The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1923-04-04


| psychological traits that grow out Of
and depend upon typographical envi-
ronment.
They number perhaps a million and
half, and are settled In small, iso-
lated stone villages throughout the
whole extent Of the range from the
Black sea to the Caspian, at heights
ranging from 5000 to 1900 feet. They
maintain themselves chiefly by pastur-
ing sheep upon the mountains and cul-
tivating little wheat, millet and In
dian corn In the valleys, and before
the Russian conquest they were in the
habit Of eking out this scanty subsist-
ence by making plundering raids into
the rich neighboring lowlands OF
Kakhetia and Georgia
In religion they are nearly all Mo
hammedans, the Arabs having over
run the country and introduced the
faith Of Islam as early as the Eighth
century. In the more remote and In
accessible parts Of the eastern eau
casus, there still remain few isolated
aouls (villages) Of idolaters.
In Daghestan there are four or five
thousand Jews, who, although they
have lost their language and their ma
tional character, still cling to their
religion; and among the high peaks OF
Tooshetia, In the same province, Is
settled community of Christians, said
to be the descendants of a band OF
medieval Crusaders. But these are
exceptions; nine-tenths of the noun
taineers are Mohammedans of the
fercest, most intolerant type.
More Than Thirty Languages
The languages and dialects spoken
by the different tribes Of this hetero-
geneous population are more than thir-
ty 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 So
circumscribed and clearly defined are
the geographical limits Of many eau
casian languages that in some parts
Of Daghestan 1t is possible to ride
through three or four widely different
linguistic areas in a single day.
Languages spoken by only twelve or
fifteen settlements are comparatively
common; and on the headwaters OF
the Andiski Koisu, in southwestern
Daghestan, there is an isolated village
of fifty or sixty houses-the aoul Of
Innookh. which has a language of its
own, not spoken or understood by any
other part of the whole Caucasian
population
OF course, the life, customs and so
cial organizations Of people who
originated in the way described, and
who lived for perhaps 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 val
eys and canyons of the eastern eau
,asus it was possible to study state
IF society that existed in England be-
fore the Norman conquest, and see In
'ull operation customs and legal proc
,sses that had been obsolete every !
where else in Europe for at least a |
Many of the aouls Of central and |
southern Daghestan bear striking re-
;emblance to the pueblos and cliff
dwellings, Of New Mexico. The stone
vailed houses are built together in q
compact mass on the steep slope OF a
Ugh terrace, and the fiat roofs rise In
iers or steps, one above another, just
s they do in the settlements Of our
ueblo Indians.
In some aouls the streets, or pas
ages, from house to house are dark
corridors, out of which
he inhabitants climb into their dwell
ngs on perpendicular ladders or
etched logs. AS the country is nearly
-eeless and affords comparatively lit
e wood. the walls of the one-story
uildings are almost Invariably of
,ughly broken stone and the roofs
nd floors are usually of clay mixed
18th chopped straw and beaten hard.
Near the center of every large VII
Ige rises the slender stone minaret
| the Mohammedan mosque, and on
me high point Of vantage stands a
luare loopholed NARROWER. in which
Ie surviving inhabitants take refuge
I'd defend themselves to the last
hen their village has been taken b, {
sault.