While in Taman, Bastiko Osman had witnessed a close up view the signs of  impending tragedy.  He had then felt a pang of it. 

            On a number of occasion he had been to the district where the Muslims lived in concentration, in the company of Hasan Hoca.  He also had been in the Taman Harbor, where he noticed many people waiting for the ships  that would take them to the Ottoman land.  There were frustrated Tatars, Nogays and  Circassians, wandering around in the streets.

            According to the narration of the Kaberdeys at the Taman harbor, in the east there were large masses of people preparing to move out .  The Osets and Çeçens intended to migrate to Anatolia, across  the Caucasus ranges and  through the Georgian territories. 

            He had been earlier told about similar activities in Abhazya in the south; but he had not believed it. 

            Osman was all the more sorry over the conduct of  the Abzeh leaders in the wake of such a lamentable process of collapse.  Instead of trying to avert the tragedy, they had challenged the Czar.  They had indulged in a show of force, which in fact did not exist. 

            Word about the meeting of western Caucasian leaders with the Czar, and the abortive peace efforts had circulated in all the Russian military quarters.  The Garrison Commander in Tsemez, who took pride in initiating the process, was stung by the conclusion of the efforts in a fiasco.  His attitude towards Bastiko Osman suddenly changed. 

            Colonel Lazer summoned Osman to his office, and satisfied his own anger by freely rebuking him. 

            - You people are no different than a herd of foolish and obstinate goats!  You are devoid of reasoning  to the extent that you can venture to challenge the most powerful sovereign in the world.  You have turned down your own chance.  I have done what I could.  To hell with you people!

            The disgrace almost killed him.  As he rode to his house, he couldn’t help crying.  There was pşılı Kundey with him.  He was ashamed of him. 

            Many alternative actions occurred to his mind.  He thought of moving out to the hinterland along with his family and his dependents, and to join the resistance there.  He was, whoever aware that that would amount to nothing.  The best thing was to move out of Caucasia.  But where to? He had not idea on the matter.

            He made up his mind to decide in consultation with his associates.  Before reaching home he briefed  Pşılı Kundey on what out to be done immediately.  He asked him to gather all members of the Basti district in the guest house. 

            At the Basti enclave there lived about one-hundred-and-fifty souls in twenty families.  Most of them were women and children.  Osman didn’t dare to decide by himself the destiny of so many persons. 

            The inhabitants of the Basti district had so far lived through thick and thin, had shared their joy and sorrow.   They took pride in the togetherness and the way of life introduced by his father, late Basti Pşımef.  Osman believed it was his duty to maintain the solidarity and established order. 

            In the evening all the male members of the community, including the vassals, gathered in the guest house.. They dinned together in three groups, according to age.  After the dinner they assembled in the main guest room.

            Osman, though yet in his late forties, showed much older to his age.  His crimson beard had begun graying under the impact of the past few tumultuous weeks.

            He narrated the situation from the start.  He let it be known in clear terms that the Adiğe resistance had collapsed.  He explained, by citing examples, that from then onwards it would be impossible to stand against the Russians.  He said,

            -  My father had foreseen it thirty years before.  No one listened to his warnings. 

            Osman continued with his speech in shorter sentences. 

            -  For many years we have been expecting support from overseas.  We sent envoys to the Ottoman Sultan and the British Queen.  No one cared to pay attention to our plight. 

            He remorsefully smiled, and went on,

            -  There are persons in the community who still harbor hope to receive help from abroad.  I have heard that they would be sending yet another envoy to the Queen of England.  What a painful irony! Isn’t it?  While our people are moving out of the homeland en mass, some of us are audacious enough to challenge the  Czar, anticipating help from far away places. 

            Yeftale Hamız, Koce Neov and Bjafe Musa were senior to him by age.  They too were conscious of the bitter realities.  But having had not solution to offer, they quietly listened to Osman’s narration.  Osman continued:

            -  Today the commander in Tsemez rebuked me.  He insulted me so badly that I could hardly restrain myself revolting.  I couldn’t risk the family. 

            Pşılı Samir began sobbing.  The oldest member of the Basti district had remembered the happy days of the time of the grand Basti. 

            He groaned in a trembling voice, “How such a plight could befall on the sons of Pşımef.!”

