Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-04-14

CHIoGGIA, ITALY, March 24.-The vas
n difference between acquired and natura
n knowledge, between cultivated and natura
comprehension, between passion ant
emotion, between impulse and feeling, il
never more apparent than when one turn
from the contemplation of inland Italian
peasant character to that of the Italian
|. fishermen.
70 The first has nature in his labor ON tn,
hiligide with his flocks, in the vineyard
where he carries his hamper of ripe grape
from the vines to the presses, or driving
his heritage or tlower-laden donkeyi
through the sweet and sunny wales; but 1
Is nature loving and protecting; nature
without menace or danger; and natur,
which gives the sense of peace that dull,
apprehension and clothes responsibility
with delight. This man is a creature Of
childish joys and childish passions; Of
quick, hot temper and easily dried tears Of
ardent and fleeting loves; of varied anl
sariegated tastes; and of ambitions ending
III gorgeous attire on festal days. In short
he IS very harlequin of wish, thought
and feeling. You love him, but You feai
him and never trust him, only through
your knowledge of the logical sequences Of
his character.
But down from the sunny hilsides and
away from the tender wales, over the salt
marshes and gray sands to the sea, you
can In few hours feel the change OF
centuries crystalizing the Italian fisher.
man into a creature of almost another
race. The sky is as bright above him, but
his hut is on the shifting sands. The sea
Is blue and tender beneath him, but anon
1t brushes what he cherishes, His joys
mask eternal menace and his outlook is
toward the infinite.
The type of Italian fishermen common
70 poetry, painting and song has all the
beribboned, earringed and half brigandish
look of the inland peasant; and the type
exists, in port, convenient TO pose for tray
cling dilettanti. But this sort of an Italian
fisherman is creature who has had his
origin in discomfort with inland environ
ment or in the scourging of poverty in
overcrowded towns. The real Italian fish
erman is a creature of the shore and the
sea with centuries-inherited and death
less love for the wilderness, the danger,
the Loneliness and the very meagerness of
his calling.
The Italian fisherman has in his life
none of the trivial concerns that occupy
the hearts of the inland peasant His hut,
usually one room, with smoke-darkened
ceiling and rough, shell-plastcred walls
and floor. is rs austere in its appointments
as a monks cell. No ornament or decora-
ton more gaudy than a crucfix, or tiny
shrine, or cheap engraving of the thorn
crowned head of Christ or the Mater
Dolorosa, adorns its walls. There are rude
Roat-Skin covered coucheS of dried sea-
weed; the heavy benches along the wall,
behind the heavier table with Its sunken
places in which to set the bowls and mugs
for food; and stout chestnut pegs set in the
mortar walls for nets and clothing
There are three-legged wooden stools at
either side of the fireplace This is sim
ply an open space left in the inside wall
crossed by stout iron rod, from which are
suspended half-doZen pots by hooks, the
fire of seaweed and driftwood being only
lighted when required for cooking. There
are often one or two windows which have
no glass, but are covered with bit of goat
skin or sail-cloth in Indictment weather.
The floor is covered with generous layer
of sand, which is ceaselessly being renewed
for cleanliness.
The fisherman himself does no work
ashore beyond the mere care of his boat
if he is so fortunate as to own one. The
moment his boat is sighted by the women
folk, they all run pell-mell to the water
edge TO take the sails and gear with the
nets and fish and the wet clothing, drag
ging them with all speed to the hut, where
the fish are cleaned and sailed and packed
in layers with seaweed, fos market or
home consumption. Their food consists
OF this fish, usually cut in small pieces and
boiled in a sort of thick soup with such
simple condiments as their slender means
can procure, black bread and cheap sour
wine
On rare holiday occasions they NAV
have onions roasted in the ashes, maca-
roni dressed with olive oil, or tiny dough
cakes fried in oil, something like d dough.
nat. If unusually well-to do, goat or
two will be among the family possessions,
and then the little ones will have their
mug OF milk and the older ones their balls
of rich cheese for the holiday feast, or for
offerings to the village padre.
In costume the Italian fisherman has no
h ANN l.sr. s..I.
wears sort of Greek-like tunic sleeve
less and reaching barely to the knees.
This is brought closely to his body with
broad leather belt, in the inside of which
he carries his rosary, his scapular or per
+. haps some holy relic for protection at sea.
Rude sandals of tough fish or goat skin are
bound to his feet with thongs that are
e crossed around the leg to the knee. His
hair and beard are seldom cut or trimmed
e IL often has the wave of q sculptured gods
and as he rarely wears any head covering,
save perhaps cotton kerchief bound
I around his head with the ends floating in
his hair, which is sometimes as blonde as
+ a Scandivavian's. His whole aspect ire
sistibly suggests primitive Greek on the
classic loneliness of his own loved shores.
The women are finer, freer simpler.
They know nothing of bending over sun
baked fields to till the ground with the
rude implements of thousand wears ago.
not caring for the harvest of the sea, they
are mending nets, gathering and drying
seaweed, or coaxing some meagre vegeta-
ton from tiny rockbound garden patches
. is in the salt spray and never stilled
breczes of the sea.
Both women and men are often seen in
the streets of the larger villages on market
days. but always huddled in groups by
themselves. viewing askance the treasures
of shop, and stall and taking no part in the
gay and busy life about them. One would
as soon expect to see u marble Aphrodite
step from her pedestal and join in festal
dance or procession MS one of these shy,
far-coast iisherwoman.
The chief feature of the dress of the
women of the Italian coast fishers is a
double skirt, the lower portion of which
hangs rather scantily about their ankles.
The upper skirt is often hooked up at the
front and sides, forming sort of bag. In
this they carry seaweed, fuel, fish or she'll
fish from the sands; and when not in such
use 1t is drawn up over the shoulders and
back of the head as sort of wrap. Mothers
also wrap this skirt about their babes
when need to carry them for any dis
lance. The material is usually the coarsest
white cotton, but if the women can pos
sess any sort of holiday attire, the upper
skirt may be of scarlet. yellow or green,
Topped 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 fishermen
differ from the Venetian lagoon fishers,
who are hereditarily distinct class, MAX
ing their living by establishing and wad-
ing in the mud for crabs and other shell
fish. in being invariably deep sea fishers,