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THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



nose, white regular teeth, eyes full of animation, 

 short upper lip, and small hands and feet. He is 

 clever and energetic, and of a cheerful tempera- 

 ment, but has an unenviable reputation in matters 

 of business, and his name is often regarded as 

 synonymous with "cunning rogue." His faults are 

 in no small measure due to a long period of sub- 

 jection to the Turks. The Greeks take a passionate 

 delight in politics, and are intensely proud of their 

 nationality, a trait which has helped to preserve 

 their racial purity. They are hospitable, temperate, 

 and thrifty. The moral tone, however, is low; and 

 although many of the urban populations are well 

 educated, illiteracy still largely prevails in the 

 rural districts. In 1890 about 30 per cent, of the 

 recruits could neither read nor write, and 15 per 

 cent, could read only. 



The spoken language of Greece differs con- 

 siderably from the classical type, and Slavonic 

 influence has made itself felt in the introduction 

 of new words and forms. In writing, however, 

 scholars and literary men do their best to follow 

 classical models. A well-written newspaper article 

 is quite intelligible to an English reader who 

 has not forgotten his school or college teaching. 

 It is naturally in the more distant villages that 

 the manners and customs specially characteristic of 

 the Greeks are to be found. The national dress, 

 which has been adopted from the Albanian, consists 

 of a short white kilt. Round the waist is worn a 

 wide leathern belt, with a pouch containing pipe, 

 tobacco, flint and steel, and a long knife. The 

 poorer countrymen wear white woollen leggings, 

 descending like gaiters over the shoes. Over the 

 shirt, which has loose hanging sleeves, is worn a 

 short jacket, and a red cap with long silk tassel 

 completes the costume. Some simply knot a handkerchief round the hair. The dress 

 varies in small details in different localities. The costume of the peasant women is also of 

 the Albanian type. They wear a short white jacket, with wide sleeves, plain or embroidered 

 with silk, over which is a long sleeveless coat, reaching to the knee, of white wool, trimmed 

 with red, blue, or black cloth, and embroidered with a similar colour at the corners. The skirt 

 is also white, and has extra embroidery of wool or silk for feast days. A yellow handkerchief 

 is knotted round the face on working days; but veils of silk and muslin, with a string of coins 

 across the forehead, are worn on full-dress occasions. 



The social life of the Greek peasants abounds in symbolism and ceremony. The newly 

 born infant is washed with an infusion of myrtle leaves in lukewarm wine, and then generally 

 covered with a layer of salt. In the island of Rhodes an elaborate ceremonial is practised. On 

 the eighth day after the birth the child receives a final aromatic bath of the wine and myrtle 

 infusion, and is then placed by the midwife in a cradle surrounded by lighted tapers. Another 

 child, who must be the eldest of a family, goes up to the babe, touches its lips with honey, 

 and says, "Be thou as sweet as this honey." In Cyprus, when an infant's first tooth appears, 

 the friends of the family assemble. Songs are sung to celebrate the event, and the child is 



Photo by A. 



A GREEK GIRL. 



