Journals of a landscape painter in Albania, &c

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JOURNALS

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LANDSCAPE PAINTER

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ALBANIA. &c

BY EDWARD LEAR

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LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY.

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Printci clnilze and Co., 13, Poland Street.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

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INTRODUCTION.

The following Notes were written during two
journeys through part of Turkey in Europe: — the
first, from Saloniki in a north-western direction
through ancient Macedonia, to Illyrian Albania,
and by the western coast through Epirus to the
northern boundary of modern Greece at the Gulf
of Arta : — the second, in Epirus and Thessaly.

Since the days of Gibbon, who wrote of
Albania, — "a country within sight of Italy
less known than the interior of America," —
much has been done for the topography of
these regions ; and those who wish for a clear
insight into their ancient and modern defini-
tions, are referred to the authors who, in the
present century, have so admirably investigated
and so admirably illustrated the subject. For
neither the ability of the writer of these

B

2 l\ I R0D1 i 1 11

journals, nor their -cope, permil of an) attempt
on his pari to follow in the track of those
learned travellers: enough if he may avail
himself of their Labours by quotation where
such aid is necessary throughout his memo-
randa <»!' an artist's mere tour of search among
the riches of far-away Landscape.

T<> the unlearned tourist, indeed, Albania is
a puzzle of the highest order. Whatever he
may already know of ancient nomenclature —
Epirus, Molossia, Thesprotia, &c, — is thwarted
and confused bv Turkish divisions and Pasha-
liks j beyond these, wheel within wheel, a
third set of names distract him in the shape of
native tribes and districts — Tjamouria, Dibra,
&c. And no sooner does he begin to un-
derstand the motley crowd which inhabits
these provinces — Greeks, Sclavonians, Alba-
nian-, Bulgarians, or Vlachi — than he is anew
bewildered by a fresh list of distinctive sub-
splittings, Liape, Mereditti, Khimariotes, and
T6skidhes. • Races, religions, and national
denominations seem so ill-defined, or so entan-
gled, thai he would give up the perplexing
study in despair, were it not for the assistance

Leake, " Northern Greece," Vol. I, p. 01.

INTRODUCTION. 3

of many excellent books already published on
the subject, a list of the principal of which is
subjoined.* Of these, the works of Colonel
Leake stand highest, as conveying by far the
greatest mass of minutely accurate information
regarding these magnificent and interesting
countries. Invaluable and remarkable as is the
amount of erudition set forth in these volumes,
the untiring research by means of which it
has been obtained is not less extraordinary,
and can only be fully appreciated by those
who are aware of the impediments with
which travelling in all seasons in those coun-
tries must, at that period, have fettered the
writer.

Geographer, antiquarian, classic, and poli-
tician, having done all in their power for a
region demanding great efforts of health and
energy to examine it, there is but little oppor-
tunity left for the gleanings of the landscape-

* " Travels in Northern Greece," by Colonel W. Martin
Leake; "A Journey through Albania, &c." (1809—10), by
J. C. Hobhouse; "Travels in Albania, Thessaly, &c."
(1812—13), by Henry Holland, M.D. ; "Travels in Greece
and Albania," (1813— 11), by the Rev. T. S. Hughes, B.D. ;
"The Spirit of the East/' (1830), by D. Urquhart, Esq.

B 2

I [NTR0D1 < TTON

painter. Yel of parts of A.croceraunia — of Kr<5ia
(the cit) of Scanderbeg), and of scenes in the
neighbourhood of Akhridha — the Lake Lych-
nitis, the Author believes himself to be the
onlj Englishman who has published any
account ; and scanty and slight as his may
be, it is something in these days to be able
to add the smallest mite of novelty to the
travel] re' world of information and interest.

The general and most striking character of
Albanian landscape is its display of objects, in
themselves beautiful and interesting — rarely to
be met with in combination. You have the
simple and exquisite mountain-forms of Greece,
bo perfect in outline and proportion — the lake,
the river, and the wide plain; and withal you
have the charm of architecture, the picturesque
mosque, the minaret, the fort, and the serai, —
which \<>u have not in modern Greece, for war
and change have deprived her of them ; you
have that which i< found neither in Greece
nor in Italy, a profusion everywhere of the
most magnificent foliage recalling the green-
nc^ of our own island — clustering plane and
chesnut, growth abundant of forest oak and
beech, and dark tract- of pine. You have ma-
jestic cliff-girl shores; castle-crowned heights,

INTRODUCTION. 5

and gloomy fortresses ; palaces glittering with
gilding and paint; mountain- passes such as you
encounter in the snowy regions of Switzerland ;
deep bays, and blue seas with bright, calm isles
resting on the horizon ; meadows and grassy
knolls ; convents and villages ; olive-clothed
slopes, and snow-capped mountain peaks ; —
and with all this a crowded variety of
costume and pictorial incident such as be-
wilders and delights an artist at each step he
takes.

Let us add besides that Olympus, Pindus,
Pharsalia, Actium, &c, are no common names,
and that every scene has its own link with
some historic or poetic association, and we
cannot but perceive that these parts of Turkey
in Europe are singularly rich in a combina-
tion of qualities, hardly to be found in any
other land.

These remarks apply more strictly to the
southern parts of Albania than to the extreme
north (or Ghegheria); for nearer the confines
of Bosnia the mountains are on too gigantic
a scale, and the features of the landscape too
extensive and diffuse to be easily represented
by the pencil. There is, however, abundance
of grandeur and sublimity through the whole

(i [NTR0D1 ( Tlu\

(<»uii!i\ ; though the farther you wander north
of EpiruSj the less ym find of that grace and
detail which is so attractive in southern Greece,
and more especially in Attica and the Pelopon-
nesus.

Regarding the besl mode of travelling, it is
almost superfluous to write, as the Hand-book
for travellers in the East* supplies excellent
information on thai head; yet the leading
points of a traveller's personal experience are
frequentlv worth knowing. A good dragoman,
or interpreter, is absolutely necessary, how-
ever man\ languages you may be acquainted
with: French, German, and Italian are useless,
and modem Greek nearly as much if you
travel higher than Macedonia : Bulgarian,
Albanian, Turkish, and Sclavonic are your
requisites in this Babel. Those who dislike
account-books and the minutiae thereof, may
rind it a good plan to pay their dragoman a
certain sum per diem — as C. M. C. and I
did Lasl year in Greece, where for one pound
five, including their own pay, the guides
are accustomed to provide for all your daily

d-bool I avellers in the [onias [glands, Gn

'i'n i, M 1845.)

INTRODUCTION. 7

wants — food, lodging, and conveyance, that is,
if you travel singly — or for one pound from each
person, if your party be two or more. In the
present case, I gave the man who accompanied
me one dollar daily, and settled for all the ex-
penses of food, horses, &c, at fixed times ;
the result of which plan, at the end of the
journey, was about the same, namely, that
one pound five a-day covered the whole of
my expenditure.

