, are to be found in various
parts of Europe, following, in general, a life of wandering
adventure, and practising the same kind of thievish arts which
enable those in Spain to obtain a livelihood at the expense of the
more honest and industrious of the community.
The Gitanos of Spain, as already stated, are generally believed to
be the descendants of the Moriscos, and have been asserted to be
such in printed books. (71) Now they are known to speak a language
or jargon amongst themselves which the other natives of Spain do
not understand; of course, then, supposing them to be of Morisco
origin, the words of this tongue or jargon, which are not Spanish,
are the relics of the Arabic or Moorish tongue once spoken in
Spain, which they have inherited from their Moorish ancestors. Now
it is well known, that the Moorish of Spain was the same tongue as
that spoken at present by the Moors of Barbary, from which country
Spain was invaded by the Arabs, and to which they again retired
when unable to maintain their ground against the armies of the
Christians. We will, therefore, collate the numerals of the
Spanish Gitano with those of the Moorish tongue, preceding both
with those of the Hungarian Gypsy, of which we have already made
use, for the purpose of making clear the affinity of that language
to the Sanscrit and Persian.
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