CAUCASUS. 



CA1 



f t ct of this water, whethvr drunk, or only applied 

 externally, i:> very beneficial in chronical i lu-unutisms, 

 in cases of general delulity occasioned by venereal ex- 

 -,, in hemorrhoids;, king's evil, rin^-worms, pal- 

 sy, internal obstruction!, and in all diseases where it 

 i.i necessary to stimulate and strengthen the action of 

 the vitals. 



The composition of this latter, or the cold spring 

 ^fsof Constantinohor, as found by Mr Skwentzon, is 

 that which has been already given. In 20 lb. of the 

 water of the warm spring, the ingredients, according 

 to the result of his analyses, are those ; of carbonic 

 acid, lOb'y cubic inches j of sulphurised hydrogen 

 gas, 80 gr. ; of carbonate of lime, 99-} gr. ; of carbo- 

 nate of magnesia, 17 do.; cf sulphat of soda, 101 {-^ 

 gr. ; of sulphate of lime 31^; of sulphat of magnesia, 

 66^ ; of muriate of soda, 156, \ ; of muriate of mag- 

 nesia, l; of resinous extract, ',. 



Mr Skwcntzon having ascertained the principal 

 component parts of the two springs in the Caucasian 

 mountains, which chiefly engaged his attention, drew 

 up and produced, upon his return home, a comparative 

 table of their ingredients with those of other celebrated 

 mineral waters ; and government have spared no ex- 

 pence in rendering them convenient places of resort. 

 k Tribe* that The mountainous regions of Caucasus have been, 

 inhabit the from time immemorial, and still are the habitation of 

 aucasian j^jj an( j va ij an t warriors, who have, with determined 

 L resolution, resisted the reiterated attacks of the Mon- 

 gols, Arabs, Persians, Tartars, and Russians, and 

 maintained, in a considerable degree, their freedom 

 and independence. On the most elevated parts at 

 the same time even of these vast ridges, and in vallies 

 almost inaccessible, there is found, along with these, 

 a singular mixture of small people of various de- 

 nominations, differing from one another, most pro- 

 bably in origin as well as in language, but with 

 respect to whom many of the circumstances that 

 appear most curious and out of the common tract, 

 do not easily admit of any tolerable explication. 

 The distinct and appropriate languages spoken in 

 this quarter, are said to be numerous, and to branch 

 out into an incredible diversity of dialects, some 

 of which deviate so entirely from the known lan- 

 guages of Asia and Europe, as to admit, in no 

 degree even of comparison with them ; some are 

 known languages, without any foreign admixture, 

 and there are others which seem to consist of a mix- 

 ture of several known ancient languages, such, for 

 example, as the old Georgian, the Mongolian, the 

 Persian, the Arabic, and the Tartarian. 



It will be understood, from the circumstance of 

 the languages just named having been introduced, 

 more or less, among the inhabitants of the Cauca- 

 sian mountains, that, though not subdued, the origi- 

 nal inhabitants of those parts have not escaped all 

 commixture with different foreign tribes. In fact 

 the population of these regions, generally considered, 

 may be held to consist chiefly of mingled races, made 

 up partly of the primitive settlers, partly of colonies 

 of those nations by whom, at different times, they 

 have been more or less brought under subjection. 

 From the difficulty, however, of ascertaining precise- 

 ly the primitive stocks from which all the descrip- 

 tions of persons that occur here, or rather the tribes 

 or branches of tribes that constitute the population 

 of those mountains, have been derived, it has been 

 usual to comprise them all, with the exception of the 



Georgians, under the general denomination of the 

 Mountain-Tartars. This subject has been involved in 

 obscurity, in consequence of some writers having ad- 

 mitted almost as many different races of people, as there 

 are principal names of tribes and families. Guldenttadt 

 i.s the first who had the merit of endeavouring to reduce 

 the small scattered tribes which occur in these parts to 

 certain classes, and of combining the names belong- 

 ing to a particular tongue by collecting accurate 

 vocabularies. Professor Pallas, proceeding upon hi* 

 plan, lias given a pretty distinct and satisfactory ac- 

 count of the nations inhabiting the northern parts of 

 the Caucasus, to which nations, it is to be observed, 

 he ha* chiefly confined his attention, as being those 

 most intimately connected with Russia, and which, 

 at different periods, had in a great measure acknow- 

 ledged its sovereignty. 



The following are the tribes comprehended in his 

 enumeration : 



1. The small Abasa, or Altikesek. Under this 

 general designation are reckoned six subordinate divi- 

 sions, viz. the Shantemir, the Khtsh, the Kesha, the 

 Lou, the Bibert, the Dudarnk. The people of this 

 tribe inhabit the country between the rivulet Ma- 

 raukh and the river Podkuma, consequently occu- 

 pying a part of the Turkish and part of the Russian 

 frontiers. They do not submit to the government of 

 princes, but are ruled severally by the elders of their 

 subdivUions. At a former period they were Chris- 

 tians, but their nobles now profess the Mahometan 

 religion. Agriculture is not unknown amongst them, 

 but they maintain themselves chiefly by the rearing 

 of cattle, and they possess a beautiful breed of horses. 



2. The great Abasa, who occupy a considerable 

 tract of territory stretching generally to northward 

 and westward uf that just mentioned. The sub- 

 divisions comprehended under this appellation are 

 the Beshilbai, the Barakai, the Tubi and Ubukh, 

 the Shapsikh, the Nauikash or Natkhu-Kaitshians. 

 Agriculture and the rearing of cattle are a little at- 

 tended to by some c>f those belonging to this tribe, 

 but generally they are much neglected. The Besh- 

 ilbai rear a few goats and sheep, and pay great at- 

 tention to the cultivation of bees. The Natukhas- 

 sians cultivate a small quantity of rye, and occasion- 

 ally keep hogs, a.iimafs rarely met with among the 

 other nations inhabiting this country. The several di- 

 visions of them are given to dissensions amongst them- 

 selves, and many of them devoting themselves to a 

 predatory life, obtain by this means a hard-earned 

 and precarious subsistence. 



3. The warlike nation of the Circassians inhabit 

 principally the promontory of the Caucasus, extend- 

 ing themselves also to the adjacent beautiful plain, 

 from which they have expelled the ancient inhabi- 

 tants, and subjected the greater part of them to their 

 dominion. From the superior importance of this 

 tribe, it has been usual, though improperly, to com- 

 prise under the same appellation, several of the con- 

 tiguous and less importaut tribes. But the people, 

 in strictness, thus designed, are those who inhabit the 

 part of Caucasus, called the Great and the Little 

 Kabardia, the islands of the lower Cuban, and the 

 southern bank of that river. They denominate 

 themselves Adege, /'. e. islanders ; by the Russians 

 they are called TscherkeMt, and by the rest of Eu- 

 rope by the name here given to them of Circassians. 

 See CIRCASSIA. 1 