Previously to starting, a certain supply of
cooking utensils, tin plates, knives and forks,
a basin, &c. must absolutely be purchased,
the stronger and plainer the better ; for you
go into lands where pots and pans are un-
known, and all culinary processes are to be
performed in strange localities, innocent of
artificial means. A light mattress, some sheets
and blankets, and a good supply of capotes and
plaids should not be neglected ; two or three
books ; some rice, curry-powder, and cayenne ;
a world of drawing materials — if you be a hard
sketcher ; as little dress as possible, though you
must have two sets of outer clothing — one for
visiting consuls, pashas, and dignitaries, the
other for rough, everyday work ; some quinine
made into pills (rather leave all behind than

s [NTB0D1 < TIOW

this); a Boyourldi, or genera] order of intro-
duction to governors or pashas ; and your
Tesker£, or provincial passport for yourself and
guide. All these are absolutely indispensable,
and beyond these, the less you augment your
impedimenta by luxuries the better; though a
long strap with a pair of ordinary stirrups, to
throw over the Turkish saddles, may be
recommended to save you the cramp caused
l»\ the awkward shovel-stirrups of the country.
Arms and ammunition, tine raiment, presents
for natives, arc all nonsense; simplicity should
be your aim. When all these things, so generi-
c-ally termed kk Roba" by Italians, are in order,
Mow them into two Brobdignagian saddle-bags,
united by a cord (if you can get leather bags
so much the better, if not, goats'-hair sacks);
and by these hamrinir on each side of the bag-
gage-horse's saddle, no trouble will ever be
given from seceding bits of luggage escaping at
unexpected intervals. Until you adopt this
plan, (the simplest of any,) you will lose much
time daily by the constant necessity of putting
the baggage in order.

Journeys in Albania vary in length accord-
ing to your will, for there are usually roadside
khan- at from two to four hours* distance. Ten

INTRODUCTION. 9

hours' riding is as much as you can manage,
if any sketching is to be secured ; but I gene-
rally found eight sufficient.

A khan is a species of public-house rented
by the keeper or Khanji from the Govern-
ment, and is open to all comers. You find
food in it sometimes — sometimes not, when
you fall back on your own rice and curry-
powder. In large towns, the khan is a three-
sided building enclosed in a court-yard, and
consisting of two floors, the lower a stable,
the upper divided into chambers, opening into
a wooden gallery which runs all round the
building, and to which you ascend outside by
stairs. In unfrequented districts, the khan is a
single room, or barn, with a raised floor at one
end for humanity, and all the rest devoted to
cattle — sometimes quadrupeds and bipeds are
all mixed up together. First come, first served,
is the rule in these establishments ; and as any
person who can pay the trifle required by the
Khanji for lodging may sleep in them, your
company is oftentimes not select ; but of this, as
of the kind of khan you stop at, you must
take your chance.

The best way of taking money is by
procuring letters on consular agents, or mer-

10 INTRODUCTION

chants from toWD to town, so as to carry
as little coin as possible with yon ; and
your l>a<i- of piastres yon pack in your
carpet-bag by day, and use as a pillow by
night.

In the orthography of names of places, &c.
throughout the tour, I have implicitly followed
Colonel Leake.

JOURNALS

OF

A LANDSCAPE PAINTEE.

September 9, 1848.

After severe illness in Greece, and repeated
subsequent attacks of that persevering enemy,
fever, six weeks of repose in the house of
the British Embassy, on the banks of the
Bosphorus, under the care of the kindest of
families, have at length restored energy, if not
perfect health ; and as the summer flies, and
the time for travelling is shortened, a long-
anticipated plan of visiting parts of ancient
Greece, Albania, &c, must be put in effect
now, or not at all. To see the classic vale of
Tempe, the sacred mountain of Athos, and the

1 2 JOl ELNAL8 OF

romantic Ioannina, have always been among
m\ wishes; and I bad long ago determined
on making, previously to returning to England,

B large collection of sketches illustrative of
the landscape of Greece. So, now that change
of air and place is desirable as a matter of
health, ni\ motives for making this journey
;ii- more powerful than ever, and overcome
even the fear of renewed illness on the way.
('. M. ('. is already gone before me to the
Troad, and from thence will meet me in the
peninsula of Athos, whence we shall pursue
our travels together as heretofore.

:* p.m. — Came on board the ' Ferdinando,' an
Austrian steamer running between Constanti-
nople and Saloniki; and a pretty place does it
seem to pass two or three days in ! Every point
of the lower deck — all of it — is crammed with
Turks, .lews, Greeks, Bulgarians, wedged to-
gether with a density, compared to which a
crowded Gravesend steamer is emptiness : a
-eetion of a fig-drum, or of a herring-barrel
is the only apt simile for this extraordinary
crowd of recumbent human beings, who are
all going to Saloniki, as a starting-point for
Thessaly, Bosnia, Wallacbia, or any part of
Northern Turkey. This motley cargo is not of

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 13

ordinary occurrence ; but the second Saloniki
steamer, which should have started to-day, has
fallen indisposed in its wheels or boiler ; so we
have a double load for our share.

Walking carefully over my fellow-passengers,
I reached the first-class part of the deck — a
small, raised triangle, railed off from the throng
below, half of which is allotted to Christians
(the Austrian Consul at Saloniki and his family
being the only Christians besides myself), and
the other half tabooed for the use of a
hareem of Turkish females, who entirely cover
the floor with a diversity of robes, pink, blue,
chocolate, and amber; pea, sea, olive, bottle,
pale, and dark green ; above which parterre of
colours are numerous heads, all wrapped in
white muslin, excepting as many pair of eyes
undistinguishably similar. There is a good
cabin below ; but owing to a row of obstructive
Mussulmen who choose to cover up the grated
opening with shutters, that they may sit quietly
upon them to smoke, it is quite dark, so I
remain on deck. We are a silent community :
the smoking Turks are silent, and so is the
strange hareem. The Consul and his wife, and
their two pretty daughters, are silent, because
they fear cholera at Saloniki — which the young

I I Jul |i\ \|.s 0?

ladies declare is " un pessimo esilio"* — and
because the\ are regretting aorthern friends. 1
am Bilent, IVoni much thought, and some weak-
uess consequenl on Long illness: and the extra
cargo in the lower deck arc silent also — per-
haps because they have not room to talk. At
four, the anchor is weighed, and we begin
to paddle away from the many domed mosques
and bright minarets of Constantinople, and
the gay sides of the Golden Horn, with its
caiques and its cypresses towering against
the deepening blue sky, when lo ! we do
not turn towards the sea, but proceed igno-
miniously to tow a great coal-ship all the
way to Buyukdere, so there is a moving
panorama of all the Bosphorus bestowed on us
gratis, — Kandili, Baltaliman, Bebek, Yenikoi,
Therapia, with its well-known walks and pines
and planes, and lastly Buyukdere, where we
leave our dingy charge and return, evening
darkening over the Giant's Hill, Unkiar
Skelessi, and Anatoli Hissar, till we sail
forth into the broad Sea of Marmora, leaving
Scutari and the towers of wonderful Stamboul
first pale and distinct in the light of the

* An odious banishment.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 15

rising moon, and then glittering and lessen-
ing on the calm horizon, till they, and
the memory that I have been among them
for seven weeks, seem alike part of the world
of dreams.

September 10.

Half the morning we lie off Gallipoli, taking
in merchandize, and indulging in eccentric
casualties, — demolishing the bowsprit of one
vessel and injuring divers others, for which
we are condemned to three hours of clamour
and arrangement of compensation. In the
afternoon we wait off the Dardanelles, not an
inviting town as beheld from the sea ; C. M. C.
(says the Consul's son) sets off for Athos in two
days to meet me. Again we move, and day
wears away amid perplexing twinges foresha-
dowing fever (for your Greek fever when once
he has fairly secured you is your Old Man of
the Sea for a weary while ; you tremble — and
fly to quinine as your only chance of escape).
Towards four or five the mountains of the
Troad fade away in the distance ; later we
pass near the isles of Imbros and Samothrakos ;
and later yet, when the unclouded sun has

16 JOURNALS "I

Slink clown, a mountain pile of awful form

looms sublimely in the west — rising from the
glassy calm waters against the clear amber
western sky: it is Mount Athos.

