REPUBLIC OF CRACOW. 



795 



taken to please him. When he has succeeded in rendering himseJf agreeable, ii is a custom 

 at an assemblage for all the women present to give him a sudden slap on the back, when it is 

 least expected ; and the compliment is in proportion to the weight oi' the blow. 



S. Education. Education is much less diffused than in Sweden, though there is a universi- 

 ty at Helsingfors. 



9. Jlmusements. Amusements are not rare among so cheerful a people, though they are not 

 much given to dancing. They have many athletic sports, and the hear dance^ from the strength 

 required, may be considered one. It is practised sometimes by the peasants. It is perform- 

 ed on all fours, or the dancer rests on his hands as well as feet, and by leaps and jumps keeps 

 time with the music. It is so fatiguing, that the dancer in a few minutes falls into a violent per- 

 spiration. The peasants shoot the rifle with much skill, and seldom miss the smallest mark. 

 They hunt the wild animals in various ways, and engage the most dangerous of them singly, 

 and fearlessly. They sing to the harpu, or sort of harp ; two men sitting opposite, with locked 

 hands, accompany the song with alternate verses, raising each other alternately from their seats. 



The violin is not uncommon, and the Finlanders have some turn for poetry as well as mu- 

 sic. Every event of public or private interest, finds a poet to celebrate It. The poets con- 

 dole with friends at a death, and rejoice with them at marriages. They have also satires and 

 tales. Almost all the peasants have a house built for the purposes of a bath, which they use 

 generally, and with little regard to delicacy. It is a small chamber in which are a number of 

 stones. These are heated till they become red-hot, when water is thrown upon them, and the 

 company is involved in a cloud of vapor. The bathers rub thernselves and lash their bodies 

 with twigs, till they become red with scourging. In winter they go from the bath, which is so 

 hot that it is barely tolerable, and roll themselves in the snow. This they do in the coldest 

 days. 



10. Religion. The religion is Lutheran, but there are some pagan superstitions. There 

 are charms for the bite of a serpent, for scalds, burns, wounds, &c. ; diseases are supposed by 

 many to be the effect of witchcraft. The marriages are attended with ceremony and rejoicing. 



11. Agriculture, &c. The inhabitants cultivate barley and rye, and fell timber. The fir 

 trees of the interior afford great quantities of tar ; and potash is manufactured to some extent. 

 The products of the forest are sufficiently abundant for exportation. Fisheries are largely 

 carried on. 



12. Government, Population, &c. Finland Is a portion of the Russian Empire, with the 

 title of a government. The population is 1,350,000. The prevailing religion is Lutheran. 

 The country was formerly a province of Sweden, but came into the possession of Russia In 

 1809. 



CHAPTER CXXIV. REPUBLIC OF CRACOW. 



This republic consists of a territory of 500 square miles, formerly a part of Poland, and 

 now surrounded by the Russian and Austrian territories. The country is a plain, extending 

 along the banks of the Vistula, which becomes navigable immediately under the walls of the 

 capital. The soil Is fertile, and the climate warmer than in the rest of Poland. The general 

 appearance of the country is picturesque. The city of Cracow is the capital, and was once 

 the capital of Poland. It has a large dilapidated castle, and a cathodi al l emarkable for its 50 altars 

 and 20 chapels, and as the burial-place of many of the kings of Poland. Here are 70 churches 

 and several magnificent convents. The streets are irregular. The city contains a large square, 

 but the buildings which surround It are mean. The university is a magnificent edifice, and is 

 the most ancient seminary in Poland. A remarkable monument has lately been erected here In 

 honor of Kosciusko ; It consists of a mound, called Mogila Kosciusko, or Kosciusko's Mount, 

 300 feet In height, and 275 feet in diameter at the base. Population of the city, 26,000. 

 Kressovice has a population of 4,000. Krzano, 1,300. The vv'hole population of the repub- 

 hc is 100,000. 



The chief production Is grain. The agriculture Is superior to that of the other Polish coun- 

 tries, yet in bad seasons the land does not produce sufficient corn for the subsistence of the 

 inhabitants. Cattle are raised in considerable numbers. Fruits are reared In the neighborhood 

 of the capital, and the vegetables are in high reputation. At Kressovice are several iron works. 



