. The simplest remedy for
this evil is emigration, a fact which Malthus observed.[1328] Hence
emigration is an almost universal phenomenon in highland regions.
Sometimes it is only seasonal. It takes place in the fall after the
field work is over, and is due to the paucity of industries possible in
the mountains during the winter. It seems to be a recurrence of that
nomadic note in the _motif_ of mountain life--that migration in summer
upward to the borders of the snow, in winter downward to the sun-warmed
plains. In autumn the Swiss descend from the Jura and Alps in great
numbers to cities, seeking positions as servants or pastry-cooks. The
Auvergnats leave their home by the thousand in the fall, when snow
covers the mountains, to work in the cities as hewers of stone and
drawers of water, then return in summer to resume their tasks in field
and pasture, bringing back sums of money which noticeably enrich the
home districts.[1329]

[Sidenote: Forms of temporary emigration.]

This seasonal emigration often assumes the form of peddling, in order to
dispose of small home-made wares. From the Basilicata and Modena
Apennines the young men follow the pedler's trade, but the Basilicata
village of Viggiano furnishes Italy with many wandering musicians.[1330]
The Kabyles of the Atlas Mountains go out in parties of two or three in
the fall, and hawk every kind of goods, bringing back from their journey
quantities of wool for home weaving.[1331] The emigration may last for
several years, but finally the love of home generally calls the
mountaineer back to his rugged hills. The Galicians of the Cantabrian
Mountains of northern Spain leave their poor country for a time for the
richer provinces of Portugal and Spain, where they become porters,
water-carriers and scavengers, and are known as boorish, but industrious
and honest. The women from the neighboring mountain province of Asturias
are the professional wet-nurses of Spain. They are to be seen in every
aristocratic household of Madrid, but return to the mountains with their
savings when their period of service ends.[1332] In mountainous
Basutoland, the Kaffir Switzerland of South Africa, arable land and
pastures are utilized as completely as local methods of husbandry
permit; and yet the native Kaffirs go in large numbers--28,000 out of a
total population of 220,000 in 1895--to work in the mines of Kimberley
and the Witwatersrand. They also return in time with their savings.[13