154 



THAT'S IT; 



the original stock from which 

 the races now dominant through- 

 out the civilized world were de- 

 rived. In consequence of this, 

 everything connected with them 

 — their shape and features, their 

 manners and institutions — is ex- 

 ceedingly interesting. 



The soil of Circassia is very bad, and produces 

 little corn or pulse, and the fruits are almost 

 wild, without taste, and unwholesome, unless it 

 be their pines, which thrive well there, and 

 produce most excellent wine. The earth is so 

 moist in seed time, that when they sow their 

 wheat and barley, they never plough it, but 

 sprinkle it upon the earth ; for they say, that 

 should they plough it, the land would be so 

 soft, that all their corn would fail. They plough 

 their lands for their other corn, with plough- 

 shares of wood, which make as good furrows as 

 iron, becarse their land is so very soft and ten- 

 der. Their common grain is gomm, which is 

 as small as coriander seed, and resembles millet. 

 Of this they make a paste, which they use for 

 bread, and prefer it before wheat ; which is not 

 to be wondered at, for it is very acceptable to 

 the paiate, and conducive to health, being 

 cool and laxative. They have also great plenty 

 of millet, some rice, with wheat and barley, but 

 very scarce. The people of quality eat whcaten 

 bread as a rarity, but the meaner sort very 

 seldom or never taste of it. 



The ordinary food of the country is beef and 

 pork, of which last they have great plenty, and 

 the best in the world. They have also goat's 

 flesh, but it is lean, and not well tasted. Their 

 wild fowl is very good, but scarce. Their 

 venison is the wild boar, hart, stag, fallow deer, 

 and hare, all which are excellent food. They 

 have partridges, pheasants and quails in abun- 

 dance, with some river fowl and wild pigeons, 

 which are good meat, and as big as a crammed 

 chicken. Their nobility spend their whole time 

 in the field, using lanner-hawks, gos-hawks, 

 hobbies and others, for their sports, to catch 

 water-fowl and pheasants; but their most de- 

 lightful pastime is the flight of the falcon at 

 the heron, which they catch only for the tuft 

 upon his crown, to put upon their bonnets ; for 

 they let him go again when they have cut it off, 

 that it may grow up anew. 



Mount Caucasus produces a great number of 

 wild beasts, as tigers, leopards, lions, wolves, 

 and jackals, which last make great havoc among 

 their cattle and horses, and often disturb their 

 houses with their dreadful howlings. They have 

 large numbers of horses, and those very good 

 ones, which every man almost keeps in great 

 store, because their keeping stands them in 

 little or nothing, for they neither shoe them, 

 nor feed them with corn. They have no cities 

 nor towns, except two by the sea side ; but their 

 houses are so thick up and down the country, 

 that you can hardly travel a mile but you meet 

 with three or four. There are nine or ten 

 castles in the country, of which the chief is 

 called Ruis, and it is the court of the prince. 

 Their houses are all built with timber, which is 

 plentiful, and the poorer sort never raise above 



one story, nor the rich above two. The lower 

 rooms are always furnished with beds and 

 couches to lie down on or sit upon, because of 

 the moisture of the earth, but are inconvenient, 

 because they have no windows or chimneys. 



They have but one room for the whole family. 

 The men are well-shaped, and the women so 

 handsome, that they seem born for command- 

 ing love. They paint their eyebrows and faces, 

 and dress themselves with all the curiosity they 

 can, their habit being like the Persians, and 

 their head attire like the European women, 

 even to the curling of their hair. They are 

 witty and civil, but to balance that, haughty, 

 deceitful, cruel, and impudent. The men have 

 also as many mischievous qualities, and there is 

 no wickedness to which they are not addicted ; 

 but that which they most practise and delight 

 in is theft. This they make their enjoyment. 

 They justify it as lawful to have many wives, 

 because, they say, " They bring us many chil- 

 dren, which we can sell for ready money, or 

 ^exchange for necessary conveniences ;" yet, 

 when they have not wherewithal to maintain 

 them, they hold it a piece of charity to murder 

 infants new-born, as also they do such as are 

 sick and past recovery; because they say, 

 " they free them from a deal of misery." 



The south-western extremity 

 of Asia is called by the natives 

 Jeziret el 'Arab, that is, the Pen- 

 insula of the Arabs, or Arabia. 

 Peninsula Arabia is encompassed 

 on three sides by the sea, namely, 

 on the north-east by the Persian 

 Gulf; on the south-east by the 

 Indian Ocean ; and on the south- 

 west by the Bed Sea. In early 

 times Arabia was called by the 

 Hebrews simply Kedem, or the 

 East, and its inhabitants Kedem, 

 or people of the East. The 

 name Arabia, when it first occurs 

 in the Scriptures (as in Ezek. 

 xxvii., " Arabia and the princes 

 of Kedar ") is evidently applied 

 not to the whole peninsula, but 

 only to the territory of some 

 pastoral tribes. 



Notwithstanding the early reputation of 

 Arabia, and the interest attaching to a country, 

 the inhabitants of which have enacted most 

 important parts in the early commerce and 

 general history of mankind, we still remain very, 

 imperfectly acquainted with it. European 

 travellers have hitherto penetrated but par- 

 tially, and to a short distance only, from its 

 coasts. Nor are the difficulties opposed to its 

 complete exploration likely to be soon evaded or 

 overcome. Immeasurable tracts of inhospitable 



