,"' 



Photograph by C. W. Wright 



SHEPHERDS OE POVERTY-STRICKEN SARDINIA 



One glimpse at this trio would be enough to send a shudder down the spine of a stranger 

 who has feasted upon the out-of-date tales of bandit-ridden Sardinia, but these three cronies 

 are harmless natives, who, in spite of their bitter fight against heavy taxes and the relatively 

 high cost of living, never annoy the tourists by begging, as do so many of the people of 

 southern Italy. 



are still preserved. The Byzantines cap- 

 tured Sardinia from the Romans and held 

 it until the tenth century, when the Sara- 

 cens took possession, and were in turn 

 driven out by the Pisans. There are 

 traces of the influence of Pisa in the fine 

 Romanesque churches which are still well 

 preserved. In some churches the late 

 Gothic architectural style shows Spanish 

 influence, which came after the surrender 

 of the Pisans to Genoa, and then to James 

 II of Aragon. In 1708 Cagliari surren- 

 dered to the English, but in the War of 

 Spanish Succession the island came under 

 the rule of Austria. Finally, after more 

 exchange, it was given to the Duke of 

 Savoy, who acquired with it the title of 

 King of Sardinia. 



It is not strange that the language of 

 the people should contain elements of the 

 languages of all the races which have oc- 

 cupied the island. The dialects, of which 

 there are five or six, are a mixture of 



Latin, Spanish, and Italian, with a little 

 Phoenician and traces of other ancient 

 tongues. In Alghero, on the west coast, 

 pure Catalan is spoken ; in some villages 

 almost pure Latin ; and in Carloforte, on 

 the southwestern coast, the Genoese dia- 

 lect prevails. Italian, however, is now 

 taught in the schools to the children, while 

 the men acquire it during their compul- 

 sory military service. 



To get an insight into the life of the 

 inhabitants of this isolated island, one 

 should visit its villages. It is in the entire 

 eastern half, with its mountainous valleys 

 and villages, where the real Sards now 

 live. Here one will find them good look- 

 ing and in good health, generous, hos- 

 pitable, honorable, and quite poor. Po- 

 liteness is carried almost to an extreme. 

 Often as one rides through a small vil- 

 lage the women, children, and old men 

 sitting at the doorsteps rise and wish you 

 a "buon viaggio" ; or if it happens to be 



115 



