detected merely in certain
peculiarities of physiognomy and pronunciation.*

* One of the most common peculiarities of pronunciation is
the substitution of the sound of ts for that of tch, which I
found almost universal over a large area.

The process of Russification may be likewise observed in the manner of
building the houses and in the methods of farming, which show plainly
that the Finnish races did not obtain rudimentary civilisation from the
Slavs. Whence, then, was it derived? Was it obtained from some other
race, or is it indigenous? These are questions which I have no means of
answering.

A Positivist poet--or if that be a contradiction in terms, let us say
a Positivist who wrote verses--once composed an appeal to the fair sex,
beginning with the words:

"Pourquoi, O femmes, restez-vous en arriere?"

The question might have been addressed to the women in these Finnish
villages. Like their sisters in France, they are much more conservative
than the men, and oppose much more stubbornly the Russian influence.
On the other hand, like women in general, when they do begin to change,
they change more rapidly. This is seen especially in the matter of
costume. The men adopt the Russian costume very gradually; the women
adopt it at once. As soon as a single woman gets a gaudy Russian dress,
every other woman in the village feels envious and impatient till she
has done likewise. I remember once visiting a Mordva village when this
critical point had been reached, and a very characteristic incident
occurred. In the preceding villages through which I had passed I had
tried in vain to buy a female costume, and I again made the attempt.
This time the result was very different. A few minutes after I had
expressed my wish to purchase a costume, the house in which I was
sitting was besieged by a great crowd of women, holding in their hands
articles of wearing apparel. In order to make a selection I went out
into the crowd, but the desire to find a purchaser was so general and
so ardent that I was regularly mobbed. The women, shouting "Kupi! kupi!"
("Buy! buy!"), and struggling with each other to get near me, were so
importunate that I had at last to take refuge in the house, to prevent
my own costume from being torn to shreds. But even there I was not
safe, for the women followed at my heels, and a considerable amount of
good-natured violence had to be employed to expel the intruders.

It is especially inte