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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Zincali, by George Borrow
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions 
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at 
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Zincali
+       an account of the Gypsies of Spain
+
+
+Author: George Borrow
+
+
+
+Release Date: August 15, 2019  [eBook #565]
+[This file was first posted on April 15, 1996]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ZINCALI***
+
+
+Transcribed from the 1901 John Murray edition by David Price, email
+ccx074@pglaf.org
+
+                          [Picture: Book cover]
+
+
+
+
+
+                               THE ZINCALI
+
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                            AN ACCOUNT OF THE
+                             GYPSIES OF SPAIN
+                             BY GEORGE BORROW
+
+                                AUTHOR OF
+                           ‘THE BIBLE IN SPAIN’
+                                ‘LAVENGRO’
+                                   ETC.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                   ‘_For that which is unclean by nature_,
+                              _thou canst entertain no hope_; _no washing_
+                                    _will turn the Gypsy white_.’—FERDOUSI
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                              NEW IMPRESSION
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                  LONDON
+                      JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
+                                   1901
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+         Edinburgh: T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty
+
+
+
+
+TO
+THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
+THE EARL OF CLARENDON, G.C.B.
+
+
+                    KEEPER OF HER MAJESTY’S PRIVY SEAL
+
+                             ETC., ETC., ETC.
+
+MY LORD,
+
+_I feel it not only a gratification but an honour to be permitted to
+dedicate these volumes_ {0} _to your Lordship_, _the more particularly as
+they are connected with Spain_, _a country in which it was so frequently
+my fortune to experience such prompt and salutary aid from your Lordship
+in the high capacity of representative of our Gracious British
+Sovereign_.
+
+_The remembrance of the many obligations under which your Lordship has
+placed me_, _by your energetic and effectual interference in time of
+need_, _will ever in heartfelt gratitude cause me to remain_, _with
+unfeigned sentiments of respect_,
+
+_My Lord_,
+
+                       _Your most devoted Servant_,
+
+                                                            GEORGE BORROW.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+IT is with some diffidence that the author ventures to offer the present
+work to the public.
+
+The greater part of it has been written under very peculiar
+circumstances, such as are not in general deemed at all favourable for
+literary composition: at considerable intervals, during a period of
+nearly five years passed in Spain—in moments snatched from more important
+pursuits—chiefly in ventas and posádas, whilst wandering through the
+country in the arduous and unthankful task of distributing the Gospel
+among its children.
+
+Owing to the causes above stated, he is aware that his work must not
+unfrequently appear somewhat disjointed and unconnected, and the style
+rude and unpolished: he has, nevertheless, permitted the tree to remain
+where he felled it, having, indeed, subsequently enjoyed too little
+leisure to make much effectual alteration.
+
+At the same time he flatters himself that the work is not destitute of
+certain qualifications to entitle it to approbation.  The author’s
+acquaintance with the Gypsy race in general dates from a very early
+period of his life, which considerably facilitated his intercourse with
+the Peninsular portion, to the elucidation of whose history and character
+the present volumes are more particularly devoted.  Whatever he has
+asserted, is less the result of reading than of close observation, he
+having long since come to the conclusion that the Gypsies are not a
+people to be studied in books, or at least in such books as he believes
+have hitherto been written concerning them.
+
+Throughout he has dealt more in facts than in theories, of which he is in
+general no friend.  True it is, that no race in the world affords, in
+many points, a more extensive field for theory and conjecture than the
+Gypsies, who are certainly a very mysterious people come from some
+distant land, no mortal knows why, and who made their first appearance in
+Europe at a dark period, when events were not so accurately recorded as
+at the present time.
+
+But if he has avoided as much as possible touching upon subjects which
+must always, to a certain extent, remain shrouded in obscurity; for
+example, the original state and condition of the Gypsies, and the causes
+which first brought them into Europe; he has stated what they are at the
+present day, what he knows them to be from a close scrutiny of their ways
+and habits, for which, perhaps, no one ever enjoyed better opportunities;
+and he has, moreover, given—not a few words culled expressly for the
+purpose of supporting a theory, but one entire dialect of their language,
+collected with much trouble and difficulty; and to this he humbly calls
+the attention of the learned, who, by comparing it with certain
+languages, may decide as to the countries in which the Gypsies have lived
+or travelled.
+
+With respect to the Gypsy rhymes in the second volume, he wishes to make
+one observation which cannot be too frequently repeated, and which he
+entreats the reader to bear in mind: they are _Gypsy compositions_, and
+have little merit save so far as they throw light on the manner of
+thinking and speaking of the Gypsy people, or rather a portion of them,
+and as to what they are capable of effecting in the way of poetry.  It
+will, doubtless, be said that the rhymes are _trash_;—even were it so,
+they are original, and on that account, in a philosophic point of view,
+are more valuable than the most brilliant compositions pretending to
+describe Gypsy life, but written by persons who are not of the Gypsy
+sect.  Such compositions, however replete with fiery sentiments, and
+allusions to freedom and independence, are certain to be tainted with
+affectation.  Now in the Gypsy rhymes there is no affectation, and on
+that very account they are different in every respect from the poetry of
+those interesting personages who figure, under the names of Gypsies,
+Gitános, Bohemians, etc., in novels and on the boards of the theatre.
+
+It will, perhaps, be objected to the present work, that it contains
+little that is edifying in a moral or Christian point of view: to such an
+objection the author would reply, that the Gypsies are not a Christian
+people, and that their morality is of a peculiar kind, not calculated to
+afford much edification to what is generally termed the respectable
+portion of society.  Should it be urged that certain individuals have
+found them very different from what they are represented in these
+volumes, he would frankly say that he yields no credit to the presumed
+fact, and at the same time he would refer to the vocabulary contained in
+the second volume, whence it will appear that the words _hoax_ and
+_hocus_ have been immediately derived from the language of the Gypsies,
+who, there is good reason to believe, first introduced the system into
+Europe, to which those words belong.
+
+The author entertains no ill-will towards the Gypsies; why should he,
+were he a mere carnal reasoner?  He has known them for upwards of twenty
+years, in various countries, and they never injured a hair of his head,
+or deprived him of a shred of his raiment; but he is not deceived as to
+the motive of their forbearance: they thought him a _Rom_, and on this
+supposition they hurt him not, their love of ‘the blood’ being their most
+distinguishing characteristic.  He derived considerable assistance from
+them in Spain, as in various instances they officiated as colporteurs in
+the distribution of the Gospel: but on that account he is not prepared to
+say that they entertained any love for the Gospel or that they circulated
+it for the honour of Tebléque the Saviour.  Whatever they did for the
+Gospel in Spain, was done in the hope that he whom they conceived to be
+their brother had some purpose in view which was to contribute to the
+profit of the Calés, or Gypsies, and to terminate in the confusion and
+plunder of the Busné, or Gentiles.  Convinced of this, he is too little
+of an enthusiast to rear, on such a foundation, any fantastic edifice of
+hope which would soon tumble to the ground.
+
+The cause of truth can scarcely be forwarded by enthusiasm, which is
+almost invariably the child of ignorance and error.  The author is
+anxious to direct the attention of the public towards the Gypsies; but he
+hopes to be able to do so without any romantic appeals in their behalf,
+by concealing the truth, or by warping the truth until it becomes
+falsehood.  In the following pages he has depicted the Gypsies as he has
+found them, neither aggravating their crimes nor gilding them with
+imaginary virtues.  He has not expatiated on ‘their gratitude towards
+good people, who treat them kindly and take an interest in their
+welfare’; for he believes that of all beings in the world they are the
+least susceptible of such a feeling.  Nor has he ever done them injustice
+by attributing to them licentious habits, from which they are, perhaps,
+more free than any race in the creation.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
+
+
+I CANNOT permit the second edition of this work to go to press without
+premising it with a few words.
+
+When some two years ago I first gave _The Zincali_ to the world, it was,
+as I stated at the time, with considerable hesitation and diffidence: the
+composition of it and the collecting of Gypsy words had served as a kind
+of relaxation to me whilst engaged in the circulation of the Gospel in
+Spain.  After the completion of the work, I had not the slightest idea
+that it possessed any peculiar merit, or was calculated to make the
+slightest impression upon the reading world.  Nevertheless, as every one
+who writes feels a kind of affection, greater or less, for the
+productions of his pen, I was averse, since the book was written, to
+suffer it to perish of damp in a lumber closet, or by friction in my
+travelling wallet.  I committed it therefore to the press, with a
+friendly ‘Farewell, little book; I have done for you all I can, and much
+more than you deserve.’
+
+My expectations at this time were widely different from those of my
+namesake George in the _Vicar of Wakefield_ when he published his
+paradoxes.  I took it as a matter of course that the world, whether
+learned or unlearned, would say to my book what they said to his
+paradoxes, as the event showed,—nothing at all.  To my utter
+astonishment, however, I had no sooner returned to my humble retreat,
+where I hoped to find the repose of which I was very much in need, than I
+was followed by the voice not only of England but of the greater part of
+Europe, informing me that I had achieved a feat—a work in the nineteenth
+century with some pretensions to originality.  The book was speedily
+reprinted in America, portions of it were translated into French and
+Russian, and a fresh edition demanded.
+
+In the midst of all this there sounded upon my ears a voice which I
+recognised as that of the Mæcenas of British literature: ‘Borromeo, don’t
+believe all you hear, nor think that you have accomplished anything so
+very extraordinary: a great portion of your book is very sorry trash
+indeed—Gypsy poetry, dry laws, and compilations from dull Spanish
+authors: it has good points, however, which show that you are capable of
+something much better: try your hand again—avoid your besetting sins; and
+when you have accomplished something which will really do credit to —
+Street, it will be time enough to think of another delivery of these
+_Gypsies_.’
+
+Mistos amande: ‘I am content,’ I replied; and sitting down I commenced
+the _Bible in Spain_.  At first I proceeded slowly—sickness was in the
+land, and the face of nature was overcast—heavy rain-clouds swam in the
+heavens,—the blast howled amid the pines which nearly surround my lonely
+dwelling, and the waters of the lake which lies before it, so quiet in
+general and tranquil, were fearfully agitated.  ‘Bring lights hither, O
+Hayim Ben Attar, son of the miracle!’  And the Jew of Fez brought in the
+lights, for though it was midday I could scarcely see in the little room
+where I was writing. . . .
+
+A dreary summer and autumn passed by, and were succeeded by as gloomy a
+winter.  I still proceeded with the _Bible in Spain_.  The winter passed,
+and spring came with cold dry winds and occasional sunshine, whereupon I
+arose, shouted, and mounting my horse, even Sidi Habismilk, I scoured all
+the surrounding district, and thought but little of the _Bible in Spain_.
+
+So I rode about the country, over the heaths, and through the green lanes
+of my native land, occasionally visiting friends at a distance, and
+sometimes, for variety’s sake, I stayed at home and amused myself by
+catching huge pike, which lie perdue in certain deep ponds skirted with
+lofty reeds, upon my land, and to which there is a communication from the
+lagoon by a deep and narrow watercourse.—I had almost forgotten the
+_Bible in Spain_.
+
+Then came the summer with much heat and sunshine, and then I would lie
+for hours in the sun and recall the sunny days I had spent in Andalusia,
+and my thoughts were continually reverting to Spain, and at last I
+remembered that the _Bible in Spain_ was still unfinished; whereupon I
+arose and said: ‘This loitering profiteth nothing’—and I hastened to my
+summer-house by the side of the lake, and there I thought and wrote, and
+every day I repaired to the same place, and thought and wrote until I had
+finished the _Bible in Spain_.
+
+And at the proper season the _Bible in Spain_ was given to the world; and
+the world, both learned and unlearned, was delighted with the _Bible in
+Spain_, and the highest authority {1} said, ‘This is a much better book
+than the _Gypsies_’; and the next great authority {2} said, ‘something
+betwixt Le Sage and Bunyan.’  ‘A far more entertaining work than _Don
+Quixote_,’ exclaimed a literary lady.  ‘Another _Gil Blas_,’ said the
+cleverest writer in Europe. {3}  ‘Yes,’ exclaimed the cool sensible
+_Spectator_, {4} ‘a _Gil Blas_ in water-colours.’
+
+And when I heard the last sentence, I laughed, and shouted, ‘_Kosko
+pennese pal_!’ {5}  It pleased me better than all the rest.  Is there not
+a text in a certain old book which says: Woe unto you when all men shall
+speak well of you!  Those are awful words, brothers; woe is me!
+
+‘Revenons à nos Bohémiens!’  Now the _Bible in Spain_ is off my hands, I
+return to ‘these _Gypsies_’; and here you have, most kind, lenient, and
+courteous public, a fresh delivery of them.  In the present edition, I
+have attended as much as possible to the suggestions of certain
+individuals, for whose opinion I cannot but entertain the highest
+respect.  I have omitted various passages from Spanish authors, which the
+world has objected to as being quite out of place, and serving for no
+other purpose than to swell out the work.  In lieu thereof, I have
+introduced some original matter relative to the Gypsies, which is,
+perhaps, more calculated to fling light over their peculiar habits than
+anything which has yet appeared.  To remodel the work, however, I have
+neither time nor inclination, and must therefore again commend it, with
+all the imperfections which still cling to it, to the generosity of the
+public.
+
+A few words in conclusion.  Since the publication of the first edition, I
+have received more than one letter, in which the writers complain that I,
+who seem to know so much of what has been written concerning the Gypsies,
+{6} should have taken no notice of a theory entertained by many, namely,
+that they are of Jewish origin, and that they are neither more nor less
+than the descendants of the two lost tribes of Israel.  Now I am not
+going to enter into a discussion upon this point, for I know by
+experience, that the public cares nothing for discussions, however
+learned and edifying, but will take the present opportunity to relate a
+little adventure of mine, which bears not a little upon this matter.
+
+So it came to pass, that one day I was scampering over a heath, at some
+distance from my present home: I was mounted upon the good horse Sidi
+Habismilk, and the Jew of Fez, swifter than the wind, ran by the side of
+the good horse Habismilk, when what should I see at a corner of the heath
+but the encampment of certain friends of mine; and the chief of that
+camp, even Mr. Petulengro, stood before the encampment, and his adopted
+daughter, Miss Pinfold, stood beside him.
+
+_Myself_.—‘Kosko divvus {7}, Mr. Petulengro!  I am glad to see you: how
+are you getting on?’
+
+_Mr. Petulengro_.—‘How am I getting on? as well as I can.  What will you
+have for that nokengro {8}?’
+
+Thereupon I dismounted, and delivering the reins of the good horse to
+Miss Pinfold, I took the Jew of Fez, even Hayim Ben Attar, by the hand,
+and went up to Mr. Petulengro, exclaiming, ‘Sure ye are two brothers.’
+Anon the Gypsy passed his hand over the Jew’s face, and stared him in the
+eyes: then turning to me he said, ‘We are not dui palor {9}; this man is
+no Roman; I believe him to be a Jew; he has the face of one; besides, if
+he were a Rom, even from Jericho, he could rokra a few words in Rommany.’
+
+Now the Gypsy had been in the habit of seeing German and English Jews,
+who must have been separated from their African brethren for a term of at
+least 1700 years; yet he recognised the Jew of Fez for what he was—a Jew,
+and without hesitation declared that he was ‘no Roman.’  The Jews,
+therefore, and the Gypsies have each their peculiar and distinctive
+countenance, which, to say nothing of the difference of language,
+precludes the possibility of their having ever been the same people.
+
+_March_ 1, 1843.
+
+
+
+
+NOTICE TO THE FOURTH EDITION
+
+
+THIS edition has been carefully revised by the author, and some few
+insertions have been made.  In order, however, to give to the work a more
+popular character, the elaborate vocabulary of the Gypsy tongue, and
+other parts relating to the Gypsy language and literature, have been
+omitted.  Those who take an interest in these subjects are referred to
+the larger edition in two vols. {10}
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+                             INTRODUCTION
+On the Gypsies in general—Name and Language—The Russian              1
+Gypsies—Gypsies at Moscow—Hungarian Gypsies—Wallachia and
+Moldavia—English Gypsies, or Rommany—Gypsy
+Fortune-tellers—Gypsy Jockeys—Gypsy Will—Thurtell—Gypsy
+Clans—Names of Families—Gypsy Law—Pazorrhus—The
+Patteran—Baptismal Papers—Gypsies of the East—Artifice of
+Timour—Bishop of Forli
+                             THE ZINCALI
+                                PART I
+                              CHAPTER I
+Of the Spanish Gypsies in general—Names—Arrival—Egyptian            41
+Penitents—Peculiarities of Spain—Provinces which the Gypsies
+principally frequented
+                              CHAPTER II
+Manner of Life—Predatory Habits—The Traveller—Jews and              48
+Gypsies—The Forge—The Sparks—Gypsy Counts—Martin del
+Rio—Facility in speaking Languages—Proverbs
+                             CHAPTER III
+Excesses of the Gitános—The Bookseller of Logroño                   61
+                              CHAPTER IV
+Gypsy Colonies in various Towns of Spain                            71
+                              CHAPTER V
+Cannibalism—The Forest—Anecdotes—Food of the                        76
+Gypsies—Child-stealing—Connection of the Gitános with the
+Moors of Barbary
+                              CHAPTER VI
+Barbary and its Tribes—Beni Aros—Sidi Hamed au Muza—The             85
+Children of the Dar-Bushi-Fal, a Sect of Thieves and
+Sorcerers, probably of Gypsy Origin
+                             CHAPTER VII
+Chiromancy—Torreblanca—Gitánas—The Gitána of Seville—La             98
+Buena Ventura—The Dance—The Song—Tricks of the Gitánas—The
+Widow—Occult Powers
+                             CHAPTER VIII
+The Evil Eye—Credulity of Eastern Nations on this                  115
+subject—Remedies for the Evil Eye—The Talmud—Superstitions
+of the North
+                              CHAPTER IX
+Exodus of the Jews: that of the Gypsies—Indifference of the        122
+Gitános with respect to Religion—Ezekiel—Tale of Egyptian
+Descent—Quiñones—Melchior of Guelama—Religious Tolerance—The
+Inquisitor of Cordova—Gitános and Moriscos
+                              CHAPTER X
+The Expulsion of the Gitános; a Discourse addressed by Dr.         137
+Sancho de Moncada to Philip the Third
+                              CHAPTER XI
+Various Laws issued against the Spanish Gypsies, from the          151
+time of Ferdinand and Isabella to the latter part of the
+Eighteenth Century, embracing a period of nearly Three
+Hundred Years
+                             CHAPTER XII
+Carlos Tercero—His Law respecting the Gitános                      166
+                               PART II
+                              CHAPTER I
+Badajoz—The Gypsies—The Withered Arm—Gypsy Law—Trimming and        177
+Shearing—Metempsychosis—Paco and Antonio—Antonio and the
+Magyar—The Chai—Pharaoh—The Steeds of the Egyptians
+                              CHAPTER II
+Madrid—Gypsy Women—Granada—Gypsy Smiths—Pepe                       194
+Conde—Seville—Triana—Cordova—Horses—The
+Esquilador—Characteristic Epistle—Catalonia, etc.
+                             CHAPTER III
+General Remarks on the Present State of the                        207
+Gitános—Inefficiency of the Old Laws—Prospects of the
+Gitános—Partial Reformation—Decline of the Gypsy Sect—Fair
+of Leon—Love of Race—Gypsy executed—Numerical Decrease
+                              CHAPTER IV
+Illustrations of Gypsy Character—The Gypsy Innkeeper of            221
+Tarifa—The Gypsy Soldier of Valdepeñas
+                              CHAPTER V
+Various Points connected with the Gitános—Dress—Physical           243
+Characteristics—The Gypsy Glance—Extracts from a Spanish
+work
+                              CHAPTER VI
+Certain Tricks and Practices of the Gypsy Females—The              252
+Bahi—Hokkano Baro—Ustilar Pastésas—Shoplifting—Drao—The
+Loadstone—The Root of the Good Baron
+                             CHAPTER VII
+The Marriage Festival—Eastern Jews—Their Weddings                  266
+                             CHAPTER VIII
+Attempts made to enlighten the Gitános—The Inward                  274
+Monitor—The One-eyed Gitána—Pépa and Chicharóna—The Gypsy
+Congregation
+                               PART III
+                              CHAPTER I
+The Poetry of the Gitános                                          287
+                              CHAPTER II
+Spurious Gypsy Poetry of Andalusia                                 298
+Brijindope.—The Deluge                                             304
+The Pestilence                                                     310
+On the Language of the Gitános                                     313
+   Robber Language                                                 335
+   The Term ‘Busno’                                                354
+Specimens of Gypsy Dialects                                        357
+Vocabulary of their Language                                       365
+                               APPENDIX
+Miscellanies in the Gitáno Language                                415
+The English Dialect of the Rommany                                 428
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+Gypsy’s Marriage Dance (_photogravure_)                 _Frontispiece_
+The Rearguard of the Marching Gypsies                _To face page_ 50
+Travellers attacked by the Gitános                                  52
+A Song of Egypt                                                    108
+The Gypsy Smith of Granada                                         196
+The Murder of Pindamonas by Pepe Conde                             198
+Roasting Chestnuts by the side of the                              200
+Guadalquiver
+A Gypsy Family                                                     222
+
+
+
+
+THE GYPSIES
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+THROUGHOUT my life the Gypsy race has always had a peculiar interest for
+me.  Indeed I can remember no period when the mere mention of the name of
+Gypsy did not awaken within me feelings hard to be described.  I cannot
+account for this—I merely state a fact.
+
+Some of the Gypsies, to whom I have stated this circumstance, have
+accounted for it on the supposition that the soul which at present
+animates my body has at some former period tenanted that of one of their
+people; for many among them are believers in metempsychosis, and, like
+the followers of Bouddha, imagine that their souls, by passing through an
+infinite number of bodies, attain at length sufficient purity to be
+admitted to a state of perfect rest and quietude, which is the only idea
+of heaven they can form.
+
+Having in various and distant countries lived in habits of intimacy with
+these people, I have come to the following conclusions respecting them:
+that wherever they are found, their manners and customs are virtually the
+same, though somewhat modified by circumstances, and that the language
+they speak amongst themselves, and of which they are particularly anxious
+to keep others in ignorance, is in all countries one and the same, but
+has been subjected more or less to modification; and lastly, that their
+countenances exhibit a decided family resemblance, but are darker or
+fairer according to the temperature of the climate, but invariably
+darker, at least in Europe, than those of the natives of the countries in
+which they dwell, for example, England and Russia, Germany and Spain.
+
+The names by which they are known differ with the country, though, with
+one or two exceptions, not materially for example, they are styled in
+Russia, Zigáni; in Turkey and Persia, Zingarri; and in Germany, Zigeuner;
+all which words apparently spring from the same etymon, which there is no
+improbability in supposing to be ‘Zincali,’ a term by which these people,
+especially those of Spain, sometimes designate themselves, and the
+meaning of which is believed to be, _The black men of Zend or Ind_.  In
+England and Spain they are commonly known as Gypsies and Gitános, from a
+general belief that they were originally Egyptians, to which the two
+words are tantamount; and in France as Bohemians, from the circumstance
+that Bohemia was one of the first countries in civilised Europe where
+they made their appearance.
+
+But they generally style themselves and the language which they speak,
+Rommany.  This word, of which I shall ultimately have more to say, is of
+Sanscrit origin, and signifies, The Husbands, or that which pertaineth
+unto them.  From whatever motive this appellation may have originated, it
+is perhaps more applicable than any other to a sect or caste like them,
+who have no love and no affection beyond their own race; who are capable
+of making great sacrifices for each other, and who gladly prey upon all
+the rest of the human species, whom they detest, and by whom they are
+hated and despised.  It will perhaps not be out of place to observe here,
+that there is no reason for supposing that the word Roma or Rommany is
+derived from the Arabic word which signifies Greece or Grecians, as some
+people not much acquainted with the language of the race in question have
+imagined.
+
+I have no intention at present to say anything about their origin.
+Scholars have asserted that the language which they speak proves them to
+be of Indian stock, and undoubtedly a great number of their words are
+Sanscrit.  My own opinion upon this subject will be found in a subsequent
+article.  I shall here content myself with observing that from whatever
+country they come, whether from India or Egypt, there can be no doubt
+that they are human beings and have immortal souls; and it is in the
+humble hope of drawing the attention of the Christian philanthropist
+towards them, especially that degraded and unhappy portion of them, the
+Gitános of Spain, that the present little work has been undertaken.  But
+before proceeding to speak of the latter, it will perhaps not be amiss to
+afford some account of the Rommany as I have seen them in other
+countries; for there is scarcely a part of the habitable world where they
+are not to be found: their tents are alike pitched on the heaths of
+Brazil and the ridges of the Himalayan hills, and their language is heard
+at Moscow and Madrid, in the streets of London and Stamboul.
+
+
+
+THE ZIGÁNI, OR RUSSIAN GYPSIES
+
+
+They are found in all parts of Russia, with the exception of the
+government of St. Petersburg, from which they have been banished.  In
+most of the provincial towns they are to be found in a state of
+half-civilisation, supporting themselves by trafficking in horses, or by
+curing the disorders incidental to those animals; but the vast majority
+reject this manner of life, and traverse the country in bands, like the
+ancient Hamaxobioi; the immense grassy plains of Russia affording
+pasturage for their herds of cattle, on which, and the produce of the
+chase, they chiefly depend for subsistence.  They are, however, not
+destitute of money, which they obtain by various means, but principally
+by curing diseases amongst the cattle of the mujíks or peasantry, and by
+telling fortunes, and not unfrequently by theft and brigandage.
+
+Their power of resisting cold is truly wonderful, as it is not uncommon
+to find them encamped in the midst of the snow, in slight canvas tents,
+when the temperature is twenty-five or thirty degrees below the
+freezing-point according to Réaumur; but in the winter they generally
+seek the shelter of the forests, which afford fuel for their fires, and
+abound in game.
+
+The race of the Rommany is by nature perhaps the most beautiful in the
+world; and amongst the children of the Russian Zigáni are frequently to
+be found countenances to do justice to which would require the pencil of
+a second Murillo; but exposure to the rays of the burning sun, the biting
+of the frost, and the pelting of the pitiless sleet and snow, destroys
+their beauty at a very early age; and if in infancy their personal
+advantages are remarkable, their ugliness at an advanced age is no less
+so, for then it is loathsome, and even appalling.
+
+A hundred years, could I live so long, would not efface from my mind the
+appearance of an aged Ziganskie Attaman, or Captain of Zigáni, and his
+grandson, who approached me on the meadow before Novo Gorod, where stood
+the encampment of a numerous horde.  The boy was of a form and face which
+might have entitled him to represent Astyanax, and Hector of Troy might
+have pressed him to his bosom, and called him his pride; but the old man
+was, perhaps, such a shape as Milton has alluded to, but could only
+describe as execrable—he wanted but the dart and kingly crown to have
+represented the monster who opposed the progress of Lucifer, whilst
+careering in burning arms and infernal glory to the outlet of his hellish
+prison.
+
+But in speaking of the Russian Gypsies, those of Moscow must not be
+passed over in silence.  The station to which they have attained in
+society in that most remarkable of cities is so far above the sphere in
+which the remainder of their race pass their lives, that it may be
+considered as a phenomenon in Gypsy history, and on that account is
+entitled to particular notice.
+
+Those who have been accustomed to consider the Gypsy as a wandering
+outcast, incapable of appreciating the blessings of a settled and
+civilised life, or—if abandoning vagabond propensities, and becoming
+stationary—as one who never ascends higher than the condition of a low
+trafficker, will be surprised to learn, that amongst the Gypsies of
+Moscow there are not a few who inhabit stately houses, go abroad in
+elegant equipages, and are behind the higher orders of the Russians
+neither in appearance nor mental acquirements.  To the power of song
+alone this phenomenon is to be attributed.  From time immemorial the
+female Gypsies of Moscow have been much addicted to the vocal art, and
+bands or quires of them have sung for pay in the halls of the nobility or
+upon the boards of the theatre.  Some first-rate songsters have been
+produced among them, whose merits have been acknowledged, not only by the
+Russian public, but by the most fastidious foreign critics.  Perhaps the
+highest compliment ever paid to a songster was paid by Catalani herself
+to one of these daughters of Roma.  It is well known throughout Russia
+that the celebrated Italian was so enchanted with the voice of a Moscow
+Gypsy (who, after the former had displayed her noble talent before a
+splendid audience in the old Russian capital, stepped forward and poured
+forth one of her national strains), that she tore from her own shoulders
+a shawl of cashmire, which had been presented to her by the Pope, and,
+embracing the Gypsy, insisted on her acceptance of the splendid gift,
+saying, that it had been intended for the matchless songster, which she
+now perceived she herself was not.
+
+The sums obtained by many of these females by the exercise of their art
+enable them to support their relatives in affluence and luxury: some are
+married to Russians, and no one who has visited Russia can but be aware
+that a lovely and accomplished countess, of the noble and numerous family
+of Tolstoy, is by birth a Zigána, and was originally one of the principal
+attractions of a Rommany choir at Moscow.
+
+But it is not to be supposed that the whole of the Gypsy females at
+Moscow are of this high and talented description; the majority of them
+are of far lower quality, and obtain their livelihood by singing and
+dancing at taverns, whilst their husbands in general follow the
+occupation of horse-dealing.
+
+Their favourite place of resort in the summer time is Marina Rotze, a
+species of sylvan garden about two versts from Moscow, and thither,
+tempted by curiosity, I drove one fine evening.  On my arrival the
+Zigánas came flocking out from their little tents, and from the tractir
+or inn which has been erected for the accommodation of the public.
+Standing on the seat of the calash, I addressed them in a loud voice in
+the English dialect of the Rommany, of which I have some knowledge.  A
+shrill scream of wonder was instantly raised, and welcomes and blessings
+were poured forth in floods of musical Rommany, above all of which
+predominated the cry of _Kak camenna tute prala_—or, How we love you,
+brother!—for at first they mistook me for one of their wandering brethren
+from the distant lands, come over the great panee or ocean to visit them.
+
+After some conversation they commenced singing, and favoured me with many
+songs, both in Russian and Rommany: the former were modern popular
+pieces, such as are accustomed to be sung on the boards of the theatre;
+but the latter were evidently of great antiquity, exhibiting the
+strongest marks of originality, the metaphors bold and sublime, and the
+metre differing from anything of the kind which it has been my fortune to
+observe in Oriental or European prosody.
+
+One of the most remarkable, and which commences thus:
+
+    ‘Za mateia rosherroro odolata
+    Bravintata,’
+
+(or, Her head is aching with grief, as if she had tasted wine) describes
+the anguish of a maiden separated from her lover, and who calls for her
+steed:
+
+    ‘Tedjav manga gurraoro’—
+
+that she may depart in quest of the lord of her bosom, and share his joys
+and pleasures.
+
+A collection of these songs, with a translation and vocabulary, would be
+no slight accession to literature, and would probably throw more light on
+the history of this race than anything which has yet appeared; and, as
+there is no want of zeal and talent in Russia amongst the cultivators of
+every branch of literature, and especially philology, it is only
+surprising that such a collection still remains a desideratum.
+
+The religion which these singular females externally professed was the
+Greek, and they mostly wore crosses of copper or gold; but when I
+questioned them on this subject in their native language, they laughed,
+and said it was only to please the Russians.  Their names for God and his
+adversary are Deval and Bengel, which differ little from the Spanish
+Un-debel and Bengi, which signify the same.  I will now say something of
+
+
+
+THE HUNGARIAN GYPSIES, OR CZIGÁNY
+
+
+Hungary, though a country not a tenth part so extensive as the huge
+colossus of the Russian empire, whose tzar reigns over a hundred lands,
+contains perhaps as many Gypsies, it not being uncommon to find whole
+villages inhabited by this race; they likewise abound in the suburbs of
+the towns.  In Hungary the feudal system still exists in all its pristine
+barbarity; in no country does the hard hand of this oppression bear so
+heavy upon the lower classes—not even in Russia.  The peasants of Russia
+are serfs, it is true, but their condition is enviable compared with that
+of the same class in the other country; they have certain rights and
+privileges, and are, upon the whole, happy and contented, whilst the
+Hungarians are ground to powder.  Two classes are free in Hungary to do
+almost what they please—the nobility and—the Gypsies; the former are
+above the law—the latter below it: a toll is wrung from the hands of the
+hard-working labourers, that most meritorious class, in passing over a
+bridge, for example at Pesth, which is not demanded from a well-dressed
+person—nor from the Czigány, who have frequently no dress at all—and
+whose insouciance stands in striking contrast with the trembling
+submission of the peasants.  The Gypsy, wherever you find him, is an
+incomprehensible being, but nowhere more than in Hungary, where, in the
+midst of slavery, he is free, though apparently one step lower than the
+lowest slave.  The habits of the Hungarian Gypsies are abominable; their
+hovels appear sinks of the vilest poverty and filth, their dress is at
+best rags, their food frequently the vilest carrion, and occasionally, if
+report be true, still worse—on which point, when speaking of the Spanish
+Gitános, we shall have subsequently more to say: thus they live in filth,
+in rags, in nakedness, and in merriness of heart, for nowhere is there
+more of song and dance than in an Hungarian Gypsy village.  They are very
+fond of music, and some of them are heard to touch the violin in a manner
+wild, but of peculiar excellence.  Parties of them have been known to
+exhibit even at Paris.
+
+In Hungary, as in all parts, they are addicted to horse-dealing; they are
+likewise tinkers, and smiths in a small way.  The women are
+fortune-tellers, of course—both sexes thieves of the first water.  They
+roam where they list—in a country where all other people are held under
+strict surveillance, no one seems to care about these Parias.  The most
+remarkable feature, however, connected with the habits of the Czigány,
+consists in their foreign excursions, having plunder in view, which
+frequently endure for three or four years, when, if no mischance has
+befallen them, they return to their native land—rich; where they squander
+the proceeds of their dexterity in mad festivals.  They wander in bands
+of twelve and fourteen through France, even to Rome.  Once, during my own
+wanderings in Italy, I rested at nightfall by the side of a kiln, the air
+being piercingly cold; it was about four leagues from Genoa.  Presently
+arrived three individuals to take advantage of the warmth—a man, a woman,
+and a lad.  They soon began to discourse—and I found that they were
+Hungarian Gypsies; they spoke of what they had been doing, and what they
+had amassed—I think they mentioned nine hundred crowns.  They had
+companions in the neighbourhood, some of whom they were expecting; they
+took no notice of me, and conversed in their own dialect; I did not
+approve of their propinquity, and rising, hastened away.
+
+When Napoleon invaded Spain there were not a few Hungarian Gypsies in his
+armies; some strange encounters occurred on the field of battle between
+these people and the Spanish Gitános, one of which is related in the
+second part of the present work.  When quartered in the Spanish towns,
+the Czigány invariably sought out their peninsular brethren, to whom they
+revealed themselves, kissing and embracing most affectionately; the
+Gitános were astonished at the proficiency of the strangers in thievish
+arts, and looked upon them almost in the light of superior beings: ‘They
+knew the whole reckoning,’ is still a common expression amongst them.
+There was a Czigánian soldier for some time at Cordoba, of whom the
+Gitános of the place still frequently discourse, whilst smoking their
+cigars during winter nights over their braséros.
+
+The Hungarian Gypsies have a peculiar accent when speaking the language
+of the country, by which they can be instantly distinguished; the same
+thing is applicable to the Gitános of Spain when speaking Spanish.  In no
+part of the world is the Gypsy language preserved better than in Hungary.
+
+The following short prayer to the Virgin, which I have frequently heard
+amongst the Gypsies of Hungary and Transylvania, will serve as a specimen
+of their language:—
+
+    Gula Devla, da me saschipo.  Swuntuna Devla, da me bacht t’ aldaschis
+    cari me jav; te ferin man, Devla, sila ta niapaschiata, chungalé
+    manuschendar, ke me jav andé drom ca hin man traba; ferin man, Devia;
+    ma mek man Devla, ke manga man tre Devies-key.
+
+    Sweet Goddess, give me health.  Holy Goddess, give me luck and grace
+    wherever I go; and help me, Goddess, powerful and immaculate, from
+    ugly men, that I may go in the road to the place I purpose: help me,
+    Goddess; forsake me not, Goddess, for I pray for God’s sake.
+
+
+
+WALLACHIA AND MOLDAVIA
+
+
+In Wallachia and Moldavia, two of the eastern-most regions of Europe, are
+to be found seven millions of people calling themselves Roumouni, and
+speaking a dialect of the Latin tongue much corrupted by barbarous terms,
+so called.  They are supposed to be in part descendants of Roman
+soldiers, Rome in the days of her grandeur having established immense
+military colonies in these parts.  In the midst of these people exist
+vast numbers of Gypsies, amounting, I am disposed to think, to at least
+two hundred thousand.  The land of the Roumouni, indeed, seems to have
+been the hive from which the West of Europe derived the Gypsy part of its
+population.  Far be it from me to say that the Gypsies sprang originally
+from Roumouni-land.  All I mean is, that it was their grand resting-place
+after crossing the Danube.  They entered Roumouni-land from Bulgaria,
+crossing the great river, and from thence some went to the north-east,
+overrunning Russia, others to the west of Europe, as far as Spain and
+England.  That the early Gypsies of the West, and also those of Russia,
+came from Roumouni-land, is easily proved, as in all the western Gypsy
+dialects, and also in the Russian, are to be found words belonging to the
+Roumouni speech; for example, primavera, spring; cheros, heaven; chorab,
+stocking; chismey, boots;—Roum—primivari, cherul, chorapul, chismé.  One
+might almost be tempted to suppose that the term Rommany, by which the
+Gypsies of Russia and the West call themselves, was derived from
+Roumouni, were it not for one fact, which is, that Romanus in the Latin
+tongue merely means a native of Rome, whilst the specific meaning of Rome
+still remains in the dark; whereas in Gypsy Rom means a husband, Rommany
+the sect of the husbands; Romanesti if married.  Whether both words were
+derived originally from the same source, as I believe some people have
+supposed, is a question which, with my present lights, I cannot pretend
+to determine.
+
+
+
+THE ENGLISH GYPSIES
+
+
+No country appears less adapted for that wandering life, which seems so
+natural to these people, than England.  Those wildernesses and forests,
+which they are so attached to, are not to be found there; every inch of
+land is cultivated, and its produce watched with a jealous eye; and as
+the laws against trampers, without the visible means of supporting
+themselves, are exceedingly severe, the possibility of the Gypsies
+existing as a distinct race, and retaining their original free and
+independent habits, might naturally be called in question by those who
+had not satisfactorily verified the fact.  Yet it is a truth that, amidst
+all these seeming disadvantages, they not only exist there, but in no
+part of the world is their life more in accordance with the general idea
+that the Gypsy is like Cain, a wanderer of the earth; for in England the
+covered cart and the little tent are the houses of the Gypsy, and he
+seldom remains more than three days in the same place.
+
+At present they are considered in some degree as a privileged people;
+for, though their way of life is unlawful, it is connived at; the law of
+England having discovered by experience, that its utmost fury is
+inefficient to reclaim them from their inveterate habits.
+
+Shortly after their first arrival in England, which is upwards of three
+centuries since, a dreadful persecution was raised against them, the aim
+of which was their utter extermination; the being a Gypsy was esteemed a
+crime worthy of death, and the gibbets of England groaned and creaked
+beneath the weight of Gypsy carcases, and the miserable survivors were
+literally obliged to creep into the earth in order to preserve their
+lives.  But these days passed by; their persecutors became weary of
+pursuing them; they showed their heads from the holes and caves where
+they had hidden themselves, they ventured forth, increased in numbers,
+and, each tribe or family choosing a particular circuit, they fairly
+divided the land amongst them.
+
+In England, the male Gypsies are all dealers in horses, and sometimes
+employ their idle time in mending the tin and copper utensils of the
+peasantry; the females tell fortunes.  They generally pitch their tents
+in the vicinity of a village or small town by the road side, under the
+shelter of the hedges and trees.  The climate of England is well known to
+be favourable to beauty, and in no part of the world is the appearance of
+the Gypsies so prepossessing as in that country; their complexion is
+dark, but not disagreeably so; their faces are oval, their features
+regular, their foreheads rather low, and their hands and feet small.  The
+men are taller than the English peasantry, and far more active.  They all
+speak the English language with fluency, and in their gait and demeanour
+are easy and graceful; in both points standing in striking contrast with
+the peasantry, who in speech are slow and uncouth, and in manner dogged
+and brutal.
+
+The dialect of the Rommany, which they speak, though mixed with English
+words, may be considered as tolerably pure, from the fact that it is
+intelligible to the Gypsy race in the heart of Russia.  Whatever crimes
+they may commit, their vices are few, for the men are not drunkards, nor
+are the women harlots; there are no two characters which they hold in so
+much abhorrence, nor do any words when applied by them convey so much
+execration as these two.
+
+The crimes of which these people were originally accused were various,
+but the principal were theft, sorcery, and causing disease among the
+cattle; and there is every reason for supposing that in none of these
+points they were altogether guiltless.
+
+With respect to sorcery, a thing in itself impossible, not only the
+English Gypsies, but the whole race, have ever professed it; therefore,
+whatever misery they may have suffered on that account, they may be
+considered as having called it down upon their own heads.
+
+Dabbling in sorcery is in some degree the province of the female Gypsy.
+She affects to tell the future, and to prepare philtres by means of which
+love can be awakened in any individual towards any particular object; and
+such is the credulity of the human race, even in the most enlightened
+countries, that the profits arising from these practices are great.  The
+following is a case in point: two females, neighbours and friends, were
+tried some years since, in England, for the murder of their husbands.  It
+appeared that they were in love with the same individual, and had
+conjointly, at various times, paid sums of money to a Gypsy woman to work
+charms to captivate his affections.  Whatever little effect the charms
+might produce, they were successful in their principal object, for the
+person in question carried on for some time a criminal intercourse with
+both.  The matter came to the knowledge of the husbands, who, taking
+means to break off this connection, were respectively poisoned by their
+wives.  Till the moment of conviction these wretched females betrayed
+neither emotion nor fear, but then their consternation was indescribable;
+and they afterwards confessed that the Gypsy, who had visited them in
+prison, had promised to shield them from conviction by means of her art.
+It is therefore not surprising that in the fifteenth and sixteenth
+centuries, when a belief in sorcery was supported by the laws of all
+Europe, these people were regarded as practisers of sorcery, and punished
+as such, when, even in the nineteenth, they still find people weak enough
+to place confidence in their claims to supernatural power.
+
+The accusation of producing disease and death amongst the cattle was far
+from groundless.  Indeed, however strange and incredible it may sound in
+the present day to those who are unacquainted with this caste, and the
+peculiar habits of the Rommanees, the practice is still occasionally
+pursued in England and many other countries where they are found.  From
+this practice, when they are not detected, they derive considerable
+advantage.  Poisoning cattle is exercised by them in two ways: by one,
+they merely cause disease in the animals, with the view of receiving
+money for curing them upon offering their services; the poison is
+generally administered by powders cast at night into the mangers of the
+animals: this way is only practised upon the larger cattle, such as
+horses and cows.  By the other, which they practise chiefly on swine,
+speedy death is almost invariably produced, the drug administered being
+of a highly intoxicating nature, and affecting the brain.  They then
+apply at the house or farm where the disaster has occurred for the
+carcase of the animal, which is generally given them without suspicion,
+and then they feast on the flesh, which is not injured by the poison,
+which only affects the head.
+
+The English Gypsies are constant attendants at the racecourse; what
+jockey is not?  Perhaps jockeyism originated with them, and even racing,
+at least in England.  Jockeyism properly implies _the management of a
+whip_, and the word jockey is neither more nor less than the term
+slightly modified, by which they designate the formidable whips which
+they usually carry, and which are at present in general use amongst
+horse-traffickers, under the title of jockey whips.  They are likewise
+fond of resorting to the prize-ring, and have occasionally even attained
+some eminence, as principals, in those disgraceful and brutalising
+exhibitions called pugilistic combats.  I believe a great deal has been
+written on the subject of the English Gypsies, but the writers have dwelt
+too much in generalities; they have been afraid to take the Gypsy by the
+hand, lead him forth from the crowd, and exhibit him in the area; he is
+well worth observing.  When a boy of fourteen, I was present at a
+prize-fight; why should I hide the truth?  It took place on a green
+meadow, beside a running stream, close by the old church of E-, and
+within a league of the ancient town of N-, the capital of one of the
+eastern counties.  The terrible Thurtell was present, lord of the
+concourse; for wherever he moved he was master, and whenever he spoke,
+even when in chains, every other voice was silent.  He stood on the mead,
+grim and pale as usual, with his bruisers around.  He it was, indeed, who
+_got up_ the fight, as he had previously done twenty others; it being his
+frequent boast that he had first introduced bruising and bloodshed amidst
+rural scenes, and transformed a quiet slumbering town into a den of Jews
+and metropolitan thieves.  Some time before the commencement of the
+combat, three men, mounted on wild-looking horses, came dashing down the
+road in the direction of the meadow, in the midst of which they presently
+showed themselves, their horses clearing the deep ditches with wonderful
+alacrity.  ‘That’s Gypsy Will and his gang,’ lisped a Hebrew pickpocket;
+‘we shall have another fight.’  The word Gypsy was always sufficient to
+excite my curiosity, and I looked attentively at the newcomers.
+
+I have seen Gypsies of various lands, Russian, Hungarian, and Turkish;
+and I have also seen the legitimate children of most countries of the
+world; but I never saw, upon the whole, three more remarkable
+individuals, as far as personal appearance was concerned, than the three
+English Gypsies who now presented themselves to my eyes on that spot.
+Two of them had dismounted, and were holding their horses by the reins.
+The tallest, and, at the first glance, the most interesting of the two,
+was almost a giant, for his height could not have been less than six feet
+three.  It is impossible for the imagination to conceive anything more
+perfectly beautiful than were the features of this man, and the most
+skilful sculptor of Greece might have taken them as his model for a hero
+and a god.  The forehead was exceedingly lofty,—a rare thing in a Gypsy;
+the nose less Roman than Grecian,—fine yet delicate; the eyes large,
+overhung with long drooping lashes, giving them almost a melancholy
+expression; it was only when the lashes were elevated that the Gypsy
+glance was seen, if that can be called a glance which is a strange stare,
+like nothing else in this world.  His complexion was a beautiful olive;
+and his teeth were of a brilliancy uncommon even amongst these people,
+who have all fine teeth.  He was dressed in a coarse waggoner’s slop,
+which, however, was unable to conceal altogether the proportions of his
+noble and Herculean figure.  He might be about twenty-eight.  His
+companion and his captain, Gypsy Will, was, I think, fifty when he was
+hanged, ten years subsequently (for I never afterwards lost sight of
+him), in the front of the jail of Bury St. Edmunds.  I have still present
+before me his bushy black hair, his black face, and his big black eyes
+fixed and staring.  His dress consisted of a loose blue jockey coat,
+jockey boots and breeches; in his hand was a huge jockey whip, and on his
+head (it struck me at the time for its singularity) a broad-brimmed,
+high-peaked Andalusian hat, or at least one very much resembling those
+generally worn in that province.  In stature he was shorter than his more
+youthful companion, yet he must have measured six feet at least, and was
+stronger built, if possible.  What brawn!—what bone!—what legs!—what
+thighs!  The third Gypsy, who remained on horseback, looked more like a
+phantom than any thing human.  His complexion was the colour of pale
+dust, and of that same colour was all that pertained to him, hat and
+clothes.  His boots were dusty of course, for it was midsummer, and his
+very horse was of a dusty dun.  His features were whimsically ugly, most
+of his teeth were gone, and as to his age, he might be thirty or sixty.
+He was somewhat lame and halt, but an unequalled rider when once upon his
+steed, which he was naturally not very solicitous to quit.  I
+subsequently discovered that he was considered the wizard of the gang.
+
+I have been already prolix with respect to these Gypsies, but I will not
+leave them quite yet.  The intended combatants at length arrived; it was
+necessary to clear the ring,—always a troublesome and difficult task.
+Thurtell went up to the two Gypsies, with whom he seemed to be
+acquainted, and with his surly smile, said two or three words, which I,
+who was standing by, did not understand.  The Gypsies smiled in return,
+and giving the reins of their animals to their mounted companion,
+immediately set about the task which the king of the flash-men had, as I
+conjecture, imposed upon them; this they soon accomplished.  Who could
+stand against such fellows and such whips?  The fight was soon over—then
+there was a pause.  Once more Thurtell came up to the Gypsies and said
+something—the Gypsies looked at each other and conversed; but their words
+then had no meaning for my ears.  The tall Gypsy shook his head—‘Very
+well,’ said the other, in English.  ‘I will—that’s all.’
+
+Then pushing the people aside, he strode to the ropes, over which he
+bounded into the ring, flinging his Spanish hat high into the air.
+
+_Gypsy Will_.—‘The best man in England for twenty pounds!’
+
+_Thurtell_.—‘I am backer!’
+
+Twenty pounds is a tempting sum, and there men that day upon the green
+meadow who would have shed the blood of their own fathers for the fifth
+of the price.  But the Gypsy was not an unknown man, his prowess and
+strength were notorious, and no one cared to encounter him.  Some of the
+Jews looked eager for a moment; but their sharp eyes quailed quickly
+before his savage glances, as he towered in the ring, his huge form
+dilating, and his black features convulsed with excitement.  The
+Westminster bravoes eyed the Gypsy askance; but the comparison, if they
+made any, seemed by no means favourable to themselves.  ‘Gypsy! rum
+chap.—Ugly customer,—always in training.’  Such were the exclamations
+which I heard, some of which at that period of my life I did not
+understand.
+
+No man would fight the Gypsy.—Yes! a strong country fellow wished to win
+the stakes, and was about to fling up his hat in defiance, but he was
+prevented by his friends, with—‘Fool! he’ll kill you!’
+
+As the Gypsies were mounting their horses, I heard the dusty phantom
+exclaim—
+
+‘Brother, you are an arrant ring-maker and a horse-breaker; you’ll make a
+hempen ring to break your own neck of a horse one of these days.’
+
+They pressed their horses’ flanks, again leaped over the ditches, and
+speedily vanished, amidst the whirlwinds of dust which they raised upon
+the road.
+
+The words of the phantom Gypsy were ominous.  Gypsy Will was eventually
+executed for a murder committed in his early youth, in company with two
+English labourers, one of whom confessed the fact on his death-bed.  He
+was the head of the clan Young, which, with the clan Smith, still haunts
+two of the eastern counties.
+
+
+
+SOME FURTHER PARTICULARS RESPECTING THE ENGLISH GYPSIES
+
+
+It is difficult to say at what period the Gypsies or Rommany made their
+first appearance in England.  They had become, however, such a nuisance
+in the time of Henry the Eighth, Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth, that
+Gypsyism was denounced by various royal statutes, and, if persisted in,
+was to be punished as felony without benefit of clergy; it is probable,
+however, that they had overrun England long before the period of the
+earliest of these monarchs.  The Gypsies penetrate into all countries,
+save poor ones, and it is hardly to be supposed that a few leagues of
+intervening salt water would have kept a race so enterprising any
+considerable length of time, after their arrival on the continent of
+Europe, from obtaining a footing in the fairest and richest country of
+the West.
+
+It is easy enough to conceive the manner in which the Gypsies lived in
+England for a long time subsequent to their arrival: doubtless in a
+half-savage state, wandering about from place to place, encamping on the
+uninhabited spots, of which there were then so many in England, feared
+and hated by the population, who looked upon them as thieves and foreign
+sorcerers, occasionally committing acts of brigandage, but depending
+chiefly for subsistence on the practice of the ‘arts of Egypt,’ in which
+cunning and dexterity were far more necessary than courage or strength of
+hand.
+
+It would appear that they were always divided into clans or tribes, each
+bearing a particular name, and to which a particular district more
+especially belonged, though occasionally they would exchange districts
+for a period, and, incited by their characteristic love of wandering,
+would travel far and wide.  Of these families each had a sher-engro, or
+head man, but that they were ever united under one Rommany Krallis, or
+Gypsy King, as some people have insisted, there is not the slightest
+ground for supposing.
+
+It is possible that many of the original Gypsy tribes are no longer in
+existence: disease or the law may have made sad havoc among them, and the
+few survivors have incorporated themselves with other families, whose
+name they have adopted.  Two or three instances of this description have
+occurred within the sphere of my own knowledge: the heads of small
+families have been cut off, and the subordinate members, too young and
+inexperienced to continue Gypsying as independent wanderers, have been
+adopted by other tribes.
+
+The principal Gypsy tribes at present in existence are the Stanleys,
+whose grand haunt is the New Forest; the Lovells, who are fond of London
+and its vicinity; the Coopers, who call Windsor Castle their home; the
+Hernes, to whom the north country, more especially Yorkshire, belongeth;
+and lastly, my brethren, the Smiths,—to whom East Anglia appears to have
+been allotted from the beginning.
+
+All these families have Gypsy names, which seem, however, to be little
+more than attempts at translation of the English ones:—thus the Stanleys
+are called Bar-engres {25}, which means stony-fellows, or stony-hearts;
+the Coopers, Wardo-engres, or wheelwrights; the Lovells, Camo-mescres, or
+amorous fellows the Hernes (German Haaren) Balors, hairs, or hairy men;
+while the Smiths are called Petul-engres, signifying horseshoe fellows,
+or blacksmiths.
+
+It is not very easy to determine how the Gypsies became possessed of some
+of these names: the reader, however, will have observed that two of them,
+Stanley and Lovell, are the names of two highly aristocratic English
+families; the Gypsies who bear them perhaps adopted them from having, at
+their first arrival, established themselves on the estates of those great
+people; or it is possible that they translated their original Gypsy
+appellations by these names, which they deemed synonymous.  Much the same
+may be said with respect to Herne, an ancient English name; they probably
+sometimes officiated as coopers or wheelwrights, whence the
+cognomination.  Of the term Petul-engro, or Smith, however, I wish to say
+something in particular.
+
+There is every reason for believing that this last is a genuine Gypsy
+name, brought with them from the country from which they originally came;
+it is compounded of two words, signifying, as has been already observed,
+horseshoe fellows, or people whose trade is to manufacture horseshoes, a
+trade which the Gypsies ply in various parts of the world,—for example,
+in Russia and Hungary, and more particularly about Granada in Spain, as
+will subsequently be shown.  True it is, that at present there are none
+amongst the English Gypsies who manufacture horseshoes; all the men,
+however, are tinkers more or less, and the word Petul-engro is applied to
+the tinker also, though the proper meaning of it is undoubtedly what I
+have already stated above.  In other dialects of the Gypsy tongue, this
+cognomen exists, though not exactly with the same signification; for
+example, in the Hungarian dialect, _Pindoro_, which is evidently a
+modification of Petul-engro, is applied to a Gypsy in general, whilst in
+Spanish Pepindorio is the Gypsy word for Antonio.  In some parts of
+Northern Asia, the Gypsies call themselves Wattul {26}, which seems to be
+one and the same as Petul.
+
+Besides the above-named Gypsy clans, there are other smaller ones, some
+of which do not comprise more than a dozen individuals, children
+included.  For example, the Bosviles, the Browns, the Chilcotts, the
+Grays, Lees, Taylors, and Whites; of these the principal is the Bosvile
+tribe.
+
+After the days of the great persecution in England against the Gypsies,
+there can be little doubt that they lived a right merry and tranquil
+life, wandering about and pitching their tents wherever inclination led
+them: indeed, I can scarcely conceive any human condition more enviable
+than Gypsy life must have been in England during the latter part of the
+seventeenth, and the whole of the eighteenth century, which were likewise
+the happy days for Englishmen in general; there was peace and plenty in
+the land, a contented population, and everything went well.  Yes, those
+were brave times for the Rommany chals, to which the old people often
+revert with a sigh: the poor Gypsies, say they, were then allowed to
+_sove abri_ (sleep abroad) where they listed, to heat their kettles at
+the foot of the oaks, and no people grudged the poor persons one night’s
+use of a meadow to feed their cattle in.  _Tugnis amande_, our heart is
+heavy, brother,—there is no longer Gypsy law in the land,—our people have
+become negligent,—they are but half Rommany,—they are divided and care
+for nothing,—they do not even fear Pazorrhus, brother.
+
+Much the same complaints are at present made by the Spanish Gypsies.
+Gypsyism is certainly on the decline in both countries.  In England, a
+superabundant population, and, of late, a very vigilant police, have done
+much to modify Gypsy life; whilst in Spain, causes widely different have
+produced a still greater change, as will be seen further on.
+
+Gypsy law does not flourish at present in England, and still less in
+Spain, nor does Gypsyism.  I need not explain here what Gypsyism is, but
+the reader may be excused for asking what is Gypsy law.  Gypsy law
+divides itself into the three following heads or precepts:—
+
+    Separate not from _the husbands_.
+
+    Be faithful to _the husbands_.
+
+    Pay your debts to _the husbands_.
+
+By the first section the Rom or Gypsy is enjoined to live with his
+brethren, the husbands, and not with the gorgios {28} or gentiles; he is
+to live in a tent, as is befitting a Rom and a wanderer, and not in a
+house, which ties him to one spot; in a word, he is in every respect to
+conform to the ways of his own people, and to eschew those of gorgios,
+with whom he is not to mix, save to tell them _hoquepenes_ (lies), and to
+chore them.
+
+The second section, in which fidelity is enjoined, was more particularly
+intended for the women: be faithful to the _Roms_, ye _juwas_, and take
+not up with the gorgios, whether they be _raior_ or _bauor_ (gentlemen or
+fellows).  This was a very important injunction, so much so, indeed, that
+upon the observance of it depended the very existence of the Rommany
+sect,—for if the female Gypsy admitted the gorgio to the privilege of the
+Rom, the race of the Rommany would quickly disappear.  How well this
+injunction has been observed needs scarcely be said; for the Rommany have
+been roving about England for three centuries at least, and are still to
+be distinguished from the gorgios in feature and complexion, which
+assuredly would not have been the case if the juwas had not been faithful
+to the Roms.  The gorgio says that the juwa is at his disposal in all
+things, because she tells him fortunes and endures his free discourse;
+but the Rom, when he hears the boast, laughs within his sleeve, and
+whispers to himself, _Let him try_.
+
+The third section, which relates to the paying of debts, is highly
+curious.  In the Gypsy language, the state of being in debt is called
+_Pazorrhus_, and the Rom who did not seek to extricate himself from that
+state was deemed infamous, and eventually turned out of the society.  It
+has been asserted, I believe, by various gorgio writers, that the Roms
+have everything in common, and that there is a common stock out of which
+every one takes what he needs; this is quite a mistake, however: a Gypsy
+tribe is an epitome of the world; every one keeps his own purse and
+maintains himself and children to the best of his ability, and every tent
+is independent of the other.  True it is that one Gypsy will lend to
+another in the expectation of being repaid, and until that happen the
+borrower is pazorrhus, or indebted.  Even at the present time, a Gypsy
+will make the greatest sacrifices rather than remain pazorrhus to one of
+his brethren, even though he be of another clan; though perhaps the
+feeling is not so strong as of old, for time modifies everything; even
+Jews and Gypsies are affected by it.  In the old time, indeed, the Gypsy
+law was so strong against the debtor, that provided he could not repay
+his brother husband, he was delivered over to him as his slave for a year
+and a day, and compelled to serve him as a hewer of wood, a drawer of
+water, or a beast of burden; but those times are past, the Gypsies are no
+longer the independent people they were of yore,—dark, mysterious, and
+dreaded wanderers, living apart in the deserts and heaths with which
+England at one time abounded.  Gypsy law has given place to common law;
+but the principle of honour is still recognised amongst them, and base
+indeed must the Gypsy be who would continue pazorrhus because Gypsy law
+has become too weak to force him to liquidate a debt by money or by
+service.
+
+Such was Gypsy law in England, and there is every probability that it is
+much the same in all parts of the world where the Gypsy race is to be
+found.  About the peculiar practices of the Gypsies I need not say much
+here; the reader will find in the account of the Spanish Gypsies much
+that will afford him an idea of Gypsy arts in England.  I have already
+alluded to _chiving drav_, or poisoning, which is still much practised by
+the English Gypsies, though it has almost entirely ceased in Spain; then
+there is _chiving luvvu adrey puvo_, or putting money within the earth, a
+trick by which the females deceive the gorgios, and which will be more
+particularly described in the affairs of Spain: the men are adepts at
+cheating the gorgios by means of _nok-engroes_ and _poggado-bavengroes_
+(glandered and broken-winded horses).  But, leaving the subject of their
+tricks and Rommany arts, by no means an agreeable one, I will take the
+present opportunity of saying a few words about a practice of theirs,
+highly characteristic of a wandering people, and which is only extant
+amongst those of the race who still continue to wander much; for example,
+the Russian Gypsies and those of the Hungarian family, who stroll through
+Italy on plundering expeditions: I allude to the _patteran_ or _trail_.
+
+It is very possible that the reader during his country walks or rides has
+observed, on coming to four cross-roads, two or three handfuls of grass
+lying at a small distance from each other down one of these roads;
+perhaps he may have supposed that this grass was recently plucked from
+the roadside by frolicsome children, and flung upon the ground in sport,
+and this may possibly have been the case; it is ten chances to one,
+however, that no children’s hands plucked them, but that they were
+strewed in this manner by Gypsies, for the purpose of informing any of
+their companions, who might be straggling behind, the route which they
+had taken; this is one form of the patteran or trail.  It is likely, too,
+that the gorgio reader may have seen a cross drawn at the entrance of a
+road, the long part or stem of it pointing down that particular road, and
+he may have thought nothing of it, or have supposed that some sauntering
+individual like himself had made the mark with his stick: not so,
+courteous gorgio; ley tiro solloholomus opré lesti, _you may take your
+oath upon it_ that it was drawn by a Gypsy finger, for that mark is
+another of the Rommany trails; there is no mistake in this.  Once in the
+south of France, when I was weary, hungry, and penniless, I observed one
+of these last patterans, and following the direction pointed out, arrived
+at the resting-place of ‘certain Bohemians,’ by whom I was received with
+kindness and hospitality, on the faith of no other word of recommendation
+than patteran.  There is also another kind of patteran, which is more
+particularly adapted for the night; it is a cleft stick stuck at the side
+of the road, close by the hedge, with a little arm in the cleft pointing
+down the road which the band have taken, in the manner of a signpost; any
+stragglers who may arrive at night where cross-roads occur search for
+this patteran on the left-hand side, and speedily rejoin their
+companions.
+
+By following these patterans, or trails, the first Gypsies on their way
+to Europe never lost each other, though wandering amidst horrid
+wildernesses and dreary defiles.  Rommany matters have always had a
+peculiar interest for me; nothing, however, connected with Gypsy life
+ever more captivated my imagination than this patteran system: many
+thanks to the Gypsies for it; it has more than once been of service to
+me.
+
+The English Gypsies at the present day are far from being a numerous
+race; I consider their aggregate number, from the opportunities which I
+have had of judging, to be considerably under ten thousand: it is
+probable that, ere the conclusion of the present century, they will have
+entirely disappeared.  They are in general quite strangers to the
+commonest rudiments of education; few even of the most wealthy can either
+read or write.  With respect to religion, they call themselves members of
+the Established Church, and are generally anxious to have their children
+baptized, and to obtain a copy of the register.  Some of their baptismal
+papers, which they carry about with them, are highly curious, going back
+for a period of upwards of two hundred years.  With respect to the
+essential points of religion, they are quite careless and ignorant; if
+they believe in a future state they dread it not, and if they manifest
+when dying any anxiety, it is not for the soul, but the body: a handsome
+coffin, and a grave in a quiet country churchyard, are invariably the
+objects of their last thoughts; and it is probable that, in their
+observance of the rite of baptism, they are principally influenced by a
+desire to enjoy the privilege of burial in consecrated ground.  A Gypsy
+family never speak of their dead save with regret and affection, and any
+request of the dying individual is attended to, especially with regard to
+interment; so much so, that I have known a corpse conveyed a distance of
+nearly one hundred miles, because the deceased expressed a wish to be
+buried in a particular spot.
