A MODERN ARCADIA.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1684, 21 April 1883, Page 4

A MODERN ARCADIA.

Aeconwxd to a paper lately communicated to the Fieiieh Ucogiaphieal Society by Dr. Le IVm, thcic exiata high up among the (,'aipathian Mountains of Galicia, in a distiict known a.s T.itias, one of the most piimitivc anil unsophisticited communities in Europe. The population of this remote region numbers seu'ial bundled thousand individuals. They neither use f-ttonu: drink nor eat aniin.d food, Riches have no chaim for tliein. Though poor, t!iey are content ; and though tlieii diet in spare and monotonous, they enjoy perfect health and In c long lives. The food of these Aieadians is piincipally oat^, either simply hoilcd, or t^iound nnd convoitcd into caUefe. Dining four or jive months in the year tnose ot tliem who aueompany then Hocks and herd-> to the mountain pastures live exclusively on yoafc milk whey, of winch each man consume, fiom thteu to four lities daily, i'lactieally. theiefoie, these noatheids live on the (sugar and mineral sails contained in the whey. They do not consider this icgitricn a privation, and, .says Dr. L' 1 Bon, -vvho has been among them, when they leturn to the valleys at the end of the season they .ue as stiong and as \igorous as when they set out. The entire race of Podluliana (as the people of Tatras call themselves.) are remarkable for their vigour and energy, and aie incontestahly superior, physically and intellectually, to the neighbouring populations. The lives of the I'odhahans aic easy and tianrjnil, not because of the abundance ot their iebou ices -for they are a poor people, inhabiting an ,u id region — but becau.so their needb aie few, and they aie fiee fiom the ciaving for stimulants, which is the curse of working people in other paits. of Km ope. Tluur physique is of a lenidiKablo purity ; they are quick of appiebension, and fiank in manuci . Though tar fiom being highly eultiiied, the JL'odhnlians are fond of dancing, nnd often, when labouis of the daj an;o\ei, meet to indulge in their favounte di\eision. They are bom impiovisfitoies, too, and many ot them can sing the.ii onn song&aet to music of then own composition ! Their jioetiy, &ays Dr. Le Eon, is tender and artless in sentiment, i»encions and elevated in style — qualities which he attributes to the "wealth of spontaneous resources" possessed by natuies> that know neither violent pi\&«ions nor unnatural excitements. — London Kcin>.

Tin: Calcutta Englishman mentions that, at the ipi|UC3t of the New Zealand Government, 100 couple of mongooses will bo sent out I>y the Government of India to -wage war against 'bunny.' A boy who had been watching through ! the key-hole the antics of a couple of loveis, win down to the kitchen to an- I nouiice tlie discoveiy to his mother. "Oh, its such fun ?" he exclaimed. "What's such fun?" giavcly asked the old l.uly. "Why to sec sister Molly and Mr Fipps play lunatic asylum." Gikmvny utilses ail her land, even the highways aie bordered with fruit trees, pinned and caied for by the road maki'is, and -watched day and night, for several veeks befoie the crop matures. The value of this resource is said to have aggregated one year 2,000,000 dols in the Fiovinrc of Win ten 1 burg alone. A mjMiXFvr M.P. vas not complimented one night when lie was addressing Ins lovhi" constituents. Ho asserted that he was not an idle member 'of the House, ami that dining the la^t two yeais lie had put "no less than 182 questions to the Speaker and the menibeis." "What a hignoianl old beggar you must be !"' cried a voice from the crowd. _ At, vi (in was cieated in the District Couit on Saturday . (says the Timaru Jferulil) by an epigiammatic description of Melbourne summer weather. One of the witness^ who went fioin New Zealand after the Ityans said lie h',t, oufe of pocket by tin- tup, notwithstanding that hi'j allow aiics iwere pietty liberal. The reason was that, " owing to the heat we could not co f<ir between drinks." Tur, Tonrvro. — We extract the following iiom tlie Maik Lane Express:—' 1 For people tioublcd with a liver — and everyone boonifi to be conscious of possessing that lebellious organ now-a-days— the hee consumption of tomatoes, raw or cooked, is better than all the doctor's stuff in the world. This is now very widejy known, and people who have a natural or acquit «l taste o£ tomatoes find the I font] -meiliome so very agreeable that they j will not willingly go a day without some j of it during the tomato season. The consequence is that tomatoes are de^ac, tliey will certainly be much' dealer if J the, supply is not largely increased. When they can bo grown with , advantage at all they are very prolific, and I nave no doubt that they can be grown, to soil with profit at ,3d per ,Ib." This, is not , the season for p] anting tomatoes, or .anything else, but we recommend our leaders to cut this out and paste it in their scrap hooks. I'omato'e's could be produced m this district '<witß bdtilfttlc, tiouble. Seedlings must be raised under shelter aud, planted out in , a sheltered position, where they will get as much sun as possible, when the i roses are over. A dozen plants of & good sort should produce, if properly cured for, about two hundred-weight of fruit. In . Australia they appear on the table at every meal, but they do not cost from 4d to 6d 'a pound or more as they 'd<s in , Dnnedin. t * - You will do well to furnish 'your house fiom (>,n lick and, CranwcU's. Tlicv have' 'now the most rnmi.Totc Furnishing Warcliouse in Auckland, furniture to, Miit all .classes, Rood, stn-vnjr, and r)ic>ip- Thcv,h.i>o Tnncstry Carpets" from 2s Sd per y.jid, Hntssbls fr'nrn tts lid per Yrtrd. LirKileumfroin 3s i)d to hs, Oil Cloths from •14 odto4°6d wci'.y.ilrlcl, good, 12 ,feet wide Oil Cloth^ at 3s (1(1 ppr ynrfl. .Immense assortment of Iron Bedsteads ,frpm Infants' Cots to 5 feet U'id'e'lialf-fe<.fcr''7k'(l»;reatl'!: Dot/file iron Kcd-. Heads frd'ni .25*?. 480 Updstcads in 'stock to select from<> Jicdd,it)g<: of.^l.j Kinds* and, :si/cs kept in 1 readiness, iiininff, Sittfuff, Drawing-room Fur- 1 iiiture. and and alargeassortrnftnjf of Manchester and F^WiMijnff^ ,G|^ods,. ipclutl|nß: a lot of Cretopn'jai. Bopk C^taloffues sent free to in«<h« fl p*M>ft, \Garlick and CranwcJV City W»U Arffftto, QWo»-iH;c((>t, ! AJJckl»W, j