'
By drao also they could avenge themselves on their enemies by
destroying their cattle, without incurring a shadow of suspicion.
Revenge for injuries, real or imaginary, is sweet to all
unconverted minds; to no one more than the Gypsy, who, in all parts
of the world, is, perhaps, the most revengeful of human beings.
Vidocq in his memoirs states, that having formed a connection with
an individual whom he subsequently discovered to be the captain of
a band of Walachian Gypsies, the latter, whose name was Caroun,
wished Vidocq to assist in scattering certain powders in the
mangers of the peasants' cattle; Vidocq, from prudential motives,
refused the employment. There can be no doubt that these powders
were, in substance, the drao of the Spanish Gitanos.
LA BAR LACHI, OR THE LOADSTONE. - If the Gitanos in general be
addicted to any one superstition, it is certainly with respect to
this stone, to which they attribute all kinds of miraculous powers.
There can be no doubt, that the singular property which it
possesses of attracting steel, by filling their untutored minds
with amazement, first gave rise to this veneration, which is
carried beyond all reasonable bounds.
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