imparting almost perpetual motion to his beard and mustachios. As he was but an indifferent orator, and understood but few words of Turkish, Selim Bey undertook to speak in his behalf; but the pantomimic shrugs and gestures by which he accompanied him, kneeling all the time upon our carpet, were no less amusing than expressive, and he now and then confirmed, sometimes rather mal-a-propos, it will be seen, the speech of his friend. This was as nearly as possible to the following effect:

"Our companion here is but too well aware of the pains which certain individuals have been taking to disparage him in your opinion. He is sensible that he had enemies as well as friends in this country. Indeed no brave and independent man can be long without both the one and the other, (Wallah gertchek dur-true, so help me God! exclaimed Tougouse.) What they may have laid to his charge he does not know, nor for that matter does he care much either. He will meet his accusers beard to beard whenever they feel disposed; and though, between ourselves, Tougouse in some of his proceedings may have conducted himself no better than he should do; (Wallah gertchek dur-true, so help me God! again interposed the candid Tougouse ;) yet, for all that, he may have behaved not much

APOLOGY OF THE WOLF.

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worse than his neighbours. If the Bey Zadés were to investigate all the misdemeanours committed here during the last forty years, (which God forbid,) I should like to know whose hands would be found perfectly immaculate. Then as to his dealings with the Russians, which, although he was completely deluded by them, the Kiafirs! he cannot pretend to justify, has he not, by a solemn oath on the Koran, renounced them all in future, except where they would themselves be the first to decline them in the field of battle, and where he promises, Insh'allah! to render an account of them quite as good as can be furnished by any of his accusers? In the meanwhile, to remove every doubt you may have with respect to him from your minds, he here freely presents to you everything of which he is at this moment possessed; so that when you shall have accepted of his gifts, which he humbly entreats you will not refuse, he will al-hamd-ullah, so please the Lord, have nothing left him in the world but his two wives, which, as a good Mussulman, you know he cannot part with."-(Wallah gertchek dur-true, so help me God! responded the Wolf.)

As we had previously made up our minds not to take advantage of our host's prodigality, we declined, although applauding his good disposition, to accept of anything but his coat of mail for

ourselves, and the sabre for our interpreter. These, we had been assured, he could very easily replace. Our acknowledgments to him were also seasoned with some advice, which was taken in very good part by him. He even offered, if we chose, to renew in our presence the oath he had formerly taken to abjure all connexion with the Russians.

That day and the next we remained at his house, and he accompanied us in person on our return to Semez.

HADJI ISMAEL EFFENDI.

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CHAPTER III.

Visit to Hadji Ismael Effendi-Abdoullah the clerk-Hadji Guz-Beg the Lion-Russian Colony in Circassia-Reconnoitring.

BEFORE We left the valley of Tadjaguz, we accepted the invitation of Hadji Ismael Effendi to spend a day with him. We had, since our arrival in the country, on more than one occasion, had reason to admire the moderation of his conduct and the modesty of his demeanour; in which respects, though without any pretensions as a politician, he afforded a complete contrast to Hadjioli. As a tribute of my regard for him, I had presented him with a history of Turkey, lately published in the Turkish language at Constantinople, and which, books being scarce in Circassia, had been an object of much solicitation and competition

among the learned. He had been not a little elated with his prize, and assured me that he was in the habit of reading a portion of it every Friday to his congregation at the mosque. This the reader may perhaps think a strange place for the delivery of historical lectures, but the fact was, that the annals in question, though professedly relating to the Ottoman empire, not only embraced the lives of Adam and all his posterity, but were half of them occupied with what took place before the creation, entering into most circumstantial details with respect to the angels, genii, &c., who flourished in those times, and all of which Hadji Ismael found to be both instructive and edifying to the Circassians.

For the invitation we received from him on this occasion, we were perhaps as much indebted to the young man who lived with him in the quality of muezzin, or clerk, by name Abdoullah, a sort of universal genius, who, having received his education at Anapa, had ever since the ejection of the Turks from that fortress been condemned, much against his will, to rusticate in the mountains, his only resource, in the absence of more competent judges, being to astonish the natives by the extent and variety of his accomplishments. Not only an adept in the service of the mosque, acting as imaum, muezzin, or sexton, as occasion