June 25, I860.] ADDITIONAL NOTICES. 249 



land a Russian peasant is able to plough in the course of one day is made 

 to suffice a Lesghi family all the year round. 



The language spoken here is partly the dialect in use among the Avars (of 

 whom we will speak presently) and partly the Georgian. It may be here 

 observed that the clans have each their diflerent jargons, which are said, how- 

 ever, to spring from one common stock. Klaproth divides the Lesghi lan- 

 guage into four principal dialects, but it is to be regretted that the subject 

 has not yet been sufficiently studied. 



The country of the Avars lies between the two Koi-Su of Andi on the west, 

 and the river of the Avars on the east, and although watered by many streams 

 is but poorly cultivated. The inhabitants sow barley, oats, and millet. They 

 dry their wheat, then bruise it, and, after roasting, mix it up with honey and 

 make biscuits thereof, which they take with them on their military excur- 

 sions, as it is found to be very light and nutritive. We find mention of the 

 Awyr in the ancient Zend text among the inhabitants of the Caucasian moun- 

 tains. The Avars are sometimes confounded with the Huns and even the 

 Pechunghs. Klaproth finds a great resemblance between the personal nouns 

 among the Huns and the Avars of Hunzah ; and, among others, that of 

 Attila or Addilla, which, he says, is a very common name with the Avars of 

 the present day. " Adil," the " Just," in Persian, is sometimes added to that 

 of their chiefs, though God only knows how far they deserve that epithet. 

 The Avars figure largely in the annals of the middle ages, and formed a 

 strong power after the Arabs had converted them to Islam, and up to the 

 present time they are the greatest fanatics among the Mussulman tribes of the 

 Caucasus. But the country of the Avars, and Hunzah, their capital, have 

 become more familiar to the European ear by the novel of Merlinsky, ' Amulat- 

 Beg,' the English version of which may be found in ' Blackwood's Magazine ' 

 for the year 1842. 



Evlaproth, seeking for analogies between the language of the Avars and the 

 dialects spoken by the natives of Northern Siberia, mentions, among others, 

 that the word mother^ in the Avar tongue, is ebel ; with the Ostiaks, eiuel ; 

 among the Samoyeds, ewel and ewya. 



But we may here observe that, among many of the Eastern tribes, the 

 names of Adam and Eve have been retained (of course, with inevitable varia- 

 tions), and usually serve to designate man and woman or mother. 



To the north of the Avars we meet the Andf, the country of Gumbet, and 

 the Koi-su-bu, which, for fear of detaining us too long, we will dismiss with a 

 passing remark, that the former are good tillers of the land, evince great apti- 

 tude in the manufacture of woollens, and show some disposition for trade, — a 

 happy feature which, if it were more generally cultivated among the yet rude 

 mountaineers, would more easily bring about the much-desired peaceful 

 relations between the present masters of the Caucasus and the native tribes of 

 the mountains. 



The country west of the Sulakh bears the name of Salatau. It is very 

 hilly, with deep and hollow ravines, but rich in pasture-land and very woody. 

 The vine can be raised with success. We have had occasion to mention 

 already the vineyards of the Cherkey people on the banks of the Sidakh. 

 Although the hills rise in some parts to the height of nearly 8000 feet, the 

 climate is genially warm in the valleys, which produce peaches, and where 

 rice is cultivated. 



Salatau has some very fine hot sulphurous springs, which, in all probability, 

 will be better frequented when greater security shall be established throughout 

 this land. The country is also rich in flocks of sheep. It is mostly this 

 portion of Daghestan which has been the theatre of the bloody struggles 

 between the liussian forces in the Caucasus and the Lesghi highlanders, 

 and their strongholds have gradually fallen into the hands of the former. 



