The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-05 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 5, 1854.

freights here. Sugar is now taken at 11. 10s. a ton in
place of 61. to 61., which were within six months the
ruling rates."
In St. Lucia the cholera was somewhat abating.
About 1,400 persons had fallen victims to the epi-
demic in this island.

The cholera was almost extinct in Grenada, but
3,899 victims had fallen by it. It was estimated
that an expenditure of not less than 2,0001. had
been incurred in carrying remedial measures to the
poor during the prevalence of the epidemic. The
plantations are heavily suffering from the want of
labour caused by the cholera and by the protracted
drought. The troops in garrison wore under orders
to embark for the purpose of carrying out the new
military arrangements for the West Indies.
The last of this year's crop had been shipped.
The following, obtained from the Custom-house
books, shows the quantity of produce exported in
the last year :
" Sugar, 5,432 hhds 1,116& tierces 2,157 brig.
"Rum, 2,709 puncheons, 117 hhds, 28 quarter casks,
8 djns.
" Cocoa, 4,912 bags, 63 barrels, 10 tierces.
" Molasses, 52 puncheons 2 hhds.
"Shrub,. 1 puncheon, 1 hhd, 3 quarter casks, 3 djns.
" Cotton, 200 bales, 7 bags."
Compared with the exports of 1853, we have of
sugar 154 hhds increase, and 2274 tierces and 205
barrels increase. In rum there appears in favour
of this year 595 puncheons, and a decrease.of 9 in
hhds, 30 in quarter casks, and Bin djns. In cocoa
there is an increase of bags and 37 barrels. In
, molasses 33 puncheons less ; also less in shrub 3
puncheons, 4 hhds, 11 quarter casks. Of cotton
the exportation is this year 42 bales over the last.
In Martinique business was brisk. There were
15 vessels loading there. An imperial decree
abolishes the duty of 20f. per hectolitre of pure
spirits imported into France from the French
colonies.
From Guadaloupe we learn that the Agricultural
Society of that island had received intelligence of
the formation of a company for carrying en the
immigration of Madeirans into the French Antilles.
The principle of introducing them in ships of all
flags had been sanctioned by the government.
Owing to the great scarcity of casks for exporting
rum for Guadaloupe, the Governor had authorised
the introduction, free of duty, of casks and mate-
rials for their manufacture.

THE PACIFIC.

SOUTHAMPTON, WEDNESDAY.

By the Royal mail steam-ship Magdalena, Cap-
tain Abbott, we have received our usual advices
and files of journals from the South Pacidc ports.
From Valparaiso the dates are to the 15th of
August. There was no political news. The
Chambers h'td passed a bill to reduce the duties
On silk goods, ready-made clothing, and shoes, to
15 per cent., and on carriages and furniture to 25
per cent. The scheme for establishing a bank of
deposit and discount in Valparaiso was on the
point of being carried into operation. The sub-
joined is a summary of mercantile affairs
"The movement noticed in the last fortnight Iris been
checked in great part by some heavy rains and
northerners during the first days days of the month ;
prices, however, of most articles of imports have been
firmly maintained, and will undoubtedly continue so, in
presence of the complicated state of political affairs in
Europe, and the natural effect they must produce on
the regular shipment of goods. The present fortnight
has been very poor in arrivals, among them not a single
valuable cargo. Those from Europe only consist of the
Sophia Heyn, from Hamburg, the greater part of which
goes to California ; the part destined for this market
consists of some manufactures and a large quantity of
furniture.

" From the United States we have had no arrivals,
so that the first coming out from that quarter will meet
with a fast and profitable sale for their goods, of which
the scarcity begins to be felt more and more every day.

" The ;ales-made for Bolivia do not amount to over
50,000 dols. in assorted goods. The Elicsa, despatched
in these last days, only carries those bought in former
months.

