BAVAEIA. 237 



Neumarkt, 1,443 feet above the level of the sea. Though one of the most 

 important canals of Germany, it cannot compete with the railways which run 

 along it, and its traffic decreases from year to year. The plateau to the east of 

 "Weissenburg (see Fig. 137) is crossed by a wall constructed by the Romans, which 

 extends thence to the Taunus and the Rhine near Mayence. This wall is known 

 as the Pfahlmauer or Teufelsmauer (Palisade or Devil's Wall). 



Inhabitants. 



There can be no doubt that Bavaria was inhabited formerly by a race different 

 from its present inhabitants. Gauls lived in the country, as well as other tribes, 

 whose memory survives only in the names of a few localities. The old graves 

 near the Lake of Starnberg contain the skeletons of Alemanni and Franks, whose 

 skulls differ from those of the modern Bavarians. Here, as all over Europe, race 

 has struggled against race, until one of them issued victoriously. 



The ancient Bavarians — Boi'ovari or Baiouvari — who have given their name to 

 the country, appear to have settled in it about the sixth century. But whence 

 did they come ? They are certainly not to be confounded with the Boii. 

 Probably they were of the same race as the Marcomanni of Bohemia, whose name 

 disappeared about the epoch when the Boi'ovari are first mentioned. It was the 

 Bavarians who sustained the attacks of Avars, Croats, and Servians, and who 

 repeopled Styria and Lower Austria, which these invaders had devastated. On 

 the west the Bavarians do not extend bej^ond the Lech, which separates them 

 from the Swabians. 



These Swabians of Western Bavaria hardly number half a million souls. The 

 Alemanni, who are confined to the upper valley of the Iller, hence known as 

 Algau, are less numerous still. The Franks, on the other hand, occupy nearly the 

 whole of Northern Bavaria. They are brisk and supple, gay and spirited, and 

 fought bravely for their liberties during the Peasants' War of 1524. The Swabians 

 are more sedate and reflective. The inhabitants of Lower Bavaria, between 

 Ratisbon and Passau, have intelligent features and quickness of perception, but 

 their passions are easily roused, and they resort only too often to the use of the 

 knife. As to the dwellers on the plateau, they can lay no claim to good looks or 

 manners, and are well aware of this fact, for in one of their songs they describe 

 themselves as " regular boors." Fair hair and blue eyes predominate in the 

 north of Bavaria, chestnut hair and brown eyes on the Danube and in the districts 

 of the Lech and Isar. 



German alone is now spoken within the boundaries of Bavaria, the Latin 

 idiom, which formerly prevailed in some Alpine valleys, having been extinct since 

 the ninth century. The dialect spoken in the greater part of the country differs 

 very much not only from High German, but also from the Alemannic dialects of 

 Swabia, Switzerland, and Alsace. The Bavarian dialect is less flexible than High 

 German, and not so rich in words. It is deficient in pronouns, prepositions, and 

 conjunctions. Entire syllables and letters, notably the I and the /•, are suppressed. 



