TIFLIS AND ITS INHABITANTS ^'j 



morals as the world accepts the term. The worst man 

 has some touch of divinity in him. Ali Ghirik wore 

 his generously. 



" We are going to shoot in the mountains of Dagh- 

 estan ! " I said, through the medium of Kenneth. 

 " Do you know that part of the country well ? " 



Our would-be henchman sniffed scornfully. 



" I ! Ali Ghirik, who fought with Scham}^ ! " 



I felt abashed. It is a wise man who knows his own 

 capacity. 



Schamyl, the famous patriot-fanatic of the Caucasus, 

 leader of the mountain tribes who for thirty years held 

 at bay the mighty power of Russia, made his last stand 

 at Guinib, in Daghestan. Ali Ghirik, therefore, was 

 a find indeed. Though he was but a stripling in the 

 stirring days of the fifties, he would be able to tell us of 

 his chief, of the ambuscades and wild sorties in the grim 

 ravines, of the schemes and plots and plans which 

 made Schamyl what he was. 



The best definition of the character of the remarkable 

 chieftain that I ever heard, or read, came from our 

 servant. 



" The greatness of Schamyl was so great," he said 

 proudly, " that it made his littlenesses less than 

 nothing." 



