CHEEEMISSIANS— CHUVASHES. 405 



connected with the weaving, dyeing, and adornment of the materials used in 

 their national costume, which is especially remarkable for its ornaments of 

 copper and silver plates and leather fringes. The women wear a head-dress 

 decked with glass trinkets, and terminating behind in a sort of hood stiffened 

 with metal and leather embellishments. They also wear on the breast a simple 

 or double plastron of coins, little bells, or copper discs, at once ornaments and 

 amulets. " A collector of coins," says Rambaud, "would make some marvellous 

 discoveries amongst these ambulant numismatic cabinets." 



The religion of the Cheremissians is a curious mixture of paganism, Russian 

 Christianity, Tatar Mohammedanism, and Mongolian Shamanism. In their eyes 

 the " seventy-seven religions of the seventy-seven nations " are all equally good. 

 They fairly claim to be " Orthodox," since they keep the feasts of the calendar 

 with copious libations, venerate St. Nicholas and the other saints under the name 

 of " Yuma," or " Gods," and even offer sacrifices to Our Lady of Kazan. But 

 were the Tatars still rulers of the land, the Cheremissians might with equal 

 justice call themselves Mohammedans, for Mohammed is also one of their pro- 

 phets, and w^holc villages have even formally adopted Islam in spite of the laws 

 which condemn renegades to eight or ten years of hard labour. At the same 

 time the old divinities still hold their ground, amongst them the great Yuma, 

 God of Heaven, and the gods of the winds, rivers, frost, of domestic animals, and 

 even of trees. Near the village of Adoshnur, in the government of Kostroma, 

 there was a birch-tree which was worshipped by large numbers till 1843. The 

 Cheremissians, especially of Perm, who have not yet been baptized, still worship 

 fire, much after the fashion of the primitive Aryans. But their most dreaded 

 divinity is Keremet, author of all evil. Hence for him are set apart the choicest 

 beasts of the herd, for his anger must be conjured by solemn sacrifices, at which 

 the Karfcs, or hereditary priests, immolate at times as many as 80 horses, 50 cows, 

 100 other horned cattle, 150 sheep, and 300 ducks. White horses are also sacri- 

 ficed on the graves of men esteemed for their wealth or virtues. The rites are 

 celebrated in some birch or linden grove remote from the Slav towns, where no 

 Russian words must be uttered, no Russian garb be seen. Nor are women 

 allowed to penetrate into the sacred precincts, though they may endeavour to 

 catch a glimpse of the ceremony between the trees and amidst the moving mass 

 of spectators. One of their most remarkable feasts is that of the Sorok Yol, or 

 " Sheep's Leg," corresponding with the Christian Yule-tide, a religious and social 

 gathering, beginning with a solemn parade, and ending in a parody. Seated 

 at a well-supplied table, the Karte personifies both the faithful and the god who 

 hears their supplications. He asks health, happiness, plenty of beer, corn, bees, 

 cattle, money, and the luck to sell their produce at thrice its value. Then in the 

 person of the god he hears all these prayers, crying out, " I grant, I grant," 

 after which the Russian agents, popes, magistrates, and recruiting officers are 

 turned into ridicule. 



The Chuvashes, a term said to mean " AYatermen," form about one-fourth of the 

 population in the government of Kazan, and are also scattered in small com- 