September 11.

At sunrise the highest peaks of Athos were
still visible above the long, low line of Cape
Drepano, and at noon we were making way
up the Gulf of Saloniki, Ossa and Olympus
on our left — lines of noble mountain grandeur,
but becoming rapidly indistinct as a thick
scirocco-like vapour gradually shrouded over all
the features of the western shore of the gulf.
N 'import e — the Vale of Tempe, so long a dim
expectation, is now a near reality ; and Olympus
is indubitably at hand, though invisible for the
present. There were wearily long flat points of
land to pass (all, however, full of interest as
parts of the once flourishing Chalcidice), ere
Saloniki was visible, a triangle enclosed in a
border of white walls on the hill at the head of
the gulf; and it was nearly six p.m. before we
reached the harbour and anchored.

Instantly the wildest confusion seized all
the passive human freight. The polychromatic

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 1 7

hareem arose, and moved like a bed of tulips
in a breeze ; the packed Wallachians, and
Bosniacs, and Jews started crampfully from
the deck, and disentangled themselves into
numerous boats ; the Consular Esiliati departed ;
and lastly, I and my dragoman prepared to go,
and were soon at shore, though it was not so
easy to be upon it. Saloniki is inhabited by a
very great proportion of Jews ; nearly all the
porters in the city are of that nation, and now
that the cholera had rendered employment
scarce, there were literally crowds of black-
turbaned Hebrews at the water's edge,
speculating on the possible share of each in
the conveyance of luggage from the steamer.
The enthusiastic Israelites rushed into the water,
and seizing my arms and legs, tore me out of
the boat, and up a narrow board, with the most
unsatisfactory zeal ; immediately after which
they fell upon my enraged dragoman in the
same mode, and finally throwing themselves
on my luggage, each portion of it was claimed
by ten or twelve frenzied agitators, who pulled
this way and that way, till I who stood apart,
resigned to whatever might happen, confidently
awaited the total destruction of my " roba."
From yells and pullings to and fro, the scene

c

-

I s JOURU \l> 01

changed in a few minutes to a real fight,
and the whok' community fell to the most
furious hair-pulling, turban-clenching, and robe-
tearing, till the luggage was forgotten, and
all the party was involved in one terrific
combat. How this exhibition would have
ended 1 cannot tell, for in the heat of the
conflict niv man came running with a half-
-core of Government Kawasi, or police; and
the way in which they fell to belabouring the
enraged Hebrews was a thing never to be
forgotten. These took a deal of severe beating
from -ticks and whips before they gave way, and
eventually some six or eight were selected to
carry the packages of the Ingliz, which 1
followed into the city, not unvexed at being the
indirect cause of so much strife.*

In Saloniki there is a Locanda — a kind of
hotel — the last dim shadow of European
v* accommodation" between Stamboul and
taro : it is kept by the politest of Tuscans,
and the hostess is the most corpulent and
blackest of negresses. Thither we went; but

* The Jews in Saloniki arc descended from those expelled
from Spain in the fifteenth century : they are said to amount in
Dumber to four thousand.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 1 9

I observed, with pain, that the state of the
city was far more melancholy than I had
had reason to suppose : all the bazaars (long
lines of shops) were closed and tenantless :
the o^loom and deserted air of the streets was
most sad, and I needed not to be told that
the cholera, or whatever were the complaint
so generally raging, had broken out with
fresh virulence since the last accounts received
at Constantinople, and nearly three-fourths of
the living population had fled from their houses
into the adjacent country. And no sooner was
I settled in a room at the inn, than, sen ding-
Giorgio to the British Consulate, I awaited his
return and report with some anxiety.

Presently in came Giorgio with the dreariest
of faces, and the bearer of what to me were, in
truth, seriously vexatious news.

The cholera, contrary to the intelligence
received in Stamboul, which represented the
disease as on the decline, had indeed broken
out afresh, and was spreading, or — what is
the same thing as to results, if a panic be once
rife — was supposed to be spreading on all sides.
The surrounding villages had taken alarm, and
had drawn a strict " cordon sanitaire" between
themselves and the enemv ; and, worse than

c 2

>20 .K»i. i:\ \i> 01

all, the monks of Mount Athos bad utterly
prohibited all communication between their
peninsula and the infected city; so that any
attempt on my part to join C. M. C. would
be useless, no person being allowed to proceed
beyond a few miles outside the eastern gate of
Saloniki. No one could tell how lon<r this
state of things would last; for, although the
epidemic was perhaps actually decreasing in
violence, yet the fear of contagion was by no
means so. Multitudes of the inhabitants of
the suburbs and adjacent villages had tied to
the plains, and to pa*>s them would be an
impossibility. On the south-western road to
Greece or Epirus, the difficulty was the same :
even at Katerma, or Platamona, the peasants
would allow no one to land.*

Here was a dilemma ! — a pleasant fix ! yet
it was one that required the remedy of resolve,
rather than of patience. To remain in a city
full of epidemic disease, (and those only who
have seen an Oriental provincial town under

* Such were tliv representations made to me at the time,
and which naturally deterred mc from attempting to reach
Mount Athos; but 1 have since had reason to believe thai the
state of alarm and panic was greatly exaggerated.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 9 1

such circumstances can estimate their horror),
myself but convalescent, was literally to court
the risk of renewed illness, or at best com-
pulsory detention by quarantine. Therefore,
after weighing the matter well, I decided
that my first step must be to leave Saloniki
at the very earliest opportunity. But whither
to go ? Mount Athos was shut ; the west-coast
of the gulf was tabooed. There were but
two plans open : — the first was to return
by the next steamer to Constantinople ; but
this involved a fortnight's waiting, at least, in
the place of pestilence, with the chance of
being disabled before the time of departure
came ; and even could I adopt such means of
escape, the expense and mortification of going
back was, if possible, to be shunned.

The second " modus operandi" was to set
off directly, by the north-west road, through
Macedonia to Illyrian Albania, by the ancient
Via Egnatia, and so rejoin C. M. C. at Ioannina.
This plan, though not without weighty ob-
jection— of which the being compelled to go
alone, and the great distance of the journey
were prominent — appeared to me the only
safe and feasible one ; and, after much reflection,
I finally determined to adopt it. After all,

._>._) 11 i;\ Oi8 OF

looking at things on their brightest side, when

■

once they were discovered to be inevitable —
though I was unable to meet my friend, I had
a good servant accustomed to travel with
Englishmen : health would certainly improve
in the air of the mountain country, and
professional objects, long in view, would not
be sacrificed. As for the risk run by thus
rushing into strange places, and among un-
known people, when a man has walked all over
the wildest parts of Italy, he does not prog-
nosticate danger. Possibly one may get only as
far as Monastir — the capital of Macedonia — and
then make southward, having seen Yenidje and
Edessa — places all full of beauty and interest ;
or, beyond Monastir, lies Akhridha and its lake,
and farther yet Elbassan, or even Scodra —
highest in the wilds of Gheghe Albania.
Mak . thought I to myself, no definite
arrangement beyond that of escape from
Salorukj ; put yourself, as a predestinarian
might -ay, calmly into the dice-box of small
<Miii-, and I)- shaken out whenever circum-
stances may ordain : only go, and as soon as
you can. So, Giorgio, have horses and all
minor matters in complete readiness at sunrise
the da\ after to-morrow.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 23

September 12.

