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THROUGH THE CAUCASUS TO THE VOLGA
130
he suddenly made a bold attack on the town and
fort of Kizliar, far to the north on the plain of the
lower Terek and near its delta. The town was
plundered, and Kasi-Mullah came back to Dagh
estan with 200 prisoners, mostly women, and a
great booty.
But soon his star was to come to its setting. On
the ist of December the Russians stormed his
fortified headquarters at Shumkeskent (Agach-
Kalå), in the forest-clad mountains in north
eastern Daghestan. Kasi-Mullah fled, but the
Russians suffered heavy losses.
As characteristic of the mountaineers’ method of
fighting, a little incident near the mountain of
Gai may be related from this time. The Galgais, a
small Chechen tribe in the mountains near the
Georgian military road, were making this unsafe,
and had to be punished. A Russian anny with
infantry, cavalry, and mountain guns advanced
into their mountain valleys without meeting any
strong resistance. One day the Russians were
marching along a narrow path on a steep mountain
slope. Suddenly they found the way barred before
them by a strong stone tower on an inaccessible
crag. From it the enemy was firing with deadly
aim; the small Russian three-pounders had but
little effect, and could not break down the door of
thick oak planks, which was the height of three
men above the ground, without any stair or
ladder. A footpath was found leading over the
mountain past the tower; it was impracticable for
the horses and baggage, but two companies climbed
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