in reaching Soodjook-Kale, which, however, he found in ruins, as the Circassians had blown it up upon his approach. Since that period it has been rebuilt by them. To put an end to this war, and make Russia revert to the principles of the treaty of Kutchuk-Kainardji, England, France, and Prussia intervened; and Turkey, as the usual unfortunate result of her recourse to hostilities, guaranteed to Russia, as compensation for her concessions, the supremacy of Georgia, promising to endeavour to do the same in regard to the other states of the Caucasus. Russia, on this occasion, reconsigned Soodjook-Kalé and Anapa to Turkey.

In 1811, war having again occurred between Turkey and Russia, (during which Anapa was again captured,) the latter dispatched a force into Circassia, under the Duc de Richelieu, who like wise succeeded in reaching SoodjookKalé-that is, the site of its ruins where he constructed a fortress; and, having placed therein a garrison, retraced his steps toward the Kooban. In less than a year, however, this garrison was withdrawn, and the fortress entirely dismantled; since which event it has never been reconstructed by any one, remaining to this day an uninhabitable and extensive waste of ruins, amid which the neighbouring proprie tors pasture their flocks. By the treaty of Bukarest, (in 1812,) Russia again consigned both Soodjook-Kalé and Anapa to Turkey.

For the following sixteen years, although Turkey and Russia were at peace, the Circassians still continued to carry on war with the latter, until it was partially arrested in consequence of an offensive and defensive league, (or, as the Circassians express it, an engagement to be thenceforth at peace with the friends of the Padisha and at war with his enemies,) into which they entered at the suggestion of Hassan, pasha of Anapa, who also spent very large sums in his endeavours to convert the people to Islamism; immense crowds having, for many months, con. gregated daily in the valley of Anapa, to undergo conversion, and to participate in the largesse "distributed upon this occasion, many returning also for such confirmation.

These proceedings, equally at va

riance with the prospective interests of the Russians, did not, as may be presumed, escape their observation, and may probably have confirmed their determination to retain possession of Anapa, if it should again fall into their hands.

They, therefore, attacked it again upon their declaration of war against Turkey in 1828. But on this occasion Sefir Bey, the native chief of the dis trict in which it is situated, was second in command; and, if his measures had been supported and his gallant example followed, the Russians would, in all probability, not only have been foiled in their attempt, but few of them would have escaped to bear across the Kooban the tale of their disaster.

The families of this chief, and of another in Temegui (related to him), take precedence in rauk of those of all the other princes of Circassia; and the personal influence over his countrymen, resulting from his patriotism and the firmness and energy of his character, is very considerable.

On the occasion in question, as the Russians carried on their operations partly by land, he concerted with his country men simultaneous attacks upon the front and rear of their enemy; but, before they could be carried into execution, Osman, the Turkish governor of the fortress, who had been bribed for the purpose, opened its gates to the Russians. Even in this extremity, Sefir persevered in its defence, and yielded only when resistance was no longer possible.

In 1829 this war was concluded, between Turkey and Russia, by the tready of Adrianople, by which Russia appropriated to herself the whole of Circassia, through half a dozen obscure words, among which the name even of that country does not appear, having been implied only by "tout le littoral de la Mer Noire !”

Against this acquisition, so furtively made, in violation of Russia's most solemn and reiterated engagements to her allies, not to seek any accession of territory nor any exclusive privilege, the English Government of the day protested, by a reservation of British rights; yet have these rights, and the honour of the country therein involved, been sacrificed by the present foreign minister, in a manner which at once

evinces ignorance of "outer" matters in the assembly over which he rules, in these respects virtually, though not ostensibly, as a despot. In his despatch of the 23d May 1837, addressed to the Earl of Durham, he says:

"His Majesty's Government, considering in the first place, that Soudjouk-Kalé, which was acknowledged by Russia in the treaty of 1783 as a Turkish possession, now belongs to Russia, as stated by Count Nesselrode, by virtue of the treaty of Adrianople, and considering further that this port is occupied, as stated in your Excel lency's despatch of May 13th, by a Russian fort and garrison, see no sufficient reason to question the right of Russia to seize and confiscate the Vixen in the port of Soudjouk Kalé, on the grounds set forth in Count Nesselrode's note."