+
+Of the language of the English Gypsies, some specimens will be given in
+the sequel; it is much more pure and copious than the Spanish dialect.
+It has been asserted that the English Gypsies are not possessed of any
+poetry in their own tongue; but this is a gross error; they possess a
+great many songs and ballads upon ordinary subjects, without any
+particular merit, however, and seemingly of a very modern date.
+
+
+
+THE GYPSIES OF THE EAST, OR ZINGARRI
+
+
+What has been said of the Gypsies of Europe is, to a considerable extent,
+applicable to their brethren in the East, or, as they are called,
+Zingarri; they are either found wandering amongst the deserts or
+mountains, or settled in towns, supporting themselves by horse-dealing or
+jugglery, by music and song.  In no part of the East are they more
+numerous than in Turkey, especially in Constantinople, where the females
+frequently enter the harems of the great, pretending to cure children of
+‘the evil eye,’ and to interpret the dreams of the women.  They are not
+unfrequently seen in the coffee-houses, exhibiting their figures in
+lascivious dances to the tune of various instruments; yet these females
+are by no means unchaste, however their manners and appearance may denote
+the contrary, and either Turk or Christian who, stimulated by their songs
+and voluptuous movements, should address them with proposals of a
+dishonourable nature, would, in all probability, meet with a decided
+repulse.
+
+Among the Zingarri are not a few who deal in precious stones, and some
+who vend poisons; and the most remarkable individual whom it has been my
+fortune to encounter amongst the Gypsies, whether of the Eastern or
+Western world, was a person who dealt in both these articles.  He was a
+native of Constantinople, and in the pursuit of his trade had visited the
+most remote and remarkable portions of the world.  He had traversed alone
+and on foot the greatest part of India; he spoke several dialects of the
+Malay, and understood the original language of Java, that isle more
+fertile in poisons than even ‘far Iolchos and Spain.’ From what I could
+learn from him, it appeared that his jewels were in less request than his
+drugs, though he assured me that there was scarcely a Bey or Satrap in
+Persia or Turkey whom he had not supplied with both.  I have seen this
+individual in more countries than one, for he flits over the world like
+the shadow of a cloud; the last time at Granada in Spain, whither he had
+come after paying a visit to his Gitáno brethren in the presidio of
+Ceuta.
+
+Few Eastern authors have spoken of the Zingarri, notwithstanding they
+have been known in the East for many centuries; amongst the few, none has
+made more curious mention of them than Arabschah, in a chapter of his
+life of Timour or Tamerlane, which is deservedly considered as one of the
+three classic works of Arabian literature.  This passage, which, while it
+serves to illustrate the craft, if not the valour of the conqueror of
+half the world, offers some curious particulars as to Gypsy life in the
+East at a remote period, will scarcely be considered out of place if
+reproduced here, and the following is as close a translation of it as the
+metaphorical style of the original will allow.
+
+    ‘There were in Samarcand numerous families of Zingarri of various
+    descriptions: some were wrestlers, others gladiators, others
+    pugilists.  These people were much at variance, so that hostilities
+    and battling were continually arising amongst them.  Each band had
+    its chief and subordinate officers; and it came to pass that Timour
+    and the power which he possessed filled them with dread, for they
+    knew that he was aware of their crimes and disorderly way of life.
+    Now it was the custom of Timour, on departing upon his expeditions,
+    to leave a viceroy in Samarcand; but no sooner had he left the city,
+    than forth marched these bands, and giving battle to the viceroy,
+    deposed him and took possession of the government, so that on the
+    return of Timour he found order broken, confusion reigning, and his
+    throne overturned, and then he had much to do in restoring things to
+    their former state, and in punishing or pardoning the guilty; but no
+    sooner did he depart again to his wars, and to his various other
+    concerns, than they broke out into the same excesses, and this they
+    repeated no less than three times, and he at length laid a plan for
+    their utter extermination, and it was the following:—He commenced
+    building a wall, and he summoned unto him the people small and great,
+    and he allotted to every man his place, and to every workman his
+    duty, and he stationed the Zingarri and their chieftains apart; and
+    in one particular spot he placed a band of soldiers, and he commanded
+    them to kill whomsoever he should send to them; and having done so,
+    he called to him the heads of the people, and he filled the cup for
+    them and clothed them in splendid vests; and when the turn came to
+    the Zingarri, he likewise pledged one of them, and bestowed a vest
+    upon him, and sent him with a message to the soldiers, who, as soon
+    as he arrived, tore from him his vest, and stabbed him, pouring forth
+    the gold of his heart into the pan of destruction, {36} and in this
+    way they continued until the last of them was destroyed; and by that
+    blow he exterminated their race, and their traces, and from that time
+    forward there were no more rebellions in Samarcand.’
+
+It has of late years been one of the favourite theories of the learned,
+that Timour’s invasion of Hindostan, and the cruelties committed by his
+savage hordes in that part of the world, caused a vast number of Hindoos
+to abandon their native land, and that the Gypsies of the present day are
+the descendants of those exiles who wended their weary way to the West.
+Now, provided the above passage in the work of Arabschah be entitled to
+credence, the opinion that Timour was the cause of the expatriation and
+subsequent wandering life of these people, must be abandoned as
+untenable.  At the time he is stated by the Arabian writer to have
+annihilated the Gypsy hordes of Samarcand, he had but just commenced his
+career of conquest and devastation, and had not even directed his
+thoughts to the invasion of India; yet at this early period of the
+history of his life, we find families of Zingarri established at
+Samarcand, living much in the same manner as others of the race have
+subsequently done in various towns of Europe and the East; but supposing
+the event here narrated to be a fable, or at best a floating legend, it
+appears singular that, if they left their native land to escape from
+Timour, they should never have mentioned in the Western world the name of
+that scourge of the human race, nor detailed the history of their flight
+and sufferings, which assuredly would have procured them sympathy; the
+ravages of Timour being already but too well known in Europe.  That they
+came from India is much easier to prove than that they fled before the
+fierce Mongol.
+
+Such people as the Gypsies, whom the Bishop of Forli in the year 1422,
+only sixteen years subsequent to the invasion of India, describes as a
+‘raging rabble, of brutal and animal propensities,’ {37} are not such as
+generally abandon their country on foreign invasion.
+
+
+
+
+THE ZINCALI
+PART I
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+GITÁNOS, or Egyptians, is the name by which the Gypsies have been most
+generally known in Spain, in the ancient as well as in the modern period,
+but various other names have been and still are applied to them; for
+example, New Castilians, Germans, and Flemings; the first of which titles
+probably originated after the name of Gitáno had begun to be considered a
+term of reproach and infamy.  They may have thus designated themselves
+from an unwillingness to utter, when speaking of themselves, the detested
+expression ‘Gitáno,’ a word which seldom escapes their mouths; or it may
+have been applied to them first by the Spaniards, in their mutual
+dealings and communication, as a term less calculated to wound their
+feelings and to beget a spirit of animosity than the other; but, however
+it might have originated, New Castilian, in course of time, became a term
+of little less infamy than Gitáno; for, by the law of Philip the Fourth,
+both terms are forbidden to be applied to them under severe penalties.
+
+That they were called Germans, may be accounted for, either by the
+supposition that their generic name of Rommany was misunderstood and
+mispronounced by the Spaniards amongst whom they came, or from the fact
+of their having passed through Germany in their way to the south, and
+bearing passports and letters of safety from the various German states.
+The title of Flemings, by which at the present day they are known in
+various parts of Spain, would probably never have been bestowed upon them
+but from the circumstance of their having been designated or believed to
+be Germans,—as German and Fleming are considered by the ignorant as
+synonymous terms.
+
+Amongst themselves they have three words to distinguish them and their
+race in general: Zíncalo, Romanó, and Chai; of the first two of which
+something has been already said.
+
+They likewise call themselves ‘Cales,’ by which appellation indeed they
+are tolerably well known by the Spaniards, and which is merely the plural
+termination of the compound word Zíncalo, and signifies, The black men.
+Chai is a modification of the word Chal, which, by the Gitános of
+Estremadura, is applied to Egypt, and in many parts of Spain is
+equivalent to ‘Heaven,’ and which is perhaps a modification of ‘Cheros,’
+the word for heaven in other dialects of the Gypsy language.  Thus Chai
+may denote, The men of Egypt, or, The sons of Heaven.  It is, however,
+right to observe, that amongst the Gitános, the word Chai has frequently
+no other signification than the simple one of ‘children.’
+
+It is impossible to state for certainty the exact year of their first
+appearance in Spain; but it is reasonable to presume that it was early in
+the fifteenth century; as in the year 1417 numerous bands entered France
+from the north-east of Europe, and speedily spread themselves over the
+greatest part of that country.  Of these wanderers a French author has
+left the following graphic description: {43}
+
+    ‘On the 17th of April 1427, appeared in Paris twelve penitents of
+    Egypt, driven from thence by the Saracens; they brought in their
+    company one hundred and twenty persons; they took up their quarters
+    in La Chapelle, whither the people flocked in crowds to visit them.
+    They had their ears pierced, from which depended a ring of silver;
+    their hair was black and crispy, and their women were filthy to a
+    degree, and were sorceresses who told fortunes.’
+
+Such were the people who, after traversing France and scaling the sides
+of the Pyrenees, poured down in various bands upon the sunburnt plains of
+Spain.  Wherever they had appeared they had been looked upon as a curse
+and a pestilence, and with much reason.  Either unwilling or unable to
+devote themselves to any laborious or useful occupation, they came like
+flights of wasps to prey upon the fruits which their more industrious
+fellow-beings amassed by the toil of their hands and the sweat of their
+foreheads; the natural result being, that wherever they arrived, their
+fellow-creatures banded themselves against them.  Terrible laws were
+enacted soon after their appearance in France, calculated to put a stop
+to their frauds and dishonest propensities; wherever their hordes were
+found, they were attacked by the incensed rustics or by the armed hand of
+justice, and those who were not massacred on the spot, or could not
+escape by flight, were, without a shadow of a trial, either hanged on the
+next tree, or sent to serve for life in the galleys; or if females or
+children, either scourged or mutilated.
+
+The consequence of this severity, which, considering the manners and
+spirit of the time, is scarcely to be wondered at, was the speedy
+disappearance of the Gypsies from the soil of France.
+
+Many returned by the way they came, to Germany, Hungary, and the woods
+and forests of Bohemia; but there is little doubt that by far the greater
+portion found a refuge in the Peninsula, a country which, though by no
+means so rich and fertile as the one they had quitted, nor offering so
+wide and ready a field for the exercise of those fraudulent arts for
+which their race had become so infamously notorious, was, nevertheless,
+in many respects, suitable and congenial to them.  If there were less
+gold and silver in the purses of the citizens to reward the dexterous
+handler of the knife and scissors amidst the crowd in the market-place;
+if fewer sides of fatted swine graced the ample chimney of the labourer
+in Spain than in the neighbouring country; if fewer beeves bellowed in
+the plains, and fewer sheep bleated upon the hills, there were far better
+opportunities afforded of indulging in wild independence.  Should the
+halberded bands of the city be ordered out to quell, seize, or
+exterminate them; should the alcalde of the village cause the tocsin to
+be rung, gathering together the villanos for a similar purpose, the wild
+sierra was generally at hand, which, with its winding paths, its caves,
+its frowning precipices, and ragged thickets, would offer to them a
+secure refuge where they might laugh to scorn the rage of their baffled
+pursuers, and from which they might emerge either to fresh districts or
+to those which they had left, to repeat their ravages when opportunity
+served.
+
+After crossing the Pyrenees, a very short time elapsed before the Gypsy
+hordes had bivouacked in the principal provinces of Spain.  There can
+indeed be little doubt, that shortly after their arrival they made
+themselves perfectly acquainted with all the secrets of the land, and
+that there was scarcely a nook or retired corner within Spain, from which
+the smoke of their fires had not arisen, or where their cattle had not
+grazed.  People, however, so acute as they have always proverbially been,
+would scarcely be slow in distinguishing the provinces most adapted to
+their manner of life, and most calculated to afford them opportunities of
+practising those arts to which they were mainly indebted for their
+subsistence; the savage hills of Biscay, of Galicia, and the Asturias,
+whose inhabitants were almost as poor as themselves, which possessed no
+superior breed of horses or mules from amongst which they might pick and
+purloin many a gallant beast, and having transformed by their dexterous
+scissors, impose him again upon his rightful master for a high
+price,—such provinces, where, moreover, provisions were hard to be
+obtained, even by pilfering hands, could scarcely be supposed to offer
+strong temptations to these roving visitors to settle down in, or to vex
+and harass by a long sojourn.
+
+Valencia and Murcia found far more favour in their eyes; a far more
+fertile soil, and wealthier inhabitants, were better calculated to entice
+them; there was a prospect of plunder, and likewise a prospect of safety
+and refuge, should the dogs of justice be roused against them.  If there
+were the populous town and village in those lands, there was likewise the
+lone waste, and uncultivated spot, to which they could retire when danger
+threatened them.  Still more suitable to them must have been La Mancha, a
+land of tillage, of horses, and of mules, skirted by its brown sierra,
+ever eager to afford its shelter to their dusky race.  Equally suitable,
+Estremadura and New Castile; but far, far more, Andalusia, with its three
+kingdoms, Jaen, Granada, and Seville, one of which was still possessed by
+the swarthy Moor,—Andalusia, the land of the proud steed and the stubborn
+mule, the land of the savage sierra and the fruitful and cultivated
+plain: to Andalusia they hied, in bands of thirties and sixties; the
+hoofs of their asses might be heard clattering in the passes of the stony
+hills; the girls might be seen bounding in lascivious dance in the
+streets of many a town, and the beldames standing beneath the eaves
+telling the ‘buena ventura’ to many a credulous female dupe; the men the
+while chaffered in the fair and market-place with the labourers and
+chalanes, casting significant glances on each other, or exchanging a word
+or two in Rommany, whilst they placed some uncouth animal in a particular
+posture which served to conceal its ugliness from the eyes of the
+chapman.  Yes, of all provinces of Spain, Andalusia was the most
+frequented by the Gitáno race, and in Andalusia they most abound at the
+present day, though no longer as restless independent wanderers of the
+fields and hills, but as residents in villages and towns, especially in
+Seville.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+HAVING already stated to the reader at what period and by what means
+these wanderers introduced themselves into Spain, we shall now say
+something concerning their manner of life.
+
+It would appear that, for many years after their arrival in the
+Peninsula, their manners and habits underwent no change; they were
+wanderers, in the strictest sense of the word, and lived much in the same
+way as their brethren exist in the present day in England, Russia, and
+Bessarabia, with the exception perhaps of being more reckless,
+mischievous, and having less respect for the laws; it is true that their
+superiority in wickedness in these points may have been more the effect
+of the moral state of the country in which they were, than of any other
+operating cause.
+
+Arriving in Spain with a predisposition to every species of crime and
+villainy, they were not likely to be improved or reclaimed by the example
+of the people with whom they were about to mix; nor was it probable that
+they would entertain much respect for laws which, from time immemorial,
+have principally served, not to protect the honest and useful members of
+society, but to enrich those entrusted with the administration of them.
+Thus, if they came thieves, it is not probable that they would become
+ashamed of the title of thief in Spain, where the officers of justice
+were ever willing to shield an offender on receiving the largest portion
+of the booty obtained.  If on their arrival they held the lives of others
+in very low estimation, could it be expected that they would become
+gentle as lambs in a land where blood had its price, and the shedder was
+seldom executed unless he was poor and friendless, and unable to cram
+with ounces of yellow gold the greedy hands of the pursuers of blood,—the
+alguazil and escribano? therefore, if the Spanish Gypsies have been more
+bloody and more wolfishly eager in the pursuit of booty than those of
+their race in most other regions, the cause must be attributed to their
+residence in a country unsound in every branch of its civil polity, where
+right has ever been in less esteem, and wrong in less disrepute, than in
+any other part of the world.
+
+However, if the moral state of Spain was not calculated to have a
+favourable effect on the habits and pursuits of the Gypsies, their
+manners were as little calculated to operate beneficially, in any point
+of view, on the country where they had lately arrived.  Divided into
+numerous bodies, frequently formidable in point of number, their presence
+was an evil and a curse in whatever quarter they directed their steps.
+As might be expected, the labourers, who in all countries are the most
+honest, most useful, and meritorious class, were the principal sufferers;
+their mules and horses were stolen, carried away to distant fairs, and
+there disposed of, perhaps, to individuals destined to be deprived of
+them in a similar manner; whilst their flocks of sheep and goats were
+laid under requisition to assuage the hungry cravings of these thievish
+cormorants.
+
+             [Picture: The Rearguard of the Marching Gypsies]
+
+It was not uncommon for a large band or tribe to encamp in the vicinity
+of a remote village scantily peopled, and to remain there until, like a
+flight of locusts, they had consumed everything which the inhabitants
+possessed for their support; or until they were scared away by the
+approach of justice, or by an army of rustics assembled from the
+surrounding country.  Then would ensue the hurried march; the women and
+children, mounted on lean but spirited asses, would scour along the
+plains fleeter than the wind; ragged and savage-looking men, wielding the
+scourge and goad, would scamper by their side or close behind, whilst
+perhaps a small party on strong horses, armed with rusty matchlocks or
+sabres, would bring up the rear, threatening the distant foe, and now and
+then saluting them with a hoarse blast from the Gypsy horn:—
+
+    ‘O, when I sit my courser bold,
+       My bantling in my rear,
+    And in my hand my musket hold—
+       O how they quake with fear!’
+
+Let us for a moment suppose some unfortunate traveller, mounted on a
+handsome mule or beast of some value, meeting, unarmed and alone, such a
+rabble rout at the close of eve, in the wildest part, for example, of La
+Mancha; we will suppose that he is journeying from Seville to Madrid, and
+that he has left at a considerable distance behind him the gloomy and
+horrible passes of the Sierra Morena; his bosom, which for some time past
+has been contracted with dreadful forebodings, is beginning to expand;
+his blood, which has been congealed in his veins, is beginning to
+circulate warmly and freely; he is fondly anticipating the still distant
+posada and savoury omelet.  The sun is sinking rapidly behind the savage
+and uncouth hills in his rear; he has reached the bottom of a small
+valley, where runs a rivulet at which he allows his tired animal to
+drink; he is about to ascend the side of the hill; his eyes are turned
+upwards; suddenly he beholds strange and uncouth forms at the top of the
+ascent—the sun descending slants its rays upon red cloaks, with here and
+there a turbaned head, or long streaming hair.  The traveller hesitates,
+but reflecting that he is no longer in the mountains, and that in the
+open road there is no danger of banditti, he advances.  In a moment he is
+in the midst of the Gypsy group, in a moment there is a general halt;
+fiery eyes are turned upon him replete with an expression which only the
+eyes of the Roma possess, then ensues a jabber in a language or jargon
+which is strange to the ears of the traveller; at last an ugly urchin
+springs from the crupper of a halting mule, and in a lisping accent
+entreats charity in the name of the Virgin and the Majoro.  The
+traveller, with a faltering hand, produces his purse, and is proceeding
+to loosen its strings, but he accomplishes not his purpose, for, struck
+violently by a huge knotted club in an unseen hand, he tumbles headlong
+from his mule.  Next morning a naked corse, besmeared with brains and
+blood, is found by an arriéro; and within a week a simple cross records
+the event, according to the custom of Spain.
+
+    ‘Below there in the dusky pass
+       Was wrought a murder dread;
+    The murdered fell upon the grass,
+       Away the murderer fled.’
+
+To many, such a scene, as above described, will appear purely imaginary,
+or at least a mass of exaggeration, but many such anecdotes are related
+by old Spanish writers of these people; they traversed the country in
+gangs; they were what the Spanish law has styled Abigeos and Salteadores
+de Camino, cattle-stealers and highwaymen; though, in the latter
+character, they never rose to any considerable eminence.  True it is that
+they would not hesitate to attack or even murder the unarmed and
+defenceless traveller, when they felt assured of obtaining booty with
+little or no risk to themselves; but they were not by constitution
+adapted to rival those bold and daring banditti of whom so many terrible
+anecdotes are related in Spain and Italy, and who have acquired their
+renown by the dauntless daring which they have invariably displayed in
+the pursuit of plunder.
+
+              [Picture: Travellers attacked by the Gitános]
+
+Besides trafficking in horses and mules, and now and then attacking and
+plundering travellers upon the highway, the Gypsies of Spain appear, from
+a very early period, to have plied occasionally the trade of the
+blacksmith, and to have worked in iron, forming rude implements of
+domestic and agricultural use, which they disposed of, either for
+provisions or money, in the neighbourhood of those places where they had
+taken up their temporary residence.  As their bands were composed of
+numerous individuals, there is no improbability in assuming that to every
+member was allotted that branch of labour in which he was most calculated
+to excel.  The most important, and that which required the greatest share
+of cunning and address, was undoubtedly that of the chalan or jockey, who
+frequented the fairs with the beasts which he had obtained by various
+means, but generally by theft.  Highway robbery, though occasionally
+committed by all jointly or severally, was probably the peculiar
+department of the boldest spirits of the gang; whilst wielding the hammer
+and tongs was abandoned to those who, though possessed of athletic forms,
+were perhaps, like Vulcan, lame, or from some particular cause, moral or
+physical, unsuited for the other two very respectable avocations.  The
+forge was generally placed in the heart of some mountain abounding in
+wood; the gaunt smiths felled a tree, perhaps with the very axes which
+their own sturdy hands had hammered at a former period; with the wood
+thus procured they prepared the charcoal which their labour demanded.
+Everything is in readiness; the bellows puff until the coal is excited to
+a furious glow; the metal, hot, pliant, and ductile, is laid on the
+anvil, round which stands the Cyclop group, their hammers upraised; down
+they descend successively, one, two, three, the sparks are scattered on
+every side.  The sparks—
+
+    ‘More than a hundred lovely daughters I see produced at one time,
+    fiery as roses: in one moment they expire gracefully circumvolving.’
+    {54}
+
+    The anvil rings beneath the thundering stroke, hour succeeds hour,
+    and still endures the hard sullen toil.
+
+One of the most remarkable features in the history of Gypsies is the
+striking similarity of their pursuits in every region of the globe to
+which they have penetrated; they are not merely alike in limb and in
+feature, in the cast and expression of the eye, in the colour of the
+hair, in their walk and gait, but everywhere they seem to exhibit the
+same tendencies, and to hunt for their bread by the same means, as if
+they were not of the human but rather of the animal species, and in lieu
+of reason were endowed with a kind of instinct which assists them to a
+very limited extent and no farther.
+
+In no part of the world are they found engaged in the cultivation of the
+earth, or in the service of a regular master; but in all lands they are
+jockeys, or thieves, or cheats; and if ever they devote themselves to any
+toil or trade, it is assuredly in every material point one and the same.
+We have found them above, in the heart of a wild mountain, hammering
+iron, and manufacturing from it instruments either for their own use or
+that of the neighbouring towns and villages.  They may be seen employed
+in a similar manner in the plains of Russia, or in the bosom of its
+eternal forests; and whoever inspects the site where a horde of Gypsies
+has encamped, in the grassy lanes beneath the hazel bushes of merry
+England, is generally sure to find relics of tin and other metal,
+avouching that they have there been exercising the arts of the tinker or
+smith.  Perhaps nothing speaks more forcibly for the antiquity of this
+sect or caste than the tenacity with which they have uniformly preserved
+their peculiar customs since the period of their becoming generally
+known; for, unless their habits had become a part of their nature, which
+could only have been effected by a strict devotion to them through a long
+succession of generations, it is not to be supposed that after their
+arrival in civilised Europe they would have retained and cherished them
+precisely in the same manner in the various countries where they found an
+asylum.
+
+Each band or family of the Spanish Gypsies had its Captain, or, as he was
+generally designated, its Count.  Don Juan de Quiñones, who, in a small
+volume published in 1632, has written some details respecting their way
+of life, says: ‘They roam about, divided into families and troops, each
+of which has its head or Count; and to fill this office they choose the
+most valiant and courageous individual amongst them, and the one endowed
+with the greatest strength.  He must at the same time be crafty and
+sagacious, and adapted in every respect to govern them.  It is he who
+settles their differences and disputes, even when they are residing in a
+place where there is a regular justice.  He heads them at night when they
+go out to plunder the flocks, or to rob travellers on the highway; and
+whatever they steal or plunder they divide amongst them, always allowing
+the captain a third part of the whole.’
+
+These Counts, being elected for such qualities as promised to be useful
+to their troop or family, were consequently liable to be deposed if at
+any time their conduct was not calculated to afford satisfaction to their
+subjects.  The office was not hereditary, and though it carried along
+with it partial privileges, was both toilsome and dangerous.  Should the
+plans for plunder, which it was the duty of the Count to form, miscarry
+in the attempt to execute them; should individuals of the gang fall into
+the hand of justice, and the Count be unable to devise a method to save
+their lives or obtain their liberty, the blame was cast at the Count’s
+door, and he was in considerable danger of being deprived of his insignia
+of authority, which consisted not so much in ornaments or in dress, as in
+hawks and hounds with which the Señor Count took the diversion of hunting
+when he thought proper.  As the ground which he hunted over was not his
+own, he incurred some danger of coming in contact with the lord of the
+soil, attended, perhaps, by his armed followers.  There is a tradition
+(rather apocryphal, it is true), that a Gitáno chief, once pursuing this
+amusement, was encountered by a real Count, who is styled Count Pepe.  An
+engagement ensued between the two parties, which ended in the Gypsies
+being worsted, and their chief left dying on the field.  The slain chief
+leaves a son, who, at the instigation of his mother, steals the infant
+heir of his father’s enemy, who, reared up amongst the Gypsies, becomes a
+chief, and, in process of time, hunting over the same ground, slays Count
+Pepe in the very spot where the blood of the Gypsy had been poured out.
+This tradition is alluded to in the following stanza:—
+
+    ‘I have a gallant mare in stall;
+       My mother gave that mare
+    That I might seek Count Pepe’s hall
+       And steal his son and heir.’
+
+Martin Del Rio, in his _Tractatus de Magia_, speaks of the Gypsies and
+their Counts to the following effect: ‘When, in the year 1584, I was
+marching in Spain with the regiment, a multitude of these wretches were
+infesting the fields.  It happened that the feast of Corpus Domini was
+being celebrated, and they requested to be admitted into the town, that
+they might dance in honour of the sacrifice, as was customary; they did
+so, but about midday a great tumult arose owing to the many thefts which
+the women committed, whereupon they fled out of the suburbs, and
+assembled about St. Mark’s, the magnificent mansion and hospital of the
+knights of St. James, where the ministers of justice attempting to seize
+them were repulsed by force of arms; nevertheless, all of a sudden, and I
+know not how, everything was hushed up.  At this time they had a Count, a
+fellow who spoke the Castilian idiom with as much purity as if he had
+been a native of Toledo; he was acquainted with all the ports of Spain,
+and all the difficult and broken ground of the provinces.  He knew the
+exact strength of every city, and who were the principal people in each,
+and the exact amount of their property; there was nothing relating to the
+state, however secret, that he was not acquainted with; nor did he make a
+mystery of his knowledge, but publicly boasted of it.’
+
+From the passage quoted above, we learn that the Gitános in the ancient
+times were considered as foreigners who prowled about the country;
+indeed, in many of the laws which at various times have been promulgated
+against them, they are spoken of as Egyptians, and as such commanded to
+leave Spain, and return to their native country; at one time they
+undoubtedly were foreigners in Spain, foreigners by birth, foreigners by
+language but at the time they are mentioned by the worthy Del Rio, they
+were certainly not entitled to the appellation.  True it is that they
+spoke a language amongst themselves, unintelligible to the rest of the
+Spaniards, from whom they differed considerably in feature and
+complexion, as they still do; but if being born in a country, and being
+bred there, constitute a right to be considered a native of that country,
+they had as much claim to the appellation of Spaniards as the worthy
+author himself.  Del Rio mentions, as a remarkable circumstance, the fact
+of the Gypsy Count speaking Castilian with as much purity as a native of
+Toledo, whereas it is by no means improbable that the individual in
+question was a native of that town; but the truth is, at the time we are
+speaking of, they were generally believed to be not only foreigners, but
+by means of sorcery to have acquired the power of speaking all languages
+with equal facility; and Del Rio, who was a believer in magic, and wrote
+one of the most curious and erudite treatises on the subject ever penned,
+had perhaps adopted that idea, which possibly originated from their
+speaking most of the languages and dialects of the Peninsula, which they
+picked up in their wanderings.  That the Gypsy chief was so well
+acquainted with every town of Spain, and the broken and difficult ground,
+can cause but little surprise, when we reflect that the life which the
+Gypsies led was one above all others calculated to afford them that
+knowledge.  They were continually at variance with justice; they were
+frequently obliged to seek shelter in the inmost recesses of the hills;
+and when their thievish pursuits led them to the cities, they naturally
+made themselves acquainted with the names of the principal individuals,
+in hopes of plundering them.  Doubtless the chief possessed all this
+species of knowledge in a superior degree, as it was his courage,
+acuteness, and experience alone which placed him at the head of his
+tribe, though Del Rio from this circumstance wishes to infer that the
+Gitános were spies sent by foreign foes, and with some simplicity
+inquires, ‘Quo ant cui rei hæc curiosa exploratio? nonne compescenda
+vagamundorum hæc curiositas, etiam si solum peregrini et inculpatæ vitæ.’
+
+With the Counts rested the management and direction of these remarkable
+societies; it was they who determined their marches, counter-marches,
+advances, and retreats; what was to be attempted or avoided; what
+individuals were to be admitted into the fellowship and privileges of the
+Gitános, or who were to be excluded from their society; they settled
+disputes and sat in judgment over offences.  The greatest crimes,
+according to the Gypsy code, were a quarrelsome disposition, and
+revealing the secrets of the brotherhood.  By this code the members were
+forbidden to eat, drink, or sleep in the house of a Busno, which
+signifies any person who is not of the sect of the Gypsies, or to marry
+out of that sect; they were likewise not to teach the language of Roma to
+any but those who, by birth or inauguration, belonged to that sect; they
+were enjoined to relieve their brethren in distress at any expense or
+peril; they were to use a peculiar dress, which is frequently alluded to
+in the Spanish laws, but the particulars of which are not stated; and
+they were to cultivate the gift of speech to the utmost possible extent,
+and never to lose anything which might be obtained by a loose and
+deceiving tongue, to encourage which they had many excellent proverbs,
+for example—
+
+    ‘The poor fool who closes his mouth never winneth a dollar.’
+
+    ‘The river which runneth with sound bears along with it stones and
+    water.’
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+THE Gitános not unfrequently made their appearance in considerable
+numbers, so as to be able to bid defiance to any force which could be
+assembled against them on a sudden; whole districts thus became a prey to
+them, and were plundered and devastated.
+
+It is said that, in the year 1618, more than eight hundred of these
+wretches scoured the country between Castile and Aragon, committing the
+most enormous crimes.  The royal council despatched regular troops
+against them, who experienced some difficulty in dispersing them.
+
+But we now proceed to touch upon an event which forms an era in the
+history of the Gitános of Spain, and which for wildness and singularity
+throws all other events connected with them and their race, wherever
+found, entirely into the shade.
+
+
+THE BOOKSELLER OF LOGROÑO
+
+
+About the middle of the sixteenth century, there resided one Francisco
+Alvarez in the city of Logroño, the chief town of Rioja, a province which
+borders on Aragon.  He was a man above the middle age, sober, reserved,
+and in general absorbed in thought; he lived near the great church, and
+obtained a livelihood by selling printed books and manuscripts in a small
+shop.  He was a very learned man, and was continually reading in the
+books which he was in the habit of selling, and some of these books were
+in foreign tongues and characters, so foreign, indeed, that none but
+himself and some of his friends, the canons, could understand them; he
+was much visited by the clergy, who were his principal customers, and
+took much pleasure in listening to his discourse.
+
+He had been a considerable traveller in his youth, and had wandered
+through all Spain, visiting the various provinces and the most remarkable
+cities.  It was likewise said that he had visited Italy and Barbary.  He
+was, however, invariably silent with respect to his travels, and whenever
+the subject was mentioned to him, the gloom and melancholy increased
+which usually clouded his features.
+
+One day, in the commencement of autumn, he was visited by a priest with
+whom he had long been intimate, and for whom he had always displayed a
+greater respect and liking than for any other acquaintance.  The
+ecclesiastic found him even more sad than usual, and there was a haggard
+paleness upon his countenance which alarmed his visitor.  The good priest
+made affectionate inquiries respecting the health of his friend, and
+whether anything had of late occurred to give him uneasiness; adding at
+the same time, that he had long suspected that some secret lay heavy upon
+his mind, which he now conjured him to reveal, as life was uncertain, and
+it was very possible that he might be quickly summoned from earth into
+the presence of his Maker.
+
+The bookseller continued for some time in gloomy meditation, till at last
+he broke silence in these words:—‘It is true I have a secret which weighs
+heavy upon my mind, and which I am still loth to reveal; but I have a
+presentiment that my end is approaching, and that a heavy misfortune is
+about to fall upon this city: I will therefore unburden myself, for it
+were now a sin to remain silent.
+
+‘I am, as you are aware, a native of this town, which I first left when I
+went to acquire an education at Salamanca; I continued there until I
+became a licentiate, when I quitted the university and strolled through
+Spain, supporting myself in general by touching the guitar, according to
+the practice of penniless students; my adventures were numerous, and I
+frequently experienced great poverty.  Once, whilst making my way from
+Toledo to Andalusia through the wild mountains, I fell in with and was
+made captive by a band of the people called Gitános, or wandering
+Egyptians; they in general lived amongst these wilds, and plundered or
+murdered every person whom they met.  I should probably have been
+assassinated by them, but my skill in music perhaps saved my life.  I
+continued with them a considerable time, till at last they persuaded me
+to become one of them, whereupon I was inaugurated into their society
+with many strange and horrid ceremonies, and having thus become a Gitáno,
+I went with them to plunder and assassinate upon the roads.
+
+‘The Count or head man of these Gitános had an only daughter, about my
+own age; she was very beautiful, but, at the same time, exceedingly
+strong and robust; this Gitána was given to me as a wife or cadjee, and I
+lived with her several years, and she bore me children.
+
+‘My wife was an arrant Gitána, and in her all the wickedness of her race
+seemed to be concentrated.  At last her father was killed in an affray
+with the troopers of the Hermandad, whereupon my wife and myself
+succeeded to the authority which he had formerly exercised in the tribe.
+We had at first loved each other, but at last the Gitáno life, with its
+accompanying wickedness, becoming hateful to my eyes, my wife, who was
+not slow in perceiving my altered disposition, conceived for me the most
+deadly hatred; apprehending that I meditated withdrawing myself from the
+society, and perhaps betraying the secrets of the band, she formed a
+conspiracy against me, and, at one time, being opposite the Moorish
+coast, I was seized and bound by the other Gitános, conveyed across the
+sea, and delivered as a slave into the hands of the Moors.
+
+‘I continued for a long time in slavery in various parts of Morocco and
+Fez, until I was at length redeemed from my state of bondage by a
+missionary friar who paid my ransom.  With him I shortly after departed
+for Italy, of which he was a native.  In that country I remained some
+years, until a longing to revisit my native land seized me, when I
+returned to Spain and established myself here, where I have since lived
+by vending books, many of which I brought from the strange lands which I
+visited.  I kept my history, however, a profound secret, being afraid of
+exposing myself to the laws in force against the Gitános, to which I
+should instantly become amenable, were it once known that I had at any
+time been a member of this detestable sect.
+
+‘My present wretchedness, of which you have demanded the cause, dates
+from yesterday; I had been on a short journey to the Augustine convent,
+which stands on the plain in the direction of Saragossa, carrying with me
+an Arabian book, which a learned monk was desirous of seeing.  Night
+overtook me ere I could return.  I speedily lost my way, and wandered
+about until I came near a dilapidated edifice with which I was
+acquainted; I was about to proceed in the direction of the town, when I
+heard voices within the ruined walls; I listened, and recognised the
+language of the abhorred Gitános; I was about to fly, when a word
+arrested me.  It was Drao, which in their tongue signifies the horrid
+poison with which this race are in the habit of destroying the cattle;
+they now said that the men of Logroño should rue the Drao which they had
+been casting.  I heard no more, but fled.  What increased my fear was,
+that in the words spoken, I thought I recognised the peculiar jargon of
+my own tribe; I repeat, that I believe some horrible misfortune is
+overhanging this city, and that my own days are numbered.’
+
+The priest, having conversed with him for some time upon particular
+points of the history that he had related, took his leave, advising him
+to compose his spirits, as he saw no reason why he should indulge in such
+gloomy forebodings.
+
+The very next day a sickness broke out in the town of Logroño.  It was
+one of a peculiar kind; unlike most others, it did not arise by slow and
+gradual degrees, but at once appeared in full violence, in the shape of a
+terrific epidemic.  Dizziness in the head was the first symptom: then
+convulsive retchings, followed by a dreadful struggle between life and
+death, which generally terminated in favour of the grim destroyer.  The
+bodies, after the spirit which animated them had taken flight, were
+frightfully swollen, and exhibited a dark blue colour, checkered with
+crimson spots.  Nothing was heard within the houses or the streets, but
+groans of agony; no remedy was at hand, and the powers of medicine were
+exhausted in vain upon this terrible pest; so that within a few days the
+greatest part of the inhabitants of Logroño had perished.  The bookseller
+had not been seen since the commencement of this frightful visitation.
+
+Once, at the dead of night, a knock was heard at the door of the priest,
+of whom we have already spoken; the priest himself staggered to the door,
+and opened it,—he was the only one who remained alive in the house, and
+was himself slowly recovering from the malady which had destroyed all the
+other inmates; a wild spectral-looking figure presented itself to his
+eye—it was his friend Alvarez.  Both went into the house, when the
+bookseller, glancing gloomily on the wasted features of the priest,
+exclaimed, ‘You too, I see, amongst others, have cause to rue the Drao
+which the Gitános have cast.  Know,’ he continued, ‘that in order to
+accomplish a detestable plan, the fountains of Logroño have been poisoned
+by emissaries of the roving bands, who are now assembled in the
+neighbourhood.  On the first appearance of the disorder, from which I
+happily escaped by tasting the water of a private fountain, which I
+possess in my own house, I instantly recognised the effects of the poison
+of the Gitános, brought by their ancestors from the isles of the Indian
+sea; and suspecting their intentions, I disguised myself as a Gitáno, and
+went forth in the hope of being able to act as a spy upon their actions.
+I have been successful, and am at present thoroughly acquainted with
+their designs.  They intended, from the first, to sack the town, as soon
+as it should have been emptied of its defenders.
+
+‘Midday, to-morrow, is the hour in which they have determined to make the
+attempt.  There is no time to be lost; let us, therefore, warn those of
+our townsmen who still survive, in order that they may make preparations
+for their defence.’
+
+Whereupon the two friends proceeded to the chief magistrate, who had been
+but slightly affected by the disorder; he heard the tale of the
+bookseller with horror and astonishment, and instantly took the best
+measures possible for frustrating the designs of the Gitános; all the men
+capable of bearing arms in Logroño were assembled, and weapons of every
+description put in their hands.  By the advice of the bookseller all the
+gates of the town were shut, with the exception of the principal one; and
+the little band of defenders, which barely amounted to sixty men, was
+stationed in the great square, to which, he said, it was the intention of
+the Gitános to penetrate in the first instance, and then, dividing
+themselves into various parties, to sack the place.  The bookseller was,
+by general desire, constituted leader of the guardians of the town.
+
+It was considerably past noon; the sky was overcast, and tempest clouds,
+fraught with lightning and thunder, were hanging black and horrid over
+the town of Logroño.  The little troop, resting on their arms, stood
+awaiting the arrival of their unnatural enemies; rage fired their minds
+as they thought of the deaths of their fathers, their sons, and their
+dearest relatives, who had perished, not by the hand of God, but, like
+infected cattle, by the hellish arts of Egyptian sorcerers.  They longed
+for their appearance, determined to wreak upon them a bloody revenge; not
+a word was uttered, and profound silence reigned around, only interrupted
+by the occasional muttering of the thunder-clouds.  Suddenly, Alvarez,
+who had been intently listening, raised his hand with a significant
+gesture; presently, a sound was heard—a rustling like the waving of
+trees, or the rushing of distant water; it gradually increased, and
+seemed to proceed from the narrow street which led from the principal
+gate into the square.  All eyes were turned in that direction. . . .
+
+That night there was repique or ringing of bells in the towers of
+Logroño, and the few priests who had escaped from the pestilence sang
+litanies to God and the Virgin for the salvation of the town from the
+hands of the heathen.  The attempt of the Gitános had been most signally
+defeated, and the great square and the street were strewn with their
+corpses.  Oh! what frightful objects: there lay grim men more black than
+mulattos, with fury and rage in their stiffened features; wild women in
+extraordinary dresses, their hair, black and long as the tail of the
+horse, spread all dishevelled upon the ground; and gaunt and naked
+children grasping knives and daggers in their tiny hands.  Of the
+patriotic troop not one appeared to have fallen; and when, after their
+enemies had retreated with howlings of fiendish despair, they told their
+numbers, only one man was missing, who was never seen again, and that man
+was Alvarez.
+
+In the midst of the combat, the tempest, which had for a long time been
+gathering, burst over Logroño, in lightning, thunder, darkness, and
+vehement hail.
+
+A man of the town asserted that the last time he had seen Alvarez, the
+latter was far in advance of his companions, defending himself
+desperately against three powerful young heathen, who seemed to be acting
+under the direction of a tall woman who stood nigh, covered with barbaric
+ornaments, and wearing on her head a rude silver crown. {69}
+
+Such is the tale of the Bookseller of Logroño, and such is the narrative
+of the attempt of the Gitános to sack the town in the time of pestilence,
+which is alluded to by many Spanish authors, but more particularly by the
+learned Francisco de Cordova, in his _Didascalia_, one of the most
+curious and instructive books within the circle of universal literature.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+THE Moors, after their subjugation, and previous to their expulsion from
+Spain, generally resided apart, principally in the suburbs of the towns,
+where they kept each other in countenance, being hated and despised by
+the Spaniards, and persecuted on all occasions.  By this means they
+preserved, to a certain extent, the Arabic language, though the use of it
+was strictly forbidden, and encouraged each other in the secret exercise
+of the rites of the Mohammedan religion, so that, until the moment of
+their final expulsion, they continued Moors in almost every sense of the
+word.  Such places were called Morerias, or quarters of the Moors.
+
+In like manner there were Gitanerias, or quarters of the Gitános, in many
+of the towns of Spain; and in more than one instance particular barrios
+or districts are still known by this name, though the Gitános themselves
+have long since disappeared.  Even in the town of Oviedo, in the heart of
+the Asturias, a province never famous for Gitános, there is a place
+called the Gitaneria, though no Gitáno has been known to reside in the
+town within the memory of man, nor indeed been seen, save, perhaps, as a
+chance visitor at a fair.
+
+The exact period when the Gitános first formed these colonies within the
+towns is not known; the laws, however, which commanded them to abandon
+their wandering life under penalty of banishment and death, and to become
+stationary in towns, may have induced them first to take such a step.  By
+the first of these laws, which was made by Ferdinand and Isabella as far
+back as the year 1499, they are commanded to seek out for themselves
+masters.  This injunction they utterly disregarded.  Some of them for
+fear of the law, or from the hope of bettering their condition, may have
+settled down in the towns, cities, and villages for a time, but to expect
+that a people, in whose bosoms was so deeply rooted the love of lawless
+independence, would subject themselves to the yoke of servitude, from any
+motive whatever, was going too far; as well might it have been expected,
+according to the words of the great poet of Persia, _that they would have
+washed their skins white_.
+
+In these Gitanerias, therefore, many Gypsy families resided, but ever in
+the Gypsy fashion, in filth and in misery, with little of the fear of
+man, and nothing of the fear of God before their eyes.  Here the swarthy
+children basked naked in the sun before the doors; here the women
+prepared love draughts, or told the buena ventura; and here the men plied
+the trade of the blacksmith, a forbidden occupation, or prepared for
+sale, by disguising them, animals stolen by themselves or their
+accomplices.  In these places were harboured the strange Gitános on their
+arrival, and here were discussed in the Rommany language, which, like the
+Arabic, was forbidden under severe penalties, plans of fraud and plunder,
+which were perhaps intended to be carried into effect in a distant
+province and a distant city.
+
+The great body, however, of the Gypsy race in Spain continued independent
+wanderers of the plains and the mountains, and indeed the denizens of the
+Gitanerias were continually sallying forth, either for the purpose of
+reuniting themselves with the wandering tribes, or of strolling about
+from town to town, and from fair to fair.  Hence the continual complaints
+in the Spanish laws against the Gitános who have left their places of
+domicile, from doing which they were interdicted, even as they were
+interdicted from speaking their language and following the occupations of
+the blacksmith and horse-dealer, in which they still persist even at the
+present day.
+
+The Gitanerias at evening fall were frequently resorted to by individuals
+widely differing in station from the inmates of these places—we allude to
+the young and dissolute nobility and hidalgos of Spain.  This was
+generally the time of mirth and festival, and the Gitános, male and
+female, danced and sang in the Gypsy fashion beneath the smile of the
+moon.  The Gypsy women and girls were the principal attractions to these
+visitors; wild and singular as these females are in their appearance,
+there can be no doubt, for the fact has been frequently proved, that they
+are capable of exciting passion of the most ardent description,
+particularly in the bosoms of those who are not of their race, which
+passion of course becomes the more violent when the almost utter
+impossibility of gratifying it is known.  No females in the world can be
+more licentious in word and gesture, in dance and in song, than the
+Gitánas; but there they stop: and so of old, if their titled visitors
+presumed to seek for more, an unsheathed dagger or gleaming knife
+speedily repulsed those who expected that the gem most dear amongst the
+sect of the Roma was within the reach of a Busno.
+
+Such visitors, however, were always encouraged to a certain point, and by
+this and various other means the Gitános acquired connections which
+frequently stood them in good stead in the hour of need.  What availed it
+to the honest labourers of the neighbourhood, or the citizens of the
+town, to make complaints to the corregidor concerning the thefts and
+frauds committed by the Gitános, when perhaps the sons of that very
+corregidor frequented the nightly dances at the Gitaneria, and were
+deeply enamoured with some of the dark-eyed singing-girls?  What availed
+making complaints, when perhaps a Gypsy sibyl, the mother of those very
+girls, had free admission to the house of the corregidor at all times and
+seasons, and spaed the good fortune to his daughters, promising them
+counts and dukes, and Andalusian knights in marriage, or prepared
+philtres for his lady by which she was always to reign supreme in the
+affections of her husband?  And, above all, what availed it to the
+plundered party to complain that his mule or horse had been stolen, when
+the Gitáno robber, perhaps the husband of the sibyl and the father of the
+black-eyed Gitanillas, was at that moment actually in treaty with my lord
+the corregidor himself for supplying him with some splendid thick-maned,
+long-tailed steed at a small price, to be obtained, as the reader may
+well suppose, by an infraction of the laws?  The favour and protection
+which the Gitános experienced from people of high rank is alluded to in
+the Spanish laws, and can only be accounted for by the motives above
+detailed.
+
+The Gitanerias were soon considered as public nuisances, on which account
+the Gitános were forbidden to live together in particular parts of the
+town, to hold meetings, and even to intermarry with each other; yet it
+does not appear that the Gitanerias were ever suppressed by the arm of
+the law, as many still exist where these singular beings ‘marry and are
+given in marriage,’ and meet together to discuss their affairs, which, in
+their opinion, never flourish unless those of their fellow-creatures
+suffer.  So much for the Gitanerias, or Gypsy colonies in the towns of
+Spain.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+‘LOS Gitános son muy malos!—the Gypsies are very bad people,’ said the
+Spaniards of old times.  They are cheats; they are highwaymen; they
+practise sorcery; and, lest the catalogue of their offences should be
+incomplete, a formal charge of cannibalism was brought against them.
+Cheats they have always been, and highwaymen, and if not sorcerers, they
+have always done their best to merit that appellation, by arrogating to
+themselves supernatural powers; but that they were addicted to
+cannibalism is a matter not so easily proved.
+
+Their principal accuser was Don Juan de Quiñones, who, in the work from
+which we have already had occasion to quote, gives several anecdotes
+illustrative of their cannibal propensities.  Most of these anecdotes,
+however, are so highly absurd, that none but the very credulous could
+ever have vouchsafed them the slightest credit.  This author is
+particularly fond of speaking of a certain juez, or judge, called Don
+Martin Fajardo, who seems to have been an arrant Gypsy-hunter, and was
+probably a member of the ancient family of the Fajardos, which still
+flourishes in Estremadura, and with individuals of which we are
+acquainted.  So it came to pass that this personage was, in the year
+1629, at Jaraicejo, in Estremadura, or, as it is written in the little
+book in question, Zaraizejo, in the capacity of judge; a zealous one he
+undoubtedly was.
+
+A very strange place is this same Jaraicejo, a small ruinous town or
+village, situated on a rising ground, with a very wild country all about
+it.  The road from Badajoz to Madrid passes through it; and about two
+leagues distant, in the direction of Madrid, is the famous mountain pass
+of Mirabéte, from the top of which you enjoy a most picturesque view
+across the Tagus, which flows below, as far as the huge mountains of
+Plasencia, the tops of which are generally covered with snow.
+
+So this Don Martin Fajardo, judge, being at Jaraicejo, laid his claw upon
+four Gitános, and having nothing, as it appears, to accuse them of,
+except being Gitános, put them to the torture, and made them accuse
+themselves, which they did; for, on the first appeal which was made to
+the rack, they confessed that they had murdered a female Gypsy in the
+forest of Las Gamas, and had there eaten her. . . .
+
+I am myself well acquainted with this same forest of Las Gamas, which
+lies between Jaraicejo and Trujillo; it abounds with chestnut and cork
+trees, and is a place very well suited either for the purpose of murder
+or cannibalism.  It will be as well to observe that I visited it in
+company with a band of Gitános, who bivouacked there, and cooked their
+supper, which however did not consist of human flesh, but of a puchéra,
+the ingredients of which were beef, bacon, garbanzos, and berdolaga, or
+field-pease and purslain,—therefore I myself can bear testimony that
+there is such a forest as Las Gamas, and that it is frequented
+occasionally by Gypsies, by which two points are established by far the
+most important to the history in question, or so at least it would be
+thought in Spain, for being sure of the forest and the Gypsies, few would
+be incredulous enough to doubt the facts of the murder and cannibalism. . . .
+
+On being put to the rack a second time, the Gitános confessed that they
+had likewise murdered and eaten a female pilgrim in the forest aforesaid;
+and on being tortured yet again, that they had served in the same manner,
+and in the same forest, a friar of the order of San Francisco, whereupon
+they were released from the rack and executed.  This is one of the
+anecdotes of Quiñones.
+
+And it came to pass, moreover, that the said Fajardo, being in the town
+of Montijo, was told by the alcalde, that a certain inhabitant of that
+place had some time previous lost a mare; and wandering about the plains
+in quest of her, he arrived at a place called Arroyo el Puerco, where
+stood a ruined house, on entering which he found various Gitános employed
+in preparing their dinner, which consisted of a quarter of a human body,
+which was being roasted before a huge fire: the result, however, we are
+not told; whether the Gypsies were angry at being disturbed in their
+cookery, or whether the man of the mare departed unobserved.
+
+Quiñones, in continuation, states in his book that he learned (he does
+not say from whom, but probably from Fajardo) that there was a shepherd
+of the city of Gaudix, who once lost his way in the wild sierra of Gadol:
+night came on, and the wind blew cold: he wandered about until he
+descried a light in the distance, towards which he bent his way,
+supposing it to be a fire kindled by shepherds: on arriving at the spot,
+however, he found a whole tribe of Gypsies, who were roasting the half of
+a man, the other half being hung on a cork-tree: the Gypsies welcomed him
+very heartily, and requested him to be seated at the fire and to sup with
+them; but he presently heard them whisper to each other, ‘this is a fine
+fat fellow,’ from which he suspected that they were meditating a design
+upon his body: whereupon, feeling himself sleepy, he made as if he were
+seeking a spot where to lie, and suddenly darted headlong down the
+mountain-side, and escaped from their hands without breaking his neck.
+
+These anecdotes scarcely deserve comment; first we have the statement of
+Fajardo, the fool or knave who tortures wretches, and then puts them to
+death for the crimes with which they have taxed themselves whilst
+undergoing the agony of the rack, probably with the hope of obtaining a
+moment’s respite; last comes the tale of the shepherd, who is invited by
+Gypsies on a mountain at night to partake of a supper of human flesh, and
+who runs away from them on hearing them talk of the fatness of his own
+body, as if cannibal robbers detected in their orgies by a single
+interloper would have afforded him a chance of escaping.  Such tales
+cannot be true. {79}
+
+Cases of cannibalism are said to have occurred in Hungary amongst the
+Gypsies; indeed, the whole race, in that country, has been accused of
+cannibalism, to which we have alluded whilst speaking of the Chingany: it
+is very probable, however, that they were quite innocent of this odious
+practice, and that the accusation had its origin in popular prejudice, or
+in the fact of their foul feeding, and their seldom rejecting carrion or
+offal of any description.
+
+The Gazette of Frankfort for the year 1782, Nos. 157 and 207, states that
+one hundred and fifty Gypsies were imprisoned charged with this practice;
+and that the Empress Teresa sent commissioners to inquire into the facts
+of the accusation, who discovered that they were true; whereupon the
+empress published a law to oblige all the Gypsies in her dominions to
+become stationary, which, however, had no effect.
+
+Upon this matter we can state nothing on our own knowledge.
+
+After the above anecdotes, it will perhaps not be amiss to devote a few
+lines to the subject of Gypsy food and diet.  I believe that it has been
+asserted that the Romas, in all parts of the world, are perfectly
+indifferent as to what they eat, provided only that they can appease
+their hunger; and that they have no objection to partake of the carcasses
+of animals which have died a natural death, and have been left to putrefy
+by the roadside; moreover, that they use for food all kinds of reptiles
+and vermin which they can lay their hands upon.
+
+In this there is a vast deal of exaggeration, but at the same time it
+must be confessed that, in some instances, the habits of the Gypsies in
+regard to food would seem, at the first glance, to favour the
+supposition.  This observation chiefly holds good with respect to those
+of the Gypsy race who still continue in a wandering state, and who,
+doubtless, retain more of the ways and customs of their forefathers than
+those who have adopted a stationary life.  There can be no doubt that the
+wanderers amongst the Gypsy race are occasionally seen to feast upon
+carcasses of cattle which have been abandoned to the birds of the air,
+yet it would be wrong, from this fact, to conclude that the Gypsies were
+habitual devourers of carrion.  Carrion it is true they may occasionally
+devour, from want of better food, but many of these carcasses are not in
+reality the carrion which they appear, but are the bodies of animals
+which the Gypsies have themselves killed by casting drao, in hope that
+the flesh may eventually be abandoned to them.  It is utterly useless to
+write about the habits of the Gypsies, especially of the wandering
+tribes, unless you have lived long and intimately with them; and
+unhappily, up to the present time, all the books which have been
+published concerning them have been written by those who have introduced
+themselves into their society for a few hours, and from what they have
+seen or heard consider themselves competent to give the world an idea of
+the manners and customs of the mysterious Rommany: thus, because they
+have been known to beg the carcass of a hog which they themselves have
+poisoned, it has been asserted that they prefer carrion which has
+perished of sickness to the meat of the shambles; and because they have
+been seen to make a ragout of boror (_snails_), and to roast a
+hotchiwitchu or hedgehog, it has been supposed that reptiles of every
+description form a part of their cuisine.  It is high time to undeceive
+the Gentiles on these points.  Know, then, O Gentile, whether thou be
+from the land of the Gorgios {82a} or the Busné {82b}, that the very
+Gypsies who consider a ragout of snails a delicious dish will not touch
+an eel, because it bears resemblance to a _snake_; and that those who
+will feast on a roasted hedgehog could be induced by no money to taste a
+squirrel, a delicious and wholesome species of game, living on the purest
+and most nutritious food which the fields and forests can supply.  I
+myself, while living among the Roms of England, have been regarded almost
+in the light of a cannibal for cooking the latter animal and preferring
+it to hotchiwitchu barbecued, or ragout of boror.  ‘You are but half
+Rommany, brother,’ they would say, ‘and you feed gorgiko-nes (_like a
+Gentile_), even as you talk.  Tchachipen (_in truth_), if we did not know
+you to be of the Mecralliskoe rat (_royal blood_) of Pharaoh, we should
+be justified in driving you forth as a juggel-mush (_dog man_), one more
+fitted to keep company with wild beasts and Gorgios than gentle
+Rommanys.’
+
+No person can read the present volume without perceiving, at a glance,
+that the Romas are in most points an anomalous people; in their morality
+there is much of anomaly, and certainly not less in their cuisine.
+
+‘Los Gitános son muy malos; llevan niños hurtados a Berberia.  The
+Gypsies are very bad people; they steal children and carry them to
+Barbary, where they sell them to the Moors’—so said the Spaniards in old
+times.  There can be little doubt that even before the fall of the
+kingdom of Granada, which occurred in the year 1492, the Gitános had
+intercourse with the Moors of Spain.  Andalusia, which has ever been the
+province where the Gitáno race has most abounded since its arrival, was,
+until the edict of Philip the Third, which banished more than a million
+of Moriscos from Spain, principally peopled by Moors, who differed from
+the Spaniards both in language and religion.  By living even as wanderers
+amongst these people, the Gitános naturally became acquainted with their
+tongue, and with many of their customs, which of course much facilitated
+any connection which they might subsequently form with the Barbaresques.
+Between the Moors of Barbary and the Spaniards a deadly and continued war
+raged for centuries, both before and after the expulsion of the Moriscos
+from Spain.  The Gitános, who cared probably as little for one nation as
+the other, and who have no sympathy and affection beyond the pale of
+their own sect, doubtless sided with either as their interest dictated,
+officiating as spies for both parties and betraying both.
+
+It is likely enough that they frequently passed over to Barbary with
+stolen children of both sexes, whom they sold to the Moors, who traffic
+in slaves, whether white or black, even at the present day; and perhaps
+this kidnapping trade gave occasion to other relations.  As they were
+perfectly acquainted, from their wandering life, with the shores of the
+Spanish Mediterranean, they must have been of considerable assistance to
+the Barbary pirates in their marauding trips to the Spanish coasts, both
+as guides and advisers; and as it was a far easier matter, and afforded a
+better prospect of gain, to plunder the Spaniards than the Moors, a
+people almost as wild as themselves, they were, on that account, and that
+only, more Moors than Christians, and ever willing to assist the former
+in their forays on the latter.
+
+Quiñones observes: ‘The Moors, with whom they hold correspondence, let
+them go and come without any let or obstacle: an instance of this was
+seen in the year 1627, when two galleys from Spain were carrying
+assistance to Marmora, which was then besieged by the Moors.  These
+galleys struck on a shoal, when the Moors seized all the people on board,
+making captives of the Christians and setting at liberty all the Moors,
+who were chained to the oar; as for the Gypsy galley-slaves whom they
+found amongst these last, they did not make them slaves, but received
+them as people friendly to them, and at their devotion; which matter was
+public and notorious.’
+
+Of the Moors and the Gitános we shall have occasion to say something in
+the following chapter.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+THERE is no portion of the world so little known as Africa in general;
+and perhaps of all Africa there is no corner with which Europeans are so
+little acquainted as Barbary, which nevertheless is only separated from
+the continent of Europe by a narrow strait of four leagues across.
+
+China itself has, for upwards of a century, ceased to be a land of
+mystery to the civilised portion of the world; the enterprising children
+of Loyola having wandered about it in every direction making converts to
+their doctrine and discipline, whilst the Russians possess better maps of
+its vast regions than of their own country, and lately, owing to the
+persevering labour and searching eye of my friend Hyacinth, Archimandrite
+of Saint John Nefsky, are acquainted with the number of its military
+force to a man, and also with the names and places of residence of its
+civil servants.  Yet who possesses a map of Fez and Morocco, or would
+venture to form a conjecture as to how many fiery horsemen Abderrahman,
+the mulatto emperor, could lead to the field, were his sandy dominions
+threatened by the Nazarene?  Yet Fez is scarcely two hundred leagues
+distant from Madrid, whilst Maraks, the other great city of the Moors,
+and which also has given its name to an empire, is scarcely farther
+removed from Paris, the capital of civilisation: in a word, we scarcely
+know anything of Barbary, the scanty information which we possess being
+confined to a few towns on the sea-coast; the zeal of the Jesuit himself
+being insufficient to induce him to confront the perils of the interior,
+in the hopeless endeavour of making one single proselyte from amongst the
+wildest fanatics of the creed of the Prophet Camel-driver.
+
+Are wanderers of the Gypsy race to be found in Barbary?  This is a
+question which I have frequently asked myself.  Several respectable
+authors have, I believe, asserted the fact, amongst whom Adelung, who,
+speaking of the Gypsies, says: ‘Four hundred years have passed away since
+they departed from their native land.  During this time, they have spread
+themselves through the whole of Western Asia, Europe, and Northern
+Africa.’ {86}  But it is one thing to make an assertion, and another to
+produce the grounds for making it.  I believe it would require a far
+greater stock of information than has hitherto been possessed by any one
+who has written on the subject of the Gypsies, to justify him in
+asserting positively that after traversing the west of Europe, they
+spread themselves over Northern Africa, though true it is that to those
+who take a superficial view of the matter, nothing appears easier and
+more natural than to come to such a conclusion.
+
+Tarifa, they will say, the most western part of Spain, is opposite to
+Tangier, in Africa, a narrow sea only running between, less wide than
+many rivers.  Bands, therefore, of these wanderers, of course, on
+reaching Tarifa, passed over into Africa, even as thousands crossed the
+channel from France to England.  They have at all times shown themselves
+extravagantly fond of a roving life.  What land is better adapted for
+such a life than Africa and its wilds?  What land, therefore, more likely
+to entice them?
+
+All this is very plausible.  It was easy enough for the Gitános to pass
+over to Tangier and Tetuan from the Spanish towns of Tarifa and
+Algeziras.  In the last chapter I have stated my belief of the fact, and
+that moreover they formed certain connections with the Moors of the
+coast, to whom it is likely that they occasionally sold children stolen
+in Spain; yet such connection would by no means have opened them a
+passage into the interior of Barbary, which is inhabited by wild and
+fierce people, in comparison with whom the Moors of the coast, bad as
+they always have been, are gentle and civilised.
+
+To penetrate into Africa, the Gitános would have been compelled to pass
+through the tribes who speak the Shilha language, and who are the
+descendants of the ancient Numidians.  These tribes are the most
+untamable and warlike of mankind, and at the same time the most
+suspicious, and those who entertain the greatest aversion to foreigners.
+They are dreaded by the Moors themselves, and have always remained, to a
+certain degree, independent of the emperors of Morocco.  They are the
+most terrible of robbers and murderers, and entertain far more reluctance
+to spill water than the blood of their fellow-creatures: the Bedouins,
+also, of the Arabian race, are warlike, suspicious, and cruel; and would
+not have failed instantly to attack bands of foreign wanderers, wherever
+they found them, and in all probability would have exterminated them.
