Milford chronicle., 1891-05-22
ALMOST our OF THg wosLo.

Tie swanetans, a Curious People Living
in tile Heart Of the Caucasus.
Before the AnthroP0logical society Of
st. Petersburg "a member, Or. Olderogge,
read au interesting paper on the results of
/ his explorations En- the heart OF Caucjsia
| He had penetrated where few explorers
/ had been before. He came to Swaneta,
a long but narrow valley st tie foot
/ of the Elburz mountain, through which
the river Ingoora winds. For most Of the
/ year Swaneta is isolated entirely from the
world, and even in the summer season the
mountain passes leading to the locality are
made extremely dangerous by water cur
rents, avalanches and falling rocks.
There is a strange semi-savage people in
the valley numbering about 5000 families.
They suhsist on their chase for wild ami
mails of which there is an abundance in
the mountains, and in the mild season of
the year plant just as much grain as is re-
quired for their immediate necessity. Every
now and then Swane;an viii wander
sway from his secluded home into a more
civilized ueighborhood to sell "a few hides
and to get in exchange a few things that
he misses in rs native valley, such as
cloth, cotton fabrics and some articles of
apparel
But this he does very seldom and with
great unwillingness for his needs are few
and his native valley has made him love
isolation. They speak n dialect the princi-
pal element Of whieh is corrupt Georgian,
with Persian and Kirguese terms Of speech
strongly intermiSed. They are 81 pacific
nature and extremely shy of strangers
DR.. Olderogge introduced himself to them
as a hawker, and, trying TO trade with
them, drew them into conversation and
made his studies and observations.
The dress and manner Of living Of the
SWanetans present a striking contrast to
the dwellings they occupy. They cover
their bodies with hides in the winter and
60 about half naked in the warm season Of
the year; Of cleanliness and comfort they
know nothing and there are no luxuries
among them But they live in ancient
castles Of magnificent construction, though
more tnan half ruined. There is quite a
number of such castles in the mountains
that encircle the Swanetan valley The
Swanetans have sort Of writing, and their
folk lore is rich in curious traditions and
quaint legends pointing to a time when
their intercourse with the world was more
frequent than at present and when they
ranked among the strong and civilized
peoples Of the region.
But all this is dying out with them
They worship four divinities and sacrifice
animals unto them. Their conceptions Of 4
those deities are strikingly suggestive Of
corrupted notions Of the Trinity and the
Virgin, aud indicate that they were once
Christians, but lapsed into heathenism be- |
fore Christianity took deep root among
them. They are strangers to all that we
accept as social morality There is a ter |
rible percentage among them Of lunatics, |
IDIOTS cretins epileptics, and those /
stricken with cognate, physical and nerv- /
Gus diseases.
The physical deformities Of the Swane- /
tans are commensurate with their moral /
and show that they must |
have lived as they live now for many gen
Their heads are fattened at the
back and abnormally elongated in the
temples; they are marked with strcng
prognatism and with diasthem Of both the
upper and lower teeth. AS a consequence
Of cretinism, which is prevalent among
them, nearly all the swanetans have
eoitres, which begin to DEVELOP at a very
early age.--New York Sun