FROM THE CIRCASSIAN FRONTIER, 
Few situations could surpass Kapil in wretch- 
edness. Bad air, bad water, swarms of mos- 
quitoes, with various kinds of locusts, beetles, 
innumerable flies, lizards, and spotted toads, 
seemed to infest it with the plagues of Egypt. 
Horses could not be hired; but the General 
accommodated us with his own. As we left 
Kapil, we quitted also the river, and proceeded 
through marshes to Kalaus. In our way, we 
caught some small ducks, and saw also wild 
geese. At Kalaus were two young elks, very 
tame ; and we were told that many wild ones 
might be found in the steppes during the 
spring. 
In the course of this journey, as we ad- 
vanced from Ehaterinedara, frequent stands oi 
lances announced, at a distance, the comfort- 
able assurance of the Tchernomorski guard ; with- 
out this, the herds of cattle in the steppes, 
amounting to many thousands, would be con- 
tinually plundered by the Circassians. Those 
Cossacks pass the night upon the bare earth, 
protected from the mosquitoes by creeping into 
a kind of sack, sufficient only for the covering 
of a single person : beneath this they lie upon 
the thistles and other wild plants of the steppes. 
At Kalaus there was rather a strong body of 
the military. From this place to Kourky the 
