T H E C A U C A S U S A ND I T S P E OP L E , W IT H A B R I E F H I S T O R Y O F T H E I R W R A S , A N D A S KE T C H O F T H E A C H I E VE M E NTS OF T H E RE NOW NE D C H I E F S C H A M Y L . L O U I S M O S E R L O NDO N DA V ID N U T T 5270 R N D . , , S T A 1 8 5 6 . T R I A R RE A T E E N T REE T . C H DS , G ! U S . W IL LIA M FA N E DE S A LI E S S , ! , DIRECTO R OF T H E PENINSULAR A ND O RI EN TA L T M VIG T O M S EA NA A I N CO PANY . S O U T H A M P 6 T O N , 1 85 . D R S IR EA , I gladly avail myself of your per mission to present to you this little work on n the Caucasus , compiled duri g leisure hours in your Company ’ s Steam Transport Service , from French , German , and original Russian sources . I have been induced to offer it by the interest you are known to take in the ff a airs of the East , and also by the position you hold in the great Company which has taken so prominent a part in furthering of the objects the Crimean War , and in 1 36 2 8 9 9 iv D E D I CA T I O N . bringing European energy to bear on Asiatic torpor . The brave and long - continued struggle of n the Caucasian races , agai st an enemy so greatly superior to them in physical force , has enlisted the sympathies of Europe in their favour ; and it seems probable that events now in progress may render it desir able to obtain more accurate information concerning a country and people hitherto so imperfectly known , and , it may be fi added , so dif cult to know well . My little work can pretend to no merit of but that authenticity ; but , on this ground , I would fain hope that it may prove of some public service , and that you will accept it as a triflin g tribute of esteem and grateful acknowledgment of kindness received from you by , Dear Sir , Y our most obedient Servant , LOUIS M OSE R . THE CA UCA S US AND ITS PEOPLE . HAPT E C R I . n f h - T n n S up erb Sce ery o t e Cauca s us . raditio s co n e cte d i —T he - R — . P S e n . with t lofti est e ak s . id a ge s T he — — Black M o untai n s T he An di sch Ran ge T he Kai — f — t . T he R ve s the C T o s s . he o b n ach i r auca u K u a , — — Te e o etc . T e t t es T he v e e r k , K uma, h ir ribu ari g i f th C s —I v — h ta on o e s . ts z n T e t auca u ama i g ariety . n n o e tc . a imal ki gd m , IN no region of the earth are the striking of contrasts scenery , in which nature often seems to delight , more magnificently dis n in played tha the Caucasus . From the banks of the Don , and far and wide along the course Of the M an ytch an d of Kouma , stretches a weary waste barren B 2 THE CAUCA SU S o steppe c untry , which gradually loses itself in the inhospitable slopes that bound the . A Caspian Sea bruptly and unexpectedly , e howev r , from this dreary and monotonous of plain , there arise , first a chain hills , and of then a mighty range mountains , towering out ever higher and higher, and throwing spurs that Slope into and embosom broad , sunny , smiling valleys , while , at the same e the f ea of tim , lo tiest p ks rise to the height everlasting snow ; where the glaciers only f melt su ficiently to feed the torrents , which leap roaring and foaming from cliff and cavern . This varied and rugged range of moun tain s is covered in many parts with forests f o the most luxuriant vegetation , though , as we have said , its wild , sharp peaks pierce beyond the line of perpetual snow ! it ex n te ds from the Black Sea to the Caspian , and forms nature ’ s boundary between the two 3 AND ITS P EOPLE . con tinents of Europe and Asia ; and on this f range , with its numerous branches , o fsets of and headlands , the name the Caucasus has been bestowed . Tradition has chained Prometheus to the of highest point the Caucasus , and laid the scene of the Golden Fleece expedition on the lovely slopes that overhang the Black Sea . of The ark Noah , too , is said to have on of rested a peak Of one its branches , but beyond this , both history and tradition are nearly silent concerning this mountain land and there are , even at this hour , extensive tracts Off - c ountry untrodden by European foot , and known to us only by the vague and uncertain glimpses afforded by hearsay or imagination . of The range the Caucasus , with its thousand bare and fantastically shaped on e summits , extends for a length of hun A on dred and fifty miles , from napa , the 4 THE CAU CA SUS A ob m on Black Sea , to Cape b ara , the Cas pian . Its breadth varies continually , as it out sometimes spreads its branches , and opens into broad acclivities , and sometimes contracts into narrow passes , and sinks into extensive valleys or deep ravines . Amongst the loftiest points in the prin ci al p range , proceeding from west to east , rise most conspicuously the following peaks th e O schten Nisiri D schuman tan , , Maruch , , T utur uh of g , and Elbruz about the middle the range stands out pre - eminently the Kas - beck , and to the east and south east , the k r — - h S a o is . Kadori , the twer, and the Kah dag In the neighbourhood of the pass of D ariel b a , the loftiest heights present a saltic formation , though the lower hill of . ranges are chalk , Slate , and limestone of The Elbruz , the loftiest peak the Cauca sian range , attains , according to some tra y of or ellers , the height , to others , 5 AN D ITS P EOPLE . of feet ; and this Colossus is held in b elie v high veneration by the people , who ing it to be the abode of good and bad Spirits , look up to it with awe not unmixed with fear . The next in height is the Kas M sin w ari e s bek , also called the it is timated at feet , and it is constantly w covered , from summit to base , ith ice and snow . Among the spurs and side ranges of the - Caucasus , that on the north west runs nearly parallel with the principal chain it is called con tradistin c the Black Mountain range , in ' - on e tion to the chief, snow covered , whose - branches , extending north west and south east , are connected with each other by steep f cli fs , deep precipices , and impenetrable forests . These branches enlarge and ex tend as they approach the centre , but to wards the north they throw off numerous arms to the Kouma Steppes , where , after 6 THE CA UCAS US Beschtan forming the promontory of , they Kara atch Sink into the forest range Of Sheb g . To the south , an extensive branch stretches in gentle declivities in the direction of the u f river Kour , meeting the projecting sp r o A Mount rarat . Towards the east , the prin cip al chain divides itself at different points W into two ridges , one forming the ide ex of A tending elevations the ndisch range , - while , towards the north east , a second branch forms that of the Kaitach ; this stretches to the Caspian , after encircling larger or smaller valleys , which are again broken up by isolated mountains and hills . Of the various rivers which diverge from the northern flank of the Caucasus the most important are , the Kouban , the Terek , and P odkouma the Kouma , besides the , a branch of stream the latter, which runs towards the steppe from which it takes its name . The Kouban has its source in the north AN D ITS P EOPLE . 7 ern slope of the Elbruz and after leaving the hills by a wide bend to the westward , and receiving the waters of several tributa - ries , it falls into the Kouban Liman , which flows into the Black Sea . On the right of its course the Kouban receives no river of any importance ; but on the streams which join it the left , rising mostly in the high and dark range above them , deserve some mention , not only on their own accounts , but from their serving to mark more distinctly the abodes of the several Caucasian races . of The names the rivers , which flow from east to west , are the Great and Little In dtchik or S elen tchuk , the Uruss , the C hod z Great and Lesser Laba , the , the S chad asha - g , the Supa , Kara Kouban , and A fip s .