Life of Schamyl: And Narrative of the Circassian War of Independence Against RussiaMackie, J. Milton (John Milton)
History
Life of Schamyl: And Narrative of the Circassian War of Independence Against Russia
Mackie, J. Milton (John Milton)
Caucasus -- History; Shamil, Imam, 1798?-1871
If the proprietor is rich the divan will be furnished at considerable
expense, it being the custom of eastern Asia to lavish expenditure more
upon the furniture of the habitation than upon the habitation itself.
Covered with red leather and stuffed with hair, the divan is supplied
with cushions of some dark, rich silk, and bolsters sprigged with gold
and silver; its mattresses are bordered with velvet; the coverlet is of
quilted brocade, or a gay muslin of various colors studiously arranged,
and fringed with satin; and there may even be clean white sheeting.
Above the divan the walls will be hung with beautifully wrought matting
or carpets brought from Stamboul. Small tablets likewise are sometimes
placed around the room, inscribed with verses from the Koran in the
Arabic characters. But the principal ornament of the walls are the arms,
which, suspended from wooden pegs, gleam and flash in the
fire-light--sabres, pistols, rifles, coats of mail, bows and quivers,
besides bridles, saddles, and housings. For on entering the house, the
warrior lays aside all his weapons save the poniard, and his guest does
the same.
The apartments for females and children are always separate from the
others, and are frequently in a building by itself. Here with no
look-out from windows on the passing world, the news of which it would
be an impropriety in a Circassian to question his wives about, they ply
their tasks, spinning, weaving, embroidering, and knitting silver lace
in an obscurity illumined by scanty rays of sunlight. The walls of these
apartments are hung with dresses, not with arms. Strung also upon lines
across the room are various specimens of female industry, as embroidered
napkins, handkerchiefs, veils, silken bodices, and anteris glittering
with threads of gold and silver; in the corners are piles of large boxes
containing the bedding of the house; while on shelves are arranged china
and glass ware, with various culinary utensils of brass, copper, or
glazed pottery, kept for show, while the wooden are for use. Here also
the loom has its place, at which are woven all the plainer stuffs worn
in the family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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