in albania with the ghegs - athol mayhew_1.pdf

8/11/2019 In Albania with the Ghegs - Athol Mayhew_1.pdf

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S C R I B N E R S

M O N T H LY

n l llustrated M agazzne.

Conducted by G. H ollan .d.

Volume X X / .

Nov., 1880, to April, 188I, incltt.rive. J

f \ Te?iJ _:York:

S crz bner CO I11corporatcd ;870)

I881.


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:.I

CO N T EN TS VOL X X I .

fllOKTISPIEC&. T h e Sower. After the Pllinting by Jean-Fran9Jis M illet. Engraved by T . Cole.P A C L

ACTISC. See " L o n d o n Theaters, The.'ACTORS, FOREJG:>, ON T HE AMERI CA..X STACE . . . . . . . . . . J. Bra n da Malllu-..us . . . 52 1

Ill ustrations by Robert B lum, and from Photoi:nphs.IUus. Rachd as Pl:idn . . . . . . S 9 RiStori as Mary Sluarl . . . . . . . . SJ

Fechter as Monu Clris/4 . . . . . . 530 Salvini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . S33M adame J aoauschek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S3 '

ACRI CULTtiRAL EXPERIMENT STATIOS S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Char/is Ba rnard . . . . . . . . . 624ALBANIA , l s , \VI TH THE GHE GS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Athol Afayluw . . . . . 377

lllu nr:o tion s b y R . C. \Vood"ill e.Illus . T omb of Skandcrbcg at Ale ssio . . . . . .. . . . 317 A Sce ne in a B:uur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

Alb.an i3n H orse \lith \Voodc n Pack .Saddic 378 A 13.a uquct in the ~ fo t1 n t a i ns 385A M iridi te by the Lake of Scutari . . . . . .. 379 Ad e m-Agar, the Bolu k.Bashi . . . . . . . . . . . . : 386A Chri stian Lady of Albania . . . . . . . . . . . . 38o A \Vay -side Khan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387Th e F roo cier Gwu-d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381 Nikleka, Chief of the Clementis . .. . . . . . . 388A Frootia G uard on Duty . . . . . . . . . . . 382 E nl(2-tlce to a Fishing -Villa(e of Albania . . 390 .

ALEXANDRIA, VtRC NIA.. S e e Virginia Town, An Old . "A R T E ~ 1 u s\VARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S. Nadal . . 144All T, PARISIAN, GL IMPSES 01 ' . . . . . . . . . . ~ n r yBacou . . . 169, 42 3, 7J4

Illustr.ation s by A De Neuville, . Due., Menon, E. Dupain, P. Dclance, V . Chc villia rd, C. Clairin, E. Dctaillc, Sar>hBcmha.rdt, C. J acqu et, E. Bcme -lkll ecoar, Bulin, Bera ud. Chia li Wa/1/61r r . ~ 7The Flight into EgypL 1lf1rron . . . . 17t Po rLrait . LeJ11aire . . . . 4 28The Good ~ a r i t a n .E . Dujain . 17 Study for a Piciure. R. Jlfadra u . . . . 29Louis XVI. Visiting a Poun o-Field . Po nrait. Suwarl . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . JO

P D 1 a n e~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Sketches Uui.se Al>bcnta . . . . . . . . . 431The Salutation. V. CltnJHIU. r d . . . t H Studio of Ouez on th e Sea-s hore.Sarah BcmhardL Cwru Clairin . . . . 176 Jourdain . . . . . . .. . .. . . 735Prus sian Cavalrymen . E . IJe u,,1k .. . . 177 Autumn . Alfred S tevens . 736&femorandum Slcctchcs. E. INl4i 1 . . 177 I n Venice . Ricq , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 737Tbe Young Girl and Death. Sor4 i Kn i gbt ' Glass St udio. .D. Rkllf'W"Y

O u J . ~ - . : : : _ t j ~ p ; t . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ~ T h e ~ ~ ~ _ e j ~ g ; , ; ~: : ::: . .::: :: :: ~ ~11an eofMalmaison . . Brnu -Belk:J>Mr . ,g, On the Beach. OlivU . . 740S1udics &om life. U. Buh"n . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Study from life. Rieort/4 /lf41l r 4::.o 1 '

iy St u dio . BbaMd . . . . . . .. . . u O al=Housc Stands, Cuttyhunk . . . . . . . . . E9 j the Cliff's, Martha' s Vio eyar d . . . . . . . . )'o6'l'he l ight-h ouse at Gay Head . . . . . . . 702 ''.68 lbs ., Sir " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707The Stnped . B a s s ~or Rock-fish . . . . . . . . . . 704 F1Sh1ng, A. D . 1496 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7oSFishin g from the ::.tand .. . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . 705

BATTLE 01' \VATERLOO, THE, EN CORED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alexander L. Kit l land . 457BIB LE REVISIO '


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N A L B A N I A W I T H T H E G H E G S . 37 7

N AL BA.NIA \VIT H H E G H EGS.

" Fierce ar e A.lbania's children, y e t they lackNot virtue s , \vere th ose virtu es mor e mature.vVhere i s the foe that ever sa w their back?\..,no can so well the toil of war endure ?Thei r native fastnesses not inore secureThan they in doubtful t i1ne uf troublous need;Their \vrath ho ' deadly :But their friendship sure\hen Gratitude or Valor bids them bleed,Unshaken ru shing on wher e 'er their chjef may l ead.

Ch i/de Harold 's Pil fri1nage . an la I I

.t8 01'' SKAND E RBlt C A T AL BSSlO.

