WmCk tfajr >죮 enou.?Il> 2 ftranger may travel fé-'
cureTy ainong them, is faithfully efcprted, and hofpifably treated.
f Thegreateft cinger fo he feared, (is from the Haiduks, o f
whom great numbers have, retreated; among the woods, and caves
o f thofe dreadful mountains on the confines; there, a traveller
ought to get .himfelf efcorted by a couple o f thefe honeft fellows,
avd m m thtT ;arc not caPaWe o f betraying him,
although a banditti ; and, indeed, their cafe is commonly more
apt to raife compaffidn, than diffidence ; for their character is
not effentially bad ; i f it were fo, their numbers would foon become
very formidable to the maritime inhabitants o f Dalmatia;
They lead their life among the wolves, wandering from one precipice
to another, agitated by continual fears and fufpicions, ex-
pofed to the feverity of the feafons, and often deprived o f the ne-
ceflarièS of life, languidi in the moil folitary hideous caverns.
It would be no wonder, i f fueh men, irritated by the conftant
view o f their miferable fituation, were to commit ads o f violence,
efpeéially agami! thofe to whom they attribute the caufe
o f their calamities. Ye t they very feldom diffurb the tranquillity
o f others, and prove always faithful guides to travellers.
The chief objeits o f their rapine are oxen and ffieep, to fupply
themfelves with food and ihoes ; and I have often heard them
bitterly and juftly cenfured, for the barbarous indifcretion o f
killing a poor man’s ox, in ordèr to ferve themfelves only with
a fmall portion o f the meat, and thè fkin. This certainly admits
o f no apology ; yet humanity bids us refled, that the
things coveted by thefe wretches, are articles o f the greateil ne-
ceffity, as they are condemned to live among defolate mountains,
which have no covering either o f grafs or earth, and are
full
full o f hard (harp flones, 'that have been rendered ftil 1 more
rough and cutting' by the adtion o f the air and time. It happens
fometimes, in their extreme neceffity, that the Haiduks'
go in parties to the ihepherds cottages, and rudely demand fonje-
thmg to ¿at,' which they immediately fake by force, i f the lead
hefitation is made; though'they feldom meet with a refiifalj or
refinance, as their refolutidn "arid ‘ fury are well known to be'
equal to their wants, and''to the favage life which they. lead.
Tour Haiduks are not' afraid to’ affault a caravan o f fifteen or
twenty Turks, and generally plunder and put them to flight.
When a Haiduk happens- to be; taken by the Panduri, they do
not bind him, as'our Birri afe'ufed to do,' but" untying the firing
o f his breeches, they fall down oh'his heels', and prevent a pof-
fibility o f efcape, i f he attempted it ; a humane contrivance to
fecure a man without binding him like a beaft. T he greateil
part o f the' Haiduks look upon it as a meritorious adion, toihed
the blood o f the T u rks ; a miftaken zeal for religion, joined to
their natural and acquired ferocity, ea'fily lead'them to commit
fuch aits o f violence ; and the ignorance, and national prejudices
o f their priefts are too apt to inflame their barbarous1 fana-
ticifiin
On the moral and domefick Virtues o f the MoRi.Accrrr.
The morals o f a Morlack, at a diftance from the fea coil and
garrifons, are generally very different from ours,, T he fincerity,
truft, and honefty of thefe poor people; not only in contracts,
but in all the ordinary adfions o f their life, would be called.fim-
plicity arid weakriefs among us. It is true, that the Italians,
who trade in Dalmatia, and the littoral inhabitants themfelves,
have but too often taken advantage o f this integrity ; and hence the
Morlacchi