+Now the Gitános, such as they arrived in Barbary, could not have defended
+themselves against such enemies, had they even arrived in large
+divisions, instead of bands of twenties and thirties, as is their custom
+to travel.  They are not by nature nor by habit a warlike race, and would
+have quailed before the Africans, who, unlike most other people, engage
+in wars from what appears to be an innate love of the cruel and bloody
+scenes attendant on war.
+
+It may be said, that if the Gitános were able to make their way from the
+north of India, from Multan, for example, the province which the learned
+consider to be the original dwelling-place of the race, to such an
+immense distance as the western part of Spain, passing necessarily
+through many wild lands and tribes, why might they not have penetrated
+into the heart of Barbary, and wherefore may not their descendants be
+still there, following the same kind of life as the European Gypsies,
+that is, wandering about from place to place, and maintaining themselves
+by deceit and robbery?
+
+But those who are acquainted but slightly with the condition of Barbary
+are aware that it would be less difficult and dangerous for a company of
+foreigners to proceed from Spain to Multan, than from the nearest seaport
+in Barbary to Fez, an insignificant distance.  True it is, that, from
+their intercourse with the Moors of Spain, the Gypsies might have become
+acquainted with the Arabic language, and might even have adopted the
+Moorish dress, ere entering Barbary; and, moreover, might have professed
+belief in the religion of Mahomet; still they would have been known as
+foreigners, and, on that account, would have been assuredly attacked by
+the people of the interior, had they gone amongst them, who, according to
+the usual practice, would either have massacred them or made them slaves;
+and as slaves, they would have been separated.  The mulatto hue of their
+countenances would probably have insured them the latter fate, as all
+blacks and mulattos in the dominions of the Moor are properly slaves, and
+can be bought and sold, unless by some means or other they become free,
+in which event their colour is no obstacle to their elevation to the
+highest employments and dignities, to their becoming pashas of cities and
+provinces, or even to their ascending the throne.  Several emperors of
+Morocco have been mulattos.
+
+Above I have pointed out all the difficulties and dangers which must have
+attended the path of the Gitános, had they passed from Spain into
+Barbary, and attempted to spread themselves over that region, as over
+Europe and many parts of Asia.  To these observations I have been led by
+the assertion that they accomplished this, and no proof of the fact
+having, as I am aware, ever been adduced; for who amongst those who have
+made such a statement has seen or conversed with the Egyptians of
+Barbary, or had sufficient intercourse with them to justify him in the
+assertion that they are one and the same people as those of Europe, from
+whom they differ about as much as the various tribes which inhabit
+various European countries differ from each other?  At the same time, I
+wish it to be distinctly understood that I am far from denying the
+existence of Gypsies in various parts of the interior of Barbary.
+Indeed, I almost believe the fact, though the information which I possess
+is by no means of a description which would justify me in speaking with
+full certainty; I having myself never come in contact with any sect or
+caste of people amongst the Moors, who not only tallied in their pursuits
+with the Rommany, but who likewise spoke amongst themselves a dialect of
+the language of Roma; nor am I aware that any individual worthy of credit
+has ever presumed to say that he has been more fortunate in these
+respects.
+
+Nevertheless, I repeat that I am inclined to believe that Gypsies
+virtually exist in Barbary, and my reasons I shall presently adduce; but
+I will here observe, that if these strange outcasts did indeed contrive
+to penetrate into the heart of that savage and inhospitable region, they
+could only have succeeded after having become well acquainted with the
+Moorish language, and when, after a considerable sojourn on the coast,
+they had raised for themselves a name, and were regarded with
+superstitious fear; in a word, if they walked this land of peril
+untouched and unscathed, it was not that they were considered as harmless
+and inoffensive people, which, indeed, would not have protected them, and
+which assuredly they were not; it was not that they were mistaken for
+wandering Moors and Bedouins, from whom they differed in feature and
+complexion, but because, wherever they went, they were dreaded as the
+possessors of supernatural powers, and as mighty sorcerers.
+
+There is in Barbary more than one sect of wanderers, which, to the
+cursory observer, might easily appear, and perhaps have appeared, in the
+right of legitimate Gypsies.  For example, there are the Beni Aros.  The
+proper home of these people is in certain high mountains in the
+neighbourhood of Tetuan, but they are to be found roving about the whole
+kingdom of Fez.  Perhaps it would be impossible to find, in the whole of
+Northern Africa, a more detestable caste.  They are beggars by
+profession, but are exceedingly addicted to robbery and murder; they are
+notorious drunkards, and are infamous, even in Barbary, for their
+unnatural lusts.  They are, for the most part, well made and of comely
+features.  I have occasionally spoken with them; they are Moors, and
+speak no language but the Arabic.
+
+Then there is the sect of Sidi Hamed au Muza, a very roving people,
+companies of whom are generally to be found in all the principal towns of
+Barbary.  The men are expert vaulters and tumblers, and perform wonderful
+feats of address with swords and daggers, to the sound of wild music,
+which the women, seated on the ground, produce from uncouth instruments;
+by these means they obtain a livelihood.  Their dress is picturesque,
+scarlet vest and white drawers.  In many respects they not a little
+resemble the Gypsies; but they are not an evil people, and are looked
+upon with much respect by the Moors, who call them Santons.  Their patron
+saint is Hamed au Muza, and from him they derive their name.  Their
+country is on the confines of the Sahara, or great desert, and their
+language is the Shilhah, or a dialect thereof.  They speak but little
+Arabic.  When I saw them for the first time, I believed them to be of the
+Gypsy caste, but was soon undeceived.  A more wandering race does not
+exist than the children of Sidi Hamed au Muza.  They have even visited
+France, and exhibited their dexterity and agility at Paris and
+Marseilles.
+
+I will now say a few words concerning another sect which exists in
+Barbary, and will here premise, that if those who compose it are not
+Gypsies, such people are not to be found in North Africa, and the
+assertion, hitherto believed, that they abound there, is devoid of
+foundation.  I allude to certain men and women, generally termed by the
+Moors ‘Those of the Dar-bushi-fal,’ which word is equivalent to
+prophesying or fortune-telling.  They are great wanderers, but have also
+their fixed dwellings or villages, and such a place is called ‘Char
+Seharra,’ or witch-hamlet.  Their manner of life, in every respect,
+resembles that of the Gypsies of other countries; they are wanderers
+during the greatest part of the year, and subsist principally by
+pilfering and fortune-telling.  They deal much in mules and donkeys, and
+it is believed, in Barbary, that they can change the colour of any animal
+by means of sorcery, and so disguise him as to sell him to his very
+proprietor, without fear of his being recognised.  This latter trait is
+quite characteristic of the Gypsy race, by whom the same thing is
+practised in most parts of the world.  But the Moors assert, that the
+children of the Dar-bushi-fal can not only change the colour of a horse
+or a mule, but likewise of a human being, in one night, transforming a
+white into a black, after which they sell him for a slave; on which
+account the superstitious Moors regard them with the utmost dread, and in
+general prefer passing the night in the open fields to sleeping in their
+hamlets.  They are said to possess a particular language, which is
+neither Shilhah nor Arabic, and which none but themselves understand;
+from all which circumstances I am led to believe, that the children of
+the Dar-bushi-fal are legitimate Gypsies, descendants of those who passed
+over to Barbary from Spain.  Nevertheless, as it has never been my
+fortune to meet or to converse with any of this caste, though they are
+tolerably numerous in Barbary, I am far from asserting that they are of
+Gypsy race.  More enterprising individuals than myself may, perhaps,
+establish the fact.  Any particular language or jargon which they speak
+amongst themselves will be the best criterion.  The word which they
+employ for ‘water’ would decide the point; for the Dar-bushi-fal are not
+Gypsies, if, in their peculiar speech, they designate that blessed
+element and article most necessary to human existence by aught else than
+the Sanscrit term ‘Pani,’ a word brought by the race from sunny Ind, and
+esteemed so holy that they have never even presumed to modify it.
+
+The following is an account of the Dar-bushi-fal, given me by a Jew of
+Fez, who had travelled much in Barbary, and which I insert almost
+literally as I heard it from his mouth.  Various other individuals,
+Moors, have spoken of them in much the same manner.
+
+‘In one of my journeys I passed the night in a place called Mulai-Jacub
+Munsur.
+
+‘Not far from this place is a Char Seharra, or witch-hamlet, where dwell
+those of the Dar-bushi-fal.  These are very evil people, and powerful
+enchanters; for it is well known that if any traveller stop to sleep in
+their Char, they will with their sorceries, if he be a white man, turn
+him as black as a coal, and will afterwards sell him as a negro.  Horses
+and mules they serve in the same manner, for if they are black, they will
+turn them red, or any other colour which best may please them; and
+although the owners demand justice of the authorities, the sorcerers
+always come off best.  They have a language which they use among
+themselves, very different from all other languages, so much so that it
+is impossible to understand them.  They are very swarthy, quite as much
+so as mulattos, and their faces are exceedingly lean.  As for their legs,
+they are like reeds; and when they run, the devil himself cannot overtake
+them.  They tell Dar-bushi-fal with flour; they fill a plate, and then
+they are able to tell you anything you ask them.  They likewise tell it
+with a shoe; they put it in their mouth, and then they will recall to
+your memory every action of your life.  They likewise tell Dar-bushi-fal
+with oil; and indeed are, in every respect, most powerful sorcerers.
+
+‘Two women, once on a time, came to Fez, bringing with them an
+exceedingly white donkey, which they placed in the middle of the square
+called Faz el Bali; they then killed it, and cut it into upwards of
+thirty pieces.  Upon the ground there was much of the donkey’s filth and
+dung; some of this they took in their hands, when it straight assumed the
+appearance of fresh dates.  There were some people who were greedy enough
+to put these dates into their mouths, and then they found that it was
+dung.  These women deceived me amongst the rest with a date; when I put
+it into my mouth, lo and behold it was the donkey’s dung.  After they had
+collected much money from the spectators, one of them took a needle, and
+ran it into the tail of the donkey, crying “Arrhe li dar” (Get home),
+whereupon the donkey instantly rose up, and set off running, kicking
+every now and then most furiously; and it was remarked, that not one
+single trace of blood remained upon the ground, just as if they had done
+nothing to it.  Both these women were of the very same Char Seharra which
+I have already mentioned.  They likewise took paper, and cut it into the
+shape of a peseta, and a dollar, and a half-dollar, until they had made
+many pesetas and dollars, and then they put them into an earthen pan over
+a fire, and when they took them out, they appeared just fresh from the
+stamp, and with such money these people buy all they want.
+
+‘There was a friend of my grandfather, who came frequently to our house,
+who was in the habit of making this money.  One day he took me with him
+to buy white silk; and when they had shown him some, he took the silk in
+his hand, and pressed it to his mouth, and then I saw that the silk,
+which was before white, had become green, even as grass.  The master of
+the shop said, “Pay me for my silk.”  “Of what colour was your silk?” he
+demanded.  “White,” said the man; whereupon, turning round, he cried,
+“Good people, behold, the white silk is green”; and so he got a pound of
+silk for nothing; and he also was of the Char Seharra.
+
+‘They are very evil people indeed, and the emperor himself is afraid of
+them.  The poor wretch who falls into their hands has cause to rue; they
+always go badly dressed, and exhibit every appearance of misery, though
+they are far from being miserable.  Such is the life they lead.’
+
+There is, of course, some exaggeration in the above account of the
+Dar-bushi-fal; yet there is little reason to doubt that there is a
+foundation of truth in all the facts stated.  The belief that they are
+enabled, by sorcery, to change a white into a black man had its origin in
+the great skill which they possess in altering the appearance of a horse
+or a mule, and giving it another colour.  Their changing white into green
+silk is a very simple trick, and is accomplished by dexterously
+substituting one thing for another.  Had the man of the Dar-bushi-fal
+been searched, the white silk would have been found upon him.  The
+Gypsies, wherever they are found, are fond of this species of fraud.  In
+Germany, for example, they go to the wine-shop with two pitchers exactly
+similar, one in their hand empty, and the other beneath their cloaks
+filled with water; when the empty pitcher is filled with wine they
+pretend to be dissatisfied with the quality, or to have no money, but
+contrive to substitute the pitcher of water in its stead, which the
+wine-seller generally snatches up in anger, and pours the contents back,
+as he thinks, into the butt—but it is not wine but water which he pours.
+With respect to the donkey, which _appeared_ to be cut in pieces, but
+which afterwards, being pricked in the tail, got up and ran home, I have
+little to say, but that I have myself seen almost as strange things
+without believing in sorcery.
+
+As for the dates of dung, and the paper money, they are mere feats of
+legerdemain.
+
+I repeat, that if legitimate Gypsies really exist in Barbary, they are
+the men and women of the Dar-bushi-fal.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+CHIROMANCY, or the divination of the hand, is, according to the orthodox
+theory, the determining from certain lines upon the hand the quality of
+the physical and intellectual powers of the possessor.
+
+The whole science is based upon the five principal lines in the hand, and
+the triangle which they form in the palm.  These lines, which have all
+their particular and appropriate names, and the principal of which is
+called ‘the line of life,’ are, if we may believe those who have written
+on the subject, connected with the heart, with the genitals, with the
+brain, with the liver or stomach, and the head.  Torreblanca, {98} in his
+curious and learned book on magic, observes: ‘In judging these lines you
+must pay attention to their substance, colour, and continuance, together
+with the disposition of the correspondent member; for, if the line be
+well and clearly described, and is of a vivid colour, without being
+intermitted or _puncturis infecta_, it denotes the good complexion and
+virtue of its member, according to Aristotle.
+
+    ‘So that if the line of the heart be found sufficiently long and
+    reasonably deep, and not crossed by other accidental lines, it is an
+    infallible sign of the health of the heart and the great virtue of
+    the heart, and the abundance of spirits and good blood in the heart,
+    and accordingly denotes boldness and liberal genius for every work.’
+
+In like manner, by means of the hepatal line, it is easy to form an
+accurate judgment as to the state of a person’s liver, and of his powers
+of digestion, and so on with respect to all the other organs of the body.
+
+After having laid down all the rules of chiromancy with the utmost
+possible clearness, the sage Torreblanca exclaims: ‘And with these
+terminate the canons of true and catholic chiromancy; for as for the
+other species by which people pretend to divine concerning the affairs of
+life, either past or to come, dignities, fortunes, children, events,
+chances, dangers, etc., such chiromancy is not only reprobated by
+theologians, but by men of law and physic, as a foolish, false, vain,
+scandalous, futile, superstitious practice, smelling much of divinery and
+a pact with the devil.’
+
+Then, after mentioning a number of erudite and enlightened men of the
+three learned professions, who have written against such absurd
+superstitions, amongst whom he cites Martin Del Rio, he falls foul of the
+Gypsy wives in this manner: ‘A practice turned to profit by the wives of
+that rabble of abandoned miscreants whom the Italians call Cingari, the
+Latins Egyptians, and we Gitános, who, notwithstanding that they are sent
+by the Turks into Spain for the purpose of acting as spies upon the
+Christian religion, pretend that they are wandering over the world in
+fulfilment of a penance enjoined upon them, part of which penance seems
+to be the living by fraud and imposition.’  And shortly afterwards he
+remarks: ‘Nor do they derive any authority for such a practice from those
+words in Exodus, {100a} “et quasi signum in manu tua,” as that passage
+does not treat of chiromancy, but of the festival of unleavened bread;
+the observance of which, in order that it might be memorable to the
+Hebrews, the sacred historian said should be as a sign upon the hand; a
+metaphor derived from those who, when they wish to remember anything, tie
+a thread round their finger, or put a ring upon it; and still less I ween
+does that chapter of Job {100b} speak in their favour, where is written,
+“Qui in manu hominis signat, ut norint omnes opera sua,” because the
+divine power is meant thereby which is preached to those here below: for
+the hand is intended for power and magnitude, Exod. chap. xiv., {100c} or
+stands for free will, which is placed in a man’s hand, that is, in his
+power.  Wisdom, chap. xxxvi. “In manibus abscondit lucem,” {100d} etc.
+etc. etc.
+
+No, no, good Torreblanca, we know perfectly well that the witch-wives of
+Multan, who for the last four hundred years have been running about Spain
+and other countries, telling fortunes by the hand, and deriving good
+profit from the same, are not countenanced in such a practice by the
+sacred volume; we yield as little credit to their chiromancy as we do to
+that which you call the true and catholic, and believe that the lines of
+the hand have as little connection with the events of life as with the
+liver and stomach, notwithstanding Aristotle, who you forget was a
+heathen, and knew as little and cared as little for the Scriptures as the
+Gitános, whether male or female, who little reck what sanction any of
+their practices may receive from authority, whether divine or human, if
+the pursuit enable them to provide sufficient for the existence, however
+poor and miserable, of their families and themselves.
+
+A very singular kind of women are the Gitánas, far more remarkable in
+most points than their husbands, in whose pursuits of low cheating and
+petty robbery there is little capable of exciting much interest; but if
+there be one being in the world who, more than another, deserves the
+title of sorceress (and where do you find a word of greater romance and
+more thrilling interest?), it is the Gypsy female in the prime and vigour
+of her age and ripeness of her understanding—the Gypsy wife, the mother
+of two or three children.  Mention to me a point of devilry with which
+that woman is not acquainted.  She can at any time, when it suits her,
+show herself as expert a jockey as her husband, and he appears to
+advantage in no other character, and is only eloquent when descanting on
+the merits of some particular animal; but she can do much more: she is a
+prophetess, though she believes not in prophecy; she is a physician,
+though she will not taste her own philtres; she is a procuress, though
+she is not to be procured; she is a singer of obscene songs, though she
+will suffer no obscene hand to touch her; and though no one is more
+tenacious of the little she possesses, she is a cutpurse and a
+shop-lifter whenever opportunity shall offer.
+
+In all times, since we have known anything of these women, they have been
+addicted to and famous for fortune-telling; indeed, it is their only
+ostensible means of livelihood, though they have various others which
+they pursue more secretly.  Where and how they first learned the practice
+we know not; they may have brought it with them from the East, or they
+may have adopted it, which is less likely, after their arrival in Europe.
+Chiromancy, from the most remote periods, has been practised in all
+countries.  Neither do we know, whether in this practice they were ever
+guided by fixed and certain rules; the probability, however, is, that
+they were not, and that they never followed it but as a means of fraud
+and robbery; certainly, amongst all the professors of this art that ever
+existed, no people are more adapted by nature to turn it to account than
+these females, call them by whatever name you will, Gitánas, Zigánas,
+Gypsies, or Bohemians; their forms, their features, the expression of
+their countenances are ever wild and Sibylline, frequently beautiful, but
+never vulgar.  Observe, for example, the Gitána, even her of Seville.
+She is standing before the portal of a large house in one of the narrow
+Moorish streets of the capital of Andalusia; through the grated iron
+door, she looks in upon the court; it is paved with small marble slabs of
+almost snowy whiteness; in the middle is a fountain distilling limpid
+water, and all around there is a profusion of macetas, in which flowering
+plants and aromatic shrubs are growing, and at each corner there is an
+orange tree, and the perfume of the azahár may be distinguished; you hear
+the melody of birds from a small aviary beneath the piazza which
+surrounds the court, which is surmounted by a toldo or linen awning, for
+it is the commencement of May, and the glorious sun of Andalusia is
+burning with a splendour too intense for his rays to be borne with
+impunity.  It is a fairy scene such as nowhere meets the eye but at
+Seville, or perhaps at Fez and Shiraz, in the palaces of the Sultan and
+the Shah.  The Gypsy looks through the iron-grated door, and beholds,
+seated near the fountain, a richly dressed dame and two lovely delicate
+maidens; they are busied at their morning’s occupation, intertwining with
+their sharp needles the gold and silk on the tambour; several female
+attendants are seated behind.  The Gypsy pulls the bell, when is heard
+the soft cry of ‘Quien es’; the door, unlocked by means of a string,
+recedes upon its hinges, when in walks the Gitána, the witch-wife of
+Multan, with a look such as the tiger-cat casts when she stealeth from
+her jungle into the plain.
+
+Yes, well may you exclaim ‘Ave Maria purissima,’ ye dames and maidens of
+Seville, as she advances towards you; she is not of yourselves, she is
+not of your blood, she or her fathers have walked to your climate from a
+distance of three thousand leagues.  She has come from the far East, like
+the three enchanted kings, to Cologne; but, unlike them, she and her race
+have come with hate and not with love.  She comes to flatter, and to
+deceive, and to rob, for she is a lying prophetess, and a she-Thug; she
+will greet you with blessings which will make your hearts rejoice, but
+your hearts’ blood would freeze, could you hear the curses which to
+herself she murmurs against you; for she says, that in her children’s
+veins flows the dark blood of the ‘husbands,’ whilst in those of yours
+flows the pale tide of the ‘savages,’ and therefore she would gladly set
+her foot on all your corses first poisoned by her hands.  For all her
+love—and she can love—is for the Romas; and all her hate—and who can hate
+like her?—is for the Busnees; for she says that the world would be a fair
+world if there were no Busnees, and if the Romamiks could heat their
+kettles undisturbed at the foot of the olive-trees; and therefore she
+would kill them all if she could and if she dared.  She never seeks the
+houses of the Busnees but for the purpose of prey; for the wild animals
+of the sierra do not more abhor the sight of man than she abhors the
+countenances of the Busnees.  She now comes to prey upon you and to scoff
+at you.  Will you believe her words?  Fools! do you think that the being
+before ye has any sympathy for the like of you?
+
+She is of the middle stature, neither strongly nor slightly built, and
+yet her every movement denotes agility and vigour.  As she stands erect
+before you, she appears like a falcon about to soar, and you are almost
+tempted to believe that the power of volition is hers; and were you to
+stretch forth your hand to seize her, she would spring above the
+house-tops like a bird.  Her face is oval, and her features are regular
+but somewhat hard and coarse, for she was born amongst rocks in a
+thicket, and she has been wind-beaten and sun-scorched for many a year,
+even like her parents before her; there is many a speck upon her cheek,
+and perhaps a scar, but no dimples of love; and her brow is wrinkled
+over, though she is yet young.  Her complexion is more than dark, for it
+is almost that of a mulatto; and her hair, which hangs in long locks on
+either side of her face, is black as coal, and coarse as the tail of a
+horse, from which it seems to have been gathered.
+
+There is no female eye in Seville can support the glance of hers,—so
+fierce and penetrating, and yet so artful and sly, is the expression of
+their dark orbs; her mouth is fine and almost delicate, and there is not
+a queen on the proudest throne between Madrid and Moscow who might not
+and would not envy the white and even rows of teeth which adorn it, which
+seem not of pearl but of the purest elephant’s bone of Multan.  She comes
+not alone; a swarthy two-year-old bantling clasps her neck with one arm,
+its naked body half extant from the coarse blanket which, drawn round her
+shoulders, is secured at her bosom by a skewer.  Though tender of age, it
+looks wicked and sly, like a veritable imp of Roma.  Huge rings of false
+gold dangle from wide slits in the lobes of her ears; her nether garments
+are rags, and her feet are cased in hempen sandals.  Such is the
+wandering Gitána, such is the witch-wife of Multan, who has come to spae
+the fortune of the Sevillian countess and her daughters.
+
+‘O may the blessing of Egypt light upon your head, you high-born lady!
+(May an evil end overtake your body, daughter of a Busnee harlot!) and
+may the same blessing await the two fair roses of the Nile here flowering
+by your side!  (May evil Moors seize them and carry them across the
+water!)  O listen to the words of the poor woman who is come from a
+distant country; she is of a wise people, though it has pleased the God
+of the sky to punish them for their sins by sending them to wander
+through the world.  They denied shelter to the Majari, whom you call the
+queen of heaven, and to the Son of God, when they flew to the land of
+Egypt before the wrath of the wicked king; it is said that they even
+refused them a draught of the sweet waters of the great river when the
+blessed two were athirst.  O you will say that it was a heavy crime; and
+truly so it was, and heavily has the Lord punished the Egyptians.  He has
+sent us a-wandering, poor as you see, with scarcely a blanket to cover
+us.  O blessed lady, (Accursed be thy dead, as many as thou mayest have,)
+we have no money to buy us bread; we have only our wisdom with which to
+support ourselves and our poor hungry babes; when God took away their
+silks from the Egyptians, and their gold from the Egyptians, he left them
+their wisdom as a resource that they might not starve.  O who can read
+the stars like the Egyptians? and who can read the lines of the palm like
+the Egyptians?  The poor woman read in the stars that there was a rich
+ventura for all of this goodly house, so she followed the bidding of the
+stars and came to declare it.  O blessed lady, (I defile thy dead corse,)
+your husband is at Granada, fighting with king Ferdinand against the wild
+Corahai!  (May an evil ball smite him and split his head!)  Within three
+months he shall return with twenty captive Moors, round the neck of each
+a chain of gold.  (God grant that when he enter the house a beam may fall
+upon him and crush him!)  And within nine months after his return God
+shall bless you with a fair chabo, the pledge for which you have sighed
+so long.  (Accursed be the salt placed in its mouth in the church when it
+is baptized!)  Your palm, blessed lady, your palm, and the palms of all I
+see here, that I may tell you all the rich ventura which is hanging over
+this good house; (May evil lightning fall upon it and consume it!) but
+first let me sing you a song of Egypt, that the spirit of the Chowahanee
+may descend more plenteously upon the poor woman.’
+
+Her demeanour now instantly undergoes a change.  Hitherto she has been
+pouring forth a lying and wild harangue without much flurry or agitation
+of manner.  Her speech, it is true, has been rapid, but her voice has
+never been raised to a very high key; but she now stamps on the ground,
+and placing her hands on her hips, she moves quickly to the right and
+left, advancing and retreating in a sidelong direction.  Her glances
+become more fierce and fiery, and her coarse hair stands erect on her
+head, stiff as the prickles of the hedgehog; and now she commences
+clapping her hands, and uttering words of an unknown tongue, to a strange
+and uncouth tune.  The tawny bantling seems inspired with the same fiend,
+and, foaming at the mouth, utters wild sounds, in imitation of its dam.
+Still more rapid become the sidelong movements of the Gitána.  Movement!
+she springs, she bounds, and at every bound she is a yard above the
+ground.  She no longer bears the child in her bosom; she plucks it from
+thence, and fiercely brandishes it aloft, till at last, with a yell she
+tosses it high into the air, like a ball, and then, with neck and head
+thrown back, receives it, as it falls, on her hands and breast,
+extracting a cry from the terrified beholders.  Is it possible she can be
+singing?  Yes, in the wildest style of her people; and here is a snatch
+of the song, in the language of Roma, which she occasionally screams—
+
+    ‘En los sastos de yesque plai me diquélo,
+    Doscusañas de sonacai terélo,—
+    Corojai diquélo abillar,
+    Y ne asislo chapescar, chapescar.’
+
+    ‘On the top of a mountain I stand,
+    With a crown of red gold in my hand,—
+    Wild Moors came trooping o’er the lea,
+    O how from their fury shall I flee, flee, flee?
+    O how from their fury shall I flee?’
+
+Such was the Gitána in the days of Ferdinand and Isabella, and much the
+same is she now in the days of Isabel and Christina.
+
+                        [Picture: A Song of Egypt]
+
+Of the Gitánas and their practices I shall have much to say on a future
+occasion, when speaking of those of the present time, with many of whom I
+have had no little intercourse.  All the ancient Spanish authors who
+mention these women speak of them in unmeasured terms of abhorrence,
+employing against them every abusive word contained in the language in
+which they wrote.  Amongst other vile names, they have been called
+harlots, though perhaps no females on earth are, and have ever been, more
+chaste in their own persons, though at all times willing to encourage
+licentiousness in others, from a hope of gain.  It is one thing to be a
+procuress, and another to be a harlot, though the former has assuredly no
+reason to complain if she be confounded with the latter.  ‘The Gitánas,’
+says Doctor Sancho de Moncada, in his discourse concerning the Gypsies,
+which I shall presently lay before the reader, ‘are public harlots,
+common, as it is said, to all the Gitános, and with dances, demeanour,
+and filthy songs, are the cause of infinite harm to the souls of the
+vassals of your Majesty (Philip III.), as it is notorious what infinite
+harm they have caused in many honourable houses.  The married women whom
+they have separated from their husbands, and the maidens whom they have
+perverted; and finally, in the best of these Gitánas, any one may
+recognise all the signs of a harlot given by the wise king: “they are
+gadders about, whisperers, always unquiet in the places and corners.”’
+{109a}
+
+The author of Alonso, {109b} he who of all the old Spanish writers has
+written most graphically concerning the Gitános, and I believe with most
+correctness, puts the following account of the Gitánas, and their
+fortune-telling practices, into the entertaining mouth of his hero:—
+
+    ‘O how many times did these Gitánas carry me along with them, for
+    being, after all, women, even they have their fears, and were glad of
+    me as a protector: and so they went through the neighbouring
+    villages, and entered the houses a-begging, giving to understand
+    thereby their poverty and necessity, and then they would call aside
+    the girls, in order to tell them the buena ventura, and the young
+    fellows the good luck which they were to enjoy, never failing in the
+    first place to ask for a cuarto or real, in order to make the sign of
+    the cross; and with these flattering words, they got as much as they
+    could, although, it is true, not much in money, as their harvest in
+    that article was generally slight; but enough in bacon to afford
+    subsistence to their husbands and bantlings.  I looked on and laughed
+    at the simplicity of those foolish people, who, especially such as
+    wished to be married, were as satisfied and content with what the
+    Gitána told them, as if an apostle had spoken it.’
+
+The above description of Gitánas telling fortunes amongst the villages of
+Navarre, and which was written by a Spanish author at the commencement of
+the seventeenth century, is, in every respect, applicable, as the reader
+will not fail to have observed, to the English Gypsy women of the present
+day, engaged in the same occupation in the rural districts of England,
+where the first demand of the sibyls is invariably a sixpence, in order
+that they may cross their hands with silver, and where the same promises
+are made, and as easily believed; all which, if it serves to confirm the
+opinion that in all times the practices and habits of the Egyptian race
+have been, in almost all respects, the same as at the present day, brings
+us also to the following mortifying conclusion,—that mental illumination,
+amongst the generality of mankind, has made no progress at all; as we
+observe in the nineteenth century the same gross credulity manifested as
+in the seventeenth, and the inhabitants of one of the countries most
+celebrated for the arts of civilisation, imposed upon by the same stale
+tricks which served to deceive two centuries before in Spain, a country
+whose name has long and justly been considered as synonymous with every
+species of ignorance and barbarism.
+
+The same author, whilst speaking of these female Thugs, relates an
+anecdote very characteristic of them; a device at which they are adepts,
+which they love to employ, and which is generally attended with success.
+It is the more deserving attention, as an instance of the same
+description, attended with very similar circumstances, occurred within
+the sphere of my own knowledge in my own country.  This species of deceit
+is styled, in the peculiar language of the Rommany, _hokkano baro_, or
+the ‘great trick’; it being considered by the women as their most
+fruitful source of plunder.  The story, as related by Alonso, runs as
+follows:—
+
+    ‘A band of Gitános being in the neighbourhood of a village, one of
+    the women went to a house where lived a lady alone.  This lady was a
+    young widow, rich, without children, and of very handsome person.
+    After having saluted her, the Gypsy repeated the harangue which she
+    had already studied, to the effect that there was neither bachelor,
+    widower, nor married man, nobleman, nor gallant, endowed with a
+    thousand graces, who was not dying for love of her; and then
+    continued: “Lady, I have contracted a great affection for you, and
+    since I know that you well merit the riches you possess,
+    notwithstanding you live heedless of your good fortune, I wish to
+    reveal to you a secret.  You must know, then, that in your cellar you
+    have a vast treasure; nevertheless you will experience great
+    difficulty in arriving at it, as it is enchanted, and to remove it is
+    impossible, save alone on the eve of Saint John.  We are now at the
+    eighteenth of June, and it wants five days to the twenty-third;
+    therefore, in the meanwhile, collect some jewels of gold and silver,
+    and likewise some money, whatever you please, provided it be not
+    copper, and provide six tapers, of white or yellow wax, for at the
+    time appointed I will come with a sister of mine, when we will
+    extract from the cellar such abundance of riches, that you will be
+    able to live in a style which will excite the envy of the whole
+    country.”  The ignorant widow, hearing these words, put implicit
+    confidence in the deceiver, and imagined that she already possessed
+    all the gold of Arabia and the silver of Potosi.
+
+    ‘The appointed day arrived, and not more punctual were the two
+    Gypsies, than anxiously expected by the lady.  Being asked whether
+    she had prepared all as she had been desired, she replied in the
+    affirmative, when the Gypsy thus addressed her: “You must know, good
+    lady, that gold calls forth gold, and silver calls forth silver; let
+    us light these tapers, and descend to the cellar before it grows
+    late, in order that we may have time for our conjurations.”
+    Thereupon the trio, the widow and the two Gypsies, went down, and
+    having lighted the tapers and placed them in candlesticks in the
+    shape of a circle, they deposited in the midst a silver tankard, with
+    some pieces of eight, and some corals tipped with gold, and other
+    jewels of small value.  They then told the lady, that it was
+    necessary for them all to return to the staircase by which they had
+    descended to the cellar, and there they uplifted their hands, and
+    remained for a short time as if engaged in prayer.
+
+    ‘The two Gypsies then bade the widow wait for them, and descended
+    again, when they commenced holding a conversation, speaking and
+    answering alternately, and altering their voices in such a manner
+    that five or six people appeared to be in the cellar.  “Blessed
+    little Saint John,” said one, “will it be possible to remove the
+    treasure which you keep hidden here?”  “O yes, and with a little more
+    trouble it will be yours,” replied the Gypsy sister, altering her
+    voice to a thin treble, as if it proceeded from a child four or five
+    years old.  In the meantime, the lady remained astonished, expecting
+    the promised riches, and the two Gitánas presently coming to her,
+    said, “Come up, lady, for our desire is upon the point of being
+    gratified.  Bring down the best petticoat, gown, and mantle which you
+    have in your chest, that I may dress myself, and appear in other
+    guise to what I do now.”  The simple woman, not perceiving the trick
+    they were playing upon her, ascended with them to the doorway, and
+    leaving them alone, went to fetch the things which they demanded.
+    Thereupon the two Gypsies, seeing themselves at liberty, and having
+    already pocketed the gold and silver which had been deposited for
+    their conjuration, opened the street door, and escaped with all the
+    speed they could.
+
+    ‘The beguiled widow returned laden with the clothes, and not finding
+    those whom she had left waiting, descended into the cellar, when,
+    perceiving the trick which they had played her, and the robbery which
+    they had committed in stealing her jewels, she began to cry and weep,
+    but all in vain.  All the neighbours hastened to her, and to them she
+    related her misfortune, which served more to raise laughter and jeers
+    at her expense than to excite pity; though the subtlety of the two
+    she-thieves was universally praised.  These latter, as soon as they
+    had got out of the door, knew well how to conceal themselves, for
+    having once reached the mountain it was not possible to find them.
+    So much for their divination, their foreseeing things to come, their
+    power over the secrets of nature, and their knowledge of the stars.’
+
+The Gitánas in the olden time appear to have not unfrequently been
+subjected to punishment as sorceresses, and with great justice, as the
+abominable trade which they drove in philtres and decoctions certainly
+entitled them to that appellation, and to the pains and penalties
+reserved for those who practised what was termed ‘witchcraft.’
+
+Amongst the crimes laid to their charge, connected with the exercise of
+occult powers, there is one, however, of which they were certainly not
+capable, as it is a purely imaginary one, though if they were punished
+for it, they had assuredly little right to complain, as the chastisement
+they met was fully merited by practices equally malefic as the crime
+imputed to them, provided that were possible.  _It was casting the evil
+eye_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+IN the Gitáno language, casting the evil eye is called _Querelar nasula_,
+which simply means making sick, and which, according to the common
+superstition, is accomplished by casting an evil look at people,
+especially children, who, from the tenderness of their constitution, are
+supposed to be more easily blighted than those of a more mature age.
+After receiving the evil glance, they fall sick, and die in a few hours.
+
+The Spaniards have very little to say respecting the evil eye, though the
+belief in it is very prevalent, especially in Andalusia amongst the lower
+orders.  A stag’s horn is considered a good safeguard, and on that
+account a small horn, tipped with silver, is frequently attached to the
+children’s necks by means of a cord braided from the hair of a black
+mare’s tail.  Should the evil glance be cast, it is imagined that the
+horn receives it, and instantly snaps asunder.  Such horns may be
+purchased in some of the silversmiths’ shops at Seville.
+
+The Gitános have nothing more to say on this species of sorcery than the
+Spaniards, which can cause but little surprise, when we consider that
+they have no traditions, and can give no rational account of themselves,
+nor of the country from which they come.
+
+Some of the women, however, pretend to have the power of casting it,
+though if questioned how they accomplish it, they can return no answer.
+They will likewise sell remedies for the evil eye, which need not be
+particularised, as they consist of any drugs which they happen to possess
+or be acquainted with; the prescribers being perfectly reckless as to the
+effect produced on the patient, provided they receive their paltry
+reward.
+
+I have known these beings offer to cure the glanders in a horse (an
+incurable disorder) with the very same powders which they offer as a
+specific for the evil eye.
+
+Leaving, therefore, for a time, the Spaniards and Gitános, whose ideas on
+this subject are very scanty and indistinct, let us turn to other nations
+amongst whom this superstition exists, and endeavour to ascertain on what
+it is founded, and in what it consists.  The fear of the evil eye is
+common amongst all oriental people, whether Turks, Arabs, or Hindoos.  It
+is dangerous in some parts to survey a person with a fixed glance, as he
+instantly concludes that you are casting the evil eye upon him.
+Children, particularly, are afraid of the evil eye from the superstitious
+fear inculcated in their minds in the nursery.  Parents in the East feel
+no delight when strangers look at their children in admiration of their
+loveliness; they consider that you merely look at them in order to blight
+them.  The attendants on the children of the great are enjoined never to
+permit strangers to fix their glance upon them.  I was once in the shop
+of an Armenian at Constantinople, waiting to see a procession which was
+expected to pass by; there was a Janisary there, holding by the hand a
+little boy about six years of age, the son of some Bey; they also had
+come to see the procession.  I was struck with the remarkable loveliness
+of the child, and fixed my glance upon it: presently it became uneasy,
+and turning to the Janisary, said: ‘There are evil eyes upon me; drive
+them away.’  ‘Take your eyes off the child, Frank,’ said the Janisary,
+who had a long white beard, and wore a hanjar.  ‘What harm can they do to
+the child, efendijem?’ said I.  ‘Are they not the eyes of a Frank?’
+replied the Janisary; ‘but were they the eyes of Omar, they should not
+rest on the child.’  ‘Omar,’ said I, ‘and why not Ali?  Don’t you love
+Ali?’  ‘What matters it to you whom I love,’ said the Turk in a rage;
+‘look at the child again with your chesm fanar and I will smite you.’
+‘Bad as my eyes are,’ said I, ‘they can see that you do not love Ali.’
+‘Ya Ali, ya Mahoma, Alahhu!’ {117} said the Turk, drawing his hanjar.
+All Franks, by which are meant Christians, are considered as casters of
+the evil eye.  I was lately at Janina in Albania, where a friend of mine,
+a Greek gentleman, is established as physician.  ‘I have been visiting
+the child of a Jew that is sick,’ said he to me one day; ‘scarcely,
+however, had I left the house, when the father came running after me.
+“You have cast the evil eye on my child,” said he; “come back and spit in
+its face.”  And I assure you,’ continued my friend, ‘that notwithstanding
+all I could say, he compelled me to go back and spit in the face of his
+child.’
+
+Perhaps there is no nation in the world amongst whom this belief is so
+firmly rooted and from so ancient a period as the Jews; it being a
+subject treated of, and in the gravest manner, by the old Rabbinical
+writers themselves, which induces the conclusion that the superstition of
+the evil eye is of an antiquity almost as remote as the origin of the
+Hebrew race; (and can we go farther back?) as the oral traditions of the
+Jews, contained and commented upon in what is called the Talmud, are
+certainly not less ancient than the inspired writings of the Old
+Testament, and have unhappily been at all times regarded by them with
+equal if not greater reverence.
+
+The evil eye is mentioned in Scripture, but of course not in the false
+and superstitious sense; evil in the eye, which occurs in Prov. xxiii. v.
+6, merely denoting niggardness and illiberality.  The Hebrew words are
+_ain ra_, and stand in contradistinction to _ain toub_, or the benignant
+in eye, which denotes an inclination to bounty and liberality.
+
+It is imagined that this blight is most easily inflicted when a person is
+enjoying himself with little or no care for the future, when he is
+reclining in the sun before the door, or when he is full of health and
+spirits: it may be cast designedly or not; and the same effect may be
+produced by an inadvertent word.  It is deemed partially unlucky to say
+to any person, ‘How well you look’; as the probabilities are that such an
+individual will receive a sudden blight and pine away.  We have however
+no occasion to go to Hindoos, Turks, and Jews for this idea; we shall
+find it nearer home, or something akin to it.  Is there one of ourselves,
+however enlightened and free from prejudice, who would not shrink, even
+in the midst of his highest glee and enjoyment, from saying, ‘How happy I
+am!’ or if the words inadvertently escaped him, would he not consider
+them as ominous of approaching evil, and would he not endeavour to
+qualify them by saying, ‘God preserve me!’—Ay, God preserve you, brother!
+Who knows what the morrow will bring forth?
+
+The common remedy for the evil eye, in the East, is the spittle of the
+person who has cast it, provided it can be obtained.  ‘Spit in the face
+of my child,’ said the Jew of Janina to the Greek physician: recourse is
+had to the same means in Barbary, where the superstition is universal.
+In that country both Jews and Moors carry papers about with them scrawled
+with hieroglyphics, which are prepared by their respective priests, and
+sold.  These papers, placed in a little bag, and hung about the person,
+are deemed infallible preservatives from the ‘evil eye.’
+
+Let us now see what the _Talmud_ itself says about the evil eye.  The
+passage which we are about to quote is curious, not so much from the
+subject which it treats of, as in affording an example of the manner in
+which the Rabbins are wont to interpret the Scripture, and the strange
+and wonderful deductions which they draw from words and phrases
+apparently of the greatest simplicity.
+
+    ‘Whosoever when about to enter into a city is afraid of evil eyes,
+    let him grasp the thumb of his right hand with his left hand, and his
+    left-hand thumb with his right hand, and let him cry in this manner:
+    “I am such a one, son of such a one, sprung from the seed of Joseph”;
+    and the evil eyes shall not prevail against him.  _Joseph is a
+    fruitful bough_, _a fruitful bough by a well_, {120a} etc.  Now you
+    should not say _by a well_, but _over an eye_. {120b}  Rabbi Joseph
+    Bar Henina makes the following deduction: _and they shall become_
+    (the seed of Joseph) _like fishes in multitude in the midst of the
+    earth_. {120c}  Now the fishes of the sea are covered by the waters,
+    and the evil eye has no power over them; and so over those of the
+    seed of Joseph the evil eye has no power.’
+
+I have been thus diffuse upon the evil eye, because of late years it has
+been a common practice of writers to speak of it without apparently
+possessing any farther knowledge of the subject than what may be gathered
+from the words themselves.
+
+Like most other superstitions, it is, perhaps, founded on a physical
+reality.
+
+I have observed, that only in hot countries, where the sun and moon are
+particularly dazzling, the belief in the evil eye is prevalent.  If we
+turn to Scripture, the wonderful book which is capable of resolving every
+mystery, I believe that we shall presently come to the solution of the
+evil eye.  ‘The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.’
+Ps. cxxi. v. 6.
+
+Those who wish to avoid the evil eye, instead of trusting in charms,
+scrawls, and Rabbinical antidotes, let them never loiter in the sunshine
+before the king of day has nearly reached his bourn in the west; for the
+sun has an evil eye, and his glance produces brain fevers; and let them
+not sleep uncovered beneath the smile of the moon, for her glance is
+poisonous, and produces insupportable itching in the eye, and not
+unfrequently blindness.
+
+The northern nations have a superstition which bears some resemblance to
+the evil eye, when allowance is made for circumstances.  They have no
+brilliant sun and moon to addle the brain and poison the eye, but the
+grey north has its marshes, and fenny ground, and fetid mists, which
+produce agues, low fevers, and moping madness, and are as fatal to cattle
+as to man.  Such disorders are attributed to elves and fairies.  This
+superstition still lingers in some parts of England under the name of
+elf-shot, whilst, throughout the north, it is called elle-skiod, and
+elle-vild (fairy wild).  It is particularly prevalent amongst shepherds
+and cow-herds, the people who, from their manner of life, are most
+exposed to the effects of the elf-shot.  Those who wish to know more of
+this superstition are referred to Thiele’s—_Danske Folkesagn_, and to the
+notes of the _Koempe-viser_, or popular Danish Ballads.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+WHEN the six hundred thousand men, {122} and the mixed multitude of women
+and children, went forth from the land of Egypt, the God whom they
+worshipped, the only true God, went before them by day in a pillar of
+cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give
+them light; this God who rescued them from slavery, who guided them
+through the wilderness, who was their captain in battle, and who cast
+down before them the strong walls which encompassed the towns of their
+enemies, this God they still remember, after the lapse of more than three
+thousand years, and still worship with adoration the most unbounded.  If
+there be one event in the eventful history of the Hebrews which awakens
+in their minds deeper feelings of gratitude than another, it is the
+exodus; and that wonderful manifestation of olden mercy still serves them
+as an assurance that the Lord will yet one day redeem and gather together
+his scattered and oppressed people.  ‘Art thou not the God who brought us
+out of the land of bondage?’ they exclaim in the days of their heaviest
+trouble and affliction.  He who redeemed Israel from the hand of Pharaoh
+is yet capable of restoring the kingdom and sceptre to Israel.
+
+If the Rommany trusted in any God at the period of _their_ exodus, they
+must speedily have forgotten him.  Coming from Ind, as they most
+assuredly did, it was impossible for them to have known the true, and
+they must have been followers (if they followed any) either of Buddh, or
+Brahmah, those tremendous phantoms which have led, and are likely still
+to lead, the souls of hundreds of millions to destruction; yet they are
+now ignorant of such names, nor does it appear that such were ever
+current amongst them subsequent to their arrival in Europe, if indeed
+they ever were.  They brought with them no Indian idols, as far as we are
+able to judge at the present time, nor indeed Indian rites or
+observances, for no traces of such are to be discovered amongst them.
+
+All, therefore, which relates to their original religion is shrouded in
+mystery, and is likely so to remain.  They may have been idolaters, or
+atheists, or what they now are, totally neglectful of worship of any
+kind; and though not exactly prepared to deny the existence of a Supreme
+Being, as regardless of him as if he existed not, and never mentioning
+his name, save in oaths and blasphemy, or in moments of pain or sudden
+surprise, as they have heard other people do, but always without any
+fixed belief, trust, or hope.
+
+There are certainly some points of resemblance between the children of
+Roma and those of Israel.  Both have had an exodus, both are exiles and
+dispersed amongst the Gentiles, by whom they are hated and despised, and
+whom they hate and despise, under the names of Busnees and Goyim; both,
+though speaking the language of the Gentiles, possess a peculiar tongue,
+which the latter do not understand, and both possess a peculiar cast of
+countenance, by which they may, without difficulty, be distinguished from
+all other nations; but with these points the similarity terminates.  The
+Israelites have a peculiar religion, to which they are fanatically
+attached; the Romas have none, as they invariably adopt, though only in
+appearance, that of the people with whom they chance to sojourn; the
+Israelites possess the most authentic history of any people in the world,
+and are acquainted with and delight to recapitulate all that has befallen
+their race, from ages the most remote; the Romas have no history, they do
+not even know the name of their original country; and the only tradition
+which they possess, that of their Egyptian origin, is a false one,
+whether invented by themselves or others; the Israelites are of all
+people the most wealthy, the Romas the most poor—poor as a Gypsy being
+proverbial amongst some nations, though both are equally greedy of gain;
+and finally, though both are noted for peculiar craft and cunning, no
+people are more ignorant than the Romas, whilst the Jews have always been
+a learned people, being in possession of the oldest literature in the
+world, and certainly the most important and interesting.
+
+Sad and weary must have been the path of the mixed rabble of the Romas,
+when they left India’s sunny land and wended their way to the West, in
+comparison with the glorious exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, whose
+God went before them in cloud and in fire, working miracles and
+astonishing the hearts of their foes.
+
+Even supposing that they worshipped Buddh or Brahmah, neither of these
+false deities could have accomplished for them what God effected for his
+chosen people, although it is true that the idea that a Supreme Being was
+watching over them, in return for the reverence paid to his image, might
+have cheered them ‘midst storm and lightning, ‘midst mountains and
+wildernesses, ‘midst hunger and drought; for it is assuredly better to
+trust even in an idol, in a tree, or a stone, than to be entirely
+godless; and the most superstitious hind of the Himalayan hills, who
+trusts in the Grand Foutsa in the hour of peril and danger, is more wise
+than the most enlightened atheist, who cherishes no consoling delusion to
+relieve his mind, oppressed by the terrible ideas of reality.
+
+But it is evident that they arrived at the confines of Europe without any
+certain or rooted faith.  Knowing, as we do, with what tenacity they
+retain their primitive habits and customs, their sect being, in all
+points, the same as it was four hundred years ago, it appears impossible
+that they should have forgotten their peculiar god, if in any peculiar
+god they trusted.
+
+Though cloudy ideas of the Indian deities might be occasionally floating
+in their minds, these ideas, doubtless, quickly passed away when they
+ceased to behold the pagodas and temples of Indian worship, and were no
+longer in contact with the enthusiastic adorers of the idols of the East;
+they passed away even as the dim and cloudy ideas which they subsequently
+adopted of the Eternal and His Son, Mary and the saints, would pass away
+when they ceased to be nourished by the sight of churches and crosses;
+for should it please the Almighty to reconduct the Romas to Indian
+climes, who can doubt that within half a century they would entirely
+forget all connected with the religion of the West!  Any poor shreds of
+that faith which they bore with them they would drop by degrees as they
+would relinquish their European garments when they became old, and as
+they relinquished their Asiatic ones to adopt those of Europe; no
+particular dress makes a part of the things essential to the sect of
+Roma, so likewise no particular god and no particular religion.
+
+Where these people first assumed the name of Egyptians, or where that
+title was first bestowed upon them, it is difficult to determine;
+perhaps, however, in the eastern parts of Europe, where it should seem
+the grand body of this nation of wanderers made a halt for a considerable
+time, and where they are still to be found in greater numbers than in any
+other part.  One thing is certain, that when they first entered Germany,
+which they speedily overran, they appeared under the character of
+Egyptians, doing penance for the sin of having refused hospitality to the
+Virgin and her Son, and, of course, as believers in the Christian faith,
+notwithstanding that they subsisted by the perpetration of every kind of
+robbery and imposition; Aventinus (_Annales Boiorum_, 826) speaking of
+them says: ‘Adeo tamen vana superstitio hominum mentes, velut lethargus
+invasit, ut eos violari nefas putet, atque grassari, furari, imponere
+passim sinant.’
+
+This singular story of banishment from Egypt, and Wandering through the
+world for a period of seven years, for inhospitality displayed to the
+Virgin, and which I find much difficulty in attributing to the invention
+of people so ignorant as the Romas, tallies strangely with the fate
+foretold to the ancient Egyptians in certain chapters of Ezekiel, so much
+so, indeed, that it seems to be derived from that source.  The Lord is
+angry with Egypt because its inhabitants have been a staff of reed to the
+house of Israel, and thus he threatens them by the mouth of his prophet.
+
+    ‘I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries
+    that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid
+    waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians
+    among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.’
+    Ezek., chap. xxix. v. 12.  ‘Yet thus saith the Lord God; at the end
+    of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither
+    they were scattered.’ v. 13.
+
+    ‘Thus saith the Lord; I will make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by
+    the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.’  Chap. xxx. v. 10.
+
+    ‘And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse
+    them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord.’
+    Chap. xxx. v. 26.
+
+The reader will at once observe that the apocryphal tale which the Romas
+brought into Germany, concerning their origin and wanderings, agrees in
+every material point with the sacred prophecy.  The ancient Egyptians
+were to be driven from their country and dispersed amongst the nations,
+for a period of forty years, for having been the cause of Israel’s
+backsliding, and for not having known the Lord,—the modern
+pseudo-Egyptians are to be dispersed among the nations for seven years,
+for having denied hospitality to the Virgin and her child.  The prophecy
+seems only to have been remodelled for the purpose of suiting the taste
+of the time; as no legend possessed much interest in which the Virgin did
+not figure, she and her child are here introduced instead of the
+Israelites, and the Lord of Heaven offended with the Egyptians; and this
+legend appears to have been very well received in Germany, for a time at
+least, for, as Aventinus observes, it was esteemed a crime of the first
+magnitude to offer any violence to the Egyptian pilgrims, who were
+permitted to rob on the highway, to commit larceny, and to practise every
+species of imposition with impunity.
+
+The tale, however, of the Romas could hardly have been invented by
+themselves, as they were, and still are, utterly unacquainted with the
+Scripture; it probably originated amongst the priests and learned men of
+the east of Europe, who, startled by the sudden apparition of bands of
+people foreign in appearance and language, skilled in divination and the
+occult arts, endeavoured to find in Scripture a clue to such a
+phenomenon; the result of which was, that the Romas of Hindustan were
+suddenly transformed into Egyptian penitents, a title which they have
+ever since borne in various parts of Europe.  There are no means of
+ascertaining whether they themselves believed from the first in this
+story; they most probably took it on credit, more especially as they
+could give no account of themselves, there being every reason for
+supposing that from time immemorial they had existed in the East as a
+thievish wandering sect, as they at present do in Europe, without history
+or traditions, and unable to look back for a period of eighty years.  The
+tale moreover answered their purpose, as beneath the garb of penitence
+they could rob and cheat with impunity, for a time at least.  One thing
+is certain, that in whatever manner the tale of their Egyptian descent
+originated, many branches of the sect place implicit confidence in it at
+the present day, more especially those of England and Spain.
+
+Even at the present time there are writers who contend that the Romas are
+the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, who were scattered amongst the
+nations by the Assyrians.  This belief they principally found upon
+particular parts of the prophecy from which we have already quoted, and
+there is no lack of plausibility in the arguments which they deduce
+therefrom.  The Egyptians, say they, were to fall upon the open fields,
+they were not to be brought together nor gathered; they were to be
+dispersed through the countries, their idols were to be destroyed, and
+their images were to cease out of Noph!  In what people in the world do
+these denunciations appear to be verified save the Gypsies?—a people who
+pass their lives in the open fields, who are not gathered together, who
+are dispersed through the countries, who have no idols, no images, nor
+any fixed or certain religion.
+
+In Spain, the want of religion amongst the Gitános was speedily observed,
+and became quite as notorious as their want of honesty; they have been
+styled atheists, heathen idolaters, and Moors.  In the little book of
+Quiñones’, we find the subject noticed in the following manner:—
+
+    ‘They do not understand what kind of thing the church is, and never
+    enter it but for the purpose of committing sacrilege.  They do not
+    know the prayers; for I examined them myself, males and females, and
+    they knew them not, or if any, very imperfectly.  They never partake
+    of the Holy Sacraments, and though they marry relations they procure
+    no dispensations. {130a}  No one knows whether they are baptized.
+    One of the five whom I caused to be hung a few days ago was baptized
+    in the prison, being at the time upwards of thirty years of age.  Don
+    Martin Fajardo says that two Gitános and a Gitána, whom he hanged in
+    the village of Torre Perojil, were baptized at the foot of the
+    gallows, and declared themselves Moors.
+
+    ‘They invariably look out, when they marry, if we can call theirs
+    marrying, for the woman most dexterous in pilfering and deceiving,
+    caring nothing whether she is akin to them or married already, {130b}
+    for it is only necessary to keep her company and to call her wife.
+    Sometimes they purchase them from their husbands, or receive them as
+    pledges: so says, at least, Doctor Salazar de Mendoza.
+
+    ‘Friar Melchior of Guelama states that he heard asserted of two
+    Gitános what was never yet heard of any barbarous nation, namely,
+    that they exchanged their wives, and that as one was more comely
+    looking than the other, he who took the handsome woman gave a certain
+    sum of money to him who took the ugly one.  The licentiate Alonzo
+    Duran has certified to me, that in the year 1623–4, one Simon
+    Ramirez, captain of a band of Gitános, repudiated Teresa because she
+    was old, and married one called Melchora, who was young and handsome,
+    and that on the day when the repudiation took place and the bridal
+    was celebrated he was journeying along the road, and perceived a
+    company feasting and revelling beneath some trees in a plain within
+    the jurisdiction of the village of Deleitosa, and that on demanding
+    the cause he was told that it was on account of Simon Ramirez
+    marrying one Gitána and casting off another; and that the repudiated
+    woman told him, with an agony of tears, that he abandoned her because
+    she was old, and married another because she was young.  Certainly
+    Gitános and Gitánas confessed before Don Martin Fajardo that they did
+    not really marry, but that in their banquets and festivals they
+    selected the woman whom they liked, and that it was lawful for them
+    to have as many as three mistresses, and on that account they begat
+    so many children.  They never keep fasts nor any ecclesiastical
+    command.  They always eat meat, Friday and Lent not excepted; the
+    morning when I seized those whom I afterwards executed, which was in
+    Lent, they had three lambs which they intended to eat for their
+    dinner that day.—Quiñones, page 13.
+
+Although what is stated in the above extracts, respecting the marriages
+of the Gitános and their licentious manner of living, is, for the most
+part, incorrect, there is no reason to conclude the same with respect to
+their want of religion in the olden time, and their slight regard for the
+forms and observances of the church, as their behaviour at the present
+day serves to confirm what is said on those points.  From the whole, we
+may form a tolerably correct idea of the opinions of the time respecting
+the Gitános in matters of morality and religion.  A very natural question
+now seems to present itself, namely, what steps did the government of
+Spain, civil and ecclesiastical, which has so often trumpeted its zeal in
+the cause of what it calls the Christian religion, which has so often
+been the scourge of the Jew, of the Mahometan, and of the professors of
+the reformed faith; what steps did it take towards converting, punishing,
+and rooting out from Spain, a sect of demi-atheists, who, besides being
+cheats and robbers, displayed the most marked indifference for the forms
+of the Catholic religion, and presumed to eat flesh every day, and to
+intermarry with their relations, without paying the vicegerent of Christ
+here on earth for permission so to do?
+
+The Gitános have at all times, since their first appearance in Spain,
+been notorious for their contempt of religious observances; yet there is
+no proof that they were subjected to persecution on that account.  The
+men have been punished as robbers and murderers, with the gallows and the
+galleys; the women, as thieves and sorceresses, with imprisonment,
+flagellation, and sometimes death; but as a rabble, living without fear
+of God, and, by so doing, affording an evil example to the nation at
+large, few people gave themselves much trouble about them, though they
+may have occasionally been designated as such in a royal edict, intended
+to check their robberies, or by some priest from the pulpit, from whose
+stable they had perhaps contrived to extract the mule which previously
+had the honour of ambling beneath his portly person.
+
+The Inquisition, which burnt so many Jews and Moors, and conscientious
+Christians, at Seville and Madrid, and in other parts of Spain, seems to
+have exhibited the greatest clemency and forbearance to the Gitános.
+Indeed, we cannot find one instance of its having interfered with them.
+The charge of restraining the excesses of the Gitános was abandoned
+entirely to the secular authorities, and more particularly to the Santa
+Hermandad, a kind of police instituted for the purpose of clearing the
+roads of robbers.  Whilst I resided at Cordova, I was acquainted with an
+aged ecclesiastic, who was priest of a village called Puente, at about
+two leagues’ distance from the city.  He was detained in Cordova on
+account of his political opinions, though he was otherwise at liberty.
+We lived together at the same house; and he frequently visited me in my
+apartment.
+
+This person, who was upwards of eighty years of age, had formerly been
+inquisitor at Cordova.  One night, whilst we were seated together, three
+Gitános entered to pay me a visit, and on observing the old ecclesiastic,
+exhibited every mark of dissatisfaction, and speaking in their own idiom,
+called him a _balichow_, and abused priests in general in most unmeasured
+terms.  On their departing, I inquired of the old man whether he, who
+having been an inquisitor, was doubtless versed in the annals of the holy
+office, could inform me whether the Inquisition had ever taken any active
+measures for the suppression and punishment of the sect of the Gitános:
+whereupon he replied, ‘that he was not aware of one case of a Gitáno
+having been tried or punished by the Inquisition’; adding these
+remarkable words: ‘The Inquisition always looked upon them with too much
+contempt to give itself the slightest trouble concerning them; for as no
+danger either to the state, or the church of Rome, could proceed from the
+Gitános, it was a matter of perfect indifference to the holy office
+whether they lived without religion or not.  The holy office has always
+reserved its anger for people very different; the Gitános having at all
+times been _Gente barata y despreciable_.
+
+Indeed, most of the persecutions which have arisen in Spain against Jews,
+Moors, and Protestants, sprang from motives with which fanaticism and
+bigotry, of which it is true the Spaniards have their full share, had
+very little connection.  Religion was assumed as a mask to conceal the
+vilest and most detestable motives which ever yet led to the commission
+of crying injustice; the Jews were doomed to persecution and destruction
+on two accounts,—their great riches, and their high superiority over the
+Spaniards in learning and intellect.  Avarice has always been the
+dominant passion in Spanish minds, their rage for money being only to be
+compared to the wild hunger of wolves for horse-flesh in the time of
+winter: next to avarice, envy of superior talent and accomplishment is
+the prevailing passion.  These two detestable feelings united, proved the
+ruin of the Jews in Spain, who were, for a long time, an eyesore, both to
+the clergy and laity, for their great riches and learning.  Much the same
+causes insured the expulsion of the Moriscos, who were abhorred for their
+superior industry, which the Spaniards would not imitate; whilst the
+reformation was kept down by the gaunt arm of the Inquisition, lest the
+property of the church should pass into other and more deserving hands.
+The faggot piles in the squares of Seville and Madrid, which consumed the
+bodies of the Hebrew, the Morisco, and the Protestant, were lighted by
+avarice and envy, and those same piles would likewise have consumed the
+mulatto carcass of the Gitáno, had he been learned and wealthy enough to
+become obnoxious to the two master passions of the Spaniards.
+
+Of all the Spanish writers who have written concerning the Gitános, the
+one who appears to have been most scandalised at the want of religion
+observable amongst them, and their contempt for things sacred, was a
+certain Doctor Sancho De Moncada.
+
+This worthy, whom we have already had occasion to mention, was Professor
+of Theology at the University of Toledo, and shortly after the expulsion
+of the Moriscos had been brought about by the intrigues of the monks and
+robbers who thronged the court of Philip the Third, he endeavoured to get
+up a cry against the Gitános similar to that with which for the last
+half-century Spain had resounded against the unfortunate and oppressed
+Africans, and to effect this he published a discourse, entitled ‘The
+Expulsion of the Gitános,’ addressed to Philip the Third, in which he
+conjures that monarch, for the sake of morality and everything sacred, to
+complete the good work he had commenced, and to send the Gitános packing
+after the Moriscos.
+
+Whether this discourse produced any benefit to the author, we have no
+means of ascertaining.  One thing is certain, that it did no harm to the
+Gitános, who still continue in Spain.
