THE SLAVIC IMMIGRANT. 29 



The Croats. 



The Croatians and Slovenes occupy the two large provinces to the 

 south of Hungary, Croatia and Slavonia, that lie between the Drave 

 and Danube rivers on the north and the Save Eiver and the Bosnian 

 boundary line on the south. A large number of the same race also come 

 to America from the adjoining provinces of Carniola, Carinthia, Styria, 

 Istria and Dalmatia. 



Croatia and Slavonia formed part of ancient Pannonia. The Slavs 

 took possession about the seventh century after Ostrogoth and Hun 

 had come and gone. They recognized the authority of the Emperors 

 of the East until 1075, when their leader, Zwonimir Demetrius, threw 

 off the Byzantine yoke and received the title of king from Pope Gregory 

 VII. at Eome. The country was subdued by the Turks (1524) and, 

 from the time of their expulsion some years later, has been considered a 

 part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Croats took sides against the 

 Magyars in the revolt of 1848, and Austria rewarded them by making 

 them independent of Hungary, but in 1860 Austria's attitude changed, 

 and to conciliate the Magyars she restored them to Hungary. They are 

 not content. Their national feeling is intense, and, though loyal to the 

 house of Hapsburg, they desire complete autonomy, with the Emperor 

 of Austria as their king. They detest their Magyar rulers, and there 

 exists as a consequence a constant clashing of Magyar and Slav through- 

 out the provinces. This race of southern Slavs presents some pecu- 

 liarities when compared with the recognized Slav type. They are dark- 

 eyed and swarthy skinned (very different in complexion from the north- 

 ern Slavs). Their heads are brachy cephalic, not so much from great 

 width as from a very short antero-posterior diameter. This peculiarity 

 is striking if the subject be inspected in profile. The line of contour 

 from the vertex of the skull to the root of the neck is almost perpen- 

 dicular. Compared with the average Pole or Eussian, who is not above 

 medium height, they are very tall. Their stature is remarkable not only 

 because it is so unlike that of the typical Slavs, but also because it is an 

 exception to the general rule that European races are tall in the north 

 and short in the south. 



The Croats are of slighter build than Pole or Slovak, but they have 

 fewer physical defects than any other Slavic people. 



More than seven eighths of the males are unskilled laborers, strong 

 and willing to work. The table given below shows how they were dis- 

 tributed in the United States during the year ended June 30, 1902 : 



