Kolberg gave an account on the surroundings of Augustów: 

“In the past, the character of Augustów could be abridged to two words: fish and mushrooms. Today, forests and lakes can be added because those are the most remarkable things in this area”.

Kolberg stayed in Augustów probably just once, in 1858. In 1890 he remembered this “city by the Netta river at the far end of Podlachia at the border of Poland. Besides the beautiful landscapes full of lakes and forests, it is home to the Catholic parish church, the Orthodox church and the Catholic chapel”.

While he was travelling in the vicinity of Augustów, he collected a great amount of songs and folk melodies. He wrote about them: “Some of the peasant singing (like those nearby Augustów, Suwałki and Brańsk) reveal this ancient crudeness and the Mazovian simplicity”.

Thus, the descriptions of people, their beliefs and rites are derived from his correspondence. 

This is what he writes about the wedding rites of the Old Believers:

“An Old Believer that wants to marry finds a girl of his confession, but he doesn’t tell anyone about his feelings. He just waits until the nearest festival when he can kidnap the girl. Her family and friends try to rescue her, yet they are helpless if she decides that she wants to marry the bandit”.

Kolberg writes also about some medical treatment, for instance: “For eye pain you use the fat from a burbot’s liver dried in the sun”.