ere
completely subjugated by the despotism of the white Czar, Madame de Hell
furnishes a graphic account. Bred amid the sights and sounds of war they
went always well armed, carrying a rifle, a sabre, a long dagger, which
they wore in front, and a pistol in the belt. Their picturesque costume
consisted of tight pantaloons, and a short tunic, which was belted round
the waist, and had cartridge pockets worked on the breast; a round laced
cap, encircled with a black or white border of long-wooled sheepskin,
formed their head-gear. In cold or rainy weather, they wore a _bashlik_,
or hood, and a _bourka_, or cloak, of impervious felt. They were bold
and skilful riders, and their horses, though small, were remarkable for
spirit and endurance. It is well known that a Circassian horseman would
cover twenty-five or even thirty leagues of ground in a night. When
pursued by the Russians, they would leap the most rapid torrents. If
their steeds were young, and unaccustomed to such perilous exploits,
they would gallop them up to the brink of the ravine, cover the head
with their bourkas, and then dash, almost always without mishap, down
precipices from twenty to fifty feet in depth.

It is unnecessary to dwell on their address in the use of fire-arms and
of their two-edged daggers. Armed only with the latter weapon, they were
often known, during their long and heroic struggle for independence, to
leap their horses over the Muscovite bayonets, stab the soldiers, and
break up and put to flight their serried battalions. When surrounded in
their forts or villages, and shut out from all hope of escape, they
frequently sacrificed their wives and children--like the Jews in the
last agonies of their war with Rome--set fire to their dwellings, and
perished heroically in the flames. With true Oriental devotedness they
stand by their dead and wounded to the last extremity, and fight with
the most dogged courage to prevent them from falling into the hands of
the enemy.

Madame de Hell is not disposed to endorse the reputation for beauty
which so many writers have agreed in bestowing upon the Circassian
women. She considers them even inferior, physically, to the men. "It is
true," she says, "we were unable to visit any of the great centres of
population, or to travel amongst the independent tribes, but we saw
several _aouls_ on the banks of the Kouban, and were entertained in a
princely family, and nowhere did we meet with any of those surpassi