Chap. II. Northern Coafts 
of Sand. A Man’s bare Word that has got a Beard, is 
more valued among them, than an Oath of one that has 
none. 
Their lineft Pieces of Painting are not better than what 
is commonly done on Dutch Chimneys with red Oker 
and Spamjh white. They are as careful to keep their 
Teeth black, as we are to whiten ours ; they have an Art 
of painting them, as alfo their Eye-balls. They reckon 
long Eyes, and little Foreheads, handfome. The Ruffian 
Women hide Part of theirs in their Coifs. Little Feet, 
and a (lender Shape, are Deformity with them. They do 
their utmoft to grow fat •, for which purpofe they eat 
excelTively, and will lie in Bed whole Days together ; 
that they may increafe in Bulk, by much eating and 
much (leeping. Brandy, which one v/ould imagine 
Ihould rather walle than plump them, is thought to be 
agreatFatner by them. There is fo much Confufion in 
the Ways of Proceeding of the Ruffiian Judicature, that 
it is almoft impoffible to give a clear Account of it. 
There is a Precauce^ or Court of Juflice, in each Pro- 
vince, in which a Boyar, or Lord, prefides, to reprefent 
the Emperor’s Perfon. He has'under him a Chancellor, a 
Dysck, or Secretary j feveral Sub-fecretaries and Clerks. 
If a Plaintiff brings a Suit before the Judge, and he is not 
corrupted by the Defendant, the former is almoft fure to 
carry the Caufe ; for that it, is fuppofed the Right com- 
monly lies on his Side. Criminals are feldom condemn- 
ed to Death in Ruffiia they are feverely whipt ; and, 
befides, there is a Sort of Punifliment world than Death. 
A Murder may be bought off with Money. If one Man 
kills another, and no-body prorecutes him, the Magiftra- 
cy takes no Notice of it. If there be a thoufand Wit- 
nelfes againft a Man accufed of a Capital Crime, he can- 
not be convidted, unlefs he confefles himfelf. It is true, 
to extort that Confeffion from him, he is expofed to the 
moft cruel Torture that can be inflidted on the Body of 
Man. They fxtft give him the Strapado. If he confeffes 
nothing he is whipt, and the Hangman does it fo terribly, 
that he can kill the Criminal with fix or feven Lafhes. 
Sometimes they pierce his Sides with red hot Irons, or 
elfe they flit his Bones, fait them, and put them, hang- 
ing to his Body, on the Fire to broil. If he fays nothing 
ftill, they cure him as well as they can ; and twenty 
Days after, if he furvives the Torment, they renew it 
again. Sometimes they will half flea them, and if they 
endure all with Refolution, which rarely happens, they 
pour boiling Lead, Drop by Drop, on the Crown of his 
Head, clofe (haven, which is the laft Trial of his Con- 
ftancy. 
The Punifliment of Coiners, is to' melt fome of the 
Metal of which their falfe Money was made, and force 
them to fwallow it. A young Man (hooting an Owl in 
the Court of the imperial Palace, had his left Leg and 
his right Hand cut off, becaufe fome of the Shot glanced 
into the Emperor’s Chamber. If a Confpiracy againft 
the Government be detedled, the Confpirators are feverely 
tortured ; after v/hich they are fent to Siberia, and are 
either fuftered to ftarve to Death with Cold on the Way, 
or elfe have their Eyes plucked out, or their Ears cut off; 
and are left in that difmal Province fifteen hundred Miles 
from Mofcow. It is but lately that the Ruffiians have 
hanged their Criminals ; the Reafon why they would not 
permit any ftich Execution before, was out of a foolifh 
Fancy, that when the Man was ftrangled, his Soul de- 
parted downwards, and that defiled it. The Criminal 
ties the Rope about his own Neck, 'and flings himfelf off 
from the Ladder, when the Executioner bids him. The 
Hangman’s Place is hereditary, and he is careful to in- 
ftrudt his Children in his Trade ; v/hich, however, is not 
fo reputable as in fome Parts of France, where the Ex- 
ecutioner pretends to be a Gentleman by his Office. The 
common People in Mufeovy are very ignorant, and much 
given to Idolatiy. Thofe that live in the Northern Pro- 
vinces, about Archangel, Cola, &c. know no other God 
but St. Nicholas, who, they believe, governs the World. 
