away all the youths he found of an age suitable for his purpose. This led to a general insurrection of these Mahometan tribes; but being without either plan or chief to guide them, they must have been totally routed had not their countrymen, the Christian Miriditi mountaineers, come to their assistance. This time, the Nizam were taught that an Arnoutka gun carries further than a musket; and that a lance, when wielded by the sturdy arm of a mountaincer, is a weapon equally dangerous and effective as a bayonet. The warlike Pacha was not only soundly beaten, but forced to give up his recruits, or see the town of Scutari plundered and burnt.

In the best-ordered countries, the system of obtaining recruits by conscription, so allied to despotism, has its demoralizing effects; but the introduction of it into Albania, among a people so obstinately wedded to their own peculiar habits and customs, is certain to cause the Government of the Sultan to be abhorred, and leads to these eternal collisions between the people and the executive. When taken to the depôt, how frequently have I seen newly-captured conscripts, writhe, tear their hair, and scream like wild beasts when first arrayed in the costume of Western Europe, which became tenfold more violent when the cross-belt was placed over their shoulders; a symbol of Christianity which they had been taught by their fanatic priests to regard as a forcible baptism. The application of the knout, starvation and confinement, after a time tames them;

VOL. II.

K

and when disciplined, they form now, as they have ever done, the flower of the Turkish army, and being well fed and sufficiently provided for, generally remain true to their colours. I have also been assured by several intelligent Turkish officers, that they excel every other nationality in the Turkish empire, in the facility with which they acquire European discipline, and none are less susceptible of the influence of climate, sickness, and all the hardships and fatigues incident to the life of a soldier.

That great discontent prevails in Albania, as well as in the other provinces of European Turkey, is an undoubted fact, which ever must be the case in those countries when the Government is exchanging the barbarous rule of centuries for some approach towards a civilized administration; then the executive must of necessity sacrifice the interests of the few to the wellbeing of the many. In one place we have the Mahometans, headed by their hereditary chieftains, endeavouring to recover by force of arms their lost rights and privileges; in another, the Slavonians and Hellenic Greeks, still subject to the debasing servitude imposed on the Rayahs-the poll-tax and other grievances, from which the Mahometan is exempt-have become weary of Turkish rule, and plot sedition; and perhaps not the least among these grievances, and of which they loudly complain, are the grinding taxes, levied upon them by their high clergy, and countenanced by the Turkish Government, who regard them as civil officers, and

make them accountable to the executive for the obedience of their flocks. If to all this we add an occasional razzia made upon their property by some rapacious Mahometan in power, we cannot wonder that they occasionally resort to arms in self-defence.

With so many evils to combat, so many races and creeds to conciliate, the Turkish empire requires an able hand at the helm to steer its course with safety; still the Turkish Government displays much vigour in subduing apparently insurmountable difficulties, albeit, in a somewhat ruder style than we are accustomed to in the West. In every point of view we wish the Sultan success in carrying out the herculean work of reform his father, Sultan Mahmoud, had the courage to commence, and which has more than once reduced the

We wish him success,

empire to the brink of ruin. through motives of humanity, knowing as we do, that the evil passions-fanaticism and rivalry-of so many races and creeds, must, on the dissolution of Osmanli rule in these provinces of Turkey in Europe, lead to a fearful state of anarchy.

CHAPTER VI.

An original-The Albanian language-Commercial capabilities of the country-Its navigable rivers and lakes-Supineness of the Turkish Government-Defects as a ruling powerSketches of the country-Durazzo-Croia-The Doukadjini -Oros-Alessio-Scutari-Its lake and rivers-Singular abundance of fish-The Bocca di Cattaro-Its description as a naval station-How it fell into the power of AustriaBlockade of the coast of Albania by the Turkish Government -Embarrassments of a traveller-Asiatic cholera.

HAVING SO far withdrawn the veil that shrouded the political state of Albania, and recorded the most striking events in its contemporary history; sketched the character of the people, their nationality, passions, tendencies and creeds, with many of their customs and manners; we will resume our descriptions of the country, and continue our travels.

We left Stefa for a few days at Elbassan, engaged in disposing of his wares; and according to his accounts he found it a most lucrative station. There was a great

demand among the men for gilt

buttons, lace, and

braiding; and as to the fair dames, Stefa was absolutely dazzled with their beauty, for in their eager curiosity to admire the pretty trinkets, they removed the yashmak, and uncovered their snowy arms and neck to try on his necklaces and bracelets. It was evident Stefa was a privileged man; how far his personal attractions might tend to lull suspicion in their lords we will leave the reader to decide. In addition to being strongly marked with the small-pox, he had a pair of eyes, which during our travels far and wide we never saw equalled, one being dark as a sloe, the other green as a gooseberry; at the same time, the caprice of nature had so formed them, that while one of these singular orbs stared you full in the face, the other was gazing at some object in an opposite direction. This was not all, his head terminated in a point somewhat resembling a sugar-loaf; on the top of it, according to the custom of the inhabitants, he allowed a tuft of hair to grow, which by being twisted into a knot, added still more to the unnatural height of his head. We recommended him to give up his trade of hawker, journey to Western Europe, and make his fortune by exhibiting himself as a new species of the genus homo.

At Elbassan I found a most intelligent companion in M. Nicolo Chapelli, a Miriditi by birth, who having resided many years with his uncle at Trieste, spoke Italian fluently. M. Nicolo informed me that the Albanian language has for its foundation the Sanscrit, and contains all the gutteral sounds of the Celtic. I never met with any people that pronounced with greater