248 ADDITIONAL NOTICES. [June 25, 1860. 



an excited state, and inquired into the cause. They pointed with their fingers 

 to a steep mountain at some distance, from the heights of which proceeded 

 a dense cloud of smoke or dust, with some figures running to and fro. 



Was it a razzia contemplated by a neighbouring aul or tribe to avenge 

 some deadly feud on the devoted heads of the Cherkey inhabitants, now fallen 

 from their high estate ? or was it a fanatical party of Murids, friendly to the 

 people of the place, hurrying to glut their vengeance on the blood of Christians ? 

 The Cherkey people were armed with long muskets and daggers, — in fact, the 

 mountaineers never quit their arms. So were we armed ; and before the matter 

 could be cleared up we were determined to stand our ground ; but we ex- 

 changed looks of significance, and it was then that I admired our little com- 

 panion for his self-composure ; at all events he evinced no signs of fear, 

 — perhaps, like Nelson, he had never seen fear. When the cloud dispersed, it 

 turned out that a party of the Cherkey had attacked some of their enemies 

 and carried oft' a whole flock of sheep, which they were bringing in triumph 

 to their friends. 



After all, the adventure proved rather of a Quixotic nature ; but it might 

 have been different, and, instead of laughing, as some did, at the absurd 

 occurrence, the inhabitants of Cherkey might have had the laugh at our 

 expense. 



In order to give you a clearer insight into the different communities of the 

 hilly Daghestan, and which, after all, can only be an outline, it will better 

 serve our purpose if I name first the principal tributaries of the Sulakh river, 

 which all have their sources in the great chain of the Caucasus; as in so 

 doing I can more easily group these highland clans. Thus, the Koi-Su, 

 passing through the territories of the Andi, on the western frontier, bears that 

 name ; the Koi-Su, next in succession to the east of the former, traverses the 

 country of the Avars, and is styled the Kiver of the Avars ; and lastly, the 

 Koi-Sii coming in the direction of the Kazi-Kumuks, together with the Kara- 

 Su, one of its tributaries, forms the eastern boundary of the hilly Daghestan. 



All these mountain streams serve to .swell the volume and increase the im- 

 petuosity of the Sulakh, which flows into the Caspian in the possessions of the 

 Shamkhal of Terki. 



The first on the list is the community of the Deedo, who inhabit the almost 

 inaccessible heights from whence the Koi-Su of the Andi gathers its tributary 

 waters from the great snowy range of the Caucasus. It is only two years ago 

 that the Kussian General Baron Vreosky succeeded in penetrating into the 

 recesses of their mountains and opened a line of communication with Kupro, 

 the principal stronghold of these wild and unruly people. It is rather an 

 interesting fact that, among the ancient tribes enumerated by Ptolemy, you 

 meet with the Aibovpoi in the neighbourhood of the Tovaxoi, the present 

 Tushins, who occupy the Caucasus west of the Deedo tribe. 



There exists a curious legend among them, which is mentioned also in the 

 old Georgian chronicles. At the time, it is said, when Alexander of Macedon 

 besieged the town of Mzhet, the ancient capital of Georgia, the natives, after 

 the siege had lasted about eleven months, feeling unable any longer to defend 

 the place, found means of escape by boring a passage through the mountains, 

 owing to the soft texture of the stone, and sought refuge in the country of 

 Deedoiti. 



Next to the Deedo, along the line of the great chain in the upper course of 

 the Koi-Su of the Avars, live scattered among the rocks the Antkratl tribes, 

 joined into one confederacy, although broken into numerous small communi- 

 ties, of which it would be fastidious to attempt the enumeration : Tosh, Antzukh, 

 and Kapucha may be reckoned among the more prominent. Agriculture, as 

 elsewhere in these hills, is carried on on a very small scale. According 

 TO Russian prisoners, who have dwelt some time among them, the space of 



