in which a crowd of Ossets rushed to an attack, throwing their arms about wildly, firing their pistols in the air, and hewing and stabbing with kyitj^ls at a fancied foe; their other movements were slow. In one figure twenty men having formed a ring handto-hand, supporting twenty other men who stood upright on their shoulders, moved slowly round repeating a dii^e with loud chorus. Again a circle was formed by a number of men who squatted on the ground after the manner of roadside stone-breakers; most of the labourers so employed over the Caucasus are Greeks who speak a corruption only of their mother tongue, and the jest of this performance was the holding the Hellenes and their occupation in derision. An Osset, who took his place in the middle of the circle performed some antic, and said something that was repeated in unison by the rest. He commenced thus: ' I am a Greek and work for my betters;' here the action of breaking stones was imitated by all; chorus — ' I am a Greek and work for my betters.' ' If I don't work I shall starve,* I shall starve:' mouths were opened wide, and groans expressed the pangs of hunger \ then followed with suitable action and chorus:
If I am not respectrul, I shall have my nose pulled, my nose pulled; If 1 beg, 1 shall be kicked, I shaU be kicked;
and after the chorus of, ' If I steal, I shall be hanged, I shall be hanged,' all rose to their feet, and a throttling and wrestling match by Google took place. The entertainment concluded with a pantomimic stag-hunt, which created the greatest excitement, and was loudly applauded.
The starshytti, who sought to meet our wishes in every way, brought to us his godchild, a girl of thirteen, but looking older, who had been prevailed upon to show herself in her gala costume; she was painfully bashful and confused. As we were assured that she was attired in the correct national costume, I think it worth describing at length.
A long skirt and the body of the dress which fitted close up to the neck where it was bound with gold braid, was of pink brocade; long loose sleeves of purple satin; short scarlet silk skirt over pink brocade skirt, and a purple satin tunic to match with the sleeves. These garments were plentifully trimmed with silver and gold lace, the tunic body open in front, being fastened with heavy silver bars across the bosom. Round the waist was a broad silver belt edged with gold, and set with agates and cornelians. The hair was quite concealed by a black silk kerchief tightly fastened, while a black shawl lay loosely on the head, covering the back and shoulders.
The starshynA accounted for the young maiden's terrified look by saying that this was her first appearance before strangers, and he was afraid it would also be her last until she got quite old, for elderly females did not hesitate to show themselves. He deplored the usage in this part of his country which condemned young females to a life of seclusion; ' and yet,' he continued, ' we are no worse than were the Russians themselves, not two hundred years ago, when women enjoyed even less freedom than ours do now! ' and rightly spoke the Osset Bismarck.
The men wear much the same dress as the Circassians, except by Google that the koudy of the Osset is more frequently of white sheepskin with a scarlet top.
Zaioutch was a tidy aoul, where everything appeared to be well directed and in good order, and in which there were none of the oflensivc sights common in the Caucasus; the starshynA was certainly the man of the people, for he was obeyed with alacrity. As we were preparing to leave, he ordered the men to fall in as before in military array; 'for,' he said, ' every man and bqy should be a soldier, and know how to Aght for his country! ' But when we entered the carriage, the excitement was too great for the battalion to bear passively, so it broke up, and the men thronged about us, waving their hats and shouting lustily.
This had been a stirring day at Olghynsk, mais tout vient d Jin; we gave the order to drive or, but our horses' heads were held yet a moment, while the ' stirrup-cup ' was being offered in a huge bowl of malt amid more shouts and cries. At last we cantered away over the green, the last man to whom we waved an adieu being the Lycui^s of Zaioutch, who had hastened ahead while we were engaged with the crowd.