n the "Ragged Regiment."
They colour his face with walnut juice so that he looks a "true son of an
Egyptian." Hundreds of pages are filled thereafter by tediously dragging
in, mostly from other books, joyless and leering adventures of low
dishonesty and low lust. Another book of the kind which Borrow knew was
the life of Bamfylde Moore-Carew, born in 1693 at a Devonshire rectory.
He hunted the deer with some of his schoolfellows from Tiverton and they
played truant for fear of punishment. They fell in with some Gypsies
feasting and carousing and asked to be allowed to "enlist into their
company." The Gypsies admitted them after the "requisite ceremonies" and
"proper oaths." The philosophy of Carew or his historian is worth
noticing. He says of the Gypsies:

"There are perhaps no people so completely happy as they are, or enjoy so
great a share of liberty. The king is elective by the whole people, but
none are allowed to stand as candidates for that honour but such as have
been long in their society, and perfectly studied the nature and
institution of it; they must likewise have given repeated proofs of their
personal wisdom, courage and capacity; this is better known as they
always keep a public record or register of all remarkable (either good or
bad) actions performed by any of their society, and they can have no
temptation to make choice of any but the most worthy, as their king has
no titles or legislative employments to bestow, which might influence or
corrupt their judgments.

"The laws of these people are few and simple, but most exactly and
punctually observed; the fundamental of which is that strong love and
mutual regard for each member in particular and for the whole community
in general, which is inculcated into them from the earliest infancy. . . .
Experience has shown them that, by keeping up their nice sense of
honour and shame, they are always enabled to keep their community in
better order than the most severe corporal punishments have been able to
effect in other governments.

"But what has still more tended to preserve their happiness is that they
know no other use of riches than the enjoyment of them. They know no
other use of it than that of promoting mirth and good humour; for which
end they generously bring their gains into a common stock, whereby they
whose gains are small have an equal enjoyment with those whose profits
are larger, excepting only that a mark or ignominy is affixed on t