The shifting of ground from blockade to fiscal regulations; the suppression of evidence as to the former having been originally the cause of seizure assigned; and the falsehood as to the military occupation of Soodjook-Kalé permitted to Russia; the quasi ratification afforded by our Minister for her iniquitous appropriation of Circassia; and the injustice he perpetrated against British subjects in refusing to them the evidence of their countrymen for support of their interests; and in closing unwarrantably against them, in favour of a rival nation, an extensive mart for their commerce-as revealed in the parliamentary and other publications connected with these transactions are facts which merit the deepest consideration of all who desire to know in what degree of safety of keeping are the vast commercial and political interests of this empire. But the discussion of these subjects would lead us from our present purpose: we therefore resume the thread of our narrative.

The Circassians, at all events, still independent as they found themselves, could not be expected to respect a treaty to which they had not been parties; and which sought to make a transference of them like cattle. Immediately, therefore, after the fall of Anapa, they proceeded to take measures to continue the contest with Russia alone, and until the arrival of more propitious times. For this purpose, Prince Zahu-okoo Sefir, (or Sefir Bey, as he has been generally called,) Sudge Mehmet, and other chief

men, set forth, with a numerous attendance, on a tour throughout the provinces, in each of which they called a congress of the chiefs and elders, (or heads of septs;) and having explained, for their approval, the measures in contemplation, obtained their sanction for the despatch of the Prince and the Sudge, as their envoys for procuring foreign aid. For these and other general purposes, the former was empowered to remain at Constantinople, as Circassian plenipotentiary; and an engagement, under oath, was made with him, that no terms should be entered upon with the Russians until his return, or without his sanction. Unlike their civilized neighbours, the Circassians scrupulously observe their engagements; and have, especially, a deep conviction of the obligations of an oath and thus their bargain with Sefir Bey has been observed, on their part, as a solemn national covenant; while, on his, he has deemed it a duty to his country to remain in Turkey, and endeavour to achieve the objects for which he was sent there.

For some time his prospects were brilliant, as his lively and princely address procured for him the especial favour of Sultan Mahmoud, who enjoyed and spent much time in his society; either in conviviality, to which bis Highness was prone-or in feats of archery, in which the dexterous Circassian excelled, and acted as preceptor. But an indiscreet testimony of this friendship served to bring a cloud over it; for the Sultan having made the Bey the usual diplomatic present of a snuff box set in diamonds, the Russian minister immediately intimated to the former, that either he or Sefir Bey must quit Constantinople. The exile of the latter to Adrianople was the result; but there, while his illustrious patron lived, his sojourn was rendered as agreeable as circumstances would admit-a government appointment having been assigned him. Nor was the Imperial favour the only ray of hope which, in these days, enlivened him; for the minister of England-under what influence, or for what purpose, it would be difficult to fathom-entered into frequent communication with him; and is said to have authorized a communication from the Bey to his countrymen, which, at all events, inspired them with the liveliest joy and the brightest expecta

tion, as giving cause for the fondest of their aspirations-the friendship of England!

But the brilliancy of these prospects was speedily and fearfully overcast by the death of the Sultan, the retrocession of the English minister, and the increasing influence of the Russians; and Sefir Bey left to his own resources -the supplies from both the quarters above indicated having been of late entirely withdrawn-and no longer enabled to procure these with regularity from his blockaded country, has now expressed his determination to return there, and communicate to his countrymen his conviction of the futility of their hope in foreign sympathy. The reader can picture for himself the probable effect of such a communication.

We shall now take a short retrospect (as further particulars will soon be made public) of the transactions which have latterly occurred in Circassia; which will show how nobly the pledge given to their ambassador has been redeemed by his country

men.

From the date of the surrender of Anapa until the chivalrous exploit performed by Mr Urquhart, in the summer of 1834, of raising the dense veil with which Russia had till then shrouded her attempts at the conquest of Circassia, almost nothing_was known of what occurred there. From such information, however, as has since been gleaned in the country, it would appear that Russia's tactics unlike our own great Captain's-had been to subdue the spirit of the country by petty and incessant warfare, and by still meaner expedients, of which she alone, of the nations among which she ranks herself, makes damning use, -viz. the purse and the dagger! But the casual visit even of a single Englishman, appears at once to have convinced her that there was time no longer for such a system; and it was promptly changed. Williamineff, ["the yellow general" as the Circassians called, or "the red-bristled barbarian" as the Chinese might have called him,] a man of harsh and unscrupulous feelings, was now appointed to the chief command of the large force destined to act against Circassia, which he undertook to make subject to his master in seven campaigns; and his plan seems to have been to lay waste the open country, and to weaken the

strength of its mountain defences, by intersecting them with lines of forts. He was found thus engaged, on the second visit of Englishmen, in the year 1836: and smouldering ruins throughout the north-western portion of the country, and two embryo forts there, attested the industry with which he had laboured in his amiable vocation!

