278 RUSSIAN SECTS. 



a great surprise to find in these Suabian settlements 

 the pure and unadulterated old Suabian customs and 

 language. One fancies oneself suddenly transplanted 

 into a village of the Black Forest, such is the appea- 

 rance of the houses, the streets, and inhabitants of 

 these colonies. It is true I found it difficult to under- 

 stand their dialect, as I had not then studied it, as 

 is now the case in a measure after twenty years 

 marriage with a Suabian lady, but I learnt from a 

 genuine Suabian that he too only understood it with 

 difficulty, as it was the dialect spoken at the begin- 

 ning of the century, and not the present one. essentially 

 changed through the influence of time. With the 

 language the people have also retained all their customs 

 and usages, just as they were at the time of the emi- 

 gration. They are as it were fossilized and inflexibly 

 resist all changes. 



It looks however as if this immutability of national 

 custom and language were a general characteristic of 



Oo O 



the Caucasus, which presents a real mosaic of nations. 

 Besides the larger sharply separated tribes there are 

 a number of quite small ones, which inhabit secluded 

 and almost inaccessible mountain valleys, and have 

 faithfully preserved both language and customs, which 

 from time immemorial have been altogether different 

 from those of all the neighbouring peoples. Further 

 there exist in the Caucasus numerous Russian colonies, 

 composed of sects which have been transported there 

 from all parts of Russia in the endeavour to preserve 

 the uniformity of the State religion, and are united in 



