4 M. Beudant's Travels in Hungary. 



As a people, the Croats retain an airof rudeness in their 

 manners and physiognomy, notwithstanding which, frankness 

 and loyalty form the basis of their character, and the conduct 

 of such as I met with was irreproachable. They appear tole- 

 rably neat in their dwellings, but their apparel is often coarse, 

 and sometimes old enough. The women especially hunt for a 

 medley of motley colours ; I have seen them sometimes with 

 petticoats of strong blue or brown cloth, streaked and speckled 

 with ribbands of every colour; also with red stockings and 

 yellow shoes, or with stockings striped transversely, red, yel- 

 low, brown, &c. But I may seem here criticising too freely, 

 for I recollect, at Paris, not more than twenty years ago, our 

 elegantes being caparisoned, about the legs and feet, in the 

 same way. The women attire their heads pretty much like 

 the Slowacks; their figure is, in like manner, half concealed; 

 but in some cantons they wear besides, or; the crown, a napkin 

 folded square, and a muslin neck cloth or handkerchief, or else 

 a piece of linen fastened to it, but so as to fall and spread over 

 the back. Generally speaking, the costume varies materially 

 in the different parts of the country which these people inhabit; 

 the only predominant taste is for mottled stuffs, or clothing of 

 different colours. 



The Magyares form a considerable part of the population of 

 the Hungarian provinces, but their number is inferior to that 

 of the Sclavonians taken collectively. It is wonderful that they 

 have not long ago been extinguished or confounded with the 

 other natives, having had particularly so many wars and dis- 

 asters to encounter and surmount. The Magyares, with their 

 own maternal language, still exist as a separate nation, occu- 

 pying all the flat country in the centre of Hungary. This peo- 

 ple spread from the plains of Munkacs, where'they first arrived, 

 through all the fertile part of the country, driving the Sclavo- 

 nians into the mountainous regions, and employing themselves 

 in agriculture, or leading a pastoral life. Becoming Hunga- 

 rians, they have also settled in Transylvania, where they 

 occupy the comitats of Kruszna, Torda, Alba Inferior, Alba 

 Superior, Dobaka, Hunyad, Klausenburg, Kukullcy Szolnok. . 

 Interior, Szolnok Middle, Zarand, and the districts of Fagaras 

 and Kovar. 



The Magyares retain a distinct character, uniformly dis- 

 cernible. They are of the middling size, but of a robust make. 

 Many authors describe the Hungarians generally as tall, but 

 this rather belongs to the Sclavonians, who are commonly 

 slender, and not so stout as the Hungarians, The Magyares 

 are broad shouldered, with muscular limbs, have a well set 

 figure, and a very masculine physiognomy, breathing an air of 



