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THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



(u by Hon. Mrs. Kennedy] 



NATIONAL DANCE OF MONTENEGRO AT THE PRESENT DAY: 

 DANCING THE " HORA." 



the Bulgarians are, like the Turks 

 and the Magyars, of Mougolo- 

 Tartar origin, being descended 

 from the Finno-Ugriau branch of 

 that division. Even the Slavonic 

 dialect, adopted with Christianity 

 in the ninth century, still shows 

 traces of this connection. 



The Bulgarians of the present 

 day are on the whole of smaller 

 stature than their neighbours the 

 Servians. They are, however, 

 powerfully built, and carry the 

 head erect. Both men and women 

 are broad-shouldered, wide- 

 chested, and large-limbed. They 

 are dark-skinned, black-haired, 

 and black-eyed. The complexion 

 is muddy, and the features are 

 generally coarse and ill-formed, 

 the Tartar element thus still 

 showing itself in the physiognomy. 



Their long subjection to Turkish rule has rendered them less aggressive than they were 

 in their heroic age. Indeed, the Bulgarian of the present day is remarkable chiefly for 

 stolidity. He is quiet, but determined. The peasants are fairly prosperous, and are a peace- 

 loving and hard-working folk. They have uo great liking for strangers, towards whom they 

 are reserved and undemonstrative. 



The prevailing styles in dress are European rather than Oriental, and there is little to 

 remind one that this was till a comparatively few years ago a Turkish country. The peasants 

 dress in sheep-skins, with their legs swathed round with woollen cloth, tied on with strings 

 at the ankles and calves. The women wear a kind of embroidered jacket of many colours, 

 hanging loosely down to the knees. Underneath is an embroidered flannel petticoat, falling 

 almost to the sandalled feet. The head is covered with a turban, bound in folds round 

 the hair. The turban is generally white, and to it are attached two long tails, which stream 

 down the back. Among the younger women the hair is frequently decked with strings 

 of coins. 



The following account has been given of the best class of houses in which Bulgarians 

 live. Every house is one-storeyed. Inside the wall enclosing the house and grounds are wooden 

 sheds and stables, with plots of open ground, half waste, half kitchen-garden. Pigs, fowls, and 

 ducks strut about round the cottages, where they seem as much at home as the human 

 occupants. The kitchen is also the living-room, and behind it is a sleeping-room, with a 

 bedstead for the head of the family. The sons and daughters sleep on mats stretched upon 

 the floor, which is of hardened mud; while the furniture consists of wooden tables, benches, 

 and chests, with crockery and household utensils of the commonest kind. There is, however, 

 a good deal of rough comfort. Everything is kept in good order; and the cookery, if plain, 

 is at all events clean and palatable. 



On market days the peasants troop into town from the country, with their long heavily 

 laden waggons, formed of a pole with planks on each side, and drawn by oxen or buffaloes. 

 Men and women tramp along together, the men in front, the women behind. They seldom 

 speak to each other. The women carry the household burdens, while the men walk unloaded, 

 as did their Eastern forefathers before them. Smoking is not common among the men; 

 and although on festivals they indulge freely in wine, drunkenness is not often seen. The 