This intervening day before my start " some-
where or other" to-morrow, I set apart for
lionizing Saloniki with a cicerone.*

Whatever the past of Saloniki, its present
seems gloomy enough. The woe, the doleful-
ness of this city ! its narrow, ill-paved streets ;
(evil awaits the man who tries to walk with
nailed boots on the rounded, slippery stones
of a Turkish pavement !) the very few people
I met in them, carefully avoiding contact ; the
closed houses ; the ominous silence ; the
sultry, oppressive heat of the day ; all con-
tributed to impress the mind with a feeling
of heavy melancholy. A few Jews in dark
dresses and turbans ; Jewesses, their hair tied
up in long, caterpillar-like green-silk bags,
three feet in length ; Greek porters, aged
blacks, of whom — freed slaves from Stamboul
— there are many in Saloniki ; these were the
only human beings I encountered in threading

* Yov accounts of Saloniki, the ancient Thcssalonica, see
Leake, "Northern Greece," Vol. Ill, p. 239; Dr. Holland,
p. 320.

•_> i J01 EtNALS "I

a Labyrinth of lanes in the lower town,
ascending towards the tipper part of this
formerly extensive city. Once, a bier with a
corpse on it, borne by some six or eight of
the mosl wretched creatures, crossed my path;
and when 1 arrived at the beautiful ruin called
the Ineantada, two women, I was told, had
jusl expired within the court-yard, and, said
the ghastly-looking Greek on the threshold,
" Yon may may come in and examine what
you please, and welcome; but once in you
are in quarantine, and may not go out," an
invitation I declined as politely as I could,
and passed onward. From the convent at
the summit of the town, just within its white
walls, the view should be most glorious, as
one ought to see the whole of the gulf, and
all the range of Olympus; but, alas! beyond
the silvery minarets relieving the monotonous
surface of roofs below, and the delicately
indented shore and blue gulf, all else was
blotted out, as it were, by a curtain of hot
purple haze, telling tales to my fancy of miasma
and cholera, fever and death.

Willing to exercise the mind as much as
possible in a place so full of melancholy
influences, I examined, in order, every ruin

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 25

and record of old Thessalonica — the mosques
in the lower town, and in the courtyard of
one of these the pulpit said to be St. Paul's,
the Roman arch, with its bassi rilievi, and
the Hippodrome; and, although there was no
one of these I particularly regretted that I
could not draw, yet I saw an infinity of
picturesque bits, cypresses, and minarets, and
latticed houses ; and doubtless, under more
cheering circumstances, a week in Saloniki
might be well spent. But the fear of fever
deterred me from great exertion, and sent me
home long ere noon. Sad, gloomy and
confused memories of Saloniki are all I shall
carry away with me. In the afternoon,
Mr. C. Blunt, our Consul, came to me, and
strongly recommended my own decision as
the best, his account of Athos and the
west coast being confirmatory of that I had
previously heard. The evening was passed
with his agreeable family, long resident here

September 13.

By 7 a.m. the four post-horses and the
Soorudji are ready. In these parts of Turkey,
blessed with a post-road, you have no choice

•_)(i JOURNALS 01

as to your mode of travelling, nor can you
stop where you will, so easily as you may with
horses hired from private owners. Yenidje
being the next post from Saloniki (reckoned

ten hour-), thither must I go. The Soorudjl
or post-boy, always rides first. Leading the
baggage-horse, and is almost always fair food
for the pencil, for he wears a drab jacket with
strange sky-blue embroideries, a short kilt, and
other arrangements highly artistical.

The morning was sultry and uninviting.
We left the ill-paved, gloomy Saloniki by the
Vardhari gate, which, at that early hour, was
crowded with groups of the utmost picturesque-
uess, bringing ^oods to market in carts drawn
by white-eyed buffali : immense heaps of
melons appeared to be the principal article
of trade ; but their sale being prohibited
within the walls of the city, on account of
tlie cholera, the remaining inhabitants came
outside to buy them, taking them in "nascos-
tamente."

The broad, sandy road, enlivened for a

time by these peasants, soon grew tiresome,

it stretched over a plain, whose extent and

Secretly.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 27

beauty were altogether hidden by the thick
haze which clung close to the horizon. Hardly
were the bright white walls of Salomki long-
distinguishable ; and as for the mountains and
Olympus, they were all as if they were not,
— a colourless, desert " pianura" — such
seemed my day's task to overcome. Never-
theless, though the picture was a failure as a
whole, its details kept me awake and pleased,
varieties of zoology attracting observation on
all sides. Countless kestrils hovering in the
air, or rocking on tall thistles ; hoopoes,
rollers, myriads of jackdaws, great broad-
winged falcons soaring above, and beautiful
grey-headed ones sitting composedly close to
the roadside as we passed — so striking in
these regions is the effect of the general system
of kindness towards animals prevalent through-
out Turkey — the small black-and-white vulture
was there too, and now and then a graceful
milk-white egret, slowly stalking in searchful
meditation.

The usual pace of the Menzil* is a very
quick trot, and the great distance accomplished
by Tatars-^ in their journeys is well authenti-

* Menzil, the Turkish post. t Tatar, a courier.

28 J0UKNAL8 OF

cated; l)iit not being up to hard work, I rode
slowrj : besides, the short shovel stirrups and

peaked saddle are troubles you by no means
gel used to in a first lesson. At half-past
eleven we reached the Vardhari, a broad river,
(the apple of discord between Greek and
Turk, as a boundary question), and here
crossed by a long structure of wood, bristling
with props and prongs : near its left bank
stands a khan — destined to be our mid-day
resting-place.*

A sort of raised wooden dais, or platform,
extends before the roadside Turkish khan : here
mats are spread, and day- wayfarers repose,
the roof, prolonged on poles, serving as shelter
from sun or rain. Three Albanian guards —
each a picture — were smoking on one side,
and while Giorgio was preparing my dinner
of cold fowl and an omelette on the other, I
sketch the bridge, and watch the infinite
novelty of the moving parts of the scene,
which make this wild, simple picture alive
with interest, for the bridge and a few willows

* Vardhari, anciently the Axius : the bridge is eighteen
hundred feel in length. Leake, "Northern Greece," Vol. ITT
. !58.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 29

are foreground and middle distance : remote
view there is none. Herds of slow, bare-hided
buffali, each with a white spot on the forehead,
and with eyes of bright white, — surrounded by
juvenile buffalini, only less awkward than
themselves ; flocks of milk-white sheep,
drinking in the river ; here and there a
passing Mohammedan on horseback, one of
whom, I observed, carried a hooded falcon,
with bells on his turban ; how I wished all
these things could be pourtrayed satisfactorily,
and how I looked forward to increasing beauty
of costume and scenery when among the wilder
parts of the country.

1 p.m. Again in travelling trim, and crossing
the ricketty bridge; we trotted, or gallopped
for three hours across a continuous, wide,
undulating bare plain, only enlivened by
zoological appearances as before, all the distant
landscape being hidden still. Near the road
many great tumuli were observable on either
side during the day, and a large portion of
the plain near the Vardhari was white with
salt, a kind of saline mist appearing to fall
for more than an hour. At the eighth hour
we had approached so near the mountains that
their forms came out clearly through the

30 •'"l RNAL8 Of

haz) atmosphere, and one needle-like white
column, the minaret of the chief mosque of
Yenidje was visible, the town itself being
nearly reached at the ninth hour, an event
which, with a stumbling horse and fatigued
Limbs, I gladly hailed.

