within another month; and the chiefs came to the resolution of breaking up their forces till the enemy should recommence his march. They had already been collected longer than usual, nor could the valley of Pchat any longer provide for their support. The inhabitants were willing enough to dispense with their assistance, and undertook with their rifles to keep the foraging party in check.

We had proposed to the war-council to storm one of the other fortresses, Ghelendjek or Aboon, while the army was occupied with the new erection at Pchat, but they did not relish the suggestion. On the contrary, they seemed disposed to remain quiet, as long as they were themselves unmolested by the Russians. These pacific dispositions arose, I believe, chiefly from the communication made to them by Lord Ponsonby. They had made the propositions, in the manner prescribed to them, to the Russian general; and his answer to them, with the unfavourable result of the negotiations, had been forwarded by Nogai Ismael, the bearer of the despatch to them from Sefer Bey.

Nogai had been detained by unfavourable winds on the coast, and I saw him once more before his departure. My object was to ascertain, if possible, what had been his views in maligning us to his countrymen. He had completely failed in his amiable purpose, and therefore, with a spirit of placa

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bility, Circassian rather than Christian, considering my motive, I offered him a present on condition he would explain the grounds of his previous hostility. My proposal was met with equal candour on his side. The author of the injurious reports he had spread against us was, as I suspected, Mr. Urquhart's discarded dragoman, and his own motive for giving them currency had been no less vindictive.

As Mr. Urquhart may probably be at a loss to understand how he could have offended this man, I shall take this opportunity of informing him. In passing through Stamboul, on his way from Adrianople, he had, like all the Circassians who came there, waited upon Daoud Bey at his Jäly, to offer his homage. Agreeably to the policy adopted by some of them, of fishing for large presents with small, he had given to Mr. Urquhart a part of his arms, and in return had been presented with a pair of English pistols. Not aware of their value, which was at least ten times what he supposed it to be, he had felt a good deal exasperated against Mr. Urquhart, and, unable to wreak it on him, he determined to punish those whom he conceived to be his proxies. Thus Mr. Bell and myself, had he succeeded, would have been the victims of an erroneous valuation.

Among other arrangements, it had been decided

that we should spend the ensuing month, while the Russians remained here, at the house of our konag, Keri Oglu Shamuz Bey. It was situated in the bay of Semez, (called, by mistake, in the map, Soudjouk), which had been the scene of the Vixen's capture. Mr. Bell had already resided there previously to my joining him. But before we left the environs of Pchat, we were desirous of taking a nearer survey of the Russian encampment, and we accordingly obtained the escort of a band of Dely Canns, headed by Nogai Indar Oglu, and our friend Tongouse, "The Wolf."

Nogai was the eldest son of Mehemet, of whom I have repeatedly spoken. He was absent during my first visit to Pchat, and was introduced to me about this time. He was reputed to be one of the best warriors of Natukvitch, nor was his reputation belied by his personal attributes. His frame was tall, powerful, and compact, and though rather lame, in consequence of a wound in the leg, he possessed great activity. He had a hawk's eye and foxy beard, and, to do him justice, had a good deal both of the hawk and the fox in his composition; still was he brave, courteous, and hospitable; in short, a thorough Circassian.

Attended by this gallant train, we once more descended the river, and after two hours' ride fell in with the Circassian sentinels, who were hover

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ing on every side of the Russian camp, in order that no movement might escape their observation. Nogai, followed by two others, now darted forward at full speed to reconnoitre the front of the enemy's position. It was concealed from us by a piece of rising ground, round which the Pchat formed rather an abrupt angle as it flowed to the sea between two headlands, at the distance of about half a mile from each other. It was at the bottom of this valley, on the beach, that the Russians were entrenched, and engaged in the construction of their fort. Nogai, who had disappeared behind the eminence, now presented himself once more on it, beckoning us with his hand to advance. On reaching this place, we alighted from our horses, and proceeded cautiously down the valley till we reached a cenotaph of huge stones, such as I have formerly described, and crouching behind this we had a full view of the Russian lines, extending in front of us within cannon range. How altered was the scene from what it had been when I landed there! The woods, full of aromatic plants, and vocal with nightingales, through whose umbrageous pathways I had ridden not a month ago, had all been swept away, with the habitations they concealed. But if the ruthless destruction of all that had adorned the valley was afflicting to a stranger, who had

been momentarily impressed by its beauties, what must it have been to those whose feelings had been associated with it from earliest infancy, who, in the place of their familiar haunts and old hereditary trees, where they and their forefathers had sat in council, now gazed on the tents of the destroyers !

These were pitched in long white rows, and in front of them the men were drawn up in line, at dinner, with their bayonets piled up within reach, in case of an alarm. Before them was a trench and rampart studded all over with guns, and behind them the sea, with half-a-dozen transports, tossing in the roadstead. The ships of war, not finding safe anchorage there, had all returned to Ghelendjek. The flanks of this position were covered by the two promontories, on which strong outposts had been placed. As near as we could ascertain, the number of troops within these lines amounted to 18,000. The deserters reported that this campaign had already cost them 2,000 men. Disease and desertion had effectually assisted the Circassians to thin their ranks. Occupied with this spectacle, for with our telescopes we could distinctly observe all that was passing in the camp, I had not remarked the departure of Tongouse, and was surprised to see him emerge from a hollow, close under the batteries. Accompanied by his