White Slavery.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 2, Issue 32, 14 March 1850, Page 3

White Slavery.

The Turkish slave dealers seldom bring arms to the Caucasus, or if they do, merely of the ornamental kind; and powder also they bring only in small quantities, as presents for the pi incus niul nobles. The Circassians are not usually willing to trade by l/urltr fur their bjauties, prel'mring to receive

their price in hard cash; and they do no appear lo find nny difficulty in obtaining gun powder, even from the Cossacks on tbi Kuban, &c. In most instances only tin daughters of slives, or of freed-msn, are sold but even noblemen may occasionally be in' duced to part with their daughters or sister; for bright silver piasters ; and tile girls themselves, to whom from their infancy the ease and splendour of the life they are to lead in the Turkish harems* has been painted in glow ing colours, generally, leave without mucl: pain their rude mountains and their unnatural parents. Ivich vessel carries from thirty tc forty girls, crammed like herring 3 in a barrel, but they submit with great resignation to the sufferings of the voyage, soon to be exchanged for the joy of the magnificent city of the saltan. It is calculated that out of six slave ships five always reach their destination. During the winter from 1813 lo 1814, twenty-eight ships sailed lor the Caucasian coast, and twenty-three arrived safe with their cargoes, three having been burnt by the Russians, and two. with their fair, living freight swallowed by the sea. A Turkish captain in Europe related to me —apropos of the.se slave ships—the following anecdote. A few years ago one of them sprung a leak out at sea, just at the moment when a Russian steamer was passing at some distance. The Turkish slave dealer, preferring even the air of Siberia to drowning, made a signal of distress, and the steamer came alongside, by whose assistance only tlic crew aud passengers could be saved from inevitable destruction. Hut so deeply rooted in the Caucasian heart is hatred to the Russians that the blood of these girls rose at the thought of becoming the property of a despised Russian soldier, instead of sharing the couch of a magnificent Turkish pacha. They raised a mournful cry as the Itussiin vessel approached, and some sprang desperately into the sea while others plunged their knives into their hearts. The greater number of them however, were carried oil board tin steamer, and taken to Anapa, whence th»y were transported lo the Cossack country, and distributed among the Cossacks of the line, I myself once made the passage from Trcbisond to Constantinople with a dozen of these Circassian girls, as deck-passengers. They were mostly mere children of twelve or thirteen, very pale uml thin, but with fine and interesting countenances, and a certain wild fire in their black eyes. Two only were carefully veiled, and their figures displayed more roundness of outline; tlicy might he eighteen or twenty years of age ; and to these the slave dealer paid much attention, and frequently brought them coflee of whicii the others got none. On my making some inquiry concerning them, he informed me that they were the daughters of a nobleman; had line rosy cheeks, and were much fatter than the rest, so that they would fetch a much higher price in Stamboul than the others. For those beauties he hoped to obtain as much as 30,000 piasters ; of the others ho spoke with great contempt, and said he should be glad to get sixteen guineas a piece for them. This Turkish slave dealer was richly dressed in silks and furs, and in spite of his detestable trade was a man of pleasing manners. He informed me that Mnce the Russian occupation of the Circassian coast, his occupation had become more difficult and perilous, but far more profitable. ' Formerly, when Greek and Armenian women were brought to the Constantinople market, one might get a beautiful girl as low as ten thousand piasters, whilst at present, n well-fed rosy-cheeked damsel from Gounl or Adscharn would stand one iu as much as foity thousand'—Caucasus ami the Land of the Cossacks.

