series of dashing exploits by which the works that had cost Russia years of immense labour, and a prodigious sacrifice of men and money, were swept away in a few months. Fort after fortthose of Aboon, Nicholaeff, and Alexandrosky included-were stormed one after another by the tumultuous assaults of the Circassians, and levelled with the ground. The scheme of Paskiewitch had to be commenced anew; and disheartening, hopeless as this might be, there is little doubt that, under the pitiless orders from St Petersburg, it would have been set about again, but for thickening rumours of a new danger having arisen in the hitherto comparatively manageable south-eastern mountain-range. A prophet-leader, as familiar with the Koran as with the sword, had, it was said, unfurled the banner of Islam, rallied beneath it a host of fanatic Lesghians, Tchetchentzes, and others, and at their head was sweeping the Russian colonies in the plains as with a fiery hurricane. This startling intelligence was soon abundantly confirmed, and a peace, or rather truce, was as quickly as possible patched up with the Circassians; the essential conditions of which were neutrality on the part of the Circassians in regard to the contest in the South-eastern Caucasus; and, on that of the Russians, the virtual abandonment of the sea-blockade, so far as it affected the Tcherkessi, and their girl-trade especially; and that no further attempt should be made to rebuild the demolished forts-a compact which has been kept with passably good faith on both sides. Thus terminated the Russian conquest of Circassia.

The renewed outbreak in the Eastern Caucasus was so much the more formidable and menacing, that it was kindled and sustained by religious as well as national fanaticism, and admitted, consequently, of neither truce nor compromise. Its chief hero, Schamil Bey-the Abd-el-Kader of the Caucasus—will require a few preliminary words of introduction.

Kasi

From the beginning of the war, a devout Mussulman, KasiMollah, held a chief command in the bands of Lesghians, Tchetchentzes, and other tribes of the eastern chain and the steppes abutting on the Caspian and traversed by the Koisu. Mollah's reputation for sanctity was greater than that which he acquired for the higher military qualities, although a dashing leader, and individually one of the bravest of the brave. He was brought to bay as early as 1832 by General Rosen, at a place called Gumri. Encircled on all sides, almost the last scrap of food devoured, nothing remained, in the opinion of Kasi-Mollah and about thirty of his most zealous disciples, but to hew for themselves a path through the Russian bayonets, to freedom or to Paradiseeither alternative a welcome one! This resolution finally taken, they suddenly emerged from the fastness they could no longer hold, and burst upon the Russian troops with the shock of an avalanche, and the furious, discordant yells of a troop of madmen. For one or two brief moments, it seemed that they must escape, so far through the beleaguering circle of their foes did they cleave their

desperate way, before the momently recoiling ranks reclosed around them, and they fell by twos and threes, wildly fighting to the last, riddled by musket-balls and bayonet-stabs. Kasi-Mollah 'died with his hand on his beard, and a last prayer murmuring from his lips; and his pupils perished with him, all save one, and he the bravest and fiercest of them all, who broke through the encircling bayonets, dashed at headlong speed past the more distant lines of running-fire unharmed-as if he bore a charmed life-reined suddenly up as he reached the angle of a mountain-gorge, into which he knew none dared to follow, shook his red scimitar, and hurled a defiant execration in the faces of his baffled foes, and the next moment, with an exulting shout of 'Allah! Il Allah!' disappeared in the dark mountain-pass. This fortunate horseman was Schamil, the future Imâm (preacher), the prophetsoldier of the Caucasus, whose escape, as just described, his followers to this day firmly believe was due to the direct interposition of the angel Gabriel! General Rosen of course attached little consequence to the escape of one man, daring and fortunate as he might be; and a flaming dispatch reached the czar in due time, announcing that the fall of Kasi-Mollah had brought the whole of the South-eastern Caucasus to his imperial majesty's feet, thoroughly reduced to submission and tranquillity by the valour and devotion of his imperial majesty's troops.