+
+If he had other expectations, he must have understood very little of the
+genius of his countrymen, or of King Philip and his court.  It would have
+been easier to get up a crusade against the wild cats of the sierra, than
+against the Gitános, as the former have skins to reward those who slay
+them.  His discourse, however, is well worthy of perusal, as it exhibits
+some learning, and comprises many curious details respecting the Gitános,
+their habits, and their practices.  As it is not very lengthy, we here
+subjoin it, hoping that the reader will excuse its many absurdities, for
+the sake of its many valuable facts.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+‘SIRE,
+
+‘The people of God were always afflicted by the Egyptians, but the
+Supreme King delivered them from their hands by means of many miracles,
+which are related in the Holy Scriptures; and now, without having
+recourse to so many, but only by means of the miraculous talent which
+your Majesty possesses for expelling such reprobates, he will, doubtless,
+free this kingdom from them, which is what is supplicated in this
+discourse, and it behoves us, in the first place, to consider
+
+
+‘WHO ARE THE GITÁNOS?
+
+
+‘Writers generally agree that the first time the Gitános were seen in
+Europe was the year 1417, which was in the time of Pope Martinus the
+Fifth and King Don John the Second; others say that Tamerlane had them in
+his camp in 1401, and that their captain was Cingo, from whence it is
+said that they call themselves Cingary.  But the opinions concerning
+their origin are infinite.
+
+‘The first is that they are foreigners, though authors differ much with
+respect to the country from whence they came.  The majority say that they
+are from Africa, and that they came with the Moors when Spain was lost;
+others that they are Tartars, Persians, Cilicians, Nubians, from Lower
+Egypt, from Syria, or from other parts of Asia and Africa, and others
+consider them to be descendants of Chus, son of Cain; others say that
+they are of European origin, Bohemians, Germans, or outcasts from other
+nations of this quarter of the world.
+
+‘The second and sure opinion is, that those who prowl about Spain are not
+Egyptians, but swarms of wasps and atheistical wretches, without any kind
+of law or religion, Spaniards, who have introduced this Gypsy life or
+sect, and who admit into it every day all the idle and broken people of
+Spain.  There are some foreigners who would make Spain the origin and
+fountain of all the Gypsies of Europe, as they say that they proceeded
+from a river in Spain called Cija, of which Lucan makes mention; an
+opinion, however, not much adopted amongst the learned.  In the opinion
+of respectable authors, they are called Cingary or Cinli, because they in
+every respect resemble the bird cinclo, which we call in Spanish
+Motacilla, or aguzanieve (wagtail), which is a vagrant bird and builds no
+nest, {138} but broods in those of other birds, a bird restless and poor
+of plumage, as Ælian writes.
+
+
+‘THE GITÁNOS ARE VERY HURTFUL TO SPAIN
+
+
+‘There is not a nation which does not consider them as a most pernicious
+rabble; even the Turks and Moors abominate them, amongst whom this sect
+is found under the names of Torlaquis, {139} Hugiemalars, and Dervislars,
+of whom some historians make mention, and all agree that they are most
+evil people, and highly detrimental to the country where they are found.
+
+‘In the first place, because in all parts they are considered as enemies
+of the states where they wander, and as spies and traitors to the crown;
+which was proven by the emperors Maximilian and Albert, who declared them
+to be such in public edicts; a fact easy to be believed, when we consider
+that they enter with ease into the enemies’ country, and know the
+languages of all nations.
+
+‘Secondly, because they are idle vagabond people, who are in no respect
+useful to the kingdom; without commerce, occupation, or trade of any
+description; and if they have any it is making picklocks and pothooks for
+appearance sake, being wasps, who only live by sucking and impoverishing
+the country, sustaining themselves by the sweat of the miserable
+labourers, as a German poet has said of them:—
+
+    “Quos aliena juvant, propriis habitare molestum,
+    Fastidit patrium non nisi nosse solum.”
+
+They are much more useless than the Moriscos, as these last were of some
+service to the state and the royal revenues, but the Gitános are neither
+labourers, gardeners, mechanics, nor merchants, and only serve, like the
+wolves, to plunder and to flee.
+
+‘Thirdly, because the Gitánas are public harlots, common, as it is said,
+to all the Gitános, and with dances, demeanour, and filthy songs, are the
+cause of continual detriment to the souls of the vassals of your Majesty,
+it being notorious that they have done infinite harm in many honourable
+houses by separating the married women from their husbands, and
+perverting the maidens: and finally, in the best of these Gitánas any one
+may recognise all the signs of a harlot given by the wise king; they are
+gadders about, whisperers, always unquiet in places and corners.
+
+‘Fourthly, because in all parts they are accounted famous thieves, about
+which authors write wonderful things; we ourselves have continual
+experience of this fact in Spain, where there is scarcely a corner where
+they have not committed some heavy offence.
+
+‘Father Martin Del Rio says they were notorious when he was in Leon in
+the year 1584; as they even attempted to sack the town of Logroño in the
+time of the pest, as Don Francisco De Cordoba writes in his _Didascalia_.
+Enormous cases of their excesses we see in infinite processes in all the
+tribunals, and particularly in that of the Holy Brotherhood; their
+wickedness ascending to such a pitch, that they steal children, and carry
+them for sale to Barbary; the reason why the Moors call them in Arabic,
+_Raso cherany_, {140} which, as Andreas Tebetus writes, means _master
+thieves_.  Although they are addicted to every species of robbery, they
+mostly practise horse and cattle stealing, on which account they are
+called in law _Abigeos_, and in Spanish _Quatreros_, from which practice
+great evils result to the poor labourers.  When they cannot steal cattle,
+they endeavour to deceive by means of them, acting as _terceros_, in
+fairs and markets.
+
+‘Fifthly, because they are enchanters, diviners, magicians, chiromancers,
+who tell the future by the lines of the hand, which is what they call
+_Buena ventura_, and are in general addicted to all kind of superstition.
+
+‘This is the opinion entertained of them universally, and which is
+confirmed every day by experience; and some think that they are caller
+Cingary, from the great Magian Cineus, from whom it is said they learned
+their sorceries, and from which result in Spain (especially amongst the
+vulgar) great errors, and superstitious credulity, mighty witchcrafts,
+and heavy evils, both spiritual and corporeal.
+
+‘Sixthly, because very devout men consider them as heretics, and many as
+Gentile idolaters, or atheists, without any religion, although they
+exteriorly accommodate themselves to the religion of the country in which
+they wander, being Turks with the Turks, heretics with the heretics, and,
+amongst the Christians, baptizing now and then a child for form’s sake.
+Friar Jayme Bleda produces a hundred signs, from which he concludes that
+the Moriscos were not Christians, all which are visible in the Gitános;
+very few are known to baptize their children; they are not married, but
+it is believed that they keep the women in common; they do not use
+dispensations, nor receive the sacraments; they pay no respect to images,
+rosaries, bulls, neither do they hear mass, nor divine services; they
+never enter the churches, nor observe fasts, Lent, nor any ecclesiastical
+precept; which enormities have been attested by long experience, as every
+person says.
+
+‘Finally, they practise every kind of wickedness in safety, by
+discoursing amongst themselves in a language with which they understand
+each other without being understood, which in Spain is called Gerigonza,
+which, as some think, ought to be called Cingerionza, or language of
+Cingary.  The king our lord saw the evil of such a practice in the law
+which he enacted at Madrid, in the year 1566, in which he forbade the
+Arabic to the Moriscos, as the use of different languages amongst the
+natives of one kingdom opens a door to treason, and is a source of heavy
+inconvenience; and this is exemplified more in the case of the Gitános
+than of any other people.
+
+
+‘THE GITÁNOS OUGHT TO BE SEIZED WHEREVER FOUND
+
+
+‘The civil law ordains that vagrants be seized wherever they are found,
+without any favour being shown to them; in conformity with which, the
+Gitános in the Greek empire were given as slaves to those who should
+capture them; as respectable authors write.  Moreover, the emperor, our
+lord, has decreed by a law made in Toledo, in the year 1525, _that the
+third time they be found wandering they shall serve as slaves during
+their whole life to those who capture them_.  Which can be easily
+justified, inasmuch as there is no shepherd who does not place barriers
+against the wolves, and does not endeavour to save his flock, and I have
+already exposed to your Majesty the damage which the Gitános perpetrate
+in Spain.
+
+
+‘THE GITÁNOS OUGHT TO BE CONDEMNED TO DEATH
+
+
+‘The reasons are many.  The first, for being spies, and traitors to the
+crown; the second as idlers and vagabonds.
+
+‘It ought always to be considered, that no sooner did the race of man
+begin, after the creation of the world, than the important point of civil
+policy arose of condemning vagrants to death; for Cain was certain that
+he should meet his destruction in wandering as a vagabond for the murder
+of Abel.  _Ero vagus et profugus in terra: omnis igitur qui invenerit
+me_, _occidet me_.  Now, the _igitur_ stands here as the natural
+consequence of _vagus ero_; as it is evident, that whoever shall see me
+must kill me, because he sees me a wanderer.  And it must always be
+remembered, that at that time there were no people in the world but the
+parents and brothers of Cain, as St. Ambrose has remarked.  Moreover,
+God, by the mouth of Jeremias, menaced his people, that all should devour
+them whilst they went wandering amongst the mountains.  And it is a
+doctrine entertained by theologians, that the mere act of wandering,
+without anything else, carries with it a vehement suspicion of capital
+crime.  Nature herself demonstrates it in the curious political system of
+the bees, in whose well-governed republic the drones are killed in April,
+when they commence working.
+
+‘The third, because they are stealers of four-footed beasts, who are
+condemned to death by the laws of Spain, in the wise code of the famous
+King Don Alonso; which enactment became a part of the common law.
+
+‘The fourth, for wizards, diviners, and for practising arts which are
+prohibited under pain of death by the divine law itself.  And Saul is
+praised for having caused this law to be put in execution in the
+beginning of his reign; and the Holy Scripture attributes to the breach
+of it (namely, his consulting the witch) his disastrous death, and the
+transfer of the kingdom to David.  The Emperor Constantine the Great, and
+other emperors who founded the civil law, condemned to death those who
+should practise such facinorousness,—as the President of Tolosa has
+written.
+
+‘The last and most urgent cause is, that they are heretics, if what is
+said be truth; and it is the practice of the law in Spain to burn such.
+
+
+‘THE GITÁNOS ARE EXPELLED FROM THE COUNTRY BY THE LAWS OF SPAIN
+
+
+‘Firstly, they are comprehended as hale beggars in the law of the wise
+king, Don Alonso, by which he expelled all sturdy beggars, as being idle
+and useless.
+
+‘Secondly, the law expels public harlots from the city; and of this
+matter I have already said something in my second chapter.
+
+‘Thirdly, as people who cause scandal, and who, as is visible at the
+first glance, are prejudicial to morals and common decency.  Now, it is
+established by the statute law of these kingdoms, that such people be
+expelled therefrom; it is said so in the well-pondered words of the edict
+for the expulsion of the Moors: “And forasmuch as the sense of good and
+Christian government makes it a matter of conscience to expel from the
+kingdoms the things which cause scandal, injury to honest subjects,
+danger to the state, and above all, disloyalty to the Lord our God.”
+Therefore, considering the incorrigibility of the Gitános, the Spanish
+kings made many holy laws in order to deliver their subjects from such
+pernicious people.
+
+‘Fourthly, the Catholic princes, Ferdinand and Isabella, by a law which
+they made in Medina del Campo, in the year 1494, and which the emperor
+our lord renewed in Toledo in 1523, and in Madrid in 1528 and 1534, and
+the late king our lord, in 1560, banished them perpetually from Spain,
+and gave them as slaves to whomsoever should find them, after the
+expiration of the term specified in the edict—laws which are notorious
+even amongst strangers.  The words are:—“We declare to be vagabonds, and
+subject to the aforesaid penalty, the Egyptians and foreign tinkers, who
+by laws and statutes of these kingdoms are commanded to depart therefrom;
+and the poor sturdy beggars, who contrary to the order given in the new
+edict, beg for alms and wander about.”
+
+
+‘THE LAWS ARE VERY JUST WHICH EXPEL THE GITÁNOS FROM THE STATES
+
+
+All the doctors, who are of opinion that the Gitános may be condemned to
+death, would consider it as an act of mercy in your Majesty to banish
+them perpetually from Spain, and at the same time as exceedingly just.
+Many and learned men not only consider that it is just to expel them, but
+cannot sufficiently wonder that they are tolerated in Christian states,
+and even consider that such toleration is an insult to the kingdoms.
+
+‘Whilst engaged in writing this, I have seen a very learned memorial, in
+which Doctor Salazar de Mendoza makes the same supplication to your
+Majesty which is made in this discourse, holding it to be the imperious
+duty of every good government.
+
+‘It stands in reason that the prince is bound to watch for the welfare of
+his subjects, and the wrongs which those of your Majesty receive from the
+Gitános I have already exposed in my second chapter; it being a point
+worthy of great consideration that the wrongs caused by the Moriscos
+moved your royal and merciful bosom to drive them out, although they were
+many, and their departure would be felt as a loss to the population, the
+commerce, the royal revenues, and agriculture.  Now, with respect to the
+Gitános, as they are few, and perfectly useless for everything, it
+appears more necessary to drive them forth, the injuries which they cause
+being so numerous.
+
+‘Secondly, because the Gitános, as I have already said, are Spaniards;
+and as others profess the sacred orders of religion, even so do these
+fellows profess gypsying, which is robbery and all the other vices
+enumerated in chapter the second.  And whereas it is just to banish from
+the kingdom those who have committed any heavy delinquency, it is still
+more so to banish those who profess to be injurious to all.
+
+‘Thirdly, because all the kings and rulers have always endeavoured to
+eject from their kingdoms the idle and useless.  And it is very
+remarkable, that the law invariably commands them to be expelled, and the
+republics of Athens and Corinth were accustomed to do so—casting them
+forth like dung, even as Athenæus writes: _Nos genus hoc mortalium
+ejicimus ex hac urbe velut purgamina_.  Now the profession of the Gypsy
+is idleness.
+
+‘Fourthly, because the Gitános are diviners, enchanters, and mischievous
+wretches, and the law commands us to expel such from the state.
+
+‘In the fifth place, because your Majesty, in the Cortes at present
+assembled, has obliged your royal conscience to fulfil all the articles
+voted for the public service, and the forty-ninth says: “One of the
+things at present most necessary to be done in these kingdoms, is to
+afford a remedy for the robberies, plundering and murders committed by
+the Gitános, who go wandering about the country, stealing the cattle of
+the poor, and committing a thousand outrages, living without any fear of
+God, and being Christians only in name.  It is therefore deemed
+expedient, that your Majesty command them to quit these kingdoms within
+six months, to be reckoned from the day of the ratification of these
+presents, and that they do not return to the same under pain of death.”
+
+‘Against this, two things may possibly be urged:—
+
+‘The first, that the laws of Spain give unto the Gitános the alternative
+of residing in large towns, which, it appears, would be better than
+expelling them.  But experience, recognised by grave and respectable men,
+has shown that it is not well to harbour these people; for their houses
+are dens of thieves, from whence they prowl abroad to rob the land.
+
+‘The second, that it appears a pity to banish the women and children.
+But to this can be opposed that holy act of your Majesty which expelled
+the Moriscos, and the children of the Moriscos, for the reason given in
+the royal edict.  _Whenever any detestable crime is committed by any
+university_, _it is well to punish all_.  And the most detestable crimes
+of all are those which the Gitános commit, since it is notorious that
+they subsist on what they steal; and as to the children, there is no law
+which obliges us to bring up wolf-whelps, to cause here-after certain
+damage to the flock.
+
+
+‘IT HAS EVER BEEN THE PRACTICE OF PRINCES TO EXPEL THE GITÁNOS
+
+
+‘Every one who considers the manner of your Majesty’s government as the
+truly Christian pattern must entertain fervent hope that the advice
+proffered in this discourse will be attended to; more especially on
+reflecting that not only the good, but even the most barbarous kings have
+acted up to it in their respective dominions.
+
+‘Pharaoh was bad enough, nevertheless he judged that the children of
+Israel were dangerous to the state, because they appeared to him to be
+living without any certain occupation; and for this very reason the
+Chaldeans cast them out of Babylon.  Amasis, king of Egypt, drove all the
+vagrants from his kingdom, forbidding them to return under pain of death.
+The Soldan of Egypt expelled the Torlaquis.  The Moors did the same; and
+Bajazet cast them out of all the Ottoman empire, according to Leo
+Clavius.
+
+‘In the second place, the Christian princes have deemed it an important
+measure of state.
+
+‘The emperor our Lord, in the German Diets of the year 1548, expelled the
+Gitános from all his empire, and these were the words of the decree:
+“Zigeuner quos compertum est proditores esse, et exploratores hostium
+nusquam in imperio locum inveniunto.  In deprehensos vis et injuria sine
+fraude esto.  Fides publica Zigeuners ne dator, nec data servator.”
+
+‘The King of France, Francis, expelled them from thence; and the Duke of
+Terranova, when Governor of Milan for our lord the king, obliged them to
+depart from that territory under pain of death.
+
+‘Thirdly, there is one grand reason which ought to be conclusive in
+moving him who so much values himself in being a faithful son of the
+church,—I mean the example which Pope Pius the Fifth gave to all the
+princes; for he drove the Gitános from all his domains, and in the year
+1568, he expelled the Jews, assigning as reasons for their expulsion
+those which are more closely applicable to the Gitános;—namely, that they
+sucked the vitals of the state, without being of any utility whatever;
+that they were thieves themselves, and harbourers of others; that they
+were wizards, diviners, and wretches who induced people to believe that
+they knew the future, which is what the Gitános at present do by telling
+fortunes.
+
+‘Your Majesty has already freed us from greater and more dangerous
+enemies; finish, therefore, the enterprise begun, whence will result
+universal joy and security, and by which your Majesty will earn immortal
+honour.  Amen.
+
+‘O Regum summe, horum plura ne temnas (absit) ne fortè tempsisse Hispaniæ
+periculosum existat.’
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+PERHAPS there is no country in which more laws have been framed, having
+in view the extinction and suppression of the Gypsy name, race, and
+manner of life, than Spain.  Every monarch, during a period of three
+hundred years, appears at his accession to the throne to have considered
+that one of his first and most imperative duties consisted in suppressing
+or checking the robberies, frauds, and other enormities of the Gitános,
+with which the whole country seems to have resounded since the time of
+their first appearance.
+
+They have, by royal edicts, been repeatedly banished from Spain, under
+terrible penalties, unless they renounced their inveterate habits; and
+for the purpose of eventually confounding them with the residue of the
+population, they have been forbidden, even when stationary, to reside
+together, every family being enjoined to live apart, and neither to seek
+nor to hold communication with others of the race.
+
+We shall say nothing at present as to the wisdom which dictated these
+provisions, nor whether others might not have been devised, better
+calculated to produce the end desired.  Certain it is, that the laws were
+never, or very imperfectly, put in force, and for reasons with which
+their expediency or equity (which no one at the time impugned) had no
+connection whatever.
+
+It is true that, in a country like Spain, abounding in wildernesses and
+almost inaccessible mountains, the task of hunting down and exterminating
+or banishing the roving bands would have been found one of no slight
+difficulty, even if such had ever been attempted; but it must be
+remembered, that from an early period colonies of Gitános have existed in
+the principal towns of Spain, where the men have plied the trades of
+jockeys and blacksmiths, and the women subsisted by divination, and all
+kinds of fraud.  These colonies were, of course, always within the reach
+of the hand of justice, yet it does not appear that they were more
+interfered with than the roving and independent bands, and that any
+serious attempts were made to break them up, though notorious as
+nurseries and refuges of crime.
+
+It is a lamentable fact, that pure and uncorrupt justice has never
+existed in Spain, as far at least as record will allow us to judge; not
+that the principles of justice have been less understood there than in
+other countries, but because the entire system of justiciary
+administration has ever been shamelessly profligate and vile.
+
+Spanish justice has invariably been a mockery, a thing to be bought and
+sold, terrible only to the feeble and innocent, and an instrument of
+cruelty and avarice.
+
+The tremendous satires of Le Sage upon Spanish corregidors and alguazils
+are true, even at the present day, and the most notorious offenders can
+generally escape, if able to administer sufficient bribes to the
+ministers {153} of what is misnamed justice.
+
+The reader, whilst perusing the following extracts from the laws framed
+against the Gitános, will be filled with wonder that the Gypsy sect still
+exists in Spain, contrary to the declared will of the sovereign and the
+nation, so often repeated during a period of three hundred years; yet
+such is the fact, and it can only be accounted for on the ground of
+corruption.
+
+It was notorious that the Gitános had powerful friends and favourers in
+every district, who sanctioned and encouraged them in their Gypsy
+practices.  These their fautors were of all ranks and grades, from the
+corregidor of noble blood to the low and obscure escribano; and from the
+viceroy of the province to the archer of the Hermandad.
+
+To the high and noble, they were known as Chalanes, and to the plebeian
+functionaries, as people who, notwithstanding their general poverty,
+could pay for protection.
+
+A law was even enacted against these protectors of the Gitános, which of
+course failed, as the execution of the law was confided to the very
+delinquents against whom it was directed.  Thus, the Gitáno bought, sold,
+and exchanged animals openly, though he subjected himself to the penalty
+of death by so doing, or left his habitation when he thought fit, though
+such an act, by the law of the land, was punishable with the galleys.
+
+In one of their songs they have commemorated the impunity with which they
+wandered about.  The escribano, to whom the Gitános of the neighbourhood
+pay contribution, on a strange Gypsy being brought before him, instantly
+orders him to be liberated, assigning as a reason that he is no Gitáno,
+but a legitimate Spaniard:—
+
+    ‘I left my house, and walked about
+       They seized me fast, and bound:
+    It is a Gypsy thief, they shout,
+       The Spaniards here have found.
+
+    ‘From out the prison me they led,
+       Before the scribe they brought;
+    It is no Gypsy thief, he said,
+       The Spaniards here have caught.’
+
+In a word, nothing was to be gained by interfering with the Gitános, by
+those in whose hands the power was vested; but, on the contrary,
+something was to be lost.  The chief sufferers were the labourers, and
+they had no power to right themselves, though their wrongs were
+universally admitted, and laws for their protection continually being
+made, which their enemies contrived to set at nought; as will presently
+be seen.
+
+The first law issued against the Gypsies appears to have been that of
+Ferdinand and Isabella, at Medina del Campo, in 1499.  In this edict they
+were commanded, under certain penalties, to become stationary in towns
+and villages, and to provide themselves with masters whom they might
+serve for their maintenance, or in default thereof, to quit the kingdom
+at the end of sixty days.  No mention is made of the country to which
+they were expected to betake themselves in the event of their quitting
+Spain.  Perhaps, as they are called Egyptians, it was concluded that they
+would forthwith return to Egypt; but the framers of the law never seem to
+have considered what means these Egyptians possessed of transporting
+their families and themselves across the sea to such a distance, or if
+they betook themselves to other countries, what reception a host of
+people, confessedly thieves and vagabonds, were likely to meet with, or
+whether it was fair in the _two Christian princes_ to get rid of such a
+nuisance at the expense of their neighbours.  Such matters were of course
+left for the Gypsies themselves to settle.
+
+In this edict, a class of individuals is mentioned in conjunction with
+the Gitános, or Gypsies, but distinguished from them by the name of
+foreign tinkers, or Caldéros estrangéros.  By these, we presume, were
+meant the Calabrians, who are still to be seen upon the roads of Spain,
+wandering about from town to town, in much the same way as the itinerant
+tinkers of England at the present day.  A man, half a savage, a haggard
+woman, who is generally a Spaniard, a wretched child, and still more
+miserable donkey, compose the group; the gains are of course exceedingly
+scanty, nevertheless this life, seemingly so wretched, has its charms for
+these outcasts, who live without care and anxiety, without a thought
+beyond the present hour, and who sleep as sound in ruined posadas and
+ventas, or in ravines amongst rocks and pines, as the proudest grandee in
+his palace at Seville or Madrid.
+
+Don Carlos and Donna Juanna, at Toledo, 1539, confirmed the edict of
+Medina del Campo against the Egyptians, with the addition, that if any
+Egyptian, after the expiration of the sixty days, should be found
+wandering about, he should be sent to the galleys for six years, if above
+the age of twenty and under that of fifty, and if under or above those
+years, punished as the preceding law provides.
+
+Philip the Second, at Madrid, 1586, after commanding that all the laws
+and edicts be observed, by which the Gypsies are forbidden to wander
+about, and commanded to establish themselves, ordains, with the view of
+restraining their thievish and cheating practices, that none of them be
+permitted to sell anything, either within or without fairs or markets, if
+not provided with a testimony signed by the notary public, to prove that
+they have a settled residence, and where it may be; which testimony must
+also specify and describe the horses, cattle, linen, and other things,
+which they carry forth for sale; otherwise they are to be punished as
+thieves, and what they attempt to sell considered as stolen property.
+
+Philip the Third, at Belem, in Portugal, 1619, commands all the Gypsies
+of the kingdom to quit the same within the term of six months, and never
+to return, under pain of death; those who should wish to remain are to
+establish themselves in cities, towns, and villages, of one thousand
+families and upwards, and are not to be allowed the use of the dress,
+name, and language of Gypsies, _in order that_, _forasmuch as they are
+not such by nation_, _this name and manner of life may be for evermore
+confounded and forgotten_.  They are moreover forbidden, under the same
+penalty, to have anything to do with the buying or selling of cattle,
+whether great or small.
+
+The most curious portion of the above law is the passage in which these
+people are declared not to be Gypsies by nation.  If they are not
+Gypsies, who are they then?  Spaniards?  If so, what right had the King
+of Spain to send the refuse of his subjects abroad, to corrupt other
+lands, over which he had no jurisdiction?
+
+The Moors were sent back to Africa, under some colour of justice, as they
+came originally from that part of the world; but what would have been
+said to such a measure, if the edict which banished them had declared
+that they were not Moors, but Spaniards?
+
+The law, moreover, in stating that they are not Gypsies by nation, seems
+to have forgotten that in that case it would be impossible to distinguish
+them from other Spaniards, so soon as they should have dropped the name,
+language, and dress of Gypsies.  How, provided they were like other
+Spaniards, and did not carry the mark of another nation on their
+countenances, could it be known whether or not they obeyed the law, which
+commanded them to live only in populous towns or villages, or how could
+they be detected in the buying or selling of cattle, which the law
+forbids them under pain of death?
+
+The attempt to abolish the Gypsy name and manner of life might have been
+made without the assertion of a palpable absurdity.
+
+Philip the Fourth, May 8, 1633, after reference to the evil lives and
+want of religion of the Gypsies, and the complaints made against them by
+prelates and others, declares ‘that the laws hitherto adopted since the
+year 1499, have been inefficient to restrain their excesses; that they
+are not Gypsies by origin or nature, but have adopted this form of life’;
+and then, after forbidding them, according to custom, the dress and
+language of Gypsies, under the usual severe penalties, he ordains:—
+
+‘1st.  That under the same penalties, the aforesaid people shall, within
+two months, leave the quarters (barrios) where they now live with the
+denomination of Gitános, and that they shall separate from each other,
+and mingle with the other inhabitants, and that they shall hold no more
+meetings, neither in public nor in secret; that the ministers of justice
+are to observe, with particular diligence, how they fulfil these
+commands, and whether they hold communication with each other, or marry
+amongst themselves; and how they fulfil the obligations of Christians by
+assisting at sacred worship in the churches; upon which latter point they
+are to procure information with all possible secrecy from the curates and
+clergy of the parishes where the Gitános reside.
+
+‘2ndly.  And in order to extirpate, in every way, the name of Gitános, we
+ordain that they be not called so, and that no one venture to call them
+so, and that such shall be esteemed a very heavy injury, and shall be
+punished as such, if proved, and that nought pertaining to the Gypsies,
+their name, dress, or actions, be represented, either in dances or in any
+other performance, under the penalty of two years’ banishment, and a
+mulct of fifty thousand maravedis to whomsoever shall offend for the
+first time, and double punishment for the second.’
+
+The above two articles seem to have in view the suppression and breaking
+up of the Gypsy colonies established in the large towns, more especially
+the suburbs; farther on, mention is made of the wandering bands.
+
+‘4thly.  And forasmuch as we have understood that numerous Gitános rove
+in bands through various parts of the kingdom, committing robberies in
+uninhabited places, and even invading some small villages, to the great
+terror and danger of the inhabitants, we give by this our law a general
+commission to all ministers of justice, whether appertaining to royal
+domains, lordships, or abbatial territories, that every one may, in his
+district, proceed to the imprisonment and chastisement of the
+delinquents, and may pass beyond his own jurisdiction in pursuit of them;
+and we also command all the ministers of justice aforesaid, that on
+receiving information that Gitános or highwaymen are prowling in their
+districts, they do assemble at an appointed day, and with the necessary
+preparation of men and arms they do hunt down, take, and deliver them
+under a good guard to the nearest officer holding the royal commission.’
+
+Carlos the Second followed in the footsteps of his predecessors, with
+respect to the Gitános.  By a law of the 20th of November 1692, he
+inhibits the Gitános from living in towns of less than one thousand heads
+of families (vecinos), and pursuing any trade or employment, save the
+cultivation of the ground; from going in the dress of Gypsies, or
+speaking the language or gibberish which they use; from living apart in
+any particular quarter of the town; from visiting fairs with cattle,
+great or small, or even selling or exchanging such at any time, unless
+with the testimonial of the public notary, that they were bred within
+their own houses.  By this law they are also forbidden to have firearms
+in their possession.
+
+So far from being abashed by this law, or the preceding one, the Gitános
+seem to have increased in excesses of every kind.  Only three years after
+(12th June 1695), the same monarch deemed it necessary to publish a new
+law for their persecution and chastisement.  This law, which is
+exceedingly severe, consists of twenty-nine articles.  By the fourth they
+are forbidden any other exercise or manner of life than that of the
+cultivation of the fields, in which their wives and children, if of
+competent age, are to assist them.
+
+Of every other office, employment, or commerce, they are declared
+incapable, and especially of being _blacksmiths_.
+
+By the fifth, they are forbidden to keep horses or mares, either within
+or without their houses, or to make use of them in any way whatever,
+under the penalty of two months’ imprisonment and the forfeiture of such
+animals; and any one lending them a horse or a mare is to forfeit the
+same, if it be found in their possession.  They are declared only capable
+of keeping a mule, or some lesser beast, to assist them in their labour,
+or for the use of their families.
+
+By the twelfth, they are to be punished with six years in the galleys, if
+they leave the towns or villages in which they are located, and pass to
+others, or wander in the fields or roads; and they are only to be
+permitted to go out, in order to exercise the pursuit of husbandry.  In
+this edict, particular mention is made of the favour and protection shown
+to the Gitános, by people of various descriptions, by means of which they
+had been enabled to follow their manner of life undisturbed, and to
+baffle the severity of the laws:—
+
+‘Article 16.—And because we understand that the continuance in these
+kingdoms of those who are called Gitános has depended on the favour,
+protection, and assistance which they have experienced from persons of
+different stations, we do ordain, that whosoever, against whom shall be
+proved the fact of having, since the day of the publication hereof,
+favoured, received, or assisted the said Gitános, in any manner whatever,
+whether within their houses or without, the said person, provided he is
+noble, shall be subjected to the fine of six thousand ducats, the half of
+which shall be applied to our treasury, and the other half to the
+expenses of the prosecution; and, if a plebeian, to a punishment of ten
+years in the galleys.  And we declare, that in order to proceed to the
+infliction of such fine and punishment, the evidence of two respectable
+witnesses, without stain or suspicion, shall be esteemed legitimate and
+conclusive, although they depose to separate acts, or three depositions
+of the Gitános themselves, _made upon the rack_, although they relate to
+separate and different acts of abetting and harbouring.’
+
+The following article is curious, as it bears evidence to Gypsy craft and
+cunning:—
+
+‘Article 18.—And whereas it is very difficult to prove against the
+Gitános the robberies and delinquencies which they commit, partly because
+they happen in uninhabited places, but more especially on account of the
+_malice_ and _cunning_ with which they execute them; we do ordain, in
+order that they may receive the merited chastisement, that to convict, in
+these cases, those who are called Gitános, the depositions of the persons
+whom they have robbed in uninhabited places shall be sufficient, provided
+there are at least two witnesses to one and the same fact, and these of
+good fame and reputation; and we also declare, that the _corpus delicti_
+may be proved in the same manner in these cases, in order that the
+culprits may be proceeded against, and condemned to the corresponding
+pains and punishments.’
+
+The council of Madrid published a schedule, 18th of August 1705, from
+which it appears that the villages and roads were so much infested by the
+Gitáno race, that there was neither peace nor safety for labourers and
+travellers; the corregidors and justices are therefore exhorted to use
+their utmost endeavour to apprehend these outlaws, and to execute upon
+them the punishments enjoined by the preceding law.  The ministers of
+justice are empowered to fire upon them as public enemies, wherever they
+meet them, in case of resistance or refusal to deliver up the arms they
+carry about them.
+
+Philip the Fifth, by schedule, October 1st, 1726, forbade any complaints
+which the Gitános might have to make against the inferior justices being
+heard in the higher tribunals, and, on that account, banished all the
+Gypsy women from Madrid, and, indeed, from all towns where royal
+audiences were held, it being the custom of the women to flock up to the
+capital from the small towns and villages, under pretence of claiming
+satisfaction for wrongs inflicted upon their husbands and relations, and
+when there to practise the art of divination, and to sing obscene songs
+through the streets; by this law, also, the justices are particularly
+commanded not to permit the Gitános to leave their places of domicile,
+except in cases of very urgent necessity.
+
+This law was attended with the same success as the others; the Gitános
+left their places of domicile whenever they thought proper, frequented
+the various fairs, and played off their jockey tricks as usual, or
+traversed the country in armed gangs, plundering the small villages, and
+assaulting travellers.
+
+The same monarch, in October, published another law against them, from
+St. Lorenzo, of the Escurial.  From the words of this edict, and the
+measures resolved upon, the reader may form some idea of the excesses of
+the Gitános at this period.  They are to be hunted down with fire and
+sword, and even the sanctity of the temples is to be invaded in their
+pursuit, and the Gitános dragged from the horns of the altar, should they
+flee thither for refuge.  It was impossible, in Spain, to carry the
+severity of persecution farther, as the very parricide was in perfect
+safety, could he escape to the church.  Here follows part of this law:—
+
+‘I have resolved that all the lord-lieutenants, intendants, and
+corregidors shall publish proclamations, and fix edicts, to the effect
+that all the Gitános who are domiciled in the cities and towns of their
+jurisdiction shall return within the space of fifteen days to their
+places of domicile, under penalty of being declared, at the expiration of
+that term, as public banditti, subject to be fired at in the event of
+being found with arms, or without them, beyond the limits of their places
+of domicile; and at the expiration of the term aforesaid, the
+lord-lieutenants, intendants, and corregidors are strictly commanded,
+that either they themselves, or suitable persons deputed by them, march
+out with armed soldiery, or if there be none at hand, with the militias,
+and their officers, accompanied by the horse rangers, destined for the
+protection of the revenue, for the purpose of scouring the whole district
+within their jurisdiction, making use of all possible diligence to
+apprehend such Gitános as are to be found on the public roads and other
+places beyond their domiciliary bounds, and to inflict upon them the
+penalty of death, for the mere act of being found.
+
+‘And in the event of their taking refuge in sacred places, they are
+empowered to drag them forth, and conduct them to the neighbouring
+prisons and fortresses, and provided the ecclesiastical judges proceed
+against the secular, in order that they be restored to the church, they
+are at liberty to avail themselves of the recourse to force, countenanced
+by laws declaring, even as I now declare, that all the Gitános who shall
+leave their allotted places of abode, are to be held as incorrigible
+rebels, and enemies of the public peace.’
+
+From this period, until the year 1780, various other laws and schedules
+were directed against the Gitános, which, as they contain nothing very
+new or remarkable, we may be well excused from particularising.  In 1783,
+a law was passed by the government, widely differing in character from
+any which had hitherto been enacted in connection with the Gitáno caste
+or religion in Spain.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+CARLOS TERCERO, or Charles the Third, ascended the throne of Spain in the
+year 1759, and died in 1788.  No Spanish monarch has left behind a more
+favourable impression on the minds of the generality of his countrymen;
+indeed, he is the only one who is remembered at all by all ranks and
+conditions;—perhaps he took the surest means for preventing his name
+being forgotten, by erecting a durable monument in every large town,—we
+do not mean a pillar surmounted by a statue, or a colossal figure on
+horseback, but some useful and stately public edifice.  All the
+magnificent modern buildings which attract the eye of the traveller in
+Spain, sprang up during the reign of Carlos Tercero,—for example, the
+museum at Madrid, the gigantic tobacco fabric at Seville,—half fortress,
+half manufactory,—and the Farol, at Coruña.  We suspect that these
+erections, which speak to the eye, have gained him far greater credit
+amongst Spaniards than the support which he afforded to liberal opinions,
+which served to fan the flame of insurrection in the new world, and
+eventually lost for Spain her transatlantic empire.
+
+We have said that he left behind him a favourable impression amongst the
+generality of his countrymen; by which we mean the great body found in
+every nation, who neither think nor reason,—for there are amongst the
+Spaniards not a few who deny that any of his actions entitle him to the
+gratitude of the nation.  ‘All his thoughts,’ say they, ‘were directed to
+hunting—and hunting alone; and all the days of the year he employed
+himself either in hunting or in preparation for the sport.  In one
+expedition, in the parks of the Pardo, he spent several millions of
+reals.  The noble edifices which adorn Spain, though built by his orders,
+are less due to his reign than to the anterior one,—to the reign of
+Ferdinand the Sixth, who left immense treasures, a small portion of which
+Carlos Tercero devoted to these purposes, squandering away the remainder.
+It is said that Carlos Tercero was no friend to superstition; yet how
+little did Spain during his time gain in religious liberty!  The great
+part of the nation remained intolerant and theocratic as before, the
+other and smaller section turned philosophic, but after the insane manner
+of the French revolutionists, intolerant in its incredulity, and
+believing more in the _Encyclopédie_ than in the Gospel of the Nazarene.’
+{167}
+
+We should not have said thus much of Carlos Tercero, whose character has
+been extravagantly praised by the multitude, and severely criticised by
+the discerning few who look deeper than the surface of things, if a law
+passed during his reign did not connect him intimately with the history
+of the Gitános, whose condition to a certain extent it has already
+altered, and over whose future destinies there can be no doubt that it
+will exert considerable influence.  Whether Carlos Tercero had anything
+farther to do with its enactment than subscribing it with his own hand,
+is a point difficult to determine; the chances are that he had not; there
+is damning evidence to prove that in many respects he was a mere Nimrod,
+and it is not probable that such a character would occupy his thoughts
+much with plans for the welfare of his people, especially such a class as
+the Gitános, however willing to build public edifices, gratifying to his
+vanity, with the money which a provident predecessor had amassed.
+
+The law in question is dated 19th September 1783.  It is entitled, ‘Rules
+for repressing and chastising the vagrant mode of life, and other
+excesses, of those who are called Gitános.’  It is in many respects
+widely different from all the preceding laws, and on that account we have
+separated it from them, deeming it worthy of particular notice.  It is
+evidently the production of a comparatively enlightened spirit, for Spain
+had already begun to emerge from the dreary night of monachism and
+bigotry, though the light which beamed upon her was not that of the
+Gospel, but of modern philosophy.  The spirit, however, of the writers of
+the _Encyclopédie_ is to be preferred to that of _Torquemada and
+Moncada_, and however deeply we may lament the many grievous omissions in
+the law of Carlos Tercero (for no provision was made for the spiritual
+instruction of the Gitános), we prefer it in all points to that of Philip
+the Third, and to the law passed during the reign of that unhappy victim
+of monkish fraud, perfidy, and poison, Charles the Second.
+
+Whoever framed the law of Carlos Tercero with respect to the Gitános, had
+sense enough to see that it would be impossible to reclaim and bring them
+within the pale of civilised society by pursuing the course invariably
+adopted on former occasions—to see that all the menacing edicts for the
+last three hundred years, breathing a spirit of blood and persecution,
+had been unable to eradicate Gitanismo from Spain; but on the contrary,
+had rather served to extend it.  Whoever framed this law was, moreover,
+well acquainted with the manner of administering justice in Spain, and
+saw the folly of making statutes which were never put into effect.
+Instead, therefore, of relying on corregidors and alguazils for the
+extinction of the Gypsy sect, the statute addresses itself more
+particularly to the Gitános themselves, and endeavours to convince them
+that it would be for their interest to renounce their much cherished
+Gitanismo.  Those who framed the former laws had invariably done their
+best to brand this race with infamy, and had marked out for its members,
+in the event of abandoning their Gypsy habits, a life to which death
+itself must have been preferable in every respect.  They were not to
+speak to each other, nor to intermarry, though, as they were considered
+of an impure caste, it was scarcely to be expected that the other
+Spaniards would form with them relations of love or amity, and they were
+debarred the exercise of any trade or occupation but hard labour, for
+which neither by nature nor habit they were at all adapted.  The law of
+Carlos Tercero, on the contrary, flung open to them the whole career of
+arts and sciences, and declared them capable of following any trade or
+profession to which they might please to addict themselves.  Here follow
+extracts from the above-mentioned law:—
+
+‘Art. 1.  I declare that those who go by the name of Gitános are not so
+by origin or nature, nor do they proceed from any infected root.
+
+‘2.  I therefore command that neither they, nor any one of them shall use
+the language, dress, or vagrant kind of life which they have followed
+unto the present time, under the penalties here below contained.
+
+‘3.  I forbid all my vassals, of whatever state, class, and condition
+they may be, to call or name the above-mentioned people by the names of
+Gitános, or new Castilians, under the same penalties to which those are
+subject who injure others by word or writing.
+
+‘5.  It is my will that those who abandon the said mode of life, dress,
+language, or jargon, be admitted to whatever offices or employments to
+which they may apply themselves, and likewise to any guilds or
+communities, without any obstacle or contradiction being offered to them,
+or admitted under this pretext within or without courts of law.
+
+‘6.  Those who shall oppose and refuse the admission of this class of
+reclaimed people to their trades and guilds shall be mulcted ten ducats
+for the first time, twenty for the second, and a double quantity for the
+third; and during the time they continue in their opposition they shall
+be prohibited from exercising the same trade, for a certain period, to be
+determined by the judge, and proportioned to the opposition which they
+display.
+
+‘7.  I grant the term of ninety days, to be reckoned from the publication
+of this law in the principal town of every district, in order that all
+the vagabonds of this and any other class may retire to the towns and
+villages where they may choose to locate themselves, with the exception,
+for the present, of the capital and the royal residences, in order that,
+abandoning the dress, language, and behaviour of those who are called
+Gitános, they may devote themselves to some honest office, trade, or
+occupation, it being a matter of indifference whether the same be
+connected with labour or the arts.
+
+‘8.  It will not be sufficient for those who have been formerly known to
+follow this manner of life to devote themselves solely to the occupation
+of shearing and clipping animals, nor to the traffic of markets and
+fairs, nor still less to the occupation of keepers of inns and ventas in
+uninhabited places, although they may be innkeepers within towns, which
+employment shall be considered as sufficient, provided always there be no
+well-founded indications of their being delinquents themselves, or
+harbourers of such people.
+
+‘9.  At the expiration of ninety days, the justices shall proceed against
+the disobedient in the following manner:—Those who, having abandoned the
+dress, name, language or jargon, association, and manners of Gitános, and
+shall have moreover chosen and established a domicile, but shall not have
+devoted themselves to any office or employment, though it be only that of
+day-labourers, shall be considered as vagrants, and be apprehended and
+punished according to the laws in force against such people without any
+distinction being made between them and the other vassals.
+
+‘10.  Those who henceforth shall commit any crimes, having abandoned the
+language, dress, and manners of Gitános, chosen a domicile, and applied
+themselves to any office, shall be prosecuted and chastised like others
+guilty of the same crimes, without any difference being made between
+them.
+
+‘11.  But those who shall have abandoned the aforesaid dress, language
+and behaviour, and those who, pretending to speak and dress like the
+other vassals, and even to choose a domiciliary residence, shall continue
+to go forth, wandering about the roads and uninhabited places, although
+it be with the pretext of visiting markets and fairs, such people shall
+be pursued and taken by the justices, and a list of them formed, with
+their names and appellations, age, description, with the places where
+they say they reside and were born.
+
+‘16.   I, however, except from punishment the children and young people
+of both sexes who are not above sixteen years of age.
+
+‘17.  Such, although they may belong to a family, shall be separated from
+their parents who wander about and have no employment, and shall be
+destined to learn something, or shall be placed out in hospices or houses
+of instruction.
+
+‘20.  When the register of the Gitános who have proved disobedient shall
+have taken place, it shall be notified and made known to them, that in
+case of another relapse, the punishment of death shall be executed upon
+them without remission, on the examination of the register, and proof
+being adduced that they have returned to their former life.’
+
+What effect was produced by this law, and whether its results at all
+corresponded to the views of those who enacted it, will be gathered from
+the following chapters of this work, in which an attempt will be made to
+delineate briefly the present condition of the Gypsies in Spain.
+
+
+
+
+THE ZINCALI
+PART II
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+ABOUT twelve in the afternoon of the 6th of January 1836, I crossed the
+bridge of the Guadiana, a boundary river between Portugal and Spain, and
+entered Badajoz, a strong town in the latter kingdom, containing about
+eight thousand inhabitants, supposed to have been founded by the Romans.
+I instantly returned thanks to God for having preserved me in a journey
+of five days through the wilds of the Alemtejo, the province of Portugal
+the most infested by robbers and desperate characters, which I had
+traversed with no other human companion than a lad, almost an idiot, who
+was to convey back the mules which had brought me from Aldea Gallega.  I
+intended to make but a short stay, and as a diligence would set out for
+Madrid the day next but one to my arrival, I purposed departing therein
+for the capital of Spain.
+
+I was standing at the door of the inn where I had taken up my temporary
+abode; the weather was gloomy, and rain seemed to be at hand; I was
+thinking on the state of the country I had just entered, which was
+involved in bloody anarchy and confusion, and where the ministers of a
+religion falsely styled Catholic and Christian were blowing the trump of
+war, instead of preaching the love-engendering words of the blessed
+Gospel.
+
+Suddenly two men, wrapped in long cloaks, came down the narrow and almost
+deserted street; they were about to pass, and the face of the nearest was
+turned full towards me; I knew to whom the countenance which he displayed
+must belong, and I touched him on the arm.  The man stopped, and likewise
+his companion; I said a certain word, to which, after an exclamation of
+surprise, he responded in the manner I expected.  The men were Gitános or
+Gypsies, members of that singular family or race which has diffused
+itself over the face of the civilised globe, and which, in all lands, has
+preserved more or less its original customs and its own peculiar
+language.
+
+We instantly commenced discoursing in the Spanish dialect of this
+language, with which I was tolerably well acquainted.  I asked my two
+newly-made acquaintances whether there were many of their race in Badajoz
+and the vicinity: they informed me that there were eight or ten families
+in the town, and that there were others at Merida, a town about six
+leagues distant.  I inquired by what means they lived, and they replied
+that they and their brethren principally gained a livelihood by
+trafficking in mules and asses, but that all those in Badajoz were very
+poor, with the exception of one man, who was exceedingly _balbalo_, or
+rich, as he was in possession of many mules and other cattle.  They
+removed their cloaks for a moment, and I found that their under-garments
+were rags.
+
+They left me in haste, and went about the town informing the rest that a
+stranger had arrived who spoke Rommany as well as themselves, who had the
+face of a Gitáno, and seemed to be of the ‘erráte,’ or blood.  In less
+than half an hour the street before the inn was filled with the men,
+women, and children of Egypt.  I went out amongst them, and my heart sank
+within me as I surveyed them: so much vileness, dirt, and misery I had
+never seen amongst a similar number of human beings; but worst of all was
+the evil expression of their countenances, which spoke plainly that they
+were conversant with every species of crime, and it was not long before I
+found that their countenances did not belie them.  After they had asked
+me an infinity of questions, and felt my hands, face, and clothes, they
+retired to their own homes.
+
+That same night the two men of whom I have already particularly spoken
+came to see me.  They sat down by the brasero in the middle of the
+apartment, and began to smoke small paper cigars.  We continued for a
+considerable time in silence surveying each other.  Of the two Gitános
+one was an elderly man, tall and bony, with lean, skinny, and whimsical
+features, though perfectly those of a Gypsy; he spoke little, and his
+expressions were generally singular and grotesque.  His companion, who
+was the man whom I had first noticed in the street, differed from him in
+many respects; he could be scarcely thirty, and his figure, which was
+about the middle height, was of Herculean proportions; shaggy black hair,
+like that of a wild beast, covered the greatest part of his immense head;
+his face was frightfully seamed with the small-pox, and his eyes, which
+glared like those of ferrets, peered from beneath bushy eyebrows; he wore
+immense moustaches, and his wide mouth was garnished with teeth
+exceedingly large and white.  There was one peculiarity about him which
+must not be forgotten: his right arm was withered, and hung down from his
+shoulder a thin sapless stick, which contrasted strangely with the huge
+brawn of the left.  A figure so perfectly wild and uncouth I had scarcely
+ever before seen.  He had now flung aside his cloak, and sat before me
+gaunt in his rags and nakedness.  In spite of his appearance, however, he
+seemed to be much the most sensible of the two; and the conversation
+which ensued was carried on chiefly between him and myself.  This man,
+whom I shall call the first Gypsy, was the first to break silence; and he
+thus addressed me, speaking in Spanish, broken with words of the Gypsy
+tongue:—
+
+_First Gypsy_.—‘Arromáli (in truth), I little thought when I saw the
+erraño standing by the door of the posada that I was about to meet a
+brother—one too who, though well dressed, was not ashamed to speak to a
+poor Gitáno; but tell me, I beg you, brother, from whence you come; I
+have heard that you have just arrived from Laloró, but I am sure you are
+no Portuguese; the Portuguese are very different from you; I know it, for
+I have been in Laloró; I rather take you to be one of the Corahai, for I
+have heard say that there is much of our blood there.  You are a
+Corahano, are you not?’
+
+_Myself_.—‘I am no Moor, though I have been in the country.  I was born
+in an island in the West Sea, called England, which I suppose you have
+heard spoken of.’
+
+_First Gypsy_.—‘Yes, yes, I have a right to know something of the
+English.  I was born in this foros, and remember the day when the English
+hundunares clambered over the walls, and took the town from the Gabiné:
+well do I remember that day, though I was but a child; the streets ran
+red with blood and wine!  Are there Gitános then amongst the English?’
+
+_Myself_.—‘There are numbers, and so there are amongst most nations of
+the world.’
+
+_Second Gypsy_.—‘Vaya!  And do the English Caloré gain their bread in the
+same way as those of Spain?  Do they shear and trim?  Do they buy and
+change beasts, and (lowering his voice) do they now and then chore a
+gras?’ {181}
+
+_Myself_.—‘They do most of these things: the men frequent fairs and
+markets with horses, many of which they steal; and the women tell
+fortunes and perform all kinds of tricks, by which they gain more money
+than their husbands.’
+
+_First Gypsy_.—‘They would not be callees if they did not: I have known a
+Gitána gain twenty ounces of gold, by means of the hokkano baro, in a few
+hours, whilst the silly Gypsy, her husband, would be toiling with his
+shears for a fortnight, trimming the horses of the Busné, and yet not be
+a dollar richer at the end of the time.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘You seem wretchedly poor.  Are you married?’
+
+_First Gypsy_.—‘I am, and to the best-looking and cleverest callee in
+Badajoz; nevertheless we have never thriven since the day of our
+marriage, and a curse seems to rest upon us both.  Perhaps I have only to
+thank myself; I was once rich, and had never less than six borricos to
+sell or exchange, but the day before my marriage I sold all I possessed,
+in order to have a grand fiesta.  For three days we were merry enough; I
+entertained every one who chose to come in, and flung away my money by
+handfuls, so that when the affair was over I had not a cuarto in the
+world; and the very people who had feasted at my expense refused me a
+dollar to begin again, so we were soon reduced to the greatest misery.
+True it is, that I now and then shear a mule, and my wife tells the bahi
+(fortune) to the servant-girls, but these things stand us in little
+stead: the people are now very much on the alert, and my wife, with all
+her knowledge, has been unable to perform any grand trick which would set
+us up at once.  She wished to come to see you, brother, this night, but
+was ashamed, as she has no more clothes than myself.  Last summer our
+distress was so great that we crossed the frontier into Portugal: my wife
+sung, and I played the guitar, for though I have but one arm, and that a
+left one, I have never felt the want of the other.  At Estremoz I was
+cast into prison as a thief and vagabond, and there I might have remained
+till I starved with hunger.  My wife, however, soon got me out: she went
+to the lady of the corregidor, to whom she told a most wonderful bahi,
+promising treasures and titles, and I wot not what; so I was set at
+liberty, and returned to Spain as quick as I could.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Is it not the custom of the Gypsies of Spain to relieve each
+other in distress?—it is the rule in other countries.’
+
+_First Gypsy_.—‘El krallis ha nicobado la liri de los Calés—(The king has
+destroyed the law of the Gypsies); we are no longer the people we were
+once, when we lived amongst the sierras and deserts, and kept aloof from
+the Busné; we have lived amongst the Busné till we are become almost like
+them, and we are no longer united, ready to assist each other at all
+times and seasons, and very frequently the Gitáno is the worst enemy of
+his brother.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘The Gitános, then, no longer wander about, but have fixed
+residences in the towns and villages?’
+
+_First Gypsy_.—‘In the summer time a few of us assemble together, and
+live about amongst the plains and hills, and by doing so we frequently
+contrive to pick up a horse or a mule for nothing, and sometimes we knock
+down a Busné, and strip him, but it is seldom we venture so far.  We are
+much looked after by the Busné, who hold us in great dread, and abhor us.
+Sometimes, when wandering about, we are attacked by the labourers, and
+then we defend ourselves as well as we can.  There is no better weapon in
+the hands of a Gitáno than his “cachas,” or shears, with which he trims
+the mules.  I once snipped off the nose of a Busné, and opened the
+greater part of his cheek in an affray up the country near Trujillo.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Have you travelled much about Spain?’
+
+_First Gypsy_.—‘Very little; I have never been out of this province of
+Estremadura, except last year, as I told you, into Portugal.  When we
+wander we do not go far, and it is very rare that we are visited by our
+brethren of other parts.  I have never been in Andalusia, but I have
+heard say that the Gitános are many in Andalusia, and are more wealthy
+than those here, and that they follow better the Gypsy law.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘What do you mean by the Gypsy law?’
+
+_First Gypsy_.—‘Wherefore do you ask, brother?  You know what is meant by
+the law of the Calés better even than ourselves.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘I know what it is in England and in Hungary, but I can only
+give a guess as to what it is in Spain.’
+
+_Both Gypsies_.—‘What do you consider it to be in Spain?’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Cheating and choring the Busné on all occasions, and being
+true to the erráte in life and in death.’
+
+At these words both the Gitános sprang simultaneously from their seats,
+and exclaimed with a boisterous shout—‘Chachipé.’
+
+This meeting with the Gitános was the occasion of my remaining at Badajoz
+a much longer time than I originally intended.  I wished to become better
+acquainted with their condition and manners, and above all to speak to
+them of Christ and His Word; for I was convinced, that should I travel to
+the end of the universe, I should meet with no people more in need of a
+little Christian exhortation, and I accordingly continued at Badajoz for
+nearly three weeks.
+
+During this time I was almost constantly amongst them, and as I spoke
+their language, and was considered by them as one of themselves, I had
+better opportunity of arriving at a fair conclusion respecting their
+character than any other person could have had, whether Spanish or
+foreigner, without such an advantage.  I found that their ways and
+pursuits were in almost every respect similar to those of their brethren
+in other countries.  By cheating and swindling they gained their daily
+bread; the men principally by the arts of the jockey,—by buying, selling,
+and exchanging animals, at which they are wonderfully expert; and the
+women by telling fortunes, selling goods smuggled from Portugal, and
+dealing in love-draughts and diablerie.  The most innocent occupation
+which I observed amongst them was trimming and shearing horses and mules,
+which in their language is called ‘monrabar,’ and in Spanish ‘esquilar’;
+and even whilst exercising this art, they not unfrequently have recourse
+to foul play, doing the animal some covert injury, in hope that the
+proprietor will dispose of it to themselves at an inconsiderable price,
+in which event they soon restore it to health; for knowing how to inflict
+the harm, they know likewise how to remove it.
+
+Religion they have none; they never attend mass, nor did I ever hear them
+employ the names of God, Christ, and the Virgin, but in execration and
+blasphemy.  From what I could learn, it appeared that their fathers had
+entertained some belief in metempsychosis; but they themselves laughed at
+the idea, and were of opinion that the soul perished when the body ceased
+to breathe; and the argument which they used was rational enough, so far
+as it impugned metempsychosis: ‘We have been wicked and miserable enough
+in this life,’ they said; ‘why should we live again?’
+
+I translated certain portions of Scripture into their dialect, which I
+frequently read to them; especially the parable of Lazarus and the
+Prodigal Son, and told them that the latter had been as wicked as
+themselves, and both had suffered as much or more; but that the
+sufferings of the former, who always looked forward to a blessed
+resurrection, were recompensed by admission, in the life to come, to the
+society of Abraham and the Prophets, and that the latter, when he
+repented of his sins, was forgiven, and received into as much favour as
+the just son.
+
+They listened with admiration; but, alas! not of the truths, the eternal
+truths, I was telling them, but to find that their broken jargon could be
+written and read.  The only words denoting anything like assent to my
+doctrine which I ever obtained, were the following from the mouth of a
+woman: ‘Brother, you tell us strange things, though perhaps you do not
+lie; a month since I would sooner have believed these tales, than that
+this day I should see one who could write Rommany.’
+
+Two or three days after my arrival, I was again visited by the Gypsy of
+the withered arm, who I found was generally termed Paco, which is the
+diminutive of Francisco; he was accompanied by his wife, a rather
+good-looking young woman with sharp intelligent features, and who
+appeared in every respect to be what her husband had represented her on
+the former visit.  She was very poorly clad, and notwithstanding the
+extreme sharpness of the weather, carried no mantle to protect herself
+from its inclemency,—her raven black hair depended behind as far down as
+her hips.  Another Gypsy came with them, but not the old fellow whom I
+had before seen.  This was a man about forty-five, dressed in a zamarra
+of sheep-skin, with a high-crowned Andalusian hat; his complexion was
+dark as pepper, and his eyes were full of sullen fire.  In his appearance
+he exhibited a goodly compound of Gypsy and bandit.
+
+_Paco_.—‘Laches chibeses te diñele Undebel (May God grant you good days,
+brother).  This is my wife, and this is my wife’s father.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘I am glad to see them.  What are their names?’
+
+_Paco_.—‘Maria and Antonio; their other name is Lopez.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Have they no Gypsy names?’
+
+_Paco_.—‘They have no other names than these.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Then in this respect the Gitános of Spain are unlike those of
+my country.  Every family there has two names; one by which they are
+known to the Busné, and another which they use amongst themselves.’
+
+_Antonio_.—‘Give me your hand, brother!  I should have come to see you
+before, but I have been to Olivenzas in search of a horse.  What I have
+heard of you has filled me with much desire to know you, and I now see
+that you can tell me many things which I am ignorant of.  I am Zíncalo by
+the four sides—I love our blood, and I hate that of the Busné.  Had I my
+will I would wash my face every day in the blood of the Busné, for the
+Busné are made only to be robbed and to be slaughtered; but I love the
+Caloré, and I love to hear of things of the Caloré, especially from those
+of foreign lands; for the Caloré of foreign lands know more than we of
+Spain, and more resemble our fathers of old.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Have you ever met before with Caloré who were not Spaniards?’
+
+_Antonio_.—‘I will tell you, brother.  I served as a soldier in the war
+of the independence against the French.  War, it is true, is not the
+proper occupation of a Gitáno, but those were strange times, and all
+those who could bear arms were compelled to go forth to fight: so I went
+with the English armies, and we chased the Gabiné unto the frontier of
+France; and it happened once that we joined in desperate battle, and
+there was a confusion, and the two parties became intermingled and fought
+sword to sword and bayonet to bayonet, and a French soldier singled me
+out, and we fought for a long time, cutting, goring, and cursing each
+other, till at last we flung down our arms and grappled; long we
+wrestled, body to body, but I found that I was the weaker, and I fell.
+The French soldier’s knee was on my breast, and his grasp was on my
+throat, and he seized his bayonet, and he raised it to thrust me through
+the jaws; and his cap had fallen off, and I lifted up my eyes wildly to
+his face, and our eyes met, and I gave a loud shriek, and cried Zíncalo,
+Zíncalo! and I felt him shudder, and he relaxed his grasp and started up,
+and he smote his forehead and wept, and then he came to me and knelt down
+by my side, for I was almost dead, and he took my hand and called me
+Brother and Zíncalo, and he produced his flask and poured wine into my
+mouth, and I revived, and he raised me up, and led me from the concourse,
+and we sat down on a knoll, and the two parties were fighting all around,
+and he said, “Let the dogs fight, and tear each others’ throats till they
+are all destroyed, what matters it to the Zíncali? they are not of our
+blood, and shall that be shed for them?”  So we sat for hours on the
+knoll and discoursed on matters pertaining to our people; and I could
+have listened for years, for he told me secrets which made my ears
+tingle, and I soon found that I knew nothing, though I had before
+considered myself quite Zíncalo; but as for him, he knew the whole
+cuenta; the Bengui Lango {189} himself could have told him nothing but
+what he knew.  So we sat till the sun went down and the battle was over,
+and he proposed that we should both flee to his own country and live
+there with the Zíncali; but my heart failed me; so we embraced, and he
+departed to the Gabiné, whilst I returned to our own battalions.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Do you know from what country he came?’
+
+_Antonio_.—‘He told me that he was a Mayoro.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘You mean a Magyar or Hungarian.’
+
+_Antonio_.—‘Just so; and I have repented ever since that I did not follow
+him.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Why so?’
+
+_Antonio_.—‘I will tell you: the king has destroyed the law of the Calés,
+and has put disunion amongst us.  There was a time when the house of
+every Zíncalo, however rich, was open to his brother, though he came to
+him naked; and it was then the custom to boast of the “erráte.”  It is no
+longer so now: those who are rich keep aloof from the rest, will not
+speak in Calo, and will have no dealings but with the Busné.  Is there
+not a false brother in this foros, the only rich man among us, the swine,
+the balichow? he is married to a Busnee and he would fain appear as a
+Busno!  Tell me one thing, has he been to see you?  The white blood, I
+know he has not; he was afraid to see you, for he knew that by Gypsy law
+he was bound to take you to his house and feast you, whilst you remained,
+like a prince, like a crallis of the Calés, as I believe you are, even
+though he sold the last gras from the stall.  Who have come to see you,
+brother?  Have they not been such as Paco and his wife, wretches without
+a house, or, at best, one filled with cold and poverty; so that you have
+had to stay at a mesuna, at a posada of the Busné; and, moreover, what
+have the Calés given you since you have been residing here?  Nothing, I
+trow, better than this rubbish, which is all I can offer you, this
+Meligrána de los Bengues.’
+
+Here he produced a pomegranate from the pocket of his zamarra, and flung
+it on the table with such force that the fruit burst, and the red grains
+were scattered on the floor.
