born!” and receives for answer, “Yes, he is born!” while the First Foot scatters a few grains of corn on the floor.  He then advances and stirs up the wood on the fire, so that it crackles and emits sparks; on which the First Foot says, “As many sparks so many cattle, so many horses, so many goats, so many sheep, so many boars, so many bee hives, and so much luck and prosperity.’” He then throws a little money into the ashes, or hangs some hemp on the door; and Christmas ends with presents and festivities.

At Easter, they amuse themselves with the game of breaking hard-boiled eggs, having first examined those of an opponent to see that they are not filled with wax.  From this time until Ascension day the common formula of greeting is “Christ has arisen!” to which answer is made, “Yes; he has truly arisen or ascended!” And on the second Monday after Easter the graves of dead relations are visited.

One of the most extraordinary customs of Servia is that of the Dodola.  When a long drought has taken place, a handsome young woman is stripped, and so dressed up with grass, flowers, cabbage and other leaves, that her face is scarcely visible; she then, in company with several girls of twelve or fifteen years of age, goes from house to house singing a song, the burden of which is a wish for rain.  It is then the custom of the mistress of the house at which the Dodola is stopped to throw a little water on her.  This custom used also to be kept up in the Servian districts of Hungary; but has been forbidden by the priests.

FOOTNOTES: 

[Footnote 20:  The most perfect confederacy of this description is that of the Druses, which has stood the test of eight centuries, and in its secret organization is complete beyond any thing attained by freemasonry.]

CHAPTER XXVI.

Town life.—­The public offices.—­Manners half-Oriental half-European.—­Merchants and Tradesmen.—­Turkish population.—­Porters.—­Barbers.—­Cafes.—­Public Writer.

On passing from the country to the town the politician views with interest the transitional state of society:  but the student of manners finds nothing salient, picturesque, or remarkable; everything is verging to German routine.  If you meet a young man in any department, and ask what he does; he tells you that he is a Concepist or Protocollist.

In the public offices, the paper is, as in Germany, atrociously coarse, being something like that with which parcels are wrapped up in England; and sand is used instead of blotting paper.  They commence business early in the morning, at eight o’clock, and go on till twelve, at which hour everybody goes to the mid-day meal.  They commence again at four o’clock, and terminate at seven, which is the hour of supper.  The reason of this is, that almost everybody takes a siesta.

The public offices throughout the interior of Servia are plain houses, with white-washed walls, deal desks, shelves, and presses, but having been recently built, have generally a respectable appearance.  The Chancery of State and Senate house are also quite new constructions, close to the palace; but in the country, a Natchalnik transacts a great deal of business in his own house.