330 EUSSIA IN EUROPE. 



woven stuffs, are attached to the crosses raised above the graves ; the dead are 

 invited to share the family meal, and the beds of the departed are still got ready 

 in the cabin. When disputes arise about the boundaries of their lands, an umpire 

 covers his head with earth and walks ahead ; his footsteps mark the limits, for 

 " our mother, the moist earth," has decided. 



In Olonetz the social arts are in an extremely backward state. Agricultural 

 implements are still of the rudest type in a land where agricultural resources must 

 always be of a precarious character, where the " spring frosts " are felt in July, 

 and the " autumn chills " begin in August. Of late years the " Siberian plague," 

 prevalent in all marshy lands, has carried off a large portion of the live stock, and 

 even the chase, formerly so productive, now yields but poor returns, the beaver 

 and sable having already disappeared. Of the larger wild animals none remain 

 except the bear, which still continues to ravage the cattle and waste the oat-fields. 

 But all this matters little, seeing that the possible gains of the mujik are fore- 

 stalled by the traders who pay his taxes, and advance at heavy rates the powder 

 for the chase, his fishing tackle, and his daily bread. " Where I have set my foot 

 the mCijik sings no more," says the contractor. 



Topography. 



With the dawn of Russian history the Slavs are found endeavouring to 

 establish in the Narova and Neva basins large emporiums of trade with the Baltic 

 lands. One of these early marts was IzborsJc, which, however, had soon to make 

 way for Pskov, formerly Pleskov, some 20 miles farther east. Becoming 

 independent of "Novgorod the Great" in the fourteenth century, Pskov was at 

 first little more than an intermediary between that city and the German seaports. 

 But it succeeded later on in opening direct relations with the western trading 

 places, and had factories on the Baltic for the sale of timber, cereals, flax, tallow, 

 tar, and other Russian produce. The republic of Pskov was at the height of its 

 commercial prosperity in the fifteenth century, when it is said to have had a 

 population of 80,000. But its autonomy was suppressed in 1510, and after falling 

 under the sway of Muscovy it lost its importance, hundreds of its most industrious 

 citizens were carried off, and in 1803 it had scarcely 6,000 inhabitants. However, 

 its position as capital of a government, and its favourable situation above the 

 Velikaya delta at the southern extremity of Lake Peipus, have somewhat revived 

 the prosperity of a place which is the natural outlet of the interior as far as the 

 water-parting of the Dvina. Here are still to be seen some old houses and the 

 remains of walls that have withstood twenty-six sieges. 



Below Lake Peipus Narra occupies a corresponding position to Pskov, standing 

 near the mouth of the Narova, where in 1702 Charles XII. of Sweden overthrew a 

 Russian army ten times superior in numbers to his own. Its fortifications are of 

 secondary importance compared with the formidable works of Sveâborg and 

 Kronstadt, but the old exchange and the now abandoned bazaar are evidences of 

 its former commercial activity. The inhabitants, of whom about half are Germans, 