But a campaign of such labour, in addition to incessant harassment from, and many fierce encounters with, the hosts of Circassians that hovered around the army, had so broken its spirit and disorganized its discipline, that, upon its arrival on the banks of the Kooban, towards the end of October, Williamineff, despairing of safely effecting the passage of the river in face of the accumulating masses of infuriated Circassians by whom he was surrounded, first transported to the opposite bank the greater portion of his artillery, (men being deemed of less importance,) and then sought extrication from the danger of his position by playing upon the credulity of his less wily opponents. To this end he produced simulated despatches from St Petersburg, and explained to the Circassians that their purport was an order from the Emperor that he should withdraw his army and terminate the war, as it had so been determined on through the intervention of England! But, however gratifying even the idea of such an occurrence, the Circassians thought fit to doubt, under such circumstances, of its reality; and were on the eve of renewing their fearful charges, when the general, to remove all cause of doubt, tendered his oath in confirmation of his statements. It was accordingly taken in presence of Hadjioghlou Mehmet, the chief judge of Circassia, and of the other seniors present, when hostilities were suspended, and the wreck of the Russian army was forthwith permitted to pass the Kooban unmolested!

Next spring afforded the Circassians a lesson (which has not been lost upon them) as to "Russian fides," by the landing of Williamineff with another army in the bay of Ghelendjik, whence he made his way (some five-and-twenty miles) along two valleys and across two defiles, to the small bay of Pshat, for the construction of the first coast fort to the southward; after the completion of which he proceeded (fifteen to twenty miles further) along other

two valleys, and across one defile, to the echelle of Tchopsim, for the construction of another.

In the valleys now mentioned there are no farmsteads; and as the Russians, on these occasions, made not the least attempt to diverge from their route to burn those which are situated upon the acclivities of the adjoining hills, and committed but few atrocities save mutilating such of the bodies of Circassians as fell into their hands, (the half-roasted remains of one of which was found after their passage,) no material opposition was offered them until their arrival at the places above-mentioned, at both of which, so soon as a force could be assembled, many gallant exploits were performed against them.

During this campaign, the correspondence which, in consequence of the communication from Sefir Bey alluded to, (and which moreover was the cause, at this time, of diminished hostility on the part of the Circassians,) passed between them and General Williamineff, was on his part, as formerly, characterised (as will be seen in its publication) by the most overbearing insolence. His system, however, was already about to be changed for another.

On the 1st of October, the Emperor himself, accompanied by his son, arrived at Ghelendjik, whither Williamineff and his army (after the construction of but two forts!) had returned; and the arrival of the former was signalized by the conflagration of all the stores and provender laid up for the army-an event which was attributed, by the deserters, to the gene. ral's fear of the Emperor becoming aware of the mouldiness of the bread upon which his soldiers were fed! Be that as it may, Williamineff was ordered to retire immediately, with his army, across the Kooban, and there he was deprived of his command. Rayevski, his successor, bears a different character among the soldiery, having promised, at all events, refor

mation of many of the abuses under which they had suffered; and the general tenor of his correspondence with the Circassians proves that, toward them, it had been determined to substitute a system of conciliation and remonstrance, instead of one of menace; while their resistance was, at the same time, to be got the better of, chiefly by suppression of their external commerce. For this purpose the whole efforts of the Russians, for the two last years, have been directed to the occupation of the Circassian coast by a continuous line of forts, placed at the echelles most frequented by the merchants from Turkey.*

