It falls to woman's lot in these mountains as well as out of them to prepare the food of the household. The Circassian still retaining much of the patriarchal simplicity of living, eats when he is hungry, without regard to set hours; nor is there any gathering of the family around the social board, every member generally taking his meals by himself, and the males under no circumstances eating with the females. The flesh of sheep and goats is the kind of meat in most common use. This is prepared in savory ragouts well seasoned with salt, pepper, coriander seeds, and capsicums; or, being cut in pieces, is roasted on small iron spits, the morsels taken from the saddle, and the fat of sheep-tails being considered the most dainty. Meats also are preserved by salting, smoking, and drying. Still oftener, however, they are boiled, and their juices eaten in a kind of pottage with millet in it, being the same as the Sclavonian and Polish cachat, the use of which extends as far west as the Adriatic, while on the southern side of the Caucasus, even to Central Asia, the pilaff is made with rice. Throughout the Caucasus millet is the favorite grain, of which cakes are made by being baked on hot flat stones or iron plates. The wheaten loaf likewise is common in many localities, and so the cake of Turkey corn. All these different kinds of bread are eaten with honey, great quantities of which are taken from the hives of wicker-work or bark of trees, and of an exceedingly delicious quality, owing to the wild thyme and other aromatic herbs fed on by the bees. The Circassians have a good many vegetables, though they are not particularly fond of this kind of diet. Cucumbers which are apparently indigenous in these regions are, however, in much favor; and more or less use is made of melons, gourds, pumpkins, beets, onions, carrots, cabbages, asparagus, artichokes, and beans. Fish are still less liked, though the rivers abound in salmon-trout, and numerous other varieties. On the other hand, the consumption of fruit is very considerable, particularly of apples, pears, cherries, peaches, grapes, olives, figs, pomegranates, almonds, walnuts, and chestnuts, many of which kinds grow wild in the woods.
All Circassians are very fond of a kind of sour milk peculiar to the East, called by them skhou, and by the Turks and Tartars yaourte. This is taken sometimes pure, sometimes flavored with a little sugar and rose-water, or is boiled with millet or maize. Said to be remarkably refreshing, its origin is traced back to Abraham, who obtained it directly from the Almighty; or as another tradition says, it was bestowed originally by an angel on Hagar when driven out from the house of her lord she was fainting with heat and thirst in the desert. It takes the place very much of spirituous and fermented liquors, in the use of which the mountaineers are exceedingly temperate. A kind of mead, not very potent, however, is made by them of millet, honey, and water, and is decidedly a superior beverage to
| The one called kuas, whereby the Russie lives, Small ware, water-like, but somewhat tart in taste. |
This mead is the liquor principally drunk at feasts, and of this formerly were oblations poured out to the gods. More or less wine also is drunk in the Caucasus, always of a light quality, and more resembling champagne than the other wines of Europe. Its use being prohibited by the Koran, is discountenanced by the Sufis and Schamyl's party. Nevertheless there are here and there those among the faithful who continue to say,
| Ma sopra tutto nel buon via ho fede; E credo che sia salvo che gli crede. |
And since latterly the Russians have introduced their brandy, the number of believers is not small, who, on mounting their steeds, will take a stirrup cup of schnapps when offered.
On the whole, the Circassians are remarkably temperate in both meats and drinks; in this simplicity of living, as in so many other respects, still preserving a striking resemblance to the manners and customs of the Greeks of the earliest ages. At their feasts and entertainments given to strangers, however, there is always a great profusion of dishes, which are served in succession on small, three-legged trays; and a generous hosts is known as a man of "forty tables." On journeys and warlike expeditions, on the contrary, the mountaineer is contented with barely, a little millet, sour milk, and honey, all of which are easily transported in leathern bottles at his saddle-bow. Nor at home on all ordinary occasions does he want more, a morsel of meat perhaps being added. But though simple the fare, its cookery is pronounced not bad even by Europeans; and the traveller has much less reason here than in some other oriental countries to demand of his host the dish parasi, or indemnification for the wear of his teeth.
For temperance of living Schamyl has always been remarkable even among his countrymen. His house accordingly has not been one of feasting, though a moderate number of guests are constantly entertained by him. Nor is it to be supposed that either of his three legitimate wives serve tables, however probable it may be that this office is performed by the handmaidens of whom, according to the fashion of the East, he keeps a certain number in his house, captured Russian females being especially preferred.
Of his wives one is an Armenian, and if the half that is told of her in the mountains be true, of a beauty not unlike that attributed by the noble English bard to Theresa.
| She had the Asiatic eye, Such as our Turkish neighborhood Hath mingled with the Polish blood, Dark as above us is the sky But through it stole a tender light, Like the first moonrise of midnight; Large, dark, and swimming in the stream, Which seemed to melt to its own beam; All love, half languor, and half fire, Like saints that at the stake expire. |