KHEVSURS  , a

people of the Caucasus, kinsfolk of the Georgians . They live in scattered groups in East Georgia to the north and north-west of Mount Borbalo . Their name is Georgian and means " People of the Valleys." For the most part nomadic, they are still in a semi-barbarous state . They have not the beauty of the Georgian race . They are gaunt and thin to almost a ghastly extent, their generally repulsive aspect being accentuated by their large hands and feet and their ferocious expression . In complexion and colour of hair and eyes they vary greatly . They are very muscular and capable of bearing extraordinary fatigue . They are fond of fighting, and still wear armour of the true medieval type . This panoply is worn when the law of vendetta, which is sacred among them as among most Caucasian peoples, compels them to seek or avoid their enemy . They carry a spiked gauntlet, the terrible marks of which are borne by a large proportion of the Khevsur faces . Many curious customs still prevail among the Khevsurs, as for instance the imprisonment of the woman during childbirth in a lonely hut, round which the husband parades, firing off his musket at intervals . After delivery, food is surreptitiously brought the mother, who is kept in her prison a month, after which the hut is burnt .

The boys are usually named after some

wild animal, e.g. bear or wolf, while the girls' names are romantic, such as Daughter of the Sun, Sun of my Heart . Marriages are arranged by parents when the bride and bridegroom are still in long clothes . The chief ceremony is a forcible abduction of the girl . Divorce is very common, and some Khevsurs are polygamous . Formerly no Khevsur might die in a house, but was always carried out under the sun or stars . The Khevsurs like to call themselves Christians, but their religion is a mixture of Christianity, Mahommedanism and heathen rites . They keep the Sabbath of the Christian church, the Friday of the Moslems and the Saturday of the Jews . They worship sacred trees and offer sacrifices to the spirits of the earth and air . Their priests are a combination of medicine-men and divines . See G . F . R .

Radde, Die Chevs'uren and ihr

Land (Cassel, 1878); Ernest Chantre, Recherches anthropologiques dans le Caucase (Lyons, 1885-1887) .