            Pşımef momentaryly gazed at Samir, then went on,

            -  No use of crying.  It is too late to remedy.  Most of the ones responsible for our present plight no more exist.  I don’t condemn them. I have no ill feeling towards them either. Because every one of them played their part with the conviction that was it for the good of the people.

            Osman went on after a brief pause,

            Now, let me tell you why I have asked you to meet here.  We have got to sort out what we would be doing from now on. 

            Osman had altogether given up the idea of joining the resistance.  He was in no doubt that it would serve no purpose. So he had already dismissed the idea. He went on,

            -  In Taman I saw crowds of people clamoring to migrate to the Land of the Caliph.  How about ourselves also moving out there  before the situation got worse?. 

            Yeftale slightly moved, suggesting that he had something to say. 

            -  Basti, mind your words!  How about our relatives in the Psıfabe Valley?  How could we go away leaving them behind? 

            Osman shook his head in a sorrowful mood, and replied:

            -  For the last ten years the eastern Şapsığ region has been a scene of fierce fightings.  Do we know their plight?  Under the present conditions no one is in a position to be of help to others.  There is nothing that we can do for them, nor there is good that they could do to us. 

            Osman once again shook his head, as he stressed, “That is exactly the situation we are in today!”  He went on.

            - Adigey is passing through the Doomsday. We are now living through the doomsday when neither a father is able to do any good to his own son, not a brother to his own brother, as Albek Hoca had once told us.

            The mute listeners gradually began to speak out their mind. “At this age I wouldn’t go anywhere!” old Samir painfully commented.  Yeftale Hamız, Serkuse Hüseyin and Koce Neov suggested not to make a hasty decision. 

            Others were not aware what actually worried Osman.  The crowd at the Taman harbor had horrified him.  Osman was afraid that with the passage of time more and more people would jam up and in  the coast, at the Tsemez harbor in particular; and unthought of difficulties would follow.  Misery would escalate to unimaginable extent. 

            Osman did not insist.

                                                               O0O

            By the end of the summer, developments began unfolding as Osman had feared.  In the middle of September Russian cargo vessels called at the Tsemez harbor, and dumped thousands of Russian settlers on the coast. 

            The starved and miserable newcomers rushed to build their own housing facilities before the winter season set in.  They dived into the forests, cut down thousands of trees, and leveled the denuded slopes into terraces, over which they erected barracks to shelter in during the winter. 

            Then followed incidents of theft and  robbery.  The local population of Kutak and other villages in the neighborhood hurried to harvest their corn fields.  They narrowly saved their domestic animals being pillaged by the newcomers. 

            Meanwhile there occurred fierce scramble over the cornfields at isolated fringes of forests.  The Adiğes rendered harmless the settlers who attempted to rob them of their property. 

            The individuals with the semblance of leadership of the local community, such as Bastiko Osman and Geriyiko Şemız, were summoned to the Garrison to record their statements under oath.  The Russian authorities demanded the “criminal activities”  be immediately terminated, and threatened them with drastic reprisal. 

            In a matter of a few months Tsemez developed to a full fledged city with a Port Authority, and a Municipal Council and schools,.  Civil and military authorities were separated.  Col. Lazer was transferred.  He was replaced by a General. 

            Bastiko Osman had in the meantime grasped that passivity would not pay.  He organized the leading personalities of the area to  form a deputation to pay a courtesy visit to the new master of Tsemez  on behalf of the local population.

            Unlike the practice in Taman, Osman himself undertook the spokesmanship of the deputation.  He addressed the General on behalf of the local delegates.  He underlined that he had not taken part in any of the hostilities with the Russians, and that he was dedicated to peace.  He said:

            -  I wouldn’t deny that our elders, including my father, have fought against the Czar’s army.  I admit that even today  fierce fightings are going on at various places of our land.  We are not in a position to stop it.

            Following this confidence building lead-in he voiced his actual intent. 

            -  Do not take all the Adiğe people as comprised of  quarrelsome and belligerent individuals.  Please consider also the women and children, who tremble at the sound of gun fire.  We prefer peace rather than being wiped out.  We want to be the loyal subjects of the Czar.  Please believes us, and spare our lives.

            The General had been transferred to Tsemez from the eastern front.  He had served  a life time in Caucasia, and was highly experienced in dealing with the Caucasians.  He cast a suspicious look at Osman, and retorted, “We will see!”  He went on,

            -  Should you behave as you said you would, I shall treat you humanely.  I shall not allow anyone ever molests your property and chastity. I shall always be by your side. 

