Morning journal and courier., 1893-02-25

wise moors and marshes to the Apulisu
mountain summer pastures. In the su.
tumn hundreds of thousands return along
these ancient ways. During the winter
the herdsmen and shepherds live In town
novels, or in huts near the towns aud VII.
lagos. The herds and Hocks are then driy.
en- out to and returned from daily grazing.
But In the summertime on the mountain
sides is the real outdoor life of the guar
dian of the focks and herds. Whether he
be herdsman, goatherd or shepherd, he is
usually given charge of dock or herd of
from fifty to one hundred animals.
These folk rarely intermsrry with other
Glasses. When they do they Instantly de-
part from the focks, are absorbed in lower
orders of the cities, or become the most
desperately hopeless of the human cattle
that labor in the fields. The pride In their
own descent, In the exclusiveness of their
class, In the long line of shepherd ances.
try they can trace, amounts almost to G
passion. It is practically the one pride
they possess. This isolation of blood and
interest has preserved interesting traces In
physiognomy. They are wonderfully Sar-
scenio in their look. The tall, slender,
supple figure, the oval face and shining
akin, the neck, tiny at the throat, spread-
Ing quickly and heavily In protubersui
muscles. like broad -butted tree, to the
shoulders, the yellowish-blue tinge of the
white of the eye, the distended nostrfls,
and the dszzling teeth, all pronounce the
eastern origin and retained physiological
a6nities.
Straight as an arrow, this shepherd Ia
clad from head to foot in undressed skins.
A bifurcated garment of untsnned hides,
fashioned after the pattern of that one 90
well known to American dress reform Ia
dies, forms a sort of waistcosr and trous-
ers combined. The latter are opened at
the sides, below the knees often displaying
gsudy buttons ornsmenting the sides Of
his half-gsiter, undresssd skin boots. Over
his waistcoat is a long, loose, srmless jack
ct of hide, provided with numberless pock-
eta, his rain proof storehouse of mesger
treasures. A jsunty, brigsndish hat sets
perkily upon his fue, curly head, and
brings into striking relief his olive skin,
his large, grave eyes and crinkly, curly
beard. Slung from his right shoulder
across his left hip by broad band of hide,
with occasionally the priceless treasure of
polished brass or bronze buckle, Is the
inseparsble capsells or shepherds pouch.
A rusty carbine, which Is never dis.
charged, or stout staff ss high as his
bresst-but never the shepherds crook of
olden tales and modern tablesux vivants-
COmplcIS Tue plCiuEt- Anu IL ls hlN6Ee q
picture; for this fellow with the face of an
apostle and the eyes of q saint is SO deli
ciously lapguid and inexpressibly lazy that
his splendid form Is forever In pose and
repose.
Nearly every epherd Of southern Italy
is married He msrries young. He resrs,
or rather there grows, seemingly all un-
conscious to himself, large family. The
sons marry other shepherds daughters;
the daughters, other shepherds sons.
Himself perhaps born in the grass by the
side of the "traturo," in cleft of some
rock in the edge of a torrents grsvins, or
in some low hut on hill or moor, he
emerges from childhood to manhood a no.
mad; is a nomsd in youth and manhood;
he mates as a nomad; and never ceases 8
nomsdtc life uatil the quieklime of some
village Campo S .nto consumes his bones
So that to every flock belongs a family.
The tstterdsmalion group Possesses no
home but that of the daily grazing land of
the flock. Their sole possessions never
equal Eve dollars in value. Their total
earnings do not exceed eleven cents per
day. Like Wallschisn gipsies they squat
anywhere for rest and sleep, and eat any
thing that will sustain life. If they pos.
seas q single aspiration on earth, IL lie tina;
secret ons of so many other Italian field
and moor laborsrs to take to the hills,
that IL. to become outright brigands. Un-
iversal incidence snd repuguAnoe TO stort
are safeguards sgsinst this. The Apulisr
shepherd himself is q picturesque fellow
enough, despite your consciousness of hi'
vacuous ignorance, his unvsrying cruelty
to his hocks, and his utter sodden, rsthel
than active, brutality 20 his wife and chill
dren, who serve as his pAck-mules, nk.
the American squsEs, for transporting BIZ
slender belongings to the hills
On the mountain eides the life of thil
shepherd family is a chsngeless one tbs
whole summer long, unless the tsrribl,
hail storms of southern Italy fall upon III,
mountains, or the still more destructive
wind-storms, that frequently fling boti
shepherds and hocks from the orsss Il
death, come whistling over peak or howl
ing through grayins. Then the human
| marmot awskens from his lethsrgy snS
accomplished prodigious fests of strength
and wondrous acts of valor In rescuing en-
dangered members of the flock or of hi
own terrified brood. His food is polenti
and chestnutao bread. BE Ia the on,
italian who drinks water instead of wine
His feld-lore, though unconscious to him
| self, is msrvslous.
When spusred by extreme hunger, al
| mountxin moorland birds are dooneC
| where he sets his snare. 1t is wild
/ strange, melancholy land he looks dow
upon, If he have the energy for looking
4 His wife and children around him are q
voiceless as himself and his fiocks. Th
| very melody of the sheep bells becomes
meaningless din. One carries away from
his environment and companionship witt
him only pathetic senss of his hopeless
ness and degradation. You can only re
| member him as another animal In hair,
hide, insensate to the trumpetings of etsr
nal nature around him. The sheep brows
| ing at his side are his equals In intelli
gence; his superiors in demonstrsble force
and activities The lone kestrsl wheelin,
above this Apulisn shepherd has a wide
horizon of view.
Those who care for the hocks of Pied
mont, Lombsrdy and radiant Tuscany ar
| q different folk, of whom a SUMMER pic
ture can be drawn. In the main they ar
the little children and youths and wives o
| all the peasantry. In northern and Alpin
Italy the beauty of the cities, qusintnes
and pescefuluess of the villages and ham
| let's, the radiance of the valleys, and tn
| noble pieturesQueness of the forests an
| mountains, sssm to have given q reflexiv
/ peacefulness, sunniuess and even virilit,
to the people.
The shepherd is always one of the VII
layers. He or she shares their every-ds
life. The fessts, espoussls, marriages
funerals, all are theirs for enjoyment sn
contemplation. Nearly every family hs
its own little flock. Often several of thee
are merged into larger fock and taken
the highest mountain lands for the entir
| summer. In such cases a shepherd an
his family accompany them, and they liv