Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-08-05
DAILY EVENING STAR.

| DAILY EVENING STAR.
THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE OF tn,
| ..,-ay sfi rm7 CIRCASSIANs. = =
rranslated from ,hs French fer the II. Tribune
- TREBIzoND, May Is, 1854.
A few days ago there arrived at th,
Quarantine of Trebizond about two hun
dred Circassians with q live cargo O
great variety, but which they found som,
difficulty in disposing of BY reason O
the pecuniary straits, in which purchs
sers are just now placed. The traders
who are the steady friends of Shamyl
the Mohammed Of the Caucasus. and fht
bitter and determined enemies of Mich
olas, whom, in their figurative language
they call the Vulture Of the Shows, haf
for sale forty packages of human flesh.
They were made up of dozen children
of from four to eight years old, and Of
thirty females ranging between fifteer
and thirty. - gro - ,s... ~ r =
The quarantine doctor requested me tt
accompany him on his visit to this strange
spectacle. The superintendent of ths
lazaretto made the merchants and thei,
wares stand in line, SO that we had ar
opportunity of making a thorough ex.
animation of the parties. The Circas.
slams were all very fine men, large, tall
and strong. Their figure was as exauis.
itely beautiful as that of woman; their
limbs were plump and muscular; their
hands and feet were small; their com.
plexion was swarthy-produced by ex-
posure to the mountain air-but their
countenances, Notwithstanding, bore the
impress of gentleness and manly eour.
age; their chests were full and rounded,
and their step as proud as that of a mon
arch upon the stage. Their costumes
was very picturesque. 1t consisted OF
a great coat ornamented with lamb. skin,
and which fitted closely; of trouses cut
after the Turkish fashion, and made O,
light -colored cloth; of q cap OF gray felt,
with band of lambskin, the wool OF
which was long and curried. o.
They wore red slippers without stock
ings, and a cloak of lambskin or felt,
with which they wrapped themselves
with the utmost dignity. After having
visited the merchants we approach the
individuals they had for sale as near as
the guards would permit us. The little
Circassians and the females were ranged
before the doors of the cells, and from
their anxious airseemed toinquire whether
we were about to purchase them. The
children were beautiful both in form and
in countenance. Yet the latter did not
exhibit that infantile grace which is so
observable in Europeans. They had an
expression of gravity, not unmixed with
care, which almost made us regard them
as little men who had already experienced
the trials and difficulties of life. Young
as they were, they seemed as if they had
already passed through the term of their
existence. Their look was that of deep
reflection, their gait was slow and staid,
their stare was piercing and inquisitiye,
their mouth pinched and serious.
All these peculiarities filled US with as
much surprise as sorrow, tor they forced
on US the conviction that this anxious air
or precocious intellect sprang from fear
of the future or from regret at being sepa-
rated from those mountain scenes around
which they had so far passed their youth.
They were clad in tattered clothes of 70
particular cut or color, and wore no cover
ing on their heads or feet. Their food
was the same as that of their parents,
and of the coarsest and least substantial
kind. It consisted of millet cakes and
of spring water, and Notwithstanding
this innutritious fare they all had bloom
ing cheeks and the appearance of health
and strength. We next proceeded to
make close inspection of the females.
They were, with the exception of two
young girls, all considerably advanced in
years and destined to become servants or
bath tenders. Their faces, which had
faded air produced undoubtedly more by
fatigue and hardship than by age, bore
an expression of profound sadness and
of vague inquietude. Their looks seemed
to interrogate us as to our intentions re-
specting him. 60 ~3 Es1'.
One would suppose that they wished
to fathom our characters in order to fore
see their own destiny, and when they
saw that our visit was one merely of Gu
riOsity, they cast their eyes upon the
ground and waited until they should be
allowed to withdraw. One of these fe.
males was exceedingly beautiful She
might be fifteen or sixteen years old; the
look she gave US was that of proud and
naughty soul, but in her manner there
was nothing of that pensive agitation
which we had remarked in her compan.
ions, and even in the little children. Her
large, open, and lustrous eyes were ex-
pressive of a mind that was at once both
bold and calm. She, no doubt, imagined
that her beauty would be her protection,
and that even her future master could not
help but feel its influence. 1t would, in
deed, be difficult to give anything like an
adequate description of this woman. But
l have seen portraits which have strong
resemblance to her; they were, however,
the works of great masters, which then
believed to have been the creations of
their fancy and not the representations
of any human beings 70 -st
A great master does not, however, deal
merely in the, fanciful /; he. delineates
xubok ho coac NV -ho& ~ txl.x