Family ties are very powerful amongst the Albanians. The father retains the rights of sovereign lord up to an advanced age, and as long as he lives the earnings of his children and grandchildren are his own. Frequently this communism continues after his death, the eldest son taking his place. The loss of a member of the family, and particularly of a young man, gives rise to fearful lamentations amongst the women, who frequently swoon away, and even lose their senses. But the death of persons who have reached the natural limits of human life is hardly mourned at all. The descendants of the same ancestor never lose sight of their parentage. They form clans, called phis or pharas, which are bound firmly together for purposes of defence or attack, or in the pursuit of their common interests. Brotherhood by election is known amongst the Albanians, as well as amongst the Servians and other ancient nations, and its ties are as strong as those of blood. Young men desirous of becoming brothers bind themselves by solemn vows in the presence of their families, and, having opened a vein, they {122} drink each other’s blood. The need of these family bonds is felt so strongly in Albania, that young people brought up together frequently remain united during the remainder of their lives, forming a regular community, having its days of meetings, its festivals, and a common purse.

But in spite of these family associations and clans, in spite of the enthusiastic love which the Albanian bears his native land, there exists no political cohesion amongst the various tribes. The physical conditions of the country, no less than an unhappy passion for war, have scattered their forces, and rendered them unable, consequently, to maintain their independence. The religious animosities between Mussulman and Christian, Greek and Roman Catholic, have contributed to the like result.

It is generally supposed that the majority of the Albanians are Mo­ham­me­dans. When the Turks became masters of the country the most valiant amongst them fled to Italy, and the greater part of the tribes that remained behind were compelled to embrace Islamism. Many of the chiefs, moreover, turned Mussulmans, in order that they might continue their life of brigandage, on pretence of carrying on a holy war. This accounts for the fact of the aristocracy of the country being for the most part Mo­ham­me­dan, and in possession of the land. The Christian peasant who tills it is nominally a free man, but in reality he is at the mercy of his lord, who keeps him at the point of starvation. These Albanian Mussulmans, however, are fanatic warriors rather than religious zealots, and many of their ceremonies, particularly those connected with their native land, differ in nothing from those of their Christian compatriots. They have been converted, but not convinced, and cynically they say of themselves that their “sword is wherever their faith is.”

In many districts the conversion has been nominal only, and zealous Christians have continued to conduct their worship in secret. Many Mo­ham­me­dans of this class returned to the faith of their fathers as soon as the tolerance of Government permitted them to do so. As to the warlike mountain clans, the Mirdits, Suliotes, and Acroceraunians, they had no need to bend to the will of the Turks, and remained Greek or Roman Christians. The boundary between Gheges and Tosks coincides approximately with the boundary between these two denominations, the Roman Catholics living to the north of the Shkumbi, the orthodox Greeks to the south of the river. The Hellenes and Zinzares in Southern Albania are orthodox Greeks. The hatred between these two denominations of Christians is intense, and this is the principal reason why the Albanians have not succeeded in regaining their independence, as have the Servians.

Southern Albania and Epirus had feudal institutions up to the close of last century. The chiefs of the clans and the semi-independent Turkish pashas lived in strong castles perched upon the rocks, from which they descended from time to time, followed by bands of servitors. War existed in permanence, and property changed hands continuously, according to the fortunes of the sword. Ali the Terrible, of Yanina, put a stop to this state of affairs. He reduced high and low to the same level of servitude, and the central Government now wields the power formerly exercised by lords and heads of families. {123}

If we would become acquainted with a social condition recalling the Middle Ages, we must go amongst the independent tribes of Northern Albania. On crossing the Matis we at once perceive a change. Every one goes armed; shepherds and labourers carry a carbine on the shoulder; and even women and children place a pistol in their belts. Families, clans, and tribes have a military organization, and at a moment’s notice are ready to take the field. A sheep missing in a flock, an insult offered in the heat of passion, may lead to war. Not long since the Montenegrin was the most frequent disturber of the peace, for, shut up in his sterile mountains, he was often obliged to turn brigand in order to sustain life, and laid under contribution the fields of his neighbours. The Turks have at all times nourished this hatred between Albanians and Montenegrins. They recompense the warlike services of the tribes of the border clans by exempting them from taxation, and allowing them to govern themselves according to their own laws. Let these immunities be touched, and they will make common cause with their hereditary foes of the Black Mountains.

