48 
CHAP. 
I. 
' 1 
Commerce 
with the 
'Teller no - 
morski . 
Skill in 
Horse- 
manship. 
THROUGH KURAN TAHTARY, 
In their commerce with the Tchernomorski 
Cossacks, the Circassians bring considerable quan- 
tities of wood ; also the delicious honey of the 
mountains, sewed up in goat-skins with the hair 
on the outside. These articles they exchange 
for salt, a commodity found in the neighbouring 
lakes, and of a very excellent quality. Salt is 
more precious than any other kind of wealth to 
the Circassians: it constitutes the most acceptable 
present it is possible to otter them. They weave 
mats of very great beauty : these find a ready 
market in Turkey and in Russia. They are also 
ingenious in the art of working silver and other 
metals, and in the fabrication of guns, pistols, 
and sabres. We suspected that some weapons 
offered for sale had been procured from Turkey, 
in exchange for slaves. Their bows and arrows 
are made with inimitable skill : the arrows, being 
tipped with iron, and otherwise exquisitely 
wrought, are considered by Cossacks and by 
Russians as inflicting deadly wounds. 
One of the most important accomplishments 
the inhabitants of these countries can acquire, is 
that of horsemanship; and in this the Circassians 
are superior to the Cossacks, who are nevertheless 
justly esteemed the best riders known to Euro- 
pean nations. A Cossack may be said to live but 