+
+The Gitános of Estremadura call themselves in general Chai or Chabos, and
+say that their original country was Chal or Egypt.  I frequently asked
+them what reason they could assign for calling themselves Egyptians, and
+whether they could remember the names of any places in their supposed
+fatherland; but I soon found that, like their brethren in other parts of
+the world, they were unable to give any rational account of themselves,
+and preserved no recollection of the places where their forefathers had
+wandered; their language, however, to a considerable extent, solved the
+riddle, the bulk of which being Hindui, pointed out India as the
+birthplace of their race, whilst the number of Persian, Sclavonian, and
+modern Greek words with which it is checkered, spoke plainly as to the
+countries through which these singular people had wandered before they
+arrived in Spain.
+
+They said that they believed themselves to be Egyptians, because their
+fathers before them believed so, who must know much better than
+themselves.  They were fond of talking of Egypt and its former greatness,
+though it was evident that they knew nothing farther of the country and
+its history than what they derived from spurious biblical legends current
+amongst the Spaniards; only from such materials could they have composed
+the following account of the manner of their expulsion from their native
+land.
+
+‘There was a great king in Egypt, and his name was Pharaoh.  He had
+numerous armies, with which he made war on all countries, and conquered
+them all.  And when he had conquered the entire world, he became sad and
+sorrowful; for as he delighted in war, he no longer knew on what to
+employ himself.  At last he bethought him on making war on God; so he
+sent a defiance to God, daring him to descend from the sky with his
+angels, and contend with Pharaoh and his armies; but God said, I will not
+measure my strength with that of a man.  But God was incensed against
+Pharaoh, and resolved to punish him; and he opened a hole in the side of
+an enormous mountain, and he raised a raging wind, and drove before it
+Pharaoh and his armies to that hole, and the abyss received them, and the
+mountain closed upon them; but whosoever goes to that mountain on the
+night of St. John can hear Pharaoh and his armies singing and yelling
+therein.  And it came to pass, that when Pharaoh and his armies had
+disappeared, all the kings and the nations which had become subject to
+Egypt revolted against Egypt, which, having lost her king and her armies,
+was left utterly without defence; and they made war against her, and
+prevailed against her, and took her people and drove them forth,
+dispersing them over all the world.’
+
+So that now, say the Chai, ‘Our horses drink the water of the
+Guadiana’—(Apilyela gras Chai la panee Lucalee).
+
+
+‘THE STEEDS OF THE EGYPTIANS DRINK THE WATERS OF THE GUADIANA
+
+
+    ‘The region of Chal was our dear native soil,
+    Where in fulness of pleasure we lived without toil;
+    Till dispersed through all lands, ’twas our fortune to be—
+    Our steeds, Guadiana, must now drink of thee.
+
+    ‘Once kings came from far to kneel down at our gate,
+    And princes rejoic’d on our meanest to wait;
+    But now who so mean but would scorn our degree—
+    Our steeds, Guadiana, must now drink of thee.
+
+    ‘For the Undebel saw, from his throne in the cloud,
+    That our deeds they were foolish, our hearts they were proud;
+    And in anger he bade us his presence to flee—
+    Our steeds, Guadiana, must now drink of thee.
+
+    ‘Our horses should drink of no river but one;
+    It sparkles through Chal, ’neath the smile of the sun,
+    But they taste of all streams save that only, and see—
+    Apilyela gras Chai la panee Lucalee.’
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+IN Madrid the Gitános chiefly reside in the neighbourhood of the
+‘mercado,’ or the place where horses and other animals are sold,—in two
+narrow and dirty lanes, called the Calle de la Comadre and the Callejon
+de Lavapies.  It is said that at the beginning of last century Madrid
+abounded with these people, who, by their lawless behaviour and dissolute
+lives, gave occasion to great scandal; if such were the case, their
+numbers must have considerably diminished since that period, as it would
+be difficult at any time to collect fifty throughout Madrid.  These
+Gitános seem, for the most part, to be either Valencians or of Valencian
+origin, as they in general either speak or understand the dialect of
+Valencia; and whilst speaking their own peculiar jargon, the Rommany, are
+in the habit of making use of many Valencian words and terms.
+
+                            [Picture: Seville]
+
+The manner of life of the Gitános of Madrid differs in no material
+respect from that of their brethren in other places.  The men, every
+market-day, are to be seen on the skirts of the mercado, generally with
+some miserable animal—for example, a foundered mule or galled borrico, by
+means of which they seldom fail to gain a dollar or two, either by sale
+or exchange.  It must not, however, be supposed that they content
+themselves with such paltry earnings.  Provided they have any valuable
+animal, which is not unfrequently the case, they invariably keep such at
+home snug in the stall, conducting thither the chapman, should they find
+any, and concluding the bargain with the greatest secrecy.  Their general
+reason for this conduct is an unwillingness to exhibit anything
+calculated to excite the jealousy of the chalans, or jockeys of Spanish
+blood, who on the slightest umbrage are in the habit of ejecting them
+from the fair by force of palos or cudgels, in which violence the chalans
+are to a certain extent countenanced by law; for though by the edict of
+Carlos the Third the Gitános were in other respects placed upon an
+equality with the rest of the Spaniards, they were still forbidden to
+obtain their livelihood by the traffic of markets and fairs.
+
+They have occasionally however another excellent reason for not exposing
+the animal in the public mercado—having obtained him by dishonest means.
+The stealing, concealing, and receiving animals when stolen, are
+inveterate Gypsy habits, and are perhaps the last from which the Gitáno
+will be reclaimed, or will only cease when the race has become extinct.
+In the prisons of Madrid, either in that of the Saladero or De la Corte,
+there are never less than a dozen Gitános immured for stolen horses or
+mules being found in their possession, which themselves or their
+connections have spirited away from the neighbouring villages, or
+sometimes from a considerable distance.  I say spirited away, for so well
+do the thieves take their measures, and watch their opportunity, that
+they are seldom or never taken in the fact.
+
+The Madrilenian Gypsy women are indefatigable in the pursuit of prey,
+prowling about the town and the suburbs from morning till night, entering
+houses of all descriptions, from the highest to the lowest; telling
+fortunes, or attempting to play off various kinds of Gypsy tricks, from
+which they derive much greater profit, and of which we shall presently
+have occasion to make particular mention.
+
+From Madrid let us proceed to Andalusia, casting a cursory glance on the
+Gitános of that country.  I found them very numerous at Granada, which in
+the Gitáno language is termed Meligrana.  Their general condition in this
+place is truly miserable, far exceeding in wretchedness the state of the
+tribes of Estremadura.  It is right to state that Granada itself is the
+poorest city in Spain; the greatest part of the population, which exceeds
+sixty thousand, living in beggary and nakedness, and the Gitános share in
+the general distress.
+
+                  [Picture: The Gypsy Smith of Granada]
+
+Many of them reside in caves scooped in the sides of the ravines which
+lead to the higher regions of the Alpujarras, on a skirt of which stands
+Granada.  A common occupation of the Gitános of Granada is working in
+iron, and it is not unfrequent to find these caves tenanted by Gypsy
+smiths and their families, who ply the hammer and forge in the bowels of
+the earth.  To one standing at the mouth of the cave, especially at
+night, they afford a picturesque spectacle.  Gathered round the forge,
+their bronzed and naked bodies, illuminated by the flame, appear like
+figures of demons; while the cave, with its flinty sides and uneven roof,
+blackened by the charcoal vapours which hover about it in festoons, seems
+to offer no inadequate representation of fabled purgatory.  Working in
+iron was an occupation strictly forbidden to the Gitános by the ancient
+laws, on what account does not exactly appear; though, perhaps, the trade
+of the smith was considered as too much akin to that of the chalan to be
+permitted to them.  The Gypsy smith of Granada is still a chalan, even as
+his brother in England is a jockey and tinker alternately.
+
+Whilst speaking of the Gitános of Granada, we cannot pass by in silence a
+tragedy which occurred in this town amongst them, some fifteen years ago,
+and the details of which are known to every Gitáno in Spain, from
+Catalonia to Estremadura.  We allude to the murder of Pindamonas by Pepe
+Conde.  Both these individuals were Gitános; the latter was a celebrated
+contrabandista, of whom many remarkable tales are told.  On one occasion,
+having committed some enormous crime, he fled over to Barbary and turned
+Moor, and was employed by the Moorish emperor in his wars, in company
+with the other renegade Spaniards, whose grand depôt or presidio is the
+town of Agurey in the kingdom of Fez.  After the lapse of some years,
+when his crime was nearly forgotten, he returned to Granada, where he
+followed his old occupations of contrabandista and chalan.  Pindamonas
+was a Gitáno of considerable wealth, and was considered as the most
+respectable of the race at Granada, amongst whom he possessed
+considerable influence.  Between this man and Pepe Conde there existed a
+jealousy, especially on the part of the latter, who, being a man of proud
+untamable spirit, could not well brook a superior amongst his own people.
+It chanced one day that Pindamonas and other Gitános, amongst whom was
+Pepe Conde, were in a coffee-house.  After they had all partaken of some
+refreshment, they called for the reckoning, the amount of which
+Pindamonas insisted on discharging.  It will be necessary here to
+observe, that on such occasions in Spain it is considered as a species of
+privilege to be allowed to pay, which is an honour generally claimed by
+the principal man of the party.  Pepe Conde did not fail to take umbrage
+at the attempt of Pindamonas, which he considered as an undue assumption
+of superiority, and put in his own claim; but Pindamonas insisted, and at
+last flung down the money on the table, whereupon Pepe Conde instantly
+unclasped one of those terrible Manchegan knives which are generally
+carried by the contrabandistas, and with a frightful gash opened the
+abdomen of Pindamonas, who presently expired.
+
+            [Picture: The Murder of Pindamonas by Pepe Conde]
+
+After this exploit, Pepe Conde fled, and was not seen for some time.  The
+cave, however, in which he had been in the habit of residing was watched,
+as a belief was entertained that sooner or later he would return to it,
+in the hope of being able to remove some of the property contained in it.
+This belief was well founded.  Early one morning he was observed to enter
+it, and a band of soldiers was instantly despatched to seize him.  This
+circumstance is alluded to in a Gypsy stanza:—
+
+    ‘Fly, Pepe Conde, seek the hill;
+       To flee’s thy only chance;
+    With bayonets fixed, thy blood to spill,
+       See soldiers four advance.’
+
+And before the soldiers could arrive at the cave, Pepe Conde had
+discovered their approach and fled, endeavouring to make his escape
+amongst the rocks and barrancos of the Alpujarras.  The soldiers
+instantly pursued, and the chase continued a considerable time.  The
+fugitive was repeatedly summoned to surrender himself, but refusing, the
+soldiers at last fired, and four balls entered the heart of the Gypsy
+contrabandista and murderer.
+
+Once at Madrid I received a letter from the sister’s son of Pindamonas,
+dated from the prison of the Saladero.  In this letter the writer, who it
+appears was in durance for stealing a pair of mules, craved my charitable
+assistance and advice; and possibly in the hope of securing my favour,
+forwarded some uncouth lines commemorative of the death of his relation,
+and commencing thus:—
+
+    ‘The death of Pindamonas fill’d all the world with pain;
+    At the coffee-house’s portal, by Pepe he was slain.’
+
+The faubourg of Triana, in Seville, has from time immemorial been noted
+as a favourite residence of the Gitános; and here, at the present day,
+they are to be found in greater number than in any other town in Spain.
+This faubourg is indeed chiefly inhabited by desperate characters, as,
+besides the Gitános, the principal part of the robber population of
+Seville is here congregated.  Perhaps there is no part even of Naples
+where crime so much abounds, and the law is so little respected, as at
+Triana, the character of whose inmates was so graphically delineated two
+centuries and a half back by Cervantes, in one of the most amusing of his
+tales. {199}
+
+In the vilest lanes of this suburb, amidst dilapidated walls and ruined
+convents, exists the grand colony of Spanish Gitános.  Here they may be
+seen wielding the hammer; here they may be seen trimming the fetlocks of
+horses, or shearing the backs of mules and borricos with their cachas;
+and from hence they emerge to ply the same trade in the town, or to
+officiate as terceros, or to buy, sell, or exchange animals in the
+mercado, and the women to tell the bahi through the streets, even as in
+other parts of Spain, generally attended by one or two tawny bantlings in
+their arms or by their sides; whilst others, with baskets and
+chafing-pans, proceed to the delightful banks of the Len Baro, {200} by
+the Golden Tower, where, squatting on the ground and kindling their
+charcoal, they roast the chestnuts which, when well prepared, are the
+favourite bonne bouche of the Sevillians; whilst not a few, in league
+with the contrabandistas, go from door to door offering for sale
+prohibited goods brought from the English at Gibraltar.  Such is Gitáno
+life at Seville; such it is in the capital of Andalusia.
+
+      [Picture: Roasting Chestnuts by the side of the Guadalquiver]
+
+It is the common belief of the Gitános of other provinces that in
+Andalusia the language, customs, habits, and practices peculiar to their
+race are best preserved.  This opinion, which probably originated from
+the fact of their being found in greater numbers in this province than in
+any other, may hold good in some instances, but certainly not in all.  In
+various parts of Spain I have found the Gitános retaining their primitive
+language and customs better than in Seville, where they most abound:
+indeed, it is not plain that their number has operated at all favourably
+in this respect.  At Cordova, a town at the distance of twenty leagues
+from Seville, which scarcely contains a dozen Gitáno families, I found
+them living in much more brotherly amity, and cherishing in a greater
+degree the observances of their forefathers.
+
+I shall long remember these Cordovese Gitános, by whom I was very well
+received, but always on the supposition that I was one of their own race.
+They said that they never admitted strangers to their houses save at
+their marriage festivals, when they flung their doors open to all, and
+save occasionally people of influence and distinction, who wished to hear
+their songs and converse with their women; but they assured me, at the
+same time, that these they invariably deceived, and merely made use of as
+instruments to serve their own purposes.  As for myself, I was admitted
+without scruple to their private meetings, and was made a participator of
+their most secret thoughts.  During our intercourse some remarkable
+scenes occurred.  One night more than twenty of us, men and women, were
+assembled in a long low room on the ground floor, in a dark alley or
+court in the old gloomy town of Cordova.  After the Gitános had discussed
+several jockey plans, and settled some private bargains amongst
+themselves, we all gathered round a huge brasero of flaming charcoal, and
+began conversing _sobre las cosas de Egypto_, when I proposed that, as we
+had no better means of amusing ourselves, we should endeavour to turn
+into the Calo language some pieces of devotion, that we might see whether
+this language, the gradual decay of which I had frequently heard them
+lament, was capable of expressing any other matters than those which
+related to horses, mules, and Gypsy traffic.  It was in this cautious
+manner that I first endeavoured to divert the attention of these singular
+people to matters of eternal importance.  My suggestion was received with
+acclamations, and we forthwith proceeded to the translation of the
+Apostles’ creed.  I first recited in Spanish, in the usual manner and
+without pausing, this noble confession, and then repeated it again,
+sentence by sentence, the Gitános translating as I proceeded.  They
+exhibited the greatest eagerness and interest in their unwonted
+occupation, and frequently broke into loud disputes as to the best
+rendering—many being offered at the same time.  In the meanwhile, I wrote
+down from their dictation; and at the conclusion I read aloud the
+translation, the result of the united wisdom of the assembly, whereupon
+they all raised a shout of exultation, and appeared not a little proud of
+the composition.
+
+The Cordovese Gitános are celebrated esquiladors.  Connected with them
+and the exercise of the _arte de esquilar_, in Gypsy monrabar, I have a
+curious anecdote to relate.  In the first place, however, it may not be
+amiss to say something about the art itself, of all relating to which it
+is possible that the reader may be quite ignorant.
+
+Nothing is more deserving of remark in Spanish grooming than the care
+exhibited in clipping and trimming various parts of the horse, where the
+growth of hair is considered as prejudicial to the perfect health and
+cleanliness of the animal, particular attention being always paid to the
+pastern, that part of the foot which lies between the fetlock and the
+hoof, to guard against the arestin—that cutaneous disorder which is the
+dread of the Spanish groom, on which account the services of a skilful
+esquilador are continually in requisition.
+
+The esquilador, when proceeding to the exercise of his vocation,
+generally carries under his arm a small box containing the instruments
+necessary, and which consist principally of various pairs of scissors,
+and the _aciál_, two short sticks tied together with whipcord at the end,
+by means of which the lower lip of the horse, should he prove restive, is
+twisted, and the animal reduced to speedy subjection.  In the girdle of
+the esquilador are stuck the large scissors called in Spanish _tijeras_,
+and in the Gypsy tongue _cachas_, with which he principally works.  He
+operates upon the backs, ears, and tails of mules and borricos, which are
+invariably sheared quite bare, that if the animals are galled, either by
+their harness or the loads which they carry, the wounds may be less
+liable to fester, and be more easy to cure.  Whilst engaged with horses,
+he confines himself to the feet and ears.  The esquiladores in the two
+Castiles, and in those provinces where the Gitános do not abound, are for
+the most part Aragonese; but in the others, and especially in Andalusia,
+they are of the Gypsy race.  The Gitános are in general very expert in
+the use of the cachas, which they handle in a manner practised nowhere
+but in Spain; and with this instrument the poorer class principally
+obtain their bread.
+
+In one of their couplets allusion is made to this occupation in the
+following manner:—
+
+    ‘I’ll rise to-morrow bread to earn,
+       For hunger’s worn me grim;
+    Of all I meet I’ll ask in turn,
+       If they’ve no beasts to trim.’
+
+Sometimes, whilst shearing the foot of a horse, exceedingly small
+scissors are necessary for the purpose of removing fine solitary hairs;
+for a Spanish groom will tell you that a horse’s foot behind ought to be
+kept as clean and smooth as the hand of a señora: such scissors can only
+be procured at Madrid.  My sending two pair of this kind to a Cordovese
+Gypsy, from whom I had experienced much attention whilst in that city,
+was the occasion of my receiving a singular epistle from another whom I
+scarcely knew, and which I shall insert as being an original Gypsy
+composition, and in some points not a little characteristic of the people
+of whom I am now writing.
+
+                                      ‘Cordova, 20th day of January, 1837.
+
+    ‘SEÑOR DON JORGE,
+
+    ‘After saluting you and hoping that you are well, I proceed to tell
+    you that the two pair of scissors arrived at this town of Cordova
+    with him whom you sent them by; but, unfortunately, they were given
+    to another Gypsy, whom you neither knew nor spoke to nor saw in your
+    life; for it chanced that he who brought them was a friend of mine,
+    and he told me that he had brought two pair of scissors which an
+    Englishman had given him for the Gypsies; whereupon I, understanding
+    it was yourself, instantly said to him, “Those scissors are for me”;
+    he told me, however, that he had already given them to another, and
+    he is a Gypsy who was not even in Cordova during the time you were.
+    Nevertheless, Don Jorge, I am very grateful for your thus remembering
+    me, although I did not receive your present, and in order that you
+    may know who I am, my name is Antonio Salazar, a man pitted with the
+    small-pox, and the very first who spoke to you in Cordova in the
+    posada where you were; and you told me to come and see you next day
+    at eleven, and I went, and we conversed together alone.  Therefore I
+    should wish you to do me the favour to send me scissors for trimming
+    beasts,—good scissors, mind you,—such would be a very great favour,
+    and I should be ever grateful, for here in Cordova there are none, or
+    if there be, they are good for nothing.  Señor Don Jorge, you
+    remember I told you that I was an esquilador by trade, and only by
+    that I got bread for my babes.  Señor Don Jorge, if you do send me
+    the scissors for trimming, pray write and direct to the alley De la
+    Londiga, No. 28, to Antonio Salazar, in Cordova.  This is what I have
+    to tell you, and do you ever command your trusty servant, who kisses
+    your hand and is eager to serve you.
+
+                                                        ‘ANTONIO SALAZAR.’
+
+                                FIRST COUPLET
+
+    ‘That I may clip and trim the beasts, a pair of cachas grant,
+    If not, I fear my luckless babes will perish all of want.’
+
+                                SECOND COUPLET
+
+    ‘If thou a pair of cachas grant, that I my babes may feed,
+    I’ll pray to the Almighty God, that thee he ever speed.’
+
+It is by no means my intention to describe the exact state and condition
+of the Gitános in every town and province where they are to be found;
+perhaps, indeed, it will be considered that I have already been more
+circumstantial and particular than the case required.  The other
+districts which they inhabit are principally those of Catalonia, Murcia,
+and Valencia; and they are likewise to be met with in the Basque
+provinces, where they are called Egipcioac, or Egyptians.  What I next
+purpose to occupy myself with are some general observations on the
+habits, and the physical and moral state of the Gitános throughout Spain,
+and of the position which they hold in society.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+ALREADY, from the two preceding chapters, it will have been perceived
+that the condition of the Gitános in Spain has been subjected of late to
+considerable modification.  The words of the Gypsy of Badajoz are indeed,
+in some respects, true; they are no longer the people that they were; the
+roads and ‘despoblados’ have ceased to be infested by them, and the
+traveller is no longer exposed to much danger on their account; they at
+present confine themselves, for the most part, to towns and villages, and
+if they occasionally wander abroad, it is no longer in armed bands,
+formidable for their numbers, and carrying terror and devastation in all
+directions, bivouacking near solitary villages, and devouring the
+substance of the unfortunate inhabitants, or occasionally threatening
+even large towns, as in the singular case of Logroño, mentioned by
+Francisco de Cordova.  As the reader will probably wish to know the cause
+of this change in the lives and habits of these people, we shall, as
+briefly as possible, afford as much information on the subject as the
+amount of our knowledge will permit.
+
+One fact has always struck us with particular force in the history of
+these people, namely, that Gitanismo—which means Gypsy villainy of every
+description—flourished and knew nothing of decay so long as the laws
+recommended and enjoined measures the most harsh and severe for the
+suppression of the Gypsy sect; the palmy days of Gitanismo were those in
+which the caste was proscribed, and its members, in the event of
+renouncing their Gypsy habits, had nothing farther to expect than the
+occupation of tilling the earth, a dull hopeless toil; then it was that
+the Gitános paid tribute to the inferior ministers of justice, and were
+engaged in illicit connection with those of higher station, and by such
+means baffled the law, whose vengeance rarely fell upon their heads; and
+then it was that they bid it open defiance, retiring to the deserts and
+mountains, and living in wild independence by rapine and shedding of
+blood; for as the law then stood they would lose all by resigning their
+Gitanismo, whereas by clinging to it they lived either in the
+independence so dear to them, or beneath the protection of their
+confederates.  It would appear that in proportion as the law was harsh
+and severe, so was the Gitáno bold and secure.  The fiercest of these
+laws was the one of Philip the Fifth, passed in the year 1745, which
+commands that the refractory Gitános be hunted down with fire and sword;
+that it was quite inefficient is satisfactorily proved by its being twice
+reiterated, once in the year ‘46, and again in ‘49, which would scarcely
+have been deemed necessary had it quelled the Gitános.  This law, with
+some unimportant modifications, continued in force till the year ‘83,
+when the famous edict of Carlos Tercero superseded it.  Will any feel
+disposed to doubt that the preceding laws had served to foster what they
+were intended to suppress, when we state the remarkable fact, that since
+the enactment of that law, as humane as the others were unjust, _we have
+heard nothing more of the Gitános from official quarters_; _they have
+ceased to play a distinct part in the history of Spain_; _and the law no
+longer speaks of them as a distinct people_?  The caste of the Gitáno
+still exists, but it is neither so extensive nor so formidable as a
+century ago, when the law in denouncing Gitanismo proposed to the Gitános
+the alternatives of death for persisting in their profession, or slavery
+for abandoning it.
+
+There are fierce and discontented spirits amongst them, who regret such
+times, and say that Gypsy law is now no more, that the Gypsy no longer
+assists his brother, and that union has ceased among them.  If this be
+true, can better proof be adduced of the beneficial working of the later
+law?  A blessing has been conferred on society, and in a manner highly
+creditable to the spirit of modern times; reform has been accomplished,
+not by persecution, not by the gibbet and the rack, but by justice and
+tolerance.  The traveller has flung aside his cloak, not compelled by the
+angry buffeting of the north wind, but because the mild, benignant
+weather makes such a defence no longer necessary.  The law no longer
+compels the Gitános to stand back to back, on the principal of mutual
+defence, and to cling to Gitanismo to escape from servitude and thraldom.
+
+Taking everything into consideration, and viewing the subject in all its
+bearings with an impartial glance, we are compelled to come to the
+conclusion that the law of Carlos Tercero, the provisions of which were
+distinguished by justice and clemency, has been the principal if not the
+only cause of the decline of Gitanismo in Spain.  Some importance ought
+to be attached to the opinion of the Gitános themselves on this point.
+‘El Crallis ha nicobado la liri de los Cales,’ is a proverbial saying
+among them.  By Crallis, or King, they mean Carlos Tercero, so that the
+saying, the proverbial saying, may be thus translated: _The Law of Carlos
+Tercero has superseded Gypsy Law_.
+
+By the law the schools are open to them, and there is no art or science
+which they may not pursue, if they are willing.  Have they availed
+themselves of the rights which the law has conferred upon them?
+
+Up to the present period but little—they still continue jockeys and
+blacksmiths; but some of these Gypsy chalans, these bronzed smiths, these
+wild-looking esquiladors, can read or write in the proportion of one man
+in three or four; what more can be expected?  Would you have the Gypsy
+bantling, born in filth and misery, ‘midst mules and borricos, amidst the
+mud of a choza or the sand of a barranco, grasp with its swarthy hands
+the crayon and easel, the compass, or the microscope, or the tube which
+renders more distinct the heavenly orbs, and essay to become a Murillo,
+or a Feijoo, or a Lorenzo de Hervas, as soon as the legal disabilities
+are removed which doomed him to be a thievish jockey or a sullen
+husbandman?  Much will have been accomplished, if, after the lapse of a
+hundred years, one hundred human beings shall have been evolved from the
+Gypsy stock, who shall prove sober, honest, and useful members of
+society,—that stock so degraded, so inveterate in wickedness and evil
+customs, and so hardened by brutalising laws.  Should so many beings,
+should so many souls be rescued from temporal misery and eternal woe;
+should only the half of that number, should only the tenth, nay, should
+only one poor wretched sheep be saved, there will be joy in heaven, for
+much will have been accomplished on earth, and those lines will have been
+in part falsified which filled the stout heart of Mahmoud with dismay:—
+
+    ‘For the root that’s unclean, hope if you can;
+    No washing e’er whitens the black Zigan:
+    The tree that’s bitter by birth and race,
+    If in paradise garden to grow you place,
+    And water it free with nectar and wine,
+    From streams in paradise meads that shine,
+    At the end its nature it still declares,
+    For bitter is all the fruit it bears.
+    If the egg of the raven of noxious breed
+    You place ‘neath the paradise bird, and feed
+    The splendid fowl upon its nest,
+    With immortal figs, the food of the blest,
+    And give it to drink from Silisbél, {211}
+    Whilst life in the egg breathes Gabriél,
+    A raven, a raven, the egg shall bear,
+    And the fostering bird shall waste its care.’—
+
+                                                                 FERDOUSI.
+
+The principal evidence which the Gitános have hitherto given that a
+partial reformation has been effected in their habits, is the
+relinquishment, in a great degree, of that wandering life of which the
+ancient laws were continually complaining, and which was the cause of
+infinite evils, and tended not a little to make the roads insecure.
+
+Doubtless there are those who will find some difficulty in believing that
+the mild and conciliatory clauses of the law in question could have much
+effect in weaning the Gitános from this inveterate habit, and will be
+more disposed to think that this relinquishment was effected by energetic
+measures resorted to by the government, to compel them to remain in their
+places of location.  It does not appear, however, that such measures were
+ever resorted to.  Energy, indeed, in the removal of a nuisance, is
+scarcely to be expected from Spaniards under any circumstances.  All we
+can say on the subject, with certainty, is, that since the repeal of the
+tyrannical laws, wandering has considerably decreased among the Gitános.
+
+Since the law has ceased to brand them, they have come nearer to the
+common standard of humanity, and their general condition has been
+ameliorated.  At present, only the very poorest, the parias of the race,
+are to be found wandering about the heaths and mountains, and this only
+in the summer time, and their principal motive, according to their own
+confession, is to avoid the expense of house rent; the rest remain at
+home, following their avocations, unless some immediate prospect of gain,
+lawful or unlawful, calls them forth; and such is frequently the case.
+They attend most fairs, women and men, and on the way frequently bivouac
+in the fields, but this practice must not be confounded with systematic
+wandering.
+
+Gitanismo, therefore, has not been extinguished, only modified; but that
+modification has been effected within the memory of man, whilst
+previously near four centuries elapsed, during which no reform had been
+produced amongst them by the various measures devised, all of which were
+distinguished by an absence not only of true policy, but of common-sense;
+it is therefore to be hoped, that if the Gitános are abandoned to
+themselves, by which we mean no arbitrary laws are again enacted for
+their extinction, the sect will eventually cease to be, and its members
+become confounded with the residue of the population; for certainly no
+Christian nor merely philanthropic heart can desire the continuance of
+any sect or association of people whose fundamental principle seems to be
+to hate all the rest of mankind, and to live by deceiving them; and such
+is the practice of the Gitános.
+
+During the last five years, owing to the civil wars, the ties which unite
+society have been considerably relaxed; the law has been trampled under
+foot, and the greatest part of Spain overrun with robbers and miscreants,
+who, under pretence of carrying on partisan warfare, and not unfrequently
+under no pretence at all, have committed the most frightful excesses,
+plundering and murdering the defenceless.  Such a state of things would
+have afforded the Gitános a favourable opportunity to resume their former
+kind of life, and to levy contributions as formerly, wandering about in
+bands.  Certain it is, however, that they have not sought to repeat their
+ancient excesses, taking advantage of the troubles of the country; they
+have gone on, with a few exceptions, quietly pursuing that part of their
+system to which they still cling, their jockeyism, which, though based on
+fraud and robbery, is far preferable to wandering brigandage, which
+necessarily involves the frequent shedding of blood.  Can better proof be
+adduced, that Gitanismo owes its decline, in Spain, not to force, not to
+persecution, not to any want of opportunity of exercising it, but to some
+other cause?—and we repeat that we consider the principal if not the only
+cause of the decline of Gitanismo to be the conferring on the Gitános the
+rights and privileges of other subjects.
+
+We have said that the Gitános have not much availed themselves of the
+permission, which the law grants them, of embarking in various spheres of
+life.  They remain jockeys, but they have ceased to be wanderers; and the
+grand object of the law is accomplished.  The law forbids them to be
+jockeys, or to follow the trade of trimming and shearing animals, without
+some other visible mode of subsistence.  This provision, except in a few
+isolated instances, they evade; and the law seeks not, and perhaps
+wisely, to disturb them, content with having achieved so much.  The chief
+evils of Gitanismo which still remain consist in the systematic frauds of
+the Gypsy jockeys and the tricks of the women.  It is incurring
+considerable risk to purchase a horse or a mule, even from the most
+respectable Gitáno, without a previous knowledge of the animal and his
+former possessor, the chances being that it is either diseased or stolen
+from a distance.  Of the practices of the females, something will be said
+in particular in a future chapter.
+
+The Gitános in general are very poor, a pair of large cachas and various
+scissors of a smaller description constituting their whole capital;
+occasionally a good hit is made, as they call it, but the money does not
+last long, being quickly squandered in feasting and revelry.  He who has
+habitually in his house a couple of donkeys is considered a thriving
+Gitáno; there are some, however, who are wealthy in the strict sense of
+the word, and carry on a very extensive trade in horses and mules.
+These, occasionally, visit the most distant fairs, traversing the
+greatest part of Spain.  There is a celebrated cattle-fair held at Leon
+on St. John’s or Midsummer Day, and on one of these occasions, being
+present, I observed a small family of Gitános, consisting of a man of
+about fifty, a female of the same age, and a handsome young Gypsy, who
+was their son; they were richly dressed after the Gypsy fashion, the men
+wearing zamarras with massy clasps and knobs of silver, and the woman a
+species of riding-dress with much gold embroidery, and having immense
+gold rings attached to her ears.  They came from Murcia, a distance of
+one hundred leagues and upwards.  Some merchants, to whom I was
+recommended, informed me that they had credit on their house to the
+amount of twenty thousand dollars.
+
+They experienced rough treatment in the fair, and on a very singular
+account: immediately on their appearing on the ground, the horses in the
+fair, which, perhaps, amounted to three thousand, were seized with a
+sudden and universal panic; it was one of those strange incidents for
+which it is difficult to assign a rational cause; but a panic there was
+amongst the brutes, and a mighty one; the horses neighed, screamed, and
+plunged, endeavouring to escape in all directions; some appeared
+absolutely possessed, stamping and tearing, their manes and tails stiffly
+erect, like the bristles of the wild boar—many a rider lost his seat.
+When the panic had ceased, and it did cease almost as suddenly as it had
+arisen, the Gitános were forthwith accused as the authors of it; it was
+said that they intended to steal the best horses during the confusion,
+and the keepers of the ground, assisted by a rabble of chalans, who had
+their private reasons for hating the Gitános, drove them off the field
+with sticks and cudgels.  So much for having a bad name.
+
+These wealthy Gitános, when they are not ashamed of their blood or
+descent, and are not addicted to proud fancies, or ‘barbales,’ as they
+are called, possess great influence with the rest of their brethren,
+almost as much as the rabbins amongst the Jews; their bidding is
+considered law, and the other Gitános are at their devotion.  On the
+contrary, when they prefer the society of the Busné to that of their own
+race, and refuse to assist their less fortunate brethren in poverty or in
+prison, they are regarded with unbounded contempt and abhorrence, as in
+the case of the rich Gypsy of Badajoz, and are not unfrequently doomed to
+destruction: such characters are mentioned in their couplets:—
+
+    ‘The Gypsy fiend of Manga mead,
+       Who never gave a straw,
+    He would destroy, for very greed,
+       The good Egyptian law.
+
+    ‘The false Juanito day and night
+       Had best with caution go;
+    The Gypsy carles of Yeira height
+       Have sworn to lay him low.’
+
+However some of the Gitános may complain that there is no longer union to
+be found amongst them, there is still much of that fellow-feeling which
+springs from a consciousness of proceeding from one common origin, or, as
+they love to term it, ‘blood.’  At present their system exhibits less of
+a commonwealth than when they roamed in bands amongst the wilds, and
+principally subsisted by foraging, each individual contributing to the
+common stock, according to his success.  The interests of individuals are
+now more distinct, and that close connection is of course dissolved which
+existed when they wandered about, and their dangers, gains, and losses
+were felt in common; and it can never be too often repeated that they are
+no longer a proscribed race, with no rights nor safety save what they
+gained by a close and intimate union.  Nevertheless, the Gitáno, though
+he naturally prefers his own interest to that of his brother, and envies
+him his gain when he does not expect to share in it, is at all times
+ready to side with him against the Busno, because the latter is not a
+Gitáno, but of a different blood, and for no other reason.  When one
+Gitáno confides his plans to another, he is in no fear that they will be
+betrayed to the Busno, for whom there is no sympathy, and when a plan is
+to be executed which requires co-operation, they seek not the fellowship
+of the Busné, but of each other, and if successful, share the gain like
+brothers.
+
+As a proof of the fraternal feeling which is not unfrequently displayed
+amongst the Gitános, I shall relate a circumstance which occurred at
+Cordova a year or two before I first visited it.  One of the poorest of
+the Gitános murdered a Spaniard with the fatal Manchegan knife; for this
+crime he was seized, tried, and found guilty.  Blood-shedding in Spain is
+not looked upon with much abhorrence, and the life of the culprit is
+seldom taken, provided he can offer a bribe sufficient to induce the
+notary public to report favourably upon his case; but in this instance
+money was of no avail; the murdered individual left behind him powerful
+friends and connections, who were determined that justice should take its
+course.  It was in vain that the Gitános exerted all their influence with
+the authorities in behalf of their comrade, and such influence was not
+slight; it was in vain that they offered extravagant sums that the
+punishment of death might be commuted to perpetual slavery in the dreary
+presidio of Ceuta; I was credibly informed that one of the richest
+Gitános, by name Fruto, offered for his own share of the ransom the sum
+of five thousand crowns, whilst there was not an individual but
+contributed according to his means—nought availed, and the Gypsy was
+executed in the Plaza.  The day before the execution, the Gitános,
+perceiving that the fate of their brother was sealed, one and all quitted
+Cordova, shutting up their houses and carrying with them their horses,
+their mules, their borricos, their wives and families, and the greatest
+part of their household furniture.  No one knew whither they directed
+their course, nor were they seen in Cordova for some months, when they
+again suddenly made their appearance; a few, however, never returned.  So
+great was the horror of the Gitános at what had occurred, that they were
+in the habit of saying that the place was cursed for evermore; and when I
+knew them, there were many amongst them who, on no account, would enter
+the Plaza which had witnessed the disgraceful end of their unfortunate
+brother.
+
+The position which the Gitános hold in society in Spain is the lowest, as
+might be expected; they are considered at best as thievish chalans, and
+the women as half sorceresses, and in every respect thieves; there is not
+a wretch, however vile, the outcast of the prison and the presidio, who
+calls himself Spaniard, but would feel insulted by being termed Gitáno,
+and would thank God that he is not; and yet, strange to say, there are
+numbers, and those of the higher classes, who seek their company, and
+endeavour to imitate their manners and way of speaking.  The connections
+which they form with the Spaniards are not many; occasionally some
+wealthy Gitáno marries a Spanish female, but to find a Gitána united to a
+Spaniard is a thing of the rarest occurrence, if it ever takes place.  It
+is, of course, by intermarriage alone that the two races will ever
+commingle, and before that event is brought about, much modification must
+take place amongst the Gitános, in their manners, in their habits, in
+their affections, and their dislikes, and, perhaps, even in their
+physical peculiarities; much must be forgotten on both sides, and
+everything is forgotten in the course of time.
+
+The number of the Gitáno population of Spain at the present day may be
+estimated at about forty thousand.  At the commencement of the present
+century it was said to amount to sixty thousand.  There can be no doubt
+that the sect is by no means so numerous as it was at former periods;
+witness those barrios in various towns still denominated Gitánerias, but
+from whence the Gitános have disappeared even like the Moors from the
+Morerias.  Whether this diminution in number has been the result of a
+partial change of habits, of pestilence or sickness, of war or famine, or
+of all these causes combined, we have no means of determining, and shall
+abstain from offering conjectures on the subject.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+IN the autumn of the year 1839, I landed at Tarifa, from the coast of
+Barbary.  I arrived in a small felouk laden with hides for Cadiz, to
+which place I was myself going.  We stopped at Tarifa in order to perform
+quarantine, which, however, turned out a mere farce, as we were all
+permitted to come on shore; the master of the felouk having bribed the
+port captain with a few fowls.  We formed a motley group.  A rich Moor
+and his son, a child, with their Jewish servant Yusouf, and myself with
+my own man Hayim Ben Attar, a Jew.  After passing through the gate, the
+Moors and their domestics were conducted by the master to the house of
+one of his acquaintance, where he intended they should lodge; whilst a
+sailor was despatched with myself and Hayim to the only inn which the
+place afforded.  I stopped in the street to speak to a person whom I had
+known at Seville.  Before we had concluded our discourse, Hayim, who had
+walked forward, returned, saying that the quarters were good, and that we
+were in high luck, for that he knew the people of the inn were Jews.
+‘Jews,’ said I, ‘here in Tarifa, and keeping an inn, I should be glad to
+see them.’  So I left my acquaintance, and hastened to the house.  We
+first entered a stable, of which the ground floor of the building
+consisted, and ascending a flight of stairs entered a very large room,
+and from thence passed into a kitchen, in which were several people.  One
+of these was a stout, athletic, burly fellow of about fifty, dressed in a
+buff jerkin, and dark cloth pantaloons.  His hair was black as a coal and
+exceedingly bushy, his face much marked from some disorder, and his skin
+as dark as that of a toad.  A very tall woman stood by the dresser, much
+resembling him in feature, with the same hair and complexion, but with
+more intelligence in her eyes than the man, who looked heavy and dogged.
+A dark woman, whom I subsequently discovered to be lame, sat in a corner,
+and two or three swarthy girls, from fifteen to eighteen years of age,
+were flitting about the room.  I also observed a wicked-looking boy, who
+might have been called handsome, had not one of his eyes been injured.
+‘Jews,’ said I, in Moorish, to Hayim, as I glanced at these people and
+about the room; ‘these are not Jews, but children of the Dar-bushi-fal.’
+
+                        [Picture: A Gypsy Family]
+
+‘List to the Corahai,’ said the tall woman, in broken Gypsy slang, ‘hear
+how they jabber (hunelad como chamulian), truly we will make them pay for
+the noise they raise in the house.’  Then coming up to me, she demanded
+with a shout, fearing otherwise that I should not understand, whether I
+would not wish to see the room where I was to sleep.  I nodded: whereupon
+she led me out upon a back terrace, and opening the door of a small room,
+of which there were three, asked me if it would suit.  ‘Perfectly,’ said
+I, and returned with her to the kitchen.
+
+‘O, what a handsome face! what a royal person!’ exclaimed the whole
+family as I returned, in Spanish, but in the whining, canting tones
+peculiar to the Gypsies, when they are bent on victimising.  ‘A more ugly
+Busno it has never been our chance to see,’ said the same voices in the
+next breath, speaking in the jargon of the tribe.  ‘Won’t your Moorish
+Royalty please to eat something?’ said the tall hag.  ‘We have nothing in
+the house; but I will run out and buy a fowl, which I hope may prove a
+royal peacock to nourish and strengthen you.’  ‘I hope it may turn to
+drow in your entrails,’ she muttered to the rest in Gypsy.  She then ran
+down, and in a minute returned with an old hen, which, on my arrival, I
+had observed below in the stable.  ‘See this beautiful fowl,’ said she,
+‘I have been running over all Tarifa to procure it for your kingship;
+trouble enough I have had to obtain it, and dear enough it has cost me.
+I will now cut its throat.’  ‘Before you kill it,’ said I, ‘I should wish
+to know what you paid for it, that there may be no dispute about it in
+the account.’  ‘Two dollars I paid for it, most valorous and handsome
+sir; two dollars it cost me, out of my own quisobi—out of my own little
+purse.’  I saw it was high time to put an end to these zalamerias, and
+therefore exclaimed in Gitáno, ‘You mean two brujis (reals), O mother of
+all the witches, and that is twelve cuartos more than it is worth.’  ‘Ay
+Dios mio, whom have we here?’ exclaimed the females.  ‘One,’ I replied,
+‘who knows you well and all your ways.  Speak! am I to have the hen for
+two reals? if not, I shall leave the house this moment.’  ‘O yes, to be
+sure, brother, and for nothing if you wish it,’ said the tall woman, in
+natural and quite altered tones; ‘but why did you enter the house
+speaking in Corahai like a Bengui?  We thought you a Busno, but we now
+see that you are of our religion; pray sit down and tell us where you
+have been.’ . .
+
+_Myself_.—‘Now, my good people, since I have answered your questions, it
+is but right that you should answer some of mine; pray who are you? and
+how happens it that you are keeping this inn?’
+
+_Gypsy Hag_.—‘Verily, brother, we can scarcely tell you who we are.  All
+we know of ourselves is, that we keep this inn, to our trouble and
+sorrow, and that our parents kept it before us; we were all born in this
+house, where I suppose we shall die.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Who is the master of the house, and whose are these children?’
+
+_Gypsy Hag_.—‘The master of the house is the fool, my brother, who stands
+before you without saying a word; to him belong these children, and the
+cripple in the chair is his wife, and my cousin.  He has also two sons
+who are grown-up men; one is a chumajarri (shoemaker), and the other
+serves a tanner.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Is it not contrary to the law of the Cales to follow such
+trades?’
+
+_Gypsy Hag_.—‘We know of no law, and little of the Cales themselves.
+Ours is the only Calo family in Tarifa, and we never left it in our
+lives, except occasionally to go on the smuggling lay to Gibraltar.  True
+it is that the Cales, when they visit Tarifa, put up at our house,
+sometimes to our cost.  There was one Rafael, son of the rich Fruto of
+Cordova, here last summer, to buy up horses, and he departed a baria and
+a half in our debt; however, I do not grudge it him, for he is a handsome
+and clever Chabó—a fellow of many capacities.  There was more than one
+Busno had cause to rue his coming to Tarifa.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Do you live on good terms with the Busné of Tarifa?’
+
+_Gypsy Hag_.—‘Brother, we live on the best terms with the Busné of
+Tarifa; especially with the errays.  The first people in Tarifa come to
+this house, to have their baji told by the cripple in the chair and by
+myself.  I know not how it is, but we are more considered by the grandees
+than the poor, who hate and loathe us.  When my first and only infant
+died, for I have been married, the child of one of the principal people
+was put to me to nurse, but I hated it for its white blood, as you may
+well believe.  It never throve, for I did it a private mischief, and
+though it grew up and is now a youth, it is—mad.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘With whom will your brother’s children marry?  You say there
+are no Gypsies here.’
+
+_Gypsy Hag_.—‘Ay de mi, hermano!  It is that which grieves me.  I would
+rather see them sold to the Moors than married to the Busné.  When Rafael
+was here he wished to persuade the chumajarri to accompany him to
+Cordova, and promised to provide for him, and to find him a wife among
+the Callees of that town; but the faint heart would not, though I myself
+begged him to comply.  As for the curtidor (tanner), he goes every night
+to the house of a Busnee; and once, when I reproached him with it, he
+threatened to marry her.  I intend to take my knife, and to wait behind
+the door in the dark, and when she comes out to gash her over the eyes.
+I trow he will have little desire to wed with her then.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Do many Busné from the country put up at this house?’
+
+_Gypsy Hag_.—‘Not so many as formerly, brother; the labourers from the
+Campo say that we are all thieves; and that it is impossible for any one
+but a Calo to enter this house without having the shirt stripped from his
+back.  They go to the houses of their acquaintance in the town, for they
+fear to enter these doors.  I scarcely know why, for my brother is the
+veriest fool in Tarifa.  Were it not for his face, I should say that he
+is no Chabó, for he cannot speak, and permits every chance to slip
+through his fingers.  Many a good mule and borrico have gone out of the
+stable below, which he might have secured, had he but tongue enough to
+have cozened the owners.  But he is a fool, as I said before; he cannot
+speak, and is no Chabó.’
+
+How far the person in question, who sat all the while smoking his pipe,
+with the most unperturbed tranquillity, deserved the character bestowed
+upon him by his sister, will presently appear.  It is not my intention to
+describe here all the strange things I both saw and heard in this Gypsy
+inn.  Several Gypsies arrived from the country during the six days that I
+spent within its walls; one of them, a man, from Moron, was received with
+particular cordiality, he having a son, whom he was thinking of
+betrothing to one of the Gypsy daughters.  Some females of quality
+likewise visited the house to gossip, like true Andalusians.  It was
+singular to observe the behaviour of the Gypsies to these people,
+especially that of the remarkable woman, some of whose conversation I
+have given above.  She whined, she canted, she blessed, she talked of
+beauty of colour, of eyes, of eyebrows, and pestañas (eyelids), and of
+hearts which were aching for such and such a lady.  Amongst others, came
+a very fine woman, the widow of a colonel lately slain in battle; she
+brought with her a beautiful innocent little girl, her daughter, between
+three and four years of age.  The Gypsy appeared to adore her; she
+sobbed, she shed tears, she kissed the child, she blessed it, she fondled
+it.  I had my eye upon her countenance, and it brought to my recollection
+that of a she-wolf, which I had once seen in Russia, playing with her
+whelp beneath a birch-tree.  ‘You seem to love that child very much, O my
+mother,’ said I to her, as the lady was departing.
+
+_Gypsy Hag_.—‘No lo camélo, hijo!  I do not love it, O my son, I do not
+love it; I love it so much, that I wish it may break its leg as it goes
+downstairs, and its mother also.’
+
+On the evening of the fourth day, I was seated on the stone bench at the
+stable door, taking the fresco; the Gypsy innkeeper sat beside me,
+smoking his pipe, and silent as usual; presently a man and woman with a
+borrico, or donkey, entered the portal.  I took little or no notice of a
+circumstance so slight, but I was presently aroused by hearing the
+Gypsy’s pipe drop upon the ground.  I looked at him, and scarcely
+recognised his face.  It was no longer dull, black, and heavy, but was
+lighted up with an expression so extremely villainous that I felt uneasy.
+His eyes were scanning the recent comers, especially the beast of burden,
+which was a beautiful female donkey.  He was almost instantly at their
+side, assisting to remove its housings, and the alforjas, or bags.  His
+tongue had become unloosed, as if by sorcery; and far from being unable
+to speak, he proved that, when it suited his purpose, he could discourse
+with wonderful volubility.  The donkey was soon tied to the manger, and a
+large measure of barley emptied before it, the greatest part of which the
+Gypsy boy presently removed, his father having purposely omitted to mix
+the barley with the straw, with which the Spanish mangers are always kept
+filled.  The guests were hurried upstairs as soon as possible.  I
+remained below, and subsequently strolled about the town and on the
+beach.  It was about nine o’clock when I returned to the inn to retire to
+rest; strange things had evidently been going on during my absence.  As I
+passed through the large room on my way to my apartment, lo, the table
+was set out with much wine, fruits, and viands.  There sat the man from
+the country, three parts intoxicated; the Gypsy, already provided with
+another pipe, sat on his knee, with his right arm most affectionately
+round his neck; on one side sat the chumajarri drinking and smoking, on
+the other the tanner.  Behold, poor humanity, thought I to myself, in the
+hands of devils; in this manner are human souls ensnared to destruction
+by the fiends of the pit.  The females had already taken possession of
+the woman at the other end of the table, embracing her, and displaying
+every mark of friendship and affection.  I passed on, but ere I reached
+my apartment I heard the words mule and donkey.  ‘Adios,’ said I, for I
+but too well knew what was on the carpet.
+
+In the back stable the Gypsy kept a mule, a most extraordinary animal,
+which was employed in bringing water to the house, a task which it
+effected with no slight difficulty; it was reported to be eighteen years
+of age; one of its eyes had been removed by some accident, it was
+foundered, and also lame, the result of a broken leg.  This animal was
+the laughing-stock of all Tarifa; the Gypsy grudged it the very straw on
+while alone he fed it, and had repeatedly offered it for sale at a
+dollar, which he could never obtain.  During the night there was much
+merriment going on, and I could frequently distinguish the voice of the
+Gypsy raised to a boisterous pitch.  In the morning the Gypsy hag entered
+my apartment, bearing the breakfast of myself and Hayim.  ‘What were you
+about last night?’ said I.
+
+‘We were bargaining with the Busno, evil overtake him, and he has
+exchanged us the ass, for the mule and the reckoning,’ said the hag, in
+whose countenance triumph was blended with anxiety.
+
+‘Was he drunk when he saw the mule?’ I demanded.
+
+‘He did not see her at all, O my son, but we told him we had a beautiful
+mule, worth any money, which we were anxious to dispose of, as a donkey
+suited our purpose better.  We are afraid that when he sees her he will
+repent his bargain, and if he calls off within four-and-twenty hours, the
+exchange is null, and the justicia will cause us to restore the ass; we
+have, however, already removed her to our huérta out of the town, where
+we have hid her below the ground.  Dios sabe (God knows) how it will turn
+out.’
+
+When the man and woman saw the lame, foundered, one-eyed creature, for
+which and the reckoning they had exchanged their own beautiful borrico,
+they stood confounded.  It was about ten in the morning, and they had not
+altogether recovered from the fumes of the wine of the preceding night;
+at last the man, with a frightful oath, exclaimed to the innkeeper,
+‘Restore my donkey, you Gypsy villain!’
+
+‘It cannot be, brother,’ replied the latter, ‘your donkey is by this time
+three leagues from here: I sold her this morning to a man I do not know,
+and I am afraid I shall have a hard bargain with her, for he only gave
+two dollars, as she was unsound.  O, you have taken me in, I am a poor
+fool as they call me here, and you understand much, very much, baribu.’
+{230}
+
+‘Her value was thirty-five dollars, thou demon,’ said the countryman,
+‘and the justicia will make you pay that.’
+
+‘Come, come, brother,’ said the Gypsy, ‘all this is mere conversation;
+you have a capital bargain, to-day the mercado is held, and you shall
+sell the mule; I will go with you myself.  O, you understand baribu;
+sister, bring the bottle of anise; the señor and the señora must drink a
+copíta.’  After much persuasion, and many oaths, the man and woman were
+weak enough to comply; when they had drunk several glasses, they departed
+for the market, the Gypsy leading the mule.  In about two hours they
+returned with the wretched beast, but not exactly as they went; a
+numerous crowd followed, laughing and hooting.  The man was now frantic,
+and the woman yet more so.  They forced their way upstairs to collect
+their baggage, which they soon effected, and were about to leave the
+house, vowing revenge.  Now ensued a truly terrific scene, there were no
+more blandishments; the Gypsy men and women were in arms, uttering the
+most frightful execrations; as the woman came downstairs, the females
+assailed her like lunatics; the cripple poked at her with a stick, the
+tall hag clawed at her hair, whilst the father Gypsy walked close beside
+the man, his hand on his clasp-knife, looking like nothing in this world:
+the man, however, on reaching the door, turned to him and said: ‘Gypsy
+demon, my borrico by three o’clock—or you know the rest, the justicia.’
+
+The Gypsies remained filled with rage and disappointment; the hag vented
+her spite on her brother.  ‘’Tis your fault,’ said she; ‘fool! you have
+no tongue; you a Chabó, you can’t speak’; whereas, within a few hours, he
+had perhaps talked more than an auctioneer during a three days’ sale: but
+he reserved his words for fitting occasions, and now sat as usual, sullen
+and silent, smoking his pipe.
+
+The man and woman made their appearance at three o’clock, but they
+came—intoxicated; the Gypsy’s eyes glistened—blandishment was again had
+recourse to.  ‘Come and sit down with the cavalier here,’ whined the
+family; ‘he is a friend of ours, and will soon arrange matters to your
+satisfaction.’  I arose, and went into the street; the hag followed me.
+‘Will you not assist us, brother, or are you no Chabó?’ she muttered.
+
+‘I will have nothing to do with your matters,’ said I.
+
+‘I know who will,’ said the hag, and hurried down the street.
+
+The man and woman, with much noise, demanded their donkey; the innkeeper
+made no answer, and proceeded to fill up several glasses with the
+_anisado_.  In about a quarter of an hour, the Gypsy hag returned with a
+young man, well dressed, and with a genteel air, but with something wild
+and singular in his eyes.  He seated himself by the table, smiled, took a
+glass of liquor, drank part of it, smiled again, and handed it to the
+countryman.  The latter seeing himself treated in this friendly manner by
+a caballero, was evidently much flattered, took off his hat to the
+newcomer, and drank, as did the woman also.  The glass was filled, and
+refilled, till they became yet more intoxicated.  I did not hear the
+young man say a word: he appeared a passive automaton.  The Gypsies,
+however, spoke for him, and were profuse of compliments.  It was now
+proposed that the caballero should settle the dispute; a long and noisy
+conversation ensued, the young man looking vacantly on: the strange
+people had no money, and had already run up another bill at a wine-house
+to which they had retired.  At last it was proposed, as if by the young
+man, that the Gypsy should purchase his own mule for two dollars, and
+forgive the strangers the reckoning of the preceding night.  To this they
+agreed, being apparently stultified with the liquor, and the money being
+paid to them in the presence of witnesses, they thanked the friendly
+mediator, and reeled away.
+
+Before they left the town that night, they had contrived to spend the
+entire two dollars, and the woman, who first recovered her senses, was
+bitterly lamenting that they had permitted themselves to be despoiled so
+cheaply of a _prenda tan preciosa_, as was the donkey.  Upon the whole,
+however, I did not much pity them.  The woman was certainly not the man’s
+wife.  The labourer had probably left his village with some strolling
+harlot, bringing with him the animal which had previously served to
+support himself and family.
+
+I believe that the Gypsy read, at the first glance, their history, and
+arranged matters accordingly.  The donkey was soon once more in the
+stable, and that night there was much rejoicing in the Gypsy inn.
+
+Who was the singular mediator?  He was neither more nor less than the
+foster child of the Gypsy hag, the unfortunate being whom she had
+privately injured in his infancy.  After having thus served them as an
+instrument in their villainy, he was told to go home. . . .
+
+
+THE GYPSY SOLDIER OF VALDEPEÑAS
+
+
+It was at Madrid one fine afternoon in the beginning of March 1838, that,
+as I was sitting behind my table in a cabinete, as it is called, of the
+third floor of No. 16, in the Calle de Santiágo, having just taken my
+meal, my hostess entered and informed me that a military officer wished
+to speak to me, adding, in an undertone, that he looked a _strange
+guest_.  I was acquainted with no military officer in the Spanish
+service; but as at that time I expected daily to be arrested for having
+distributed the Bible, I thought that very possibly this officer might
+have been sent to perform that piece of duty.  I instantly ordered him to
+be admitted, whereupon a thin active figure, somewhat above the middle
+height, dressed in a blue uniform, with a long sword hanging at his side,
+tripped into the room.  Depositing his regimental hat on the ground, he
+drew a chair to the table, and seating himself, placed his elbows on the
+board, and supporting his face with his hands, confronted me, gazing
+steadfastly upon me, without uttering a word.  I looked no less wistfully
+at him, and was of the same opinion as my hostess, as to the strangeness
+of my guest.  He was about fifty, with thin flaxen hair covering the
+sides of his head, which at the top was entirely bald.  His eyes were
+small, and, like ferrets’, red and fiery.  His complexion like a brick, a
+dull red, checkered with spots of purple.  ‘May I inquire your name and
+business, sir?’ I at length demanded.
+
+_Stranger_.—‘My name is Chaléco of Valdepeñas; in the time of the French
+I served as bragante, fighting for Ferdinand VII.  I am now a captain on
+half-pay in the service of Donna Isabel; as for my business here, it is
+to speak with you.  Do you know this book?’
+
+_Myself_.—‘This book is Saint Luke’s Gospel in the Gypsy language; how
+can this book concern you?’
+
+_Stranger_.—‘No one more.  It is in the language of my people.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘You do not pretend to say that you are a Caló?’
+
+_Stranger_.—‘I do!  I am Zíncalo, by the mother’s side.  My father, it is
+true, was one of the Busné; but I glory in being a Caló, and care not to
+acknowledge other blood.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘How became you possessed of that book?’
+
+_Stranger_.—‘I was this morning in the Prado, where I met two women of
+our people, and amongst other things they told me that they had a
+gabicóte in our language.  I did not believe them at first, but they
+pulled it out, and I found their words true.  They then spoke to me of
+yourself, and told me where you live, so I took the book from them and am
+come to see you.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Are you able to understand this book?’
+
+_Stranger_.—‘Perfectly, though it is written in very crabbed language:
+{235} but I learnt to read Caló when very young.  My mother was a good
+Calli, and early taught me both to speak and read it.  She too had a
+gabicóte, but not printed like this, and it treated of a different
+matter.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘How came your mother, being a good Calli, to marry one of a
+different blood?’
+
+_Stranger_.—‘It was no fault of hers; there was no remedy.  In her
+infancy she lost her parents, who were executed; and she was abandoned by
+all, till my father, taking compassion on her, brought her up and
+educated her: at last he made her his wife, though three times her age.
+She, however, remembered her blood and hated my father, and taught me to
+hate him likewise, and avoid him.  When a boy, I used to stroll about the
+plains, that I might not see my father; and my father would follow me and
+beg me to look upon him, and would ask me what I wanted; and I would
+reply, Father, the only thing I want is to see you dead.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘That was strange language from a child to its parent.’
+
+_Stranger_.—‘It was—but you know the couplet, {236a} which says, “I do
+not wish to be a lord—I am by birth a Gypsy—I do not wish to be a
+gentleman—I am content with being a Caló!”’
+
+_Myself_.—‘I am anxious to hear more of your history—pray proceed.’
+
+_Stranger_.—‘When I was about twelve years old my father became
+distracted, and died.  I then continued with my mother for some years;
+she loved me much, and procured a teacher to instruct me in Latin.  At
+last she died, and then there was a pléyto (law-suit).  I took to the
+sierra and became a highwayman; but the wars broke out.  My cousin Jara,
+of Valdepeñas, raised a troop of brigantes. {236b}  I enlisted with him
+and distinguished myself very much; there is scarcely a man or woman in
+Spain but has heard of Jara and Chaléco.  I am now captain in the service
+of Donna Isabel—I am covered with wounds—I am—ugh! ugh! ugh—!’
+
+He had commenced coughing, and in a manner which perfectly astounded me.
+I had heard hooping coughs, consumptive coughs, coughs caused by colds,
+and other accidents, but a cough so horrible and unnatural as that of the
+Gypsy soldier, I had never witnessed in the course of my travels.  In a
+moment he was bent double, his frame writhed and laboured, the veins of
+his forehead were frightfully swollen, and his complexion became black as
+the blackest blood; he screamed, he snorted, he barked, and appeared to
+be on the point of suffocation—yet more explosive became the cough; and
+the people of the house, frightened, came running into the apartment.  I
+cries, ‘The man is perishing, run instantly for a surgeon!’  He heard me,
+and with a quick movement raised his left hand as if to countermand the
+order; another struggle, then one mighty throe, which seemed to search
+his deepest intestines; and he remained motionless, his head on his knee.
+The cough had left him, and within a minute or two he again looked up.
+
+‘That is a dreadful cough, friend,’ said I, when he was somewhat
+recovered.  ‘How did you get it?’
+
+_Gypsy Soldier_.—‘I am—shot through the lungs—brother!  Let me but take
+breath, and I will show you the hole—the agujéro.’
+
+He continued with me a considerable time, and showed not the slightest
+disposition to depart; the cough returned twice, but not so violently;—at
+length, having an engagement, I arose, and apologising, told him I must
+leave him.  The next day he came again at the same hour, but he found me
+not, as I was abroad dining with a friend.  On the third day, however, as
+I was sitting down to dinner, in he walked, unannounced.  I am rather
+hospitable than otherwise, so I cordially welcomed him, and requested him
+to partake of my meal.  ‘Con múcho gusto,’ he replied, and instantly took
+his place at the table.  I was again astonished, for if his cough was
+frightful, his appetite was yet more so.  He ate like a wolf of the
+sierra;—soup, puchero, fowl and bacon disappeared before him in a
+twinkling.  I ordered in cold meat, which he presently despatched; a
+large piece of cheese was then produced.  We had been drinking water.
+
+‘Where is the wine?’ said he.
+
+‘I never use it,’ I replied.
+
+He looked blank.  The hostess, however, who was present waiting, said,
+‘If the gentleman wish for wine, I have a bota nearly full, which I will
+instantly fetch.’
+
+The skin bottle, when full, might contain about four quarts.  She filled
+him a very large glass, and was removing the skin, but he prevented her,
+saying, ‘Leave it, my good woman; my brother here will settle with you
+for the little I shall use.’