            He paused for a moment, and continued,

            -  In the event of a attack against your life and property, do not attempt to avenge.  Come to me!  Apply to the court of justice! The culprits shall necessarily be punished; you will see that.
            Osman and his companions left the Generals office assured.  The hope for the future so inspired, greatly appeased them.

                                                                 O0O

            Geriyiko Şeretluk was a daring person  like his late father had been.  He had taken part in numerous confrontations, which he survived with only minor injuries. 

            He could not be reconciled to the loss of the whole of the Bay of Tsemez to the enemy.  “This place had been the singular breathing organ of our land,”  he would underline, and urge doing something  to redeem the loss.

            In the vast area extending to the Abzeh and Ubih regions, with valleys deep inside the forests,  there were numerous villages and farms, where the Russians had not yet set their foot. 

            Şeretluk contended that a force of ten-thousand volunteers could be raised from there, and that with it the Tsemez Garrison could be razed to the ground. 

            Geriyiko Şeretluk’s contention appeared logical to some at the coast.  For in Tsemez there were Russian civilians that needed military protection.  That was a vulnerable point of the Russians.  A strong attack could disrupt everything there.  The Adiğes could retreat to the depths of the forests and the highlands; but the Russians could not walk away to safety through the sea.

            Şeretluk, being elder to Osman by age, could speak out his mind unrestricted, and could find growing number of supporters day by day. 

            Osman, without grudge, went to Şeretluk’s house.  For hours he tried to dissuade him in indulging in futile efforts. 

            -  We two visited the general together:  We told him we stood for peace.  Can you imagine what would happen to us if we were to involve in belligerent activities?  Our wives and children would be in distress.  For God’s sake think over it again!

            Bastiko Osman had difficult days to live.  He was scared all the time lest Şeretluk should commit a blunder.  He kept him under constant surveillance. 

            Shanaş, son of Osman’s maternal uncle Ali, was a more sensible person.  He listened to reason, and behaved rationally.  At least he would consult others before translating his though to action.

            Whenever visiting Şeretluk, Osman usually saw to it that Shanaş accompanied him. He sought the latter’s support in persuading Şeretluk.  Sometimes they argued for a whole night.

            Nevertheless there were no lack of people who encouraged Şeretluk otherwise.  Even in the Basti district there were individuals sympathetic to Şeretluk’s hawkish stance.  Yeftale Hamız, Koce Neov and Biyanko Takır,  representatives of  the middle age generation, considered the present situation as too disgraceful to digest.  They admitted that they were ashamed of maintaining peaceful relations with the Russians while thousands of their brethren  were fighting the Russian and shedding their own blood.

            An incident during the month of February placed Osman in a further difficult position.

            The Tsemez Garrison had expanded as it was reinforced from time to time with additional thousands of men and officers.  As the base personnel found the area increasingly secure and amenable, they stopped leading an isolated existence within the confines of the garrison.  The officers in particular began visiting the farms and villages in the neighborhood to while away their time, and to better understand the local people. 

            Col. Sergey, whom Osman had met at the office of the General, had visited the Basti district in Kutak on a number of occasions, and had been hosted by Osman. At his last visit he requested Osman to arrange a hunting party; for himself was a hunter.

            The request being an earnest one, Osman couldn’t turn it down.  Conscious of the loopholes involved, he associated other persons from the village as well as from the Basti district in the preparations and execution of the hunting party. 

            Osman had expected that Col. Sergey would come up with reasonably limited number of friends.  On the appointed day there turned up two companies in full operational outfit.  He was stunned at the sight of them. 

            In addition, Col. Sergey was accompanied by twelve officers of various ranks. 

            There was nothing that could be done.  The party set out.

            Osman had seen to it that Yeftale Hamız, Koce Neov and Kundey, his own groom accompany him; in addition to several pşılı and Nogay youth. 

            Kundey’s son Haku was only fourteen years old.  He was a courageous and aggressive boy. Osman was fond of him.  Osman, having noticed the boy too eager to join the hunting, let him to come along.  On their way the party was joined by Şeretluk, Shaneş and their men.  They rode to the east, towards the forest. The number of hunters increased as the party covered distance. 

