The dread of storm raisers is universally prevalent amongst the
Italian peasantry, and especially in mountainous districts. A Danish
botanist, journeying alone upon an ass through the mountains of
Abruzzi, was involved in several perilous adventures by this
superstitious terror of the peasantry. They had for some time seen him
collecting plants amongst the unfrequented cliffs and ravines, and
watched his proceedings with suspicious curiosity. A few days later
their district was ravaged by a succession of storms, their suspicions
grew into certainty, and, assembling in considerable numbers, they
attacked the unconscious botanist with a volley of stones, and cursed
him as a storm-raising enchanter. He made vehement protestations of
his innocence, but the enraged peasants took forcible possession of
his collection, which they minutely examined. Finding only some
harmless leaves and blossoms, and no roots, their fury abated, and,
although it was suggested by some that he had probably used the roots
in his incantations, the unfortunate herbalist was at length dismissed
with fierce menaces, that if he dared to take a single root from the
ground, it would cost him his life. In the mountains near Rome, the
peasants regard with suspicion a singular costume, a stern cast of
countenance, or any striking personal formation, in the strangers who
arrive there. All travellers, thus peculiarly marked, are supposed to
be enchanters and treasure-seekers, and the young Germans, in their
black dresses, untrimmed beards, and long hair, are especial objects
of suspicion.--_Blackwood's Magazine_.
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