+
+He now lighted his cigar, and it was evident that he had made good his
+quarters.  On the former occasion I thought his behaviour sufficiently
+strange, but I liked it still less on the present.  Every fifteen minutes
+he emptied his glass, which contained at least a pint; his conversation
+became horrible.  He related the atrocities which he had committed when a
+robber and bragante in La Mancha.  ‘It was our custom,’ said he, ‘to tie
+our prisoners to the olive-trees, and then, putting our horses to full
+speed, to tilt at them with our spears.’  As he continued to drink he
+became waspish and quarrelsome: he had hitherto talked Castilian, but he
+would now only converse in Gypsy and in Latin, the last of which
+languages he spoke with great fluency, though ungrammatically.  He told
+me that he had killed six men in duels; and, drawing his sword, fenced
+about the room.  I saw by the manner in which he handled it, that he was
+master of his weapon.  His cough did not return, and he said it seldom
+afflicted him when he dined well.  He gave me to understand that he had
+received no pay for two years.  ‘Therefore you visit me,’ thought I.  At
+the end of three hours, perceiving that he exhibited no signs of taking
+his departure, I arose, and said I must again leave him.  ‘As you please,
+brother,’ said he; ‘use no ceremony with me, I am fatigued, and will wait
+a little while.’  I did not return till eleven at night, when my hostess
+informed me that he had just departed, promising to return next day.  He
+had emptied the bota to the last drop, and the cheese produced being
+insufficient for him, he sent for an entire Dutch cheese on my account;
+part of which he had eaten and the rest carried away.  I now saw that I
+had formed a most troublesome acquaintance, of whom it was highly
+necessary to rid myself, if possible; I therefore dined out for the next
+nine days.
+
+For a week he came regularly at the usual hour, at the end of which time
+he desisted; the hostess was afraid of him, as she said that he was a
+brujo or wizard, and only spoke to him through the wicket.
+
+On the tenth day I was cast into prison, where I continued several weeks.
+Once, during my confinement, he called at the house, and being informed
+of my mishap, drew his sword, and vowed with horrible imprecations to
+murder the prime minister of Ofalia, for having dared to imprison his
+brother.  On my release, I did not revisit my lodgings for some days, but
+lived at an hotel.  I returned late one afternoon, with my servant
+Francisco, a Basque of Hernáni, who had served me with the utmost
+fidelity during my imprisonment, which he had voluntarily shared with me.
+The first person I saw on entering was the Gypsy soldier, seated by the
+table, whereon were several bottles of wine which he had ordered from the
+tavern, of course on my account.  He was smoking, and looked savage and
+sullen; perhaps he was not much pleased with the reception he had
+experienced.  He had forced himself in, and the woman of the house sat in
+a corner looking upon him with dread.  I addressed him, but he would
+scarcely return an answer.  At last he commenced discoursing with great
+volubility in Gypsy and Latin.  I did not understand much of what he
+said.  His words were wild and incoherent, but he repeatedly threatened
+some person.  The last bottle was now exhausted: he demanded more.  I
+told him in a gentle manner that he had drunk enough.  He looked on the
+ground for some time, then slowly, and somewhat hesitatingly, drew his
+sword and laid it on the table.  It was become dark.  I was not afraid of
+the fellow, but I wished to avoid anything unpleasant.  I called to
+Francisco to bring lights, and obeying a sign which I made him, he sat
+down at the table.  The Gypsy glared fiercely upon him—Francisco laughed,
+and began with great glee to talk in Basque, of which the Gypsy
+understood not a word.  The Basques, like all Tartars, {241a} and such
+they are, are paragons of fidelity and good nature; they are only
+dangerous when outraged, when they are terrible indeed.  Francisco, to
+the strength of a giant joined the disposition of a lamb.  He was beloved
+even in the patio of the prison, where he used to pitch the bar and
+wrestle with the murderers and felons, always coming off victor.  He
+continued speaking Basque.  The Gypsy was incensed; and, forgetting the
+languages in which, for the last hour, he had been speaking, complained
+to Francisco of his rudeness in speaking any tongue but Castilian.  The
+Basque replied by a loud carcajáda, and slightly touched the Gypsy on the
+knee.  The latter sprang up like a mine discharged, seized his sword,
+and, retreating a few steps, made a desperate lunge at Francisco.
+
+The Basques, next to the Pasiegos, {241b} are the best cudgel-players in
+Spain, and in the world.  Francisco held in his hand part of a
+broomstick, which he had broken in the stable, whence he had just
+ascended.  With the swiftness of lightning he foiled the stroke of
+Chaléco, and, in another moment, with a dexterous blow, struck the sword
+out of his hand, sending it ringing against the wall.
+
+The Gypsy resumed his seat and his cigar.  He occasionally looked at the
+Basque.  His glances were at first atrocious, but presently changed their
+expression, and appeared to me to become prying and eagerly curious.  He
+at last arose, picked up his sword, sheathed it, and walked slowly to the
+door; when there he stopped, turned round, advanced close to Francisco,
+and looked him steadfastly in the face.  ‘My good fellow,’ said he, ‘I am
+a Gypsy, and can read baji.  Do you know where you will be at this time
+to-morrow?’ {242}  Then, laughing like a hyena, he departed, and I never
+saw him again.
+
+At that time on the morrow, Francisco was on his death-bed.  He had
+caught the jail fever, which had long raged in the Carcel de la Corte,
+where I was imprisoned.  In a few days he was buried, a mass of
+corruption, in the Campo Santo of Madrid.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+THE Gitános, in their habits and manner of life, are much less cleanly
+than the Spaniards.  The hovels in which they reside exhibit none of the
+neatness which is observable in the habitations of even the poorest of
+the other race.  The floors are unswept, and abound with filth and mud,
+and in their persons they are scarcely less vile.  Inattention to
+cleanliness is a characteristic of the Gypsies, in all parts of the
+world.
+
+The Bishop of Forli, as far back as 1422, gives evidence upon this point,
+and insinuates that they carried the plague with them; as he observes
+that it raged with peculiar violence the year of their appearance at
+Forli. {243}
+
+At the present day they are almost equally disgusting, in this respect,
+in Hungary, England, and Spain.  Amongst the richer Gitános, habits of
+greater cleanliness of course exist than amongst the poorer.  An air of
+sluttishness, however, pervades their dwellings, which, to an experienced
+eye, would sufficiently attest that the inmates were Gitános, in the
+event of their absence.
+
+What can be said of the Gypsy dress, of which such frequent mention is
+made in the Spanish laws, and which is prohibited together with the Gypsy
+language and manner of life?  Of whatever it might consist in former
+days, it is so little to be distinguished from the dress of some classes
+amongst the Spaniards, that it is almost impossible to describe the
+difference.  They generally wear a high-peaked, narrow-brimmed hat, a
+zamarra of sheep-skin in winter, and, during summer, a jacket of brown
+cloth; and beneath this they are fond of exhibiting a red plush
+waistcoat, something after the fashion of the English jockeys, with
+numerous buttons and clasps.  A faja, or girdle of crimson silk,
+surrounds the waist, where, not unfrequently, are stuck the cachas which
+we have already described.  Pantaloons of coarse cloth or leather descend
+to the knee; the legs are protected by woollen stockings, and sometimes
+by a species of spatterdash, either of cloth or leather; stout high-lows
+complete the equipment.
+
+Such is the dress of the Gitános of most parts of Spain.  But it is
+necessary to remark that such also is the dress of the chalans, and of
+the muleteers, except that the latter are in the habit of wearing broad
+sombreros as preservatives from the sun.  This dress appears to be rather
+Andalusian than Gitáno; and yet it certainly beseems the Gitáno better
+than the chalan or muleteer.  He wears it with more easy negligence or
+jauntiness, by which he may be recognised at some distance, even from
+behind.
+
+It is still more difficult to say what is the peculiar dress of the
+Gitánas; they wear not the large red cloaks and immense bonnets of coarse
+beaver which distinguish their sisters of England; they have no other
+headgear than a handkerchief, which is occasionally resorted to as a
+defence against the severity of the weather; their hair is sometimes
+confined by a comb, but more frequently is permitted to stray dishevelled
+down their shoulders; they are fond of large ear-rings, whether of gold,
+silver, or metal, resembling in this respect the poissardes of France.
+There is little to distinguish them from the Spanish women save the
+absence of the mantilla, which they never carry.  Females of fashion not
+unfrequently take pleasure in dressing à la Gitána, as it is called; but
+this female Gypsy fashion, like that of the men, is more properly the
+fashion of Andalusia, the principal characteristic of which is the saya,
+which is exceedingly short, with many rows of flounces.
+
+True it is that the original dress of the Gitános, male and female,
+whatever it was, may have had some share in forming the Andalusian
+fashion, owing to the great number of these wanderers who found their way
+to that province at an early period.  The Andalusians are a mixed breed
+of various nations, Romans, Vandals, Moors; perhaps there is a slight
+sprinkling of Gypsy blood in their veins, and of Gypsy fashion in their
+garb.
+
+The Gitános are, for the most part, of the middle size, and the
+proportions of their frames convey a powerful idea of strength and
+activity united; a deformed or weakly object is rarely found amongst them
+in persons of either sex; such probably perish in their infancy, unable
+to support the hardships and privations to which the race is still
+subjected from its great poverty, and these same privations have given
+and still give a coarseness and harshness to their features, which are
+all strongly marked and expressive.  Their complexion is by no means
+uniform, save that it is invariably darker than the general olive hue of
+the Spaniards; not unfrequently countenances as dark as those of mulattos
+present themselves, and in some few instances of almost negro blackness.
+Like most people of savage ancestry, their teeth are white and strong;
+their mouths are not badly formed, but it is in the eye more than in any
+other feature that they differ from other human beings.
+
+There is something remarkable in the eye of the Gitáno: should his hair
+and complexion become fair as those of the Swede or the Finn, and his
+jockey gait as grave and ceremonious as that of the native of Old
+Castile, were he dressed like a king, a priest, or a warrior, still would
+the Gitáno be detected by his eye, should it continue unchanged.  The Jew
+is known by his eye, but then in the Jew that feature is peculiarly
+small; the Chinese has a remarkable eye, but then the eye of the Chinese
+is oblong, and even with the face, which is flat; but the eye of the
+Gitáno is neither large nor small, and exhibits no marked difference in
+its shape from the eyes of the common cast.  Its peculiarity consists
+chiefly in a strange staring expression, which to be understood must be
+seen, and in a thin glaze, which steals over it when in repose, and seems
+to emit phosphoric light.  That the Gypsy eye has sometimes a peculiar
+effect, we learn from the following stanza:—
+
+    ‘A Gypsy stripling’s glossy eye
+       Has pierced my bosom’s core,
+    A feat no eye beneath the sky
+       Could e’er effect before.’
+
+The following passages are extracted from a Spanish work, {247} and
+cannot be out of place here, as they relate to those matters to which we
+have devoted this chapter.
+
+‘The Gitános have an olive complexion and very marked physiognomy; their
+cheeks are prominent, their lips thick, their eyes vivid and black; their
+hair is long, black, and coarse, and their teeth very white.  The general
+expression of their physiognomy is a compound of pride, slavishness, and
+cunning.  They are, for the most part, of good stature, well formed, and
+support with facility fatigue and every kind of hardship.  When they
+discuss any matter, or speak among themselves, whether in Catalan, in
+Castilian, or in Germania, which is their own peculiar jargon, they
+always make use of much gesticulation, which contributes to give to their
+conversation and to the vivacity of their physiognomy a certain
+expression, still more penetrating and characteristic.
+
+‘When a Gitáno has occasion to speak of some business in which his
+interest is involved, he redoubles his gestures in proportion as he knows
+the necessity of convincing those who hear him, and fears their
+impassibility.  If any rancorous idea agitate him in the course of his
+narrative; if he endeavour to infuse into his auditors sentiments of
+jealousy, vengeance, or any violent passion, his features become
+exaggerated, and the vivacity of his glances, and the contraction of his
+lips, show clearly, and in an imposing manner, the foreign origin of the
+Gitános, and all the customs of barbarous people.  Even his very smile
+has an expression hard and disagreeable.  One might almost say that joy
+in him is a forced sentiment, and that, like unto the savage man, sadness
+is the dominant feature of his physiognomy.
+
+‘The Gitána is distinguished by the same complexion, and almost the same
+features.  In her frame she is as well formed, and as flexible as the
+Gitáno.  Condemned to suffer the same privations and wants, her
+countenance, when her interest does not oblige her to dissemble her
+feelings, presents the same aspect of melancholy, and shows besides, with
+more energy, the rancorous passions of which the female heart is
+susceptible.  Free in her actions, her carriage, and her pursuits, she
+speaks, vociferates, and makes more gestures than the Gitáno, and, in
+imitation of him, her arms are in continual motion, to give more
+expression to the imagery with which she accompanies her discourse; her
+whole body contributes to her gesture, and to increase its force;
+endeavouring by these means to sharpen the effect of language in itself
+insufficient; and her vivid and disordered imagination is displayed in
+her appearance and attitude.
+
+‘When she turns her hand to any species of labour, her hurried action,
+the disorder of her hair, which is scarcely subjected by a little comb,
+and her propensity to irritation, show how little she loves toil, and her
+disgust for any continued occupation.
+
+‘In her disputes, the air of menace and high passion, the flow of words,
+and the facility with which she provokes and despises danger, indicate
+manners half barbarous, and ignorance of other means of defence.
+Finally, both in males and females, their physical constitution, colour,
+agility, and flexibility, reveal to us a caste sprung from a burning
+clime, and devoted to all those exercises which contribute to evolve
+bodily vigour, and certain mental faculties.
+
+‘The dress of the Gitáno varies with the country which he inhabits.  Both
+in Rousillon and Catalonia his habiliments generally consist of jacket,
+waistcoat, pantaloons, and a red faja, which covers part of his
+waistcoat; on his feet he wears hempen sandals, with much ribbon tied
+round the leg as high as the calf; he has, moreover, either woollen or
+cotton stockings; round his neck he wears a handkerchief, carelessly
+tied; and in the winter he uses a blanket or mantle, with sleeves, cast
+over the shoulder; his head is covered with the indispensable red cap,
+which appears to be the favourite ornament of many nations in the
+vicinity of the Mediterranean and Caspian Sea.
+
+‘The neck and the elbows of the jacket are adorned with pieces of blue
+and yellow cloth embroidered with silk, as well as the seams of the
+pantaloons; he wears, moreover, on the jacket or the waistcoat, various
+rows of silver buttons, small and round, sustained by rings or chains of
+the same metal.  The old people, and those who by fortune, or some other
+cause, exercise, in appearance, a kind of authority over the rest, are
+almost always dressed in black or dark-blue velvet.  Some of those who
+affect elegance amongst them keep for holidays a complete dress of
+sky-blue velvet, with embroidery at the neck, pocket-holes, arm-pits, and
+in all the seams; in a word, with the exception of the turban, this was
+the fashion of dress of the ancient Moors of Granada, the only difference
+being occasioned by time and misery.
+
+‘The dress of the Gitánas is very varied: the young girls, or those who
+are in tolerably easy circumstances, generally wear a black bodice laced
+up with a string, and adjusted to their figures, and contrasting with the
+scarlet-coloured saya, which only covers a part of the leg; their shoes
+are cut very low, and are adorned with little buckles of silver; the
+breast, and the upper part of the bodice, are covered either with a white
+handkerchief, or one of some vivid colour; and on the head is worn
+another handkerchief, tied beneath the chin, one of the ends of which
+falls on the shoulder, in the manner of a hood.  When the cold or the
+heat permit, the Gitána removes the hood, without untying the knots, and
+exhibits her long and shining tresses restrained by a comb.  The old
+women, and the very poor, dress in the same manner, save that their
+habiliments are more coarse and the colours less in harmony.  Amongst
+them misery appears beneath the most revolting aspect; whilst the poorest
+Gitáno preserves a certain deportment which would make his aspect
+supportable, if his unquiet and ferocious glance did not inspire us with
+aversion.’
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+WHILST their husbands are engaged in their jockey vocation, or in
+wielding the cachas, the Callees, or Gypsy females, are seldom idle, but
+are endeavouring, by various means, to make all the gain they can.  The
+richest amongst them are generally contrabandistas, and in the large
+towns go from house to house with prohibited goods, especially silk and
+cotton, and occasionally with tobacco.  They likewise purchase cast-off
+female wearing-apparel, which, when vamped up and embellished, they
+sometimes contrive to sell as new, with no inconsiderable profit.
+
+Gitánas of this description are of the most respectable class; the rest,
+provided they do not sell roasted chestnuts, or esteras, which are a
+species of mat, seek a livelihood by different tricks and practices, more
+or less fraudulent; for example—
+
+_La Bahi_, or fortune-telling, which is called in Spanish, _buena
+ventura_.—This way of extracting money from the credulity of dupes is, of
+all those practised by the Gypsies, the readiest and most easy; promises
+are the only capital requisite, and the whole art of fortune-telling
+consists in properly adapting these promises to the age and condition of
+the parties who seek for information.  The Gitánas are clever enough in
+the accomplishment of this, and in most cases afford perfect
+satisfaction.  Their practice chiefly lies amongst females, the portion
+of the human race most given to curiosity and credulity.  To the young
+maidens they promise lovers, handsome invariably, and sometimes rich; to
+wives children, and perhaps another husband; for their eyes are so
+penetrating, that occasionally they will develop your most secret
+thoughts and wishes; to the old, riches—and nothing but riches; for they
+have sufficient knowledge of the human heart to be aware that avarice is
+the last passion that becomes extinct within it.  These riches are to
+proceed either from the discovery of hidden treasures or from across the
+water; from the Americas, to which the Spaniards still look with hope, as
+there is no individual in Spain, however poor, but has some connection in
+those realms of silver and gold, at whose death he considers it probable
+that he may succeed to a brilliant ‘heréncia.’  The Gitánas, in the
+exercise of this practice, find dupes almost as readily amongst the
+superior classes, as the veriest dregs of the population.  It is their
+boast, that the best houses are open to them; and perhaps in the space of
+one hour, they will spae the bahi to a duchess, or countess, in one of
+the hundred palaces of Madrid, and to half a dozen of the lavanderas
+engaged in purifying the linen of the capital, beneath the willows which
+droop on the banks of the murmuring Manzanares.  One great advantage
+which the Gypsies possess over all other people is an utter absence of
+_mauvaise honte_; their speech is as fluent, and their eyes as unabashed,
+in the presence of royalty, as before those from whom they have nothing
+to hope or fear; the result being, that most minds quail before them.
+There were two Gitánas at Madrid, one Pepita by name, and the other La
+Chicharona; the first was a spare, shrewd, witch-like female, about
+fifty, and was the mother-in-law of La Chicharona, who was remarkable for
+her stoutness.  These women subsisted entirely by fortune-telling and
+swindling.  It chanced that the son of Pepita, and husband of Chicharona,
+having spirited away a horse, was sent to the presidio of Malaga for ten
+years of hard labour.  This misfortune caused inexpressible affliction to
+his wife and mother, who determined to make every effort to procure his
+liberation.  The readiest way which occurred to them was to procure an
+interview with the Queen Regent Christina, who they doubted not would
+forthwith pardon the culprit, provided they had an opportunity of
+assailing her with their Gypsy discourse; for, to use their own words,
+‘they well knew what to say.’  I at that time lived close by the palace,
+in the street of Santiago, and daily, for the space of a month, saw them
+bending their steps in that direction.
+
+One day they came to me in a great hurry, with a strange expression on
+both their countenances.  ‘We have seen Christina, hijo’ (my son), said
+Pepita to me.
+
+‘Within the palace?’ I inquired.
+
+‘Within the palace, O child of my garlochin,’ answered the sibyl:
+‘Christina at last saw and sent for us, as I knew she would; I told her
+“bahi,” and Chicharona danced the Romalis (Gypsy dance) before her.’
+
+‘What did you tell her?’
+
+‘I told her many things,’ said the hag, ‘many things which I need not
+tell you: know, however, that amongst other things, I told her that the
+chabori (little queen) would die, and then she would be Queen of Spain.
+I told her, moreover, that within three years she would marry the son of
+the King of France, and it was her bahi to die Queen of France and Spain,
+and to be loved much, and hated much.’
+
+‘And did you not dread her anger, when you told her these things?’
+
+‘Dread her, the Busnee?’ screamed Pepita: ‘No, my child, she dreaded me
+far more; I looked at her so—and raised my finger so—and Chicharona
+clapped her hands, and the Busnee believed all I said, and was afraid of
+me; and then I asked for the pardon of my son, and she pledged her word
+to see into the matter, and when we came away, she gave me this baria of
+gold, and to Chicharona this other, so at all events we have hokkanoed
+the queen.  May an evil end overtake her body, the Busnee!’
+
+Though some of the Gitánas contrive to subsist by fortune-telling alone,
+the generality of them merely make use of it as an instrument towards the
+accomplishment of greater things.  The immediate gains are scanty; a few
+cuartos being the utmost which they receive from the majority of their
+customers.  But the bahi is an excellent passport into houses, and when
+they spy a convenient opportunity, they seldom fail to avail themselves
+of it.  It is necessary to watch them strictly, as articles frequently
+disappear in a mysterious manner whilst Gitánas are telling fortunes.
+The bahi, moreover, is occasionally the prelude to a device which we
+shall now attempt to describe, and which is called _Hokkano Baro_, or the
+great trick, of which we have already said something in the former part
+of this work.  It consists in persuading some credulous person to deposit
+whatever money and valuables the party can muster in a particular spot,
+under the promise that the deposit will increase many manifold.  Some of
+our readers will have difficulty in believing that any people can be
+found sufficiently credulous to allow themselves to be duped by a trick
+of this description, the grossness of the intended fraud seeming too
+palpable.  Experience, however, proves the contrary.  The deception is
+frequently practised at the present day, and not only in Spain but in
+England—enlightened England—and in France likewise; an instance being
+given in the memoirs of Vidocq, the late celebrated head of the secret
+police of Paris, though, in that instance, the perpetrator of the fraud
+was not a Gypsy.  The most subtle method of accomplishing the hokkano
+baro is the following:—
+
+When the dupe—a widow we will suppose, for in these cases the dupes are
+generally widows—has been induced to consent to make the experiment, the
+Gitána demands of her whether she has in the house some strong chest with
+a safe lock.  On receiving an affirmative answer, she will request to see
+all the gold and silver of any description which she may chance to have
+in her possession.  The treasure is shown her; and when the Gitána has
+carefully inspected and counted it, she produces a white handkerchief,
+saying, Lady, I give you this handkerchief, which is blessed.  Place in
+it your gold and silver, and tie it with three knots.  I am going for
+three days, during which period you must keep the bundle beneath your
+pillow, permitting no one to go near it, and observing the greatest
+secrecy, otherwise the money will take wings and fly away.  Every morning
+during the three days it will be well to open the bundle, for your own
+satisfaction, to see that no misfortune has befallen your treasure; be
+always careful, however, to fasten it again with the three knots.  On my
+return, we will place the bundle, after having inspected it, in the
+chest, which you shall yourself lock, retaining the key in your
+possession.  But, thenceforward, for three weeks, you must by no means
+unlock the chest, nor look at the treasure—if you do it will fly away.
+Only follow my directions, and you will gain much, very much, baribu.
+
+The Gitána departs, and, during the three days, prepares a bundle as
+similar as possible to the one which contains the money of her dupe, save
+that instead of gold ounces, dollars, and plate, its contents consist of
+copper money and pewter articles of little or no value.  With this bundle
+concealed beneath her cloak, she returns at the end of three days to her
+intended victim.  The bundle of real treasure is produced and inspected,
+and again tied up by the Gitána, who then requests the other to open the
+chest, which done, she formally places _a bundle_ in it; but, in the
+meanwhile, she has contrived to substitute the fictitious for the real
+one.  The chest is then locked, the lady retaining the key.  The Gitána
+promises to return at the end of three weeks, to open the chest, assuring
+the lady that if it be not unlocked until that period, it will be found
+filled with gold and silver; but threatening that in the event of her
+injunctions being disregarded, the money deposited will vanish.  She then
+walks off with great deliberation, bearing away the spoil.  It is
+needless to say that she never returns.
+
+There are other ways of accomplishing the hokkano baro.  The most simple,
+and indeed the one most generally used by the Gitánas, is to persuade
+some simple individual to hide a sum of money in the earth, which they
+afterwards carry away.  A case of this description occurred within my own
+knowledge, at Madrid, towards the latter part of the year 1837.  There
+was a notorious Gitána, of the name of Aurora; she was about forty years
+of age, a Valencian by birth, and immensely fat.  This amiable personage,
+by some means, formed the acquaintance of a wealthy widow lady; and was
+not slow in attempting to practise the hokkano baro upon her.  She
+succeeded but too well.  The widow, at the instigation of Aurora, buried
+one hundred ounces of gold beneath a ruined arch in a field, at a short
+distance from the wall of Madrid.  The inhumation was effected at night
+by the widow alone.  Aurora was, however, on the watch, and, in less than
+ten minutes after the widow had departed, possessed herself of the
+treasure; perhaps the largest one ever acquired by this kind of deceit.
+The next day the widow had certain misgivings, and, returning to the
+spot, found her money gone.  About six months after this event, I was
+imprisoned in the Carcel de la Corte, at Madrid, and there I found
+Aurora, who was in durance for defrauding the widow.  She said that it
+had been her intention to depart for Valencia with the ‘barias,’ as she
+styled her plunder, but the widow had discovered the trick too soon, and
+she had been arrested.  She added, however, that she had contrived to
+conceal the greatest part of the property, and that she expected her
+liberation in a few days, having been prodigal of bribes to the
+‘justicia.’  In effect, her liberation took place sooner than my own.
+Nevertheless, she had little cause to triumph, as before she left the
+prison she had been fleeced of the last cuarto of her ill-gotten gain, by
+alguazils and escribanos, who, she admitted, understood hokkano baro much
+better than herself.
+
+When I next saw Aurora, she informed me that she was once more on
+excellent terms with the widow, whom she had persuaded that the loss of
+the money was caused by her own imprudence, in looking for it before the
+appointed time; the spirit of the earth having removed it in anger.  She
+added that her dupe was quite disposed to make another venture, by which
+she hoped to retrieve her former loss.
+
+_Ustilar pastésas_.—Under this head may be placed various kinds of theft
+committed by the Gitános.  The meaning of the words is stealing with the
+hands; but they are more generally applied to the filching of money by
+dexterity of hand, when giving or receiving change.  For example: a
+Gitána will enter a shop, and purchase some insignificant article,
+tendering in payment a baria or golden ounce.  The change being put down
+before her on the counter, she counts the money, and complains that she
+has received a dollar and several pesetas less than her due.  It seems
+impossible that there can be any fraud on her part, as she has not even
+taken the pieces in her hand, but merely placed her fingers upon them;
+pushing them on one side.  She now asks the merchant what he means by
+attempting to deceive the poor woman.  The merchant, supposing that he
+has made a mistake, takes up the money, counts it, and finds in effect
+that the just sum is not there.  He again hands out the change, but there
+is now a greater deficiency than before, and the merchant is convinced
+that he is dealing with a witch.  The Gitána now pushes the money to him,
+uplifts her voice, and talks of the justicia.  Should the merchant become
+frightened, and, emptying a bag of dollars, tell her to pay herself, as
+has sometimes been the case, she will have a fine opportunity to exercise
+her powers, and whilst taking the change will contrive to convey secretly
+into her sleeves five or six dollars at least; after which she will
+depart with much vociferation, declaring that she will never again enter
+the shop of so cheating a picaro.
+
+Of all the Gitánas at Madrid, Aurora the fat was, by their own
+confession, the most dexterous at this species of robbery; she having
+been known in many instances, whilst receiving change for an ounce, to
+steal the whole value, which amounts to sixteen dollars.  It was not
+without reason that merchants in ancient times were, according to Martin
+Del Rio, advised to sell nothing out of their shops to Gitánas, as they
+possessed an infallible secret for attracting to their own purses from
+the coffers of the former the money with which they paid for the articles
+they purchased.  This secret consisted in stealing á pastésas, which they
+still practise.  Many accounts of witchcraft and sorcery, which are
+styled old women’s tales, are perhaps equally well founded.  Real actions
+have been attributed to wrong causes.
+
+Shoplifting, and other kinds of private larceny, are connected with
+stealing á pastésas, for in all dexterity of hand is required.  Many of
+the Gitánas of Madrid are provided with large pockets, or rather sacks,
+beneath their gowns, in which they stow away their plunder.  Some of
+these pockets are capacious enough to hold, at one time, a dozen yards of
+cloth, a Dutch cheese and a bottle of wine.  Nothing that she can eat,
+drink, or sell, comes amiss to a veritable Gitána; and sometimes the
+contents of her pocket would afford materials for an inventory far more
+lengthy and curious than the one enumerating the effects found on the
+person of the man-mountain at Lilliput.
+
+_Chiving Drao_.—In former times the Spanish Gypsies of both sexes were in
+the habit of casting a venomous preparation into the mangers of the
+cattle for the purpose of causing sickness.  At present this practice has
+ceased, or nearly so; the Gitános, however, talk of it as universal
+amongst their ancestors.  They were in the habit of visiting the stalls
+and stables secretly, and poisoning the provender of the animals, who
+almost immediately became sick.  After a few days the Gitános would go to
+the labourers and offer to cure the sick cattle for a certain sum, and if
+their proposal was accepted would in effect perform the cure.
+
+Connected with the cure was a curious piece of double dealing.  They
+privately administered an efficacious remedy, but pretended to cure the
+animals not by medicines but by charms, which consisted of small
+variegated beans, called in their language bobis, {262a} dropped into the
+mangers.  By this means they fostered the idea, already prevalent, that
+they were people possessed of supernatural gifts and powers, who could
+remove diseases without having recourse to medicine.  By means of drao,
+they likewise procured themselves food; poisoning swine, as their
+brethren in England still do, {262b} and then feasting on the flesh,
+which was abandoned as worthless: witness one of their own songs:—
+
+    ‘By Gypsy drow the Porker died,
+    I saw him stiff at evening tide,
+    But I saw him not when morning shone,
+    For the Gypsies ate him flesh and bone.’
+
+By drao also they could avenge themselves on their enemies by destroying
+their cattle, without incurring a shadow of suspicion.  Revenge for
+injuries, real or imaginary, is sweet to all unconverted minds; to no one
+more than the Gypsy, who, in all parts of the world, is, perhaps, the
+most revengeful of human beings.
+
+Vidocq in his memoirs states, that having formed a connection with an
+individual whom he subsequently discovered to be the captain of a band of
+Walachian Gypsies, the latter, whose name was Caroun, wished Vidocq to
+assist in scattering certain powders in the mangers of the peasants’
+cattle; Vidocq, from prudential motives, refused the employment.  There
+can be no doubt that these powders were, in substance, the drao of the
+Spanish Gitános.
+
+_La Bar Lachi_, _or the Loadstone_.—If the Gitános in general be addicted
+to any one superstition, it is certainly with respect to this stone, to
+which they attribute all kinds of miraculous powers.  There can be no
+doubt, that the singular property which it possesses of attracting steel,
+by filling their untutored minds with amazement, first gave rise to this
+veneration, which is carried beyond all reasonable bounds.
+
+They believe that he who is in possession of it has nothing to fear from
+steel or lead, from fire or water, and that death itself has no power
+over him.  The Gypsy contrabandistas are particularly anxious to procure
+this stone, which they carry upon their persons in their expeditions;
+they say, that in the event of being pursued by the jaracanallis, or
+revenue officers, whirlwinds of dust will arise, and conceal them from
+the view of their enemies; the horse-stealers say much the same thing,
+and assert that they are uniformly successful, when they bear about them
+the precious stone.  But it is said to be able to effect much more.
+Extraordinary things are related of its power in exciting the amorous
+passions, and, on this account, it is in great request amongst the Gypsy
+hags; all these women are procuresses, and find persons of both sexes
+weak and wicked enough to make use of their pretended knowledge in the
+composition of love-draughts and decoctions.
+
+In the case of the loadstone, however, there is no pretence, the Gitánas
+believing all they say respecting it, and still more; this is proved by
+the eagerness with which they seek to obtain the stone in its natural
+state, which is somewhat difficult to accomplish.
+
+In the museum of natural curiosities at Madrid there is a large piece of
+loadstone originally extracted from the American mines.  There is
+scarcely a Gitána in Madrid who is not acquainted with this circumstance,
+and who does not long to obtain the stone, or a part of it; its being
+placed in a royal museum serving to augment, in their opinion, its real
+value.  Several attempts have been made to steal it, all of which,
+however, have been unsuccessful.  The Gypsies seem not to be the only
+people who envy royalty the possession of this stone.  Pepita, the old
+Gitána of whose talent at telling fortunes such honourable mention has
+already been made, informed me that a priest, who was muy enamorado (in
+love), proposed to her to steal the loadstone, offering her all his
+sacerdotal garments in the event of success: whether the singular reward
+that was promised had but slight temptations for her, or whether she
+feared that her dexterity was not equal to the accomplishment of the
+task, we know not, but she appears to have declined attempting it.
+According to the Gypsy account, the person in love, if he wish to excite
+a corresponding passion in another quarter by means of the loadstone,
+must swallow, _in aguardiente_, a small portion of the stone pulverised,
+at the time of going to rest, repeating to himself the following magic
+rhyme:—
+
+    ‘To the Mountain of Olives one morning I hied,
+    Three little black goats before me I spied,
+    Those three little goats on three cars I laid,
+    Black cheeses three from their milk I made;
+    The one I bestow on the loadstone of power,
+    That save me it may from all ills that lower;
+    The second to Mary Padilla I give,
+    And to all the witch hags about her that live;
+    The third I reserve for Asmodeus lame,
+    That fetch me he may whatever I name.’
+
+_La raiz del buen Baron_, _or the root of the good Baron_.—On this
+subject we cannot be very explicit.  It is customary with the Gitánas to
+sell, under this title, various roots and herbs, to unfortunate females
+who are desirous of producing a certain result; these roots are boiled in
+white wine, and the abominable decoction is taken fasting.  I was once
+shown the root of the good baron, which, in this instance, appeared to be
+parsley root.  By the good baron is meant his Satanic majesty, on whom
+the root is very appropriately fathered.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+IT is impossible to dismiss the subject of the Spanish Gypsies without
+offering some remarks on their marriage festivals.  There is nothing
+which they retain connected with their primitive rites and principles,
+more characteristic perhaps of the sect of the Rommany, of the sect of
+the _husbands and wives_, than what relates to the marriage ceremony,
+which gives the female a protector, and the man a helpmate, a sharer of
+his joys and sorrows.  The Gypsies are almost entirely ignorant of the
+grand points of morality; they have never had sufficient sense to
+perceive that to lie, to steal, and to shed human blood violently, are
+crimes which are sure, eventually, to yield bitter fruits to those who
+perpetrate them; but on one point, and that one of no little importance
+as far as temporal happiness is concerned, they are in general wiser than
+those who have had far better opportunities than such unfortunate
+outcasts, of regulating their steps, and distinguishing good from evil.
+They know that chastity is a jewel of high price, and that conjugal
+fidelity is capable of occasionally flinging a sunshine even over the
+dreary hours of a life passed in the contempt of almost all laws, whether
+human or divine.
+
+There is a word in the Gypsy language to which those who speak it attach
+ideas of peculiar reverence, far superior to that connected with the name
+of the Supreme Being, the creator of themselves and the universe.  This
+word is _Lácha_, which with them is the corporeal chastity of the
+females; we say corporeal chastity, for no other do they hold in the
+slightest esteem; it is lawful amongst them, nay praiseworthy, to be
+obscene in look, gesture, and discourse, to be accessories to vice, and
+to stand by and laugh at the worst abominations of the Busné, provided
+their _Lácha ye trupos_, or corporeal chastity, remains unblemished.  The
+Gypsy child, from her earliest years, is told by her strange mother, that
+a good Calli need only dread one thing in this world, and that is the
+loss of Lácha, in comparison with which that of life is of little
+consequence, as in such an event she will be provided for, but what
+provision is there for a Gypsy who has lost her Lácha?  ‘Bear this in
+mind, my child,’ she will say, ‘and now eat this bread, and go forth and
+see what you can steal.’
+
+A Gypsy girl is generally betrothed at the age of fourteen to the youth
+whom her parents deem a suitable match, and who is generally a few years
+older than herself.  Marriage is invariably preceded by betrothment; and
+the couple must then wait two years before their union can take place,
+according to the law of the Calés.  During this period it is expected
+that they treat each other as common acquaintance; they are permitted to
+converse, and even occasionally to exchange slight presents.  One thing,
+however, is strictly forbidden, and if in this instance they prove
+contumacious, the betrothment is instantly broken and the pair are never
+united, and thenceforward bear an evil reputation amongst their sect.
+This one thing is, going into the campo in each other’s company, or
+having any rendezvous beyond the gate of the city, town, or village, in
+which they dwell.  Upon this point we can perhaps do no better than quote
+one of their own stanzas:—
+
+    ‘Thy sire and mother wrath and hate
+       Have vowed against us, love!
+    The first, first night that from the gate
+       We two together rove.’
+
+With all the other Gypsies, however, and with the Busné or Gentiles, the
+betrothed female is allowed the freest intercourse, going whither she
+will, and returning at all times and seasons.  With respect to the Busné,
+indeed, the parents are invariably less cautious than with their own
+race, as they conceive it next to an impossibility that their child
+should lose her Lácha by any intercourse with _the white blood_; and true
+it is that experience has proved that their confidence in this respect is
+not altogether idle.  The Gitánas have in general a decided aversion to
+the white men; some few instances, however, to the contrary are said to
+have occurred.
+
+A short time previous to the expiration of the term of the betrothment,
+preparations are made for the Gypsy bridal.  The wedding-day is certainly
+an eventful period in the life of every individual, as he takes a partner
+for better or for worse, whom he is bound to cherish through riches and
+poverty; but to the Gypsy particularly the wedding festival is an
+important affair.  If he is rich, he frequently becomes poor before it is
+terminated; and if he is poor, he loses the little which he possesses,
+and must borrow of his brethren; frequently involving himself throughout
+life, to procure the means of giving a festival; for without a festival,
+he could not become a Rom, that is, a husband, and would cease to belong
+to this sect of Rommany.
+
+There is a great deal of what is wild and barbarous attached to these
+festivals.  I shall never forget a particular one at which I was present.
+After much feasting, drinking, and yelling, in the Gypsy house, the
+bridal train sallied forth—a frantic spectacle.  First of all marched a
+villainous jockey-looking fellow, holding in his hands, uplifted, a long
+pole, at the top of which fluttered in the morning air a snow-white
+cambric handkerchief, emblem of the bride’s purity.  Then came the
+betrothed pair, followed by their nearest friends; then a rabble rout of
+Gypsies, screaming and shouting, and discharging guns and pistols, till
+all around rang with the din, and the village dogs barked.  On arriving
+at the church gate, the fellow who bore the pole stuck it into the ground
+with a loud huzza, and the train, forming two ranks, defiled into the
+church on either side of the pole and its strange ornaments.  On the
+conclusion of the ceremony, they returned in the same manner in which
+they had come.
+
+Throughout the day there was nothing going on but singing, drinking,
+feasting, and dancing; but the most singular part of the festival was
+reserved for the dark night.  Nearly a ton weight of sweetmeats had been
+prepared, at an enormous expense, not for the gratification of the
+palate, but for a purpose purely Gypsy.  These sweetmeats of all kinds,
+and of all forms, but principally yémas, or yolks of eggs prepared with a
+crust of sugar (a delicious bonne-bouche), were strewn on the floor of a
+large room, at least to the depth of three inches.  Into this room, at a
+given signal, tripped the bride and bridegroom _dancing romális_,
+followed amain by all the Gitános and Gitánas, _dancing romális_.  To
+convey a slight idea of the scene is almost beyond the power of words.
+In a few minutes the sweetmeats were reduced to a powder, or rather to a
+mud, the dancers were soiled to the knees with sugar, fruits, and yolks
+of eggs.  Still more terrific became the lunatic merriment.  The men
+sprang high into the air, neighed, brayed, and crowed; whilst the Gitánas
+snapped their fingers in their own fashion, louder than castanets,
+distorting their forms into all kinds of obscene attitudes, and uttering
+words to repeat which were an abomination.  In a corner of the apartment
+capered the while Sebastianillo, a convict Gypsy from Melilla, strumming
+the guitar most furiously, and producing demoniacal sounds which had some
+resemblance to Malbrun (Malbrouk), and, as he strummed, repeating at
+intervals the Gypsy modification of the song:—
+
+    ‘Chalá Malbrún chinguerár,
+    Birandón, birandón, birandéra—
+    Chalá Malbrún chinguerár,
+    No sé bus truterá—
+       No sé bus truterá.
+          No sé bus truterá.
+    La romí que le caméla,
+    Birandón, birandón,’ etc.
+
+The festival endures three days, at the end of which the greatest part of
+the property of the bridegroom, even if he were previously in easy
+circumstances, has been wasted in this strange kind of riot and
+dissipation.  Paco, the Gypsy of Badajoz, attributed his ruin to the
+extravagance of his marriage festival; and many other Gitános have
+confessed the same thing of themselves.  They said that throughout the
+three days they appeared to be under the influence of infatuation, having
+no other wish or thought but to make away with their substance; some have
+gone so far as to cast money by handfuls into the street.  Throughout the
+three days all the doors are kept open, and all corners, whether Gypsies
+or Busné, welcomed with a hospitality which knows no bounds.
+
+In nothing do the Jews and Gitános more resemble each other than in their
+marriages, and what is connected therewith.  In both sects there is a
+betrothment: amongst the Jews for seven, amongst the Gitános for a period
+of two years.  In both there is a wedding festival, which endures amongst
+the Jews for fifteen and amongst the Gitános for three days, during
+which, on both sides, much that is singular and barbarous occurs, which,
+however, has perhaps its origin in antiquity the most remote.  But the
+wedding ceremonies of the Jews are far more complex and allegorical than
+those of the Gypsies, a more simple people.  The Nazarene gazes on these
+ceremonies with mute astonishment; the washing of the bride—the painting
+of the face of herself and her companions with chalk and carmine—her
+ensconcing herself within the curtains of the bed with her female bevy,
+whilst the bridegroom hides himself within his apartment with the youths
+his companions—her envelopment in the white sheet, in which she appears
+like a corse, the bridegroom’s going to sup with her, when he places
+himself in the middle of the apartment with his eyes shut, and without
+tasting a morsel.  His going to the synagogue, and then repairing to
+breakfast with the bride, where he practises the same self-denial—the
+washing of the bridegroom’s plate and sending it after him, that he may
+break his fast—the binding his hands behind him—his ransom paid by the
+bride’s mother—the visit of the sages to the bridegroom—the mulct imposed
+in case he repent—the killing of the bullock at the house of the
+bridegroom—the present of meat and fowls, meal and spices, to the
+bride—the gold and silver—that most imposing part of the ceremony, the
+walking of the bride by torchlight to the house of her betrothed, her
+eyes fixed in vacancy, whilst the youths of her kindred sing their wild
+songs around her—the cup of milk and the spoon presented to her by the
+bridegroom’s mother—the arrival of the sages in the morn—the reading of
+the Ketuba—the night—the half-enjoyment—the old woman—the tantalising
+knock at the door—and then the festival of fishes which concludes all,
+and leaves the jaded and wearied couple to repose after a fortnight of
+persecution.
+
+The Jews, like the Gypsies, not unfrequently ruin themselves by the riot
+and waste of their marriage festivals.  Throughout the entire fortnight,
+the houses, both of bride and bridegroom, are flung open to all
+corners;—feasting and song occupy the day—feasting and song occupy the
+hours of the night, and this continued revel is only broken by the
+ceremonies of which we have endeavoured to convey a faint idea.  In these
+festivals the sages or _ulemma_ take a distinguished part, doing their
+utmost to ruin the contracted parties, by the wonderful despatch which
+they make of the fowls and viands, sweetmeats, _and strong waters_
+provided for the occasion.
+
+After marriage the Gypsy females generally continue faithful to their
+husbands through life; giving evidence that the exhortations of their
+mothers in early life have not been without effect.  Of course licentious
+females are to be found both amongst the matrons and the unmarried; but
+such instances are rare, and must be considered in the light of
+exceptions to a principle.  The Gypsy women (I am speaking of those of
+Spain), as far as corporeal chastity goes, are very paragons; but in
+other respects, alas!—little can be said in praise of their morality.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+WHILST in Spain I devoted as much time as I could spare from my grand
+object, which was to circulate the Gospel through that benighted country,
+to attempt to enlighten the minds of the Gitános on the subject of
+religion.  I cannot say that I experienced much success in my endeavours;
+indeed, I never expected much, being fully acquainted with the stony
+nature of the ground on which I was employed; perhaps some of the seed
+that I scattered may eventually spring up and yield excellent fruit.  Of
+one thing I am certain: if I did the Gitános no good, I did them no harm.
+
+It has been said that there is a secret monitor, or conscience, within
+every heart, which immediately upbraids the individual on the commission
+of a crime; this may be true, but certainly the monitor within the Gitáno
+breast is a very feeble one, for little attention is ever paid to its
+reproofs.  With regard to conscience, be it permitted to observe, that it
+varies much according to climate, country, and religion; perhaps nowhere
+is it so terrible and strong as in England; I need not say why.  Amongst
+the English, I have seen many individuals stricken low, and
+broken-hearted, by the force of conscience; but never amongst the
+Spaniards or Italians; and I never yet could observe that the crimes
+which the Gitános were daily and hourly committing occasioned them the
+slightest uneasiness.
+
+One important discovery I made among them: it was, that no individual,
+however wicked and hardened, is utterly _godless_.  Call it superstition,
+if you will, still a certain fear and reverence of something sacred and
+supreme would hang about them.  I have heard Gitános stiffly deny the
+existence of a Deity, and express the utmost contempt for everything
+holy; yet they subsequently never failed to contradict themselves, by
+permitting some expression to escape which belied their assertions, and
+of this I shall presently give a remarkable instance.
+
+I found the women much more disposed to listen to anything I had to say
+than the men, who were in general so taken up with their traffic that
+they could think and talk of nothing else; the women, too, had more
+curiosity and more intelligence; the conversational powers of some of
+them I found to be very great, and yet they were destitute of the
+slightest rudiments of education, and were thieves by profession.  At
+Madrid I had regular conversaziones, or, as they are called in Spanish,
+tertúlias, with these women, who generally visited me twice a week; they
+were perfectly unreserved towards me with respect to their actions and
+practices, though their behaviour, when present, was invariably strictly
+proper.  I have already had cause to mention Pépa the sibyl, and her
+daughter-in-law, Chicharona; the manners of the first were sometimes
+almost elegant, though, next to Aurora, she was the most notorious
+she-thug in Madrid; Chicharona was good-humoured, like most fat
+personages.  Pépa had likewise two daughters, one of whom, a very
+remarkable female, was called La Tuérta, from the circumstance of her
+having but one eye, and the other, who was a girl of about thirteen, La
+Casdamí, or the scorpion, from the malice which she occasionally
+displayed.
+
+Pépa and Chicharona were invariably my most constant visitors.  One day
+in winter they arrived as usual; the One-eyed and the Scorpion following
+behind.
+
+_Myself_.—‘I am glad to see you, Pépa: what have you been doing this
+morning?’
+
+_Pépa_.—‘I have been telling baji, and Chicharona has been stealing á
+pastésas; we have had but little success, and have come to warm ourselves
+at the braséro.  As for the One-eyed, she is a very sluggard (holgazána),
+she will neither tell fortunes nor steal.’
+
+_The One-eyed_.—‘Hold your peace, mother of the Bengues; I will steal,
+when I see occasion, but it shall not be á pastésas, and I will hokkawar
+(deceive), but it shall not be by telling fortunes.  If I deceive, it
+shall be by horses, by jockeying. {276}  If I steal, it shall be on the
+road—I’ll rob.  You know already what I am capable of, yet knowing that,
+you would have me tell fortunes like yourself, or steal like Chicharona.
+Me diñela cónche (it fills me with fury) to be asked to tell fortunes,
+and the next Busnee that talks to me of bajis, I will knock all her teeth
+out.’
+
+_The Scorpion_.—‘My sister is right; I, too, would sooner be a salteadóra
+(highwaywoman), or a chalána (she-jockey), than steal with the hands, or
+tell bájis.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘You do not mean to say, O Tuérta, that you are a jockey, and
+that you rob on the highway.’
+
+_The One-eyed_.—‘I am a chalána, brother, and many a time I have robbed
+upon the road, as all our people know.  I dress myself as a man, and go
+forth with some of them.  I have robbed alone, in the pass of the
+Guadarama, with my horse and escopéta.  I alone once robbed a cuadrilla
+of twenty Gallégos, who were returning to their own country, after
+cutting the harvests of Castile; I stripped them of their earnings, and
+could have stripped them of their very clothes had I wished, for they
+were down on their knees like cowards.  I love a brave man, be he Busné
+or Gypsy.  When I was not much older than the Scorpion, I went with
+several others to rob the cortíjo of an old man; it was more than twenty
+leagues from here.  We broke in at midnight, and bound the old man: we
+knew he had money; but he said no, and would not tell us where it was; so
+we tortured him, pricking him with our knives and burning his hands over
+the lamp; all, however, would not do.  At last I said, “Let us try the
+_pimientos_”; so we took the green pepper husks, pulled open his eyelids,
+and rubbed the pupils with the green pepper fruit.  That was the worst
+pinch of all.  Would you believe it? the old man bore it.  Then our
+people said, “Let us kill him,” but I said, no, it were a pity: so we
+spared him, though we got nothing.  I have loved that old man ever since
+for his firm heart, and should have wished him for a husband.’
+
+_The Scorpion_.—‘Ojalá, that I had been in that cortíjo, to see such
+sport!’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Do you fear God, O Tuérta?’
+
+_The One-eyed_.—‘Brother, I fear nothing.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Do you believe in God, O Tuérta?’
+
+_The One-eyed_.—‘Brother, I do not; I hate all connected with that name;
+the whole is folly; me diñela cónche.  If I go to church, it is but to
+spit at the images.  I spat at the búlto of María this morning; and I
+love the Corojai, and the Londoné, {278a} because they are not baptized.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘You, of course, never say a prayer.’
+
+_The One-eyed_.—‘No, no; there are three or four old words, taught me by
+some old people, which I sometimes say to myself; I believe they have
+both force and virtue.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘I would fain hear; pray tell me them.’
+
+_The One-eyed_.—‘Brother, they are words not to be repeated.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Why not?’
+
+_The One-eyed_.—‘They are holy words, brother.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Holy!  You say there is no God; if there be none, there can be
+nothing holy; pray tell me the words, O Tuérta.’
+
+_The One-eyed_.—‘Brother, I dare not.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘Then you do fear something.’
+
+_The One-eyed_.—‘Not I—
+
+    ‘_Saboca Enrecar María Ereria_, {278b}
+
+and now I wish I had not said them.’
+
+_Myself_.—‘You are distracted, O Tuérta: the words say simply, ‘Dwell
+within us, blessed Maria.’  You have spitten on her búlto this morning in
+the church, and now you are afraid to repeat four words, amongst which is
+her name.’
+
+_The One-eyed_.—‘I did not understand them; but I wish I had not said
+them.’
+
+. . . . .
+
+I repeat that there is no individual, however hardened, who is utterly
+_godless_.
+
+The reader will have already gathered from the conversations reported in
+this volume, and especially from the last, that there is a wide
+difference between addressing Spanish Gitános and Gitánas and English
+peasantry: of a certainty what will do well for the latter is calculated
+to make no impression on these thievish half-wild people.  Try them with
+the Gospel, I hear some one cry, which speaks to all: I did try them with
+the Gospel, and in their own language.  I commenced with Pépa and
+Chicharona.  Determined that they should understand it, I proposed that
+they themselves should translate it.  They could neither read nor write,
+which, however, did not disqualify them from being translators.  I had
+myself previously translated the whole Testament into the Spanish
+Rommany, but I was desirous to circulate amongst the Gitános a version
+conceived in the exact language in which they express their ideas.  The
+women made no objection, they were fond of our tertúlias, and they
+likewise reckoned on one small glass of Malaga wine, with which I
+invariably presented them.  Upon the whole, they conducted themselves
+much better than could have been expected.  We commenced with Saint Luke:
+they rendering into Rommany the sentences which I delivered to them in
+Spanish.  They proceeded as far as the eighth chapter, in the middle of
+which they broke down.  Was that to be wondered at?  The only thing which
+astonished me was, that I had induced two such strange beings to advance
+so far in a task so unwonted, and so entirely at variance with their
+habits, as translation.
+
+These chapters I frequently read over to them, explaining the subject in
+the best manner I was able.  They said it was lachó, and jucál, and
+mistó, all of which words express approval of the quality of a thing.
+Were they improved, were their hearts softened by these Scripture
+lectures?  I know not.  Pépa committed a rather daring theft shortly
+afterwards, which compelled her to conceal herself for a fortnight; it is
+quite possible, however, that she may remember the contents of those
+chapters on her death-bed; if so, will the attempt have been a futile
+one?
+
+I completed the translation, supplying deficiencies from my own version
+begun at Badajoz in 1836.  This translation I printed at Madrid in 1838;
+it was the first book which ever appeared in Rommany, and was called
+‘Embéo e Majaro Lucas,’ or Gospel of Luke the Saint.  I likewise
+published, simultaneously, the same Gospel in Basque, which, however, I
+had no opportunity of circulating.
+
+The Gitános of Madrid purchased the Gypsy Luke freely: many of the men
+understood it, and prized it highly, induced of course more by the
+language than the doctrine; the women were particularly anxious to obtain
+copies, though unable to read; but each wished to have one in her pocket,
+especially when engaged in thieving expeditions, for they all looked upon
+it in the light of a charm, which would preserve them from all danger and
+mischance; some even went so far as to say, that in this respect it was
+equally efficacious as the Bar Lachí, or loadstone, which they are in
+general so desirous of possessing.  Of this Gospel {281} five hundred
+copies were printed, of which the greater number I contrived to circulate
+amongst the Gypsies in various parts; I cast the book upon the waters and
+left it to its destiny.
+
+I have counted seventeen Gitánas assembled at one time in my apartment in
+the Calle de Santiágo in Madrid; for the first quarter of an hour we
+generally discoursed upon indifferent matters, I then by degrees drew
+their attention to religion and the state of souls.  I finally became so
+bold that I ventured to speak against their inveterate practices,
+thieving and lying, telling fortunes, and stealing á pastésas; this was
+touching upon delicate ground, and I experienced much opposition and much
+feminine clamour.  I persevered, however, and they finally assented to
+all I said, not that I believe that my words made much impression upon
+their hearts.  In a few months matters were so far advanced that they
+would sing a hymn; I wrote one expressly for them in Rommany, in which
+their own wild couplets were, to a certain extent, imitated.
+
+The people of the street in which I lived, seeing such numbers of these
+strange females continually passing in and out, were struck with
+astonishment, and demanded the reason.  The answers which they obtained
+by no means satisfied them.  ‘Zeal for the conversion of souls,—the souls
+too of Gitánas,—disparáte! the fellow is a scoundrel.  Besides he is an
+Englishman, and is not baptized; what cares he for souls?  They visit him
+for other purposes.  He makes base ounces, which they carry away and
+circulate.  Madrid is already stocked with false money.’  Others were of
+opinion that we met for the purposes of sorcery and abomination.  The
+Spaniard has no conception that other springs of action exist than
+interest or villainy.
+
+My little congregation, if such I may call it, consisted entirely of
+women; the men seldom or never visited me, save they stood in need of
+something which they hoped to obtain from me.  This circumstance I little
+regretted, their manners and conversation being the reverse of
+interesting.  It must not, however, be supposed that, even with the
+women, matters went on invariably in a smooth and satisfactory manner.
+The following little anecdote will show what slight dependence can be
+placed upon them, and how disposed they are at all times to take part in
+what is grotesque and malicious.  One day they arrived, attended by a
+Gypsy jockey whom I had never previously seen.  We had scarcely been
+seated a minute, when this fellow, rising, took me to the window, and
+without any preamble or circumlocution, said—‘Don Jorge, you shall lend
+me two barias’ (ounces of gold).   ‘Not to your whole race, my excellent
+friend,’ said I; ‘are you frantic?  Sit down and be discreet.’  He obeyed
+me literally, sat down, and when the rest departed, followed with them.
+We did not invariably meet at my own house, but occasionally at one in a
+street inhabited by Gypsies.  On the appointed day I went to this house,
+where I found the women assembled; the jockey was also present.  On
+seeing me he advanced, again took me aside, and again said—‘Don Jorge,
+you shall lend me two barias.’  I made him no answer, but at once entered
+on the subject which brought me thither.  I spoke for some time in
+Spanish; I chose for the theme of my discourse the situation of the
+Hebrews in Egypt, and pointed out its similarity to that of the Gitános
+in Spain.  I spoke of the power of God, manifested in preserving both as
+separate and distinct people amongst the nations until the present day.
+I warmed with my subject.  I subsequently produced a manuscript book,
+from which I read a portion of Scripture, and the Lord’s Prayer and
+Apostles’ Creed, in Rommany.  When I had concluded I looked around me.
+
+The features of the assembly were twisted, and the eyes of all turned
+upon me with a frightful squint; not an individual present but
+squinted,—the genteel Pépa, the good-humoured Chicharona, the Casdamí,
+etc. etc.  The Gypsy fellow, the contriver of the jest, squinted worst of
+all.  Such are Gypsies.
+
+
+
+
+THE ZINCALI
+PART III
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+THERE is no nation in the world, however exalted or however degraded, but
+is in possession of some peculiar poetry.  If the Chinese, the Hindoos,
+the Greeks, and the Persians, those splendid and renowned races, have
+their moral lays, their mythological epics, their tragedies, and their
+immortal love songs, so also have the wild and barbarous tribes of
+Soudan, and the wandering Esquimaux, their ditties, which, however
+insignificant in comparison with the compositions of the former nations,
+still are entitled in every essential point to the name of poetry; if
+poetry mean metrical compositions intended to soothe and recreate the
+mind fatigued by the cares, distresses, and anxieties to which mortality
+is subject.
+
+The Gypsies too have their poetry.  Of that of the Russian Zigani we have
+already said something.  It has always been our opinion, and we believe
+that in this we are by no means singular, that in nothing can the
+character of a people be read with greater certainty and exactness than
+in its songs.  How truly do the warlike ballads of the Northmen and the
+Danes, their _drapas_ and _kæmpe-viser_, depict the character of the
+Goth; and how equally do the songs of the Arabians, replete with homage
+to the one high, uncreated, and eternal God, ‘the fountain of blessing,’
+‘the only conqueror,’ lay bare to us the mind of the Moslem of the
+desert, whose grand characteristic is religious veneration, and
+uncompromising zeal for the glory of the Creator.
+
+And well and truly do the coplas and gachaplas of the Gitános depict the
+character of the race.  This poetry, for poetry we will call it, is in
+most respects such as might be expected to originate among people of
+their class; a set of Thugs, subsisting by cheating and villainy of every
+description; hating the rest of the human species, and bound to each
+other by the bonds of common origin, language, and pursuits.  The general
+themes of this poetry are the various incidents of Gitáno life and the
+feelings of the Gitános.  A Gypsy sees a pig running down a hill, and
+imagines that it cries ‘Ustilame Caloro!’ {288}—a Gypsy reclining sick on
+the prison floor beseeches his wife to intercede with the alcayde for the
+removal of the chain, the weight of which is bursting his body—the moon
+arises, and two Gypsies, who are about to steal a steed, perceive a
+Spaniard, and instantly flee—Juanito Ralli, whilst going home on his
+steed, is stabbed by a Gypsy who hates him—Facundo, a Gypsy, runs away at
+the sight of the burly priest of Villa Franca, who hates all Gypsies.
+Sometimes a burst of wild temper gives occasion to a strain—the swarthy
+lover threatens to slay his betrothed, even _at the feet of Jesus_,
+should she prove unfaithful.  It is a general opinion amongst the Gitános
+that Spanish women are very fond of Rommany chals and Rommany.  There is
+a stanza in which a Gitáno hopes to bear away a beauty of Spanish race by
+means of a word of Rommany whispered in her ear at the window.
+
+Amongst these effusions are even to be found tender and beautiful
+thoughts; for Thugs and Gitános have their moments of gentleness.  True
+it is that such are few and far between, as a flower or a shrub is here
+and there seen springing up from the interstices of the rugged and
+frightful rocks of which the Spanish sierras are composed: a wicked
+mother is afraid to pray to the Lord with her own lips, and calls on her
+innocent babe to beseech him to restore peace and comfort to her heart—an
+imprisoned youth appears to have no earthly friend on whom he can rely,
+save his sister, and wishes for a messenger to carry unto her the tale of
+his sufferings, confident that she would hasten at once to his
+assistance.  And what can be more touching than the speech of the
+relenting lover to the fair one whom he has outraged?
+
+    ‘Extend to me the hand so small,
+    Wherein I see thee weep,
+    For O thy balmy tear-drops all
+    I would collect and keep.’
+
+This Gypsy poetry consists of quartets, or rather couplets, but two
+rhymes being discernible, and those generally imperfect, the vowels alone
+agreeing in sound.  Occasionally, however, sixains, or stanzas of six
+lines, are to be found, but this is of rare occurrence.  The thought,
+anecdote or adventure described, is seldom carried beyond one stanza, in
+which everything is expressed which the poet wishes to impart.  This
+feature will appear singular to those who are unacquainted with the
+character of the popular poetry of the south, and are accustomed to the
+redundancy and frequently tedious repetition of a more polished muse.  It
+will be well to inform such that the greater part of the poetry sung in
+the south, and especially in Spain, is extemporary.  The musician
+composes it at the stretch of his voice, whilst his fingers are tugging
+at the guitar; which style of composition is by no means favourable to a
+long and connected series of thought.  Of course, the greater part of
+this species of poetry perishes as soon as born.  A stanza, however, is
+sometimes caught up by the bystanders, and committed to memory; and being
+frequently repeated, makes, in time, the circuit of the country.  For
+example, the stanza about Coruncho Lopez, which was originally made at
+the gate of a venta by a Miquelet, {290} who was conducting the said
+Lopez to the galleys for a robbery.  It is at present sung through the
+whole of the peninsula, however insignificant it may sound to foreign
+ears:—
+
+    ‘Coruncho Lopez, gallant lad,
+       A smuggling he would ride;
+    He stole his father’s ambling prad,
+    And therefore to the galleys sad
+       Coruncho now I guide.’
+
+The couplets of the Gitános are composed in the same off-hand manner, and
+exactly resemble in metre the popular ditties of the Spaniards.  In
+spirit, however, as well as language, they are in general widely
+different, as they mostly relate to the Gypsies and their affairs, and
+not unfrequently abound with abuse of the Busné or Spaniards.  Many of
+these creations have, like the stanza of Coruncho Lopez, been wafted over
+Spain amongst the Gypsy tribes, and are even frequently repeated by the
+Spaniards themselves; at least, by those who affect to imitate the
+phraseology of the Gitános.  Those which appear in the present collection
+consist partly of such couplets, and partly of such as we have ourselves
+taken down, as soon as they originated, not unfrequently in the midst of
+a circle of these singular people, dancing and singing to their wild
+music.  In no instance have they been subjected to modification; and the
+English translation is, in general, very faithful to the original, as
+will easily be perceived by referring to the lexicon.  To those who may
+feel disposed to find fault with or criticise these songs, we have to
+observe, that the present work has been written with no other view than
+to depict the Gitános such as they are, and to illustrate their
+character; and, on that account, we have endeavoured, as much as
+possible, to bring them before the reader, and to make them speak for
+themselves.  They are a half-civilised, unlettered people, proverbial for
+a species of knavish acuteness, which serves them in lieu of wisdom.  To
+place in the mouth of such beings the high-flown sentiments of modern
+poetry would not answer our purpose, though several authors have not
+shrunk from such an absurdity.
+
+These couplets have been collected in Estremadura and New Castile, in
+Valencia and Andalusia; the four provinces where the Gitáno race most
+abounds.  We wish, however, to remark, that they constitute scarcely a
+tenth part of our original gleanings, from which we have selected one
+hundred of the most remarkable and interesting.