Enoland ik July. "July is the hottest month in the vrar. The direct influence of the sun, indeed, ij so dimiuisihmg ; but the earth have been so thoroughly honied, that the warmth which ihey retain more tlnn compensates for the gradual diminution of the sun's rays. The effects of this upon the face of nature soon become manifest. All the flowers of the former month louse their beauty, and the whole plaot hastens to decay. Rlany plains, however, do nut begin to flower till July. The lily is one of the principal ornaments of gardens in '."lis month ; and with its delicate white flSwers givis an agreeable sensation of coolness to the eye. When the animal creation seem oppressed with languor duiiiig this hot sc.ison, anil

either seek llic recesses of wootls, or rcso r t lo pools and streams, to rool their boilus nod quench their thirst, the insect tribe are l'e* culiarly active find vigorous, liiese minute creatures are, lor the most part pnuuni, being lmtclied in the spring, and dying al 1,10 n l'" proach of winter. The farmer's chief employment in Jnne is getting home the various products of the earth. It is the principal hny-mouth in some parts of the country, and the work-people suller mucli l'ati"uc from the excessive heat to which tlr?y are exposed. I'lax and hemp are pulled i" this month. These plants are cultivated in various parts of Europe. The stalk of both arc full ol tough fibres or strings, which, separated and prepared in a particular raanni'r, become tit for spinning into thread. Of flux, linen is made from the finest cambric to the coarsest canvass. Hemp is chiefly used for coarse cloth, such as strong sheeting and sacking, but it it sometimes wrought to considerable fineness ; it is also twisted into ropes and cables. The Maiden's Lf.ap. A daughter of the fir<t Earl of Gowrie was courted by a young Highland gentleman, much her interior in rank and foitunc, Iler family, though they gave no encouragement to the match, permitted liini to visit them at the castle of lluthven, in Perthshire, and on such occasions the chamber assigned to liim was in a lower, near another tower in which his lovely mistress slept. On one of his visits, the young lady, before the doors were shut, got into Inr lover's apartment, but soma perron of the family, having discovered it, told her mother, who, cutting oil' all possi. liility of relieat, hastened to surprise tlicm. The young lady, however, hearing the wellknown steps of her mother hobbling up stairs, ran to the leads, and took a desperate leap of nine feet four inches, over a chasm of 00 leet from the ground, allighted on the battlements of the other tower, whence decending into her chamber, Bhe crept into bed. Her mother having in vain sought her in her lover's chamber, came into her room, where, finding her seemingly asleep, she apologized for her unjust suspicion. The young lady eloped the following night with her Highland laddie and ■was married. The chasm between the towers is still known under the appellation of " The Maiden's Leap."

Lucky Esc a re.—ln a late number of the Ceylon Times, the following account of the miraculous escape of Captain Andrews, of the Caroline whaler, is given :—Capt. Andrews, whilst in pursuit of a whale a few days since, took the place of the harpooneer at the bows of the boat. On closing with the whale lie struck home, and the monster flew immediately downwards like lightning ; but by some means the bight of the rope caught the ankle of Captain Andrews and whirled him overboard. Ilis sensations at this moment may be imagined, but cannot be described. Descending rapidly into the depths below, he had yet suflicient presence of mind to retain his hold of the knife, but the pressure of the water was so great that both liis arms were drawn over his head, and he found it impossible to get them down to release himself. Happily, the whale from some cause or other, ceased to run, and Captain Andrews was enabled to sever the rope below his ankle, and ascended to the surface totally exhausted. The depth to which he descended must have been from fifteen to twenty fathoms, from the time it took to bring himself to the surface again. He found his ankle cut to the bone, and otherwise severely injured.—Probably an accident like the one here noticed has never occurred before, in which the sufferer has escaped with life; and had not Capt. Andrews happily retained his hold on the knife, lie most ccitainly would have perished.

* The Turkish law permits a plurality of wives ; and the wealthier classes of the people maintain harems. These are rich, voluptuous, mansions where female slaves, frequently pur- | chased at an enormous cost, are immured anil devoted to the sensual enjoyment of their masters. They are. forbid the presence of other men, and pass their days in wanton luxury and idleness. This is a species of wholesale concubinage, and its practice has made the Turk a term of reproach, among more moral nations.