famine, and war. It suffered cruelly in the war with the Genoese in 1380,
when it was taken by those enemies of St. Mark; and its people were so
wasted by the struggle that the Venetians, on regaining it, were obliged
to invite immigration to repopulate its emptiness. I do not know how great
comfort the Chiozzotti of that unhappy day took in the fact that some of
the earliest experiments with cannon were made in the contest that
destroyed them, but I can hardly offer them less tribute than to mention
it here. At present the place is peopled almost entirely by sailors and
fishermen, whose wives are more famous for their beauty than their
amiability. Goldoni's "Baruffe Chiozzotte" is an amusing and vivid picture
of the daily battles which the high-spirited ladies of the city fought in
the dramatist's [Footnote: Goldoni's family went from Venice to Chioggia
when the dramatist was very young. The description of his life there form
some of the most interesting chapters of his Memoirs.] time, and which are
said to be of frequent occurrence at this day. The Chiozzotte are the only
women of this part of Italy who still preserve a semblance of national
costume; and this remnant of more picturesque times consists merely of a
skirt of white, which, being open in front, is drawn from the waist over
the head and gathered in the hand under the chin, giving to the flashing
black eyes and swarthy features of the youthful wearer a look of very
dangerous slyness and cunning. The dialect of the Chiozzotti is said to be
that of the early Venetians, with an admixture of Greek, and it is
infinitely more sweet and musical than the dialect now spoken in Venice.
"Whether derived," says the author of the "Fiore di Venezia," alluding to
the speech of these peculiar people, "from those who first settled these
shores, or resulting from other physical and moral causes, it is certain
that the tone of the voice is here more varied and powerful: the mouth is
thrown wide open in speaking; a passion, a lament mingles with laughter
itself, and there is a continual _ritornello_ of words previously
spoken. But this speech is full of energy; whoever would study brief and