O the eastern sho res of the Adriatic, atthe southern extremity of the olive -cladcoast of D almatia, a s hor t distance beyondCa t ta ro, the Aust rian r ule over the Sla vceases, a nd the 1'urkish pr ov ince of Albaniabegins. Geographically, the position of thecountry is described as " conterminous \viththe ancient Epirus and 'vith the southern

provi nces of ancient I llyria.," and as incl uding pa rt of the classic soil of vi aced on iaand Cha on ia. 'f he serrated coast of Albania is \vashed in the north by the waterso f the Ad riatic, and by the Gulf of Artain the so u th. On the east it is separatedfrom Se rv ia and the T urkish prov tnce ofR umili by the roc ky barrier of the P in -

Vo L. XXJ. 7 .

dus and Scardus Mountains; Greece liesupon its southern frontier, and to the no r thit is bounded by M ontenegro and Bosnia .Fro1n north to south Albania is ba rely thr eehund red mi les in leng th, or a trifle shorterthan I reland ; from the sea ea stward tothe P indus and Scardus chain it nowhereextends inland b eyond one hundred n1iles

at its n orthern or broadest ex t re111ity, andthis narro ws do 1vn to thi rty on -the sou thernbo rder. Ethnologically, Albaniais bro adlydivided by the t\vO great tribes or clans of

l gege, Ghegide s, or Ghegs, \vho inhabi tnorthern or I llyrian _tjbania, and the T oskides, or Tosks, who peop le the so uthernor Epi rotic p o rtion of the count ry. Co lo ne l


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N A L B A N I A W I T H T H E GHEGS

Leake and J ohann George von H ahn, theonly reliable authoriti es on the subject ofAl bania, mention a third clan called theLiape, a poor and predatory race \vho livein the mountains bet,veen the 'foke andD elvius. 'fhe pr inci pal Gheg to\vns areDulcigno, Scutari, and Du r azzo , and thechief T osk cities are Berat and Elbassan .The Alban ians themselves, how ever, kno\vno such scientific distinctions as G heg orTosk. In their O\vn language, \vhich recentresearch has pronounced to be an independent branch of the I ndo-European familyand, according to Humbo ldt, the floatingplank of a vessel that has been sunk in theocean of time and lost for age s, theycall th en1selves ipetiiar, or high landers.

The Turks in a like manner ignore all tribedistinctions, and tenn them broadly ArnaudsThe co1nmon b elief is that Albania is

thi nly peopled . Square mi le for squarernile, no country on the bo rders of Albaniapossesses mote populous center s. Scutar ialone, the capital of the north, has a population of almost 2 7 0 0 0 and Joannina,th e 1netropolis o f the south, has qu iteas m any inhabitants ; Ochri da, Prisrend,Elbassan, and Berat are all considerable cit

ies; nor are the 1ninor to,v ns of Dulcigno,Aless io, Durazzo, Croy a, J akova, and lpekby any 1neans thin ly peopled. Hardly moreexact is D r. Arnold's oft -quoted saying thatAlbania is one of those ill-f ated portionsof the ea r th which, though plac ed in imm ediate contac t \vith civi lization, has remainedperpetually ba rbari an . Disguised in oneforn1 or another, this opinion has given co lorto Engli sh encyclopedias, until Albania hascome to be regarded as a very Botany Bay

~ . , , - .- ... _ ~ - ~ ~ ~-- ~. : . - ; .Q . x - '--~ - : t . ~ . - - -

- . . . . . - - . ; ; - - . ~ , .. . . ._ __ . . _ .. _------- -. . __ _ . ___ ____ _ _

At BANIAN KORSB \ V I T WOOO QN PACK S D DLU

in n1oral geography a black, barba ric spotin Europe sur rounded by a perfect halo ofSla v civilizati on . That its people are, asyet, very far from the acme of civilization,all who kno'v them \viii readily admit; butthat th ey are so \VOfully be hind the socia ladvancem ent of their Slav neighbors is easyenou gh to d ispro ve

In the first place, the Albanians a re no ton ly industriou s and sk illed in variou s handicra f ts, but th e country has several repr esentative manufa c tures which \\'Ould notdisgrace the a rt productions of our Westerncapitals. Can this be said of th e Montenegrins, the Bosnians, or the Servians ?In the towns of lpek and J a kova, goldand si lver filigrees are made, far superior to

11altese wo rk, both in the artistic f ee lingexhibited in the des ign, and the m arvelousintr icacy and delicacy of the finish of the\vorkn1anship . This glittering, lace-likeJ ako va \VOrk is eage rly sought for in everybazaa r, and the costliest

Gold cup s o f filigree, made to secureTh e han d from burning, -

as 1nentioned by Byron in Don J uan,'' andwhich a re ge nerally placed under the tiny

Turki sh coffee- cup s , -are always of Albanian1nanufacture. Prisrend is famous for itscarpets, but 1nore pa r ticu larly for the production of the 1nagn ificent si lver-m ountedpistols and chas ed and je,vel -hilted yataghans, which len d such sple ndor to everyopulent Albani an' s girdle; \vhile Scutari iscelebr ated for the sk ill of its c loth-\vo rk ers,and the dexterity of its gold e111broiderers.Have the Slavs on the northern and easte rnborders any indu stries such as these?