It would not do to let a day pass without
making a large drawing, so 1 waited outside
the town or village, to work until sunset.
Yenidje- is near the site of ancient Pella,
the birthplace of Alexander the Great ; in
our days it i> a beautiful specimen of Mace-
donian town-scenery, situated in proves of rich
foliage, over-topped by shining white minarets,
with here and there, one or two mosque domes,
and a few tall, dark cypresses ; these are the
most prominent features ; all the little dirty
houses, which a nearer acquaintance makes
you too familiar with, are hidden by the
trees, so that the difference between that
which seems, and that which is, is vastly
wide. Yet as (my drawing done) I entered
the place, nothing can be more striking and

* Or Jannitza : Apostolus, a village at a small distance, is
the nearest place to the actual site of Fella. Leake, "Northern
Oreece," Vol. 111. p. 270.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 31

characteristic than the interior of the village,
though the poetry and grandeur vanish. Lanes,
rich in vegetation, and broken ground, animated
by every variety of costume, surround the
entrance, and conduct you to streets, narrow
and flanked with wooden, two-storied houses,
galleried and raftered, with broad-tiled eaves
overshadowing groups of Turks or Greeks,
recumbent and smoking in the upper floor,
while loiterers stand at the shop-doors below :
in the kennel are geese in crowds, and the
remainder of the street is as fully occupied
by goats and buffaloes, as by Turks or Christians.
Beyond all this are mountains of grandest form,
appearing over the high, dark trees, so that
altogether no artist need complain of this as a
subject.

Curious to know how one would be off for
lodgings in Macedonia, I found Giorgio at the
postmaster's house, where, in one of the above-
noticed wooden galleries, (six or eight silent
Turks sat puffing around) I was glad of a
basin of tea. But it is most difficult to
adopt the Oriental mode of sitting ; cross-
leggism, from first to last, was insupportable
to me, and, as chairs exist not, everything
must needs be done at full length. Yet it is a

32 ■l"' KN \1.> "I

great charm of Turkish character that they
uever stare or wonder at anything; you are
not bored by any questions, and I am satisfied
thai if you chose to take your tea while
suspended by your feet from the ceiling, not
a word would be said, or a sign of amazement
betrayed; in consequence you soon lose the
sense of the absurd so nearly akin to shame,
on which you are forced to dwell if constantly
reminded of your awkwardness by observation
or interrogation.

Whatever may be said of the wrretchedly
*k bare" state of a Turkish house, or khan, that,
in my estimation, is its chief virtue. The closet
(literally a closet, being about six feet six inches
by four, and perfectly guiltless of furniture) in
which my mattress was placed, was floored with
new deal, and whitewashed all over, so that a
few minutes' sweeping made it a clean, respect-
able habitation, such as you would find but
seldom in Italian Locande of greater pretension.
One may not, however, always be so lucky;
but if all the route has accommodations like
this, there will be no great hardship to
encounter.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 33

September 14.

To make sure of as long a day as possible,
the elaborate northern meal of breakfast may be
well omitted ; a good basin of coffee and some
toast is always enough, and is soon over, and
until starting-time there are always stray
minutes for sketching. The inhabitants of
Yenidje seem to know little of the " malattia"*
(though but nine hours distant) at Saloniki,
and ask few questions about it ; but Turks are
such imperturbable people that it is not easy
to discover their thoughts. The outskirts of this
quiet town are most peaceful and rural, and the
picturesque odds and ends within might occupy
the man of the pencil pleasantly and profitably.

While taking a parting cup of coffee with
the postmaster, I unluckily set my foot on a
handsome pipe-bowl, (pipe-bowls are always
snares to near-sighted people moving over
Turkish floors, as they are scattered in places
quite remote from the smokers, who live at
the farther end of prodigiously long pipe-
sticks) — crash ; but nobody moved ; only on
apologizing through Giorgio, the polite

* Illness.

D

H\ JOl l:\ LLS 01

Mohammedan said: "The breaking such a

pipe-bowl would indeed, under ordinary cir-
cumstances, be disagreeable ; but in a friend
every action has its charm !" — a speech which
recalled the injunction of the Italian to his
son on Leaving home, " Whenever anybody
treads upon your foot in company, and says,
' Scusatemi,' only reply: ' Anzi — mi ha fatto
un piacere !' "*

The morning seemed lowering, and a drizzling
rain soon fell. This perpetual haze must end
in some one or two days' hard rain before the
weather clears, and I speculate where the
durance is to be borne the while. Avoiding the
grass-grown raised pavement, which is the
post-road in Turkey, wherever mud or water
prevent your using the broad track parallel to
which it leads, we advanced by well-worn
paths over a plain somewhat similar to that
of yesterday, but which became more marshy,
and in parts more cultivated, as we approached
the hills of Vodhena, backed by the dark cloudy
mountains beyond. From time to time we pass
herds of buffaloes ; falcons are numerous on all
>ide^, and, added to yesterday's ornithology,

I beg pardon. On the contrary, you have done me a pleasure.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 35

there are hooded crows, rooks, coots, quails,
and plovers. At eleven, we arrive at Arnaoutlik,
a village of Greek and Bulgarian Christian pea-
sants.

Of Giorgio, dragoman, cook, valet, inter-
preter and guide, I have had as yet nothing to
complain ; he is at home in all kinds of tongues,
speaking ten fluently, an accomplishment com-
mon to many of the travelling Oriental Greeks,
for he is a Smyrniote by birth. In countenance
my attendant is somewhat like one of those
strange faces, lion or griffin, which we see on
door-knockers or urn-handles, and a grim twist
of his under-jaw gives an idea that it would
not be safe to try his temper too much. In
the morning he is diffuse, and dilates on
past journeys ; after noon his remarks become
short, and sententious — not to say surly. Any
appearance of indecision evidently moves him to
anger speedily. It is necessary to watch the
disposition of a servant on whom so much
of one's personal comfort depends, and it
is equally necessary to give as little trouble as
possible, for a good dragoman has always
enough to do without extra whims or worrvings
from his employer.

At Arnaoutlik the horses rest, and the fire

D 2

H(] JOURNALS OT

of the khan is in request, for rain has fallen all
the morning, though capotes and plaids kept
it off pretty well. The village, composed of
scattered wooden houses, is full of prettiness;

but fierce dogs, when the rain ceases, prevent my
going near any of the buildings, as much as a
multitude of wasps do my eating a peaceful
dinner on the khan platform. Yet, spite of dogs,
wasps, and wet, distances veiled over by cloud,
and all other hindrances, there is opportunity to
remark in the scene before me a subject some-
what ready-made to the pencil of a painter,
which is marvellous : it is not easy to say why
it is so, but a picture it is. Copy what you
see before you, and you have a picture full of
good qualities, in its way — a small way, we
grant — a mere village landscape in a classic
land. Blocks of old stone — squared and cut
long ago in other ages — overgrown with
very long irrass, clustering lentisk, and glossy
leaves of arum, form vour nearest foreground ;
among them sit and lie three Soorudgis,
white-kilted, red, brown and orange-jacketed,
red-capped, piped, moustached, blue-gaitered,
bare-footed. Your next distance is a flat bit
of sandy ground, with a winding road, and
on it one white-capoted shepherd : beyond.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 37

yet still near the eye, is a tract of gray earth,
something between common and quarry, broken
into miniature ravines, and tufted with short
herbage : here, lie some fifty white and black
sheep, and a pair of slumbering dogs, while
near them two shepherd-boys are playing on
a simple reed-like flute, such as Praxiteles might
have put in a statue's hands. A little farther on
you see two pale stone and wooden houses, with
tiled roofs, mud walls, and long galleries hung
with many a coloured bit of carpet. Close by,
in gardens, dark-cloaked women are gathering
gourds, and placing them on the roofs to dry.
Gray, tall willows, and spreading planes over-
shade these houses, and between the trees you
catch a line of pale lilac plain, with faint blue
hills of exquisite shapes — the last link in the
landscape betwixt earth and heaven.

