4.56 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



The Gypsies are undoubtedly of Hindu 

 origin, as is clearly shown by the structure 

 of their language. They first appeared in 

 Europe early in the Middle Ages, when 

 they were believed to have come originally 

 from Egypt. This theory is now exploded, 

 and survives only in the name by which they 

 are known in some places. Their language 

 bears traces of all the countries through 

 which they have passed at different times, 

 so that it may be said that they have no 

 language and no country of their own. They 

 have adopted whatever country has suited 

 their taste, and have absorbed a little of its 

 speech into their original dialect. Wherever 

 they are found, they are strangers and out- 

 casts, and have no part in the government 

 or national life of their adopted country. 



Physically the Gypsy of pure blood is 

 strongly suggestive of an Eastern origin. 

 His bright black eyes, oval face, black hair, 

 and dark brown complexion render him 

 easily recognisable wherever he is seen. His 

 mental characteristics are not such as to 

 earn for him the respect of his fellow-men. 

 He leads a shiftless, vagrant life, and his 

 propensity for thieving is ineradicable. Of 

 religion the Gypsies have little, and they 

 are generally as ready to adopt that of the 

 country they find themselves in, whenever it 

 suits their convenience, as to borrow from 

 its language or its hen-roosts. Although 

 their moral conceptions are not of a high 

 order, they have certain beliefs and super- 

 stitions which redeem them from absolute barbarism. 



Their customs differ widely in the various regions in which they live. Everywhere they 

 display a passion for bright colours in their dress and for glittering ornaments. They have no 

 liking for sedentary life, and their pursuits are such as can be best carried on in a life of 

 movement. As tinkers and metal-workers, and in making baskets and brooms, they show 

 much skill. 



A good description of the Gypsies of Bosnia is given by Tissot, who says: "Their com- 

 plexion is as brown as old leather. They have keen black eyes and oval faces, and their long 

 curly hair falls in oily masses over their shoulders; their figures are athletic and muscular; 

 they lead a vagabond and wandering life, braving carelessly the inclemency of the seasons under 

 their tents of ragged cloth, and too often exercising the calling of brigands and thieves. 

 I must tell you further that the Bosnian Gypsy women are often of a rare beauty, and 

 know how to make the most of their charms. As dancing-women and ballet-girls they enter 

 the harems, distracting the hearts of the beys and pashas, and they are often to be met in 

 public places dancing in picturesque costumes on a piece of carpet. The Tziganes were for 

 long the only people who worked the rich mines of Bosnia, but they contented themselves 

 with dragging a fleece of wool in the bed of the torrents, and picking out the spangles of 

 gold which in some streams are found in abundance." 



From the Ant/iro]tological Collection in the Museum de Paris. 

 A BOHEMIAN GYPSY GIRL. 



