Photograph by A. W. Cutler 

 A SMALL PAINTED VEGETABLE CART DRAWN BY A SARDINIAN DONKEY: PALERMO 



When the size of the donkey is compared with the height of the man and the boy, some idea 



mav be formed of its diminutiveness 



skinned Saracenic invaders from the 

 East. The cactus, with its prickly pear 

 fruit, called the "Indian fig," and the aloe 

 came straight from Mexico on the heels 

 of the Spanish adventurings into the un- 

 known in the sixteenth century. So did 

 the American corn or maize. Even the 

 eucalyptus is an importation — a modern 

 one — and the great groves of chestnuts 

 that clothe the shaggy mountain sides so 

 verdantly, and give occupation to so many 

 vendors of the hot and pasty boiled nut, 

 are believed not to be native. 



Evergreens still form a large propor- 

 tion of the foliage and make a great dif- 

 ference in the appearance of the winter 

 landscape, which conspicuously lacks the 

 nakedness of regions clothed only with 

 deciduous growths. The brown slopes of 

 the mountains, the milky roads that wind 

 and wind through rolling upland and 

 flat campagna, or around the startlingly 

 abrupt shoulders of mountains, and the 

 sparkle of stream or lake or inlet, give 



the Italian country side a vivacity and 

 charm lacking in both its Eatin neigh- 

 bors — a special quality of brightness and 

 life. 



THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CONDITION 



Province by province the country mani- 

 fests a varying charm, and the people 

 differ as widely as their surroundings. 

 The hot-blooded southerner observes a 

 different standard of morals and hygiene, 

 fires to anger or interest more quickly, 

 and is generally less dependable and in- 

 dustrious than his northern brother. 

 Both are gifted with the black eyes and 

 hair and the swarthy complexion, as a 

 race, that is a general characteristic of 

 the Latin peoples. But the Italian is, 

 broadly speaking, like his country, en- 

 dowed with a physical beauty and charm 

 beyond that of most of his fellows. 



In the north, however, there are excep- 

 tions — fair-haired and reddish men and 

 women, who seem strangely out of place 



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