190 HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



in which a knife is placed. The breeches are very wide, made of plain wool, 

 and open at the knee. Woollen gaiters, or black sheepskins clothe the feet. 

 A white or black woollen cap covers the head. Women wear a full scarlet or 

 white jacket, a bodice with whalebone, woollen petticoats, and a handkerchief 

 of muslin wound around the head. {PL 9, Jig. 2, threshing-floor of Sardinian 

 farmers ; jig. 3, marriage celebration of Sardinians.) 



The dress of the Tuscans is the one common throughout Italy. Coats 

 and boots are seldom seen ; only in bad weather a kind of cloak is worn. A 

 black or white straw hat, manufactured by themselves, usually covers the 

 head. Women and girls wear bodices without sleeves, and chemises with 

 short sleeves bound with small red ribands. The petticoat is generally scar- 

 let like the bodice, which is laced both in front and behind ; and the small 

 apron is very neat. On week days the hair is worn in a silk net ; on holidays, 

 however, it is nicely arranged and ornamented with flowers. A neat little 

 straw or black felt hat, frequently adorned with a nosegay, or feathers, is set 

 almost upon one ear. In cold weather a handkerchief is tied over the hat or 

 net. 



The inhabitants of the States of the Church are distinguished for a clear 

 understanding, an ardent fancy, and deep, easily excited feelings. Their dress 

 does not difier from the usual costume of the Italians. PI. 8, fig. 3, gives a 

 representation of the illumination of the dome of St. Peter's Church and the 

 fireworks at the Castle of St. Angelo, that take place in Rome on the evening 

 of St. Peter's day. 



The principal characteristic traits of the Neapolitans are, good nature, 

 laziness, superstition, attachment to all sorts of sensual pleasures, and pas- 

 sions, violent, but soon cooled. The Neapolitan differs in outward appearance 

 from other Italians only in having a browner complexion. The figures 

 of the men are, in general, handsome and vigorous ; females, among the lower 

 classes, on the contrary, are ill-favored and grow old prematurely ; their great 

 filthiness makes them still uglier. Both sexes frequently wear their sin- 

 gularly long hair in nets ; w^omen dye their hair brilliantly black. Females 

 of Mola di Gaeta wear their hair neatly braided, wound about some light sub- 

 stance, and fastened with a large silver pin. The shepherds of Apulia are 

 dressed in sheepskins. The general national dance of the Neapolitans is the 

 Tarantella. The Lazzaroni form a peculiar class among the Neapolitans, 

 gaining their bread as fishermen, fruit and vegetable sellers, porters, <fec. 

 They are mostly of tall, vigorous growth, wear linen breeches scarcely cover- 

 ing half the thighs, and sometimes a shirt, though more frequently none. They 

 often sleep under the open sky, with a stone for a pillow. They rarely work, 

 except under the pressure of immediate want. On the one side, the Lazzaroni 

 are good natured and faithful ; on the other, however, ready again at any time 

 to commit arson to order, and to rob. They are much to be dreaded in revo- 

 lutionary times. 



The Sicilians of the present day are a mixture of various nations. 

 Their bodily form, as a rule, is handsome, strong, and well shaped ; com- 

 plexion olive colored ; eyes fiery ; features expressive. The women, with 

 the exception, perhaps, of those of Catania, are said to be less good-looking. 

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