130 REPORT^1867i 



yuca or plantain, the ants eat the rind, they belieTe thfe person who has partaken 

 of the food will fall ill. They no not show the humility of demeauoui- which is seen 

 in Indians of the Quichua race ; they are more manly, looking you sti-aight in the 

 face when speaking. The author paid some attention to the form of the cra- 

 nium in these Indian tribes. AVheu studying skuUs of ancient Peruvians, taken from 

 the Hiiacas, or tombs on the coast, his attention was drawn to the position of the 

 orifice of the ear, which, far from being situated more towards the posterior pai-t 

 of the cranium, as in Em-opean nations, appeal's to be earned forward towards the 

 fr-ont. Applying this same observation to the crania of the wild Indians now ex- 

 isting, he noticed a gxeat resemblance to those of the ancient race ; both show a 

 gi-eater development of the posterior part of the brain than of the anterior. His 

 mode of measurement was by striking three perpendicular lines, with the skull in 

 profile — one passing by the most salient part of the forehead, another by the orifice 

 of the ear, and the thii'd by the most projecting pai't of the back of the skull. In 

 a Campo skuU, the breadth of the ante-auriculax part was 76 millimetres, and that 

 of the post-amicular part 92 mUlimetres. 



On the Vlal-hs of Mount P'mdus. 

 By Major Eobi;rt Stuart, C.B., F.E.G.S. 

 There are fair gi-ounds for believing that the Piudic Vlakhs ai-e descendants 

 of one or more of those tribes which, in the fifth and succeeding centmies, were 

 driven from then- homes on the Lower Danube by the incm-siou of overpoweiing 

 hordes from the north and east. Then- language, although corrupt and debased, 

 with alloys of Sclavic, Greek, and Turkish, still retains the essential chai-acteristics 

 of a Larin dialect ; and the syntax and inflections of the verbs still conform in a 

 remarkable degi-ee to the ancient model. Heads and faces of unquestionably Roman 

 type are foimd amongst them. Sixty years ago there were about 500 \lakhiote 

 viUag-es, none veiy small, dispersed throughout the moimtains of Epirus, Thessaly, 

 and Macedonia. At present it would be difficult to reckon up half that number, 

 and the population has dwindled to about 45,000 souls. Originally a pastoral 

 people, they have gradually become traders, and most of their chief towns are now 

 centi-es of commerce and industry. These are Makho-Livadhi, near- Mount OljTnpus, 

 "S'oskopolis of the Dessai-ets, Metzovo, Syraku, and Calabrites. In the beginning 

 of the present century, Calabrites counted neaiiy 600 families, and it became known 

 throughout the Levant for the indusfry, enterprise, and literary cirltm-e of its in- 

 habitants. They Avere self-governed, and fi-ee of all Tm-ldsh imposts by paying a 

 fixed and moderate annual tribute. This state of things became changed a few 

 years later, by the tyrannous intervention of Ali Pasha Tepeleni, under whose rapa- 

 cious exactions the conununity rapidly simk into poverty and ruin. The stoiy of 

 Calabrites is, with slight variation, that of most of the chief towns of the western 

 Vlakhs. Metzovo was founded by a Vlakh colony as early as the tenth centmy. 

 It now contains 770 houses, and is the chief town of the Piudic Makhs. For 

 several centuries the Vlakhs have been staunch in their adherence to the Eastern 

 Chmch. In evei-y central village a school is maintained at the expense of the 

 comniimity, the c'oiu-se of instruction embracing modern Greek, reading, writing, 

 and the first rules of arithmetic. But education is confined to the male sex. The 

 Vlalih woman is treated as an inferior being, and from early years is habituated to 

 di-udgery and toil: she is natui-ally robust and handsome. Numbers of Makh 

 women come every autumn to Jauina, where they contend with the Jews as street- 

 porters. Like all other pastoral tribes, the "Slakhs have their music ; and their 

 favoiuite instrument is a pipe (x^Xoyepa), made from the wing-bone of a vultru-e, 

 open at both ends, and pierced with six holes, all on the same side. The player 

 inserts one end into the side of the mouth, and produces notes which may be varied 

 from sharp and shrill to soft and pleasing. The nomade Scythians of old used to 

 play on a similar insti-ument. The Vlakhs are superior to the Greeks in foresight, 

 perseverance, and application. The lineaments of the old race are not yet lost. 

 Though quiet and inofieusivc; when roused to action they give proofs of great 

 daring and enterprise. 



