tween whose nature and that of the
Roumanian gipsy there is much that is analogous. That they are of Hindoo
origin few doubt, for their language has great affinity to the Sanscrit;
and when they first entered Roumania, probably early in the fifteenth
century, they were simply a race of wandering barbarians, a later
arrival, who were soon enslaved by the boyards. Many of them followed
the occupation of gold-washers in the Carpathians, and part if not all
the product of their labour fell to the portion of the wives of the
Voivodes; indeed, according to some writers, a considerable number were
slaves, whom the princess or her officials did not hesitate to sell,
maltreat, or even put to death with impunity.

[Illustration: GIPSY MUSICIANS.]

Wilkinson has given us anything but a flattering description of them in
his day (1820). The Principalities, he says, contained about 150,000 of
them, and 'they make a more profitable use of them than other countries
do by keeping them in a state of regular slavery.' They were able to
undergo constant exposure to the rigours of the weather, and were fit
for any labour or fatigue, but their natural indolence caused them to
prefer all the miseries of indigence to the enjoyment of comforts that
are to be reaped from industry. They were thieves from choice, but 'not
with a view of enriching themselves, and their thefts never extend
beyond trifles.'[35] The women were well-shaped before they began to
have children; both sexes slovenly and dirty in the extreme. An account
of their habits in the coarse language of the historian would be unfit
for our readers' perusal. There was no regular traffic in them, 'both
purchases and sales being conducted in private, and the usual price for
one of either sex was from five to six hundred piastres.' He says the
Government owned 80,000, consequently more than one-half of them, and
they were 'suffered to stroll about the country, provided they bound
themselves not to leave it, and to pay an annual tribute of the value of
forty piastres each man above the age of fifteen.' They lived in tents
near the large towns, and seem only to have worked as much as was
requisite to keep body and soul together. But, he adds, 'they possess a
natural facility and quickness in acquiring the knowledge of the arts,'
and musical performance was their forte. They were also employed as
slaves in the households of the boyards, especially in the kitchens,
which they made 'not less