PLATE X.
BACK OF A TCHEREMHISIAN WOMAN.
T HERE is no difference in the dress of the married and unmarried
women among the Tcheremhisi, except perhaps that the married
women put more work into theirs. They wear a kind of short
trowsers, reaching to their knees, as seen in the next Plate; and, instead
of stockings, they wrap a piece of cloth round their legs and feet; and
their shoes are made from the bark of a tree laced together. Over their
shift, which will be described in the next Plate, they wear a loose gown
or coat, with long sleeves of various colovu-s, and generally lined with
a different colour. They frequently make a border, or trimming, of
the skin of the beaver. Their bonnets are conical and high, but do
not end in a point; they call them schourki •, they are made of the bark
of the birch tree, covered with skin or cloth, upon which they fasten
a great number of small shells, various kinds of glass beads and small
silver coins, or money, by way of ornament. From the hind part of
this bonnet, a long piece of cloth falls down the back, and reaches to
ihe bottom of their gown, about three inches wide, and ornamented
in the same way as the other parts of their bonnet. Their girdles are
iiiilde of coloured cloth.