Much h as been said and more \vrittenof late con ce rning the t urbulent spi rit .ofthe Alb a nian s. But it must be remembered th at the cou ntry is most exceptionally constituted, co mposed as it is of threeopp osing religious bodies, governed by aforeign po\ver . The so uthern, or Tosk ,Alb anians belo ng, for the most part, to theGr eek church; cen tral Albania is chiefly1'1ahomn1 ed a n; and no rt he rn, o r Gheg,Albania is principally Roman Catholi c.Add to this the fact that nearly aU th eMah ommedan Albanians a re descendedfrom .Bek/ashes, or renegades from theChristian fai th, and that, bit terly as thesetripar t ite factions hate one another, theydetest the Porte still more, and the only\vonde r left us is tha t internal strife andrebellion have no t long ago decimatedthe population. Yet the Albanians a re not

.


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N A L B A N I A W I T H THE GI-IEGS.

A CHRIST IAN LADY Ot' ALBANIA,

after his death- the C hrist ian mountaineerswear a short black 1nourning jacket or jurdinove r th eir 'vhite voolen dress, in memory oihi1u whorn they love to sty le th e championof Albanian liberty. Thu s, as th e lVIontenegrins carry th e kappa so the Gb eg s \Vear thejurdin as a nlemento of their long strugglefor l iberty in days gone by, and as asyn1bolof tbe freedom 'vhich they believe is yet toco1ne. I t \vould be st r a nge, in dee d, then,if a nation 'vith suc h a history, and \Viththese aspirations, sh o uld tamely submit tosee the ir country parceled out and dividedamong th ose vho cann ot claim to havebeaten the1n in w ar .

M uch has been said and mor e \vritten oflate abo ut the predatory habits and ferociousnatur e of the Alb an ian race. According topopular notions, the lowl anders are cutthroats and the highlanders brigands. Thenearer the t raveler gets to Albania, the louderand more positive become th e dismal predictions concernin g his fate on ente rin g theco untry; and i t \vas with many misgivingsthat Dick and I stepped from th e loud1-a 'hich

had brought us across the Lake of S c utari fromMontenegro, an d set our feet on Albaniansoi l preparatory to entering the ancientto\vn of Scut ari or Skodra . We had ou rrifles an d our revolvers 'vith us, loadedagainst a ny en1ergency .

But our first experience of A lbania d isp elled the dark stain which ign orance hadplaced upon the peo ple' s character . Andafter \vandering in son1e of th e 'vildcstdistricts of the north,-among the Miriditemountaineers \vhen \Ve visited the ton1b o fSkan derbeg at Al ess io, and through theheart of the Clementi tribes \vhen we triedto get into Gusinje, - I can say that the onlyinstauce of brigandage ~ v h i hcame to ourknowl edge 'vas practiced by the lake boatmen, \vhen th ey charged us a quadrup le farefor rowing us frorn K aradagh to Scutari,and that the Alb a nians' regard for thesanc t ity of our personal effects was su c htha t \Ve never had o ur saddle-bags stolen,as \Ve d id in honest Monten eg ro. Thec losing portion of this ar ticle \vill sho v thatin our expedition to Gus inj e we ran some riskof losing our heads, but the read er 1vill als olea rn that the men 1vho wanted to kill us\Ve re Bosniac Mahommedans, and that \Ve1vere saved by the stanch fidelity of theAlbanian Gbegs.

Candor compels nle to mention an uglyblemi sh in the national cha racte r vbi c h,a lthough littl e known to the outer 1vorld, isnone the less observable in the race . Iall ude to the pr eva lence of blood-feudsa mongst the vari ous clans :ind religiousfactions in th e country. I f it \Vere m y object to palliate this sa vage custorn, I mightshow that the vendetta has been time outof mind a rude form of retributive ju sticepeculiar to n1ost primitive highl and races,and th at, in 111aintaining thi s CO\\ard ly cod eof retaliation, the Albanians are n eith erbetter nor \vorse than \v ere until \vi th inrec eut years the natives of the Basque provinces, the Cors ican s, or eve n the l\1onteneg rins . With th ese people, however, it\ as a barbarism of the past ; \vith theArnauds it is an all-prevailing practice ofthe pr esent. Under the se blood-feud la ws,the 1nost co,vardly and cold -blooded mu r

der s -o ne can call thern by no n1ildername-are of daily occurrence. ' fhe en tirepopulation is armed to the teeth againstthis ceaseless vendetta, an d the burial-placesa re cro,vded 1vith its victin1s; yet there isno authority in the COlllltry po verful enoughto suppress it. So the barbarous custo mprevail s from one e xtremity of the count ry


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IN A L B A N I A W I T H T H E H E G S

to the oth er,-alike in the crowded bazaarsa nd on th e lonely hill -side, vrherever theavenger and the victim meet,-and the Porteis po\v erless to punish because it is notst rong eno ugh to r ule . 1'he blood-fe ud ,ho1vever, i s con fined l>y the peopl e to thesettle 1uent of their 01vn private quarrels, sothat , u n l s ~a st ranger is inj udici ous eno ug hto intermeddle, he need have no alarm abouthis 0 1vn safety in the count ry.

I t would be difficult to poi nt to a co untry\vithin nine da y s' trav eling dist ance fron1'P a ris so picturesque ly quaint as Albania .I t is a land abov e all others for the a r t i s ta country locked \vithin itself a littles tationary 1vorld vit hin our va st 1vhirligigouter on e, 1vhere 1ned irevalisn1 is p rese rvedin the tn ost de liciou s freshnes s. I t is theland of I skande r as \vhen Is kander himself rul ed over it. Th e billo1vy landsca pesof the 1nou11tainous nor th are far morechangeful than the p eop le, for natur e underth e thin highl and air is as variou s as thechan1eleon-no\v iride scent 1vith th e rainbo1v light s of da 1VJ1 next glean1ing whitea nd azure under the fierce n1idd ay sun,and anon 1vra pped in the viol et mantle ofthe night. But time may come and go,and sho\v the mountains and the lakesunde r a thousand different aspects, and yetthe people have only one- tha t of thei r forefathers.

