The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-10 00:00:00

THE CIRCASSIAN COAST.

We extract the following from a letter of the
18th July, from the Circassian Coast :—Some ac-
count of the Oircassian Coast, the result of ob-
servations during a month's cruise there, will pro-
bably not be unacceptable just now. We touched
at every place from Chouruksu, near Batoum (the
head-quarters of the Turkish force under Selim
Pasha), to the neighbourhood of Soujak, which is
still held by the Russians. The Russian forts of
Circassia are so similar that a description of one or
two would apply to nearly all. They are dotted
along the whole coast, at intervals of about ten
miles, and are usually near the mouths of small
mountain rivers, so as to command the valleys
through which these streams find their way to the
sea. These little rivers are rarely navigable
even for small boats. There is generally a
bar over which a ship's gig can sometimes be
piloted in very fine -weather, but even the pent-
up water will hardly float her for more than a
hundred yards. The intervening country gene-
rally consists of very rugged hills, matted with
dense primeval forests, impenetrable from the sea.
The forts are generally admirably constructed of
hewn stone, a soft sandstone brought from Kerth.
As the Circassians have no cannon, a height un-
usual in modern forts has judiciously been given to
the walls, so as to guard against escalade. They
are usually square, loopholed for musketry along
the sides, and with towers at the angles, mounted
with four or five large traversing brass and iron
guns. A mortar or two in the centre completed the
armaments. The garrison, from 500 to 1,000 strong,
occupied wooden barracks in the interior, where
also there was occasionally a small church. On the
outside astrong stockade enclosed a few outhouses,
arc., and protected a fruit and vegetable gard in
adjoining. The natives universally assert that tee
Russians were strictly shut up in these military
prisons, and that, whenever the wants of a few un-
fortunate horses or cattle (their fellow-prisoners)
obliged them to venture half-a-mile from the fort
in search of fodder, they sallied out in battle array,
with field guns and fixed bayonets. As the
Russians had gun-boats cruising between the
forts, of course they dictated to the coasting trade,
and held the whole coast in a grasp of iron. Custom-
houses at Souchum-Kaleh and other principal
points levied rapacious duties on all imports. The
Trebizond Turks appear to have been the greatest
promoters of barter, and its accompanying civilisa-
tion. All along the coast you find a sprinkling of
these Turks, who have adopted the Circassian dress,
language, and a native wife. These settlers form
the sole shopkeepers and small traders. At pre-
sent, now that the Custom-house robber has ab-
sconded, one or two large Trebizond trading boats,
with gay red flags, may be seen hauled up out of
the reach of the surf, near each of the forts. Na-
tives, bestriding wild-looking ponies, soon:assemble,
and toss on the ground compact goat-skin packages
of corn. Their tall sheepskin caps, long becart-
ridged tunics, slung rifles, kept in shaggy goatskin
covers, with one large bright pistol stuck through
the 'girdle in the hollow of the back, strikingly
contrast with the:gaudy shabby cottons which form
the Turkish sailor's scanty dress. The party squats
down, the Turk fills and empties a wooden measure
of salt, (then hands it over to tie Circassian, who
fills the same measure twice with corn. Such is
the simple barter, which is much on the increase
since the flight of the Russians. Money is almost
unknown, and is nearly useless on the coast ; salt
and common white calico (universally called
Americaine) are its representatives. As to that
extraordinary practice, the sale of damsels, it un-
doubtedly is common, and has been long so. The
Russians are accused of conniving at the trade. The
lowest price appears to be 1001. ; for a very first-
rate article you must pay 4001. ow, a purchaser
able to pay such high prices must be a man of sub-
stance and station ; consequently the beauty gains
what I am told they do not object to elsewhere,
position and luxury. True, the future husband
and wife are total strangers to each other ; in
civilised life natural hypocrisy before marriage
often secures the same result. Adventurous
English mammas sometimes send out a batch of
daughters to India. The principle is much the
same, but the Circassians have these advantages—
the girl exchanges barbarism and poverty for com-
