CHAPTER XVIII. 



EUROPE: RUSSIA, CAUCASIA, FINLAND, LAPLAND, NORWAY, 



SWEDEN, AND ICELAND. 



RUSSIA. 



OF all the peoples constituting the Slavonic branch of the so-called Caucasian type, the 

 Russians are the most conspicuous and the most powerful. They inhabit an empire more 

 than twice as large as Europe (exceeding 9,000,000 square miles in extent), with a population 

 estimated in 1897 at 129,211,113, of whom about 100,000,000 are in Russia itself. In 

 appearance Russians of the present day do not suffer by comparison with any other people 

 in Europe. Formerly they were of somewhat heavier build and full average stature, with a 

 swarthy skin, small deep-set eyes, dark hair, heavy beard, and moustache. Both figure and 

 face, however, have been greatly changed and improved by intermixture with fair Scandinavian 

 and other races. The Russians are now frequently referred to by ethnologists as supplying 

 .some of the best examples of the highest Caucasian type. 



The peasants are remarkable for their power of enduring both extreme cold and extreme 

 heat. When a coachman takes his master or mistress to a theatre, he never thinks of going 

 home and returning at the appointed hour. 

 He does not even walk about, stamping his 

 feet and swaying his arms to keep himself 

 warm, as English cabmen do; hour after hour 

 he sits placidly on his box. Though the cold 

 be of an intensity never approached here, 

 ven in our severest winters, he can sleep as 

 tranquilly as the idle lazzaroni in Naples at 

 midday. 



Once a week the Russian indulges 

 in a vapour bath, an occupation usually 

 reserved for Saturday afternoon. In some 

 parts of the country the peasants take their 

 vapour bath in the large household oven 

 in which the family bread is baked. The 

 temperature is raised to the extreme limit 

 of human endurance, such as few English 

 people could bear. 



Sir D. Mackenzie Wallace, describing 

 among his experiences in Russia a vapour 

 bath, says: "I only made the experiment 

 once; and when I informed my attendant 

 that my life was in danger from congestion 

 of the brain, he laughed outright, and told 

 me that the operation had only begun. 

 Most astounding of all," he continues, 

 *' the peasants in winter often rush out 



409 



Plioto by J. Daziaro] 



A RUSSIAN MENDICANT. 



[Moscow. 



