806 



RUSSIA 



government, and educated as soldiers. The navy consists of 40 ships ot the Jine, ^35 Ingates, 

 and 204 smaller vessels, and 25 floating batteries. 



23. Inhabitants. The population of Russia is composed of a great variety of different people, 

 who have nothing in common, but the government. The Sclavonic race comprises the greatest 

 part of the inhabitants, including the Russians, the Cossacks, and the Poles. The latter form the 

 majority of the population of the western gover"ments, conquered from Poland, and of the king- 

 dom of Poland. The Cossacks occupy the southern provinces on the Don and the Black Sea. 

 The Finnic race comprises the Finns, Estlionians, Laplanders, and other tribes scattered over 

 the country, from the Tornea to the Ural Mountains. The Tartars or 'i'ttr/cis/;, race are spread 

 over the plains from the Dniester to the Caucasas, comprising the inhabitants of the former king- 

 doms of Kazan and Astrachan, and various tribes mostly under their own government, without 

 agriculture or firearms, and often preserving their nomadic habits. To the Mongol race belong 

 the Calmucks, in the southeastern governments. The Samoides compose numerous small tribes, 

 wandering through the vast wilderness on the northeastern coast. Beside these there is a great 

 number of German colonists, Sicerfes in Finland, Jews, Jlrmenians, Gypsies, Sic. In the whole 

 empire there are no less than 80 tribes, diflering in language, religion, and manners, from_ the low- 

 est state of barbarism to the highest degree of European civilization. The population of Euro- 

 pean Russia is divided into four classes ; the nobility, clergy, common people or freemen, 

 and boors or serfs. The boors are the property of the crown or of individuals, and are in a 

 state of abject poverty and ignoi'ance. The laws, however, aflbrd them some protection against 

 the caprice of their owners, and they are sometimes emancipated or permitted to purchase 

 their freedom. This servile class comprises the bulk of the population, amounting to about 

 36,000,000. The freemen, not nobles or clergy, are the inhabitants of cities, composed of 

 several distinct orders, as the members of the guilds, or capitalists, with a certain income, arti- 

 sans, notables (artists, bankers, and learned men), &c. The noble families comprise about 

 750,000 individuals, enjoying certain exemptions and privileges. 



24. Dress. The nobles dress chiefly after the English or French fashions ; but the burgh- 

 ers, merchants, and peasants wear the national dress, of the Asiatic form. In winter all classes 

 are wrapped in sheep-skins, or furs. The common dress of the peasants is a hat or cap, with 

 a high crown, a coarse robe reaching to the knee, and girded with a sash, in which the wearer 

 carries his purse and often his hatchet ; a woolen cloth wrapped round the leg instead of stock- 

 ings, and sandals of pliant bark. Tlie higher ranks wear in winter pelisses of fur, and boots 

 of the same. The dress of the ladies is nearly in the English fashion. The women of the 

 more numerous class wear a saraphan, or long vest without sleeves, tight around the chest, but 

 flowing over the hips, and having a close I'ow of buttons on the facing in front. 



25. Language. The Russian language is a branch of the Sclavonic, rich, expressive, and 

 full of imagery. The French, however, is the language of courtly society ; and other Euro- 

 pean languages are much used ; all which the Russians have a gieat facility of acquiring. 



26. JManncr of Building. The houses of the peasantry are similar in the greater part of 

 Russia. They are made of logs, laid one upon the other. They have but one room for 

 household purposes, and this in summer and winter is always occupied with a stove, constantly 

 kept hot. The villages have a dismal look, with the ends only of the houses to the street. 

 After Petersburg, there are few Russian cities well built ; and Moscow is imposing principally 

 from the great variety of oriental forms of architecture. 



27. Food. The peasantry can seldom indulge in the luxuries of the table ; though the rich 

 live sumptuously. The general food of the lower classes is black rye bread, potatoes, salted 

 fish, garlic, mushrooms, and cucumbers, in great quantities. The common drink is quass, a 

 fermented liquor, made by mixing flour with water, and letting it stand till the acetous fermenta- 

 tion takes place. It tastes like vinegar and water. Mead is also a common drink, and whisky 

 and brandy are consumed in large quantities by the lower classes. Intemperance is not com- 

 mon with the nobility, but with the other class it is as universal as the means. The Cossacks 

 use much brandy, and they have excellent wines of domestic growth. The Calmucks have 

 koumiss, an ardent spirit, hke weak brandy, distifled from the milk of mares. Tobacco is not 

 generally used in Russia, and, when taken, it is chiefly in the form of snufF. Smoking, how- 

 ever, is not rare, and ladies may sometimes be seen with a cigar. 



28. Diseases. The diseases of Russia are those common in almost all European countries. 

 On the Asiatic side fevers are common, and the plague frequently exists. The small-pox com- 

 mits more ravages than it is permitted to make in other European countries. 