parative civilisation and comfort, and the weeping
mamma is consoled for the loss ofherdarling by solid
cash. To return to the forts. A few poplar trees, a stray
rose bush, or a gaunt cat are the only living things
which meet your sight on entering them ; all else
is ruin and utter desolation. A few charred stumps
mark the site of what was once barracks ; a con-
fused heap of cut stone, half-buried guns, and
iron gun carriage-wheels mark what was once a
corner tower. One, perhaps, remains entire. The
thou-
sand pounds, fills the mind with amaze. Tons upon
Property, amounting to hundreds of
twornesckofofgrape
grape-shot, shells, ac., are strewed about
in prodigal profusion ; in all directions they pave
the ground and embarrass one's steps. That huge
military quack the Czar seems to have but one nos-
trum for all human affairs—grapeshot and shells !
For twenty
years he has been trying to make
friends with, to subdue, to civilise, to convert
these obstinate mountaineers with grapeshot.
Want of success never induces him to try some
milder
on for 50 years more with grapeshot, lie will fail.
Plan ; no, grapeshot for ever ! and if lie goes
Most of the chiefs with whom I have made
acquaintance have been wounded. Though these
forts are not very strong towards the sea, it would
have cost the allies much time, life, and money to
have taken them. They were of course abandoned
from the impossibility of feeding the garrisons now
that the sea is not theirs ; but they were scrambled
out of them with strange precipitation, notwith-
• standing the account of the complete removal of
stores in St. Petersburg official account. At
Souchum-Kaleh, the largest and most important of
•
, them, nearly everything was left. It is a charming
place at this season, with very good houses,
and a lovely botanic garden. They must have
left it with great regret. As for the native
chieftains, they are glorious fellows tall,
magnificiently dressed, and fine featured ; it is
impossible to view them as savages. Among
them the Nail) (Enim Bey), Schamyl's lieutenant
or representative, is the most powerful and the
most thoughtful. His will seems law along the
whole coast from Soujak to the Anakria River.
Within those limits along the coast all are Maho-
medans, and during the nine or ten years of his
residence among the Western Caucasians (being a
native of Schamyl's, or the eastern country, Degas-
tan), he has built mosques, created schools, and, in
short, excited a revival of religion a /a Wesley.
" Before he came we were beasts," said a chief to
me lately, " and now if he were to order us to
march into the sea, we should go without question."
Their hostility to Russia is inveterate and intelli-
gible, but they know well how unfit they are to cope
with the Russians out of their own mountains, and
the Russians equally well know them. Nevertheless,
I hope that they will not be altogether useless. The
Naib is dignified and. stately ; he moves with an escort
of wild mountaineer horsemen, preceded by a red
, and buff banner ; his white Circassian tunic, yellow
vest, black cartridge cases, and tall gray sheepskin
cap admirably set off his dark, strongly-marked
face. In conversation you at once find him a very

superior man, clear in his views, thoroughly know-
ing his own position and that of his countrymen.
All the natives of the coast from Soujak to Anakria
are bitter against the Russians, with the exception
of one or two chieftains, who have received money
and honours from them ; but these are isolated
cases, and they have had no influence on the
people. The principal chief in Abasia, Hamid
Bey, was made a general and a prince (Prince
Michel) by the Russians. He received a hand-
some stipend and a share in the Customs' robbery.

CONCESSIONS BY RUSSIA TO POLAND.
A letter from Warsaw of the Ist, in the Press
of Vienna, says :—" The approaching arrival of the
Czar at Warsaw will be marked, it is said, by cer-
tain concessions to the Poles in the point of view
of their nationality. It is said that the assembly
of notables mentioned in the organic statute of the
kingdom of Poland of 1832, is to be convoked. The
establishments of public instruction are, it is said,
to be reopened, and the employment of the Polish
language in official acts, the publication of the an-
nual expenses and receipts, and the right to con-
sent to direct taxes ordered. The Polish army is
also, the report goes, to be re-establised, but under
the command of Russian officers. The 4th recruit-
ment is finished ; never had the population been
placed under contribution to such an extent."