Th e sp lendid cost uine of Alb an ia isbro ught vivid ly b efore the untr aveled mindby Byron' s men1orable descri ption of

The ' il d Alban ian kirtlcd at the knee,With s hawl -clad head and ornamented gun ,And go ld-en\ broidered i.rarn\ents fair to see.

D ecked in this 1vhite an d re d and gold en

magnificence, he is to -day as pictur es quelyprominent in every Alb a nian bazaar as 1vhenthe poet sa w him in the south at the comrnencement of the cent ury. But acc urat eas is t h is picture of a Tosk Alb anian, f o rBy ron neve r traveled north,- i t cannot beapplied to th e Chri stia n Gheg. C urious lyenough, the sno\vy kilt or festan is a ffectedon ly by the lo\vland M oha1nmedans in thenorth. Fr om the days of Iskan


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N L B N I W I T H T H E G fIEGS

P R O N'TIHR GU ARD ON DUT\ .

lion against Ottoman ru le. In its infancy, the Ali at J kova shows t oo plainly ho\v powLeague was, no doubt, enco uraged by the erless is all ju stice in the land.Turk s as a convenient at's -paw, v;here- , 'I'he follo\ving are the guiding principles\vith to tease the irritable Slav. But now I of the Albanian League, as given to me bythe Governmen t stands aghast and a lmos t I one of the 1nost influential chiefs of thatpara lyzed at the hot -blooded ferocity of body in Scutari:the ve ry creatures they helpe d to create . The lbanian League is a pure ly patriThe ana rchy and Ia,vlessne ss existing lately otic associat ion, compo sed of all grades of

at Pr i srend, \Vhere the Europ ean consulsI

Albanians, having for its object the deter\vere im pri soned by th e mob in their con- 1nined resistance of any annexation of tersulates, an d \vhere the Russ ian rep r esent - ri tory by foreign po,vers . T hus ~ o n t e -at ive \ a s sho t at through his \vn door, negro, Servia, and Gre ece--co untries \ Yhic har e but slight illustrations of the ut t er ina- I have all received porti ons of Albania, underbility of the existing authorities to cope the conditions of the Ber lin Treaty-arewit h the p resent d isorder and ana rchy; each, in turn, to be vigo rous ly opp osed\vhile the u navenged murder of ~ h me t in any effort to occupy the land a\va rded


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th em. The head-quarters of th e L ea g ue ,my in formant said, \Vere at Pr is rend ; butth e leader of the fraternity, Ali Pasha,\vas th en a t Gusinje, organizin g the revo ltagainst th e Montenegrin occupation o f th a tdi stri c t. Mo n ey, I \vas told, h ad bee n

subscribed for the purpose at Scutar i a nfonte.ne gro \vith t e rritorial ag g randizement and independence, has give n Roume[ia auton omy; but what hav e\ve received? Abso lu tely nothing . v e Albani ans,wh o are no t immigrants, but nati ves o f th e so il of

thi s coun tr y, who obtained our independ ence centurie s ago, 1nust claim the right to create a Sta te forourselves. Thessaly, E piru s and Albania properar e th e fat he rland of the three million Albanians, andth is ou r fatherland must be free and ind epe nden t,and governed by a prince. We \vill obtain that ordie in the a t tempt

Fr om thi s it i s evident tha t the League ha s nowcast aside all secrecy, and that open r :volt to theOttoman ru l e is an accompli shed fact.

vere our intention s mentioned at the H otelT oschli, than the utm ost po,vers o f theScutarine Chr istians \vho fr eq uented the ca/I\Vere exerted to dissuade us from our conten1plated journ ey. Tosch li hin1self wastearf ully supplicative on the s ubject. Wer e

we 1na d? h e

asked. Did we not knowtha t a Chr istian s life in Gusinje v ould beas brie f as an infid el s days in Mecca?We re \V e aware that 1'h eir Exc ellen cies theFrontier Commissioners h ad bee n stonedand pelted \vith 1nud by the Mahommedans\vh en they tried to enter even the ne ighborhood of Al i P as h a's hea d -q uarters? And ,abo ve all, had ve no regard for our h ono red heads? Fi n di n g, at las t, that we\Vere determined up o n o ur pr ojects, ourfriends ceased from troubling, and con finedthemselves to loo kin g at us \vith that melancholy cast of countenance peculiar tothos e vho gaie upon the con demned.

