Washington Sentinel

Translated from the French.

The Circassians and the Sale of Beautiful Slave Girls.

Trebizond, Thursday, May 25, 1854.

A few days ago there arrived at the quarantine of Trebizond about two hundred Circassians with a live cargo of great variety, but which they found some difficulty in disposing of by reason of the pecuniary straits in which purchasers are just now placed. The traders, who are steady friends of Shamyl, the Mahomet of the Caucasus, and the bitter and determined enemies of Nicholas, whom in their figurative language they call the vulture of the snows, had for sale forty packages of human flesh. They were made up of a dozen children of from four to eight years old, and of thirty females, ranging between 15 and 30. The quarantine doctor requested me to accompany him on his visit to this strange spectacle. The superintendent of the Lazaretto made the merchants and their wares stand in a line, so that we had an opportunity of making a thorough examination of the parties. The Circassians were all very fine men, large, tall, and strong. Their figure was as exquisitely beautiful as that of a woman; their limbs were plump and muscular; their hands and feet were small; their complexion was swarthy—produced by exposure to the mountain air—but their countenances, notwithstanding, bore the impress of gentleness and manly courage; their chests were full and round, and their step as proud as that of a monarch upon the stage.

Their costume was very picturesque. It consisted of a great coat ornamented with lambskin, and which fitted closely; of trousers cut after the Turkish fashion, and made of light colored cloth; of a cap of gray felt with a band of lambskin, the wool of which was long and curled. They wore red slippers without stockings, and a cloak of lambskin or of felt, with which they wrapped themselves with the utmost dignity. After having visited the merchants, we approached the individuals they had for sale as near as the guards would permit us. The little Circassians and the females were ranged before the doors of the cells, and from their anxious air seemed to inquire whether we were about to purchase them. The children were beautiful both in form and in countenance. Yet the latter did not exhibit that infantile grace which is so observable in Europeans. They had an expression of gravity, not unmixed with care, which almost made us regard them as little men who had already experienced the trials and difficulties of life. Young as they were, they seemed as if they had already passed through the term of their existence. Their look was that of deep reflection, their gait was slow and staid, their stare was piercing and inquisitive, their mouth pinched and serious. All these peculiarities filled us with as much surprise as sorrow, for they forced on us the conviction that this anxious air or precocious intellect sprang from fear of the future or from regret at being separated from those mountain scenes around which they had so far passed their youth. They were clad in tattered clothes of no particular cut or color, and wore no covering on their heads or feet. Their food was the same as that of their parents, and of the coarsest and least substantial kind. It consisted of millet cakes and of spring water, and notwithstanding this innutritious fare, they all had blooming cheeks and the appearance of health and strength.

We next proceeded to make a close inspection of the females. They were, with the exception of two young girls, all considerably advanced in years and destined to become servants or bath-tenders. Their faces, which had a faded air, produced undoubtedly more by fatigue and hardship than by age, bore an expression of profound sadness and of vague inquietude. Their looks seemed to interrogate us as to our intentions respecting them. One would suppose that they wished to fathom our characters in order to foresee their own destiny, and when they saw that our visit was one merely of curiosity, they cast their eyes upon the ground and awaited until they should be allowed to withdraw. One of these females was exceedingly beautiful. She might be fifteen or sixteen years old; the look she gave us was that of a proud and haughty soul, but in her manner there was nothing of that pensive agitation which we had remarked in her companions and even in the little children. Her large, open, and lustrous eyes were expressive of mind that was at once both bold and calm. She no doubt imagined that her beauty would be her protection, and that even her future master could not help but feel its influence. It would indeed be difficult to give anything like an adequate description of this woman. But I have seen portraits which have a strong resemblance to her; they were, however, the works of great masters, which I then believed to have been the creations of their fancy and not the representations of any human being.

A great master does not, however, deal merely in the fanciful, he delineates what he sees or what he recollects that he has seen. What I admired in this young woman was not so much her exquisite proportions, her grace, and her charming countenance, as her noble and queenly attitude. Her mien was something like that of Cleopatra; had she a diadem on her head one could have taken her for one of those queens we read of in ancient history, or had she on an oaken chaplet, she might have passed for a priestess among the Druids. This lovely mountain maid, who had passed her life amid the snows of the Caucasus, and whose lot it may be to become one day the wife of a sultan, wore a sorry garment of coarse blue cloth, which was faded and much stained. It was made after the Turkish fashion, open in front, and exhibited to view an under-garment very much soiled, but embroidered with silk of many colors. This garment showed so well the graceful development of the bust that you would have almost sworn that it was pasted to her. It is quite clear that there must be some superior seamstresses in the Caucasus. She wore a white muslin veil, cast back, which was stained and torn, but so attached as to envelope her like a vestal when she pleased. When we had contemplated this specimen of beauty, so rare in any country, we proceeded to inspect the men who were fathers or uncles of females and children for sale. The greater part of the Circassians speak and understand the language in which the doctor interrogated them; and received their answers. I shall merely give the translation of my guide:

"What is the price of this child?" said he to one of the Circassians.

"Three thousand piastres," replied the other. [A sum equal to about 600 francs.]

"And what do you ask for the girl?" said the doctor, pointing to the individual just described.

