The Circassians have two kinds of divorce; one total, and the other provisional. In the first case both parties are immediately at liberty to marry again; in the other, the couple agree to separate for a year, and if at the end of that time the husband does not send for his wife, her relatives compel him to a solemn divorce, that she may be able to marry again. After the death of the husband, the wife governs the family, without dividing the property among the children. When she dies, the wife of the eldest son usually takes her place; the children can then demand a division of the fortune, the oldest receiving the largest share. At funerals, women utter loud cries of grief, and disfigure themselves with scars. They wear black for mourning. The Circassians, like the Arabs, are remarkable for hospitality. They will incur any dangers to protect a person that has eaten of their food. Should the enemies of a stranger attempt to seize him in the house of a Circassian, the wife of his host would give him milk from her own breast, in token of adoption; and from that moment all the tribe would feel bound to avenge his wrongs, as if he were a brother. The Circassian women have been celebrated throughout the world for their beauty. Some modern travellers have denied their claims to such great celebrity. Dr. Kimmel says, “I have met with none of extraordinary beauty; and officers who have long commanded in the Caucasus have informed me that Circassian beauties are extremely rare.” But it must be remembered that women of the higher classes are rigorously excluded from the sight of a traveller; and in a country where the feudal system prevails to its utmost extent, the handsome daughter of a serf would be immediately claimed by her noble master, who could sell her for the royal harems, or reserve her for himself, as he saw fit. Women of rank embroider, weave elegant baskets, and other ornamental things. The lower class tend the flocks, weave garments for the men, and do a variety of household and out-door work. The serfs are the only class who continue to live with a wife after she grows old. It is an uncommon thing for any man or woman, even among the princes, to know how to read or write. The condition of the Georgians is very similar to that of their neighbors the Circassians. The Georgian women are very remarkable for beauty; but are said to be wanton, treacherous, and uncleanly. A great trade in female slaves has been carried on in Georgia. Fathers sell their children, brothers their sisters, and nobles their vassals. Jewish agents are continually traversing the provinces about Caucasus, seeking the fairest flowers for the harems of Turkey and Persia. A handsome, red-haired girl will sell in Constantinople for six or seven thousand piastres. The Georgian women are tasteful and elegant in their dress, and great pains are taken to perfect them in those voluptuous arts of pleasing, which the Orientals call female accomplishments.