Evening star., 1916-10-02

, you enter are hills, with mountains in
the distance. while rising up from the
lowlands directly opposite the entrance
Is the city, on rocky hill 400 feet
high. The top Of this hill is encircled
by a massive wall, built by the Pisans
in the thirteenth century. At two of
the angles rise the towers of the Lion
and the Elephant, but of the tower Of
the Eagle. which completed the tri-
angle. only the base remains. In the
center of these fortifcations is the old
town. On the slopes Of the hill out
side the walls is built the modern city
Of $4,000 Inhabitants, the largest in
Sardinia. The entire population Of the
of population Of eighty-five per square
mile: that Is a much lower figure than
in any other part of Italy.
Rock-Cut Tombs Interesting.
Among the objects historically in
teresting in Cagliari are the rock-cut
tombs on the hillside below the Cas-
tello. These are probably of the same
period as the nuraghi, the famous pre-
historic truncated cones thirty feet in
men of the bronze age.
THE 'nuraghf were undoubtedly forti-
fed habitations. They are usually sit
uated in commanding positions at the
entrance to tablelands, near the fords
or rivers or on almost inaccessible
mountain peaks and within signaling
distance of one another: Traces Of at
least 5000 of these remains have been
found.
"The ancient tombs Of the inhabitants
OF the .nuraghi' are usually found near
them. These are called the 'tombs of
the giants and are three and one half
feet wide and from thirty to forty feet
long, with a roof of fiat slabs or rocks
and with the sides made Of the slabs or
OF rough walling. The bodies were prob
ably arranged in a sitting position. In
front of the tombs are circles about forty
rect in diameter surrounded by stones
these were, no doubt, used for sacrifices
and burial rites.
''To get an insight into the life of the
should visit its villages. 1t is in the
entire eastern half, with its mountainous
valleys and villages. where the real Sards
now live. Here one will find them good
looking and In good health, generous. hos
pitable, honorable and quite poor. Po-
liteness Is carried almost to an extreme
Often as one rides through the small VII
lagos the women. children and the old
men sitting at the doorsteps rise and
wish you 'buon viaggio'; or, If it hap
pens TO be noon, some may wish you
'buon appetite Even the young boys
are taught to take their hats off when
strangers pass by; and IL one is In an
automobile and happens to stop to get
out his kodak. a crowd of youngsters
seems to spring up around the car, all
anxious to be in the picture. To refuse
a cup Of coffee or liquor when visiting
the house of an inhabitant of a village
is an act Of great discourtesy. and even
the poorest have some beverage to offer
Generally speaking. the peasants seem
to be somewhat downtrodden and do not
realize their just rights. The music of
the Sards is characteristic: not all quick
and vivacious like that of the Sicilians
or other southern Italians, but monoto-
nous and slow. resembling very much the
music of northern Africa The Sards'
costumes are one of their greatest at
fractions. They are of rich. harmonious
though brilliant, colors. each village hav-
ing Its own distinctive type"