            In the uninhabited valleys covered with dense forests that laid ahead of them, there existed varieties of hunting animals and birds.  One could any moment come across with herds of deer, in addition to such dangerous animals as wolf, beer and bore.  As for birds, one had to approach the water course. 

            Osman had warned Col. Sergey to see to it that the soldiers do not go astray.

            Nevertheless the moment a herd of deer appeared before the hunting party, a confusion followed.  The Russian cavalry men, heedless of the thick snow over the ground, galloped after the game, and the younger officer spurred their horses after them, in different directions.

            Within minutes the group broke up, and disappeared in to the depths of the forest.  Col. Sergey was left with his bugler, Osman and his groom Kundey next to him.

            Col.  Sergey himself to was highly exited at the sight of the herd of deer. He  galloped madly in pursuit of the game, not knowing where to. 

            Osman, worried as he had been lest something wrong happen to the colonel, pursued him.  He repeatedly warned Kundey to keep his company.  At the base of a valley they found an exhausted deer, an old one, stuck into the snow. 

            The colonel took aim, and hit the animal at the first shot.  The poor animal fell as it released a cold muffled groan. 

            Col. Sergey rejoiced as if he had won a major victory.  He dismounted, approached the game,  fired a coup de grace shot at its head, and relieve the wounded animal. 

            Pşılı Kundey tied a rope to its horn, dragged it up over the snow covered slope.

            The colonel’s joy, however, was short-lived.  For soon he realized that all his soldiers had gone.  He looked around with searching eyes in panic.

            He ordered the bugler to call up the men, which the young soldier immediately carried out.  The sharp sound of his bugle resounded through the depth of the forests.  They stood at an open plain inside the forest.  The colonel was appeased at the sight of his men turning  up in ones and twos.  Nevertheless it took almost one hour for the group to assemble. 

            The time had advanced pretty much.  The clouds swept by the wind had began settling over the forest to form a misty shroud. The colonel ordered a roll-call.  A young subaltern came up and reported that one officer and eight men were missing in his company.

            Three men were declared missing in the other company. 

            Bastiko Bram was more agitated than the colonel.  His face faded. He looked around, and eased to see Şeretluk and Shanaş behind himself.  No one in his team was missing.  He had no figures on the hunters who had joined them from other villages. 

            All the Adiğes present there, particularly Şeretluk, were very much familiar with the terrain.  Not sufficed with the call of the bugle, the local hunters spread over in to the forest in search of the missing eleven soldiers and one officer.

            The colonel had been so scared that he did not allow his men and officers to join the search party.  A thick layer of fog settled down on the slopes as well as at the base of the valley.

            The search yielded no result.  Two young officers and eleven men were still missing. 

            The colonel’s anxiety turned to rage.  He almost lost self-control.  He shouted at his subordinates; abused them.  Then he turned to Bastiko Osman.  “You brought us to  this hell of a place!”, he accused him. 

            His mouth foamed out of extreme rage.  He alternately  run to his subordinates, then turned to Osman and others repeatedly calling names.  He  stared at them, especially at Shanaş and Şeretluk, trying to read everybody’s face. 

            Finally he vehemently shouted at Osman,

            -  I don’t accept it!  You should find my men by tomorrow!  Otherwise you shall have to account for it. 

            Osman expressed his helplessness,

            - Colonel! Remember, I had warned you in advance!

            It was dark now.  There was nothing to be done under the circumstance but to return to the base.

            Şeretluk and Shanaş rode at the forefront, Osman and the colonel following them.  On the way the helpless colonel talked non-stop.  May be he was busy in loud-thinking relevant to his own defense before the General. 

            Osman, Şeretluk and their men all together went down to Tsemez.  They escorted the colonel and the two companies of troop to the gate of the garrison. They returned  home late at the night. 

             “Could Şeretluk and his men have done a mischief!”, Osman wondered.  Nevertheless he didn’t dare to question him.  Şeretluk seemed absolutely innocent.

            Though he was very much tired, he could not have a comfortable sleep that night.  In bed he kept on turning from one side to the other. He did sleep intermittently though, but each time he had a nightmare. 

           On the next day extensive preparation went underway in   search of the missing personnel.  In addition to cavalry units, an infantry regiment also marched to the forest early in the morning. 

            Osman, Şeretluk and other leading individuals of the area joined the troops as guides.   Every inch of the hunting area was searched.  The whole of the forest was combed from one end to the other. 