At half-past one p.m. a re-start. Sky clearing,
and high mountains peeping forth. Cultivation
increases, and fields of gran-turco or Indian corn
are frequent as we approach the valley of the
Karasmak,* which we cross by a bridge, and
the country becomes more and more thickly
studded with groups of planes and various trees.

* Karasmak or Mavroneri — anciently the river Lydias.
Leake.

38 J01 ELNAL8 OP

At half-past three we are in sight of Yodhcna,*
and a more beautifully situated place can hardly
be imagined, even shorn as it is just now by cloud
and mist of its mountain background. It stands
on a long ridge of wooded cliff, with mosques
sparkling above, and waterfalls glittering down
the hill-side, not unlike the Cascatelli of Tivoli,
the whole screen of rock seeming; to close up
the valley as a natural wall.

The air began to freshen as the road
ascended from the plain through prodigiously
huge walnut and plane-trees shading the
winding paths, and as the valley narrowed,
the rushing of many streams below the waving
branches was most delicious ; between the fine
groups of dense foliage, the dark mass of the
woody rock of Vodhena is irresistibly beautiful,
and before we reached the dreary scattered
walls and suburb lanes, by climbing for half
an hour up a winding pass between high rocks,
I was more than once tempted to linger and
draw. From the proud height on which this
ancient city stood, the combination of green
wood, yellow plain, and distant mountain was
most lovely, and I can conceive that when the

.l._;< "i- Odessa, the capital of ancient Macedonia. Lc-akr,
Northern Greece," Vol. IH . 272.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 39

atmosphere is clear, and all the majesty of
Olympus, with the gulf of Saloniki (and perhaps
Athos) also are visible, few scenes in Greece can
surpass the splendour of this.

After six, we arrived at the postmaster's
house in the centre of the town — one of those
strange, wide-eaved, double-bodied, painted and
galleried Turkish abodes which strike the
stranger with wonder ; but the whole place
was full of the retinue of some travelling Pasha
— guards above, and horses below — a small
outhouse abounding with cats and cobwebs
being also full of a large party of Bulgarian
merchants. So Giorgio set out to seek a
lodging in some Greek tradesman's house, and
I wound up the evening by a prowl through
the streets of the town, in which, to all the
varieties of Yenidje, is added a profusion of
fountains of running water, and numerous
streams half the width of its sloping streets.
Tea and lodging (so called) I found prepared
over a large stable — a great falling off from
last night's accommodation — the floor of the
barn being of that vague nature that one
contemplated the horses below through various
large cavities, by means of some of which one
might, by any too hasty movement, descend
unwittingly among them ere morning.

,\{) .1(11 li\ U,S Ol

September 15.

By five 1 was out on the road to Yenidje,
at a dervish's tomb, not far from the town, a
spot which I had remarked yesterday, as pro-
mising, if weather permitted, a good view east-
ward. All the plain below is bright yellow as the
sun rises gloriously, and Olympus is for once
in perfect splendour, with all its snowy peaks ;
but the daily perplexity of mist and cloud
rapidly soars upward, and hardly leaves time
for a sketch ere all is once more shrouded
away.

The dervish's, or saint's tomb, is such as
you remark frequently on the outskirts of
Mohammedan towns in the midst of wide
cemeteries of humble sepulchres — a quadrangu-
lar structure three or four feet high, with pillars
at the corners, supporting a dome of varying
height ; beneath its centre is usually the carved
emblem of the saint's rank, his turban, or
high-crowned hat. As these tombs are often
-haded by trees, their effect is very pleasing,
the more so that the cemeteries are mostly
frequented by the contemplative faithful. Often,
in their vicinity, especially if the position of
the tombs commands a tine view, or is near

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 41

a running stream, you may notice one of those
raised platforms, with a cage-like palisade,
and supporting a roof, in the shade of which
the Mohammedan delights to squat and smoke.
There is one close by me now, in which a
solitary elder sits, in the enjoyment of tobacco
and serenity, and looking in his blue and yellow
robes very like an encaged macaw.

A quick run down the rocky pass of last
evening, brought me to the great plane-trees,
and the bright stream, whence Vodhena, on
its hill, is so lovely — a scene difficult to match
in beauty. I met many peasants, and long
strings of laden mules, but no one took the
faintest notice of me — a negative civility
highly gratifying, after all one hears of the
ferocity of the aborigines of these regions.
That the road as far as Vodhena is considered
carriageable was proved to me by the strange
spectacle which passed me on my way up to
the town — eight horses pulling up the steep
ascent with a carriage full of masked ladies,
the beloved of some Mohammedan dignitary.
Eight armed outriders preceded this apparition,
and a troop of guards followed the precious
charge.

Before an early " dejeuner ' at ten, there

J ) JUL' UN \1> OF

was yet time to draw a street-scene, though
the curiosity of half the people of Vodhenii
obliged me to stand on a stone in the midst of
the kennel to draw. Their shouts of laughter,

as 1 represented the houses, were electrifying :
" Scroo ! scroo ! scroo !" (He writes it down !
he writes ! lie writes !) they shouted. But it
was all good nature : no wilful annoyance of
any kind.

Before eleven I had quitted this beautiful
place, and was once more on the road to
Monastir, not that one hoped to get there
ere nightfall, but only to some midway khan,
or village. Rain began to fall as I turned
away from woody Vodhena and its streams,
and heavier showers fell in the narrow7 culti-
vated valley through which our route lay, on
the left bank of the Karasmak. Having
crossed it, we ascended towards the higher
mountains, their heads hidden in mist, and,
as the road rose rapidly among their steep
sides, many a lofty summit, towering above
screens fringed with hanging wood, was more
and more magnificent, while, looking back
over Vodhena", the plain of Yenidje and the
hills of Salonika were visible afar off. But as
we scaled the highest part of the pass, and 1

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 43

saw the last glimpse of the eastern sea, the
rain fell in tremendous torrents, and we urged
the horses to the full speed of Tatar trot and
gallop. A vale and marshy lake lying at the
foot of chesnut-clothed hills, and a world of
purple rock and waterfall reminding me of
Borrowdale — high peaks frowning through the
driving clouds, stony lanes, paths through
overhanging oakwoods, rivulets, clay ravines,
slippery rocks — all flitted by in rapid succession,
as we gallopped on, without a halt, till the
drenching tempest ceased about half-past one,
and I found myself looking down on the
Lake of Ostrovo, whose dark gray bosom
stretched dimly into worlds of clouded heights
on either side of its extent. The whole of
the pass from Vodhena to Ostrovo, I doubt
not, is full of great beauty, and I lost it with
regret.

