A LEGEND OF ROEZL 21 



It will be understood that these strange ceremonies inter- 

 ested Roezl. Evidently the husbands lived on one side of 

 the street, the wives and young children on the other. The 

 moon was full and he watched for hours. After supper the 

 males returned to squat and smoke around his hut, scarcely 

 speaking ; but one after another they withdrew presently, 

 each to his own abode. So long as the moonlight enabled 

 Roezl to observe, not one crossed the way. And afterwards 

 he discovered that this is an eternal rule — a husband never 

 enters his wife's dwelling. The separation of the sexes is 

 complete. 



Long before satisfying himself on this point Roezl saw 

 enough to convince him that the usages of this secluded 

 people must be well worth study. He remained among 

 them as long as he could, and even made memoranda — the 

 iirst and only time, I believe, that he kept records other than 

 botanical or scientilic. It may be hoped that they survive 

 and will come to light, since his papers are now stored in the 

 museum at Prague. I am dependent on the memory of 

 those whom he amused with curt stories of adventure over 

 pipe and glass on his visits to England. They are many, 

 and they preserve the liveliest remembrance of one to whom 

 Johnson's remarks on the greatest of modern orators are 

 peculiarly applicable. ' If a man were to go by chance at the 

 same time with Burke under a shed to escape a shower, he 

 would say, "This is an extraordinary man." ' Unfortun- 

 ately, it is the most striking observations alone which they 

 recall, with but a vague impression of others. 



Every hearer asked, of course, how the race could avoid 

 extinction under such circumstances ? But it appears that 

 the separation is only public — an exaggerated prudery, one 

 might describe it, though we may be sure that the sentiment 

 lies infinitely deeper. The sexes work apart, as has been 

 said ; after the men have cleared a piece of ground they 



