If very occasionally mounted men appeared, the Cossacks in the cordon and the Chechens in their aouls (villages) watched them with surprised curiosity and tried to guess who those questionable men could be.

At nightfall people from fear of one another flock to their dwellings, and only birds and beasts fearless of man prowl in those deserted spaces.

Talking merrily, the women who have been tying up the vines hurry away from the gardens before sunset.

The vineyards, like all the surrounding district, are deserted, but the villages become very animated at that time of the evening.

From all sides, walking, riding, or driving in their creaking carts, people move towards the village.