" Copper in bars finds buyers at 19 dols. 6c. on shore,
some sales effected at that price.
" Elides very scarce • 12 dols. would very willingly be
paid for Barracas, acid even 12 dols. 6c. for light
weights.
" Flour in regular sales for home consumption at
7 dols. 6 dols. and 8 dole. ; few shipments making,
owing to the discouraging advices received from the
leading markets of this article.
" Lumber—We have received several arrivals from
Chiloe ; prices remain unaltered.
" Coal lota much depressed.
"Barley.—Prices kept steady at 16 fanegas, with
bags, at four months. We are aware of a tolerably large
stock existing in the hands of holders in the interior, and
a decline may be expected on the return of fine weather
and the opening of our roads for land carriage.
" Jerked beef keeps at former prices.

" Wool, none. -
"Freights and Charters—About the closing of our
last report, several desirable vessels were taken up for
similar purposes and at about equal rates, namely, the
British ship Chilena, ores, from two Chilian ports to
Liverpool, 5/. ss. full. The British barque Berlisama,
to come from Caldera, and load here 250 tons of pro-
duce for a Bolivian port, gratis, and there load ores for
Liverpool, Si. 10s. full. The Chilian ship Cubana (late
New Orleans,) ores, from Caldera for Boston. The
Chilinn Ship Emilia, Huano Bay and Talcahuana for
London direct, 1/. 15s. full. '
From Bolivia we learn that the Government
was moving to the capital. Congress was to be
opened on the 6th of September. The presidential
elections about to take place would probably ter-
minate in favour of General Belzu. In Cobija an
additional duty of 5 per cent. had been imposed
on goods imported by that route.
From Peru the capture of General Echenique by
the revolutionary party is reported. The President
of the Council of State had issued a decree forbid.
ding citizens or others, subject to the laws of the
country from accepting letters of marquee, or from
arming or equipping privateers in Peruvian ports,
during the pending war in Europe.
With regard to the affairs of New Grenada, we
are informe that Obaldia, the Vice-President, had
escaped from Bogota and reached Ibague, where he
immediately took charge of the executive power.
General Herrera had proceeded to the north to
take command of a division of the army. A large
portion of General Lopes's army has reached
Ibague. The speedy re-installing of Congress at
Ibague was considered certain. The question of
removing the temporary seat of Government to
Carthagena or Ocana had been discussed. General
Mosquera was in Honda, organising a large force
to proceed north. Nothing is said of Mele's move-
ments.

CIRCASSIA.

