" holy russia:' 291 



The Russian peasants still believe in the agency of 

 witchcraft and sorcery, and when visited by an epi- 

 demic, such as the smallpox, cholera, or cattle plague, 

 a stranger appearing in their midst alone is sure to be 

 regarded with suspicion. And if the stranger happens 

 to be a " tall, shaggy old man ' or a " withered old 

 woman with flashing eyes," or otherwise resembles the 

 creatures of the popular superstition who are associated 

 with these malignant maladies, the fanatical peasants 

 would not hesitate to bury the unfortunate wretch 

 alive. 



On the base of a memorial to Czar Nicholas, in St. 

 Petersburg, is portrayed a scene in which the Czar 

 quells a tumult among the peasants by raising his arm 

 in anger. It depicts an actual occurrence of his reign 

 in the streets of St. Petersburg, at the time of the 

 cholera, when the moujiks rose in tumult against the 

 police because they refused to arrest persons who had 

 been seen "carrying cholera powder into a house " for 

 the purpose of spreading the disease. 



Certain curious rites are still faithfully practiced in 

 many Russian villages to ward of! the "cattle plague," 

 which the moujiks believe to wander about the coun- 

 try in human form. Among the Malo Russians the 

 cattle plague is an old woman who wears red boots, 

 and can walk on the water. Hence an old hag-like 

 woman who should turn up in a Russian village in red 

 boots would, especially in time of an epidemic, be in 

 danger of her life. Stones are current among the 

 people of moujiks who unwittingly gave a night's 

 lodging to this weird creature, and in the morning 

 every member of the family was dead. 



