250 EN ROUTE FOR DAGHESTAN. 



bazaar, and, hearing of us, volunteered to guide us 

 to the home of the tur and the chamois for a much 

 smaller sum than that which I had vainly offered 

 to the Russian moujiks. Allai, as he was called, 

 was a man about 6 feet 3 inches in heii-ht, hard 

 and wiry in build, who unfortunately spoke no 

 single word of any other language than his own 

 Lesghian Tartar. The ' starost ' (elder) warned 

 me to beware of him, for, in spite of his gentle 

 ways and guileless manner, Allai was suspected of 

 knowing a great deal more of the brigands than 

 was exactly to his credit. Still, brigand or not, 

 it mattered very little to me, as Allai was evidently 

 the only man who could serve my purpose, and I 

 fancied I saw my way to securing myself and 

 servant from any outrage which our guide could 

 prevent. My plan was simply to arrange with him 

 that for his and his brother's services, together with 

 the use of two horses for the first day, or for as far 

 as travelling on horseback should be practicable, 1 

 was to pay him a certain sum, which sum, together 

 with all my other valuables, having been safely 

 deposited with a friend in the village, would only 

 become his on my safe return from my trip. This 

 agreement, together with the precaution of letting 

 the Russian military authorities quartered in the 

 village know whither I was bound, made me feel 

 tolerably safe, even should Allai be head and chief 

 of all the brigands from the Black Sea to the 



