan, whose authority extends over 100 villages. He resides at Chahar, and can raise on an emergency 6,000 men. They are zealous Mahomedans, and fiercely opposed to the Russians. Besides the tribes enumerated as above, there are several other Lesghis tribes, whose dialects and pursuits have not been ascertained. DERBENT, an ancient but decayed city on the Caspian, formed for many centuries the key of the Persian Empire in this quarter. It still contains about 4,000 families. In the neighborhood is a tomb, said to be that of forty Arab heroes who were killed in battle against the Infidels, when Derbent was taken by the Khalifs. The Mahomedan Lesghis still make pilgrimages to it. KOUBA, 50 miles south-west of Derbent, is a considerable town, and BEREIKLEI, 20 miles north-west, is the residence of the khan of the Kaitaks, who bears the title of "Ouzmei," and exercises a sort of sovereignty over the Akushas and Kubashas. There are some few other towns in the country, but none of the least importance to the general reader.

8. ANCIENT RUSSIAN CAUCASUS.

The province of Caucasus, the nucleus of the Russian possessions in this quarter, includes all the country north of the Terek and the Kouban, lying between the Caspian and eastern border of the Government of Taurida. It is almost entirely a sandy steppe, inhabited by hordes of wild and but half subdued tribes, over which the Tzar has as yet but a precarious sway.

STAVROPOL, the new capital, is a neat fortified town near the Kouban. GEORGHIEVSK, the old capital, and still the residence of the military governor-general of Caucasus, lies on the west bank of the Pod-Kouma, 90 miles to the south-east. KONSTANTINOGORSK, 20 miles south-west of Georghievsk, is celebrated for its sulphur baths, and at Kislavodsky there is acid water. KARASS, a neat town between the two last named places, at the foot of Bech-tau, (five mountains 4,320 feet high,) is remarkable for a colony of Germans and Scotch. MOZDOK is a commercial town, and one of the principal military stations on the line of the Terek. KISBAR is also an important fortress and large town, on a branch of the Terek, near its mouth; and VLADIKAUKAS, on the right bank of the Terek, is a small fortress and trading station.

The Russians first got possession of this country in the time of Peter the Great, who even extended his dominion along the Caspian Sea into Ghilan, but in the reign of Anne the military establishments were withdrawn to Kislar, and a line of forts carried along the Terek for the defence of the frontier. Mozdok was built in 1763, and from that point the line was extended gradually westward to the Sea of Azov, along the northern bank of the Kouban. The wars in which the Russians have been engaged with Turkey and Persia, having led them again to the south of the Caucasus, they have been anxious to establish their authority over the intervening mountain tribes, who, if not reduced to subjection, are likely to prove most troublesome and dangerous neighbors. In the course of time they will probably succeed in effecting their subjugation, but as yet their progress has been very slow; and as war, instead of moral suasion, seems to be the policy of the Russians, their aim must be rather the extirpation than the civilization of the invaded party.

II. THE SIBERIAN PROVINCES.

Siberia is the general name of the vast region owned by Russia, occupying all the northern parts of Asia between the Altai range and the Arctic Ocean. Its extreme length is 4,000 miles, and its greatest breadth about 1,870 miles, covering an area of 4,000,000 square miles, and containing a population, according to late returns, of 3,611,300.

The original Siberia was a small khanate, founded by the Tartars in 1242, on the banks of the Irtish and the Obi, which took the name of Siber," from its capital. This khanate was invaded by the Russians in the 16th century, and after considerable resistance was added to the dominions of the Grand Duke. As the Russian discoveries and conquests extended eastward, the name was vaguely applied to the newly acquired country, till at length it reached the farther limits of Asia, on the Arctic and Pacific Oceans; and it was even for a time extended to the kingdoms of Astrakan and Kazan, on the west of the Ourals. The name is now definitively restricted to the country east of those mountains.

Siberia comprises the largest portion of that vast plain which occupies the whole northern zone of the eastern hemisphere. Sloping upwards from the Arctic Sea to the Ourals and the Altai mountains, the ascent is so gradual as to be scarcely perceptible; and so low is it, that at Tobolsk, 550 miles from the ocean, the elevation is less than 2,000 feet. The plain

seems to consist almost entirely of steppes and marshes, intersected by large sluggish rivers, which roll down a large mass of water to the Arctic Ocean. The steppes are extensive plains, somewhat different from each other in nature and aspect. In some places they are like the American prairies, covered with abundance of tall coarse grass; in others the soil is saline, the salt appearing in the form of an efflorescence mixed with the earth, or in ponds and lakes of salt water, but in general they consist of very loose soil, and contain many lakes, because the waters finding no declivity remain stagnant. In some places the plain is a bog, as level as the sea. The climate is, in every sense of the word, excessive. Exposed without shelter throughout its whole length to the winds which blow from the polar ice, and excluded by the high mountains of Central Asia from the more genial breezes which would otherwise reach it from the equatorial regions, the cold in the northern part is keener and more constant than that of Lapland, and the same intensity is sometimes experienced among the southern mountains. The winter lasts for nine, or even ten months. The summer heats are short, but sudden and powerful; and the growth of vegetables is almost perceptible. But, though the climate is so severe and unkindly, it is not injurious to health. Storms are frequent in the southern regions, but near

the ocean thunder is seldom heard. In the low countries the Aurora Borealis is a constant phenomenon, and in no country does it exhibit a greater magnificence. The climate of Siberia on the whole is favorable to man, and the natives, as well as strangers, complain of nothing but the excessive cold.