"Twenty-five thousand piastres, neither more nor less;" and seeing that the doctor was saying something to me in a whisper, he added: "That is not too dear, for her entire person is as free from defects as her face. When the quarantine is over you may make yourself sure on that head. It is only a year ago since I sold her sister, who is not in any way her superior, and yet she brought me thirty-two thousand piastres. But as we are at present in greater want of money than we usually are, we shall lower the price to get away the sooner."

"And why have you more want of money now than last year?"

"Because we want to buy muskets, powder and balls."

"What! And is it for the purpose of buying arms and ammunition that you are going to sell your children?"

"Certainly; we wish to drive the Russians from our country, and we have nothing else to sell but our children."

The idea that these men would engage in such a traffic for the purpose of enabling them to struggle against the Russians, made me reflect gravely for a moment. I looked at the doctor of the quarantine to see if he shared my emotion, but he had been so accustomed to these scenes, that the present one made little or no impression on him, and he now confirmed his intention to whether there were any individuals among the lot who required his professional services. But in what light was I to regard these people? Could I admire those men who carried their patriotism and love of liberty to such a pitch as to sell their children? Admiration no doubt I felt, but not without a sentiment of deep sorrow. Unfortunately, however, on reflection, I came to learn that it was not since the war began that these men have engaged in this detestable traffic, and that it was not merely for the purpose of buying arms with a noble and heroic intention that they were in the habit of selling their daughters, their sisters, their sons and their brothers, but that it has been practiced by them from time immemorial, for the purpose of satisfying the commonest wants. I felt a thrill of horror run through me when I looked at those obdurate and heartless men, smoking and laughing, and coolly talking about the fate of their own flesh and blood. I wished to leave the odious scene, but the doctor begged of me to stay, and not condemn these men before I heard them in justification of their conduct. He took aside a hale old man, the quick flashes of whose eye denoted birth, intelligence and communicativeness. The latter, being interrogated by the doctor, said that it was from a sentiment of tenderest affection for their children that he and his countrymen were addicted to this traffic.

"It is no trifling sacrifice that we make," said he, in thus separating ourselves from our dear children; but we are consoled by the thought that this separation will be useful to them. In the mountainous regions where we live our daughters are subjected to the greatest hardships. We have neither bread nor clothing to give them. But once that they are sold, they become ladies—they enter the harems of the Turks, they lead a quiet and easy life, they feel no want of clothing in winter, and they have always bread to eat. And those who chance to get into the harems of the great people have not only clothes and bread at their command, but also luxury, grandeur and power. They amuse themselves in baths of amber. They have head-dresses of pearls. They have perfumes and music, and everything that the tenderness and love of their masters can procure for them. By their side our sons who have been received by the Turks may become officers in the army, captains, cadis, pashas and viziers. They then bless their parents who have had the courage and good sense to emancipate them from a life of hardships, of struggles, and of cruel labors. And then, when we rear them with the intention of selling them, they know that no happiness awaits them in their own country, and therefore they leave it without regret.

"The Russians, who wish to enslave us, under the protest that we follow an inhuman trade, are not better than we are. The great Prince (Shamyl,) who knows them well, who has lived in their cities, and studied their manners and their laws, has often told us of the horrible deeds committed among them. We sell our children, because the soil of our country is unfruitful, because we cannot afford them any other life than that of constant labor and of misery that cannot be removed. Yet we have gentle manners, we love each other, and we oblige and assist each other. Among us you will not find the knout, neither will you see the prisoners nor executioners. The wishes of our old men are always attentively listened to and respected. And the stranger who risks his person in our mountains is always sure of protection and assistance."

The doctor continued his conversation with the old Circassian for a few minutes longer. He spoke to him about Shamyl, who is a king, a prophet, a very god throughout all the Caucasus. Shamyl is a hero even in the eyes of Europeans; but besides this he is a prophet among the Circassians.

"Shamyl is inspired by God," added the old man. "He often retires to the recesses of a cavern, where he remains for five or six days at a time to hear the counsels which an angel comes to give him. He is a lion in battle. The Russians are not able to bear the glare of his countenance, and when they hear the thunder of his voice they turn their backs and flee. We have slain many of these fellows, and this is the reason why the Vulture of the Snows (Nicholas) is now levying a bloody war against us. But wait a while; the muskets that we are going to buy will do our business better than the lances. Before long, depend on it, no Russian will dare show his face in our mountains. The great Prince has predicted that, and what he predicts always turns out true."

We left the quarantine, and I carried away with me a lively impression of all that I had heard and seen. Here there is a young people full of hope and overflowing with vitality, for it not only has not exhausted its own vigor, but it is constantly giving out to a neighboring nation the best portions of it. Here is a people on the borders of Europe, and within fourteen days journey of the highest civilization. Well, this people, so masculine, so vigorous, so energetic, so sober, so intelligent, and which, up to the present time, has been hardly known to the world, has been cast into utter barbarism by the ignorance and apathy of Europe. We trust that out of the struggle which has now commenced between Europe and Russia some good will come to those poor countries. Circassian, Georgia, and Abasia, still sell their children. The deplorable state of things will, no doubt, cease among our allies from the very contact of the French and British fleets and armies with them. Nor shall this be the first time that the diffusion of civilization shall depend on war, just as the fertilization of the soil is sometimes the effect of the most terrific storm.

DE VALOIS.