The Caucasian Mountains and their Inhabitants. 97 



nominally slaves ; but one may rise among them to dis- 

 tinction and power and be another Sparticus. 



Respecting the religion of this people, it is said that 

 Mahometanism prevails. This is so, but then I think 

 they mix up with it considerable, both in faith and 

 practice, that has a much higher antiquity than the 

 Medinan prophet. I say prophet, because Irving and 

 other learned writers generally so call him ; but this is 

 not the proper translation of that most common phrase in 

 the Arabic language which embraces Mahomet's mission ; 

 Alia il Alia Mahomet resoul Alia — resoul meaning envoy, 

 one sent by God and not a prophet. " God is great and 

 Mahommed is his envoy." 



Conning the pages of ancient lore in search of the early 

 history of the origin of this tribe or nation, we almost 

 invariably arrive at the conclusion that it is involved in 

 impenetrable obscurity ; that like the source of the Nile 

 (till recently at least), towards which we may for a long 

 distance seemingly ascend, it is lost in some vast, sterile, 

 unexplored desert, or springs from inaccessible regions of 

 rocks, girt about with fearful mysteries. One of the 

 obstacles we so often encounter in our gropings for data 

 in dusty antiquity, is brought into our path, I doubt not, 

 by the habit of giving literal construction to the letter of 

 such ancient records as are only symbolical. We read 

 that Prometheus was the son of Clymene and Japetus, and 

 that he was chained to a rock of the Caucasus, where his 

 liver, renewed every night, was torn by a vulture or an 

 eagle. (The liver is still considered by the Turks to be 

 as much the seat of life and love as the heart). Mnohy- 

 lus makes Prometheus the son of Themis Apollodoris 

 Asia. Themis is a mere epithet for earth, and may refer 

 with Apollodoris Asia to a birthplace. Japetus is per- 

 haps intended to signify the origin of the human race. 

 Now may we not, without using any more license than is 



[ Trans. vi.~] 13 



