hey wear on their feet willow or
birch-bark sandals, their legs being swathed in rags of all sorts. A
vest and sash of some gay colour is also worn; so that altogether their
costume is picturesque, though much less so than that of Swiss or
Spanish peasants. Their cottages are built of logs of pine, laid one
above the other, the ends being notched to fit into each other, exactly
like the log-huts of Canada, and having always a porch in front. They
are roofed with straw. They contain two apartments, with a huge stove
of brick built into the dividing wall. In each room there is a very
small window. In a conspicuous place is seen the picture of the saint
worshipped by the family, hung against the wall, sometimes glazed, and
always having a lamp burning before it. The first act of each person
who enters the cottage is to salute the image; indeed, the same
veneration is paid to it as was paid to the household gods of the
ancients. The temperature of these abodes ranges, both in summer and
winter, from 70 degrees to 80 degrees. They are lighted at night by a
pine stick stuck into the wall. As the interstices between the logs are
filled up with hemp and other combustible materials, fires are very
common, and whole villages are frequently burnt down. In order to
extinguish these conflagrations, each serf is bound to bring some
particular implement--a ladder, a pail, or an axe; and, that he may not
forget his duty, the implement he is charged to bring is painted on the
board with his name, which is placed in front of his hut. Thus, as soon
as the signal is given that a fire has broken out, so many serfs rush
forth with ladders, so many with pails, and so many with axes, towards
the scene of conflagration.

"The serfs on an estate are allowed a certain portion of ground and
materials for building their cottages. They labour three days in the
week for their owners, and three days for themselves; so that, when the
soil is good, they can easily provide themselves with the necessaries of
life. But, at the same time, they are entirely in the power of unjust
stewards or cruel masters, who can make their lives miserable, and
quickly bring them to ruin. It must be owned that when serfs are well
managed they are often contented and happy, and have no wish for
freedom.

"Some proprietors are anxious to free their serfs, so as to be able to
move them from one estate to another, or to get rid altogether of the
charge of keepi