ontiers of Pomerania, where the Windish Kassubes dwelt; the villages
were a collection of old huts, with torn thatched roofs, on bare
plains, without a tree and without a garden; there was only the
indigenous wild cherry-tree. The houses were built of wooden rafters
and clay; going through the house door, one entered a room with a large
hearth, without a chimney; stoves were unknown; no candle was ever
lighted, only fir chips brightened the darkness of the long winter
evenings; the chief article in the miserable furniture was the
crucifix, and under it a bowl of holy water. The dirty, forlorn people
lived on rye porridge, or only on herbs, which they made into soup, or
on herrings, and brandy, in which both women and men indulged. Bread
was almost unknown; many had never in their life tasted such a
delicacy; there were few villages in which there was an oven. If they
ever kept bees, they sold the honey to the citizens, as well as carved
spoons and stolen bark; and with the produce, they bought at the fairs,
coarse blue cloth dresses, with black fur caps, and bright red
handkerchiefs for the women. There was rarely a weaving-loom, and the
spinning-wheel was unknown. The Prussians heard there no national
songs; there were no dances, no music, nor indeed any of the pleasures
which the most miserable Poles partake of, but stupidly and silently
the people drank bad drams, fought, and reeled about. The poor noble
also differed little from the peasant; he drove his own rude plough,
and clattered in wooden slippers about the unboarded floor of his hut.
It was difficult, even for the Prussian King, to make anything of these
people. The use of potatoes spread rapidly, but the people long
continued to destroy the fruit trees, the culture of which was
commanded; and they opposed all other attempts at cultivation. Equally
needy and decaying were the frontier districts with Polish population;
but the Polish peasant preserved, in his state of poverty and disorder,
at least the vivacity of his race. Even on the properties of the
greater nobles, such as the Starosties, and of the crown, all the
farming buildings were ruined and useless. If any one wished to forward
a letter, he had to send a special messenger, for there was no post in
the country; indeed, in the villages no need of it was felt, for a
great portion of the nobles could not read or write, more than the
peasants. Were any one ill, no assistance could be obtained but the
myst