The Russians, as I remarked before, have contracted the limits of the independent tribes between the Euxine and the Caspian; and, according to the working of that colossal and dangerous power, have largely succeeded in doing so. But to reduce them to real subjection is beyond the power even of Russia. Nearly half the country of the Alkhar is marked as subject to Russia, on the maps of these provinces; but, in fact, the garrison of Sookoom-kuluah live as in a besieged city, and their authority is acknowledged no further than their guns can reach. Swaneti, too, has the same mark of subjection; though it is well known that the Swani confine themselves to the neighbourhood of the perpetual snows of Elburg, in order not to compromise their liberty. Two passes also, through the mountain, are marked as Russian soil; but not even the weekly mail is sent through that of Dariel, without an escort amounting sometimes to a hundred soldiers, two field-pieces, and several Cossacks. If an occasional traveller wishes to try the pass of Derbund, which is in Daghistan, he is not considered safe without a similar guard.

The length of Daghistan from north to south, but more especially towards the south, is guarded

by the fierce and sanguinary Lesghies. Seen even upon the crowded thoroughfares of Tiflis, (which presents a curious spectacle of mingled nations,) the dark Lesghy, with his two-edged kama, is an object of repugnance and terror. But that fierce people, in their own precincts, are the terror of the surrounding provinces. So perseveringly did they resist the power of Persia, that a proverb is current, "If any king of Persia is a fool, let him march against the Lesghies." Such is their predatory and blood-thirsty disposition, that the Russians, instead of residing and having military posts amongst them, station troops along their frontiers, to prevent them from pillaging the adjacent territories. That the remnant in question, locked up in these solitudes, should preserve the institutions of their fathers, strikingly illustrates the inevitable necessity which Divine Providence has laid upon this people to be his witnesses in every land, even in exile and dispersion. Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations! When we look at the character of the tribes by which they are surrounded, and the hordes in the midst of which they live, there is a convincing proof of their preservation for some important end.

The Lesghies are a bigoted Moslem race. The mountaineers are a nondescript mixture, whose religion is a compound of Mahommedanism, Christianity, and Paganism.

The government of the Caucasus has its capital at Tiflis, but extends to the north of the mountain from which it takes its name; and embraces there a tract extending from the Caspian to the Black Sea.

The Jews of Daghistan have lived there from time immemorial, and are on the best terms with the Nomadic hordes of the country. They traverse the country, and amongst these fierce tribes, in peace and safety.

The other Jews, scattered in the regions between the seas in question, may be considered, both by phisiognomy and characteristics in their worship, to belong to the same branch of the family of Israel as the remnant in question. To none of them, however, do the proofs which follow exclusively apply, but to those Jews found in Daghistan, and amongst the Lesghy

tribes.

The Lesghy tribes affirm themselves to be descended from the tribe of Dan: and certainly their physiognomy and character assimilate in

many respects to the Hebrew family. Yet more than this, the characteristic feature of the tribe to which they affiliate themselves, contained in Jacob's prophetic description, Dan shall be a serpent by the way; an adder in the path, that biteth the horses' heels, so that his rider shall fall backwards, is strikingly illustrated in the habits of this horde, who are the terror of the surrounding provinces, and who exterminate the mounted Cossacks exactly in the way specified in the prophetic description of the tribe of Israel in question.

The Lesghies acknowledge the Jews to be the original inhabitants of the mountains; although they themselves appear of the same stock, and descended from one common parent, as far as outward appearance goes.

MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES OF THE JEWS OF DAGHISTAN.

OBSERVANCE OF FEASTS-THE PASSOVER.

DRIVEN from their native land, dependent for centuries on the caprice of nations having no sympathy with them, force, persuasion, and oppression, have been alike ineffectual in order to compel the Jewish people to forego obedience to the commands of the Law. The edict of Adrian forbade the Jews from approaching within sight of Jerusalem, which was cruelty indeed, but not to be equalled to that of the laws of Ricazed in Spain, which forbade the Jews to celebrate the passover on the fourteenth day of any month,

* 1 Lex Visigoth, lib. xii. tit. 5. celebrent pascha.

Ne Judæi mone suo