te with which each finishes dying away in a full chord. It is
extraordinary how serious the men are over it, even when singing over
their wine, in which they sometimes exceed. At Trau one Sunday afternoon
we saw a party of eight or ten sitting round a table in a cafe as
serious as if at a funeral, with wine before them, and enjoying their
melancholy music. On this occasion the alto part was flat, and the
effect was not as good as it is out of doors. Later we came across more
than one group of four, standing where two streets met, and singing
without looking at each other. In the narrow ancient streets the notes
sounded quite in character with the surroundings and with the quaint
dresses of the singers. Modrich says that they use the _svirala_, a kind
of bagpipe with two canes, one with four and the other with three holes,
and suggests that the long-drawn terminating notes of the songs are in
imitation of its sound; but we neither saw nor heard this instrument,
all the singing being unaccompanied. The principal occupations of the
people are agriculture, cattle-raising, and fishing, or sea-faring. They
are exceedingly religious, devoted to church and priest, and observe the
great festivals with feasting and rejoicing, and with ceremonies many of
which are evidently survivals of heathen observances. The greatest
festival is Christmas. In preparation all clothes are washed and
mended, house and yard cleaned, and better and richer food than they
usually have is provided. On the Eve they work hard; before sunrise
house and yard are decked with bay or olive branches or some other
evergreen, which they think protects from lightning. On this day the
sun, which the ancient Slavs worshipped, woke from sleep, as one may
say, and the days began to lengthen perceptibly.

The father of the sun was Perun, the thunder-god. To this god the oak
was dedicated. In the folk-songs he is replaced by S. Elias, and to this
day a great log of oak is placed on the fire on Christmas Eve, and
kindled for the preparation of the evening meal. It burns all night and
the whole of the following day, and in many places is kept smouldering
for eight days. The customs observed are as follows. The head of the
family bares his head and says: "Blessed be thou, O log; God preserve
thee!" and sprinkles wine upon it crosswise. Then corn is thrown over
it, and he invokes every blessing from heaven for the health of those
belonging to the house, present or absent, f