+
+The language of the originals will convey an exact idea of the Rommany of
+Spain, as used at the present day amongst the Gitános in the fairs, when
+they are buying and selling animals, and wish to converse with each other
+in a way unintelligible to the Spaniards.  We are free to confess that it
+is a mere broken jargon, but it answers the purpose of those who use it;
+and it is but just to remark that many of its elements are of the most
+remote antiquity, and the most illustrious descent, as will be shown
+hereafter.  We have uniformly placed the original by the side of the
+translation; for though unwilling to make the Gitános speak in any other
+manner than they are accustomed, we are equally averse to have it
+supposed that many of the thoughts and expressions which occur in these
+songs, and which are highly objectionable, originated with ourselves.
+{292}
+
+
+RHYMES OF THE GITÁNOS
+
+
+   Unto a refuge me they led,
+      To save from dungeon drear;
+   Then sighing to my wife I said,
+      I leave my baby dear.
+
+   Back from the refuge soon I sped,
+      My child’s sweet face to see;
+   Then sternly to my wife I said,
+      You’ve seen the last of me.
+
+   O when I sit my courser bold,
+      My bantling in my rear,
+   And in my hand my musket hold,
+      O how they quake with fear.
+
+   Pray, little baby, pray the Lord,
+      Since guiltless still thou art,
+   That peace and comfort he afford
+      To this poor troubled heart.
+
+   The false Juanito, day and night,
+      Had best with caution go,
+   The Gypsy carles of Yeira height
+      Have sworn to lay him low.
+
+   There runs a swine down yonder hill,
+      As fast as e’er he can,
+   And as he runs he crieth still,
+      Come, steal me, Gypsy man.
+
+   I wash’d not in the limpid flood
+      The shirt which binds my frame;
+   But in Juanito Ralli’s blood
+      I bravely wash’d the same.
+
+   I sallied forth upon my grey,
+      With him my hated foe,
+   And when we reach’d the narrow way
+      I dealt a dagger blow.
+
+   To blessed Jesus’ holy feet
+      I’d rush to kill and slay
+   My plighted lass so fair and sweet,
+      Should she the wanton play.
+
+   I for a cup of water cried,
+      But they refus’d my prayer,
+   Then straight into the road I hied,
+      And fell to robbing there.
+
+   I ask’d for fire to warm my frame,
+      But they’d have scorn’d my prayer,
+   If I, to pay them for the same,
+      Had stripp’d my body bare.
+
+   Then came adown the village street,
+      With little babes that cry,
+   Because they have no crust to eat,
+      A Gypsy company;
+   And as no charity they meet,
+      They curse the Lord on high.
+
+   I left my house and walk’d about,
+      They seized me fast and bound;
+   It is a Gypsy thief, they shout,
+      The Spaniards here have found.
+
+   From out the prison me they led,
+      Before the scribe they brought;
+   It is no Gypsy thief, he said,
+      The Spaniards here have caught.
+
+   Throughout the night, the dusky night,
+      I prowl in silence round,
+   And with my eyes look left and right,
+      For him, the Spanish hound,
+   That with my knife I him may smite,
+      And to the vitals wound.
+
+   Will no one to the sister bear
+      News of her brother’s plight,
+   How in this cell of dark despair,
+      To cruel death he’s dight?
+
+   The Lord, as e’en the Gentiles state,
+      By Egypt’s race was bred,
+   And when he came to man’s estate,
+      His blood the Gentiles shed.
+
+   O never with the Gentiles wend,
+      Nor deem their speeches true;
+   Or else, be certain in the end
+      Thy blood will lose its hue.
+
+   From out the prison me they bore,
+      Upon an ass they placed,
+   And scourg’d me till I dripp’d with gore,
+      As down the road it paced.
+
+   They bore me from the prison nook,
+      They bade me rove at large;
+   When out I’d come a gun I took,
+      And scathed them with its charge.
+
+   My mule so bonny I bestrode,
+      To Portugal I’d flee,
+   And as I o’er the water rode
+      A man came suddenly;
+   And he his love and kindness show’d
+      By setting his dog on me.
+
+   Unless within a fortnight’s space
+      Thy face, O maid, I see;
+   Flamenca, of Egyptian race,
+      My lady love shall be.
+
+   Flamenca, of Egyptian race,
+      If thou wert only mine,
+   Within a bonny crystal case
+      For life I’d thee enshrine.
+
+   Sire nor mother me caress,
+      For I have none on earth;
+   One little brother I possess,
+      And he’s a fool by birth.
+
+   Thy sire and mother wrath and hate
+      Have vow’d against me, love!
+   The first, first night that from the gate
+      We two together rove.
+
+   Come to the window, sweet love, do,
+      And I will whisper there,
+   In Rommany, a word or two,
+      And thee far off will bear.
+
+   A Gypsy stripling’s sparkling eye
+      Has pierced my bosom’s core,
+   A feat no eye beneath the sky
+      Could e’er effect before.
+
+   Dost bid me from the land begone,
+      And thou with child by me?
+   Each time I come, the little one,
+      I’ll greet in Rommany.
+
+   With such an ugly, loathly wife
+      The Lord has punish’d me;
+   I dare not take her for my life
+      Where’er the Spaniards be.
+
+   O, I am not of gentle clan,
+      I’m sprung from Gypsy tree;
+   And I will be no gentleman,
+      But an Egyptian free.
+
+   On high arose the moon so fair,
+      The Gypsy ’gan to sing:
+   I see a Spaniard coming there,
+      I must be on the wing.
+
+   This house of harlotry doth smell,
+      I flee as from the pest;
+   Your mother likes my sire too well;
+      To hie me home is best.
+
+   The girl I love more dear than life,
+      Should other gallant woo,
+   I’d straight unsheath my dudgeon knife
+      And cut his weasand through;
+   Or he, the conqueror in the strife,
+      The same to me should do.
+
+   Loud sang the Spanish cavalier,
+      And thus his ditty ran:
+   God send the Gypsy lassie here,
+      And not the Gypsy man.
+
+   At midnight, when the moon began
+      To show her silver flame,
+   There came to him no Gypsy man,
+      The Gypsy lassie came.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+THE Gitános, abject and vile as they have ever been, have nevertheless
+found admirers in Spain, individuals who have taken pleasure in their
+phraseology, pronunciation, and way of life; but above all, in the songs
+and dances of the females.  This desire for cultivating their
+acquaintance is chiefly prevalent in Andalusia, where, indeed, they most
+abound; and more especially in the town of Seville, the capital of the
+province, where, in the barrio or Faubourg of Triana, a large Gitáno
+colon has long flourished, with the denizens of which it is at all times
+easy to have intercourse, especially to those who are free of their
+money, and are willing to purchase such a gratification at the expense of
+dollars and pesetas.
+
+When we consider the character of the Andalusians in general, we shall
+find little to surprise us in this predilection for the Gitános.  They
+are an indolent frivolous people, fond of dancing and song, and sensual
+amusements.  They live under the most glorious sun and benign heaven in
+Europe, and their country is by nature rich and fertile, yet in no
+province of Spain is there more beggary and misery; the greater part of
+the land being uncultivated, and producing nothing but thorns and
+brushwood, affording in itself a striking emblem of the moral state of
+its inhabitants.
+
+Though not destitute of talent, the Andalusians are not much addicted to
+intellectual pursuits, at least in the present day.  The person in most
+esteem among them is invariably the greatest _majo_, and to acquire that
+character it is necessary to appear in the dress of a Merry Andrew, to
+bully, swagger, and smoke continually, to dance passably, and to strum
+the guitar.  They are fond of obscenity and what they term _picardías_.
+Amongst them learning is at a terrible discount, Greek, Latin, or any of
+the languages generally termed learned, being considered in any light but
+accomplishments, but not so the possession of thieves’ slang or the
+dialect of the Gitános, the knowledge of a few words of which invariably
+creates a certain degree of respect, as indicating that the individual is
+somewhat versed in that kind of life or _trato_ for which alone the
+Andalusians have any kind of regard.
+
+In Andalusia the Gitáno has been studied by those who, for various
+reasons, have mingled with the Gitános.  It is tolerably well understood
+by the chalans, or jockeys, who have picked up many words in the fairs
+and market-places which the former frequent.  It has, however, been
+cultivated to a greater degree by other individuals, who have sought the
+society of the Gitános from a zest for their habits, their dances, and
+their songs; and such individuals have belonged to all classes, amongst
+them have been noblemen and members of the priestly order.
+
+Perhaps no people in Andalusia have been more addicted in general to the
+acquaintance of the Gitános than the friars, and pre-eminently amongst
+these the half-jockey half-religious personages of the Cartujan convent
+at Xeres.  This community, now suppressed, was, as is well known, in
+possession of a celebrated breed of horses, which fed in the pastures of
+the convent, and from which they derived no inconsiderable part of their
+revenue.  These reverend gentlemen seem to have been much better versed
+in the points of a horse than in points of theology, and to have
+understood thieves’ slang and Gitáno far better than the language of the
+Vulgate.  A chalan, who had some knowledge of the Gitáno, related to me
+the following singular anecdote in connection with this subject.
+
+He had occasion to go to the convent, having been long in treaty with the
+friars for a steed which he had been commissioned by a nobleman to buy at
+any reasonable price.  The friars, however, were exorbitant in their
+demands.  On arriving at the gate, he sang to the friar who opened it a
+couplet which he had composed in the Gypsy tongue, in which he stated the
+highest price which he was authorised to give for the animal in question;
+whereupon the friar instantly answered in the same tongue in an
+extemporary couplet full of abuse of him and his employer, and forthwith
+slammed the door in the face of the disconcerted jockey.
+
+An Augustine friar of Seville, called, we believe, Father Manso, who
+lived some twenty years ago, is still remembered for his passion for the
+Gitános; he seemed to be under the influence of fascination, and passed
+every moment that he could steal from his clerical occupations in their
+company.  His conduct at last became so notorious that he fell under the
+censure of the Inquisition, before which he was summoned; whereupon he
+alleged, in his defence, that his sole motive for following the Gitános
+was zeal for their spiritual conversion.  Whether this plea availed him
+we know not; but it is probable that the Holy Office dealt mildly with
+him; such offenders, indeed, have never had much to fear from it.  Had he
+been accused of liberalism, or searching into the Scriptures, instead of
+connection with the Gitános, we should, doubtless, have heard either of
+his execution or imprisonment for life in the cells of the cathedral of
+Seville.
+
+Such as are thus addicted to the Gitános and their language, are called,
+in Andalusia, Los del’ Aficion, or those of the predilection.  These
+people have, during the last fifty years, composed a spurious kind of
+Gypsy literature: we call it spurious because it did not originate with
+the Gitános, who are, moreover, utterly unacquainted with it, and to whom
+it would be for the most part unintelligible.  It is somewhat difficult
+to conceive the reason which induced these individuals to attempt such
+compositions; the only probable one seems to have been a desire to
+display to each other their skill in the language of their predilection.
+It is right, however, to observe, that most of these compositions, with
+respect to language, are highly absurd, the greatest liberties being
+taken with the words picked up amongst the Gitános, of the true meaning
+of which the writers, in many instances, seem to have been entirely
+ignorant.  From what we can learn, the composers of this literature
+flourished chiefly at the commencement of the present century: Father
+Manso is said to have been one of the last.  Many of their compositions,
+which are both in poetry and prose, exist in manuscript in a compilation
+made by one Luis Lobo.  It has never been our fortune to see this
+compilation, which, indeed, we scarcely regret, as a rather curious
+circumstance has afforded us a perfect knowledge of its contents.
+
+Whilst at Seville, chance made us acquainted with a highly extraordinary
+individual, a tall, bony, meagre figure, in a tattered Andalusian hat,
+ragged capote, and still more ragged pantaloons, and seemingly between
+forty and fifty years of age.  The only appellation to which he answered
+was Manuel.  His occupation, at the time we knew him, was selling tickets
+for the lottery, by which he obtained a miserable livelihood in Seville
+and the neighbouring villages.  His appearance was altogether wild and
+uncouth, and there was an insane expression in his eye.  Observing us one
+day in conversation with a Gitána, he addressed us, and we soon found
+that the sound of the Gitáno language had struck a chord which vibrated
+through the depths of his soul.  His history was remarkable; in his early
+youth a manuscript copy of the compilation of Luis Lobo had fallen into
+his hands.  This book had so taken hold of his imagination, that he
+studied it night and day until he had planted it in his memory from
+beginning to end; but in so doing, his brain, like that of the hero of
+Cervantes, had become dry and heated, so that he was unfitted for any
+serious or useful occupation.  After the death of his parents he wandered
+about the streets in great distress, until at last he fell into the hands
+of certain toreros, or bull-fighters, who kept him about them, in order
+that he might repeat to them the songs of the _Aficion_.  They
+subsequently carried him to Madrid, where, however, they soon deserted
+him after he had experienced much brutality from their hands.  He
+returned to Seville, and soon became the inmate of a madhouse, where he
+continued several years.  Having partially recovered from his malady, he
+was liberated, and wandered about as before.  During the cholera at
+Seville, when nearly twenty thousand human beings perished, he was
+appointed conductor of one of the death-carts, which went through the
+streets for the purpose of picking up the dead bodies.  His perfect
+inoffensiveness eventually procured him friends, and he obtained the
+situation of vendor of lottery tickets.  He frequently visited us, and
+would then recite long passages from the work of Lobo.  He was wont to
+say that he was the only one in Seville, at the present day, acquainted
+with the language of the Aficion; for though there were many pretenders,
+their knowledge was confined to a few words.
+
+From the recitation of this individual, we wrote down the Brijindope, or
+Deluge, and the poem on the plague which broke out in Seville in the year
+1800.  These and some songs of less consequence, constitute the poetical
+part of the compilation in question; the rest, which is in prose,
+consisting chiefly of translations from the Spanish, of proverbs and
+religious pieces.
+
+
+BRIJINDOPE.—THE DELUGE {304}
+A POEM: IN TWO PARTS
+
+
+                              PART THE FIRST
+
+   I with fear and terror quake,
+   Whilst the pen to write I take;
+   I will utter many a pray’r
+   To the heaven’s Regent fair,
+   That she deign to succour me,
+   And I’ll humbly bend my knee;
+   For but poorly do I know
+   With my subject on to go;
+   Therefore is my wisest plan
+   Not to trust in strength of man.
+   I my heavy sins bewail,
+   Whilst I view the wo and wail
+   Handed down so solemnly
+   In the book of times gone by.
+   Onward, onward, now I’ll move
+   In the name of Christ above,
+   And his Mother true and dear,
+   She who loves the wretch to cheer.
+   All I know, and all I’ve heard
+   I will state—how God appear’d
+   And to Noah thus did cry:
+   Weary with the world am I;
+   Let an ark by thee be built,
+   For the world is lost in guilt;
+   And when thou hast built it well,
+   Loud proclaim what now I tell:
+   Straight repent ye, for your Lord
+   In his hand doth hold a sword.
+   And good Noah thus did call:
+   Straight repent ye one and all,
+   For the world with grief I see
+   Lost in vileness utterly.
+   God’s own mandate I but do,
+   He hath sent me unto you.
+   Laugh’d the world to bitter scorn,
+   I his cruel sufferings mourn;
+   Brawny youths with furious air
+   Drag the Patriarch by the hair;
+   Lewdness governs every one:
+   Leaves her convent now the nun,
+   And the monk abroad I see
+   Practising iniquity.
+   Now I’ll tell how God, intent
+   To avenge, a vapour sent,
+   With full many a dreadful sign—
+   Mighty, mighty fear is mine:
+   As I hear the thunders roll,
+   Seems to die my very soul;
+   As I see the world o’erspread
+   All with darkness thick and dread;
+   I the pen can scarcely ply
+   For the tears which dim my eye,
+   And o’ercome with grievous wo,
+   Fear the task I must forego
+   I have purposed to perform.—
+   Hark, I hear upon the storm
+   Thousand, thousand devils fly,
+   Who with awful howlings cry:
+   Now’s the time and now’s the hour,
+   We have licence, we have power
+   To obtain a glorious prey.—
+   I with horror turn away;
+   Tumbles house and tumbles wall;
+   Thousands lose their lives and all,
+   Voiding curses, screams and groans,
+   For the beams, the bricks and stones
+   Bruise and bury all below—
+   Nor is that the worst, I trow,
+   For the clouds begin to pour
+   Floods of water more and more,
+   Down upon the world with might,
+   Never pausing day or night.
+   Now in terrible distress
+   All to God their cries address,
+   And his Mother dear adore,—
+   But the time of grace is o’er,
+   For the Almighty in the sky
+   Holds his hand upraised on high.
+   Now’s the time of madden’d rout,
+   Hideous cry, despairing shout;
+   Whither, whither shall they fly?
+   For the danger threat’ningly
+   Draweth near on every side,
+   And the earth, that’s opening wide,
+   Swallows thousands in its womb,
+   Who would ‘scape the dreadful doom.
+   Of dear hope exists no gleam,
+   Still the water down doth stream;
+   Ne’er so little a creeping thing
+   But from out its hold doth spring:
+   See the mouse, and see its mate
+   Scour along, nor stop, nor wait;
+   See the serpent and the snake
+   For the nearest highlands make;
+   The tarantula I view,
+   Emmet small and cricket too,
+   All unknowing where to fly,
+   In the stifling waters die.
+   See the goat and bleating sheep,
+   See the bull with bellowings deep.
+   And the rat with squealings shrill,
+   They have mounted on the hill:
+   See the stag, and see the doe,
+   How together fond they go;
+   Lion, tiger-beast, and pard,
+   To escape are striving hard:
+   Followed by her little ones,
+   See the hare how swift she runs:
+   Asses, he and she, a pair.
+   Mute and mule with bray and blare,
+   And the rabbit and the fox,
+   Hurry over stones and rocks,
+   With the grunting hog and horse,
+   Till at last they stop their course—
+   On the summit of the hill
+   All assembled stand they still;
+   In the second part I’ll tell
+   Unto them what there befell.
+
+                             PART THE SECOND
+
+   When I last did bid farewell,
+   I proposed the world to tell,
+   Higher as the Deluge flow’d,
+   How the frog and how the toad,
+   With the lizard and the eft,
+   All their holes and coverts left,
+   And assembled on the height;
+   Soon I ween appeared in sight
+   All that’s wings beneath the sky,
+   Bat and swallow, wasp and fly,
+   Gnat and sparrow, and behind
+   Comes the crow of carrion kind;
+   Dove and pigeon are descried,
+   And the raven fiery-eyed,
+   With the beetle and the crane
+   Flying on the hurricane:
+   See they find no resting-place,
+   For the world’s terrestrial space
+   Is with water cover’d o’er,
+   Soon they sink to rise no more:
+   ‘To our father let us flee!’
+   Straight the ark-ship openeth he,
+   And to everything that lives
+   Kindly he admission gives.
+   Of all kinds a single pair,
+   And the members safely there
+   Of his house he doth embark,
+   Then at once he shuts the ark;
+   Everything therein has pass’d,
+   There he keeps them safe and fast.
+   O’er the mountain’s topmost peak
+   Now the raging waters break.
+   Till full twenty days are o’er,
+   ‘Midst the elemental roar,
+   Up and down the ark forlorn,
+   Like some evil thing is borne:
+   O what grief it is to see
+   Swimming on the enormous sea
+   Human corses pale and white,
+   More, alas! than I can write:
+   O what grief, what grief profound,
+   But to think the world is drown’d:
+   True a scanty few are left,
+   All are not of life bereft,
+   So that, when the Lord ordain,
+   They may procreate again,
+   In a world entirely new,
+   Better people and more true,
+   To their Maker who shall bow;
+   And I humbly beg you now,
+   Ye in modern times who wend,
+   That your lives ye do amend;
+   For no wat’ry punishment,
+   But a heavier shall be sent;
+   For the blessed saints pretend
+   That the latter world shall end
+   To tremendous fire a prey,
+   And to ashes sink away.
+   To the Ark I now go back,
+   Which pursues its dreary track,
+   Lost and ‘wilder’d till the Lord
+   In his mercy rest accord.
+   Early of a morning tide
+   They unclosed a window wide,
+   Heaven’s beacon to descry,
+   And a gentle dove let fly,
+   Of the world to seek some trace,
+   And in two short hours’ space
+   It returns with eyes that glow,
+   In its beak an olive bough.
+   With a loud and mighty sound,
+   They exclaim: ‘The world we’ve found.’
+   To a mountain nigh they drew,
+   And when there themselves they view,
+   Bound they swiftly on the shore,
+   And their fervent thanks outpour,
+   Lowly kneeling to their God;
+   Then their way a couple trod,
+   Man and woman, hand in hand,
+   Bent to populate the land,
+   To the Moorish region fair—
+   And another two repair
+   To the country of the Gaul;
+   In this manner wend they all,
+   And the seeds of nations lay.
+   I beseech ye’ll credence pay,
+   For our father, high and sage,
+   Wrote the tale in sacred page,
+   As a record to the world,
+   Record sad of vengeance hurl’d.
+   I, a low and humble wight,
+   Beg permission now to write
+   Unto all that in our land
+   Tongue Egyptian understand.
+   May our Virgin Mother mild
+   Grant to me, her erring child,
+   Plenteous grace in every way,
+   And success.  Amen I say.
+
+                              THE PESTILENCE
+
+   I’m resolved now to tell
+   In the speech of Gypsy-land
+   All the horror that befell
+   In this city huge and grand.
+
+   In the eighteenth hundred year
+   In the midst of summertide,
+   God, with man dissatisfied,
+   His right hand on high did rear,
+   With a rigour most severe;
+   Whence we well might understand
+   He would strict account demand
+   Of our lives and actions here.
+   The dread event to render clear
+   Now the pen I take in hand.
+
+   At the dread event aghast,
+   Straight the world reform’d its course;
+   Yet is sin in greater force,
+   Now the punishment is past;
+   For the thought of God is cast
+   All and utterly aside,
+   As if death itself had died.
+   Therefore to the present race
+   These memorial lines I trace
+   In old Egypt’s tongue of pride.
+
+   As the streets you wander’d through
+   How you quail’d with fear and dread,
+   Heaps of dying and of dead
+   At the leeches’ door to view.
+   To the tavern O how few
+   To regale on wine repair;
+   All a sickly aspect wear.
+   Say what heart such sights could brook—
+   Wail and woe where’er you look—
+   Wail and woe and ghastly care.
+
+   Plying fast their rosaries,
+   See the people pace the street,
+   And for pardon God entreat
+   Long and loud with streaming eyes.
+   And the carts of various size,
+   Piled with corses, high in air,
+   To the plain their burden bear.
+   O what grief it is to me
+   Not a friar or priest to see
+   In this city huge and fair.
+
+
+ON THE LANGUAGE OF THE GITÁNOS
+
+
+    ‘I am not very willing that any language should be totally
+    extinguished; the similitude and derivation of languages afford the
+    most indubitable proof of the traduction of nations, and the
+    genealogy of mankind; they add often physical certainty to historical
+    evidence of ancient migrations, and of the revolutions of ages which
+    left no written monuments behind them.’—JOHNSON.
+
+THE Gypsy dialect of Spain is at present very much shattered and broken,
+being rather the fragments of the language which the Gypsies brought with
+them from the remote regions of the East than the language itself: it
+enables, however, in its actual state, the Gitános to hold conversation
+amongst themselves, the import of which is quite dark and mysterious to
+those who are not of their race, or by some means have become acquainted
+with their vocabulary.  The relics of this tongue, singularly curious in
+themselves, must be ever particularly interesting to the philological
+antiquarian, inasmuch as they enable him to arrive at a satisfactory
+conclusion respecting the origin of the Gypsy race.  During the later
+part of the last century, the curiosity of some learned individuals,
+particularly Grellmann, Richardson, and Marsden, induced them to collect
+many words of the Romanian language, as spoken in Germany, Hungary, and
+England, which, upon analysing, they discovered to be in general either
+pure Sanscrit or Hindustani words, or modifications thereof; these
+investigations have been continued to the present time by men of equal
+curiosity and no less erudition, the result of which has been the
+establishment of the fact, that the Gypsies of those countries are the
+descendants of a tribe of Hindus who for some particular reason had
+abandoned their native country.  In England, of late, the Gypsies have
+excited particular attention; but a desire far more noble and laudable
+than mere antiquarian curiosity has given rise to it, namely, the desire
+of propagating the glory of Christ amongst those who know Him not, and of
+saving souls from the jaws of the infernal wolf.  It is, however, with
+the Gypsies of Spain, and not with those of England and other countries,
+that we are now occupied, and we shall merely mention the latter so far
+as they may serve to elucidate the case of the Gitános, their brethren by
+blood and language.  Spain for many centuries has been the country of
+error; she has mistaken stern and savage tyranny for rational government;
+base, low, and grovelling superstition for clear, bright, and
+soul-ennobling religion; sordid cheating she has considered as the path
+to riches; vexatious persecution as the path to power; and the
+consequence has been, that she is now poor and powerless, a pagan amongst
+the pagans, with a dozen kings, and with none.  Can we be surprised,
+therefore, that, mistaken in policy, religion, and moral conduct, she
+should have fallen into error on points so naturally dark and mysterious
+as the history and origin of those remarkable people whom for the last
+four hundred years she has supported under the name of Gitános?  The idea
+entertained at the present day in Spain respecting this race is, that
+they are the descendants of the Moriscos who remained in Spain, wandering
+about amongst the mountains and wildernesses, after the expulsion of the
+great body of the nation from the country in the time of Philip the
+Third, and that they form a distinct body, entirely unconnected with the
+wandering tribes known in other countries by the names of Bohemians,
+Gypsies, etc.  This, like all unfounded opinions, of course originated in
+ignorance, which is always ready to have recourse to conjecture and
+guesswork, in preference to travelling through the long, mountainous, and
+stony road of patient investigation; it is, however, an error far more
+absurd and more destitute of tenable grounds than the ancient belief that
+the Gitános were Egyptians, which they themselves have always professed
+to be, and which the original written documents which they brought with
+them on their first arrival in Western Europe, and which bore the
+signature of the king of Bohemia, expressly stated them to be.  The only
+clue to arrive at any certainty respecting their origin, is the language
+which they still speak amongst themselves; but before we can avail
+ourselves of the evidence of this language, it will be necessary to make
+a few remarks respecting the principal languages and dialects of that
+immense tract of country, peopled by at least eighty millions of human
+beings, generally known by the name of Hindustan, two Persian words
+tantamount to the land of Ind, or, the land watered by the river Indus.
+
+The most celebrated of these languages is the Sanskrida, or, as it is
+known in Europe, the Sanscrit, which is the language of religion of all
+those nations amongst whom the faith of Brahma has been adopted; but
+though the language of religion, by which we mean the tongue in which the
+religious books of the Brahmanic sect were originally written and are
+still preserved, it has long since ceased to be a spoken language;
+indeed, history is silent as to any period when it was a language in
+common use amongst any of the various tribes of the Hindus; its
+knowledge, as far as reading and writing it went, having been entirely
+confined to the priests of Brahma, or Brahmans, until within the last
+half-century, when the British, having subjugated the whole of Hindustan,
+caused it to be openly taught in the colleges which they established for
+the instruction of their youth in the languages of the country.  Though
+sufficiently difficult to acquire, principally on account of its
+prodigious richness in synonyms, it is no longer a sealed language,—its
+laws, structure, and vocabulary being sufficiently well known by means of
+numerous elementary works, adapted to facilitate its study.  It has been
+considered by famous philologists as the mother not only of all the
+languages of Asia, but of all others in the world.  So wild and
+preposterous an idea, however, only serves to prove that a devotion to
+philology, whose principal object should be the expansion of the mind by
+the various treasures of learning and wisdom which it can unlock,
+sometimes only tends to its bewilderment, by causing it to embrace
+shadows for reality.  The most that can be allowed, in reason, to the
+Sanscrit is that it is the mother of a certain class or family of
+languages, for example, those spoken in Hindustan, with which most of the
+European, whether of the Sclavonian, Gothic, or Celtic stock, have some
+connection.  True it is that in this case we know not how to dispose of
+the ancient Zend, the mother of the modern Persian, the language in which
+were written those writings generally attributed to Zerduscht, or
+Zoroaster, whose affinity to the said tongues is as easily established as
+that of the Sanscrit, and which, in respect to antiquity, may well
+dispute the palm with its Indian rival.  Avoiding, however, the
+discussion of this point, we shall content ourselves with observing, that
+closely connected with the Sanscrit, if not derived from it, are the
+Bengáli, the high Hindustáni, or grand popular language of Hindustan,
+generally used by the learned in their intercourse and writings, the
+languages of Multan, Guzerat, and other provinces, without mentioning the
+mixed dialect called Mongolian Hindustáni, a corrupt jargon of Persian,
+Turkish, Arabic, and Hindu words, first used by the Mongols, after the
+conquest, in their intercourse with the natives.  Many of the principal
+languages of Asia are totally unconnected with the Sanscrit, both in
+words and grammatical structure; these are mostly of the great Tartar
+family, at the head of which there is good reason for placing the Chinese
+and Tibetian.
+
+Bearing the same analogy to the Sanscrit tongue as the Indian dialects
+specified above, we find the Rommany, or speech of the Roma, or Zincali,
+as they style themselves, known in England and Spain as Gypsies and
+Gitános.  This speech, wherever it is spoken, is, in all principal
+points, one and the same, though more or less corrupted by foreign words,
+picked up in the various countries to which those who use it have
+penetrated.  One remarkable feature must not be passed over without
+notice, namely, the very considerable number of Sclavonic words, which
+are to be found embedded within it, whether it be spoken in Spain or
+Germany, in England or Italy; from which circumstance we are led to the
+conclusion, that these people, in their way from the East, travelled in
+one large compact body, and that their route lay through some region
+where the Sclavonian language, or a dialect thereof, was spoken.  This
+region I have no hesitation in asserting to have been Bulgaria, where
+they probably tarried for a considerable period, as nomad herdsmen, and
+where numbers of them are still to be found at the present day.  Besides
+the many Sclavonian words in the Gypsy tongue, another curious feature
+attracts the attention of the philologist—an equal or still greater
+quantity of terms from the modern Greek; indeed, we have full warranty
+for assuming that at one period the Spanish section, if not the rest of
+the Gypsy nation, understood the Greek language well, and that, besides
+their own Indian dialect, they occasionally used it for considerably
+upwards of a century subsequent to their arrival, as amongst the Gitános
+there were individuals to whom it was intelligible so late as the year
+1540.
+
+Where this knowledge was obtained it is difficult to say,—perhaps in
+Bulgaria, where two-thirds of the population profess the Greek religion,
+or rather in Romania, where the Romaic is generally understood; that they
+_did_ understand the Romaic in 1540, we gather from a very remarkable
+work, called _El Estudioso Cortesáno_, written by Lorenzo Palmiréno: this
+learned and highly extraordinary individual was by birth a Valencian, and
+died about 1580; he was professor at various universities—of rhetoric at
+Valencia, of Greek at Zaragossa, where he gave lectures, in which he
+explained the verses of Homer; he was a proficient in Greek, ancient and
+modern, and it should be observed that, in the passage which we are about
+to cite, he means himself by the learned individual who held conversation
+with the Gitános. {321}  _El Estudioso Cortesáno_ was reprinted at Alcala
+in 1587, from which edition we now copy.
+
+‘Who are the Gitános?  I answer; these vile people first began to show
+themselves in Germany, in the year 1417, where they call them Tartars or
+Gentiles; in Italy they are termed Ciani.  They pretend that they come
+from Lower Egypt, and that they wander about as a penance, and to prove
+this, they show letters from the king of Poland.  They lie, however, for
+they do not lead the life of penitents, but of dogs and thieves.  A
+learned person, in the year 1540, prevailed with them, by dint of much
+persuasion, to show him the king’s letter, and he gathered from it that
+the time of their penance was already expired; he spoke to them in the
+Egyptian tongue; they said, however, as it was a long time since their
+departure from Egypt, they did not understand it; he then spoke to them
+in the vulgar Greek, such as is used at present in the Morea and
+Archipelago; _some understood it_, others did not; so that as all did not
+understand it, we may conclude that the language which they use is a
+feigned one, {67} got up by thieves for the purpose of concealing their
+robberies, like the jargon of blind beggars.’
+
+Still more abundant, however, than the mixture of Greek, still more
+abundant than the mixture of Sclavonian, is the alloy in the Gypsy
+language, wherever spoken, of modern Persian words, which circumstance
+will compel us to offer a few remarks on the share which the Persian has
+had in the formation of the dialects of India, as at present spoken.
+
+The modern Persian, as has been already observed, is a daughter of the
+ancient Zend, and, as such, is entitled to claim affinity with the
+Sanscrit, and its dialects.  With this language none in the world would
+be able to vie in simplicity and beauty, had not the Persians, in
+adopting the religion of Mahomet, unfortunately introduces into their
+speech an infinity of words of the rude coarse language used by the
+barbaric Arab tribes, the immediate followers of the warlike Prophet.
+With the rise of Islam the modern Persian was doomed to be carried into
+India.  This country, from the time of Alexander, had enjoyed repose from
+external aggression, had been ruled by its native princes, and been
+permitted by Providence to exercise, without control or reproof, the
+degrading superstitions, and the unnatural and bloody rites of a religion
+at the formation of which the fiends of cruelty and lust seem to have
+presided; but reckoning was now about to be demanded of the accursed
+ministers of this system for the pain, torture, and misery which they had
+been instrumental in inflicting on their countrymen for the gratification
+of their avarice, filthy passions, and pride; the new Mahometans were at
+hand—Arab, Persian, and Afghan, with the glittering scimitar upraised,
+full of zeal for the glory and adoration of the one high God, and the
+relentless persecutors of the idol-worshippers.  Already, in the four
+hundred and twenty-sixth year of the Hegeira, we read of the destruction
+of the great Butkhan, or image-house of Sumnaut, by the armies of the
+far-conquering Mahmoud, when the dissevered heads of the Brahmans rolled
+down the steps of the gigantic and Babel-like temple of the great image—
+
+            [Picture: Text which cannot be reproduced—Arabic?]
+
+    (This image grim, whose name was Laut,
+       Bold Mahmoud found when he took Sumnaut.)
+
+It is not our intention to follow the conquests of the Mahometans from
+the days of Walid and Mahmoud to those of Timour and Nadir; sufficient to
+observe, that the greatest part of India was subdued, new monarchies
+established, and the old religion, though far too powerful and widely
+spread to be extirpated, was to a considerable extent abashed and humbled
+before the bright rising sun of Islam.  The Persian language, which the
+conquerors {324} of whatever denomination introduced with them to
+Hindustan, and which their descendants at the present day still retain,
+though not lords of the ascendant, speedily became widely extended in
+these regions, where it had previously been unknown.  As the language of
+the court, it was of course studied and acquired by all those natives
+whose wealth, rank, and influence necessarily brought them into
+connection with the ruling powers; and as the language of the camp, it
+was carried into every part of the country where the duties of the
+soldiery sooner or later conducted them; the result of which relations
+between the conquerors and conquered was the adoption into the popular
+dialects of India of an infinity of modern Persian words, not merely
+those of science, such as it exists in the East, and of luxury and
+refinement, but even those which serve to express many of the most common
+objects, necessities, and ideas, so that at the present day a knowledge
+of the Persian is essential for the thorough understanding of the
+principal dialects of Hindustan, on which account, as well as for the
+assistance which it affords in communication with the Mahometans, it is
+cultivated with peculiar care by the present possessors of the land.
+
+No surprise, therefore, can be entertained that the speech of the Gitános
+in general, who, in all probability, departed from Hindustan long
+subsequent to the first Mahometan invasions, abounds, like other Indian
+dialects, with words either purely Persian, or slightly modified to
+accommodate them to the genius of the language.  Whether the Rommany
+originally constituted part of the natives of Multan or Guzerat, and
+abandoned their native land to escape from the torch and sword of
+Tamerlane and his Mongols, as Grellmann and others have supposed, or
+whether, as is much more probable, they were a thievish caste, like some
+others still to be found in Hindustan, who fled westward, either from the
+vengeance of justice, or in pursuit of plunder, their speaking Persian is
+alike satisfactorily accounted for.  With the view of exhibiting how
+closely their language is connected with the Sanscrit and Persian, we
+subjoin the first ten numerals in the three tongues, those of the Gypsy
+according to the Hungarian dialect. {325a}
+
+        Gypsy.      Persian.      Sanscrit. {325b}
+     1  Jek         Ek            Ega
+     2  Dui         Du            Dvaya
+     3  Trin        Se            Treya
+     4  Schtar      Chehar        Tschatvar
+     5  Pansch      Pansch        Pantscha
+     6  Tschov      Schesche      Schasda
+     7  Efta        Heft          Sapta
+     8  Ochto       Hescht        Aschta
+     9  Enija       Nu            Nava
+    10  Dösch       De            Dascha
+
+It would be easy for us to adduce a thousand instances, as striking as
+the above, of the affinity of the Gypsy tongue to the Persian, Sanscrit,
+and the Indian dialects, but we have not space for further observation on
+a point which long since has been sufficiently discussed by others
+endowed with abler pens than our own; but having made these preliminary
+remarks, which we deemed necessary for the elucidation of the subject, we
+now hasten to speak of the Gitáno language as used in Spain, and to
+determine, by its evidence (and we again repeat, that the language is the
+only criterion by which the question can be determined), how far the
+Gitános of Spain are entitled to claim connection with the tribes who,
+under the names of Zingáni, etc., are to be found in various parts of
+Europe, following, in general, a life of wandering adventure, and
+practising the same kind of thievish arts which enable those in Spain to
+obtain a livelihood at the expense of the more honest and industrious of
+the community.
+
+The Gitános of Spain, as already stated, are generally believed to be the
+descendants of the Moriscos, and have been asserted to be such in printed
+books. {326}  Now they are known to speak a language or jargon amongst
+themselves which the other natives of Spain do not understand; of course,
+then, supposing them to be of Morisco origin, the words of this tongue or
+jargon, which are not Spanish, are the relics of the Arabic or Moorish
+tongue once spoken in Spain, which they have inherited from their Moorish
+ancestors.  Now it is well known, that the Moorish of Spain was the same
+tongue as that spoken at present by the Moors of Barbary, from which
+country Spain was invaded by the Arabs, and to which they again retired
+when unable to maintain their ground against the armies of the
+Christians.  We will, therefore, collate the numerals of the Spanish
+Gitáno with those of the Moorish tongue, preceding both with those of the
+Hungarian Gypsy, of which we have already made use, for the purpose of
+making clear the affinity of that language to the Sanscrit and Persian.
+By this collation we shall at once perceive whether the Gitáno of Spain
+bears most resemblance to the Arabic, or the Rommany of other lands.
+
+            Hungarian           Spanish            Moorish
+             Gypsy.             Gitáno.            Arabic.
+     1  Jek                Yeque               Wahud
+     2  Dui                Dui                 Snain
+     3  Trin               Trin                Slatza
+     4  Schtar             Estar               Arba
+     5  Pansch             Pansche             Khamsa
+     6  Tschov             Job. Zoi            Seta
+     7  Efta               Hefta               Sebéa
+     8  Ochto              Otor                Sminía
+     9  Enija              Esnia (Nu.          Tussa
+                           _Pers._)
+    10  Dösch              Deque               Aschra
+
+We believe the above specimens will go very far to change the opinion of
+those who have imbibed the idea that the Gitános of Spain are the
+descendants of Moors, and are of an origin different from that of the
+wandering tribes of Rommany in other parts of the world, the specimens of
+the two dialects of the Gypsy, as far as they go, being so strikingly
+similar, as to leave no doubt of their original identity, whilst, on the
+contrary, with the Moorish neither the one nor the other exhibits the
+slightest point of similarity or connection.  But with these specimens we
+shall not content ourselves, but proceed to give the names of the most
+common things and objects in the Hungarian and Spanish Gitáno,
+collaterally, with their equivalents in the Moorish Arabic; from which it
+will appear that whilst the former are one and the same language, they
+are in every respect at variance with the latter.  When we consider that
+the Persian has adopted so many words and phrases from the Arabic, we are
+at first disposed to wonder that a considerable portion of these words
+are not to be discovered in every dialect of the Gypsy tongue, since the
+Persian has lent it so much of its vocabulary.  Yet such is by no means
+the case, as it is very uncommon, in any one of these dialects, to
+discover words derived from the Arabic.  Perhaps, however, the following
+consideration will help to solve this point.  The Gitános, even before
+they left India, were probably much the same rude, thievish, and ignorant
+people as they are at the present day.  Now the words adopted by the
+Persian from the Arabic, and which it subsequently introduced into the
+dialects of India, are sounds representing objects and ideas with which
+such a people as the Gitános could necessarily be but scantily
+acquainted, a people whose circle of ideas only embraces physical
+objects, and who never commune with their own minds, nor exert them but
+in devising low and vulgar schemes of pillage and deceit.  Whatever is
+visible and common is seldom or never represented by the Persians, even
+in their books, by the help of Arabic words: the sun and stars, the sea
+and river, the earth, its trees, its fruits, its flowers, and all that it
+produces and supports, are seldom named by them by other terms than those
+which their own language is capable of affording; but in expressing the
+abstract thoughts of their minds, and they are a people who think much
+and well, they borrow largely from the language of their religion—the
+Arabic.  We therefore, perhaps, ought not to be surprised that in the
+scanty phraseology of the Gitános, amongst so much Persian, we find so
+little that is Arabic; had their pursuits been less vile, their desires
+less animal, and their thoughts less circumscribed, it would probably
+have been otherwise; but from time immemorial they have shown themselves
+a nation of petty thieves, horse-traffickers, and the like, without a
+thought of the morrow, being content to provide against the evil of the
+passing day.
+
+The following is a comparison of words in the three languages:—
+
+                     Hungarian          Spanish           Moorish
+                    Gypsy. {330}        Gitáno.           Arabic.
+Bone              Cokalos           Cocal             Adorn
+City              Forjus            Foros             Beled
+Day               Dives             Chibes            Youm
+Drink (to)        Piava             Piyar             Yeschrab
+Ear               Kan               Can               Oothin
+Eye               Jakh              Aquia             Ein
+Feather           Por               Porumia           Risch
+Fire              Vag               Yaque             Afia
+Fish              Maczo             Macho             Hutz
+Foot              Pir               Piro, pindro      Rjil
+Gold              Sonkai            Sonacai           Dahab
+Great             Baro              Baro              Quibír
+Hair              Bala              Bal               Schar
+He, pron.         Wow               O                 Hu
+Head              Tschero           Jero              Ras
+House             Ker               Quer              Dar
+Husband           Rom               Ron               Zooje
+Lightning         Molnija           Malunó            Brak
+Love (to)         Camaba            Camelar           Yehib
+Man               Manusch           Manu              Rajil
+Milk              Tud               Chuti             Helib
+Mountain          Bar               Bur               Djibil
+Mouth             Mui               Mui               Fum
+Name              Nao               Nao               Ism
+Night             Rat               Rachi             Lila
+Nose              Nakh              Naqui             Munghár
+Old               Puro              Puro              Shaive
+Red               Lal               Lalo              Hamr
+Salt              Lon               Lon               Mela
+Sing              Gjuwawa           Gilyabar          Iganni
+Sun               Cam               Can               Schems
+Thief             Tschor            Choro             Harám
+Thou              Tu                Tucue             Antsin
+Tongue            Tschib            Chipe             Lsán
+Tooth             Dant              Dani              Sinn
+Tree              Karscht           Caste             Schizara
+Water             Pani              Pani              Ma
+Wind              Barbar            Barban            Ruhk
+
+We shall offer no further observations respecting the affinity of the
+Spanish Gitáno to the other dialects, as we conceive we have already
+afforded sufficient proof of its original identity with them, and
+consequently shaken to the ground the absurd opinion that the Gitános of
+Spain are the descendants of the Arabs and Moriscos.  We shall now
+conclude with a few remarks on the present state of the Gitáno language
+in Spain, where, perhaps, within the course of a few years, it will have
+perished, without leaving a vestige of its having once existed; and
+where, perhaps, the singular people who speak it are likewise doomed to
+disappear, becoming sooner or later engulfed and absorbed in the great
+body of the nation, amongst whom they have so long existed a separate and
+peculiar class.
+
+Though the words or a part of the words of the original tongue still
+remain, preserved by memory amongst the Gitános, its grammatical
+peculiarities have disappeared, the entire language having been modified
+and subjected to the rules of Spanish grammar, with which it now
+coincides in syntax, in the conjugation of verbs, and in the declension
+of its nouns.  Were it possible or necessary to collect all the relics of
+this speech, they would probably amount to four or five thousand words;
+but to effect such an achievement, it would be necessary to hold close
+and long intercourse with almost every Gitáno in Spain, and to extract,
+by various means, the peculiar information which he might be capable of
+affording; for it is necessary to state here, that though such an amount
+of words may still exist amongst the Gitános in general, no single
+individual of their sect is in possession of one-third part thereof, nor
+indeed, we may add, those of any single city or province of Spain;
+nevertheless all are in possession, more or less, of the language, so
+that, though of different provinces, they are enabled to understand each
+other tolerably well, when discoursing in this their characteristic
+speech.  Those who travel most are of course best versed in it, as,
+independent of the words of their own village or town, they acquire
+others by intermingling with their race in various places.  Perhaps there
+is no part of Spain where it is spoken better than in Madrid, which is
+easily accounted for by the fact, that Madrid, as the capital, has always
+been the point of union of the Gitános, from all those provinces of Spain
+where they are to be found.  It is least of all preserved in Seville,
+notwithstanding that its Gitáno population is very considerable,
+consisting, however, almost entirely of natives of the place.  As may
+well be supposed, it is in all places best preserved amongst the old
+people, their children being comparatively ignorant of it, as perhaps
+they themselves are in comparison with their own parents.  We are
+persuaded that the Gitáno language of Spain is nearly at its last stage
+of existence, which persuasion has been our main instigator to the
+present attempt to collect its scanty remains, and by the assistance of
+the press, rescue it in some degree from destruction.  It will not be
+amiss to state here, that it is only by listening attentively to the
+speech of the Gitános, whilst discoursing amongst themselves, that an
+acquaintance with their dialect can be formed, and by seizing upon all
+unknown words as they fall in succession from their lips.  Nothing can be
+more useless and hopeless than the attempt to obtain possession of their
+vocabulary by inquiring of them how particular objects and ideas are
+styled; for with the exception of the names of the most common things,
+they are totally incapable, as a Spanish writer has observed, of yielding
+the required information, owing to their great ignorance, the shortness
+of their memories, or rather the state of bewilderment to which their
+minds are brought by any question which tends to bring their reasoning
+faculties into action, though not unfrequently the very words which have
+been in vain required of them will, a minute subsequently, proceed
+inadvertently from their mouths.
+
+We now take leave of their language.  When wishing to praise the
+proficiency of any individual in their tongue, they are in the habit of
+saying, ‘He understands the seven jargons.’  In the Gospel which we have
+printed in this language, and in the dictionary which we have compiled,
+we have endeavoured, to the utmost of our ability, to deserve that
+compliment; and at all times it will afford us sincere and heartfelt
+pleasure to be informed that any Gitáno, capable of appreciating the said
+little works, has observed, whilst reading them or hearing them read: It
+is clear that the writer of these books understood
+
+                            THE SEVEN JARGONS.
+
+
+ON ROBBER LANGUAGE; OR, AS IT IS CALLED IN SPAIN, GERMANIA
+
+
+    ‘So I went with them to a music booth, where they made me almost
+    drunk with gin, and began to talk their _Flash Language_, which I did
+    not understand.’—Narrative of the Exploits of Henry Simms, executed
+    at Tyburn, 1746.
+
+    ‘Hablaronse los dos en Germania, de lo qual resultó darme un abraço,
+    y ofrecerseme.’—QUEVEDO.  Vida dal gran Tacaño.
+
+HAVING in the preceding article endeavoured to afford all necessary
+information concerning the Rommany, or language used by the Gypsies
+amongst themselves, we now propose to turn our attention to a subject of
+no less interest, but which has hitherto never been treated in a manner
+calculated to lead to any satisfactory result or conclusion; on the
+contrary, though philosophic minds have been engaged in its
+consideration, and learned pens have not disdained to occupy themselves
+with its details, it still remains a singular proof of the errors into
+which the most acute and laborious writers are apt to fall, when they
+take upon themselves the task of writing on matters which cannot be
+studied in the closet, and on which no information can be received by
+mixing in the society of the wise, the lettered, and the respectable, but
+which must be investigated in the fields, and on the borders of the
+highways, in prisons, and amongst the dregs of society.  Had the latter
+system been pursued in the matter now before us, much clearer, more
+rational, and more just ideas would long since have been entertained
+respecting the Germania, or language of thieves.
+
+In most countries of Europe there exists, amongst those who obtain their
+existence by the breach of the law, and by preying upon the fruits of the
+labours of the quiet and orderly portion of society, a particular jargon
+or dialect, in which the former discuss their schemes and plans of
+plunder, without being in general understood by those to whom they are
+obnoxious.  The name of this jargon varies with the country in which it
+is spoken.  In Spain it is called ‘Germania’; in France, ‘Argot’; in
+Germany, ‘Rothwelsch,’ or Red Italian; in Italy, ‘Gergo’; whilst in
+England it is known by many names; for example, ‘cant, slang, thieves’
+Latin,’ etc.  The most remarkable circumstance connected with the history
+of this jargon is, that in all the countries in which it is spoken, it
+has invariably, by the authors who have treated of it, and who are
+numerous, been confounded with the Gypsy language, and asserted to be the
+speech of those wanderers who have so long infested Europe under the name
+of Gitános, etc.  How far this belief is founded in justice we shall now
+endeavour to show, with the premise that whatever we advance is derived,
+not from the assertions or opinions of others, but from our own
+observation; the point in question being one which no person is capable
+of solving, save him who has mixed with Gitános and thieves,—not with the
+former merely or the latter, but with both.
+
+We have already stated what is the Rommany or language of the Gypsies.
+We have proved that when properly spoken it is to all intents and
+purposes entitled to the appellation of a language, and that wherever it
+exists it is virtually the same; that its origin is illustrious, it being
+a daughter of the Sanscrit, and in consequence in close connection with
+some of the most celebrated languages of the East, although it at present
+is only used by the most unfortunate and degraded of beings, wanderers
+without home and almost without country, as wherever they are found they
+are considered in the light of foreigners and interlopers.  We shall now
+state what the language of thieves is, as it is generally spoken in
+Europe; after which we shall proceed to analyse it according to the
+various countries in which it is used.
+
+The dialect used for their own peculiar purposes amongst thieves is by no
+means entitled to the appellation of a language, but in every sense to
+that of a jargon or gibberish, it being for the most part composed of
+words of the native language of those who use it, according to the
+particular country, though invariably in a meaning differing more or less
+from the usual and received one, and for the most part in a metaphorical
+sense.  Metaphor and allegory, indeed, seem to form the nucleus of this
+speech, notwithstanding that other elements are to be distinguished; for
+it is certain that in every country where it is spoken, it contains many
+words differing from the language of that country, and which may either
+be traced to foreign tongues, or are of an origin at which, in many
+instances, it is impossible to arrive.  That which is most calculated to
+strike the philosophic mind when considering this dialect, is doubtless
+the fact of its being formed everywhere upon the same principle—that of
+metaphor, in which point all the branches agree, though in others they
+differ as much from each other as the languages on which they are
+founded; for example, as the English and German from the Spanish and
+Italian.  This circumstance naturally leads to the conclusion that the
+robber language has not arisen fortuitously in the various countries
+where it is at present spoken, but that its origin is one and the same,
+it being probably invented by the outlaws of one particular country; by
+individuals of which it was, in course of time, carried to others, where
+its principles, if not its words, were adopted; for upon no other
+supposition can we account for its general metaphorical character in
+regions various and distant.  It is, of course, impossible to state with
+certainty the country in which this jargon first arose, yet there is
+cogent reason for supposing that it may have been Italy.  The Germans
+call it Rothwelsch, which signifies ‘Red Italian,’ a name which appears
+to point out Italy as its birthplace; and which, though by no means of
+sufficient importance to determine the question, is strongly
+corroborative of the supposition, when coupled with the following fact.
+We have already intimated, that wherever it is spoken, this speech,
+though composed for the most part of words of the language of the
+particular country, applied in a metaphorical sense, exhibits a
+considerable sprinkling of foreign words; now of these words no slight
+number are Italian or bastard Latin, whether in Germany, whether in
+Spain, or in other countries more or less remote from Italy.  When we
+consider the ignorance of thieves in general, their total want of
+education, the slight knowledge which they possess even of their mother
+tongue, it is hardly reasonable to suppose that in any country they were
+ever capable of having recourse to foreign languages, for the purpose of
+enriching any peculiar vocabulary or phraseology which they might deem
+convenient to use among themselves; nevertheless, by associating with
+foreign thieves, who had either left their native country for their
+crimes, or from a hope of reaping a rich harvest of plunder in other
+lands, it would be easy for them to adopt a considerable number of words
+belonging to the languages of their foreign associates, from whom perhaps
+they derived an increase of knowledge in thievish arts of every
+description.  At the commencement of the fifteenth century no nation in
+Europe was at all calculated to vie with the Italian in arts of any kind,
+whether those whose tendency was the benefit or improvement of society,
+or those the practice of which serves to injure and undermine it.  The
+artists and artisans of Italy were to be found in all the countries of
+Europe, from Madrid to Moscow, and so were its charlatans, its jugglers,
+and multitudes of its children, who lived by fraud and cunning.
+Therefore, when a comprehensive view of the subject is taken, there
+appears to be little improbability in supposing, that not only were the
+Italians the originators of the metaphorical robber jargon, which has
+been termed ‘Red Italian,’ but that they were mainly instrumental in
+causing it to be adopted by the thievish race in various countries of
+Europe.
+
+It is here, however, necessary to state, that in the robber jargon of
+Europe, elements of another language are to be discovered, and perhaps in
+greater number than the Italian words.  The language which we allude to
+is the Rommany; this language has been, in general, confounded with the
+vocabulary used among thieves, which, however, is a gross error, so
+gross, indeed, that it is almost impossible to conceive the manner in
+which it originated: the speech of the Gypsies being a genuine language
+of Oriental origin, and the former little more than a phraseology of
+convenience, founded upon particular European tongues.  It will be
+sufficient here to remark, that the Gypsies do not understand the jargon
+of the thieves, whilst the latter, with perhaps a few exceptions, are
+ignorant of the language of the former.  Certain words, however, of the
+Rommany have found admission into the said jargon, which may be accounted
+for by the supposition that the Gypsies, being themselves by birth,
+education, and profession, thieves of the first water, have, on various
+occasions, formed alliances with the outlaws of the various countries in
+which they are at present to be found, which association may have
+produced the result above alluded to; but it will be as well here to
+state, that in no country of Europe have the Gypsies forsaken or
+forgotten their native tongue, and in its stead adopted the ‘Germania,’
+‘Red Italian,’ or robber jargon, although in some they preserve their
+native language in a state of less purity than in others.  We are induced
+to make this statement from an assertion of the celebrated Lorenzo
+Hervas, who, in the third volume of his _Catalogo de las Lenguas_, trat.
+3, cap. vi., p. 311, expresses himself to the following effect:—‘The
+proper language of the Gitános neither is nor can be found amongst those
+who scattered themselves through the western kingdoms of Europe, but only
+amongst those who remained in the eastern, where they are still to be
+found.  The former were notably divided and disunited, receiving into
+their body a great number of European outlaws, on which account the
+language in question was easily adulterated and soon perished.  In Spain,
+and also in Italy, the Gitános have totally forgotten and lost their
+native language; yet still wishing to converse with each other in a
+language unknown to the Spaniards and Italians, they have invented some
+words, and have transformed many others by changing the signification
+which properly belongs to them in Spanish and Italian.’  In proof of
+which assertion he then exhibits a small number of words of the ‘Red
+Italian,’ or allegorical tongue of the thieves of Italy.
+
+It is much to be lamented that a man like Hervas, so learned, of such
+knowledge, and upon the whole well-earned celebrity, should have helped
+to propagate three such flagrant errors as are contained in the passages
+above quoted: 1st.  That the Gypsy language, within a very short period
+after the arrival of those who spoke it in the western kingdoms of
+Europe, became corrupted, and perished by the admission of outlaws into
+the Gypsy fraternity.  2ndly.  That the Gypsies, in order to supply the
+loss of their native tongue, invented some words, and modified others,
+from the Spanish and Italian.  3rdly.  That the Gypsies of the present
+day in Spain and Italy speak the allegorical robber dialect.  Concerning
+the first assertion, namely, that the Gypsies of the west lost their
+language shortly after their arrival, by mixing with the outlaws of those
+parts, we believe that its erroneousness will be sufficiently established
+by the publication of the present volume, which contains a dictionary of
+the Spanish Gitáno, which we have proved to be the same language in most
+points as that spoken by the eastern tribes.  There can be no doubt that
+the Gypsies have at various times formed alliances with the robbers of
+particular countries, but that they ever received them in considerable
+numbers into their fraternity, as Hervas has stated, so as to become
+confounded with them, the evidence of our eyesight precludes the
+possibility of believing.  If such were the fact, why do the Italian and
+Spanish Gypsies of the present day still present themselves as a distinct
+race, differing from the other inhabitants of the west of Europe in
+feature, colour, and constitution?  Why are they, in whatever situation
+and under whatever circumstances, to be distinguished, like Jews, from
+the other children of the Creator?  But it is scarcely necessary to ask
+such a question, or indeed to state that the Gypsies of Spain and Italy
+have kept themselves as much apart as, or at least have as little mingled
+their blood with the Spaniards and Italians as their brethren in Hungaria
+and Transylvania with the inhabitants of those countries, on which
+account they still strikingly resemble them in manners, customs, and
+appearance.  The most extraordinary assertion of Hervas is perhaps his
+second, namely, that the Gypsies have invented particular words to supply
+the place of others which they had lost.  The absurdity of this
+supposition nearly induces us to believe that Hervas, who has written so
+much and so laboriously on language, was totally ignorant of the
+philosophy of his subject.  There can be no doubt, as we have before
+admitted, that in the robber jargon, whether spoken in Spain, Italy, or
+England, there are many words at whose etymology it is very difficult to
+arrive; yet such a fact is no excuse for the adoption of the opinion that
+these words are of pure invention.  A knowledge of the Rommany proves
+satisfactorily that many have been borrowed from that language, whilst
+many others may be traced to foreign tongues, especially the Latin and
+Italian.  Perhaps one of the strongest grounds for concluding that the
+origin of language was divine is the fact that no instance can be adduced
+of the invention, we will not say of a language, but even of a single
+word that is in use in society of any kind.  Although new dialects are
+continually being formed, it is only by a system of modification, by
+which roots almost coeval with time itself are continually being
+reproduced under a fresh appearance, and under new circumstances.  The
+third assertion of Hervas, as to the Gitános speaking the allegorical
+language of which he exhibits specimens, is entitled to about equal
+credence as the two former.  The truth is, that the entire store of
+erudition of the learned Jesuit, and he doubtless was learned to a
+remarkable degree, was derived from books, either printed or manuscript.
+He compared the Gypsy words in the publication of Grellmann with various
+vocabularies, which had long been in existence, of the robber jargons of
+Spain and Italy, which jargons by a strange fatuity had ever been
+considered as belonging to the Gypsies.  Finding that the Gypsy words of
+Grellmann did not at all correspond with the thieves’ slang, he concluded
+that the Gypsies of Spain and Italy had forgotten their own language, and
+to supply its place had invented the jargons aforesaid, but he never gave
+himself the trouble to try whether the Gypsies really understood the
+contents of his slang vocabularies; had he done so, he would have found
+that the slang was about as unintelligible to the Gypsies as he would
+have found the specimens of Grellmann unintelligible to the thieves had
+he quoted those specimens to them.  The Gypsies of Spain, it will be
+sufficient to observe, speak the language of which a vocabulary is given
+in the present work, and those of Italy who are generally to be found
+existing in a half-savage state in the various ruined castles, relics of
+the feudal times, with which Italy abounds, a dialect very similar, and
+about as much corrupted.  There are, however, to be continually found in
+Italy roving bands of Rommany, not natives of the country, who make
+excursions from Moldavia and Hungaria to France and Italy, for the
+purpose of plunder; and who, if they escape the hand of justice, return
+at the expiration of two or three years to their native regions, with the
+booty they have amassed by the practice of those thievish arts, perhaps
+at one period peculiar to their race, but at present, for the most part,
+known and practised by thieves in general.  These bands, however, speak
+the pure Gypsy language, with all its grammatical peculiarities.  It is
+evident, however, that amongst neither of these classes had Hervas pushed
+his researches, which had he done, it is probable that his investigations
+would have resulted in a work of a far different character from the
+confused, unsatisfactory, and incorrect details of which is formed his
+essay on the language of the Gypsies.
+
+Having said thus much concerning the robber language in general, we shall
+now proceed to offer some specimens of it, in order that our readers may
+be better able to understand its principles.  We shall commence with the
+Italian dialect, which there is reason for supposing to be the prototype
+of the rest.  To show what it is, we avail ourselves of some of the words
+adduced by Hervas, as specimens of the language of the Gitános of Italy.
+‘I place them,’ he observes, ‘with the signification which the greater
+number properly have in Italian.’
+
+            Robber jargon of Italy.             Proper signification
+                                                of the words.
+Arm         Ale / Barbacane                     Wings / Barbican
+Belly       Fagiana                             Pheasant
+Devil       Rabuino                             Perhaps _Rabbin_,
+                                                which, in Hebrew, is
+                                                Master
+Earth       Calcosa                             Street, road
+Eye         Balco                               Balcony
+Father      Grimo                               Old, wrinkled
+Fire        Presto                              Quick
+God         Anticrotto                          Probably Antichrist
+Hair        Prusa {346a}
+Head        Elmo / Borella {346b} / Chiurla     Helmet
+            {346c}
+Heart       Salsa                               Sauce
+Man         Osmo                                From the Italian
+                                                _uomo_, which is man
+Moon        Mocoloso di Sant’ Alto              Wick of the firmament
+Night       Brunamaterna                        Mother-brown
+Nose        Gambaro                             Crab
+Sun         Ruffo di Sant’ Alto                 Red one of the
+                                                firmament
+Tongue      Serpentina / Danosa                 Serpent-like /
+                                                Hurtful
+Water       Lenza / Vetta {346d}                Fishing-net / Top,
+                                                bud
+
+The Germania of Spain may be said to divide itself into two dialects, the
+ancient and modern.  Of the former there exists a vocabulary, published
+first by Juan Hidalgo, in the year 1609, at Barcelona, and reprinted in
+Madrid, 1773.  Before noticing this work, it will perhaps be advisable to
+endeavour to ascertain the true etymology of the word Germania, which
+signifies the slang vocabulary, or robber language of Spain.  We have no
+intention to embarrass our readers by offering various conjectures
+respecting its origin; its sound, coupled with its signification,
+affording sufficient evidence that it is but a corruption of Rommany,
+which properly denotes the speech of the Roma or Gitános.  The thieves
+who from time to time associated with this wandering people, and acquired
+more or less of their language, doubtless adopted this term amongst
+others, and, after modifying it, applied it to the peculiar phraseology
+which, in the course of time, became prevalent amongst them.  The
+dictionary of Hidalgo is appended to six ballads, or romances, by the
+same author, written in the Germanian dialect, in which he describes the
+robber life at Seville at the period in which he lived.  All of these
+romances possess their peculiar merit, and will doubtless always be
+considered valuable, and be read as faithful pictures of scenes and
+habits which now no longer exist.  In the prologue, the author states
+that his principal motive for publishing a work written in so strange a
+language was his observing the damage which resulted from an ignorance of
+the Germania, especially to the judges and ministers of justice, whose
+charge it is to cleanse the public from the pernicious gentry who use it.
