332 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



subsided with a series of living ripples murmuring on 

 the sand ; and as we rounded a point, we observed a 

 large object, at a distance of not many yards from 

 the shore, which was towed by two men. As we 

 got nearer, we discovered that it was a raft, steered 

 by a third individual, and upon which had been 

 placed a small wooden habitation. We were informed 

 that this was a process by which a family, in Yankee 

 phraseology, sometimes changed their " location," and 

 in this primitive manner transported bodily all their 

 worldly substance to some more favoured vale. At 

 last, where another stream sparkled between green 

 meadows down to the sea, we turned inwards, resting 

 for a while at a charming little rest-house, more 

 highly finished and ornamented than the one we had 

 seen at Yardan. Then, climbing the steep sides of 

 the valley, our path became more rugged, and led us 

 amid the most luxuriant vegetation to a high shoulder, 

 from whence we had a panoramic view over the 

 broad bed of the Soubachi, up which our path was 

 now to lead us, never before, so far as we knew, 

 explored by Europeans. At the mouth of the river 

 we observed a substantial Eussian fort, now deserted, 

 as the group of Circassians clustered beneath its walls 

 plainly indicated. 



We were soon afterwards stumbling along the 

 stony bed of the Soubachi, at this time of year 

 shrunk within its proper limits, and leaving a broad 

 margin of rocks and stones to denote its winter 



