Market in Turku, Finland 1830

"There is a floating-market here, like that of Stockholm, for the sale of vegetables. The women stand knee-deep in water; and a little parapet, raised on the bed of the river, serves to secure the market from being carried away by the stream, while it affords a dry walk for the customers."

"The contrast between Finland and Sweden is very striking. I could fancy myself in Asia. The peasants wear long loose robes of a coarse woollen manufacture, secured by a silken ceinture like the kummerbund of the Mussulmans. Their beards are thick and long. Their dress, except the European hat, resembles that of Beoparries from Cabul."

Charles Boileau Elliott: Letters from the north of Europe; or a journal of travels in Holland (1832)