The shortest route from Scu tari to Gusinjewas by the n1ountai n pa sses cle avi ng throughthe heart of the distr icts of Kastrati andClementi. Th e rep o rt ed fe rocity of th eno rthern mountain eers, ho,v e ver, rende redou r j ourney im p ossib le wit hout a sa fe-conduct, and th e metho d of proc edure ino rder to obtain one is s ufficiently pe c uliarto varrant a fe\v \vor


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N AL BANIA W I T H T H E GHEGS

S ENE IN BAZ :\AR

race no r religion in common , so that itrequires consi derable diplo111atic tact anddelic at e manipulation on th e pa rt of th ePasha t prevent the Arn auds breakingout in ope n hostility to the Porte. As it isno Turki sh official w ill trus t himself \vithouta stron g esco rt in the neighborhood of themoun ta ins, vhile so ldiers se ldom venture ,

exce pt in companies, through the nort hernpasses. In d eed at th is moment it is theinvariabl e custom o f th e Arnauds to pounceupon al l mi li tary s tragglers, and ease themof their P eabody-Martini rifle,- a \vea ponwhich the Governm ent \VOuld not allowthem to car ry preferring, as a pr eca utionarymeasure, to serve out the inferior Snider to


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N A L B A N I A W I T H THE GHEGS

th.em when the tri bes 'vere armed by thePo rte against Montene gro in the las t \Var.Th e 11u1nb er of rvi artinis 'hich must havebeen l ifted from the Government in thisunceremonious mann er may be c om p uted

th at our nation ality was mentioned to theconsul of the Cleme nti hi ghl an ders, \ e 'ver ep romise d n ot o nly free entra nce and sa fetyamo ng the northe rn hills, bu t a hearty 've lcome from every mountain ee r in th e Boluk-

A BANQtlET I N T B S MOUNTAINS

'vhen I stat e that, du ring my jou rne y north, Bashi's dist ric t. But, despite this protection,I passed through a t err itory occupied by o ur at tem pt to get in t o Gusi nje 'vas co n -5 hill men, and that eve ry 1nountainee r side red su fficie ntly desperate among theon the rocks, eve ry plo\vman at his plow, Scutarines to prec lude all c hance of o urevery sh ep her d tending his flock, and eve ry hiring a dra go man to acc on 1pany u s on th ed ri ver ;vith his team of pack-horses, carried journey. In vain we tried the force ofthe Gov ernme nt :rvrartin i upon hi s shou lder. argume nt and the wei ght of Turkish goldBut the mountaineers are too proud a race usually a mo st alluring bait in Albania, \vhereto steal , preferring ex c hange to rob bery , so the currency looks re markab ly like tin-plat e.it is their invariab le custom, \vh enever a So at sunrise on a November Sunday of 1879luckless soldie r comes in their 'vay, to make \\l e \vent dr ago manless to t he hou se of oura po in t of presenting him \vith th eir obsolete Bo luk-Bashi, with about ten words of AlbanSn iders it1 consideration of the more ap - ese and as many Bosniac ver bs in ourproved l l a rtini. vocabulary, bound on a t l1ree-days ' ride

The in dependence of the n1ou11taineers f through the Clementi 1\iiountai ns to learnbe ing a natural outcom e from th e sec urity th e true state of affair s in Gus inje.of their position , forti fied as they are in the I t \Vas fla ttering to find, on our arrival athills among ramparts of rock and citadels the ho use, the Boluk-Bashi himsel f mountedof stone , considerable circu1nspection is and equipp ed, and ready to escort us tonecessary before the stranger t rusts him self Selza, the pr inci pal village of Cieme nti.

within the reach of a race tr ained almost H is presenc e 1vith us w as in tended to makefrom in fancy to the use of arn1s and rendered i secur ity doubly s ec ure. Ade m-Aga r , as heferoc ious by aJmost ceaseless border \vars . I \vas named, had disca rded his to'vn dress,I t 'as , therefore, 'vith a fixed determination : \vith its voluminous 1vhite kilt and inn uto remain in Scutari should our efforts fail, 1nerable red emb roidered waistcoats, andthat we set to \vork to procure safe -con- sat in the sadd le, clad in the handsomedu ct pass fron1 th e Boluk-Bashi of the >vhite -woole n, black -b raided, ti ght-titti ngClemen ti tri be. The moment, ho,veve r, ' ho se and \Vaistcoat of the Arnaud mount-

Vor XXT.-28


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3 .86 N ALBA VIA W I T H T H E G IIEGS

AOBM AGAR TK BOLUKBASH I.

aineer. The lo w Albanian fez, with itsponderous blue-silk tassel, vas no longer onhis he ad , but in its place he wore the \vhitefelt sk u ll-cap, vith its picturesque Arab-liketurban the traditional head gear of theirnmortal Skanderbeg. Thus we found hitnin the inc lo sed court-yard of his hou se, .sitting e rect upon a sma ll \Vhite half-b redArabian mare a handsome, veil-kni t figure,and arme d at all points, \ ith a couple ofsilve r-hilted pistols and a formidable yata-

ghan at hi s waist, three or four silver-giltcartridge-boxes around his middle, and aP eabody -M artini rifle slung by its strapfrom his shoulder.

Our route to Selza lay north along the .fiat, marshy ground of the eastern or Turk-ish shore of the lake of Scutari a tolerableroad for ail Albanian highway, over which

e could even occasio na lly indulge in shortca nters, checked, eve r and anon, by smalllakes of mud, through . vhich our horses


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I LY A L B A N I A W I T H T H E GHEGS

waded fetlock deep. Adem-Agar, \Ve soon I rom its rugged rockiness, of the channel ofdiscovered, \vas \vell known on the road. a mountain stream. I t is astonishing ho\vThe purp o rt of our journey \Vas put to hin1 unerringly the sure-footed Albani an horsesinterrogatively by eve ry peasant \Ve passed; pick out fron1 among a labyrinth o f stonebut the word G u sin je invariably met \vith the crevices and fissures of the track, whicha dubious shake of the head, most unpleas - generally \vin ds and t\vists ov er bo\v lders

