246 ADDITIONAL NOTICES. [June 25, 1860. 



mountaineer, with a few handfuls of wheat in a bag attached to his waist, a 

 musket slung over his shoulder, and a dagger in his belt, climbing up some 

 steep rock, by the aid of a crook and a rope, in quest of a patch of vegetable 

 soil wherein to deposit the grain. Nor can the cattle find much to graze upon 

 on those naked granite heights. The scanty grass that springs up early in the 

 year is soon parched by the scorching sun of summer ; and when winter sets in, 

 the whole face of nature on this high table-land is covered with a uniform sheet 

 of snow several feet in depth. 



This peculiar steriUty of nature has prompted the inhabitants to attend more 

 particularly to the erection of terraced gardens, and it must cost them much 

 labour and some degree of skill to lay them out on the brink of precipices. 

 They also select the least accessible points to erect their dwellings, which, like 

 eagles' nests, are seen perched against some craggy rocks. For want of space, 

 their houses — all built of freestone — crowd one above the other, spreading at 

 times in the form of an amphitheatre, with turrets, crenelled walls, and other 

 means of defence, every village constituting a fortress in itself. 



Koads there are none, and the narrow footpaths used by the mountaineers 

 can scarcely be available for beasts of burden. This is not a very prepos- 

 sessing picture of Daghestan, but such are the outlying and principal features 

 of this land. 



Nor are the moral features of the people less characteristic. "Wild as the 

 scenes that surround them, with an indomitable spirit and a passion for inde- 

 pendence, the Lesghi are sober by necessity as well as by habit. There is a 

 restless, lurking fierceness about the eyes which he can ill conceal, and which 

 conveys a disagreeable expression to his whole physiognomy. In this respect 

 the deportment ot the Cherkess is nobler and far more prepossessing : there is 

 a degree of open frankness which suits so well with his tall yet slender form. 

 The Lesghi is more hidden in his movements, with something of the feline 

 species in his nature. It is not unlikely that his political position, surrounded 

 by enemies within and without, has much to do in developing these character- 

 istics, as he is ever on the alert against surprise, while his own predatory 

 habits teach him caution and dissimulation. Comparing him with the Lek 

 tribes of the highlands of Persia, I am also inclined to give the preference to 

 the latter as to external appearance. He may be more swarthy and decidedly 

 blacker than the highlander of Daghestan, but he has a more ruddy com- 

 plexion ; the Lesghi looks sallow and careworn. I do not recollect to have 

 met with any blue eyes among them, although in general their hair appears of 

 a lighter colour than that of their Persian or Cherkess neighbours. And may 

 not this peculiarity be accounted for by the localities they occupy ? We have 

 seen that the high table-land of Daghestan is covered with deep snow part of 

 the year, to which the Cherkess are less exposed, and the Lur and Lek tribes 

 of Persia are perfectly exempt : for they quit their cool eylaks or summer 

 encampments as soon as the cold commences, and descend into the more genial 

 plains below. 



The Lesghi also come down at times into the plains, but less with a view of 

 tending their sheep than that of plunder. They com.e pouring down as a 

 mountain avalanche, carrying terror and dismay before them, and leaving 

 destruction and desolation behind. I recollect, some years ago, when returning 

 from Persia, instead of following the beaten track I struck into the hilly 

 Daghestan, and then entered the plain of the Kumuks and Nogai Tatars.* 

 On stopping to rest one night at the foot of Kazi-Yurt, on the river Sulakh, 

 I was struck by an unusual display of hurry and bustle in and around the 

 place, and learnt that information had just been obtained that a party of 

 Lesghi, with Shamyl at their head, had left the hills and were in hot pursuit 



* South of, and some miles from, the Terek. — J. S. 



