Passing over to Asia Minor, we come across groups of a very interesting race called the Circassian.

Inhabiting originally the belt of lofty mountains which run from the Black Sea to the Caspian, they were conquered in 1864 by the Russians, after nearly a century of resistance, and no less than half a million were expelled, and received hospitality in Turkey.

This welcome was extended, not only because the exiles were Moslems, but also because that country, remarkable for the beauty of its women, had hitherto supplied the Turkish slave-market with wives for the Palace and the Grandees. The vendors were their own fathers or guardians, who by this method secured, not only a substantial profit for themselves, but also provided comfortable homes and even royalty for their daughters.

With so much Circassian blood in their veins, it was natural that the Turks should show themselves sympathetic toward these poor fugitives, and find settlements for them in various parts of their dominion. Moreover, in doing so they kept up the market for wives; for although slavery is officially abolished in Turkey, there is still an underhand commerce with the Circassian colonists for the disposal of their daughters as aforesaid. However revolting this transaction may appear to us, it is consistent with the customs prevalent in Circassia itself, where a suitor is expected to buy his intended from her father. But there, at least, he must further arrange to run away with her, an undertaking which is not so easy if the young lady does not consent.

The characteristics of Circassians are their small and beautifully shaped hands and feet, the grace and agility of their movements, and their clear complexion.

They are temperate in their habits, and frugal, their national meal consisting of millet boiled in mutton fat.

The Circassians are splendid horsemen, but are rather lax about their perception of what is mine or thine; indeed, their Tartar name, tcherkes, implies a "robber." They are entirely uneducated.

The following pretty Circassian custom came under my personal notice. It was an application made by one of their chiefs to my father for intervention on his behalf with Government for the extension of a grant of land. The letter in question was addressed to "Pasta Baba"—i.e., the father of bread—a name by which my father was known through distributing charitable subscriptions raised in Great Britain; it was sent by a special messenger, and was attached to the wings of a snow-white pigeon. A gift of a few geese of spotless purity accompanied it. The petition was duly transmitted to Government, and the request granted.

There is a Turkish saying that the Almighty assigned the sovereignty of the land to the Moslem, but that of the sea to the Giaours, or Infidels.

But among the subject races of Turkey there is one which has distinguished itself for its intrepidity on the water and the fearlessness with which it navigates the Black Sea—a sea well deserving its sinister epithet. The Lazes occupy the eastern and south-eastern shores of the Black Sea, and their sailing-boats and ships do the coasting trade between these regions and Constantinople. Like all mariners of olden days, they cease navigating the seas during the winter, and draw up their lighter boats on the beach, and anchor their heavier ones in harbours. The lighter boats are styled tchektermes, and are from 30 to 50 feet in length, with sharp, beaky prow and stern. They carry a long bowsprit, with one or two jib-sails hoisted from a short mast, placed nearer the bows than the stern. A long boom, attached obliquely to the mast, serves to support an enormous sail, which, when the boat is on the tack, bellies out to such a remarkable extent that it resembles the section of a balloon. Yet notwithstanding this departure from the principles of sailing, tchektermes can run close up to the eye of the wind, and are very swift in their movements. A faint idea of this sort of sail is given in the picture of the lighter in the illustration of "The Bridge from Galata" in the frontispiece.

A STAMBOUL BEGGAR.

The tchektermes are only partially decked, a covered stern and bow serving for cabins for the crew. The undecked sides are heightened by 2 or 3 feet, with a tarred awning, which protects from surf and spray.

The larger ships used by the Lazes are from 200 to 300 tons; they are very quaint, and resemble ancient galleons. There is very little discipline among the crew, and everyone has a say and advice to give to the captain, who is much on the same level as his men.

A large number of Lazes come to Constantinople, and engage in the shipping trade or as stevedores, but others form into guilds for digging and carrying on operations in connection with housebuilding, and are very industrious and hard-working. Their hours of labour often extend during the summer season from five in the morning till eight at night. They, in common with all labourers in the East, are not engaged by time, as with us, but, like those labourers mentioned in Scripture, at a fixed charge for the day.

Another people strongly resembling the Lazes in appearance, but inhabiting the mountainous regions to the south of them, all the way up to and into Persia, are the Kurds, of whom you have probably heard a good deal in connection with the Armenian massacres. Their country is called Kurdistan, and is drained by the tributaries of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Several of its mountains rise to the height of 6,000 to 7,000 feet. Kurds are also to be found in all the hilly districts of Armenia and Mesopotamia. They are a sinewy, dark, well-formed race, with a fierce look which betrays an equally ferocious character. They owe but slight allegiance to the Turkish Empire, and are under the rule of chiefs, more or less independent, who organize robber bands to plunder or blackmail caravans.

They possess remarkably fine horses, which are greatly in demand for the Turkish cavalry. The Kurds themselves are great riders, and with their long javelins, bows, or muskets, are a terror to their neighbours. They are also experts in the use of the sling. During the recent Armenian massacres they were allowed a free hand, and their cruelty and rapacity were such as to defy description. The ex-Sultan, Abdul Hamid, incorporated a number of them into a division of cavalry, commanded by their own officers, which constituted his bodyguard, and he paid them largely, and dressed them handsomely, but since his dethronement they have been disbanded as too insubordinate.

It is the boast of the Kurds that their country gave birth to the great Saladdin, who in the twelfth century fought against our Richard Coeur de Lion in the Holy Land.

Most of the Kurds are migratory in their habits, but others reside in villages, where they sow their fields with seed in spring-time, and then quit them in order to pasture their flocks in the mountains. In autumn they return to their villages, and reap their harvest. Those residing in the plains are of a more peaceful disposition, and exercise much ingenuity and show much taste in the manufacture of carpets. These are entirely of wool, and are of that light description known as kilims, used in this country for portiÈres. Occasionally some of the women working at them weave in locks or tresses of their own hair, which is supposed to add to the value of the carpet. It certainly adds to its quaintness.

A peculiar product of the Kurdish forests is manna, a sweet exudation on the oak-leaf. These leaves are beaten down from the trees, and collected on sheets, and then pressed into lumps and eaten, either in their natural condition, or used as a sweetening ingredient. Manna has a sweet, pleasant taste, and is called by the Kurds the "divine sweetmeat." It is sold in the courts of the mosques in Constantinople during the sacred month of Ramazzan.

Lake Van, on the confines of Kurdistan, is about 70 miles long and 28 miles broad. Its waters are salt, but brackish near the streams, and when evaporated produce a kind of soap used in the country. The lake abounds in a peculiar kind of carp (Cyprinus Tarachi), locally known as Dareg, which is said to exist nowhere else, and which is dried and eaten extensively in the neighbourhood.