antly significant of th e perils a\vaiting u s at worn smoot11 as poli shed marble, or plungesour journ ey s end. At K oplik \Ve made a do1vn through loose angular crags as sharpbrief halt at a vay -side khan for a hurri ed as spear-heads. And this is the more \Von-meal of maize br ea d and sour goat s-ch eese derful, perhaps, \vh en 1ve notice the manand coffee , taken Turque squatting on ner in which the horses are shod. Both inthe 1nud-floo r around a bla zing log-fire, f or ?v onteo egro an d Albani a the horseshoes arearready the \Veather was none Of the \Varm In a.de in the Shape Of plates, \Vith . a small

est, and then, after an inspiriting pull at the ce ntral hol e, which comp letely cover theraki-fiask, 1ve to ok saddle for the village hoof and frog . Th ese shoes are attachedof K as tr a ti, 1vhere 1ve ere to pass the by strong arro1v-head nails, bent over th enight. An hour s ride fro1n Koplik the plate in such a n1anner as to allow th eeasy ch aracte r of the road began to change, horse to obtain a grip with th eir angularand our ascent c o mmenceu up the blea k edges. They seen1 to an s,v er their purpo senorthern mountain s. As 1ve a.dvanced, the admirably, although apparently opposed totrack gradually narrov; ed down from a our notions of scientifi c farriery. Slippingroad broad enou gh to take a country cart, and stumbling over ro cks and do,vn ravines,into a thin, ribbon-like course, sugg estiYe, now dismounting to ease our veary horses

t -';.,~ __ i

A \VAV-SIDR 1Cl lAN.


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when the tr ack 'vas easy, and mountingagain 'vhen our untrained feet could nolonger find secure foot-hold, 've reached atnight -fall the village of K.astrati.

The hospitality of th e house that gaveus shelter was unbound ed. S1nall trees

were heaped upon the fire in the centerof the floor, and scarcely 'vere \Ve seatedby the ruddy g lo'v \vhich cen tere d ar ounda circle of sn1iling faces, th an there \Vas asound without as of the strangulation of ahen. Presently some men entered bearinga ne,vly slaughtere d sheep , still \Varro anddressed entire, with a hu ge w ooden spit running through the steaming carcass fromhead to tai L We smiled app rovi ng ly and,for lack of la nguage, bo,ved ou r ackno,vledgments and ejaculated Mir ir "(goodgood I) with g reat h eartiness ; for in Albaniathe mislz ipikitaun, or sheep roasted \vhole,is th e greates t mark of co nside ra tio n andfriendship a mountaineer can offer hisguests . Who could describe th e orgies'vhich fo llo ved upon t he disinembermentof th e nish 7 We took our food afterthe primi tive custom of the count ry, sittingon the floor and using one hand for aplate and our fin gers for knives and fo rks.We swallowed lumps of tepid mu t ton-fat,and washe d them do,vn with draughts of apeculiar home -bre w which tas ted ,like ranc id mea d . Then \ ~ had a course of hotlard and honey-cakes, follo\ved by an cn-trle of h e e p~ kidneys. N ext a Qig go urdfull of raki was put into circul a tion, a ndonce again ' we retl.lmed to our mutton.Bu t it as fearfully trying work, and afteran hour or 'so of persistent muttonizing Itried to feign sleep as the only po ssib le escape from apoplexy. Scarcely had I closedmy eyes, ho,vev er , when our host presse d a\Varro shee p's-trotter into my r el uctan t hand,with a reproachfu l gesture whi ch said tooplainly, reveno ns a nos noutons Duringall th is feasting the women-f olk sa t apart ina corner of the cabin , t 1virling yam from

bers of the fire and our heads pillowed onour saddle -bags. But before I was waftedin to the land of Nod I saw one o f the1nountaineers still pickiDg a t a blade-boneof mutton, and \vhen it \Vas perfectly cleanhe held it up to the lig h t of the fire, and,

according to the in variable custom of th ecountry, b e ~ nto explai n a loud to a groupof eager listeners the prop he tic pic tur es\vhich every mou,ntaineer be lieves are to b e

Nll


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along ele vated plateaux cove red with th ered-berried arbutus, up purp le-h ued, snowcapped 1nountains seamed with a thous andcascades of sn o w-water, through forests ofbeech aglo1v with autun1n tints, and reso unding 1vith the shepherds gu ns as they

drove thei r flock s by firing blank cartridgesat them ; by the rugged plain of Arapshia,a nd thence ov r the towe ring sun1 mit of the1vooded Ve likci, from 1vhence our descentcommenced by a perilous zig-zag path - averitable vi a 111ala 1vhere 1ve dismounted,and, following the Boluk-Bashi s exampl e,hung on to our horses tails at each angleo f the r ~ kto p reven t them plunging headforemos t into the abyss beneath- into theravine 1vhere, at the bottom, the rushingZen1

marks the boun d a ry bet1veen the leafyheights of Albania and th e gray rampartsof Montenegro. At the head of this defile,bounded on the north by th e mountains ofTriepsc i and on the so u th by those of Nikci,1ve crossed the little bridge of ramar, att he point 1vhere the river makes a fo rk a n dis joined from ab ove by the 1vaters of theVukoli. Three hours ridin g up the valleyof the Zero brought night-fall upon us; butsoon the welco1n e so un d of baying dogs toldus 1ve were nearing a village, and, sureenough, ten minutes late r the yelping cursof Selza were snapp ing and sna rling at ourhorses heels as 1ve entere d the yard in frontof the cotta ge of Nikleka, cru or chief oft h e tribe o f the Cle m ent is. Here the mi ssion of o ur Boluk-Bashi en de d. From thi spoint Nikleka 1vas to put his highland witsto work to try and smuggle us safely intoGusinje. We soon learned, ho1vever, thatNikleka was not at ho1ne, being at the timeof ou r arrival in Selza, in th e st ro n ghold ofAli Pasha. But his brother, who 1velcon1edus to the cottage in the chief s abse nce, atonce volunteer ed to take our letter of re commendation to Nikleka in Gusinje. H e 1vason the point o f ar ming hi1nself before setting out for this purpose, 1vh en a cheeryJooking Fran ciscan monk ca m e bustlinginto the cottage and saluted us in Italian .The sound of so mething approa ching to anintelligible tongue was 1nost ve lcome toou r ears, for hitherto ou r po,vers of conver

