ACROSS THE STEPPES. A SUPPOSED ROBBER. 275 



his wares from the pedlar on the high-road, and to 

 fleece the citizens, so the Caucasian Tartar yearns to 

 roam on his steed as a free man through forests and 

 over steppes, and to take by violence whatever conies 

 in his way. It often occurred at Kedabeg, where the 

 Tartars belong to the best and most reliable work- 

 men, that pitmen, who had laboured industriously 

 for years, and almost without interruption the 



Moslem sect of the Shiites to which they belong having 

 only one feast day in the year and no Sunday - , 

 suddenly disappeared, when they had saved enough 

 money to buy a horse and weapons. Sometimes they 

 returned after a length of time. It was known that in 

 the interval they had been practising brigandage, yet 

 this did not prevent them from becoming excellent 

 workmen again, if they had been unlucky in their 

 predatory occupation, or had lost the taste for it. 



The warnings of the postmaster at Axtapha were 

 not strong enough to detain us, but we continued our 



O O " 



journey in the cool starry night with fleet horses, and 

 trusted to our good revolvers, which for precaution's 

 sake we held cocked in our hands. My brother Walter 

 however, whom the novelty of the situation did not 

 keep awake like myself, was not able to resist fatigue 

 very long, and soon slept the sleep of the just. Suddenly 

 there rang from the box of our low springiess open 

 w r aggon, on which my brother's servant was seated beside 

 the driver, a loud cry of "Robbers"! At the same time 

 I saw in the gloom a white figure galloping straight 



towards us. My brother awoke in consequence of 



18* 