            The foot prints left the previous days had been erased by the billiard at night.  No trace of yesterday’s movements could be found, let alone spotting the missing soldiers. 

            Colonel Sergey was suspended.  Another officer had taken charge of the search party.  The new commander, unable to rescue the missing personnel, returned to the headquarters to report on the situation.  He carried along to the garrison twelve natives, including Osman, as first-hand witnesses.

            The conclusion part of the investigation report stated that “eleven soldiers and two officers were missing owing to adverse weather conditions”, and that “there was no evidence of any extraneous interference.”

            Nevertheless the actual event had been rather different.  Some other Adiğe fighters had taken position deep inside the forest in advance.  The soldiers and officers construed as having gone astray, had actually been kidnapped, and were detained as hostages at a distant valley. 

            Osman learned the situation about ten days later.  He was very much worried about the fate of the kidnapped Russians.  For a long time he was afraid lest the Russian authorities come to know of the situation. 

            The incident, which disturbed the peace of mind of Bastiko Osman, in effect proved a blessing in disguise for the local population.  The Commanding General prohibited excursions to the villages and farms in the neighborhood by military personnel.

                                                               O0O

            Since the end of the Crimean War the Russian Navy had been maintaining an unrivaled sway over the Caucasian shores.  In particular, all the quays and harbors from Gelincik up to the Strait of Kerç, were closed to foreign vessels.  To affect adherence to the Paris Peace Treaty, the Russians allowed restricted navigation to European vessels in the Caucasian waters. 

            Aside from the incidence of surreptitious navigation by  daring Turkish Captains in the coastal waters of Georgia and Abhazya,  Caucasia’s connections with outside world had been totally severed. 

            Commerce at the Port of Tsemez had passed to the monopoly of the Russian and Armenian businessmen.  The local merchants had withdrawn to their own farms and homes. 

            The sons of Batmaziyiko Ali Bey were now engaged in farming and animal husbandry.  Bastiko Osman also gave up business.  He had to abandoned dealing in salt, which had been his main preoccupation for some time.  He too resumed farming, his ancestral occupation.

            The embargo imposed a new way of life to the surviving Adiğes.

            In the world of the women little had changed.  They labored at the looms,  fed the chickens, and attended to the honey-combs

            At the district run by Bastiko Osman, there has been virtually no change except termination of trading on his part. The population of the Basti colony  lived closely tied together, despite individual ownership of property. The domestic animals such as horses, livestock and sheep  were pooled, attended   and grazed collectively by the pşılı families. 

            The system organized by Bastiko Pşımef, was faithfully maintained. The sense of common destiny was sustained.  Recently  solidarity among the families in the Basti district assumed a special significance.

            Indeed there was an established order, which operated flawless.  Nevertheless no one was in peace.  Fierce fighting continued in the hinterland.  There was a big Russian garrison at the beach, a couple of hours walking distance away from the village Kutak.  The military onslaught was followed by influx of Russian civilian colonists.  They were busy building a new city.

            The Russians taking root in the Bay of Tsemez, so close to Kutak; profoundly influenced the perception of the females and children.  They now could see by their own eyes that the enemy, the Russians, were human beings like themselves, who ate and drank; and at time happy or sorrowful as the occasion may require.  The Russian perceived earlier by the Adiğe women and children was  quite a different creature, a giant from an unknown pitch-dark world.

            The situation changed gradually as Col. Lazer, and later Col. Sergey, and their men began visiting Kutak.  It was in the person of those individuals that the Adiğe women and children had some first hand notion about the Russians. 

            Osman’s youngest son Idris was about nine years old when Col. Lazer first visited the Basti district.  Encouraged by his father, he had come near to the stranger in decorated outfits, had wished him “welcome”, and had let him hold his hand.  Idris had been very much surprised at Lazer’s affectionate look, smiling at him. 

            There was a great  difference between what the elders had told him  and the person before him.  Obviously, at that age it was impossible for him to explain  the wide disparity. 

              The women and the children like Idris were not the only ones who were startled and confused at the sight of the Russian individual. The grown up males also were in a similar dilemma. 

            There was one constant reality, however.

            To make peace with the Russians meant to coexist with them, to mix up with them in the same crucible.  Having been fighting  against them for the last seven or eight decades, they found it hard to reconcile themselves with suddenly sharing the life with the erstwhile enemy. 

            That was the fountainhead of their anxiety.