194 - HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



in western France, is distinguished for violent passions and stubbornness ; 

 •whilst the people of Normandy are crafty, selfish, and quarrelsome. The 

 people living upon the banks of the Somme are plain in their habits, but 

 of a very irritable disposition. In the northern end of France, Flemish 

 customs prevail ; many persons still have subterranean dwellings. Spiritu- 

 ous liquors, chiefly gin, are largely consumed, and the common people are 

 unsociable in their habits. In the department of the Marne, and in the 

 region of the Upper Seine, in what was formerly Champagne, the manners 

 of the inhabitants are very plain. German blood flows in the veins of the 

 mountaineers of Vosges ; they are candid, open-hearted, and hospitable, 

 but also phlegmatic. The inhabitants of the Jura are temperate and frugal, 

 and free from violent passions. In the districts of the Rhone, Dordogne, 

 the Garonne, and the Adour, the people are, in general, of very lively 

 temper, and fond of an impassioned, figurative style of language. In 

 Provence, these traits are associated with manners neither refined nor 

 amiable, whilst in Languedoc directly the reverse is the case. In Guyenne 

 and Gascony, the natural disposition of the inhabitants is not always frank. 

 In the mountains of Auvergne and Limousin, the exterior of a portion of 

 the population corresponds altogether with the miserable soil cultivated 

 by them, but they are good natured and candid, charitable and hospitable. 

 Many are compelled by poverty to leave their homes, in order, like the emi- 

 grants of Dauphiny, to seek their bread in the cities, as peddlers, porters, 

 water carriers, (fee. 



The dress, in a few districts of France, has a character altogether pecu- 

 liar ; in general, however, it is miserable and wanting in taste. In many parts 

 of the country, the people themselves manufacture almost all the materials for 

 their clothes. In the marshy regions of the heaths, the inhabitants go upon 

 stilts. 



The French have no well defined national costume ; the dress of citizens 

 and peasants differs in many points, according to the various provinces in 

 which they are found. Upon the whole, the dress of the peasant is poor, 

 and lacks taste. The blouse (linen or cotton smock-frock) is much in use 

 among them, as well as among the lower ranks in cities. Wooden shoes are 

 very common. The social pleasures of the French consist of music, dancing, 

 the theatre, a variety of games, <fec. As a rule, the French dance well and 

 with ease, and this amusement is mingled with all their merry-makings. Great 

 luxury is manifested in the balls, and especially at the masked balls ; particu- 

 larly those that take place in the principal cities, and above all at Paris. In 

 summer, inhabitants of the large towns give dancing entertainments in the 

 country, and the promenades in the cities are frequently visited in favorable 

 weather. {PL 6, fig. 3, a great masked ball at Paris ; ;;/. 7, fig. 1, promenade 

 in that city ; and pi. 8, fig. 2, a rural ball.) 



To the popular amusements, belongs, among others, the naumachy [pi. 8, 

 fig. 1), a kind of tournament performed in boats, during which the com- 

 batants stand at the extreme end of their long narrow vessels, and 

 endeavor to push each other into the water with long lances with knobs at 

 top. 



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