CHAPTER VIII. 



Bela. A Story of the Caucasus. 



HAVING followed the Circassians in their transformed 

 appearance as Egyptian Mamelukes, we now return 

 from this digression, to their mountain homes. There 

 is a tale by Lermentof, a young Russian author, who 

 died prematurely about four years ago, in which the 

 character and habits of the mountaineers are illustrated 

 with great dramatic force. As the story, which is full 

 of human interest, turns also in a great degree on the 

 fortunes of a horse, it comes fairly within the scope 

 of the present work : we shall therefore present it here 

 in a condensed form. In the original it takes the shape 

 of a conversation between the author, and the com- 

 mandant of a Russian fort on the Terek, a rough un- 

 lettered soldier, but a man of excellent heart. We 

 shall distinguish the two speakers in the dialogue, by 

 their initials L. and M. 



