Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

INFLUENCE OF THE KORAN.

275

those who had been in quest of the fugitive now returned, and declared there was no trace of her anywhere. At length, when the ladies, apparently more from want of breath than matter, had come to a pause, Shamuz very coolly ordered a Koran to be brought there, intended, doubtless, for the administration of an oath, and the bare mention of which appeared to throw the fair sisterhood almost into hysterics, and set their tongues a-going with a vehemence and volubility more astounding than ever. They had the strongest objection to such a test being applied to their veracity; but old Shamuz was inexorable, and the oath was accordingly taken. So much virtue existing in an oath I had previously no conception of; it was quite miraculous. Those who had been the loudest in the asseveration of their innocence were now the first to plead guilty, admitting, in a whimpering tone, that they had aided and abetted the escape of the runaway, because what they had heard from the Hadji of our carnivorous propensities had left them to consider it as the only way of rescuing our victim. They had, accordingly, assisted her to elope with the son of the master of the house. This confession was enough for us. I was congratulated on the favourable issue of the affair, and betook myself once more to bed, much comforted with the assurance I received at all

hands, that if the fair deserter was not delivered to me within three days, mine host would have to give me his own daughter, who was much more beautiful, and in every respect a preferable bargain, to say nothing of the fines, seven times her value, in which, as a protegé of their tribe, I should have my share with the Chipakous.

In the course of the next day the fugitives returned, and in consideration of the false alarm which had occasioned their flight, their misconduct was forgiven. The young man took, besides, an oath on the Koran, that the companion of his nocturnal excursion was in no respect the worse for it; in short, that he had no damages to pay, since none had been sustained. The scepticism I might otherwise have felt on this point was in a great measure removed by what I had already seen as to the potency of an oath, and all that I subsequently witnessed with respect to it had the same satisfactory tendency. As to the rebellious dame herself, after the decided repugnance she had shewn to her new lord and master, and after the very extraordinary means I now understood she had adopted to get rid of her first husband, which I shall not further characterize than as equally provoking and unpalatable to him, and which had induced his tribe to sell her into slavery, I was in some perplexity what to do with her. From

SLAVE-DEALING.

277

this I was a few days afterwards happily relieved by the Circassian merchant, who returned me the merchandize that had been paid for her.

Before I dismiss the subject of this slave transaction, in which, as far as the purchase was concerned, I was decidedly involved against my will, I feel that I am called upon to offer some explanation in extenuation of my conduct to the English reader. The buying and selling of slaves has been constituted a felony by act of parliament, and it may be thought that I have exposed myself by the transaction to a prosecution under it; be this as it may, whatever the verdict might be in a court of law, I feel still more anxious of being acquitted in foro conscientia, by the enlightened and philanthropic class of abolitionists, whose exertions in the cause of humanity can never cease to command our respect till humanity itself be contemned.

With regard to my personal share in the matter, I have only to say, that if the manumission of the slave on my part would have ensured her liberty; if it would have proved either a boon to herself, or been sanctioned by her tribe, I should not have hesitated to set her free. But it would have effected none of these objects; she herself would have been the first to deprecate it, as she wished to be sent to Constantinople; and it was

for this purpose that she had necessitated a divorce from her husband. In the next place, if relinquished by her purchaser, she would have again been at the disposal of her tribe, and all I should have gained by my Quixotism would have been the satisfaction of losing seven thousand piastres by the knavery of the Hadji. So much with respect to myself. As to the system itself, having no intention of setting myself up as its apologist, so, on the other hand, I am not called upon to express unqualified reprobation of it. I shall merely adduce facts, and the inferences that naturally result from them.

[ocr errors]

As far as I have been able to ascertain, all women in the Caucasus are viewed in the light of property. Whatever may be their rank, whether for home consumption or exportation, they are equally the objects of traffic; not less, indeed, there than elsewhere the incentives to war teterrina causa belli. No woman in Circassia is a free agent or her own mistress; she is either the property of her father or of her husband, and at his death devolves to his tribe, who marry her as they please. It is true that a noble or a freeman can only sell his daughter to a person of his own rank in Circassia; but out of the country, to whom he pleases. This right is never disputed, though it is considered disreputable for an ouzden, or

WOMEN IN CIRCASSIA.

279

even a freeman in good circumstances, to sell his children to the slave merchant. The great proportion, therefore, of the women who are exported are of the fourth or servile class, which, as I have already intimated, appears to have consisted originally of prisoners of war. Now these slaves, serfs, or vassals, (in English we have no word to express their condition, and in their usual acceptation none of these will exactly apply,) are entitled to half of the fruits of their industry,, be they agricultural, pastoral, or domestic; and among other productions, their children are, of course, included. If a sale, therefore, be effected, the parent divides the proceeds with the master, or, if he chooses, he may prevent the sale; the consent of both parties being requisite for it. I have known many instances where the serf has refused to part with his child on any terms that were offered for her. When the girls are sold to the slave merchant, it is generally at their own desire, and from ambitious motives, as they have the prospect of an advantageous settlement in the best harems in Turkey. Their views in this respect are much the same as those of our young ladies who are shipped from England to India; but the place of their destination is not so distant, being only a few days' sail; nor does their disposal in this way at all infer a permanent separation

« AnteriorContinuar »