was found dead in a house, his left hand grasping his beard, and his right a two-edged cama. Gumzalbek took his place; but having fled, after being defeated by the Russians at Gulsatel, was killed by some of his own sect at Hoonzah.

Gumzalbek is said to have been a very able leader, but with more ambition than religion. The immediate cause of his death was this: At Hoonzah he met with a very lovely woman, the widow of the chief just deceased, and he sought to marry her. She, however, assured him that her grief, as well as other reasons, must prevent it. He did not desist in his suit, and was about to take her by force; which, reaching the ears of the beautiful sufferer, caused her to collect the servants about her, and demand of them the death of her persecutor; saying to them, "Ye are worse than women if ye have not the strength and courage to defend the wife of your lamented master." One of them, named Hadgemuzad, inspired by her charms, took at once the oath (so sacred with all this people), to kill Gumzalbek at the very next mosque service. Gumzalbek having suspicions, gave orders, but unavailingly, that all who came to the mosque should come unarmed. Hadgemuzad concealed a pistol in his bosom, and when all were kneeling, he shot the chief dead. The widow lives with one she loves better.

Schamil, the Abd-el-Kader of the eastern tribes, now rises up, and more than fills the place of Gumzalbek or Hasmahomet. He is a native of the same

village in which Kaseemoolah was killed-in the commune of Koesooboo. He was a peasant, his parents were very poor, and he gained a livelihood by dancing in the streets and selling fruits. He also studied Arabic, and was such a proficient that he became the most eminent disciple of Gumzalbek; and when the latter was killed, was looked to as his best He has now for years been a successful leader of the Circassians, and among them he bears a charmed name. Some of the Russians, however, say that he never appears personally in combat, but only gives general directions; and yet they tell the following story about his method of gaining power over the minds of his followers :

successor.

A great attack was to be made on a Russian encampment. When the morning came, Schamil caused it to be reported that he was dead, but that in dying he had left word that they should not fail to carry out his plans, and his spirit would be with them accordingly. They went, disheartened, to the scene of battle. Schamil watched them at a distance, and on the instant when he saw that they wavered, he descended from the mountains, and as his white charger came sweeping over the plains, all thought it bore his spirit, and the cry of Schamil! Schamil! rang along the battling lines, hung above the sounds of strife, and electrified every heart; but when his bright sabre like lightning was seen cleaving the enemy, his hosts became invincible; they fought like madmen, and were everywhere victorious.

CHAPTER VI.

DEFENCE OF THE CAUCASUS.

"THE expedition of Salta," says Mr. Ditson in his tour to the Caucasus, "in which Schamil and Prince Woronsoff were so conspicuous, is considered the most memorable that has distinguished the army of the Caucasus. I will give an outline of it, as well as I can make it up, from various accounts I had from Russians who were connected with it :

"Salta was one of those strongholds of the Circassians, the taking of which was deemed one of the most important events in the history of the Caucasian war. Its subjugation was of such moment, that Prince Woronsoff himself passed that mighty chain of mountains which has so long been the seat of those fierce struggles that have moved the world with wonder, pity, and astonishment, and led or directed in person the expedition set against it. The Prince was then suffering from ill health, and much was done and said to deter him from the long and dangerous journey and hazardous enterprise; but he knew too well the character of the person who commanded the enemy, to trust it to others less experienced in the art of war than himself. Besides, he was aware that many of his officers and good soldiers were to perish in the attack. He knew, too, that his presence would overawe the soldier who

would hear nothing, obey nothing, fear nothing but the command of his superior, while it would inspire confidence and courage in the officers, assured that each noble deed of daring would neither escape his notice nor go unrewarded.

With such feelings as these, he bade an affectionate adieu to his accomplished princess (who, from the high balcony of the palace, watched him till, descending to the banks of the Kur, he was lost to sight), and for the hundredth time passing that rapid stream which hurries on through the valley of Tiflis, and rolls its roaring waters between the rugged hills and rocky ravines of the capital of New Russia, he commenced his journey. Wearisome though it might be, it lay along one of the most picturesque routes which could possibly be formed by the combining of all that is sublime and majestic in natural scenery with the ingenuity of man. He reached the northern side of the Caucusus, and descended into the plains of Kabardà, where he joined the forces prepared for the expedition. When the news arrived of his near approach, the utmost joy and enthusiasm pervaded every bosom. Each battalion, drawn up in order under its respective commanders, showed to double advantage, as the light of a clear and serene sky fell on the burnished arms of the waiting mass, already animated by the tidings that he who had foiled Napoleon was to be their leader; and when he came to enter between these long, firm lines of devoted soldiers, when, as with one accord, the whole presented

arms, it was a sad but thrilling sight, though it was observed that he sat more erect in his saddle, and that a gleam of satisfaction and content passed over his noble face. On the following day, at early light, the drums beat to arms. The rapid movement of the officials, the gathering of luggage-carts, the numerous couples that were seen at the cottage doors leavetaking, showed that a march of the army was about to commence; and when the sun went down, bright weapons and white tents were seen glistening far away, on the brow of an elevated range of land that looked towards the hills of the Lesghini.

For some days their course was along the fertile savannas of Chechentsy, with the Terek on the left, hurrying its well-stocked waters to the Caspian; while those bold peaks and jagged passses which had been so long contested and yielded up, one by one, as the heart's life-blood, to the superior force and genius of the Russians, lay on their right.

At length they turned from the plains, and entered those long mountain defiles, whose sterile and sombre sides, and sunless twin ravines, where the bat flies by day, and where night adds little to their gloom, show them so unworthy of the wealth that has been expended on them; and, continuing their route, now more difficult, though free from those fierce enemies which had long since, by similar expeditions, been driven out from it, finally entered the territory of Lesghini, and in two days more were near the scene of a new memorable event.