to old Henry James, as he sat
making baskets, I was silenced by being told, "That ain't no real gypsy
_gilli_. That's one of the kind made up by gentlemen and ladies."
However, as soon as I repeated it, the Russian gypsy girl cried eagerly,
"I know that song!" and actually sang me a ballad which was essentially
the same, in which a damsel describes her fall, owing to a Gajo (Gorgio,
a Gentile,--not gypsy) lover, and her final expulsion from the tent. It
was adapted to a very pretty melody, and as soon as she had sung it,
_sotto voce_, my pretty friend exclaimed to another girl, "Only think,
the _rye_ from America knows _that_ song!" Now, as many centuries must
have passed since the English and Russian gypsies parted from the parent
stock, the preservation of this song is very remarkable, and its
antiquity must be very great. I did not take it down, but any resident
in St. Petersburg can, if so inclined, do so among the gypsies at Dorat,
and verify my statement.

Then there was a pretty dance, of a modified Oriental character, by one
of the damsels. For this, as for the singing, the only musical
instrument used was a guitar, which had seven strings, tuned in Spanish
fashion, and was rather weak in tone. I wished it had been a powerful
Panormo, which would have exactly suited the _timbre_ of these voices.
The gypsies were honestly interested in all I could tell them about their
kind in other lands; while the girls were professionally desirous to hear
more Anglo-Romany songs, and were particularly pleased with one beginning
with the words:--

"'Me shom akonyo,' gildas yoi,
Men buti ruzhior,
Te sar i chiriclia adoi
Pen mengy gilior.'"

Though we "got on" after a manner in our Romany talk, I was often obliged
to have recourse to my friend the general to translate long sentences
into Russian, especially when some sand-bar of a verb or some log of a
noun impeded the current of our conversation. Finally, a formal request
was made by the captain that I would, as one deep beyond all their
experience in Romany matters, kindly tell them what kind of people they
really were, and whence they came. With this demand I cheerfully
complied, every word being listened to with breathless interest. So I
told them what I knew or had conjectured relative to their Indian origin:
how their fathers had wandered forth through Persia; how their travels
could be traced by the Persian, Greek, or Roumanian words in t