NOTES ON THE CAUCASUS.* Tars volume is evidently the production

of a military man who has travelled in many Asiatic countries, and who has the invaluable knack of keeping his eyes open, and of thus realising at a glance the distinctive features of a country and the charac-

teristics of its people. His Notes on the Caucasus are con- sequently full of a good deal of useful information, not always con- veyed in the most skilful literary manner, about a region which

can appeal, for one reason or another, to a wide circle of persons interested in its future; and "Wanderer," as we suppose for official reasons he prefers to call himself, is one of those rare men among the people of this country who possess all the

recognised attributes of the successful traveller,—courage, good- temper, ready tact, physical strength, and an imposing appear- ance. By means of this combination' of useful qualities and possessions, "Wanderer" turned several years' residence, in both the Caucasus and Armenia, to such good account, that he

has written a book which is the record of one of the freshest bits of travel and adventure placed of late years before a public eager of the novel and sensational in any form. Other travellers have made more stir in the world, but in his own sphere " Wanderer " was doing as active and as dangerous work BA any of them.

Our author has naturally a great deal to say about the civil and military administration of Russia; only, his task is simpli- fied for him by the fact that in the Caucasus the former does not practically exist. The military element is supreme every- where ; the clrinovnik is conspicuous by his absence. And everything that " Wanderer " has to tell us may be pronounced, broadly speaking, to be unfavourable to the Government and favourable to the people of Russia. The organisation even of the Army is very imperfect, and the statement on good authority that the Turks would have driven the Russians out of Armenia in 1877, if Moukhtar had only shown a little more energy, is rendered perfectly intelligible by what " Wanderer " tells us of the internal condition of the Army of the Caucasus. The fol- lowing is a very clear exposition of its duties and mode of life :—

" The Army of the Caucasus is variously composed and commanded. For many years the Caucasus was a sort of penal settlement, whither turbulent and insubordinate officers of all ranks were relegated, as were also political ` suspects ' not considered culpable enough for Siberia ; it was also a sort of ` foyer ' for adventurers of all nations, sometimes commercial, but chiefly military. Officers from every nation in Europe are consequently found in its ranks, in addition to the Asiatic element. The policy of the Russians is not tb raise separate corps and regiments of Asiatics, as we do in India, but to employ Asiatic officers, who are on a footing of perfect equality in every respect with Russian militaires, and can rise equally with them to the highest positions The rank and file of the regulars is Russian. They have very few parades, and absolutely no pipe-clay ; a company or two is paraded daily during the summer months for rifle practice, and the corps is assembled once a month for muster ; the rest of the time the men do much as they choose, and usually either work at trades, selling the product of their industry at a sort of market which is held every Sunday in the bazaar of the town, or hire themselves out at so much per diem to private individuals as porters, labourers, &c. As the men receive no pay from Govern- ment—nothing, in fact, beyond their uniform, and a very inferior ration of bread and soup per diem—the army may be said to be, to a very great extent, self-supporting."

'This description, supported and corroborated by many other passages scattered throughout the volume, shows that the vaunted Army of the Caucasus is not that highly efficient and well organised force which it has been represented to be. It is essentially an irregular army, and probably the most useful corps in war-time are the Cossacks, who form a separate force of about 50,000 men. Our author gives copious details as to their military colonies, their arms, mode of warfare, and method. of breaking-in their horses and of rendering them capable of enduring extreme privation. He has a great deal to say on the last subject which, if it has ever been told before, will bear repetition; and we fancy very few have grasped the fact that the little horses of the Cossacks are the direct descendants of those which so safely carried the Mongol warriors of Genghis from the banks of the Amour to the Danube and the Tigris.

The following account of the manner in which they break-in their horses will bear quotation :—

" Their horses, as may be imagined, are rough, unkempt animals, but, at the same time, stand any amount of hard work and short. commons. Bred on the steppes, and running loose till four or five years old, they are as hardy as bears, and look not unlike those animals so far as their coats go, which in winter are often three inches in length. They may be seen at this season rolling in the snow in the middle of severe storms, apparently enjoying themselves, or scratch- Notes on the Caucasus. By " Wanderer." London: Macmillan and Co. 18£3. jog up the drifts with their fore-feet to get a bite of withered herbage. Only geldings are used on service. The Cossacks do not lose time in breaking them in. When four or five years old, they are driven in from the steppe, corralled up,' saddled, bridled, and mounted ; any animal which shows signs of vice, or gives trouble, is promptly lassoed, thrown, and laid into by four or five Cossacks with staves and cudgels, who hit him with all their force wherever they can get a blow at him, over head and flanks; when released, half stunned, and half strangled with the lasso, he is trembling all over and completely cowed; he is then immediately saddled, bridled, mounted, and 'bucketed about' for an hour or two, after which discipline he usually remains quiet for life."