The Mirdits are typical of the independent tribes of Northern Albania. They inhabit the high valleys to the south of the gorge of the Drin, and, though hardly numbering 12,000 souls, they exercise, in consequence of their warlike valour, a most important influence in all Western Turkey. Their country is accessible only through three difficult defiles, and they hold command of the roads which the Turkish troops must follow when operating against the Montenegrins. The Sublime Porte, well aware how difficult it would be to subdue these redoubtable mountaineers, has endeavoured to attach them, showering honours upon them, and granting them the most complete self-government. The Mirdits, on their side, though Christians, have at all times fought most valiantly in the ranks of the Turkish army, in Greece and the Morea, as well as against their fellow-Christians of Montenegro. They are formed into three “banners” of the mountains and two of the plains, and in time of war are joined by the five banners of Lesh, or Alessio. The banner of the renowned clan of Orosh takes precedence of all others.

The country of the Mirdits is governed by an oligarchy, of which the Prince or Pasha of Orosh is the hereditary head. His power, however, is merely nominal, for in reality the country is governed by a council consisting of the elders (vecchiardi) of the villages, the delegates of the banners, and the heads of clans. The proceedings of this council are regulated by ancient traditions. Wives are taken by force from the enemy, for the members of the five banners look upon each other as relatives, and the Mo­ham­me­dan girls in the lowland villages look forward with little fear to their being carried off by Mirdit warriors. The vendetta is exercised in an inexorable manner, and blood cries for blood. A violation of hospitality is punished with death. The adulteress is buried beneath a heap of stones, and her nearest relative is bound to deliver the head of her accomplice to the injured husband. It need hardly be said that education is at a very low ebb amongst these savages. There are no schools, and in 1860 hardly fifty Christians of the Mirdit country and of the district of Lesh were able to {124} read. Agriculture, nevertheless, is in a relatively advanced state. The valleys of the sterile mountains are cultivated with a certain amount of care, and they produce finer crops than do the fertile plains, inhabited by an indolent population.

By a strange contrast, these direct descendants of the ancient Pelasgians, to whom we are indebted for the beginning of civilisation in Europe, still number amongst the most savage populations of our continent. But they, too, must yield in time to the influence of their surroundings. Until recently the Epirotes and southern Shkipetars left their country only in order to lead the easy but degrading life of mercenaries. In the last century the young men of Acroceraunia sold themselves to the King of Naples, to be embodied in his regiment of “Royal Macedonians;” and even in our own days not only Mo­ham­me­dans, but also Christian Tosks, enter the service of pashas and beys. These men, known as Arnauts, may be met with in the most remote parts of the empire—in Armenia, at Bagdad, and in Arabia. On the expiration of their term of service, the majority of these veterans retire to estates granted them by Government, and this accounts for the large number of Arnaut villages met with in all parts of the empire.

But wars are less frequent now, the life of a mercenary offers fewer advantages, and increasing numbers of Albanians leave their country annually in order to gain a living abroad by honest labour. Like the Swiss of the canton of Grisons, many Shkipetars descend from their mountains at the commencement of winter in order to work for wages in the plains. Most of these return to their mountain homes in spring, enriched by their earnings; but there are others who remain abroad for years, or who never return. The advantages of a division of labour appear to be well understood by these mountaineers of Epirus and Southern Albania, and each mountain valley is noted for the exercise of some special craft. One valley sends forth butchers, another bakers, a third gardeners. A village near Argyrokastro supplies Constantinople with most of its well-sinkers. The district of Zagori, perhaps the home of the ancient Asclepiads, sends its doctors, or rather “bone-setters,” into every town of Turkey. Many of these emigrants, when they become wealthy, return to their native land, where they build themselves fine houses in the midst of sterile mountains, and these take the places of the old seigneurial towers, which were erected only for purposes of defence.