Omaha daily bee., 1919-11-14
Lost Island mthe Sea Of History

The Lesghians already have surrounded
Petrovsk, i'll northern Daghestan. thereby
cutting the railway from, the Baku oil field
to Rostof-on-the-Do which passes through
Petrovsk.-From Recent Associated Press
Dispatch From Constantinople.
Thus remote Daghestan. IAN island in the
sea of history" suddenly energies into world
limelight in connection with General Denikine's
Struggle for Russian supremacy. George Ken
nan, famous explorer, in a communication to
the National Geographic society, supplies the
geographic setting and local color for this piece
of news, as follows:
TN the southeastern corner of European
Russia, between the Black sea and the Caspian,
in about the latitude of New York City, there
rises abruptly from the dead level of the Tartar
steppes huge, broken wall of snowy, alpine
for more than 1000 years as the great range of
the Caucasus.
: Climate here is only question of altitude
Out of semi-tropical valleys you may climb in
few hours to the highest limit of vegetable
life and eat your supper il you feel so disposed,
on the slow moving ice of glacier.
The Caucasian range may be regarded for
all chronological purposes as great mountain
Gus island in the sea of human history, Nand on
that island now live together the surviving
Robinson Crusoes of a score of shipwrecked
states and nationalites- fugitive mutineers
of hundred tribal bounties.
"in Daghestan there are 1000 or 5000 Jews,
who, although they have lost their language
and their national character, still cling to their
religion; and among the high peaks of Too
shetia, in the same province, is settled COM
munty of Christians said to be the descendants
of band of medieval crusaders. But these are
exceptions: nine -tenths of the mountaineers are
Mohammedans of the hercest, most intolerant
type.
THE languages and dialects spoken by the
different tribes are more than 50 in number,
and two-thirds of them are to be found in the
province of Daghestan, at the eastern end of
the range, where the chronological diversity of
the population is most marked.
Languages spoken by only II or Is settle
ments are comparatively common; and on the
headwaters of the Andiski Koisu, in southwest
ern iDaghestan, there is an isolated village of
so or 90 houses-the Aou of Innookh-whch
has a language of its own, not spoken or under
stood by any other part of the whole Caucasian
population.
"Of course the life, customs and social or
haps 1000 years in almost complete isolation
from all the rest of the world presented when
they first became known many strange and
archaic features. In the secluded valleys and
canyons of the eastern Caucasus it was possible
to study state of society that existed in Eng
full operation customs and legal processes that
had been obsolete everywhere else in Europe
for at least millennium.
Many Of the aouls of central and southern
Daghestan bear striking resemblance to the
Pueblos and cliff dwellings of New Mexico.
The stone walled houses are built together in
compact mass on the steep slope of high ter
race, and the fiat roofs rise in tiers or steps, one
above another, just as they do in the settlements
of our Pueblo Indians. The roof of one house
forms small square front yard for the occu-
pants of the house next above it, and ladders
serve as means of INSTRUMENTATION between
the roofs of the ascending tiers"