1 hey affirm he failed upon a Mill-Stone, from Italy to a 
Place near Archangel, now called St. Nicholas’s Port ; 
and if a Ruffiian feemed but to fufpedt the Truth of this 
Story, he would be in no fmafl Danger of his Life. They 
^Europe. 479 
celebrate the Feftivals of their own Saints with more 
Devotion than thofe of the Apoftles., St. Nicholas, they 
fay, is Najha Bradt, i. e. one of their Brethren, wffio, be- 
ing of their own Country, has more Kindnefs for them 
than either St. Peter or St. Paul, who never knew them, 
Thofe who have made Inroads on other Nations, or plun- 
dered Strangers, think they expiate all their Offences, by 
building a Church, furnifhing it with a good Ring of 
Beils, and Store of St. Nicholas’s, adorned and fet off with 
Jewels. The greateft Part of the Ruffians are rude and 
barbarous, except fome of them, who are civilized by 
their Commerce with Foreigners, or who have travelled 
to Poland and feen that Court. 
20. The Poles are lefs barbarous than the Mufeovites* 
Some of them improve their Minds by Study ; and Arts 
with Cat Ruffiians, Enemies to the Sciences, are never encou- 
raged. The Gentlemen of Poland are at Liberty to tra- 
vel whereever they pleafe. The Mufeovites cannot go 
out of their own Country without Leave of the Emperor, 
which is not eafily obtained. Flov/ever, vdth all thofe 
Advantages, the Poles are not fo refined a People as other 
Nations. They are proud, info lent, felf-conceited, and 
have high Opinions of themfelves, and their cv/n Coun- 
ty, which they fancy excels all others. They are Vv^him- 
lical in Tieir Drefs, vain, prodigal, and very oftenta- 
tious. I'heir Fiorfes are fine, and their Furniture miagni- 
ficent. They affedt this, becaufe it is what is mofic 
feen. They are civil to Strangers, and entertain them 
very handfomely, for two or three Days, till they have 
feen all they have to fhew them, and have made them 
drunk tor four or five times. They drink harder than the 
Ruffiians, and are iffi quarrelfome over their Liquor, that 
there is fcarCe a Gentleman, in the whole Kingdom, but 
one time or other has Teen wounded in a Debauch. Their 
Laws are barbarous to the laft Degree. Murder is only 
puniflied by a pecuniary Muldl. 
They pay no more than four or five Crowns for killing 
a Clown ; the Price rifing higher according to the Diftinc- 
tion of the Perlbn murdered. Their Kings are, in Truth, 
but Shadows of Monarchs. Henry III. was King of Po- 
land before he reigned in France. He had Reafon to be 
weary of their Crown, and would not, by any' Perfuafi- 
ons they made ufe of, be prevailed upon to keep it. 
A thing of the higheft Confequence, when debated in 
their general Diet, may* be flopped by one Senator’s 
Vote, who has Power to proteft againft it, without giv- 
ing his Reafons for it. The Ceremony is, he fets his 
Hand to his Scymitar, and that fignifies he is ready to 
oppofe that Propofition, in difpute, to Death ; which 
damns it for that Seffion ; and though, perhaps, the next 
Day the pro'efting Senator changes his Opinion, yet he 
cannot revoke his PrOteftation. The Pox is very com- 
mon and dangerous in Poland. 
The Mufeovites got it of the Polijh Women, at the 
Time they conquered Vilna, and fome other Towns and 
Provinces on the Frontiers of Poland', before which Ex- 
pedition the Ruffiians did not know what that Difeafe was. 
The Scurf, or Plica, is ftill more common than the Pox. 
The Caufe of it is, that moft of their Springs are poifon- 
ed by Mines of Arfenic, very frequent in thofe Parts ; 
by which it is almoft impoffible to travel thither and not 
have it. When once it gets into a Family, it goes round 
it, no-body efcapes the Infedtion. It is the filthieft and 
loathfomeli Diftemper in the World. A Man cannbt look 
upon fome Polanders, who have it in Extremity, without 
turning his Stomach. Befides that, the Symptoms of 
this Diftemper are terrible to the Eyes, the Stench of 
it is abominable ; there is no old Wound or Ulcer fmells 
fo intolerably. I have feen fome Monks, whofe Heads 
have been all over Scurf, and their Hair clotted together, 
than which there can be nothing more beaftly and fliock- 
ing to the Sight ; neverthelefs it is taken no Notice of 
in Poland ; the Poles, thinking it a Sign of Plealth ; and 
Gentlemen being moft troubled with it, it is alfo taken 
for a Token of their Qiiality. Thofe Fiorfes that have 
it, whofe Manes are matted, and whole Tails are glew- 
ed together with it, are efteemed the more bold, and the 
moft fit for Service ; and if never fo little of this Scurf 
is cut off, the Beafts die, or run mad, immediately, or 
elie 