Schamil, one of the dark-eyed, dark-haired, partly Tatar race of Tchetchentzes, was born at Tschirskei, a place of about 3000 inhabitants; and after his escape from Gumri, he employed several years in perambulating the mountains of the Lesghian chain, preaching wherever he went with fervid eloquence upon the sacred duty, devolved by God, upon all true believers to extirpate the intrusive infidel, and the paradisal rewards which death in so high and holy a cause must infallibly insure. This prophet-call, as it was deemed, to battle from the cupolas and minarets of the sublime and towering Alps, gradually kindled the latent fanaticism of the mountaineers to a flame, which soon communicated itself to the dwellers in the cities and steppes of Daghistan, and the adjacent valleys and plains. The story of Schamil's miraculous escape from General Rosen, by favour of the archangel Gabriel, was repeated from mouth to mouth with endless variations and additions--his daring, skill, and success as a soldier confirmed the illusions of a credulous bigotry; and he gradually drew around his standard, and bent to his sway, the multitude of rugged warriors whose swords have inscribed so many victories upon the backs of the Russian armies, and to this hour present an invincible front to their dismayed, and practically discomfited adversaries. Schamil Bey now organised and carried into execution a system of terror which enlisted the very fears of the timid and time-serving amongst his compatriots against the common enemy. Wo to the Caucasian village or district!— wo to any individual habitant of the Caucasus within the reach of Schamil's vengeance—who dared to aid, keep truce, or submit

without a valiant struggle to the Muscovite: such offenders were destroyed without mercy or appeal! The offence was, moreover, inexpiable-known to be so, and that Schamil would keep unswerv ing watch for months and years, till an opportunity presented itself for inflicting retribution. One instance of the tenacity with which he remembered the features and dogged the life of any one guilty of treachery towards himself or the national causeprisoners taken in open warfare he contented himself with reducing to domestic slavery may be mentioned in this place: He had invested a Russian fort, and the officer commanding the detachment which held it solicited a parley, not for the bona-fide purpose, as pretended, of arranging terms of capitulation, but solely to gain time for the arrival of forces which he knew were on the way to hi relief. The ruse succeeded, and Schamil, disappointed of his prey, was obliged to retire precipitately. But the baffled Caucasian leader never forgot the circumstance nor the features of the individual by whom he had been, as he thought, treacherously outwitted; for, years afterwards, his eagle glance recognised the dishonest negotiator amidst a crowd of prisoners just brought in. A word and a gesture sufficed, and the next moment the lying lips bit the dust.'

At length (1839), General Grabbe advanced with 12,000 veteran troops towards Achulko, reputed to be Schamil's stronghold, and in reality a kind of mud-hut encampment perched upon the top of a rock on the banks of the Koisu. Schamil appears to have been taken by surprise; but although disconcerted by the Muscovite general's rapid and skilful movement, which forced him to retire very unwillingly upon Achulko, where no preparation for a siege had been made, he opposed a desperate resistance to the Russian advance. He attacked General Grabbe on the 7th of July, and it was not till the evening of the 8th that he slowly yielded to the disciplined persistence of the Russian troops, after inflicting as well as sustaining terrible loss. On the 12th, he again assailed the Russians with murderous ferocity, neither giving nor accepting quarter; but he could not effectually arrest their progress, aided as it was by the fire of a numerous and well-served artillery, which the tolerably open nature of the country greatly favoured; and General Grabbe ultimately found himself before or rather beneath Achulko. It consisted, he perceived, of about 300 wattled huts surrounded by a mud-wall, and he imagined it was only necessary to direct an assault in order to capture both the place and its defenders.Colonel Wrangel, commanding the regiment of élite, called Erivan Paskiewitch,' composed of 1500 choice soldiers, was accordingly directed to advance against and storm Achulko. How the colonel and the regiment of élite honoured with this commission fared, cannot be better told than in Colonel Wrangel's own words, as related by M. le Comte Suzannet :'Achulko, situated upon the point of a rock, was strong only by position. A deep ravine separated and isolated it from the

surrounding mountains. In order to reach Achulko, it was necessary to descend a long ledge of rock hardly two feet wide. Whoever should chance to slip or be struck by a bullet, must fall over and perish miserably upon the rocks which, shutting in the bed of the torrent, form in this place precipices terrible as deep. General Grabbe having, nevertheless, given the order to advance, Colonel Wrangel moved forward at the head of his 1500 picked soldiers, and reached the ledge, which was found to be about sixty yards long. Schamil waited silently till they were well upon it, and then opened a rifle-fire so destructive, that the men fell over the precipice by scores, the fall of one frequently dragging several others after him; and the rocks below were in a few minutes covered with dead bodies. Three times the frightful pass was obstinately essayed; till at length Colonel Wrangel, who was himself wounded, and had only 50 men remaining out of 1500, and two out of thirty-four officers, perforce abandoned the mad attempt, and all hope of carrying Achulko by assault was given up.'

