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SECTION IV.

ALBANIA, THESSALY, MACEDONIA.

SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION.

1. Historical Sketch and actual Condition.-2. Climate, Soil, &c.-3. Passports. -4. Boats and Packets.-5. Money.-6. Character of the Albanians.-7. Peculiarities of Manners and Dress.-8. Dances.-9. Directions for Travelling. Accommodation, &c.—10. Skeleton Tours.

1. HISTORICAL SKETCH AND ACTUAL CONDITION.

For an account of the history, institutions, and statistics of the Turkish Empire, and of the character, manners, and customs of the Ottomans, see HANDBOOKS FOR CONSTANTINOPLE, TURKEY IN EUROPE, SYRIA, EGYPT, AND ASIATIC TURKEY. There are but few Ottomans, i. e. Turks by race, in Albania, Thessaly, and Macedonia. For an account of the inhabitants of those provinces, see GENERAL INTRODUCTION, 0.

2. CLIMATE, SOIL, &c. (See GENERAL INTRODUCTION, d, e).

Our remarks on these subjects in treating of the Kingdom of Greece SECTION II., 2) are, in a great measure, applicable also to Thessaly, Macedonia, and Albania, excepting in so far that portions of these latter provinces are still more wild and mountainous than the more southern districts of Greece.

The Population of Oriental countries is more or less a matter for guesswork. Perhaps we shall not be far wrong if we set down that of European Turkey at about 8 millions, of which number not more than one million are Ottomans, and not quite 3 millions Mahommedans. The remainder are Greek, Wallachian, Slavonian, and Albanian Christians, chiefly of the Greek Church, and acknowledging the Patriarch of Constantinople as their ecclesiastical head. The population of Albania may be calculated at about 900,000, of which number above half are Mahommedan Albanians, while 60,000 are Latin, and the remainder Greek, Christians. On a rough estimate, Thessaly would contain about 300,000, all of them Greeks, except 50,000 Mahommedans and some 10,000 Jews. In Macedonia, with a total of 800,000, there are, in round numbers, 200,000 Mahommedans, 120,000 Jews and Armenians, the remainder being Slavonians and Greeks of the Eastern Church. It is to be observed, however, that by other authorities the entire population of European Turkey has been calculated to amount to from 12 to 14 millions; but there is reason to believe that this latter is an exaggerated estimate.

3. PASSPORTS (see p. 8.)

Before commencing a tour in Albania from Corfu the traveller should endeavour to procure a letter from the English Consul for the Ionian Islands, or from the Ottoman Consul, to the Pasha of Joannina, who will provide himi with passports, with an escort, if necessary, and with every information respecting the state of the country. If he start from Constantinople, he should procure a Firman through the Embassy.

4. BOATS AND PACKETS.

From the number of boats generally passing at all hours of the day between Corfu and Albania, a stranger can never be at a loss for the means of conveyance; while it is easy to ascertain the exact state of the country, and how far it is practicable to penetrate into the interior. Whatever may be the political aspect of the moment, the stranger who conforms to the customs, and respects the institutions and character of the people, may generally pass with security amidst the shock of conflicting parties, under the protection of the local authorities.

From Corfu he may either embark for Sayádes (Sayáda), a village immediately opposite the citadel, or for Butrinto, Parga, or Santi Quaranta, remembering that in winter he may enjoy excellent shooting, the Albanian shore abounding in game. Another route is by the steam-packet to Prevesa. Boat-hire is moderate.

Steamers now run regularly between Constantinople and Salonica, so that the traveller can easily enter these provinces from the capital. There are also weekly steamers from Trieste to Corfu, and vice versa, touching at Durazzo, Avlona, &c., which render Albania accessible.

5. MONEY.

The old Turkish coinage, of which a quantity is still in circulation, is much adulterated. A new coinage, executed by English workmen and English instruments, has been issued of late years. Accounts are kept in piastres and paras, the piastre taking its name from the Spanish coin of which it was the representative, and to which, when first issued in Turkey, it was equal in value. Since that period it has undergone such changes, and the metal has become so debased, that it now rarely attains the value of 3d. English money. The rate of exchange varies; it is usually from 108 to 112 piastres for 11. The Spanish dollar is an excellent coin for travellers in

Turkey, and varies in value from 18 to 22 piastres. Seraffs, or moneychangers, are found in all the towns. Bills and letters of credit should be obtained on merchants and vice-consuls in places where there are no bankers, so as to avoid having to carry much cash. Such letters can be procured at Corfu, Constantinople, Salonica, Syra, &c. The chief Turkish coins are :Paras, which resembles the scales of a fish, and of which 40 = 1 piastre. about 2 d. 1fd.

Piastre
Half-piastre
20 Piastre-piece

10 Piastre-piece

5 Piastre-piece

=

There are also in base metal 2 and 3 piastre pieces, and 5 and 6 piastre pieces; also gold coins of small value, but they are rarely seen in circulation.

6. CHARACTER OF THE ALBANIANS.

For an account of the character and customs of Albanians and the other inhabitants of Albania, Thessaly, and Macedonia, see GENERAL INTRODUC

TION, 0.

