THE LION OF ST. MARK AT VUNO: ALBANIA While not imposing in appearance like the famous Lion of Lucerne, similarly carved from the living rock, this bit of sculpture tells an interesting chapter in the history of Albania. It is a relic of medieval times, when Venice was not only mistress of the Albanian coast but the greatest commercial power in the world. the strictest possible observance of lawa tribal law founded upon a most distorted idea of personal and family honor. The smallest infraction of custom-a blow struck in anger, an unwitting shove in a crowd-inevitably led to the declaration of a blood feud, and the honor of the injured party was sullied until he had slain either the actual offender or some male member of his family. The relatives of the slain individual were then compelled to take up the man hunt, and thus the feud spread. So fatal were these feuds that in some mountain districts it is said an old man is seldom to be encountered, in spite of the traditional longevity of the Albanian race. The men were killed off before they attained patriarchal years. Many are the curious customs and rituals growing out of the blood feuds. It is the unwritten law of the land that a man must not be attacked while accom panied by a woman, and frequently a wife, daughter, or sister follows her menfolk on all journeys through the mountains in order, by her presence, to furnish protection from an implacable foe. Formerly in certain districts, it was possible to buy immunity from the vengeance of an aggrieved Albanian, the price varying from $50 to $80, according to the locality. A rigid code protects a guest in the mountain fastnesses, and if a traveler has slept under the roof of an Albanian the host, according to tribal law, is obligated to declare a blood feud against any person who insults or harms the visitor within a certain length of time after he has been entertained. A CHANGED ALBANIA Such is a picture drawn of the people of Albania less than a decade ago. It is in striking contrast to the country as I saw it a few weeks ago, under the control IRON-SHOD WAR HAS CROSSED AND CRUSHED THIS ANCIENT BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER VIOSA AT KLISURA: ALBANIA Albania's rivers will never help to solve the country's major problem of transportation, for none of them is navigable save the Boyana, which flows for 14 miles from Lake Scutari to the sea. of the French and Italian armies. The change is especially conspicuous in that part of Albania which is under Italian administration. There the children are sent to school; the natives are paid more than a living wage for work which often is for the benefit of the people themselves; the country is effectively policed by the soldiers; and not an armed native, except of the Bandes, is seen from one end of the occupied territory to the other. If feuds still exist they are unfulfilled and secret, for the arms of the mountaineers have been taken from them by the troops, and among themselves the AIbanians are practically at peace. The old conditions will probably never return. Light is coming to Albania! It seems probable that with political changes will come religious changes also, for, together with the Turks, many of the Moslem natives were driven from Albania; and with the coming of Italian schools and churches much increase in the influence of the Roman Catholic Church must naturally be felt. Under the Turks the great majority of the Albanians, probably more than threefifths, were Moslems. The conversion of the Christian population to Islam appears to have taken place during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Of the Christians about a sixth are Roman Catholics, the remainder Orthodox, or followers of the Greek Church. In deference to popular prejudices, the bishops and priests of the Catholic Church wear the moustache and are typical specimens of the church militant. Before the Italian occupation, education was almost non-existent in Albania; both Christian and Moslem were, and the adults still are, totally illiterate. Under Turkish control, instruction in the Albanian languag was prohibited for political reasons. A single exception was made in In certain remote mountain districts of Albania, the tribal law, known as the Canon of Lek (a legendary lawgiver), still obtains in full force. By this law a man is complete master in his own house and may even kill his wife or children. Marriages are frequently arranged in infancy and may be consummated when the girl becomes 14 years of age. Among mountain clans the women till the soil in the valleys while the men guard the flocks on the hillsides. the case of a little American school for girls at Koritza, which I visited. In the days of the Turk there were primary and secondary schools in some of the towns, and instruction in the Koran was given in the village mosques, but neither reading nor writing taught. ALBANIA UNDER THE AUSTRIANS It is true that at Scutari a college and a seminary were established, with the aid of the Austrian Government; the Franciscans had several primary schools and three lay schools were supported by the Italian Government, in its endeavor, even before the occupation, to educate the people. In all these institutions Italian was the language of instruction. The priests of the Greek Church, upon whom the rural population depended for instruction, were often deplorably ignorant. Of the Albanians north of the Allied lines no information is, of course, available, and the attitude of the Austrian, the German, and the Bulgar toward these unfortunate people is an unknown story, a hard one, I am inclined to think, from the rumors of hardship and forced labor which are current. Though no census of population has been taken, it is estimated that the Albanians as a whole number some two and a half million people.* Their home land is a magnificent country, with its chaos of grand mountains, deep and fertile valleys, and beautiful streams-a region without forests, almost without woodlands, it is true, but superb in its stern majesty. *An estimate given me in conversation in Albania as covering the entire race. It may be an overestimate. SKETCH MAP OF ALBANIA AND ITS BORDER COUNTRIES OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA The sector of Albania now occupied by Italian troops runs north of the river Viosa from the bend of the river Semini to the Adriatic on the west and the French Armee d'Orient on the east (see pages 90 and 91). The more attractive part of southern Albania lies, of course, near the Adriatic. Fruits and grain are profitably grown along the seacoast, with its sunlit inlets shut in by pleasant hills and with a climate which resembles that of Sicily. Excellent grazing lands extend up the mountain sides, affording pasturage in times of peace for large flocks and herds, the people's chief source of livelihood, while fish from the sea and the rivers and game from the hills-deer, wild boar, hares, game birds, bear, and even the chamois-are important resources. THE STRANGE RUMANI Among the Albanians lives a fragment of a strange people who call themselves Rumani, said to be descendants of the Romans of that fifth Roman legion which dispersed and was scattered along the old highway stretching from Durazzo to Constantinople. This great road of ancient Rome (Via Egnatia), called at its beginning the Appian Way, passes southeast through Italy to Brindisi; begins again at Durazzo, runs thence through Elbasan by Lake Ochrida to Krusha, and on to Monastir and Vodena; thence to Saloniki and beyond to Constantinople. The Rumani are very proud of their origin, and answer the question of race by saying, "I am a descendant of the Romans.' They are a simple, pastoral people, not given to robbery or brigandage. Their primitive little villages of stone are frequently seen in the mountains, often perched near high summits. A large colony of them, known as Vlachs, live on the slope of the Pindus Mountains in sight of Liascoviki, but far away across valley and gorge. As limited by the Conference of London, Albania has an area about equal to that of New Jersey and Delaware, but with only 800,000 inhab- |