“Above 200 persons were employed, and resided on the spot. The stock of sheep consisted of 8000, divided into several flocks; to which those of cows, goats, and buffaloes, together with a set of brood mares and a suitable quantity of poultry, bore an equivalent proportion. All the cattle are guarded by large milk-white dogs of the Abruzzo breed. These animals are very handsome and resemble the Newfoundland species, but have sharper noses; they are very intelligent and equally fierce. The flocks are tended by natives of Abruzzo, who also undertake the care of milking them, as well as making the cheese, &c.; they are assisted by their wives and children, who accompany them in their yearly migrations to and from the mountains. These shepherds are clothed in the skins of the animals which they watch, and are reckoned a quiet, attentive, frugal, and trust-worthy race.” Tour through the southern Provinces of the Kingdom of Naples, by the Honorable Keppel Craven, p. 80.
The scene of the following extract is the valley of the Aternus, descending from the region of the highest Apennines, the “montes Reatini” of Varro, not very remote from the ruins of his farm and villa, (These ruins are described at page 45 of the volume from which this passage is extracted.), and proceeding towards the sites of the modern Aquila and of the ancient Amiternum.
“One of the broad tratturos, or cattle-paths, runs in the same line with the high-road to Aquila; and I was so fortunate as to see it occupied by a very extended line of flocks, which slowly passed by the carriage for the space of a mile or more. The word ‘fortunate’ adapted to such a spectacle, may excite a smile in my readers; but I own that I never beheld one of these numerous animal congregations plodding across the flats of Capitanata, or the valleys of Abruzzo, as far as the eye could reach, without experiencing a sensation of a novel and exciting kind, nearly allied to that of enjoyment, but which I shall not attempt to account for.
“One shepherd heads each division of cattle, of which he has the peculiar care and direction. Armed with his crook, he walks some paces in advance of his flock, followed by an old ram termed il manso; which word, meaning tame or instructed, has undoubtedly a more apposite signification than that of our bell-wether, though he is, as well as ours, furnished with a large deep-toned bell.
“The sheep march in files of about twelve in each; and every battalion, if I may so call it, is attended by six or eight dogs, according to its number; these accompanying the herd, walking at the head, middle, and rear of each flank. The beauty and docility of these animals, which are usually white, has often been described, and their demeanor is gentle as long as the objects of their solicitude are unmolested, but at night they are so savage, that it would be dangerous to approach the fold they guard.
“The goats, which bear a very small proportion to the sheep, and are in general black, wind up the array, and evince their superior intelligence by lying down whenever a temporary halt takes place. The cows and mares travel in separate bodies. A certain number of these flocks, commonly those belonging to the same proprietor, are under the immediate management and inspection of an agent, entitled fattore, who accompanies them on horseback, armed with a musket, and better clad than the shepherds, who, both in summer and winter, wear the large sheep-skin jacket, and are in other respects provided with substantial though homely attire, including good strong shoes.
“These Fattores are all natives of Abruzzo, an Apulian never having been known to undertake the profession: the former, through particular habits and the repeated experience of years, are looked upon as so peculiarly fitted for the care required by cattle, and indeed animals of all kinds, that all the helpers in the stables of the capital are natives of these provinces, or of the adjoining county of Molise. In addition to these qualifications, they are esteemed an abstemious and honest race.
“When following the calling of shepherds, and occupied, as I saw them, in the duties of their charge in travelling, their countenances are almost invariably marked by the same expression, which combines mildness and sagacity with immovable gravity, and, it is painful to add, a look of deep-seated sadness; the whole caravan, animal as well as human, exhibiting, at least while engaged in one of those tedious peregrinations, a general appearance of suffering and depression, distinguishable in every individual that composes it. The shepherd that opens the march, the independent manso jingling his brazen bell, the flocks that follow, the dogs that watch over their security, and even the Fattore who directs the procession, all appear to be plodding through a wearisome existence of monotony and toil. The extreme slowness of their progress, the downcast expression of every head and eye, and, above all, the indications of exhaustion and fatigue which are but too perceptible after a journey of more than a month’s duration, may well account for this impression.
“The animals suffer greatly from heat until they reach their summer dwelling, and full as much from lameness, which, when it has reached a certain pitch, becomes the signal for destruction. I saw a mule bearing no other load than the skins of those that had perished in this manner.
“Several other beasts of burden follow the rear of the herds, laden with the various articles necessary for them and their guardians during their protracted march: these consist in the nets and poles requisite to pen the folds at night, the coarse cloth tents for the use of the shepherds, and a limited stock of utensils for milking, and boiling the produce of the flock. Among these are to be noticed some portable jointed seats of very ingenious though simple construction, composed of the stems of the giant fennel, a substance remarkable for its light and compact texture.