Yet, notwithstanding the deficiencies of organisation and the boundless corruption of the official service, the good qualities of

the Russian soldier are apparent to even "Wanderer," who is anything but a Russophile, and who does not conceal his regret at the downfall of Turkey. He repeats, what has often been

said before, that the Russian soldier will "go anywhere on black

bread and water," and that he only requires to be led by com- manders who can gain his confidence or his devotion, as two

such very different men as Souvaroff and Scobeleff did, to be capable of achieving very great enterprises. But still, we read the accounts of " Wanderer " and other travellers without being at all impressed with the idea that the Russian Army is a great one, according to the modern standard. The Russian moujik is capable of almost incredible exertion, and with his faith in the Czar's good-fortune or his own national destiny, hardly admits that there is such a word as'" impossible" in his vocabulary. He is therefore admirably well suited for Asiatic warfare, in which the most formidable adversaries are space and want of food and water; but other qualities and resources are needed for victory in the great campaigns of Continental warfare, and it may be that the next war will show that Russia has made less progress in real, military efficiency than any other of the Great Powers. The experience of the French campaign proved that the virtues and resolution of a people are now-a-days but a feeble barrier to the onset of a highly efficient army ; at all events, in a war of short duration. There is one point which" Wanderer" dwells upon on several occasions, as if it made more than a passing impression on his mind,—and that is the cautiousness of the Russian character before an enterprise is begun, and its blind faith in success after it has once been undertaken.

But although " Wanderer " gives a very full and interesting account of Russian government in the Caucasus, his descriptions of the country and of the different races which inhabit it— Armenian, Tcherkess, Abkhasian, Georgian, &c.—are equally interesting and more novel. Among many pieces of casual in- formation which the author picked up during his wanderings may be mentioned what he tells us of a peculiar race called the Dnkabors, who have several colonies between Tiflis and Alexan- dropol, on the southern borders, and with whom we do not remember having made previous acquaintance .—

"The Dakabors are a sort of respectable and well-behaved Com- munists or Socialists ; they will not have any clergy, and will not make the sign of the Cross—a fearful heresy in Russia ; they will not be educated—i.e., will not read or write—but are first-rate agriculturists and very industrious ; they have their coin in common ; they are governed by a female head, who is elected and assisted by a council ; they always wear one sort of dress, which they never alter ; the women even, who dress picturesquely, never change their costume. Nicholas exiled them to the Turkish frontier. They have made many converts, even amongst the Mahometuns,-and have always done well since they were settled in the Caucasus, in 1840."

Travelling in the Caucasus, if not absolutely dangerous, has more than the possibility of peril, which adds a zest to touring in a little-known region. The want of population, the absence of roads, and the general apathy of the Russian officials in the pursuit of criminals, place a high premium on the practice of brigandage ; and " Wanderer " mentions many cases coming within his own knowledge that will have the effect of scaring away the timid traveller from at least the southern and western districts of Caucasia. He gives portraits of two individuals whose careers show the stage of civilisation which society under the immediate auspices of Tiflis has reached ; and the reader will be better able to judge from a summary of their careers what that degree of civilisation is, than from any attempt at a detailed description. These individuals were named Tarakan and Elias, a Georgian and a Persian, who were both employed on the same estate, and who were well-known as expert shikaris, which brought them specially under the notice of our author :—

" Tarakae, as I discovered after I had been several times out shooting with him, had robbed and murdered more than one in- dividual Elias, a northern Persian, was strongly built, very muscular and active; a regular Haji Baba, full of shifts and dodges,

about the very deepest dog I ever met anywhere ; at the same time, afraid of nothing. He had been up to some curious practices on the frontier about Nakhetchivan and Djulfa—smuggling, complicated with shooting somebody, I believe—and had travelled in consequence.

One of his proclivities was poaching in the Grand Duke's preserves lower down, which are very strictly guarded and watched. In spite of his shifts, he was one day detected by the Cossacks, and though he managed to hide his gun before they actually caught him, was very roughly treated. About a couple of months afterwards he and Tarakan, while as usual on the prowl' in the jungle, spotted some of these same Cossacks cutting grass in an open to make hay, with their arms and traps under a tree at some d istance, horses unsaddled, hobbled, and let loose to graze as usual. Tarakan proposed stalking round to some cover at the far end, where they would get themselves, the Cossacks, and their camp in a line (thns securing 250 or 300 yards' start, as the Cossacks would have to run to the camp for their arms), then firing into them with slugs, and skedaddling. Eli, however, ' evolved ' another manoeuvre. Strolling quietly up to the Cossaeks (after hiding their guns in the bushes), they got into conversation, and began helping them in their work, twisting grass ropes, &a., and generally aiding and assisting for some time. After a bit, Eli, taking out and filling his pipe, sauntered off to the camp to get a light, leaving Tarakan at work with the Cossacks. When there, he sat down and smoked, and while, apparently, carelessly looking at the carbines to pass the time, managed to ram an acorn half-way down each of the barrels, causing two or three of them to burst when fired subsequently, and seriously injure their owners."

" Wanderer " has a good deal to say about the prospects of sport in the Caucasus, and his own experiences show that there would be no lack of adventure there. Game is also plentiful, as the depopulation of the country from various political causes has led to the increase of wild animals ; but the difficulties, or perhaps we should say, the inconveniences, are such as will long deter all except the most enthusiastic from proceeding to the site of ancient Colchis or the banks of the Araxes in pursuit of big game. Yet if the Russian officials would only pay a little attention to this matter, by improving the roads, inspiring some little respect for the law, and encouraging foreigners or Russians to provide a few hotels, they might succeed in making the Caucasus, with its beautiful and varied scenery, "its magnificent country for sketching, botanising, and landscape painting," one of the favourite playgrounds of jaded Englishmen and pleasure- seeking Americans ; and it is not impossible that " Wanderer's" graphic notes may contribute towards the realisation of such a project.