Schamil, unhappily, had soon a deadlier foe than General Grabbe and his army to contend with-hunger: hunger, verging upon famine, came before a week had passed. This was known in the Russian camp; and the place having been strictly invested on all sides, it was certain that the hour of surrender could not be long delayed. On the last day but one of August, General Grabbe learned, from an emaciated Lesghian, whom his soldiers had caught whilst attempting to crawl past the blockading lines, that not a particle of food was left in Achulko; that Schamil Bey proposed to escape that very night, with one or two chosen comrades, by means of a rope lowered down the face of the rock to the Koisu; and Achulko, he added, would be surrendered immediately afterwards. A strict watch was immediately ordered to be kept at the indicated spot, and directions were given to awaken the general at whatever hour of the night the capture of the redoubted Schamil might be effected. Just before dawn, one-two-three men were seen to cautiously descend by a rope, let gently down on the river side, as predicted, who were of course instantly secured, and hurried off to the general's tent. One of the captives admitted, in the flurry of the surprise, as was supposed, that he was Schamil; and this was confirmed by the Lesghian, through whose information the important prize had been secured. General Grabbe was delighted; and an estafette was forthwith despatched with the tidings, that the notorious rebel, Schamil Bey, had been caught, and ordered to be shot out of hand. Whilst all this was going on, the rope, which had been quietly drawn up again, was once more lowered, and this time one man only descended by it, who reached the river unobserved, leaped upon a raft that just at the critical moment swept by; and the too hastily exultant Russian general was aroused to a knowledge of the trick that had been played him, by shouts of 'Schamil! Schamil!' from

the mud-walls of Achulko, in exulting reply to the waving of a small green flag by the true Schamil, as he swept down the swift Koisu in the dawning sun-light, presently to find himself amidst hills and amongst friends, that would render successful pursuit, if attempted, hopeless-impossible! Achulko surrendered at discretion; the huts were burned; and General Grabbe retraced his steps in very angry mood, which a daring attack upon his rear-guard, by the ubiquitous and indefatigable Schamil, at the head of a large body of horsemen, exasperated to fury. The Imâm was beaten off with some difficulty; and the victorious general's march was sullenly resumed, and concluded without further molestation.

This second daring and remarkable escape from the very grasp, as it were, of his 'enemies, left no doubt in the minds of the most sceptical of Schamil's soldiers, that he was indeed under the especial protection of Heaven; and his fame, instead of being darkened by the capture of Achulko, shone out in the dazzled eyes of his countrymen with greater splendour than ever. During the next three or four years, he waged an incessant, immitigable guerilla warfare against the Russian forces-now here-now there on the Kuban, the Terek, the Koisu-in Georgia-in Daghistan, without presenting any permanent or tangible point for attack. At last, his old opponent, General Grabbe, heard (1843) that the terrible Imâm was at a place called Darga, somewhere in the mountains to the north-west of Achulko, in great force. As quickly as possible, General Grabbe, who had been recalled for his want of success, concentrated upwards of 20,000 troops, and led them rapidly in the indicated direction, with the firm resolution-so discontented were they at St Petersburg-of finishing with Schamil at any cost of exertion or of life. This time his march was very faintly opposed; the observant groups, that retired slowly as he advanced, contenting themselves with picking off an officer now and then of his leading columns. The Russians found nothing in their wearying, and seemingly endless march, but abandoned hut-villages, deserted valleys, and rugged mountain-passes. At length, it was no longer possible to proceed further; the Russian general having permitted himself to be lured by Schamil's decoy-scouts into a dreary, desolate cul de sac, the frowning barriers of which could neither be overpassed nor turned! They could do nothing but retrace their steps; and the jaded, toil-worn, half famished troops turned sullenly in their tracks, and commenced one of the most disastrous and sanguinary retreats that occurred during the entire war. Schamil's forces, that had scarcely shewn themselves during the advance, gathered in multitudes to obstruct and harass the backward march; and after several days and nights of desperate fighting, General Grabbe regained the encampment from which he had set forward, minus a fourth part of his army, several cannon, and a large quantity of baggage, and other material of war.

One passage in this desperate strife, if comparatively an