+By far the greatest part of the vocabulary consists of Spanish words used
+allegorically, which are, however, intermingled with many others, most of
+which may be traced to the Latin and Italian, others to the Sanscrit or
+Gitáno, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and German languages. {348}  The
+circumstances of words belonging to some of the languages last enumerated
+being found in the Gitáno, which at first may strike the reader as
+singular, and almost incredible, will afford but slight surprise, when he
+takes into consideration the peculiar circumstances of Spain during the
+sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.  Spain was at that period the most
+powerful monarchy in Europe; her foot reposed upon the Low Countries,
+whilst her gigantic arms embraced a considerable portion of Italy.
+Maintaining always a standing army in Flanders and in Italy, it followed
+as a natural consequence, that her Miquelets and soldiers became
+tolerably conversant with the languages of those countries; and, in
+course of time, returning to their native land, not a few, especially of
+the former class, a brave and intrepid, but always a lawless and
+dissolute species of soldiery, either fell in or returned to evil
+society, and introduced words which they had learnt abroad into the
+robber phraseology; whilst returned galley-slaves from Algiers, Tunis,
+and Tetuan, added to its motley variety of words from the relics of the
+broken Arabic and Turkish, which they had acquired during their
+captivity.  The greater part of the Germania, however, remained strictly
+metaphorical, and we are aware of no better means of conveying an idea of
+the principle on which it is formed, than by quoting from the first
+romance of Hidalgo, where particular mention is made of this jargon:—
+
+    ‘A la cama llama Blanda
+    Donde Sornan en poblado
+    A la Fresada Vellosa,
+    Que mucho vello ha criado.
+    Dice á la sabana Alba
+    Porque es alba en sumo grado,
+    A la camisa Carona,
+    Al jubon llama apretado:
+    Dice al Sayo Tapador
+    Porque le lleva tapado.
+    Llama á los zapatos Duros,
+    Que las piedras van pisando.
+    A la capa llama nuve,
+    Dice al Sombrero Texado.
+    Respeto llama á la Espada,
+    Que por ella es respetado,’ etc. etc.
+
+                                                         HIDALGO, p. 22–3.
+
+After these few remarks on the ancient Germania of Spain, we now proceed
+to the modern, which differs considerably from the former.  The principal
+cause of this difference is to be attributed to the adoption by the
+Spanish outlaws, in latter years, of a considerable number of words
+belonging to, or modified from, the Rommany, or language of the Gitános.
+The Gitános of Spain, during the last half-century, having, in a great
+degree, abandoned the wandering habit of life which once constituted one
+of their most remarkable peculiarities, and residing, at present, more in
+the cities than in the fields, have come into closer contact with the
+great body of the Spanish nation than was in former days their practice.
+From their living thus in towns, their language has not only undergone
+much corruption, but has become, to a slight degree, known to the dregs
+of society, amongst whom they reside.  The thieves’ dialect of the
+present day exhibits, therefore, less of the allegorical language
+preserved in the pages of Hidalgo than of the Gypsy tongue.  It must be
+remarked, however, that it is very scanty, and that the whole robber
+phraseology at present used in Spain barely amounts to two hundred words,
+which are utterly insufficient to express the very limited ideas of the
+outcasts who avail themselves of it.
+
+Concerning the Germania of France, or ‘Argot,’ as it is called, it is
+unnecessary to make many observations, as what has been said of the
+language of Hidalgo and the Red Italian is almost in every respect
+applicable to it.  As early as the middle of the sixteenth century a
+vocabulary of this jargon was published under the title of _Langue des
+Escrocs_, at Paris.  Those who wish to study it as it at present exists
+can do no better than consult _Les Mémoires de Vidocq_, where a multitude
+of words in Argot are to be found, and also several songs, the subjects
+of which are thievish adventures.
+
+The first vocabulary of the ‘Cant Language,’ or English Germania,
+appeared in the year 1680, appended to the life of _The English Rogue_, a
+work which, in many respects, resembles the _History of Guzman
+d’Alfaráche_, though it is written with considerably more genius than the
+Spanish novel, every chapter abounding with remarkable adventures of the
+robber whose life it pretends to narrate, and which are described with a
+kind of ferocious energy, which, if it do not charm the attention of the
+reader, at least enslaves it, holding it captive with a chain of iron.
+Amongst his other adventures, the hero falls in with a Gypsy encampment,
+is enrolled amongst the fraternity, and is allotted a ‘mort,’ or
+concubine; a barbarous festival ensues, at the conclusion of which an
+epithalamium is sung in the Gypsy language, as it is called in the work
+in question.  Neither the epithalamium, however, nor the vocabulary, are
+written in the language of the English Gypsies, but in the ‘Cant,’ or
+allegorical robber dialect, which is sufficient proof that the writer,
+however well acquainted with thieves in general, their customs and
+manners of life, was in respect to the Gypsies profoundly ignorant.  His
+vocabulary, however, has been always accepted as the speech of the
+English Gypsies, whereas it is at most entitled to be considered as the
+peculiar speech of the thieves and vagabonds of his time.  The cant of
+the present day, which, though it differs in some respects from the
+vocabulary already mentioned, is radically the same, is used not only by
+the thieves in town and country, but by the jockeys of the racecourse and
+the pugilists of the ‘ring.’ As a specimen of the cant of England, we
+shall take the liberty of quoting the epithalamium to which we have above
+alluded:—
+
+    ‘Bing out, bien morts, and tour and tour
+    Bing out, bien morts and tour;
+    For all your duds are bing’d awast,
+    The bien cove hath the loure. {351}
+
+    ‘I met a dell, I viewed her well,
+    She was benship to my watch:
+    So she and I did stall and cloy
+    Whatever we could catch.
+
+    ‘This doxy dell can cut ben whids,
+    And wap well for a win,
+    And prig and cloy so benshiply,
+    All daisy-ville within.
+
+    ‘The hoyle was up, we had good luck,
+    In frost for and in snow;
+    Men they did seek, then we did creep
+    And plant the roughman’s low.’
+
+It is scarcely necessary to say anything more upon the Germania in
+general or in particular; we believe that we have achieved the task which
+we marked out for ourselves, and have conveyed to our readers a clear and
+distinct idea of what it is.  We have shown that it has been erroneously
+confounded with the Rommany, or Gitáno language, with which it has
+nevertheless some points of similarity.  The two languages are, at the
+present day, used for the same purpose, namely, to enable habitual
+breakers of the law to carry on their consultations with more secrecy and
+privacy than by the ordinary means.  Yet it must not be forgotten that
+the thieves’ jargon was invented for that purpose, whilst the Rommany,
+originally the proper and only speech of a particular nation, has been
+preserved from falling into entire disuse and oblivion, because adapted
+to answer the same end.  It was impossible to treat of the Rommany in a
+manner calculated to exhaust the subject, and to leave no ground for
+future cavilling, without devoting a considerable space to the
+consideration of the robber dialect, on which account we hope we shall be
+excused many of the dry details which we have introduced into the present
+essay.  There is a link of connection between the history of the Roma, or
+wanderers from Hindustan, who first made their appearance in Europe at
+the commencement of the fifteenth century, and that of modern roguery.
+Many of the arts which the Gypsies proudly call their own, and which were
+perhaps at one period peculiar to them, have become divulged, and are now
+practised by the thievish gentry who infest the various European states,
+a result which, we may assert with confidence, was brought about by the
+alliance of the Gypsies being eagerly sought on their first arrival by
+the thieves, who, at one period, were less skilful than the former in the
+ways of deceit and plunder; which kind of association continued and held
+good until the thieves had acquired all they wished to learn, when they
+left the Gypsies in the fields and plains, so dear to them from their
+vagabond and nomad habits, and returned to the towns and cities.  Yet
+from this temporary association were produced two results; European fraud
+became sharpened by coming into contact with Asiatic craft, whilst
+European tongues, by imperceptible degrees, became recruited with various
+words (some of them wonderfully expressive), many of which have long been
+stumbling-stocks to the philologist, who, whilst stigmatising them as
+words of mere vulgar invention, or of unknown origin, has been far from
+dreaming that by a little more research he might have traced them to the
+Sclavonic, Persian, or Romaic, or perhaps to the mysterious object of his
+veneration, the Sanscrit, the sacred tongue of the palm-covered regions
+of Ind; words originally introduced into Europe by objects too miserable
+to occupy for a moment his lettered attention—the despised denizens of
+the tents of Roma.
+
+
+ON THE TERM ‘BUSNO’
+
+
+Those who have done me the honour to peruse this strange wandering book
+of mine, must frequently have noticed the word ‘Busno,’ a term bestowed
+by the Spanish Gypsy on his good friend the Spaniard.  As the present
+will probably be the last occasion which I shall have to speak of the
+Gitános or anything relating to them, it will perhaps be advisable to
+explain the meaning of this word.  In the vocabulary appended to former
+editions I have translated Busno by such words as Gentile, savage, person
+who is not a Gypsy, and have stated that it is probably connected with a
+certain Sanscrit noun signifying an impure person.  It is, however,
+derived immediately from a Hungarian term, exceedingly common amongst the
+lower orders of the Magyars, to their disgrace be it spoken.  The
+Hungarian Gypsies themselves not unfrequently style the Hungarians
+Busnoes, in ridicule of their unceasing use of the word in question.  The
+first Gypsies who entered Spain doubtless brought with them the term from
+Hungary, the language of which country they probably understood to a
+certain extent.  That it was not ill applied by them in Spain no one will
+be disposed to deny when told that it exactly corresponds with the
+Shibboleth of the Spaniards, ‘Carajo,’ an oath equally common in Spain as
+its equivalent in Hungary.  Busno, therefore, in Spanish means _El del
+carajo_, or he who has that term continually in his mouth.  The Hungarian
+words in Spanish Gypsy may amount to ten or twelve, a very inconsiderable
+number; but the Hungarian Gypsy tongue itself, as spoken at the present
+day, exhibits only a slight sprinkling of Hungarian words, whilst it
+contains many words borrowed from the Wallachian, some of which have
+found their way into Spain, and are in common use amongst the Gitános.
+
+
+SPECIMENS OF GYPSY DIALECTS
+
+THE ENGLISH DIALECT OF THE ROMMANY
+
+
+    ‘TACHIPEN if I jaw ’doi, I can lel a bit of tan to hatch: N’etist I
+    shan’t puch kekomi wafu gorgies.’
+
+The above sentence, dear reader, I heard from the mouth of Mr.
+Petulengro, the last time that he did me the honour to visit me at my
+poor house, which was the day after Mol-divvus {359}, 1842: he stayed
+with me during the greater part of the morning, discoursing on the
+affairs of Egypt, the aspect of which, he assured me, was becoming daily
+worse and worse.  ‘There is no living for the poor people, brother,’ said
+he, ‘the chokengres (police) pursue us from place to place, and the
+gorgios are become either so poor or miserly, that they grudge our cattle
+a bite of grass by the wayside, and ourselves a yard of ground to light a
+fire upon.  Unless times alter, brother, and of that I see no
+probability, unless you are made either poknees or mecralliskoe geiro
+(justice of the peace or prime minister), I am afraid the poor persons
+will have to give up wandering altogether, and then what will become of
+them?’
+
+‘However, brother,’ he continued, in a more cheerful tone, ‘I am no
+hindity mush, {360a} as you well know.  I suppose you have not forgot
+how, fifteen years ago, when you made horseshoes in the little dingle by
+the side of the great north road, I lent you fifty cottors {360b} to
+purchase the wonderful trotting cob of the innkeeper with the green
+Newmarket coat, which three days after you sold for two hundred.
+
+‘Well, brother, if you had wanted the two hundred instead of the fifty, I
+could have lent them to you, and would have done so, for I knew you would
+not be long pazorrhus to me.  I am no hindity mush, brother, no Irishman;
+I laid out the other day twenty pounds in buying ruponoe peamengries;
+{360c} and in the Chonggav, {360d} have a house of my own with a yard
+behind it.
+
+    ‘_And_, _forsooth_, _if I go thither_, _I can choose a place to light
+    afire upon_, _and shall have no necessity to ask leave of these here
+    Gentiles_.’
+
+Well, dear reader, this last is the translation of the Gypsy sentence
+which heads the chapter, and which is a very characteristic specimen of
+the general way of speaking of the English Gypsies.
+
+The language, as they generally speak it, is a broken jargon, in which
+few of the grammatical peculiarities of the Rommany are to be
+distinguished.  In fact, what has been said of the Spanish Gypsy dialect
+holds good with respect to the English as commonly spoken: yet the
+English dialect has in reality suffered much less than the Spanish, and
+still retains its original syntax to a certain extent, its peculiar
+manner of conjugating verbs, and declining nouns and pronouns.
+
+                             ENGLISH DIALECT
+
+    Moro Dad, savo djives oteh drey o charos, te caumen Gorgio ta Romany
+    Chal tiro nav, te awel tiro tem, te kairen tiro lav aukko prey puv,
+    sar kairdios oteh drey o charos.  Dey men to-divvus moro divvuskoe
+    moro, ta for-dey men pazorrhus tukey sar men for-denna len pazorrhus
+    amande; ma muk te petrenna drey caik temptacionos; ley men abri sor
+    doschder.  Tiro se o tem, Mi-duvel, tiro o zoozlu vast, tiro sor
+    koskopen drey sor cheros.  Avali.  Ta-chipen.
+
+                             SPANISH DIALECT
+
+    Batu monro sos socabas oté enré ye char, que camele Gacho ta Romani
+    Cha tiro nao, qu’abillele tiro chim, querese tiro lao acoi opré ye
+    puve sarta se querela oté enré ye char.  Diñanos sejonia monro manro
+    de cata chibes, ta estormenanos monrias bisauras sasta mu
+    estormenamos a monrias bisabadores; na nos meques petrar enré cayque
+    pajandia, lillanos abri de saro chungalipen.  Persos tiro sinela o
+    chim, Undevel, tiro ye silna bast, tiro saro lachipen enré saro
+    chiros.  Unga.  Chachipé.
+
+                    _English Translation of the above_
+
+    Our Father who dwellest there in heaven, may Gentile and Gypsy love
+    thy name, thy kingdom come, may they do thy word here on earth as it
+    is done there in heaven.  Give us to-day our daily bread, {361a} and
+    forgive us indebted to thee as we forgive them indebted to us, {361b}
+    suffer not that we fall into _no_ temptation, take us out from all
+    evil. {361c}  Thine {361d} is the kingdom my God, thine the strong
+    hand, thine all goodness in all time.  Aye.  Truth.
+
+
+
+HUNGARIAN DIALECT
+
+
+The following short sentences in Hungarian Gypsy, in addition to the
+prayer to the Virgin given in the Introduction, will perhaps not prove
+unacceptable to the reader.  In no part of the world is the Gypsy tongue
+at the present day spoken with more purity than in Hungary, {362} where
+it is used by the Gypsies not only when they wish to be unintelligible to
+the Hungarians, but in their common conversation amongst themselves.
+
+From these sentences the reader, by the help of the translations which
+accompany them, may form a tolerable idea not only of what the Gypsy
+tongue is, but of the manner in which the Hungarian Gypsies think and
+express themselves.  They are specimens of genuine Gypsy talk—sentences
+which I have myself heard proceed from the mouths of the Czigany; they
+are not Busno thoughts done into gentle Rommany.  Some of them are given
+here as they were written down by me at the time, others as I have
+preserved them in my memory up to the present moment.  It is not
+improbable that at some future time I may return to the subject of the
+Hungarian Gypsies.
+
+Varé tava soskei me puchelas cai    Much I ponder why you ask me
+soskei avillara catári.             (questions), and why you should
+                                    come hither.
+Mango le gulo Devlas vas o erai,    I pray the sweet Goddess for the
+hodj o erai te pirel misto, te      gentleman, that the gentleman may
+n’avel pascotia l’eras, ta na       journey well, that misfortune
+avel o erai nasvalo.                come not to the gentleman, and
+                                    that the gentleman fall not sick.
+Cana cames aves pale.               When you please come back.
+Ki’som dhes keral avel o rai        How many days did the gentleman
+catari? {363a}                      take to come hither?
+Kit somu berschengro hal tu?        How many years old are you?
+{363b}
+Cadé abri mai lachi e mol sar       Here out better (is) the wine
+ando foro.                          than in the city.
+Sin o mas balichano, ta i gorkhe    The meat is of pig, and the
+garasheskri; {363c} sin o manro     gherkins cost a grosh—the bread
+parno, cai te felo do               is white, and the lard costs two
+garashangro.                        groshen.
+Yeck quartalli mol ando lende.      One quart of wine amongst us.
+Andé mol oté mestchibo.             In wine there (is) happiness.
+Khava piava—dui shel, tri shel      I will eat, I will drink—two
+predinava.                          hundred, three hundred I will
+                                    place before.
+Damen Devla saschipo ando mure      Give us Goddess health in our
+cocala.                             bones.
+Te rosarow labio tarraco le         I will seek a waistcoat, which I
+Mujeskey miro pralesco, ta vela     have, for Moses my brother, and I
+mi anao tukey le Mujeskey miro      will change names with Moses my
+pralesky.                           brother. {363d}
+Llundun baro foro, bishwar mai      London (is) a big city, twenty
+baro sar Cosvaro.                   times more big than Colosvar.
+Nani yag, mullas.                   There is no fire, it is dead.
+Nasiliom cai purdiom but; besh te   I have suffered and toiled much:
+pansch bersch mi homas slugadhis    twenty and five years I was
+pa Baron Splini regimentos.         serving in Baron Splini’s
+                                    regiment.
+Saro chiro cado Del; cavo o puro    Every time (cometh) from God;
+diñas o Del.                        that old (age) God gave.
+Me camov te jav ando                I wish to go unto Bukarest—from
+Buka-resti—cado Bukaresti lachico   Bukarest, the good country, (it
+tem dur drom jin keri.              is) a far way unto (my) house.
+Mi hom nasvallo.                    I am sick.
+Soskei nai jas ke baro ful-cheri?   Why do you not go to the great
+                                    physician
+Wei mangue ke nani man lové         Because I have no money I can’t
+nastis jav.                         go
+Belgra sho mille pu cado            Belgrade (is) six miles of land
+Cosvarri; hin oter miro chabo.      from Colosvar; there is my son.
+Te vas Del l’erangue ke meclan      May God help the gentlemen that
+man abri ando a pan-dibo.           they let me out (from) in the
+                                    prison.
+Opré rukh sarkhi ye chiriclo, ca    On the tree (is) the nest of the
+kerel anre e chiricli.              bird, where makes eggs the female
+                                    bird.
+Ca hin tiro ker?                    Where is your house?
+Ando calo berkho, oter bin miro     In the black mountain, there is
+ker, av prala mensar; jas mengue    my house; come brother with me;
+keri.                               let us go to my house.
+Ando bersch dui chiro, ye ven, ta   In the year (are) two seasons,
+nilei.                              the winter and summer.
+O felhegos del o breschino, te      The cloud gives the rain, and
+purdel o barbal.                    puffs (forth) the wind.
+Hir mi Devlis camo but cavo         By my God I love much that
+erai—lacho manus o, Anglus, tama    gentleman—a good man he, an
+rakarel Ungarica; avel catari       Englishman, but he speaks
+ando urdon le trin                  Hungarian; he came {364a} hither
+gras-tensas—beshel cate abri po     in a waggon with three horses, he
+buklo tan; le poivasis ando bas     sits here out in the wilderness;
+irinel ando lel.  Bo zedun stadji   {364b} with a pencil in his hand
+ta bari barba.                      he writes in a book.  He has a
+                                    green hat and a big beard.
+
+VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE
+
+
+This section of the book could not be transcribed in 1997 as it contained
+many non-european languages and Gutenberg didn’t support Unicode then.
+It will be transcribed at some future point.—DP, August 2019.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+MISCELLANIES IN THE GITÁNO LANGUAGE
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT
+
+
+IT is with the view of preserving as many as possible of the monuments of
+the Spanish Gypsy tongue that the author inserts the following pieces;
+they are for the most part, whether original or translated, the
+productions of the ‘Aficion’ of Seville, of whom something has been said
+in the Preface to the Spurious Gypsy Poetry of Andalusia; not the least
+remarkable, however, of these pieces is a genuine Gypsy composition, the
+translation of the Apostles’ Creed by the Gypsies of Cordova, made under
+the circumstances detailed in the second part of the first volume.  To
+all have been affixed translations, more or less literal, to assist those
+who may wish to form some acquaintance with the Gitáno language.
+
+
+COTORRES ON CHIPE CALLI / MISCELLANIES
+
+
+BATO Nonrro sos socabas on o tarpe, manjirificádo quejésa tute acnao;
+abillános or tute sichén, y querese tute orependola andial on la chen
+sata on o tarpe; or manrro nonrro de cata chibel diñanoslo sejoñía, y
+estormenanos nonrrias bisauras andial sata gabéres estormenamos á nonrros
+bisaraores; y nasti nes muques petrar on la bajanbó, bus listrabanos de
+chorre.—Anarania.
+
+FATHER Our, who dwellest in the heaven, sanctified become thy name;
+come-to-us the thy kingdom, and be-done thy will so in the earth as in
+the heaven; the bread our of every day give-us-it to-day, and pardon-us
+our debts so as we-others pardon (to) our debtors; and not let us fall in
+the temptation, but deliver-us from wickedness.—Amen.
+
+Panchabo on Ostebe Bato saro-asisiláble, Perbaraor de o tarpe y la chen,
+y on Gresoné desquero Beyio Chabal nonrrio Eraño, sos guilló
+sar-trujatapucherído per troecane y sardaña de or Chanispero Manjaro, y
+pureló de Manjari ostelinda debla; Bricholó ostelé de or asislar de Brono
+Alieñicato; guilló trejuficao, mule y cabañao; y sundiló á los casinobés,
+{416} y á or brodeló chibél repureló de enrre los mulés, y encalomó á los
+otarpes, y soscabela bestíque á la tabastorre de Ostebe Bato
+saro-asisilable, ende aotér á de abillar á sarplar á los Apucheris y
+mulés.  Panchabo on or Chanispero Manjaró, la Manjari Cangari Pebuldórica
+y Rebuldórica, la Erunon de los Manjarós, or Estormén de los crejétes, la
+repureló de la mansenquere y la chibibén verable.—Anarania, Tebléque.
+
+I believe in God, Father all-powerful, creator of the heaven and the
+earth, and in Christ his only Son our Lord, who went conceived by deed
+and favour of the Spirit Holy, and born of blessed goddess divine;
+suffered under (of) the might of Bronos Alienicatos; {417a} went
+crucified, dead and buried; and descended to the conflagrations, and on
+the third day revived {417b} from among the dead, and ascended to the
+heavens, and dwells seated at the right-hand of God, Father all-powerful,
+from there he-has to come to impeach (to) the living and dead.  I believe
+in the Spirit Holy, the Holy Church Catholic and Apostolic, the communion
+of the saints, the remission of the sins, the re-birth of the flesh, and
+the life everlasting.—Amen, Jesus.
+
+
+OCANAJIMIA A LA DEBLA / PRAYER TO THE VIRGIN
+
+
+O Débla quirindía, Day de sarós los Bordeles on coin panchabo: per los
+duquipénes sos naquelástes á or pindré de la trejúl de tute Chaborró
+majarolísimo te manguélo, Débla, me alcorabíses de tute chaborró or
+estormén de sares las dojis y crejétes sos menda udicáre aquerao on
+andoba surdéte.—Anarania, Tebléque.
+
+Ostebé te berarbe Ostelinda! perdoripe sirles de sardañá; or Erañó sin
+sartute; bresban tute sirles enrré sares las rumiles, y bresban sin or
+frujero de tute po.—Tebléque.
+
+Manjari Ostelinda, day de Ostebé, brichardila per gabéres crejetaóres
+aocaná y on la ocana de nonrra beribén!—Anarania, Tebléque.
+
+Chimuclani or Bato, or Chabal, or Chanispero manjaró; sata sia on or
+presimelo, aocana, y gajeres: on los sicles de los sicles.—Anarania.
+
+O most holy Virgin, Mother of all the Christians in whom I believe; for
+the agony which thou didst endure at the foot of the cross of thy most
+blessed Son, I entreat thee, Virgin, that thou wilt obtain for me, from
+thy Son, the remission of all the crimes and sins which I may have
+committed in this world.—Amen, Jesus.
+
+God save thee, Maria! full art thou of grace; the Lord is with thee;
+blessed art thou amongst all women, and blessed is the fruit of thy
+womb.—Jesus.
+
+Holy Maria, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of
+our death!—Amen, Jesus.
+
+Glory (to) the Father, the Son, (and) the Holy Ghost; as was in the
+beginning, now, and for ever: in the ages of the ages.—Amen.
+
+
+OR CREDO / THE CREED
+SARTA LO CHIBELARON LOS CALES DE CORDOVATI / TRANSLATED BY THE GYSPIES OF
+CORDOVA
+
+
+Pachabélo en Un-debel batu tosaro-baro, que ha querdi el char y la
+chiqué; y en Un-debél chinoró su unico chaboró eraño de amangue, que
+chaló en el trupo de la Majarí por el Duquende Majoró, y abió del veo de
+la Majarí; guilló curádo debájo de la sila de Pontio Piláto el chínobaró;
+guilló mulo y garabado; se chalé á las jacháris; al trin chibé se ha
+sicobádo de los mulés al char; sinéla bejádo á las baste de Un-debél
+barreá; y de oté abiará á juzgar á los mulés y á los que no lo sinélan;
+pachabélo en el Majaró; la Cangrí Majarí bareá; el jalar de los Majaries;
+lo mecó de los grécos; la resureccion de la maas, y la ochi que no
+maréla.
+
+I believe in God the Father all-great, who has made the heaven and the
+earth; and in God the young, his only Son, the Lord of us, who went into
+the body of the blessed (maid) by (means of) the Holy Ghost, and came out
+of the womb of the blessed; he was tormented beneath the power of Pontius
+Pilate, the great Alguazil; was dead and buried; he went (down) to the
+fires; on the third day he raised himself from the dead unto the heaven;
+he is seated at the major hand of God; and from thence he shall come to
+judge the dead and those who are not (dead).  I believe in the blessed
+one; in the church holy and great; the banquet of the saints; the
+remission of sins; the resurrection of the flesh, and the life which does
+not die.
+
+
+REJELENDRES / PROVERBS
+
+
+Or soscabela juco y teráble garipé no le sin perfiné anelar relichi.
+
+Bus yes manupe cha machagarno le pendan chuchipon los brochabos.
+
+Sacais sos ne dicobélan calochin ne bridaquélan.
+
+Coin terelare trasardos e dinastes nasti le buchare berrandáñas á
+desquero contiqué.
+
+On sares las cachimanes de Sersen abillen rechés.
+
+Bus mola yes chirriclo on la ba sos grés balogando.
+
+A Ostebé brichardilando y sar or mochique diñelando.
+
+Bus mola quesar jero de gabuño sos manporí de bombardo.
+
+Dicár y panchabár, sata penda Manjaró Lillar.
+
+Or esorjié de or narsichislé sin chismar lachinguél.
+
+Las queles mistos grobelás: per macara chibel la pirí y de rachi la
+operisa.
+
+Aunsos me dicas vriardao de jorpoy ne sirlo braco.
+
+Chachipé con jujána—Calzones de buchí y medias de lana.
+
+Chuquel sos piréla cocal teréla.
+
+Len sos sonsi bela pani ó reblandani teréla.
+
+He who is lean and has scabs needs not carry a net. {419a}
+
+When a man goes drunk the boys say to him ‘suet.’ {419b}
+
+Eyes which see not break no heart.
+
+He who has a roof of glass let him not fling stones at his neighbour.
+
+Into all the taverns of Spain may reeds come.
+
+A bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred flying.
+
+To God (be) praying and with the flail plying.
+
+It is worth more to be the head of a mouse than the tail of a lion.
+
+To see and to believe, as Saint Thomas says.
+
+The extreme {421a} of a dwarf is to spit largely.
+
+Houses well managed:—at mid-day the stew-pan, {421b} and at night salad.
+
+Although thou seest me dressed in wool I am no sheep.
+
+Truth with falsehood-Breeches of silk and stockings of Wool. {421c}
+
+The dog who walks finds a bone.
+
+The river which makes a noise {421d} has either water or stones.
+
+
+ODORES YE TILICHE / THE LOVER’S JEALOUSY
+
+
+Dica Callí sos linastes terelas, plasarandote misto men calochin
+desquiñao de trinchas puñís y canrrias, sata anjella terelaba dicando on
+los chorres naquelos sos me tesumiaste, y andial reutilá á men Jelí,
+diñela gao á sos menda orobibele; men puñi sin trincha per la quimbíla
+nevel de yes manu barbaló; sos saro se muca per or jandorro.  Lo sos bus
+prejeno Callí de los Bengorros sin sos nu muqueis per yes manú barbalo. . . .
+On tute orchíri nu chismo, tramistó on coin te araquera, sos menda
+terela men nostus pa avel sos me caméla bus sos túte.
+
+Reflect, O Callee! {421e} what motives hast thou (now that my heart is
+doting on thee, having rested awhile from so many cares and griefs which
+formerly it endured, beholding the evil passages which thou preparedst
+for me;) to recede thus from my love, giving occasion to me to weep.  My
+agony is great on account of thy recent acquaintance with a rich man; for
+every thing is abandoned for money’s sake.  What I most feel, O Callee,
+of the devils is, that thou abandonest me for a rich man . . . I spit
+upon thy beauty, and also upon him who converses with thee, for I keep my
+money for another who loves me more than thou.
+
+
+OR PERSIBARARSE SIN CHORO / THE EVILS OF CONCUBINAGE
+
+
+Gajeres sin corbó rifian soscabar yes manu persibaraó, per sos saro se
+linbidían odoros y besllí, y per esegritón apuchelan on sardañá de saros
+los Benjes, techescándo grejos y olajais—de sustíri sos lo resaronomó
+niquilla murmo; y andial lo fendi sos terelamos de querar sin techescarle
+yes sulibári á or Jelí, y ne panchabar on caute manusardí, persos trutan
+á yesque lilí.
+
+It is always a strange danger for a man to live in concubinage, because
+all turns to jealousy and quarrelling, and at last they live in the
+favour of all the devils, voiding oaths and curses: so that what is cheap
+turns out dear.  So the best we can do, is to cast a bridle on love, and
+trust to no woman, for they {423a} make a man mad.
+
+
+LOS CHORES / THE ROBBERS
+
+
+On grejelo chiro begoreó yesque berbanilla de chores á la burda de yes
+mostipelo a oleba rachí—Andial sos la prejenáron los cambraís
+presimeláron a cobadrar; sar andoba linaste changanó or lanbró, se
+sustiñó de la charipé de lapa, utiló la pusca, y niquilló platanando per
+or platesqueró de or mostipelo á la burda sos socabelába pandí, y per or
+jobi de la clichí chibeló or jundró de la pusca, le diñó pesquibo á or
+languté, y le sumuqueló yes bruchasnó on la tesquéra á or Jojerián de los
+ostilaóres y lo techescó de or gráte á ostelé.  Andial sos los debus
+quimbilos dicobeláron á desquero Jojerian on chen sar las canrriáles de
+la Beriben, lo chibeláron espusifias á los grastes, y niquilláron
+chapescando, trutando la romuy apála, per bausalé de las machas ó
+almedálles de liripió.
+
+On a certain time arrived a band of thieves at the gate of a farm-house
+at midnight.  So soon as the dogs heard them they began to bark, which
+causing {423b} the labourer to awake, he raised himself from his bed with
+a start, took his musket, and went running to the court-yard of the
+farm-house to the gate, which was shut, placed the barrel of his musket
+to the keyhole, gave his finger its desire, {423c} and sent a bullet into
+the forehead of the captain of the robbers, casting him down from his
+horse.  Soon as the other fellows saw their captain on the ground in the
+agonies of death, they clapped spurs to their horses, and galloped off
+fleeing, turning their faces back on account of the flies {423d} or
+almonds of lead.
+
+
+COTOR YE GABICOTE MAJARO / SPECIMEN OF THE GOSPEL
+OR SOS SARO LO HA CHIBADO EN CHIPE CALLI OR RANDADOR DE OCONOS PAPIRIS
+AUNSOS NARDIAN LO HA DINADO AL SURDETE / FROM THE AUTHOR’S UNPUBLISHED
+TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
+
+
+Y soscabando dicando dicó los Barbalós sos techescában desqueros mansis
+on or Gazofilacio; y dicó tramisto yesque pispiricha chorrorita, sos
+techescába duis chinorris sarabállis, y peneló: en chachipé os peneló,
+sos caba chorrorri pispiricha á techescao bus sos sares los avéles:
+persos saros ondobas han techescao per los mansis de Ostebé, de lo sos
+les costuña; bus caba e desquero chorrorri á techescao saro or susalo sos
+terelaba.  Y pendó á cormuñís, sos pendában del cangaripé, soscabelaba
+uriardao de orchíris berrandáñas, y de dénes: Cabas buchis sos dicais,
+abillarán chibeles, bus ne muquelará berrandáña costuñé berrandáña, sos
+ne quesesa demarabeá.  Y le prucháron y pendáron: Docurdó, bus quesa
+ondoba?  Y sos simachi abicará bus ondoba presimáre?  Ondole pencló:
+Dicad, sos nasti queseis jonjabaos; persos butes abillarán on men acnao,
+pendando: man sirlo, y or chiro soscabéla pajes: Garabaos de guillelar
+apalà, de ondoláyos: y bus junureis bargañas y sustiñés, ne os espajuéis;
+persos sin perfiné sos ondoba chundée brotobó, bus nasti quesa escotriá
+or egresitón.  Oclinde les pendaba: se sustinará suéste sartra suéste, y
+sichén sartra sichén, y abicará bareles dajirós de chénes per los gaos, y
+retréques y bocátas, y abicará buchengerés espajuis, y bareles simachis
+de otárpe: bus anjella de saro ondoba os sinastrarán y preguillarán,
+enregandoós á la Socretería, y los ostardós, y os legerarán á los
+Ocláyes, y á los Baquedunis, per men acnao: y ondoba os chundeará on
+chachipé.  Terelad pus seraji on bros garlochínes de ne orobrár anjella
+sata abicáis de brudilar, persos man os diñaré rotuñí y chanár, la sos ne
+asislarán resistír ne sartra pendar satos bros enormes.  Y quesaréis
+enregaos de bros bátos, y oprános, y sastris, y monrrores, y querarán
+merar á cormuñí de avéres; y os cangelarán saros per men acnao; bus ne
+carjibará ies bal de bros jerós.  Sar bras opachirimá avelaréis bras
+orchis: pus bus dicaréis á Jerusalén relli, oclinde chanad sos, desqueró
+petra soscabela pajés; oclinde los soscabelan on la Chutéa, chapésguen á
+los tober-jélis; y los que on macara de ondolaya, niquillense; y lo sos
+on los oltariqués, nasti enrren on ondoláya; persos ondoba sen chibéles
+de Abilláza, pa sos chundéen sares las buchís soscabélan libanás; bus
+isna de las ararís, y de las sos diñan de oropielar on asirios chibéles;
+persos abicará bare quichartúra costuñe la chen, e guillará pa andoba
+Gao; y petrarán á surabi de janrró; y quesan legeraos sinastros á sarés
+las chénes, y Jerusalén quesá omaná de los suestíles, sasta sos quejesen
+los chirós de las sichenes; y abicara simachés on or orcán, y on la
+chimutiá, y on las uchurgañis; y on la chen chalabeó on la suéte per or
+dán sos bausalará la loria y des-querós gulas; muquelándo los romáres
+bifaos per dajiraló de las buchís sos costuñe abillarán á saro or
+surdéte; persos los soláres de los otarpes quesan sar-chalabeaos; y
+oclinde dicarán á or Chaboró e Manú abillar costuñe yesque minrriclá sar
+baro asislar y Chimusolano: bus presimelaren á chundear caba buchis,
+dicád, y sustiñád bros jerós, persos pajes soscabela bras redención.
+
+And whilst looking he saw the rich who cast their treasures into the
+treasury; and he saw also a poor widow, who cast two small coins, and he
+said: In truth I tell you, that this poor widow has cast more than all
+the others; because all those have cast, as offerings to God, from that
+which to them abounded; but she from her poverty has cast all the
+substance which she had.  And he said to some, who said of the temple,
+that it was adorned with fair stones, and with gifts: These things which
+ye see, days shall come, when stone shall not remain upon stone, which
+shall not be demolished.  And they asked him and said: Master, when shall
+this be? and what sign shall there be when this begins?  He said: See,
+that ye be not deceived, because many shall come in my name, saying: I am
+(he), and the time is near: beware ye of going after them: and when ye
+shall hear (of) wars and revolts do not fear, because it is needful that
+this happen first, for the end shall not be immediately.  Then he said to
+them: Nation shall rise against nation, and country against country, and
+there shall be great tremblings of earth among the towns, and pestilences
+and famines; and there shall be frightful things, and great signs in the
+heaven: but before all this they shall make ye captive, and shall
+persecute, delivering ye over to the synagogue, and prisons; and they
+shall carry ye to the kings, and the governors, on account of my name:
+and this shall happen to you for truth.  Keep then firm in your hearts,
+not to think before how ye have to answer, for I will give you mouth and
+wisdom, which all your enemies shall not be able to resist, or
+contradict.  And ye shall be delivered over by your fathers, and
+brothers, and relations, and friends, and they shall put to death some of
+you; and all shall hate you for my name; but not one hair of your heads
+shall perish.  With your patience ye shall possess your souls: but when
+ye shall see Jerusalem surrounded, then know that its fall is near; then
+those who are in Judea, let them escape to the mountains; and those who
+are in the midst of her, let them go out; and those who are in the
+fields, let them not enter into her; because those are days of vengeance,
+that all the things which are written may happen; but alas to the
+pregnant and those who give suck in those days, for there shall be great
+distress upon the earth, and it shall move onward against this people;
+and they shall fall by the edge of the sword; and they shall be carried
+captive to all the countries, and Jerusalem shall be trodden by the
+nations, until are accomplished the times of the nations; and there shall
+be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and in the earth
+trouble of nations from the fear which the sea and its billows shall
+cause; leaving men frozen with terror of the things which shall come upon
+all the world; because the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and
+then they shall see the Son of Man coming upon a cloud with great power
+and glory: when these things begin to happen, look ye, and raise your
+heads, for your redemption is near.
+
+
+
+THE ENGLISH DIALECT OF THE ROMMANY
+
+
+    ‘TACHIPEN if I jaw ‘doi, I can lel a bit of tan to hatch: N’etist I
+    shan’t puch kekomi wafu gorgies.’
+
+The above sentence, dear reader, I heard from the mouth of Mr.
+Petulengro, the last time that he did me the honour to visit me at my
+poor house, which was the day after Mol-divvus, {428a} 1842: he stayed
+with me during the greatest part of the morning, discoursing on the
+affairs of Egypt, the aspect of which, he assured me, was becoming daily
+worse and worse.  ‘There is no living for the poor people, brother,’ said
+he, ‘the chok-engres (police) pursue us from place to place, and the
+gorgios are become either so poor or miserly, that they grudge our cattle
+a bite of grass by the way side, and ourselves a yard of ground to light
+a fire upon.  Unless times alter, brother, and of that I see no
+probability, unless you are made either poknees or mecralliskoe geiro
+(justice of the peace or prime minister), I am afraid the poor persons
+will have to give up wandering altogether, and then what will become of
+them?
+
+‘However, brother,’ he continued, in a more cheerful tone, ‘I am no
+hindity mush, {428b} as you well know.  I suppose you have not forgot
+how, fifteen years ago, when you made horse-shoes in the little dingle by
+the side of the great north road, I lent you fifty cottors {428c} to
+purchase the wonderful trotting cob of the innkeeper with the green
+Newmarket coat, which three days after you sold for two hundred.
+
+‘Well, brother, if you had wanted the two hundred, instead of the fifty,
+I could have lent them to you, and would have done so, for I knew you
+would not be long pazorrhus to me.  I am no hindity mush, brother, no
+Irishman; I laid out the other day twenty pounds in buying rupenoe
+peam-engries; {429a} and in the Chong-gav, {429b} have a house of my own
+with a yard behind it.
+
+‘_And_, _forsooth_, _if I go thither_, _I can choose a place to light a
+fire upon_, _and shall have no necessity to ask leave of these here
+Gentiles_.’
+
+Well, dear reader, this last is the translation of the Gypsy sentence
+which heads the chapter, and which is a very characteristic specimen of
+the general way of speaking of the English Gypsies.
+
+The language, as they generally speak it, is a broken jargon, in which
+few of the grammatical peculiarities of the Rommany are to be
+distinguished.  In fact, what has been said of the Spanish Gypsy dialect
+holds good with respect to the English as commonly spoken: yet the
+English dialect has in reality suffered much less than the Spanish, and
+still retains its original syntax to a certain extent, its peculiar
+manner of conjugating verbs, and declining nouns and pronouns.  I must,
+however, qualify this last assertion, by observing that in the genuine
+Rommany there are no prepositions, but, on the contrary, post-positions;
+now, in the case of the English dialect, these post-positions have been
+lost, and their want, with the exception of the genitive, has been
+supplied with English prepositions, as may be seen by a short example:—
+
+Hungarian Gypsy. {429c}   English Gypsy.      English.
+Job                       Yow                 He
+Leste                     Leste               Of him
+Las                       Las                 To him
+Les                       Los                 Him
+Lester                    From leste          From him
+Leha                      With leste          With him
+                          PLURAL.
+Jole                      Yaun                They
+Lente                     Lente               Of them
+Len                       Len                 To them
+Len                       Len                 Them
+Lender                    From Lende          From them
+
+The following comparison of words selected at random from the English and
+Spanish dialects of the Rommany will, perhaps, not be uninteresting to
+the philologist or even to the general reader.  Could a doubt be at
+present entertained that the Gypsy language is virtually the same in all
+parts of the world where it is spoken, I conceive that such a vocabulary
+would at once remove it.
+
+             English Gypsy.      Spanish Gypsy.
+Ant          Cria                Crianse
+Bread        Morro               Manro
+City         Forus               Foros
+Dead         Mulo                Mulo
+Enough       Dosta               Dosta
+Fish         Matcho              Macho
+Great        Boro                Baro
+House        Ker                 Quer
+Iron         Saster              Sas
+King         Krallis             Crális
+Love(I)      Camova              Camelo
+Moon         Tchun               Chimutra
+Night        Rarde               Rati
+Onion        Purrum              Porumia
+Poison       Drav                Drao
+Quick        Sig                 Sigo
+Rain         Brishindo           Brejindal
+Sunday       Koorokey            Curque
+Teeth        Danor               Dani
+Village      Gav                 Gao
+White        Pauno               Parno
+Yes          Avalí               Ungalé
+
+As specimens of how the English dialect maybe written, the following
+translations of the Lord’s Prayer and Belief will perhaps suffice.
+
+
+THE LORD’S PRAYER
+
+
+Míry dad, odoi oprey adrey tíro tatcho tan; Medeveleskoe si tíro nav;
+awel tiro tem, be kairdo tiro lav acoi drey pov sá odoi adrey kosgo tan:
+dey mande ke-divvus miry diry morro, ta fordel man sor so mé pazzorrus
+tute, sá mé fordel sor so wavior mushor pazzorrus amande; ma riggur man
+adrey kek dosch, ley man abri sor wafodu; tiro se o tem, tíro or
+zoozli-wast, tiro or corauni, kanaw ta ever-komi.  Avali.  Tatchipen.
+
+
+LITERAL TRANSLATION
+
+
+My Father, yonder up within thy good place; god-like be thy name; come
+thy kingdom, be done thy word here in earth as yonder in good place.
+Give to me to-day my dear bread, and forgive me all that I am indebted to
+thee, as I forgive all that other men are indebted to me; not lead me
+into any ill; take me out (of) all evil; thine is the kingdom, thine the
+strong hand, thine the crown, now and evermore.  Yea.  Truth.
+
+
+THE BELIEF
+
+
+Mé apasavenna drey mi-dovvel, Dad soro-ruslo, savo kedas charvus ta pov:
+apasavenna drey olescro yeck chavo moro arauno Christos, lias
+medeveleskoe Baval-engro, beano of wendror of medeveleskoe gairy Mary:
+kurredo tuley me-cralliskoe geiro Pontius Pilaten wast; nasko pré rukh,
+moreno, chivios adrey o hev; jas yov tuley o kálo dron ke wafudo tan,
+bengeskoe stariben; jongorasa o trito divvus, atchasa opré to tatcho tan,
+Mí-dovvels kair; bestela kanaw odoi pré Mi-dovvels tacho wast Dad
+soro-boro; ava sig to lel shoonaben opré mestepen and merripen.
+Apasa-venna en develeskoe Baval-engro; Boro develeskoe congrí, develeskoe
+pios of sore tacho foky ketteney, soror wafudu-pénes fordias, soror mulor
+jongorella, kek merella apopli.  Avalí, palor.
+
+
+LITERAL TRANSLATION
+
+
+I believe in my God, Father all powerful, who made heaven and earth; I
+believe in his one Son our Lord Christ, conceived by Holy Ghost, {432}
+born of bowels of Holy Virgin Mary, beaten under the royal governor
+Pontius Pilate’s hand; hung on a tree, slain, put into the grave; went he
+down the black road to bad place, the devil’s prison; he awaked the third
+day, ascended up to good place, my God’s house; sits now there on my
+God’s right hand Father-all-powerful; shall come soon to hold judgment
+over life and death.  I believe in Holy Ghost; Great Holy Church, Holy
+festival of all good people together, all sins forgiveness, that all dead
+arise, no more die again.  Yea, brothers.
+
+
+SPECIMEN OF A SONG IN THE VULGAR OR BROKEN ROMMANY
+
+
+As I was a jawing to the gav yeck divvus,
+I met on the dron miro Rommany chi:
+I puch’d yoi whether she com sar mande;
+And she penn’d: tu si wafo Rommany,
+
+And I penn’d, I shall ker tu miro tacho Rommany,
+Fornigh tute but dui chavé:
+Methinks I’ll cam tute for miro merripen,
+If tu but pen, thou wilt commo sar mande.
+
+
+TRANSLATION
+
+
+One day as I was going to the village,
+I met on the road my Rommany lass:
+I ask’d her whether she would come with me,
+And she said thou hast another wife.
+
+I said, I will make thee my lawful wife,
+Because thou hast but two children;
+Methinks I will love thee until my death,
+If thou but say thou wilt come with me.
+
+Many other specimens of the English Gypsy muse might be here adduced; it
+is probable, however, that the above will have fully satisfied the
+curiosity of the reader.  It has been inserted here for the purpose of
+showing that the Gypsies have songs in their own language, a fact which
+has been denied.  In its metre it resembles the ancient Sclavonian
+ballads, with which it has another feature in common—the absence of
+rhyme.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+{0}  Although the present edition is only in one volume, Borrow’s
+original references to the two volumes in the above Dedication and the
+Preface have been retained.
+
+{1}  _Quarterly Review_, Dec. 1842
+
+{2}  _Edinburgh Review_, Feb. 1843.
+
+{3}  _Examiner_, Dec. 17, 1842.
+
+{4}  _Spectator_, Dec. 7, 1842.
+
+{5}  Thou speakest well, brother!
+
+{6}  This is quite a mistake: I know very little of what has been written
+concerning these people: even the work of Grellmann had not come beneath
+my perusal at the time of the publication of the first edition of _The
+Zincali_, which I certainly do not regret: for though I believe the
+learned German to be quite right in his theory with respect to the origin
+of the Gypsies, his acquaintance with their character, habits, and
+peculiarities, seems to have been extremely limited.
+
+{7}  Good day.
+
+{8}  Glandered horse.
+
+{9}  Two brothers.
+
+{10}  The edition here referred to has long since been out of print.
+
+{25}  It may not be amiss to give the etymology of the word engro, which
+so frequently occurs in compound words in the English Gypsy tongue:—the
+_en_ properly belongs to the preceding noun, being one of the forms of
+the genitive case; for example, Elik-_en_ boro congry, the great Church
+or Cathedral of Ely; the _gro_ or _geiro_ (Spanish _guero_), is the
+Sanscrit _kar_, a particle much used in that language in the formation of
+compounds; I need scarcely add that _monger_ in the English words
+Costermonger, Ironmonger, etc., is derived from the same root.
+
+{26}  For the knowledge of this fact I am indebted to the well-known and
+enterprising traveller, Mr. Vigne, whose highly interesting work on
+Cashmire and the Panjab requires no recommendation from me.
+
+{28}  Gorgio (Spanish _gacho_), a man who is not a Gypsy: the Spanish
+Gypsies term the Gentiles Busne, the meaning of which word will be
+explained farther on.
+
+{36}  An Eastern image tantamount to the taking away of life.
+
+{37}  Gentes non multum morigeratæ, sed quasi bruta animalia et furentes.
+See vol. xxii. of the Supplement to the works of Muratori, p. 890.
+
+{43}  As quoted by Hervas: _Catalogo de las Lenguas_, vol. iii. p. 306.
+
+{54}  We have found this beautiful metaphor both in Gypsy and Spanish; it
+runs thus in the former language:—
+
+    ‘LAS MUCHIS.  (The Sparks.)
+
+    ‘Bus de gres chabalas orchiris man diqué á yes chiro purelar
+    sistilias sata rujias, y or sisli carjibal diñando trutas discandas.
+
+{69}  In the above little tale the writer confesses that there are many
+things purely imaginary; the most material point, however, the attempt to
+sack the town during the pestilence, which was defeated by the courage
+and activity of an individual, rests on historical evidence the most
+satisfactory.  It is thus mentioned in the work of Francisco de Cordova
+(he was surnamed Cordova from having been for many years canon in that
+city):—
+
+    ‘Annis præteritis Iuliobrigam urbem, vulgo Logroño, pestilenti
+    laborantem morbo, et hominibus vacuam invadere hi ac diripere
+    tentarunt, perfecissentque ni Dens O. M. cuiusdam _bibliopolæ_ opera,
+    in corum, capita, quam urbi moliebantur perniciem avertisset.’
+    _Didascalia_, Lugduni, 1615, I vol. 8VO. p. 405, cap. 50.
+
+{79}  Yet notwithstanding that we refuse credit to these particular
+narrations of Quiñones and Fajardo, acts of cannibalism may certainly
+have been perpetrated by the Gitános of Spain in ancient times, when they
+were for the most part semi-savages living amongst mountains and deserts,
+where food was hard to be procured: famine may have occasionally
+compelled them to prey on human flesh, as it has in modern times
+compelled people far more civilised than wandering Gypsies.
+
+{82a}  England.
+
+{82b}  Spain.
+
+{86}  _Mithridates_: erster Theil, s. 241.
+
+{98}  Torreblanca: _de Magia_, 1678.
+
+{100a}  Exodus, chap. xiii. v. 9.  ‘And it shall be for a sign unto thee
+upon thy hand.’ Eng.  Trans.
+
+{100b}  No chapter in the book of Job contains any such verse.
+
+{100c}  ‘And the children of Israel went out with an high hand.’  Exodus,
+chap. xiv. v. 8. Eng.  Trans.
+
+{100d}  No such verse is to be found in the book mentioned.
+
+{109a}  Prov., chap. vii. vers. 11, 12.  ‘She is loud and stubborn; her
+feet abide not in her house.  Now is she without, now in the streets, and
+lieth in wait at every corner.’  Eng. Trans.
+
+{109b}  _Historia de Alonso_, _mozo de muchos amos_: or, the story of
+Alonso, servant of many masters; an entertaining novel, written in the
+seventeenth century, by Geronimo of Alcalá, from which some extracts were
+given in the first edition of the present work.
+
+{117}  O Ali! O Mahomet!—God is God!—A Turkish war-cry.
+
+{120a}  Gen. xlix. 22.
+
+{120b}  In the original there is a play on words.—It is not necessary to
+enter into particulars farther than to observe that in the Hebrew
+language ‘ain’ means a well, and likewise an eye.
+
+{120c}  Gen. xlviii. 16.  In the English version the exact sense of the
+inspired original is not conveyed.  The descendants of Joseph are to
+increase like fish.
+
+{122}  Exodus, chap. xii. v. 37, 38.
+
+{130a}  Quiñones, p. 11.
+
+{130b}  The writer will by no means answer for the truth of these
+statements respecting Gypsy marriages.
+
+{138}  This statement is incorrect.
+
+{139}  The Torlaquis (idle vagabonds), Hadgies (saints), and Dervishes
+(mendicant friars) of the East, are Gypsies neither by origin nor habits,
+but are in general people who support themselves in idleness by
+practising upon the credulity and superstition of the Moslems.
+
+{140}  In the Moorish Arabic, [Picture: Arabic text] —or reus al haramin,
+the literal meaning being, ‘heads or captains of thieves.’
+
+{153}  A favourite saying amongst this class of people is the following:
+‘Es preciso que cada uno coma de su oficio’; _i.e._ every one must live
+by his trade.
+
+{167}  For the above well-drawn character of Charles the Third I am
+indebted to the pen of Louis de Usoz y Rio, my coadjutor in the editing
+of the New Testament in Spanish (Madrid, 1837).  For a further account of
+this gentleman, the reader is referred to _The Bible in Spain_, preface,
+p. xxii.
+
+{181}  Steal a horse.
+
+{189}  The lame devil: Asmodeus.
+
+{199}  Rinconete and Cortadillo.
+
+{200}  The great river, or Guadalquiver.
+
+{211}  A fountain in Paradise.
+
+{230}  A Gypsy word signifying ‘exceeding much.’
+
+{235}  ‘Lengua muy cerráda.’
+
+{236a}  ‘No camelo ser eray, es Caló mi nacimiénto;
+No camelo ser eray, eon ser Calé me conténto.’
+
+{236b}  Armed partisans, or guerillas on horseback: they waged a war of
+extermination against the French, but at the same time plundered their
+countrymen without scruple.
+
+{241a}  The Basques speak a Tartar dialect which strikingly resembles the
+Mongolian and the Mandchou.
+
+{241b}  A small nation or rather sect of contrabandistas, who inhabit the
+valley of Pas amidst the mountains of Santander; they carry long sticks,
+in the handling of which they are unequalled.  Armed with one of these
+sticks, a smuggler of Pas has been known to beat off two mounted
+dragoons.
+
+{242}  The hostess, Maria Diaz, and her son Joan José Lopez, were present
+when the outcast uttered these prophetic words.
+
+{243}  Eodem anno precipue fuit pestis seu mortalitas Forlivio.
+
+{247}  This work is styled _Historia de los Gitános_, by J. M—, published
+at Barcelona in the year 1832; it consists of ninety-three very small and
+scantily furnished pages.  Its chief, we might say its only merit, is the
+style, which is fluent and easy.  The writer is a theorist, and
+sacrifices truth and probability to the shrine of one idea, and that one
+of the most absurd that ever entered the head of an individual.  He
+endeavours to persuade his readers that the Gitános are the descendants
+of the Moors, and the greatest part of his work is a history of those
+Africans, from the time of their arrival in the Peninsula till their
+expatriation by Philip the Third.  The Gitános he supposes to be various
+tribes of wandering Moors, who baffled pursuit amidst the fastnesses of
+the hills; he denies that they are of the same origin as the Gypsies,
+Bohemians, etc., of other lands, though he does not back his denial by
+any proofs, and is confessedly ignorant of the Gitáno language, the grand
+criterion.
+
+To this work we shall revert on a future occasion.
+
+{262a}  A Russian word signifying beans.
+
+{262b}  The term for poisoning swine in English Gypsy is _Drabbing
+bawlor_.
+
+{276}  Por médio de chalanerías.
+
+{278a}  The English.
+
+{278b}  These words are very ancient, and were, perhaps, used by the
+earliest Spanish Gypsies; they differ much from the language of the
+present day, and are quite unintelligible to the modern Gitános.
+
+{281}  It was speedily prohibited, together with the Basque gospel; by a
+royal ordonnance, however, which appeared in the Gazette of Madrid, in
+August 1838, every public library in the kingdom was empowered to
+purchase two copies in both languages, as the works in question were
+allowed to possess some merit _in a literary point of view_.  For a
+particular account of the Basque translation, and also some remarks on
+the Euscarra language, the reader is referred to _The Bible in Spain_,
+vol. ii. p. 385–398.
+
+{288}  Steal me, Gypsy.
+
+{290}  A species of gendarme or armed policeman.  The Miquelets have
+existed in Spain for upwards of two hundred years.  They are called
+Miquelets, from the name of their original leader.  They are generally
+Aragonese by nation, and reclaimed robbers.
+
+{292}  Those who may be desirous of perusing the originals of the
+following rhymes should consult former editions of this work.
+
+{304}  For the original, see other editions.
+
+{321}  For this information concerning Palmiréno, and also for a sight of
+the somewhat rare volume written by him, the author was indebted to a
+kind friend, a native of Spain.
+
+{67}  A very unfair inference; that some of the Gypsies did not
+understand the author when he spoke Romaic, was no proof that their own
+private language was a feigned one, invented for thievish purposes.
+
+{324}  Of all these, the most terrible, and whose sway endured for the
+longest period, were the Mongols, as they were called: few, however, of
+his original Mongolian warriors followed Timour in the invasion of India.
+His armies latterly appear to have consisted chiefly of Turcomans and
+Persians.  It was to obtain popularity amongst these soldiery that he
+abandoned his old religion, a kind of fetish, or sorcery, and became a
+Mahometan.
+
+{325a}  As quoted by Adelung, _Mithridates_, vol. i.
+
+{325b}  Mithridates.
+
+{326}  For example, in the _Historia de los Gitános_, of which we have
+had occasion to speak in the first part of the present work: amongst
+other things the author says, p. 95, ‘If there exist any similitude of
+customs between the Gitános and the Gypsies, the Zigeuners, the Zingári,
+and the Bohemians, they (the Gitános) cannot, however, be confounded with
+these nomad castes, nor the same origin be attributed to them; . . . all
+that we shall find in common between these people will be, that the one
+(the Gypsies, etc.) arrived fugitives from the heart of Asia by the
+steppes of Tartary, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, while the
+Gitános, descended from the Arab or Morisco tribes, came from the coast
+of Africa as conquerors at the beginning of the eighth.’
+
+He gets rid of any evidence with respect to the origin of the Gitános
+which their language might be capable of affording in the following
+summary manner: ‘As to the particular jargon which they use, any
+investigation which people might pretend to make would be quite useless;
+in the first place, on account of the reserve which they exhibit on this
+point; and secondly, because, in the event of some being found
+sufficiently communicative, the information which they could impart would
+lead to no advantageous result, owing to their extreme ignorance.’
+
+It is scarcely worth while to offer a remark on reasoning which could
+only emanate from an understanding of the very lowest order,—so the
+Gitános are so extremely ignorant, that however frank they might wish to
+be, they would be unable to tell the curious inquirer the names for bread
+and water, meat and salt, in their own peculiar tongue—for, assuredly,
+had they sense enough to afford that slight quantum of information, it
+would lead to two very advantageous results, by proving, first, that they
+spoke the same language as the Gypsies, etc., and were consequently the
+same people—and secondly, that they came not from the coast of Northern
+Africa, where only Arabic and Shillah are spoken, but from the heart of
+Asia, three words of the four being pure Sanscrit.
+
+{330}  As given in the _Mithridates_ of Adelung.
+
+{346a}  Possibly from the Russian _boloss_, which has the same
+signification.
+
+{346b}  Basque, _burua_.
+
+{346c}  Sanscrit, _schirra_.
+
+{346d}  These two words, which Hervas supposes to be Italian used in an
+improper sense, are probably of quite another origin.  _Len_, in Gitáno,
+signifies ‘river,’ whilst _vadi_ in Russian is equivalent to water.
+
+{348}  It is not our intention to weary the reader with prolix specimens;
+nevertheless, in corroboration of what we have asserted, we shall take
+the liberty of offering a few.  Piar, to drink, (p. 188,) is Sanscrit,
+_piava_.  Basilea, gallows, (p. 158,) is Russian, _becilitz_.  Caramo,
+wine, and gurapo, galley, (pp. 162, 176,) Arabic, _haram_ (which
+literally signifies that which is forbidden) and _grab_.  Iza, (p. 179,)
+harlot, Turkish, _kize_.  Harton, bread, (p. 177,) Greek, _artos_.
+Guido, good, and hurgamandera, harlot, (pp. 177, 178,) German, _gut_ and
+_hure_.  Tiple, wine, (p. 197,) is the same as the English word tipple,
+Gypsy, _tapillar_.
+
+{351}  This word is pure Wallachian (λοναρε), and was brought by the
+Gypsies into England; it means ‘booty,’ or what is called in the present
+cant language, ‘swag.’  The Gypsies call booty ‘louripen.’
+
+{359}  Christmas, literally Wine-day.
+
+{360a}  Irishman or beggar, literally a dirty squalid person.
+
+{360b}  Guineas.
+
+{360c}  Silver teapots.
+
+{360d}  The Gypsy word for a certain town.
+
+{361a}  In the Spanish Gypsy version, ‘our bread of each day.’
+
+{361b}  Span., ‘forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.’
+
+{361c}  Eng., ‘all evil _from_’; Span., ‘from all ugliness.’
+
+{361d}  Span., ‘for thine.’
+
+{362}  By Hungary is here meant not only Hungary proper, but
+Transylvania.
+
+{363a}  How many days made come the gentleman hither.
+
+{363b}  How many-year fellow are you.
+
+{363c}  Of a grosh.
+
+{363d}  My name shall be to you for Moses my brother.
+
+{364a}  Comes.
+
+{364b}  Empty place.
+
+{416}  V. _Casinoben_ in Lexicon.
+
+{417a}  By these two words, Pontius Pilate is represented, but whence
+they are derived I know not.
+
+{417b}  Reborn.
+
+{419a}  Poverty is always avoided.
+
+{419b}  A drunkard reduces himself to the condition of a hog.
+
+{421a}  The most he can do.
+
+{421b}  The puchero, or pan of glazed earth, in which bacon, beef, and
+garbanzos are stewed.
+
+{421c}  Truth contrasts strangely with falsehood; this is a genuine Gypsy
+proverb, as are the two which follow; it is repeated throughout Spain
+_without being understood_.
+
+{421d}  In the original _wears a mouth_; the meaning is, ask nothing,
+gain nothing.
+
+{421e}  Female Gypsy,
+
+{423a}  Women _understood_.
+
+{423b}  With that motive awoke the labourer.  _Orig_.
+
+{423c}  Gave its pleasure to the finger, _i.e._ his finger was itching to
+draw the trigger, and he humoured it.
+
+{423d}  They feared the shot and slugs, which are compared, and not
+badly, to flies and almonds.
+
+{428a}  Christmas, literally Wine-day.
+
+{428b}  Irishman or beggar, literally a dirty squalid person.
+
+{428c}  Guineas.
+
+{429a}  Silver tea-pots.
+
+{429b}  The Gypsy word for a certain town.
+
+{429c}  As given by Grellmann.
+
+{432}  The English Gypsies having, in their dialect, no other term for
+ghost than mulo, which simply means a dead person, I have been obliged to
+substitute a compound word.  Bavalengro signifies literally a wind thing,
+or _form of air_.
+
+
+
+
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