Southward of Tchopsim, the last echelle already mentioned, there are no valleys along which an army could be marched; as all thereafter run upward from the coast, almost at right angles to its trending; and, as they are narrow and flanked on either side (as indeed are those of Pshat and Tchopsim also) by steep and wooded hills, which extend to the very verge of the sea; and as the water, on almost the whole coast, is of considerable depth, at but a small distance from it, there was no expedient alternative for obtaining occupation of the openings of these valleys, but that of which Rayevski made use-viz, having line-of-battle ships moored at about half cannon-range from the shore, and obliging the Circassians to seek shelter from their fire, while the boats of the squadron were being loaded on the off side with infantry and artillery, who, generally by a ruse, were landed where least expected; and who, when once formed on the shore, were, of course, in condition to maintain their ground against a much greater force than their sudden arrival had given time for being assembled against them. In this manner six echelles to the southward of Tchopsim, viz., Shapsigua, Toapse, Waïa, Soobesh, Soot-* cha, and Ardler, were successively taken possession of during the campaigns of 1837, 38, and 39; and re

tained by a force of six to eight thousand men, until a fort of (supposed) adequate strength for being defended by a garrison of 300 to 400 men was constructed at each of these localities, and mounted with 15 to 20 pieces of cannon, and bombs of large calibre.

Yet it must not be supposed that the Circassians, however unable to oppose effectually such debarkations, submit. ted to witnessing tamely the subsequent operations; for many of the very bravest and best of those of the neighbourhoods above specified, and of the adjoining portions of the country, have fallen in the gallant and desperate charges which were made upon the Russian squares, so soon as the fire of the shipping was intermitted; and toward the termination only of these landings could they be persuaded of the inexpedience of attacking the Russian army when formed, and to limit their endeavours to preventing its detached operations-such as cutting down the forest in the immediate vicinity of the situations chosen for the forts; and to preconcerting measures for taking these forts by surprise, so soon as the nights had become sufficiently long and obscure to afford time and comparative security for such enterprises; the practicability of which had already been sufficiently tested, both in the portion of the country now spoken of, and toward the north, by sundry individuals who had scaled the earthen ramparts during night, without the aid of any apparatus, and gene. rally without challenge.

Early in the preceding spring, an attempt of this description had been made against the forts in the neigh bourhoods of Anapa and SoodjookKale; but it was rendered abortive through too strong a muster having been made, as intelligence thus reached the enemy, and the proximity of the larger garrisons of Anapa and Ghe⚫ lendjik enabled him to put the points of the threatened attack in such a state of defence as made it advisable to defer the project.

During these events, which it will be seen concern only the coast from Anapa to the pass of Gaghra, against which, however, the chief brunt of the war has hitherto been directed, some partial attempts were made against the great central province of Abazak, and those, of limited extent, which lie between it and the Kooban. A strong force under General Sass (the Rus

sian Dalzell) was moved into the latter, (which, from the comparatively level state of the country, are not capable of much defence,) for the purpose of enacting, for the first time, the farce of nominating a local governor, and of enrolling the people as subjects of the Emperor; measures whose efficacy was found commensurate with the presence and amount of the force employed. From his headquarters near the river, Sass made sundry experiments upon the central province, both by negotiation and by inroad, which proved equally unsuccessful; for his offers of peace, even untrammelled by any conditions of submission, were promptly and peremptorily rejected by the Abazaks, but upon the same terms as such offers, but more stringent, had been rejected by their countrymen, both northward and southward on the coast, viz., the dismantling of the forts, and the entire evacuation of the country from Karatchaï to Anapa, and from Anapa Sookoom- Kalé; while his inroads were rendered scarcely less futile by the prompt and determined resistance by which they were met. On one occa sion in particular, in the early part of May 1838, he suffered a severe repulse on the banks of the Shag washe, where the Abazaks awaited his approach, under concealment in the skirts of a forest, and there made so sudden and determined a charge that the Russians were thrown into irretrievable confusion, and a large portion of them drowned in their efforts to escape across the then swollen river. In this affair, Sass himself was somewhat severely wounded; and since then his enterprises against the Abazaks have chiefly consisted in forays upon their shepherds, flocks, and herds, in the pastures toward the frontier.

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The great interest which has of late been drawn towards Circassia, both on account of the extraordinary intelligence of Russian defeat which has of late arrived from it; and of the awakening conviction as to the value of its independence, now that Russia, in her Khivan expedition, has unmasked her designs of balancing, and eventually destroying, our influence in Central Asia, as of late first revealed by her instigation to the attack upon Herat, has induced us to attempt this rapid sketch of the country, and of the events of greatest interest connected with it. Yet there are others,