expedition now took leave of Sefer Pasha;
who obligingly furnished them with an escort,
under the command of his own son, Ibrahim,
to proceed along the coast as far as Soudjak.
This escort, it seems, was not a mere
compliment; for, isolated travellers or small
parties very soon learn that slavery is not a
nominal affair in Circassia. The very soldiers
who now furnished it would, said Dr.
Jeannel's informant, take him and his friends
prisoners, and sell them for slaves, if they
encountered them alone and without means
of defence; as long, however, as they
remained in the character of guests, they were
safe. The escort furnished by Sefer Pasha
consisted of five-and-twenty well-armed horsemen,
and, besides, Ibrahim Bey; who is
described as a most magnificent person to
look at, with a perfectly Olympian presence.
He was accompanied by a Hungarian colonel,
M. Banga de Illósfalva, who had taken service
with the Porte under the name of Mehemet
Bey, and was chief of the staff of the Turkish
army in Asia. This officer had lived many
years amongst the Circassians, and was
thoroughly conversant with their character
and manners. From him, as they journeyed
along, Dr. Jeannel learnt something which
will be read, perhaps, with as much surprise
as he evinced on hearing it.

"Does Schamyl," inquired the doctor,
"recognise the authority of the Sultan, and
is he under the orders of Sefer Pasha?"

"Schamyl!" exclaimed Mehemet Bey.
"Who on earth is he?"

"What!" returned Dr. Jeannel, "are you
chief of the Asiatic staff, and ask me who
Schamyl is? Why he is the most illustrious
chief of all the Circassians; the heroic
mountaineer who has made head against Russia, I
can't tell for how long!"

"Well, doctor," replied the Hungarian
coolly, "write in your tablets that the
illustrious Schamyl is utterly unknown in these
parts. I will be bound to say that not a
single Circassian amongst all who are now
travelling with us has ever heard his name.
If he exists at all, he must be some mountain
Bey of whom your journals have made
a hero."

"This is rather too good," said Dr. Jeannel;
"why, for the last twenty years, Schamyl
has excited the curiosity and admiration of
the whole of Europe: his is an historical
name. Let us ask Ibrahim Bey about him:
he can tell us, no doubt, where he is."

"Willingly," answered the Hungarian. The
doctor and Mehemet Bey accordingly rode
up to Ibrahim, and the latter put the
question to him. After they had exchanged
a few words, the colonel turned round and
said:

"Well, doctor, Ibrahim assures me that
this is the very first time he has ever heard
the name of Schamyl!"

"You think then, perhaps, that those who
speak of him are related to the naturalists
who describe the great sea-serpent?" said
the doctor.

"Precisely so," replied the Hungarian.

Dr. Jeannel suggests, in explanation of this
extraordinary ignorance of a celebrity like
Schamyl, that probably his influence is more
felt on the shores of the Caspian than on
those of the Black Sea, and that the Russian
government having personified in him the
resistance they have met with in the Caucasus,
the people of Europe have accustomed
themselves to consider, as the general and
dictator of all the Circassians, the only chief
whose name has figured in the papers and in
the Russian bulletins.

Whatever reputation for bravery the
Circasians may have earned, they deserve little,
in the opinion of Dr. Jeannel, on the score of
dexterity in the use of their weapons. All
Eastern horsemen are proud of exhibiting
their address in shooting at a mark while
going at full speed, but the men of the escort,
who practised the sport daily, made but a
poor show when called upon to display their
proficiency. This was attributable in a great
degree, Doctor Jeannel thinks, to the want
of suppleness and activity in their horses,
which were badly groomed, and fed only on
green meat. Their saddles, which are simple
cushions with very short stirrups, are not
favourable to this species of exercise; for the
horseman frequently loses his equilibrium;
having no spurs, he uses a whip, which
interferes with the proper management of his
fire-arms; and the absence of a curb to the
bridle prevents him from pulling up short
when he desires to do so. The weapons
themselves are also badly made, and miss fire
three times out of four. As to the skill
of the marksmen, the trunk of a large oak
tree was untouched after thirty shots, at a
distance of only forty yards. Some of the
Circassian tribes near Anapa are armed with
more primitive weapons, the bow and arrow
being substituted for muskets. The bow is
very large and heavy, resembling those of the
Polynesian savages; and the arrows are very
elaborately got up, with sharp steel heads.
Dr. Jeannel, however, had no opportunity of
seeing any practice with them.

The country through which the expedition
travelled, at the foot of the spurs of the
Caucasus, was very picturesque; but there
were few signs of cultivation. Here and
there, on the lowest slopes, were small patches
of millet and maize, and scanty crops of
wheat and oats; some strips of land were
enclosed with a sort of rude hurdles, but
others lacked this defence against wandering
cattle, and were watched by slaves. King
Lear might easily have made himself a mimic
crown in the midst of this poor husbandry,
for every field was choked with

                       rank fumiter, and furrow weeds,
     With harlocks, hemlocks, nettles, cuckoo-flowers,
     Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow
     In the sustaining corn.