AKEZOUGUY ON THE SCHAIDIA, Jury 4.—The Üboukh,
or Übiche, have long enjoyed, among the Russians, and
those who have derived their information from them,
the reputation of being the most ferocious mountaineers
of the Caucasus. Certain it is that they, have shown
great bravery and perseverance in defending themselves
against Russian aggression, and this is probably why
they have been hitherto considered such savages. We
are the first Europeans who have ever penetrated to the
heart of their country, and we have only experienced
kindness and hospitality from them.
The geography of the Caucasus is very little under-
stood. The name " Circassia," from the Turkish
" Tcherkesse," is very generally, though most impro-
perly, applied to the whole of that very extensive
tract of country lying between the Black Sea and the
Caspian on the one hand, and the southern steppes of
Russia, and her Georgian provinces on the other ;
but it is only a portion of this territory—that near
the Black Sea, and inhabited by the Tcherkesse, or
Circassians—that is Circassia. But the ignorance in
these matters is so great that even Schamyl Bey is
unusually styled a great Circassian Chief; and one of
your wise morning contemporaries not long ago, actually
gave the news that Schamyl had had an interview with
some English officers, somewhere on the shores of the
Black-Sea ! Now Schamyl is not a 'Circassian ; it is
not certain that he has ever been in Circassia, and there
is probably not one Circassian in his army.
The chain of the Caucasus, which rises by a gentle
and gradual slope in the neighbourhood of Anapa, and,
stretching to the south-east, ends near Derbent, on the
Caspian, offers in its range numerous peaks of the
greatest altitude. Of these, the two most remarkable
are Mount Elbeuz, the highest, which attains 17,500 feet
above the sea ' • and Mount Kazbek, the most central.
To the east of Mount Kazbek the chain is divided from
north to south by a narrow defile, known to the ancients
as the Caspian Gate, and in the present day as the
Terek Bogaz, or Dariel Pass. Through thi; pass runs
the great Russian military road which unites Mozdok to
Tiflis, and which is guarded by a numerous line of forts,
placed at a distance of from six to sixteen versts from
one another.
At the foot of Mount Elbeuz the Kuban takes its
origin ; at the foot of Mount Kazbek the Tarok. Both
rivers are equally famous in the annals of the Caucasus.
They bOth run to the north for some distance, the Ku-
ban more so than the Terek ; then, both bending almost
at right angles, but in contrary directions, one shapes
its course to the west, to lose itself in a vast lake near
Anapa, on the Black Sea ; the other, flowing eastwards,
carries its waters to the Bay of Agiachanskoi, in the
Caspian. The Kuban and the Terek, with the help of
the mountains, thus circumscribe two portions of terri-
tory, respectively situated near the Black Sea and the
Caspian, and have between them a tolerably large tract
of country, resting on the central portion of the chain of
the Caucasus, and limited to the north by the Malka,
tributary of the Terek. From Mount Elbeuz to the
Black Sea at Soukum Kale, with the Kuban to the
north and east, the sea and the mountains to the west
and south, is Circassia ; from the Kazbek to the Cas-
pian, with the Terek to the north and west, the moun-
tains and the sea to the south and east, lies Daghestan ;
lastly, between Mount Elbeuz and the Kasbek, between
the Kuban and the Terek, where they are parallel, is
Kabarda in the plains, and the Karatzai, Baksan, De-
goner,. Ourouspi, and other territories on the higher
grounds.
The Russians are masters of the entire course of the
Terek and of the Malka ; they also occupy both banks
of the Kuban and, the east bank of the Laba, a branch
of the Kuban. They have made military roads and
built forts along these rivers, driving before them such
of the inhabitants as preferred exile to the loss of their
liberty. The country between the Laba and the Kuban,
and between the Kuban and the Terek, inhabited by the
Kabardas, Karatzai, &c., has thus been forced into cn-
tire submission, and a military road driven right through
it, and over the mountains into Georgia by the Dariel
Pass. But the Russians have never been able to ascend
the other branches of the Kuban or of the Terek ; on
these, and on the hills where they spring, the inhabi-
tants have been able to defend themselves, and have
remained free, although hemmed in on all sides, and con-
stantly exposed to the attack of expeditionary columns.
There exist, therefore, at present, in the Caucasus,
two centres of independence—Daghestan, to the east of
the Razbek aad of the Russian military road ; and Cir-
cassia, to the west of Mount Elbeuz ; separated from
each other by a line of forts and a broad tract of con-
quered country, Kabarda, Karatzai, &e. But Daghes-
tan and Circassia do not only differ because they are
geographically disconnected ; their inhabitants are also
essentially different. In Daghestan the tribes are all of
Tartar origin, talking a Tartar or Turkish dialect. The
principal are Tchetchen, the Lesghis, the Kisty, and the
Kon:nouk. They were converted early to the Mahome-
tan faith, and aro rigid observers of its ordinances ; their
mollahs have al ways enjoyed among them a high repu-
tation for piety and learning ; and at various times they
have been united under leaders claiming a holy mission,
and exercising a religious as well as a military authority.
Of these, by far the most illustrious and successful is the
present Scheik, Schamyl.
In Circassia, Tartars are certainly to be found ; the
Nogai between the Kuban and the Laba, and towards
the bend of the former, are Tartars. But the majority
of the people belong to a peculiar race. They are Adighe,
Tcherkesse, or Circassians. Tcherkesse is a Turkish
word, of which we have made " Circassian." "Adighe"
is what the people call themselves. The Adighe are
spread all over Circassia ; they have probably lived here
from a very remote period ; they have no tradition of
the time they came here, nor of the place they came
from. But they say that the Franks once lived among
them, and point to certain artificial mounds, scattered
over the country, as their burial places—a curious tradi-
tion, if compared with the opinion advanced by the cele-
brated Dieffenbach, that most of the races living in
Europe in the present day originated in the Caucasus.
The Adighe are divided into several tribes. It would
be more proper to say that the Adighe country, Circas-
sia, is divided into several provinces, each of which
gives its name to the people who live in it ; for a Circas-
Sian tribe is.not a collection of people, followers of one
chief, and originally descended from one common ances-
tor ; it is simply the inhabitants of one or more valleys
brought in contact by the circumstance of neighbour-
hood or the geographical conformation of their country ;
and when predatory habits were common to all the
inhabitants of the Caucasus, they linked together to
plunder with greater success, or to defend their per-
sons or their property. In general they recognised
no chief, hereditary or other, but always selected one
for every expedition. Living in a country where there
are many and great natural obstacles to frequent inter-
course, it is not strange that the ties of a common origin
should have been forgotten amongst such members of
the great Adighe family as were settled at a distance
from one another, and that predatory habits amongst a
warlike people should give rise to implacable feuds that
made the separation still greater. Thus the Üboukb, or
Übiche, on the inaccessible hills sloping. towards the
Black Sea between the valleys, or rather ravines of the
Soubeshe and Sotcha rivers, isolated by their position
for years carried on war for the sake of plunder and
making prisoners,
with the Adighe furthest from them,
the Moobon on the Laba, and the Beeline on the Ku-
ban.