At Ostrovo I decided to remain,* too fearful
of returning fever to hazard the seven hours'
journey between it and the next village —
Tilbeli ; and on descending a steep path
to the lake, the little town and mosque shone

* Counted as four hours from Vodhenii.

44 JOURNALS OF

out brightly against the lead-coloured waters
and cloud-swept mountains, a scene of grandeur
reminding me, in its hues, of Wastwater and

Keswick, while the snowr peaks, dark cypresses,
and gay white minarets stamped the whole
as truly Moslem-Macedonian. But, notwith-
standing all these ecstacies, what a place is
( >s1 rovo for a night's abode ! This most wretched
little village contains but one small khan, with
two tiny rooms on the ground-floor, in one of
which, half suffocated by the smoke of a
wood fire, I was too glad to change dripping
garments and don dry ones ; — let the traveller
in these countries be never forgetful of so
wrapping up his "roba," that he may have
dry changes of raiment when needful. Happily
the weather cleared after the storm, and 1
drew till dusk, none the wrorse for the morn-
ing's wetting, and feeling hourly the benefit of
the elastic mountain air.

Broiled and boiled salmon trout, rice sou})
and onions awaited me in the Mivart's of
Ostrovo — and, let me say, that is by no means
a bad supper to find in a Macedonian khan.
The evening passed in the intellectual diver-
sion of drying one's wet clothes by little
bits of firewood, and in packing one's self so

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 45

as to sleep tolerably, spite of there being no
bolt to the door. But, in truth, in so forlorn
a spot as this, no precautions could ensure
safety against force, were robbery intended.
Never, in the wildest of countries, have I met
with any robber adventure, and not being
troubled by suspicions of danger, I have come
to believe that carelessness as to attack is the
best safeguard against any. Mats hung to
the roof and window keep out some of the
air, (for an unglazed hole in the wall, and a
series of apertures in the roof, add to the
charms of this hotel,) but the wood-smoke is
the worst enemy, and I am glad to seek refuge
from it in slumber.

September 16.

Bitter cold saluted me at rising — if that may
be called rising which, in this chair-less land,
consists in a perpetual scramble on the floor,
reminding the performer of such creatures as
swallows and bats, of whom naturalists relate
that their difficulty of leaving the ground,
when once there, is extreme. Brightly silvered
with snow were all the great mountains round
the lake, and till half-past seven I drew,

Hi JOURNALS OF

charmed with the grandeur and beauty of this
noble scene. However miserable the village
of Ostrovo, (it bears marks of greater size
and prosperity,) its position is magnificent ;
the people also seem thoroughly quiet and
civil.

The route to Monastir lies round the head
of the lake, where, on the marshy tract, stalk
numbers of ivory-white herons, and after leaving
the shores, we mount high above their level,
by zigzag paths, whence there is many a
wide and brilliant view over all the waters of
Ostrovo.

For two hours we proceed by brushwood-
covered hills, possessing small share of beauty
or interest, to some bleak downs, where on
our left stands a village, half an hour beyond
which is a magnificent view of another lake,
(which I somewhat believe to be that of
Kastoria, the ancient Celetrum), the shores
of which were beautifully indented and varied
with promontories and bays, and the lines of
hills on all sides graceful and striking. But
beyond this oasis, two hours and a half of
weariness followed, treeless, bare hill-sides,
unbroken by the least variety of interest, and
I began to repent heartily of ever having come

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 47

to Macedonia, the more that rain again began
to fall as I approached Tilbeli, still three
hours and a half from Monastir. But it was
necessary to rest the horses here, the roads
of the morning having been unusually stony
and fatiguing, and after such halt, it would
be too late to start afresh, as another tempest
was evidently gathering. So at Tilbeli I remain
for the night, much against my will, for this
straggling village in a wide green valley presents
little for the pencil. By way of compensation,
the khan is very decent, and my lodging is in a
little chamber like a pigeon-house, over the
gate of the court-yard, the ascent to which
is by a ladder, which being removed, the
dweller above remains suspended in air. This
comfortless weather is very dispiriting, for it
is bitterly cold, and the pigeon-loft trembles
spasmodically in every gust of wind. Yet
writing letters on the floor, and drinking tea out
of a plate (for the basin is broken) wear away
the evening quickly after all.

September 17.

The ornithological attractions of the village
of Tilbeli seem divided between jackdaws and

IS JOURNALS OF

geese ; it is difficult to imagine the numbers

of these feathered musicians in every lane and
on every roof; their noise is perfectly stunning.
Off h\ six, and a dreary commencement is
prolonged for three hours in a bitter cold wind,
over hideous hill-plains, stony and shrubless,
and recalling the melancholy Murgie of Alta-
mura in South Italy. Descending about half-
past nine to the great plain of Bitolia, or
Monastir, (the military centre and capital of
modern Macedonia and Northern Albania),
white minarets, extensive buildings and gardens
were a pleasant sight, as the city seemed to
expand on our approaching the high mountains
at the foot of which it is built.

Had it not been for the caprices of our
guide, a wild gipsy Soorudgi, we should sooner
have arrived at our destination than we did ;
that worthy having met with a fellow-gipsy
on horseback, the twain indulged in convivial
draughts of rakhee at two roadside khans to so
great an extent, that their merriment became
boundless, and having loosened the baggage
and led horses, they drove them facetiously
in and out of fields of maize and corn — for we
were now near the city — till their sport
terminated in the lively new-comer subsiding

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 49

into a quagmire, where his horse, anxious to make
a good meal in the next field of gran-turco, left
him to his fate. This catastrophe rather pleased
me than not, till, on entering Monastir, our own
Soorudgi suddenly gave way to pangs of
conscience, and neither threats nor entreaties
could prevent his returning for his lost friend,
which meritorious act caused us an hour's
delay ere we reached the barrier of the city.

Here we were interrogated by an official,
who, in the matter of passports, was soon satisfied
by the avrog pXof Jo* hyxlq of Giorgio — (" this English
Milord," all English travellers being so termed
in the East) — and we passed onward. Close to
the town, on the eastern side, stretches a wide
common, used as a cemetery, and forming the
unmolested abode of troops of dogs, who lie in
groups of ten or twenty till the town scavengers
bring them their morning and evening meal.

Monastir (or Bitdlia) contains not less than
fourteen or fifteen thousand inhabitants, and is
the metropolis of these remote provinces, a pre-
eminence evidently justified by its activity and
prosperity. It is also a place of the greatest im-
portance, as commanding the direct entrance
from Illyria into Macedonia by the passes of the
river Drilon or Drin, and as a military centre from

E

.-,() JOURNAL* n|

which Epirus and Thessaly arc equally acces-
sible. '

Anticipating — as in every previous case during
this journey — that the glitter and beauty of
< ml ward appearance would be exchanged on
entering the city for squalor and dreariness, I
was agreeably surprised at the great extent of
public buildings, barracks, and offices at the
entrance of the town, and, within it, at the
width and good pavement of the streets, the
cleanliness and neatness of the houses. The
bazaars are exceedingly handsome, some entirely
roofed over, and lighted from above with win-
dows, others only partially sheltered, or semi-
roofed with matting on poles. Great numbers of
vendors and buyers throng these resorts, the
principal part of the former being merchants —
Greek or Bulgarian Christians, — and of the
latter Christian peasantry from the neighbour-
ing villages and country. The Turks resident in
Monastir are for the most part either military or
officials : Greeks and Bulgarians form the majo-
rity of the inhabitants. Albanians there are few,
excepting guards or exiles ( .Monastir is a frequent

* Leake, Vol. Ill ; Urquhart, Vol. I, p. 17G.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 51

place of banishment for rebel Beys) : of Jews a
vast number. Bein^ the central situation for
all military operations relating to North and
South Albania, Thessaly, Macedonia, and Bosnai,
the bustle and brilliancy of Monastir is re-
markable, and its effect appeared particularly
striking, coming to it, as I did, after passing
through a wild and thinly-peopled region. You
are bewildered by the sudden re-appearance
of a civilization which you had apparently
left for ever : — reviews, guards, bands of music,
pashas, palaces and sentry-boxes, bustling scenes
and heaps of merchandize await you at every
turn.

