WEALTHY ARNAUTS.
The Albanians are thus being carried along by a general movement of progress, and if once they enter into the common life of Europe, we may expect them to play a prominent part, for they possess a penetrating mind and much strength of character. The Albanians enjoy the advantage of having ready access to the sea, but hitherto they have derived only small benefit from it, not only owing to the disturbed state of the country and the absence of roads, but also because of the alluvial deposits formed by the rivers and the malaria of the marshes. Still, making every allowance for these disadvantages, they hardly account for the almost entire absence of maritime enterprise. One would scarcely fancy these Epirotes and Gheges to be of the same race as those Hydriote corsairs who launched whole fleets upon the waters of the Archipelago at the time of the war for Hellenic independence, and who still maintain the foremost place amongst the mariners of {125} Greece. The ports of Albania—Antivari, Porto Medua (one of the safest on the Adriatic), Durazzo, Avlona, Parga (lost in a forest of citron-trees), and even strong Prevesa, surrounded by more than a hundred thousand olive-trees—can boast but of a trifling commerce, and two-thirds of that are carried on in Austrian vessels from Trieste. With the exception of the Acroceraunians and the inhabitants of Dulcigno, which is the port of Scutari, no Mohammedan Albanian ventures upon the sea, not even as a fisherman. In spite of the fertility of the soil, there are hardly any articles to export. The mines of the country are unexplored, agriculture is in a most backward state, and in Epirus hardly any industry is known except the rearing of sheep and goats.
At the time of the Romans these countries were equally forsaken. There was one magnificent city, Nicopolis, built by Augustus on a promontory to the north of the modern Prevesa to commemorate his victory at Actium. The only other town of importance was Dyrrhachium, called Durazzo by the Italians. It formed the terminus of the Via Egnatia, which traversed the whole of the Balkan peninsula from west to east, and constituted the great highway between Italy and the Orient. Avlona may aspire one day to take the place of ancient Dyrrhachium. Its geographical position is superior to that of Durazzo, for it is nearer to Italy, and its deep and secure harbour enjoys the shelter of the island of Suseno and of the Linguetta of Acroceraunia.
In the meantime all the commerce of the country is concentrated in Scutari and Yanina, and in some other towns of the interior. The most considerable amongst the latter are Prisrend, at the foot of the Skhar, whose nobles boast of their magnificent dresses and fine weapons; Ipek (Pech), Prishtina, Jakovitza (Yakova), in the north-eastern portion of the country, and on roads which lead from Macedonia into Bosnia. Nearer the coast are Tirana, Berat, and Elbasan, the ancient Albanon, whose name recalls that of the entire country. Gyorcha (Koritza), to the south of the Lake of Okhrida, is likewise a place of much trade, thanks to its position on a road joining the Adriatic to the Ægean Sea. Scutari and Yanina occupy sites at the foot of the mountains, whose natural advantages could not fail to attract a numerous population. Yanina, the capital of Epirus, is the more picturesque of these two cities. It is situated on the shore of a fine lake, opposite the somewhat heavy masses of the Pindus, but in sight of the mountains of Greece, which are of a “luminous grey, glittering like a tissue of silk.” At the time of Ali Pasha, Yanina became the capital of an empire, and its population then exceeded that of Scutari. But the latter has now regained its pre-eminence. It is admirably situated, and the roads from the Danube and the Ægean, from the Lower Drin and the Adriatic, converge upon it. Scutari, or Shkodra, is the first oriental city which a traveller coming from Italy meets with, and the first impression made by its numerous gardens enclosed by high walls, its deserted streets and irregular buildings, is sufficiently curious. Long after he has entered the town, the traveller will remain uncertain as to its whereabouts. But let him climb to the summit of the limestone rock surmounted by the old Venetian castle of Rosapha, and the most magnificent panorama will {126} unfold itself before his eyes. The domes of Scutari, its twenty minarets, the emerald verdure of the plain, the surrounding amphitheatre of fantastically shaped mountains, the winding waters of the Boyana and Drin, and the placid surface of the lake glittering in the sun—these all combine to produce a spectacle of rare magnificence. The sea alone is wanting to render this picture perfect, but, though near, it is not within sight.[34]
V.—THE ILLYRIAN ALPS, BOSNIA, AND HERZEGOVINA.
Bosnia, in the north-western corner of Turkey, is the Switzerland of the European Orient, but it is a Switzerland whose mountains do not reach the zone of perennial snow and ice. In many respects the mountain ranges of Bosnia, and of its southern province, the Herzegovina, resemble those of the Jura. They, too, are composed principally of limestone, and rise in parallel ridges, surmounted here and there by sharp crests. Like the successive ridges of the Jura, they are of unequal height, and, taken as a whole, assume the appearance of a plateau traversed by parallel furrows, and gently sloping in one direction. The most elevated chain of Northern Bosnia is that which separates it from the coast of Dalmatia, and the less elevated ridges running parallel with it gradually decrease in height towards the north-east, in the direction of the plains of the Save.
Rocks not belonging to the Jurassic system, such as crystalline slates, dolomites, tertiary deposits, and serpentine, are met with in various localities, and impart some variety to the orographical features of Bosnia. Several crater-shaped depressions in the east and south-east separate the mountains of Bosnia from the mountain masses of Servia. The most remarkable amongst these plains is that of Novibazar, into which numerous torrents discharge themselves, and which commands roads diverging in various directions. This is the strategical key of the country, and is destined on this account to become an important railway junction.
TURKISH MULETEERS IN THE HERZEGOVINA.