sation in the Albanian language had beenlimited to inquiries respectin g such necessaries of life as co ffe e, b read, chees e and mutton;so th at the mo r e ela borate effort s of sociabilityo r conviviality had always to be convey edby us through the prim itive signs of pantomime and facial contortion. In the Francisca n padre ho,vever, we found, at length,

and 1vhere we least expected it, a pleasantand a courteous dragoman, 1vith 1vhom 1veconversed in a n1arvelo us jargon of French,Latin, and Italian, and whi c h 1ve vere astonished to find he comprehended sufficiently to translate into Alb a nese . Padre

Gabrielle, as the monk was called, \vas o verco m e wi th astonishment on hearing t hat .we1vere en route fo r Gusinje, and abandonedhin1self to 1nany pious ejaculations of despa ir on findin g that we 1verc not to besh a ken from our purpose by the picture hedre1v for us of a town in which anarchyand la wlessness reign supreme, and wheresix thousand of the lv1a hommedan rabble o fl pek, Jakova, an d Pri srend \Vere beingincited to bloodshed by fanatical Mollahs

and the

fe rocious instigatorsof the murde

rof Mehemet Ali. One th ing, ho1vever, we1vere s urpri sed to learn from th e Franciscan,\v hich was that the Christian Arnauds 1vereholding st ernl y aloof frotn th e machinatio nsof the Albanian League. His statemen t\ e . subsequently discovered to be tr ue,a nd, from inquiry among a ll classes ofmountaineers, i t became evident to us thatthe League \v as a purely Mahomn1edan instit ution, and that the rebels in G usinje had

neither th e sympat hy nor the aid of th esu rrounding Albanian Christi ans . Nikleka being absent in Gusinje, 1vhere he heldhouse prop er t y about 1vhich he \vas anxiouson account of its proximity to the cannonof the Mo nt enegrin captain, Marko Milano,it vas suggested by Padre Gabrielle thatthe only safe method of insuring ou rheads in the rebel town \vas to get writ tenpermission from Ali P asha to visit him.Accordingly, a Jette r asking for an intervie w1vith the rebel chief was wr itten on our beh al fby th e monk and d ispatched forth v ith byNikleka s brother. It 1vas also arranged th atve 1vere to a vai t an answer at a khan a t a

place called Groppa, some three hoursmarch fron1 Gusinje. At noon on the following day, after a night s n1ost hospi tableen tertainn1ent at the little Franc iscan mission-house, we started for a four-h our s ridethrough the ice and snow of the loftyn orthern peaks to aw a it Ali Pasha s answ era t the Grop pa khan . T he kindly monks

had stored our sadd le-ba gs before we leftthem with bread and 1n utton and a goat sskin full of 1vine ; nor was their thoughtfulness unappreciated 1vhen we discove red, ono ur arrival at Groppa, th a t the khan vasthe on ly habitation which gave a name tothe locality, and that i t was dest itute ofevery necessary of life save coffee . In this


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.BNTR.ANCJt 1-'0 A P S Il NG--Vlt.LAGE O ALBANIA..

\vret ched and gloomy little shanty, bareof either 'vindo\vs or chimney, and blacken ed by the tar of wood-sn1oke to such adeg ree of shiny p itchiness that t ~ roughhe1vn \Valls look as though they \Vere builtout of coal, \Ve while d a1vay the day squatting around a log-fire and listening to thedismal drone of the gusla hile the son ofth e landlord begui led the ho urs 1vith aninterminable chant laudatory of the deedsof the g rea t Skanderbeg . At dusk we huddled togeth er un der our blankets by theembers-the landlord, \vith his 1vife and family, retiring to a little pen in the comer of thecab in \vhich served th em for a common

sleepi ng-chamber, while the fo1vls roostedon the charred rafters immediately overour heads . I n the depth of the nigh t oursleep \ a s broken by the baying of dogs,and Nikleka, the Clementi chief, enteredthe khan the bearer of a letter to us fromAli Pa sha. vVe could make nothing of it,how ever , as it was ' 1vritten in Albanian, and

as neither Nikleka nor the landlord coul dread writing, there \VaS 00 help for it but forthe ch ief to go on to Selza and get ittranslated by Padre Gabri elle.

