Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/270

 are among the most beautiful of the inhabitants of Caucasus, and more like the Georgians than the wandering Tartars of the Steppe. ''They are well formed, and have fine features, which are set off by large black eyes and a white skin.'' Their language resembles that of the Nogay-Tartars. They live in very neat houses, built of pine. Their children are strictly and well educated; and in general it may be said of them, that they are the most cultivated nation in Caucasus, surpassing all their neighbors in refinement of manners. They are very industrious, and subsist chiefly by agriculture. Their soil is productive, and, besides various kinds of grain, yields abundance of grass for pasture. The country around them is covered with woods, which abound with wild animals, such as bears, wolves, wild goats, hares, and wild cats, whose skins are much prized, and martins. ''Their dress is chiefly made of woollen cloth, which they weave themselves from the produce of their flocks, and which is admired throughout the whole of Caucasus. They sell their cloth, called by them Shal'' , their felt for carpeting, and their furs, partly to the Nogay-Tartars and Circassians, from whom they purchase articles of metal, and partly ''at Souchom-Kalé, a Turkish fort on the Black Sea'', which contains shops and ware-houses, and carries on a considerable trade with the Western Caucasus. They receive here in return goods of cotton and silk, tobacco and tobacco-pipes, needles, thimbles, and otter-skins. While the men are employed out of doors, the women stay at home, make gold and silver thread, and sew the clothes of their fathers and brothers.

Such is the account given by a recent and most competent witness of the actual condition of this interesting nation, who, though now perhaps reduced in number, occupy probably after the lapse of 2500 years their original seat at the distance of from forty to eighty miles to the north-east of the same coast, to which they have always resorted for commercial purposes.