THE OLD BELIEVERS 41 



the Germans, who have to hire labour for the timber- 

 trade on the Petchora. They are represented as crafty 

 and faithless, and as few of them are employed as possible. 

 Their chief characteristic appears to be that they make 

 the sign of the cross with the thumb touching the second 

 and third, instead of the fourth and fifth fingers, as is the 

 fashion of the Orthodox Church. They have a curious 

 prejudice against tobacco, and will not smoke it them- 

 selves nor, if they can help it, allow other persons to 

 smoke in their houses. They seem to have Jewish 

 superstitions against pork and hare, neither will they use 

 any plate, glass, or other article from which persons not 

 of their religion have eaten or drunk. If you offer them 

 vodka in your own glass they will refuse it if they be 

 strict Old Believers, but we must do them the justice to 

 say that, under circumstances of this kind, many we met 

 were superior to their superstitions. But the most extra- 

 ordinary feature of their religion is that it forbids the use 

 of potatoes as food. They are not very diligent in their 

 attendance at church nor much under the control of their 

 priests, holding the doctrine that every man should be a 

 priest in his own house, and should conduct divine 

 worship there. Our host was very exemplary in this 

 respect when he was sober, having an excellent religious 

 library, and we often heard him and his family chanting 

 Slavonic prayers. One of his books was a Slavonic MS., 

 dating about 1740, and profusely illustrated with full- 

 page coloured drawings, very carefully executed, although 

 somewhat stift. It appeared to be the history of some of 

 the saints of the Greek Church. I tried very hard to buy 

 this book, but nothing would induce M. Boulegan to part 

 with it. In a corner of every Russian room is a sacred 

 picture or ikon, before which every one on entering 

 the room bows and crosses himself several times before 