The difference in their respective governments and circumstances has of course produced some distinction between the Greeks of the kingdom and the Greek subjects of the Porte. The Greek character, however, has everywhere the same general traits (see GENERAL INTRODUCTION, pp. 41-50, and Section II., pp. 104-106.).

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Since the establishment of the kingdom, education has been vastly extended among the Greek race generally; the language has been refined, until, from a mere patois, it has become once more almost identical with the dialect of Xenophon; the corruptions in the noble tongue of their ancestors, which centuries of oppression and floods of Slavonic immigration had introduced, have been thrown off by the modern people, until the language of an Athenian newspaper has become as the language of the Gospels. The feasts, the fasts, and the fears of Greeks, are," says Colonel Leake, a great impediment to the traveller. During their feasts they will not work; the fasts, when prolonged and rigidly observed, render them unequal to any great exertion, while timidity is the necessary consequence of the Turkish yoke following long ages of the debasing tyranny and superstition of the Byzantine empire. But through this unamiable covering the ancient national character continually breaks forth; to which, in this mountainous part of the country, is added a considerable portion of the industry and activity of a northern race. Every traveller will occasionally be disgusted with the meanness, lying, and cowardice of the people, in the towns and in the parts of the country most frequented by travellers; but it should be remembered that their vices arise from their condition, that deceit is the only defence which their tyrants have left them, and that such defects are greater in proportion to that natural genius which is indisputably inherent in the race. They have a proverb, that the sweetest wine makes the sourest vinegar, which is well exemplified in their own character by means of a most corrupt despotic government acting upon a fine natural genius."

7. PECULIARITIES OF MANNERS AND DRESS.

The Albanians are decent in their manners and behaviour, rarely admitting an immodest word into their conversation, or indulging in frivolous discourse. The Mahommedans among them veil their women, and conceal them in harems. They seldom have more than one wife. Their habit of life, which forms them into bands of soldiers, renders them independent of the other s

whom they never mention nor seem to miss in their usual concerns and amusements. They have, in truth, rather a contempt and aversion for them; obliging them, excepting those of the highest rank, to labour, and frequently punishing them with blows. Yet the men all marry as soon as they can, as it is a sign of wealth. The bride often brings no dowry to her husband, and he is obliged to get together about 300 or 400 piastres before he can be accepted by her family. The women are uneducated, speaking only their native tongue. The Turkish language is known but to few in European Turkey, except to the Ottomans and the officials. Greek is generally spoken throughout Albania, Thessaly, and Macedonia, both by Mahommedans and Christians. The Albanian is a distinct language, though corrupted by the introduction of foreign terms. In common with all other inhabitants of the Levant, the Albanians love money, of which they make little hoards, and then spend the whole sum at once on pipe-heads, silver-mounted pistols, shawls, &c. Their love of preserving wealth is far less than their desire of acquiring it. They have a great distaste for the labours of agriculture, in which they are very inexpert. The Albanian at his plough is a picture of reluctant labour. In Albania, as throughout the Turkish empire and the east of Europe generally, the land, when not the property of the cultivator, is farmed on the metayer system. The productions of these southern provinces resemble those of the kingdom of Greece.

The Albanians are generally of the middle stature, muscular and straight, but slight round the waist. Their faces are oval, with prominent cheekbones, the eyes, blue and hazel, are lively; the eye-brows, arched; the nose, high and straight. They wear no hair on the fore part of the head, but suffer it to flow from the crown. Their complexions are clear, but they have the habit, which Strabo remarks as the custom of the Illyrians, of tatooing their arms and legs. The women are tall and strong, but bear in their countenances the stamp of wretchedness and hard labour.

The Albanian costume is extremely elegant, and may be made very costly. Those who can afford it wear two or three jackets of velvet or cloth, richly embroidered with gold and silver, white fustanelles or kilts, bound round the waist by a shawl and belt, which contains their pistols, embroidered garters and sandals, the bottom of which is of goat-skin, and the upper part of catgut. To this are added the small red cap, and the shaggy capote or cloak, which is worn by all classes, and forms their chief defence against the weather. The dress of the common people is, when clean, entirely white, and, with the exception of the shirt and drawers, which are cotton, is all woollen. Almost every Albanian makes his own clothes, and carries in the pouch which holds his cartridges a quantity of leather, catgut, &c., for the manufacture of his sandals. The dress of the women is fanciful, and varies in different districts. In some they wear a kind of white woollen helmet, and the younger women a skull-cap, composed of pieces of silver coin, with their hair falling in long braids, also strung with money. This is a prevailing fashion, and a girl before she is married wears her portion on her head as she collects it (see GENERAL INTRODUCTION, 0).

8. DANCES.

Although lazy in the intervals of peace, there is one amusement in which the Albanians partake with delight, viz., their dances, in which there is only one variation. Either the hands of the party (a dozen or more) are locked in each other behind their backs, or every man has a handkerchief in his hand, which is held by his neighbour. The first is a slow dance. The party stand in a semicircle, with the musicians in the centre; a fiddler, and a man with a lute, who walk from side to side, accompany their movements with the music.