In so rigorous a climate, only the most hardy plants can thrive: the oak, the hazel, the alder, the plane, and the wild-apple cannot withstand the rigors of a Siberian winter. These disappear in the neighborhood of the Ourals, and on the banks of the Tobol. The lime and the ash cease at the Irtish; and the common gooseberry, which grows in Greenland, does not succeed further north than 66°. Potatoes diminish in size, till at the latitude of 60° they are no larger than peas; and here cabbages cease to expand. But we must not conclude from these facts that the great rivers of Siberia pass through barren wastes, for they are skirted with thick forests, and many species of pine attain to a vast height and magnificent proportions. Many fruit-trees are also found, and the Siberian Crab, so famous in Europe, is indigenous to this country. Vegetation, however, diminishes in development, proceeding northward and eastward. During their short summer, these wild regions are adorned with a considerable number of beautiful flowers, each zone possessing some peculiar to itself. Beyond the 60th parallel and 112th meridian, the cerealia do not succeed, but in the southwest few countries are better suited either in soil or climate for extensive agricultural operations. In the north the crops are killed by the cold-in the east the fogs prevent them from ripening, and the mountains on the southern frontier are too cold and too dry; so that three-fifths of Siberia are scarcely susceptible of any sort of cultivation.

Siberia scarcely exhibits a single genus of bird or quadruped, which is not also common to Europe. Wild rein-deer roam in herds near the shores of the ocean, and when domesticated, form the wealth of the wandering tribes. The Siberian dog, resembling the wolf, is in some measure the companion of the rein-deer. He serves with it as an animal of draught, but is wild and difficult to guide. The Tartars of Western Siberia have carried along with them the horse; but the greater part of the Siberian horses

are white. The sheep are of the broad-tailed kind, and the black cattle, which have been transported from Russia, though diminished in size, are improved in strength. In general the animals of Central Asia extend inte Siberia; the camel is common among all the tribes. Siberia is the most extensive hunting-ground in the world; and animals of the chase are as plentiful as in North America and South Africa. Sables, ermines, marmots, martens, and squirrels, are the principal animals hunted for their skins. The rock or ice fox inhabits the icy zone, and the elk is diffused over the country. The wild horse is found on the steppes, and the wild ass, the jighetai, (a sort of mule,) the stag, the roe-buck, the antelope, the argali, some wild boars, and the musk animal, inhabit the various regions of this vast country. There are also various small animals worthy of notice as the hare, the mole, weazel, and various species of the rat and mouse kind. Among the wild beasts the white bear is the most formidable; the brown bear is also common; and the ounce, panther, lynx, glutton, and tiger, are natives of the country. Man is annoyed with a great variety of insects; in summer the air is darkened with mosquitoes, and even reindeer are forced to take refuge from these tormentors. The houses are infested with bugs. Game and wild fowl cover the lakes and marshes, and the seal and the morse abound on the coasts. The herring is prolific, and shoals of sturgeon and salmon crowd the rivers. On the eastern coast the fisheries are very rich and remarkable; and the waters abound with whales, sea-bears, sea-wolves, manatis, and sea-otters. Besides these living animals, remains of elephants, the rhinoceros, and other animals of the torrid zone, have been found along the banks of the great rivers, even to the very shores of the ocean. The Liakhof Islands are composed entirely of sand, and the bones of elephants and other mammoth animals, which are quite entire, even sometimes with the flesh and skin in good preservation. Naturalists are quite at a loss to account for the occurrence of these remains in such high latitudes.

But Siberia is most noted for its mineral wealth. Gold, silver, platina, copper, and iron, are produced in enormous quantities. Red lead is found in the mines of Beresov. Chrysolites, opals, beryls, lazulites, feldspar jasper, talc, black porphyry, and other minerals, occur in various places and there can be no doubt that much mineral treasure remains yet to be discovered. The grand mining districts are in the neighborhood of the Ourals, on both sides of the range. It is, however, on the Asiatic side of the mountains, that the auriferous sands are found, which contain pieces of gold, platina, and chromate of iron mixed with platina. The principal gold mines are those of Beresov. They were first worked in 1754. In other parts mining operations are carried on largely; and the value of the mines is much enhanced by the presence of thick forests in their neighborhood. In quantity, as well as in financial importance, iron, undoubtedly, far surpasses the other metallic products of the country. There is annually produced about 132,000 tons of this metal. The Ouralian copper mines yield about 3,500 tons annually; and the gross value of the platina and gold found in the Ourals nearly equals that of the iron, and has been estimated at the yearly amount of $18,000,000. Silver is rarely found in a native state, but is often mixed with gold, and sometimes with lead. Asbestos is also produced in the Ourals, and in other places; and on the eastern coasts there is found a soft, and almost fluid clay, called lithomarge or rock marrow, which the natives eat by itself or with milk, without inconve