114 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. chap. XI. 



Some of these were gorgeous — none were vulgar — the colours 

 being always sober, rich, and clear. The wealthier peasants' 

 wives and daughters were arrayed in velvet and gold, silk 

 and satin, those of the poorer in linen and cotton, almost 

 entirely of Eussian manufacture. The women, as a rule, 

 wore the " roobahkah," which is simply a shirt put over 

 the fur " malitza," coming down to within a few inches of 

 the ground ; their ohaussures consisted of Wellington boots, 

 and their headdress of an orientally-coloured handkerchief, 

 tied behind. We had already noticed this Eastern taste 

 for colour among the peasantry. A few days before, 

 an imposing wedding procession had passed our window. 

 The larger number of the party was on horseback, two on 

 each horse. All were brightly dressed : the men wore knots 

 of ribbons on their shoulders ; the women, gaily apparelled, 

 had on various and curious head-dresses, ornamented with 

 gold braid. Yet, for all their brilliancy, the colours did not 

 look garish, a little touch of grey being always introduced 

 to subdue the effect. 



On St. Michael's Day it is customary to make presents to 

 the Church. The peasants brought various sorts of offerings, 

 cows, sheep, gloves, ribbons, &c., which were afterwards sold 

 by auction. Then the afternoon was spent in merry-making. 

 As is too often the case on a Eussian holiday, the revellers 

 all got more or less drunk. 



We found the condition of things wonderfully altered at 

 Ust-Zylma by the breaking up of the ice 6f the Zylma and 

 the Pishma. Despite the map, the latter river flows into 

 the Petchora, and is not a tributa:ry of the Zylma. The 



