The Republican journal., 1900-03-29

the tune was changed to livelier one i.
the orchestra played faster and faster
and faster; the audience, growing excited
crowded around the platform and cr;as oe
Arre Are! filled the court,-the 1.-THE
bodies of the dancers all the time swav-
ing to and fro, keeping perfect time to
the furious music. The girls tore their
wreaths in pieces and showered roses
upon the performers; some pelted them
with oranges; few IA very few) threw
small coins, and an occasional hat was
thrown upon the stage by some enthusi-
astic fellow, to be instantly kicked back
again over the heads of the bystanders
amid tremendous applause. One s.ole''
was quite enough to satisfy our curiosity,
and we soon made our adieux to the host
and departed amid clatter of heels that
we were assured would continue unwearied
all day and far into the night.
The jaleo is more oriental than the
'ole,' being accompanied by Arab
music, low and melancholy, with sudden
pauses. The dancer merely shuffles her
! feet, without stirring out of her tracks,
meanwhile swaying her body like crazy
thing, beating her brown palms together
like muff1ed drum and chanting wild
recitative whose chief burden is "ialeo,
jaieo!' Somehow, senseless as it is, it
works upon your nerves and stirs you
strangely: like the song of an Arab snake
charmer, the chant of an Irish wake
dancer, or the low, monotonous beat of
an Indian caabash drum at a warriors
! funeral
The origin of the Gitanos, or Spanish
gypsles, is involved in mystery; and their
habits of daily life, heir marriage cere-
monies and other customs, are jealousy
hidden from the eyes of strangers. Their
harsh and gutteral language is almost i'm.
possible for foreigners to acquire, and
even the Spaniards, who are constantly
trading with the gypsies, and to whom
knowledge of their jargon would be of
| greatest service, have never mastered a
! dozen words of Romany,' as the peculiar
dialect is called. Every Gitano is pagan,
his religious ideas never extending be-
yond fetch worship; but so intensely
clannish and secretive are they, that no.
stitions take. As they never marry out
side of their sect, their mental and ply
steal peculiarities are perpetuated, I'M
altered, or intensified, from generation to
generation. The Spanish gypsy is born
Ishmaelite. Every mans hand is against
him, and he feels it nO more than fair
that, therefore, his band should be in
every mans pocket Dishonest by ma
ture, instinct and education, and priding
himself upon it as an Indian upon his
stoicism, a Gitano considers highway
robbery, although it involves murder,
as something to boast of. His wife
shares his agreeable pursuits, and his
children are trained to surpass their par
ents' cunning, if they can. Frequently
the wife is much the worse rogue of the
two. She wanders about telling fortunes
and selling infallble love potions, which
she compounds from the most disgusting
ingredients. She does not hesitate at
child stealing, or any crime that puts a
few pesetas in the family purse; but her
virtue has passed into a proverb. Like
Caesars wife, she is absolutely above sus-
picion. A terrible punishment awaits
! tho VIII Oft hon
jugal vows, or who is even strongly sus-
pected of having done so. Her own reia
tives take her in hand and scourge her
into insensibility; and then she is drag
ged to some secluded place and buried
alive
From Triana it is a pleasant sunset
drive to Italica, following the muddy
banks of the Guadalquivir mile or two,
some low, olive covered hills. Here you
find all that remains of the splendid Ro-
man city which ocipio built and Adrian
adorned, and where several emperors
were born-among them Trajan, who
seems to have left a deeper mark than the
others upon the surrounding region.
Tiers of benches may yet be traced in the
great amphitheatre, and all around are
the cut and polished stones of fallen pal
ace walls. Luxuriant grass and wild
flowers cover the arena, whose soil was
fertilized through many generations by
the blood of the martyrs, gladiators and
wild beasts. In the vaults that once
served as prisons for the captives and
dens for the animals, few gypsy famil-
les live; and out they swarm like flies to
beset the visitor with the usual impor-
/ tunities. FANNIE B. WARD
March Magazines.