TRAVELS IX CIECASSIA. 343 



could ; and yet I was not aware myself of any differ- 

 ence between his pronunciation and my imitation of 

 it. There are said to be thirty different languages 

 in the Caucasus. Of these I heard six, nor could I 

 trace any affinity in the sounds. The natives them- 

 selves said they were totally distinct. It may easily 

 be supposed that, with such practice, Circassians 

 easily acquire Turkish or Arabic. 



I was struck by the scanty population in the Valley 

 of the Soubachi ; the hills were only partially culti- 

 vated; and I observed, with some surprise, that the 

 northern side was better settled than the southern, 

 and the greater part of the cultivation confined to the 

 most elevated portion. We only passed through one 

 village of any extent, perched upon a bold spur of a 

 hill, round which the stream swept with a graceful 

 bend ; from thence we looked forward into the blue 

 mountain-gorges from which it issued, and back over 

 the stony track we had followed. The houses of the 

 village were all neatly fenced round, and the female 

 portion of the population gaily attired in loose 

 trousers, tight at the ankle, and a long tunic, the 

 colours of both generally bright and in good harmony. 

 We had not, however, much opportunity of inspect- 

 ing them, as they Avere very shy ; and we could only 

 catch transient glimpses of them, as they flitted from 

 one house to another, changing their posts of obser- 

 vation as we passed through. When we once more 

 descended to the stream we saw them all collected on 



VOL. vi. z 



