THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 131 



nation, and alone fitted to cope with the Circassians, to 

 whom only they are inferior. Though in the predatory 

 excursions, which have desolated both sides of the 

 border, these Cossacks have, from time to time, car- 

 ried off and intermarried with Circassian women, 

 many of whose customs, habits, and part of whose 

 language and national costume they have adopted ; still 

 the semi-relationship between the two races has in 

 nowise softened the unutterable hatred they bear each 

 other. Nothing but the fierce hostility of the Cos- 

 sacks could preserve all the Russian establishments on 

 the northern bank of the Kouban from utter destruc- 

 tion, by the inroads of the mountaineers, whose fleet 

 and vigorous horses bear them vast distances with in- 

 conceivable rapidity. Even now, guarded as it is, 

 they sometimes force the passage, and mark their 

 track with fire and blood, retaliating on the flat lands 

 the injuries which the Russian columns have inflicted 

 on their own hills and dales. 



The Circassians are not tall in stature, but exqui- 

 sitely proportioned, and of a strength and agility which 

 constant exercise has wonderfully developed. The 

 costume of these brave mountaineers is such as to set 

 off the nervous though delicate symmetry of their 

 make. It consists of a close-fitting frock coat, with 

 rows of cartridge pockets sewn upon the breast, and 

 tight trowsers, both vestments being generally of some 

 subdued and sober hue. All the magnificence dis- 



