TRAVELS IN CIRCASSIA. 315 



duced to relinquish that independence which he 

 (perhaps compelled by the force of circumstances) 

 had already forfeited. Secure in their mountain 

 strongholds, they bade defiance to the imperial troops, 

 who dared not penetrate beyond a few miles into the 

 interior. A line of Russian forts along the coast, 

 however, ensured the obedience of those of the in- 

 habitants who preferred their worldly possessions to 

 their liberty; while, as the plains which extend in 

 a south-easterly direction from Souchoum Kaleh in- 

 crease in breadth as the mountains recede from the 

 sea-shore, the population which inhabits them found 

 any attempt at opposition hopeless, and have long 

 since resigned themselves to their fate, to which they 

 have been the more easily reconciled, as they are 

 opposed in religion to the Mahometan mountaineers 

 in the north, and sympathise in their Christian wor- 

 ship with their wily conquerors. These have sedu- 

 lously fostered that disunion in the country which a 

 difference of faith Avas likely to engender ; and there 

 can be little doubt that, if the old regime be restored, 

 this policy will be at last successful. 



Prince Michael, called by the Turks Hamid Bey, is 

 himself a Christian ; but his father was a Mahome- 

 tan, and most of his family still profess that faith. 

 He has two country residences, one situated at Shem- 

 sherrai, about thirty-six miles to the south-east of 

 Souchoum Kaleh ; the other at Souksou, about fifteen 

 miles to the north-Avest of that place. The former 



