The Caucasian Mountains and their Inhabitants. Ill 



may walk with unsandaled feet the thorny path of duty, 

 but her triumph must be of the soul, an inward exaltation, 

 looking with resignation and trust to that ever beaming 

 star of Bethlehem circling unwearied round the mountain 

 of her faith, fadelessly above the clouds of her plaintive 

 pilgrimage. 



Here I am reminded of a feature in the moral code of 

 this people, and with which there is connected a rather 

 ludicrous custom. I say in the moral code of this people, 

 but it exists among the Kabyls of the Atlas, among the 

 Arabs, and I believe also, among our Indians, and among 

 the highlands of Scotland as we have seen. Where one 

 person causes intentionally the death of another, the 

 brother or nearest relative, or some one of the same tribe 

 as the deceased, is bound to avenge it, and the murderer 

 must pay the forfeit of his life. The night time is gene- 

 rally chosen for seeking this redress, and as these moun- 

 taineers are constantly making raids upon each other, 

 almost every man can boast of having caused the death of 

 one or more of his enemies, and hence at any moment is 

 liable to receive the customary reward. When one then 

 is about to sally out to visit his family, he first hangs his 

 cap on the end of his cane and thrusts it cautiously, as if 

 his head were in it, out of the door ; if he receives no 

 bullet in it, and hears no report of a gun, he ventures 

 forth. 



Marriage among this people is neither a sacrament nor 

 a ceremony of much moment. When a father says to a 

 young man who solicits the hand of his daughter, " I 

 have supported this child for fourteen, fifteen, sixteen 

 years or more, and you would have me give her to you as 

 if she were some worthless game, some wild bird that 

 had flown into my hut, and had cost me nothing. You 

 must be a mad mountain boor to think of such a thing. 



