Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1854-08-25
The Circasstan's Daughter.


Some years ago gentleman arrived one
morning at the door Of the British consul
general at Bucharest, dressed in the wild,
travel.stained garb of Transylvania shep-
herd. His beard was untrimmed, his
sandals covered With soil, while settled
melancholy pervaded his features. The
consul general invited him to his house,
and made him his guest. He was an
Englishman Of large fortune. A wound
in his affections had driven him from home,
and he wandered on as far as the Carpathi-
an Mountains, where for some time he led
the rude life Of the hunter-hoping
that in change Of scene and excitement
of the chase he might End a cure. He
was disappointed, however, for there was
no sufficient danger in bear and wolf hunt
ing tc give it the excitement be required,
and he left the Carpathian forests, and
wandered alone in the desolate steppes OF
Wallachia, sharing the food Of the stray
herdsmen he happened to meet and sleep
ing wherever he was overtaken by the
night. Each day that he remained at
Bucharest he grew more aud more unhap-
py, till one morning the consul-general
happened to receive letter from Constan-
tinople, giving the details of victory
which the Circassians had gained over the
Russians. The letter was written by an
enthusiast in the cause Of Circassian indie
pendeuce The description of the fight
was animated, and the letter concluded
with glowing panegyric upon the bravery
Of the Circassian warriors, and prediction
of the success of the noble cause in which
they were engaged. The moment this
letter was shown by the consul-general to
his guest-whom l shall call Manly-the
latter determined at once to start for Cir
cassia, and volunteer into the ranks Of the
mountaiueers. That very night Manly
started for Giurgrevo, where he crossed
the Danube to Rutschuck: and there en-
gagged horses and guide, and proceeded
on to Constantinople. In that city Manly
found another Englishman ready to join
in his expedition, and instantly freightirg
Turkish vessel With salt, some ammuni-
ton and arms, he sailed for the coast Of
Circassia This was about the time the
Vixen was captured by Russian man-of-
war, and her crew imprisoned. The coast
of Circasssia was more strictly blockaded
then ever, and it was only after the most
hair-breadth escapes that Manly and his
friends succeeded in landing. They were
well received by the Circassian chiefs, to
whom they brought letters Of Introduction;
but what was more highly priced than the
letters was :he salt, the ammunition, and
the arms, which were quickly landed
The vessel in which they came then sailed
on her way back to Constantinople, but a
short distance from the Circassian coast,
was captured BY Russian cruiser, was
brought into the Turkish port Of Trebi-
.oud, and was there burned BY the Rus
SLAMS, Notwithstanding the objections of
the Governor. The two Englishmen pro
ceeded into the mountains with the Cir
cassians, to where the fighting was going
on, aud they were busily engaged in skir-
mishing and ambuscading, and at times
in hand to hand encounters with the Mus
vi;es. Manly, mounted on fiery Tartar
horse, clad in chain armor, and with a
long lance in his hand, was in the thick of
every danger He courted death: but for Il
long time passed unscathed from lance or
bullet. Atlength, in sharp encounter with
a party Of Russians, he was struck by a
chance shot, and though not seriously
wounded, he was forced to submit to be
carried to the house of one of the chiefs,
where he was recommended to remain till
his wound should be healed. The wife
and daughter of the chief in whose house
he was quartcred, tended him with care and
kill, and he was soon able to move about,
but was still too weak to return to the
camp. The chiefs daughter was about
fifteen years old : she was called in the
country "The Rosc," on account Of her
beauty. She was gentle and intelligent,
and Manly passed many of the hours OF
convalescence in giving her instruction
in some of those simple accomplishments
which form the first rudiments of an edu-
cation in Europe. There is something
inefFably winning in the manners of the
Mahommedan women of the east. They
possess a timid gentleness and native
grace which are commonly feminine. They
are taught to believe themselves as far in
ferior to men-as creatures of clay thai
have no existence beyond this world
and their manner therefore, to our roughel
sex, is one that woos protection. 1t i:
this feeling Of inferiority which gives t.
the face of the oriental girl, when in re
pose, that expression of dreamy sadness
and that inward look to her lustrous ey'
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