The most remarkable fact in the history of the Cau-
casus is, that all these tribes, after having been so long
hostile to one another, seeing their country become an
easy prey to the Russians from their division, have at
last, with. one accord, laid aside their own quarrels, and
even their plundering habits, to fight against their com-
mon enemy ; and this has been effected by the influence
of Schamyl and his emissaries, and by the more general
conversion of the Adighe to the Mahometan faith.
It is avreat many years since
Scheik Schamyl first
attempted to unite the Adighe, and bring thera to co-
operate with him against the Russians, and for this
purpose he sent among them one of his followers, Hadgi
Mahmoud ; but Hadgi Mahmoud died soon after his ar-
rival in Circassia, and does, not seem to have had time
to do much. Scheik Schamyl is not easily disconcerted,
and in 1844 he sent another envoy, in the person of Mo-
hammed EiLin Effendi, one of his most distinguished fol-
lowers, and a man every way fitted to become the worthy
coadjutor of Schamyl in Western Caucasia. He is the
present Naib. But in the interval the Russians had
conquered the plains of Kabarda, and were masters
also of the hills of the Karatzai ; and it became a diffi-
cult and perilous task to penetrate into Circassia from
Daghestan. A Kabradal promised his assistance, and
the Naib first proceeded stealthily to his house, and was
concealed there some time. At last an opportunity
presented itself, and the Naib, with the Kabardai and
all his family, fled together, and reached safely the other
side of Kuban. The Kabardai could not have safely re-
mained in his country after sheltering an envoy of
Scheik Schamyl ; so that his hospitality cost him his
home.

One would have scarcely believed that the Nal.b,
arriving a fugitive in a country where be was a perfect
stranger, could ever have acquired the influence he now L
possesses. He brought with him proclamations from
Schamyl, whose reputation and successes were well
known in Circassia. The Abezacks, among whom be
first arrived, were the first to recognise him as their
governor, and all the Adighe race soon followed their
example. The Nail) introduced into the country
Mahometan institutions, and the Government of the
Koran. The Circassians were already Mussulmans by
name, but they were very ignorant of their religion,
and very lax in its forms. But now mosques and
mehkem6s rapidly appeared all over the country.
Civil warfare soon stopped, all quarrels being amicably
arranged by the interference of the Nail). Such
of the tribes as would not give up their predatory habits
were compelled to do so vi et armis ; individual robbers
were severely punished, and forced to pay a good deal
more than the value of the stolen goods. A regular
police was appointed—two policemen for every hundred
houses ; and a salary of a hundred roubles, nearly 161.
per atmum, payable in kind, was assigned to them. To
c',ver the pu,lic expetv•es, the tenth plrt of the produce
(accorging to Mohotnetan custom) was set aside, and
this was divided into three portions ; one third was as-
signed to the mollahs and kadis, oue-third to the poor
and to the• students at the mosques, and ,one-third to
the Nob for his own maintenance, and every other

public expense. The tenth of the produce, valued at
the average Trehizond market price, is said to amount
to 40,0001. sterling, The kadis at the inehkeino receive
the tenth of the produce, and preside over its proper
distribution.

