The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1905-10-18
THE GIANT CAUCASUS
a REGION OF GLOOM AND TERROR
AND DESOLATlON.


Back From InlmcmoriaI antiquity
That Peoples the slopes of These
Snow Capped Mountains.
The traveller who should seek to cross
from the southern plains Of RUSSIA
over into Persia or Arabia by the land
between the Caspian and the Black
seas would find himself confronted by
n sight which for gloom and terror has
hardly any equal In the world, writes
W. i. Hodgson in the London News.
Rising sheer from the vast arid plain,
like great foam crested billoW about
10 break ON dcsolatc beach, IL billoW
10000 feet high and 500 miles long. the
snow capped Caucasus stretches across
from sea to sea with dreadful threat
ening, savage majesty of mien.
Its peaks are not SO high as many OF
the Alps. II has not the projecting
spurs and isolated, craggy heights
whose groupings give new and beauti-
full views at every step. II Is just an
immense mountain chain, an unhroken
fold or crease on the carth's surface.
Though the Alps have higher peaks the
lowest pass across the Caucasus Is
nearly double the height of the Alpine
crossing places. The Caucasus has no
lakes, only turbid, muddy rivers flow
ing from the ice fields Of Its central
ridge. Even these are missing in the
east, where the ridge lowers toward
the Caspian.
But the terror and desoation of the
f,p lion n
PIES to the north and south. On the
one hand civilizations rose and fell
the Bahylonian, the Assyrian, the
Greek, the Egyptian, the Roman, the
republics of the middle ages-but to
the north the great plains were ever In
habltcd by the wild, lawless nomads.
And so from the very beginnings of
time the CausasuS has stayed the hu-
man tide, and, as conquering races
swept all before them below, the weak,
the pcaceable, the unfit have been
driven higher and higher into inaccessl-
Bile gorgcs and wild, bog covered val
lcys.
A strange mixture of races, dating
back from lmmemorable antiquity, has
been washed UP like surf on to the
slopes of these giant mountains. The
I'd, the Kurln the Avar, the Jush, be
long TO races that persisted before Eu-
rope was discovered. Seven languages
are spoken In the Caucasus, each unin-
tclligblc to the tribes using the rest.
Some of them are related To the early
tongues of Europe, others have no
known afiinties and seem to be among
the languages of Babel that did not
"cateh on"
Here amid these mountains we have
the ghosts of ancient peoples who have
gone under In the world struggle.
There may we'll be tribesmcn here
whose ancestor was driven high by the
flood aud settled within sight of Ara
rat and his cousin. Noah. There are
still tribes who array themselves In
helmets and chain armor and carry
spears like those of 5000 years ago.
Others have strange ritual practices
that have come down from the dawn
of the world mingling their pagan rites
with worship of the christ cod and
the angels of the river, the forest and
the mountain, They have blood fcuds
which ~ on for generations, Ike those
of Corsica in the past.
II Is Il mistake to suppose that Rus
sin took the Caucasus by II general
warlike movement. There was ne
need Divided by religion into Chris
tianS. Mohammedans and pagaus, di-
vided by languages which made them
mutually uuinteligible, the tribes of
this strange museum of bygonc races
could take no united action.
Throughout the first three-quarters OF
the nineteenth century Russia was EN-.
ploycd in absorbing the Caucasus piece
by piece only two of the Caucasian
races made anything like strong re
slstancc In the east II Mohammedan
prophet, Shamyl of the ANar stock
which overran Il great part OF Europe
in the seventh century and was only
finally conquered by Gharlemagnc, led
the Lcsghlans of Daghcstan IN II reli
gious war against Russia. Crafty. daring
and fertile In resource, occupying
mountain slopes cut by impossible
gorgcs, ShamNl was believed by his
followers TO have n charmed life. Only
when the Russians built forts and mill.
tary roads and gradually inclosed him
ut enormous expense did Shalnyl sur
render at his castle Of Gunib In 1899
He passed some years OF honorable
captivity near Moscow and was then
allowed, as n deyout Mohammcdan, te
end his days In peace at Mecca.
Very different WAS the story of the
TchcrkcSscs, or CucasSians. who on
posed Russia In the western section of
the Caucasus. The GircaSslauS were
hardly the peaeeahle race OF whost
golden haircl captive princcsscs In tn,
harrlns of the east our hoNiSh dreams
were full Warlikc, splendid horscmeI
and marl,saycn. they lived almost en-
tircly by p'llage In 1854 they submit
ted. and Ia il, knowing them TO he
mmanagcub'c in the mountains. gave
them the A,ice Of coming down Int
the plains o. eui grating into Turkish
territory. They chose the latter course
and were welceNcI by the sultan, but
aS his ship arrived II the black sen
ports t. meet hem long after the prop
or time largl number persisted of hard
ship unl Gisya q. Some We're scttlct
In Armenia. u rs in Bulgaria. other
In various PARTS of Asia Minor, ant
wherever they went there has been
trouble since.
Two sides to II.