The record-union., 1892-04-09


the coarsest white cotton, but if the
women can possess any sort of holiday
attire, the upper skirt may be Of scarlet,
yellow or green, looped most gracefully
above the lower skirt and surmounted by
black cloth or in rare instances a
coarse velvet, bodice. They rarely wear
any foot covering, and only such head
covering as is supplied by the folds of
the upper skirt.
Although the coastwise Italian fisher
men differ from the Venetian lagoon fish
ers, who are hereditarily distinct class,
making their living by shoal- fishing
and wading in the mud for crabs and
shell-fsh, in being invariably deep-sea
fishers, still they are never fond of long
voyages and rarely pass more than three
or four nights on the water at one trip.
They are fond, like the Chioggian fishers,
of forming small fleets of five or six craft
for fishing i'll one locality, and keeping
one Of their 'bragoZzi" with its crew ply
ing back and forth with the Catches"
either directly to markettowns with fresh
fish or to their own home ports with fish
for curing.
Their craft are wholly different from
the lagoon fishers, being especially broad
and fiat. and large and important of rud
der, upon which, indeed, depends almost
the entire management of the little YES
sells. This being within the control of one
large or small, are left handed for the
nets, the method of slowing" paying
out" and setting and hauling of which
closely resemble those of botn British
and American coast fishers
The women do not shrink from even
the toughest labor on the sea: and it is
no uncommon sight to see wife and
daughters handling ropes, nets and sails,
cleaning or sorting fish on deck or vigor-
ously engaged in any necessary labor of
the boat. Indeed, so far as my observa-
ton goes, these fshermen's wives are
the propelling, active, indomitable force
of their lives and livelihood. Their move
ments are vigorous and yfrile, while the
men are phlegmatic and slow. At the
tiller, in unt1rling or reefng the sails,
paying out or hauling in the nets, stow
ing away the fish, transferring them from
their craft to the market bragoZZo, in
hauling the boats upon the beach, in
spreading and drying the nets, in fact, in
every possible manner in which they
labor beside or in advance of their hus-
bands, they lay hold of their toll with q
vigor and muscular vim exhibiting ire
mendous energy and force. Their reach
of arm and stride of leg are remarkable,
and the muscles of their shoulders and
breasts show extraordinary develop
ment Studying them, as | have often
done, when they were unconscious Of OBJ
SCI NdtloIl, IhelI strange, SfuI voices,
their brawny frames. their immense
brute strength, and above all, their saw
age energy of action, has prompted the
thought that If any future MaSaniello
were to leap from among the lisher-folil
with the dread shout of ''Morte aj mai
GoUer7to ~ the resistless liberator would
prove an Italian fisher-woman rather
than an Italian fisherman.
The superStitions of these Italian fish
ermen are singularly fewer than those of
almost any others Of his class, and most
| of those which they possess are OF q pain
fully pious sort. They are deeply de
vout people. They are also densely ig-
| norant. They positively know nothing
else in their dull lives but their rude fish
ing and how TO eat and sleep. They are
animal as much as have ever found men,
although their animal dullnesS and sod
| denness is Of the gentle rather than the
vicious sort. They therefore do not pos
sess the quick and creative fancy Of their
brethren of the Scotch and Irish coasts,
who, as one of the latter once said to me,
'catch more bugaboos than fish,
This lethargic quality IS illustrated by
their inordinate capacity for food and
sleep, and especially the latter The
moment the fisher arrives on shore his
labors-which, if his quests have not
been far and dangerous have already
been performed largely by women
aboard his bragoZzo are at an end
His banchetto or shore-coming feast
is always ready, and he betakes him
self to this, while his wife cares for
boat, gear and fish, with the rapacity
Of a half-famished dog. / have often
seen a single fisherman thus eat at one
sitting more than quart of Stufa or
hodgepodge stew Of shredded fish and
vegetables, a pound of bread, and that
dearest Of all dellcacieS to an Italian fish
/ a Nntpnt1 chestnut Il
ding bigger than his shaggy head with a
goats milk cheese as large as his fist
This done he filings himself on his belly
upon the floor OF his hut or beside his
habitation in the warm sand of the shore
side street and instantly becomes oblivi-
GUS to all worldly concerns in sleep, and
he will sleep from twelve to twenty
hours without changing his position.
Often have | come into these little fishing
villages and, while all was hustle and
activity among the women, found a
score of men thus disposed in doorways
or halt burrowed in the sand, until it
seemed as though these sca-roving slug
CARDS were all lying in helpless
drunken stupor or were merely the bod
les of dead fishermen cast up from the
deep.
Several odd objects are carried by the
Italian fishermen as necessary to good
luck in general. A tiny paddle fashioned
from chestnut tree that has been struck
by lightning has unusual power Tor good.
although | never could secure the reason
for their faith. The figure of a little
humpbacked man called a g0bbO, globe
surmounted by cross and a cock with
star in its beak are frequently painted
upon the sails. All of these possess fortui-
tous influences. Another favorite good
luck token is a little brass orca or cruet
of oil. 1t is kept carefully sealed and
FURNISHED, and few drops are cast upon
the waters if the fish are not sufficiently
plentiful, or If storm threatens the in
terruption of their work. But most es-
sential of all things 10 these toilers of the
sea is muScino, or kitten. No bragozzo
can put out from land without this, and
if such mischance should happen, all on
board would surely be lost.
The blind faith Of these folk in the eff
cacy of blessed, and holy relics to APP
peaSe the wrath of the sea is indeed pa
thetic. Many keep themselves in a state
of utter mpoverishment in providing
necessary amulets and charms. Not
only is the tisherman's person COW
cred with these. but his boat
must also possess all possible saw
ing power through these religious an
planes. Should some great storm arise
and genuine peril come, one by one these
appeaSltlve objects are cast upon the waves
with a faith that is positively sublime
! Meantime his wife ashore. possessed
of the same implicit and pious con-
tidence, gives her most precious relies to
the sea that her husband may come safe
TO land. And have no doubt that when
fatal disaster comes as it always does, this
man sinks into the silences beneath the
tempest with his last spark Of vital con-
seriousness an undlmmed flame of trust
and faith. EDGAR l.. WAKEMAN,
The worlds Fair-The, Chicago "Inter-
ocean,
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