The introduction of Mahometan institutions has
therefore tended to efface the distinction of tribe, and
established order in Circassia. At present any one,
whether he be a Üboukh or a Moelion, can safely
travel from one end of the country to the other, meet-
ing everywhere with kindness and hospitality. Crime
is almost unknown, except what arises from pri-
vate feuds, which, unfortunately, are still not uncom-
mon. As it may still be of interest, I will now enume-
rate what were the principal divisions of the Adighe.
Though scarcely designing what is generally understood
by tribes, they indicate the different provinces into
which Circassia has naturally divided itself ; these are
three in number.
On the eoast from Anapa. to Touabs, extending inland
to. the Pzass branch of the Kuban, live the Netconage
and the Shapsough ; this will be the Shapsough pro-
vince. Between the Pzass and the Laba, in a succession
of the richest and most fertile plains, rising gradually to
the mountains towards the south, are the Abezack.
Their territory fcirmerly reached the Kuban, but they
have been forced to abandon the ground between the
Kuban and the Laba, and indeed territory severaL miles
broad to the west of the Laba. Blended with the Abe-
zack are a number of less important tribes—the Bza-
douh, the Kemgouy, the Hatookoy, the Mochon—whioh
are scarcely as distinguishable now—as well as a number
of fugitive Nogoi, Kabardai, and others, who have pre-
ferred leaving their country to submitting to the'Rus-
sians. The Abezack province is by far the richest and
most important part of Circassia. To the south of
Touabs, and as low down as Gagri, on-the southern de-
clivity of the mountains, are the Üboukh, with whom
may be included several less important fractions of the
Adighe race. The Üboukh is the most mountainous in-
habited country in Circassia.
The people I have just enumerated—Netconage,
Shapsough, Abezack, Üboukh, cc., all speak one
language, the Adighabza ; there certainly are a few
occasional particulars in each country, but they are
not important—they all understand each other. In some
of the valleys there exists also a patois, spoken almost
entirely by the serfs, and which is probably Adighabza,
corrupted and mixed with the language of serfs, all ori-
ginally prisoners of war, and of various origin.
Besides the above-mentioned tribes, the Kabardai
between the Terek and the Kuban, and the Beslinei
between the Kuban and the Laba, are also Adighe,
speaking Adighabza ; but, as they have been conquered,
they cannot be counted among the free Circassians.
There is another race besides the Adighe, which 'has
also given inhabitants to Circassia—it is the Abaza or
Abktaze. Where these people came from, and what
relationship they bore originally to the Adighes, I can-
not say ; but there certainly exists in the country tribes
so called, and so calling themselves, and talking a pecu-
liar language—the Ezrabza. The Abaza tribes live to
the south of the Üboukh, on the coast between Gagri
and Soukum Kal6. The Üboukh despise them supremely,
and say they are great cowards. The Abaza in general
have shown themselves friendly to the Russians.
There are some Abaza also on the north slope of
the mountains, near the source of the Laba; these are
the Bengh, Baraki, Chegirci, Kisbekonage ; they are
independent, and the Naib has sent among them a de-
puty in the person of Degonary Effendi, who has esta-
blished a mehkens there, and governs them. The Naib
has not yet attempted to do anything with the Abaza
on the coast.
There are few Tartars in free Circassia, and these are
almost all Nogoi fugitives. The Karatzai who live be-
tween Mount Elbeuz and the Kazbek seem to be Tar-
tars, but their language offers a curious peculiarity—it
contains a great many Persian words. Whether this is
to be traced to the passage of Nadir Shah in the Cau-
casus during the last century, or to the presence of the
Persians here at an earlier period, I must leave for
others to decide.