ABSTRACT
D u r in g the first three months of 1847 Shamil lay quiet at Vedén, or Dargo-Vedén,1 as he called it, in memory of the Dargo which had been destroyed two years pre viously, and it appeared quite uncertain whether he would take the field or not. But on the 28th March a brilliant meteor was seen there, and the same night the suburb or quarter occupied by the Russian deserters was burnt to the ground. Shamil interpreted these events to his fol lowers-the first as Allah’s command to renew the war, the second as an indication of the fate in store for the infidels-and promptly put his forces in motion. Vórontsoif meantime, having learnt his lesson in 1845, had been building forts and roads, for which he had real talent, instead of undertaking operations in the field, for which, it would seem, he had little or none. The first half of the year passed in preparation on both sides, enlivened only by Daniel Sultan’s desperate but unavailing efforts to regain possession of his territory, Elisou. The Russian plan of campaign was comparatively modest, consisting mainly of the capture of Gherghébil, Saltee, Sogratl, and Ireeb,2 and
the building of a fort at the first-named aoul, to which Vórontsoff attached great importance. From Shamil’s dis positions for the defence of these places it is quite evident that he was at this time, as usual, very well served by his spies or by his own penetration-probably by both.