I t was a bitt erly co ld morning, with abiting bor blo1ving up the snow-clad valleyof Grop pa, when the Franciscan fathercame to us at th e kh an . \Ve could tell atonce, from the serious expression on hisgenerally jovial face, that Ali P asha 's replyto our letter as unfavorable . H is ans1verran as follo1vs : I sa lute th e reveren dfathe r. I have read, I have un derstood,and also have assemble d t he chi e fs, who1vill go to the khan Budoch . We cannot

suspend operations . I f these perso ns willguarantee that the Slavs 1vill retire, le t the mcome. Not being sure ties, they ne e d notcome, as they cannot protect us . Re adbet,veen the lines, this letter said , as plainlyas a Turk can write: I f you come to us,and the M onteo egrins do not ' 'ithdrawi1nmediately from the he ights commanding


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N A L B A N I A W I T H T H E GHEGS 39

Gusin je , you will ans wer for it ' vith yourheads. Moreover, Nikleka to ld us that a tthe council of the chiefs, asse1nbl ed by AliP asha to disc uss o ur lette r, most of theminsis ted upon our being R ussian dip lomaticagents, sent to spy into the strength of thei r

posi tion . I n the face of Ali P asha s lette r,and N ikleka's st a tement, therefore, \Ve sa\vno other 'vay of keeping our heads safely onour shou ld ers than by giving up our ent erprise, and clearing out of the neighbo rhoodas qu ickly as possib le. I ndeed , our safetyat the khan was . extremely haza rdous ,O\ving to its proximity to Gusinje-as itappeared fro1n wha t N ikleka furthe r toldus, that imrnediately on the lisso lution ofthe co unci l of chiefs in Gusinje a party o fthirty soldiers had resolved to set out in then igh t with the object of su rr o undi ng ourhut and firing upon us in our sleep . I t wasfortu nate for us tha t their sche me came toth e ears of Ali Pasha, and that his autho rity,in a place given up to the wildest anarchy,'vas strong enough to prevent them put.ti ngthe ir mu r de ro us plans into execution.Wh ile lve were sti ll discussing the bloodth irs ty fanaticism of t he Gu sinjean rebels,and Nikleka \vas telli ng us that he hi1nse lfhad tied the to , vn, for no Christian was safewith in its ,,alls sinc e the Mollah s had armedth e mselves and \Vere inc iting the mob, th ereentered, suddenly, a t t he doo r of our cabintwo armed Turks, who seated themselvesunceremoniously by our side at the fire.The face of the Franciscan blanched, as hewhis pered in our ears in Latin, MilitesGus iniani. There was a sudden paus e inour conversation, succeeded, on ou r part, byan involuntar y motion tO\\ard the wall ofth e hut, 'vhere our re volvers hung. But ast he Gusinjean soldiers ren1ained calmlysmo king th eir cigarettes, squatting by thefire, and looki ng, out,vardly, at least, themi ldes t-ma nn ered n1en that ever cut athroat , we prudent ly left o ur weaponswh ere t hey \Vere an d a\vaited t he speakingof our unwelcorne g uests. The m en 'vereboth Bo sniac Mahommedans, one of t ben1we aring a patched and threadbare Turk ishartillery uniform, and the other merely apink striped shirt and red em broidere d

\va.istcoat, and the regulation Turkish tr o w- sers . Bo th \Vere fully a rm ed with pist ols,cart r idge -belts, yataghans, and bree chloading r ifles, which they retained in

.defiance of .the custon1 of the country,which obliges every friendly traveler tohang his arms upon t he \Vall on ente ring akh an in the mou nt a ins. I t was obvio us,

from the upshot of Padre Gabrielle's conversation 'v ith these feUows on ou r be half,that t he object of their con1in g \Vas to tryand decoy us from the kh an, and near er toGusinje, unde r the pretext of a parley withsom e chiefs of the League at the Bud och

khan, in order either to murder us there,a\vay fron1 the p rotection of the 1noun taineers, o r, failing this, to take us prisonersinto Gusinje, \vhere, as \Ve we re by th is timea\vare, the sight of us \vould be sufficient toexcite the Mussulmans into a fury fromv hic h it wou ld be i1npossible even for AliP asha to save us. F inding that \Ve werefirm in our deterrnination to remai n wherewe \vere, one of them ca lm ly and d ispassionately ask ed the mountaineers assembled inthe hut

toaid

them in killing us where westood. T he p roposition .\vas made in theBo sniac tongue, by the Mabon1medan in theragged a rtill er y un iform, at the very 1nomentwh en the villain was sipping so1ne coffee\Ve had give n h im. But t he fierce ans,ver'vhich seemed lite rall y to flas h fron1 Nikle ka,as mou th piece o f his tribe, was evidentl y ofsu ch an unexpected kind, that both therasca ls jun1p ed to their feet, a nd hurried outo f th e k han with the utmost precipitation.Whereu po n, th e nlount a ineer s posted aguard up in the rocks to prevent a s urpri sein numbers, and \Ve ro de ra p idl y back toSelza, \vhe re, in the sanctua ry of th eFranciscan miss ion -house, 've could moresafely congratulate ourselves upon ournarro w escape , and thank Nikleka fordel ivering us from the cut-th roats of Gusinje.The bitter Albanian winter had already setin 'v ith so1ne severity when \ve left theworthy Franciscan brothers of Clem enti,and journeye d b ack over the ice and sno wto the norther n ca pita l. Our attempt to getinto Gusinje had pro ved a failu re; yet ourdisappointment \vas moderated by thekno,vledge that , in traveling to the Groppakha n, \Ve ha d penet rated farth er than hadany foreigner be fore into the fastnesses ofthe norther n highlands .

Nikleka himself escorted us to Scutari,and \Ve m ade ruuch of him at the H otelToschli . We had no ish ipikitaun to offerthe Clementi chieftain, but the Gree k cook

gave our valiant high lander such a novelsuccession of gastrono1nic surprises, th a tNikleka declared to us he \vould banqu e ton the recollec tion of the111 for n1any a da y.

O n our par t;we shall long remember theunflinching friendship and ho spital ity thatwas shown us w hen we sojourned with theGhegs in Albania.

in albania with the ghegs - athol mayhew_1.pdf

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