The shawl and outer jacket removed, there are attractive revelations of a sleeveless corsage of brocade and a white chemisette conspicuous for sleeves that puff with exaggeration at the shoulder and again below the elbow, finally coming in tightly at the wrist and ending in frills. The jewellery, as is usual in Russia, is of a ponderous type, and is most popular in the form of chains, necklaces, and finger-and ear-rings. The women of the people still plaster their faces crudely with white and red cosmetics: a mode once in favour with the upper classes, but now condemned as distinctly bad form and savouring of barbarity.
I cannot leave Russia without some reference to the Jews, who write now as ever an important chapter in their history.
No Jew can justly be counted a peasant, since no member of the race is allowed to be a land-owner, his utmost privilege permitting him to be a tenant farmer. The distinctive garment remains what it has been through many centuries—the gaberdine; but some concession is made to modern opinion by the black peaked cap, which, in place of the old skull-cap, is worn in the streets by the less prejudiced.
The gaberdine buttons down the front to the waist, hangs to the ankles, and is usually now made of black cloth, silk, or moire, held at the waist by a folded belt. It is finished at the neck by a soft turn-down collar attached to an under-shirt, and it conceals from view loose trousers and high boots; in winter it is lined with fur. The chin is unshaven, and a pendent curl hangs from either temple; and reverence for the old
