ITALIAN CAP.
As many of these people can neither read nor write, it will be obvious that most of their accounts are settled otherwise than by cheque: the gypsy may, in truth, be called a ready-money concern. Not many years since, members of a certain tribe who were horse-dealers might have been seen at horse fairs and the like, and although any one of them knew well how to drive a hard bargain, he did not pay with a worthless cheque, but produced a purse, apparently made from an old stocking, and from its contents of a hundred or a hundred and fifty pounds, paid for his purchases on the spot, in sterling gold. It is, of course, possible that with the advance of civilization gypsies have now grasped the possibilities of the credit system, and that perchance some may be found who know how to pay their debts with flash notes or cheques that will not be honoured; but so far as my observation goes, the good old-fashioned style of coin on the spot is adhered to.
The women usually carry their money on their persons, the coins being tied up in a piece of fabric to which a string is affixed; this they tie around the neck, the money being suspended a few inches below the chin underneath the dress; the key of the caravan is sometimes similarly suspended.
In the method of carrying their children, the women remind one of the Kaffirs and other races who carry their babes upon the hip.
The gypsy generally uses a broad, endless strip of carpet or similarly strong fabric which is passed over one shoulder,—usually the right,—making a kind of pocket for the baby, which rests against the left hip and receives additional support from the left arm; thus the right arm is free to carry a basket or to be used in other ways.
It is no light task for a woman,—this carrying, many miles in the day, of a heavy child on the one hand, and a large basket full of various articles on the other,—and yet it is done by many of the gypsy women, day in, day out, and seldom, indeed, is there any real expression or manifestation of distress other than the mute appeal of a melancholy face.
When gypsy children are old enough to sit erect, they are frequently carried sitting astride the hip of the mother, who keeps them in position and gives support with one arm, precisely in the manner of the Kaffir women.
