The two opposite customs, or laws, those of hospitali ty and of revenge, are in general and sacred observance with the Circassian knights, as amongst most others of the nations of the Caucasus. The former, distinguished by the name of Kunak, is established on fixed principles ; and every person submitting to its protection, is, of con sequence. perfectly secure from all injuries. Ile who re ceives a stranger into his house, delcnds him, if the oc casion requires it, not only with his own blood and life, but also with that of his relatives. Ile furnishes him at his departure with au equestrian escort, is answerable for him to his kinsmen; and his murder, or any insult offered to him, is punished as severely as in the case of a relation. A stranger who intrusts himself to the pa tronage of a woman, or is able to touch with his mouth the breast of a wife, were he an enemy, or even the mur derer of a kinsman, is, in consequence of the interest thus secured to himself, spared and protected as if he were a member of the family. Bloody revenge is prac tised with an equally conscientious and scrupulous pre cision. The murder of a family-relation must be aven ged by the next heir, or the nearest in blood, even though he was an infant at the time when the deed was commit ted. For the accomplishment of this purpose every de scription of vindictive malice is allowed ; but either in a mom) public, or a more clandestine manner, the life of the murderer must be taken away, if the injured party would not subject himself to the penalty of being consi dered and treated as an outcast from society. Nav, this desire of revenge is hereditary in the successors and the tribe ; and such is the spirit of resentment, that even all the relations of a murderer are considered to be involved in his guilt. It is through this extreme infatua tion to avenge the blood of relatives, that most of the feuds are generated, and the occasion, consequently, pro duced for so much bloodshed among all the nations of the Caucasus ; for unless pardon be purchased, or ob tained by intermarriage between the hostile families, the principle of revenge once excited, is thus in danger of being propagated to the latest generations. There is such a thing known in these regions as the price of blood. The name by which such a compensation is distinguished is Thlil-uasa. Princes, however, and nobles, accept of no price in such a case : it is an established law among them, to demand blood for blood.
The education of the children of the Circassian prin ces, is of a nature calculated to suppress from the earli est infancy every feeling and affection peculiar to con sanguinity. Sons and daughters are, immediately after birth,* entrusted to the care of a nobleman, frequently none of the most wealthy of that order ;t and the parents, especially the father, have no desire to see a son, till he is grown up and capable of hearing arms, nor a daugli ter till after her marriage. The foster father of a young prince, is obliged to take upon him the whole charge of his education ; lie instructs him in all the schemes of robbery which are in greatest estimation amongst those equestrian knights, and provides him with arms as soon as he is strong enough to wield them. In return for all which attentions to initiate him in the predatory arts, he receives from his grateful pupil, at his entrance into life, the greatest share of the booty which he is able to ob tain. In the education of the female children, it is a primary object, at whatever cxpcnce to them of priva tion and wretchedness, to give them the desired slender ness and elegance of form. They are trained to all or namental work in the domestic economy of females, es pecially to embroidery, weaving of fringe, sewing of dresses, and the plaiting of straw-mats and baskets. A
nobleman entrusted with the education of a young prin cess, is required, in fine, to procure for her a husband of an equal rank, or, in default of that concluding service, he is liable to be punished with the loss of his head." In their amusements, the youth of both sexes among the Circassians freely converse with each other,t as, in deed, in more advanced life, the women of this country are generally neither confined nor reserved. In every thing, however, relative to marriage connections, the most particular attention is paid to the rank of the par ties; and unsuitable matches are guarded against, by the infliction of the most rigid penalties. Farther, when the son or daughter of a family enters into the state of wedlock, they have no right to appear before their pa rents during the first year, or till the birth of a child. It is not till the same period has elapsed that a daughter obtains her full marriage portion ; but on this occasion, a visit is paid to her by her father, who, taking off the cap she wore when a virgin, with his own hands covers her with a veil, which from that time becomes her con stant head-dress, and, filially, discharges what had hither to remained unsettled of her dowry.t Between husbands and wives, particularly during the earlier part of their marriage connection, there is obser ved a system of affected politeness, equally remote from reason and nature. An uncommon degree of reserve, indeed, especially among persons in the higher classes, seems all along to be maintained by the parties joined together by so very intimate a bond of union.§ The ori gin of the peculiar custom prevalent here, in this respect, as well as of the principle of committing the education of children to strangers instead of their own parents, can not apparently be traced to any distant nation. But if they are supposed to have been, from an early period, prevalent in Mount Caucasus, a reference to them may be of use in accounting for the fabulous descriptions which have reached us of the Amazons and Gargarcnses, na tions whose local position, assigned by the ancient geo graphers, seems to correspond with sufficient accuracy to that of the countries now occupied by the Circassians.
The language spoken by this people has been said to be common to them with the other neighbouring Tartars. In the different parts, however, of the great chain of mountains which bears the appellation of Caucasus, there is reason to believe that there is considerable variety of language. Few of the present inhabitants of Kuban Tartary can converse with any of the Circassian tribes. Indeed, Pallas thinks • it probable that the Circassian bears no affinity to any other language; and that, accord ing to report, their princes and usdens speak a peculiar dialect, which is kept secret from the common people, and used chiefly in their predatory excursions. The la test accounts of that country state, that those of the inha bitants with whom there had been found any opportunity of holding conversation spoke in a dialect so harsh and guttural, as was by no means pleasing to the car. The higher orders here are said to be not unacquainted with the Russian tongue. It appears, from a vocabulary of the languages or dialects of the Caucasian nations, published by Mr G. Ellis, that many of the words in use in these parts are the same as those of the uncivili zed inhabitants of America; whence, it has been concei ved, an argument may be drawn in favour of the opinion advanced by Hurnius and others, that America was ori ginally peopled by colonies from Asia, particularly from Scythia or Tartary. As there are no written characters in use among this people, those who would write in their language are obliged to employ fur this purpose the Arabian letters.