The natural beauties of Monastir are abund-
ant. The city is built at the western edge of a
noble plain, surrounded by the most exquisitely
shaped hills, in a recess or bay formed by two
very high mountains, between which magnificent
snow-capped barriers is the pass to Akhridha.
A river runs through the town, a broad and
shifting torrent, crossed by numerous bridges,
mostly of wood, on some of which two rows of
shops stand, forming a broad, covered bazaar.
At present, three of these bridges are in ruins,
or under repair after the winter's Hoods. The
stream, deep and narrow throughout the quarter

e 2

52 JOURN LLS 01

of private houses and palaces, is spanned In two
good stone bridges, and confined 1>\ strong
walls ; bnt in the lower, or Jew's quarter, where

the torrent is much wider and shallower, the

houses cluster down to the water's edge with
surprising picturesqueness. Either looking up
or down the river, the intermixture of minarets
and mosques with cypress and willow foliage,
form- subjects of the most admirable beauty.

We went to the largest and best khan of
Monastir — Yeiii khan, — an extensive building,
surrounding three sides of a court-yard, which
was full of Greek merchants in blue tunics, or
white-coated Albanians, with laden horses, &c. ;
and luckily I obtained a corner room overlooking
all this moving scene, amongst which I mean
to halt two days, as I shall hardly see a more
beautiful place. A clean, whitewashed cell,
with glazed windows, and new mats, betokens
the comparative luxury of this little metropolis.

Late in the day, I devote an hour or two to
reconnoitring and choosing sites for to-morrow's
work. The bazaars with the groupes of figures
in them are endless kaleidoscopes of pictures.
The houses are mostly of unpainted wood, though
the larger palaces are whitewashed and orna-
mented, and some are as grav as red and white

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 53

paint can make them : the neatness and cleanli-
ness of the place is delightful.

At sunset, I find myself at the edge of the
cemetery-common, and pass the last half-hour of
day in watching the effects of light and shade
on the noble plain, glittering like gold in its
frame of purple mountains.

September 18.

The wind blows keenly off the snowy moun-
tains on the west of the town, but the sun
rises brightly as I begin the day by sketching
in the suburbs. Greek peasantry from the hills
are entering the town with market wares.
The costume of the women is a black outer
capote with red borderings, worked petticoats,
dresses, gaiters, and handkerchiefs ; scarlet-
striped aprons, and enormously thick, long
bunches of black silk tied to their hair, tail-
fashion. But my wanderings are soon stopped
by an ancient Turk, who yells forth :
' Teskere — Teskere,' namely, a passport ; and,
as I had it not about me, the unbending
policeman would not listen to any explanations
from Greek passers-by, but hurried me — some-
what as I was once served on a similar occasion

5 1 JOl RNALS OJ

in the kingdom of Naples— -before the bar of a
judge, who unluckily lived a Long win off, so

that half in\ morning was wasted by this foolish
adventure, the end of which was a horrible
scolding from the dignitary to the old Mahome-

dan — who. after all, was not in fault.

When at length 1 endeavoured to draw in
the streets of Monastir I found it impossible to
work, so great was the crowd which collected
to see my operations, and I was fairly mobbed
to the khan, resolving that 1 would use my
Boyourldi to procure me a guard forthwith, —
for one does not come to Macedonia every day,
and time and opportunity are not to be thrown
away. But the <rreat man here — the Seraskier
Pasha, or commander of the forces — is unwell,
so 1 passed my afternoon in sauntering warily
to distant points of the surrounding hills to
obtain some general view of the city, dodging
about to avoid lurking companies of dogs,
and shunning sentinels and passport-hunters.

Marking a dervish's tomb on the northern
side of the city, 1 threaded my way through
narrow lane- to the river, at this season a
scant) stream, and crossing it where the
broken bridges and the lone strings of laden
mules, four or five hundred together, — their

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 55

loads covered with white and brown striped
cloths, made the most perfectly picturesque
scene, I arrived at the cemetery on the hill
whence all Monastir is visible. A more mag-
nificently placed city it is hardly possible to
imagine, and the great quantity of cypress and
plane setting off its delicate white and pink
mosques is wonderfully beautiful. But the
evening began to draw on, and fearful of being
massacred for a ghoule, I left the home of the
dead, and made my way to the khans, pass-
ing over the common near the Barracks, that
" Piazza de' Cani," where from eighty to a
hundred wolfish dogs were snarling, and howl-
ing over a dead horse. Meanwhile his High-
ness Emim Seraskier Pasha had sent, requesting
me to come to him to-morrow.

September 19.

Sunrise : and I am drawing the plain and
hills from the " Piazza de' Cani ;" lines of con-
victs are passing from the Barracks, carrying
offal in tubs to the ghouly burying-grounds
and followed by some hundreds of dogs, who
every now and then give way to their feelings
and indulge in a general battle among them-

;,lj JOl RNAL8 "1

selves. It is no eas) matter to pursue the fine
arts in Mouastir, and I cannot but think — will
matters grow worse as I advance into Albania?

for all the passers-by having inspected my
sketching, frown, or look ugly, and many say,
" Shait&n," which means, Devil; at length one
quietly wrenches my book away and shutting it
up returns it to me, saying, " Yok, Yok !"* so
as Qumbers are against me, I bow and retire.
Next, I essay to draw on one of the bridges, but a
gloom) sentinel comes and bullies me off direct 1\ .
indicating 1>\ signs that my profane occupation
i» by no manner of means to be tolerated;
and farther on, when I thought 1 had escaped
all observation behind a friendly buttress, out
rush legions of odious hounds (all bare-hided
and very like jackals), and raise such a din,
that, although by means of a pocket full of
stones I keep them at bay, yet they fairly beat
me at last, and give me chase open-mouthed,
augmenting their detestable pack by fresh re-
cruits at each street-corner. So I gave up this
pursuit of knowledge under difficulties, and re-
turned to the khan.

\o, no '

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 57

Giorgio was waiting to take me to the Pasha ;
so dressing in my " best/' thither I went, to
pay my first visit to an Oriental dignitary. All
one's gathered and hoarded memories, from
books or personal relations, came so clearly to
my mind as I was shown into the great palace
or serai of the Governor, that I seemed some-
how to have seen it all before ; the ante-room
full of attendants, the second state-room with
secretaries and officers, and, finally, the large
square hall, where — in a corner, and smoking
the longest nargilleh, the serpentine foldings of
which formed all the furniture of the chamber
save the carpets and sofas — sat the Seraskier
Pasha himself — one of the highest grandees of
the Ottoman empire. Emhn Seraskier Pasha
was educated at Cambridge, and speaks English
fluently. He conversed for some time agree-
ably and intelligently, and after having pro-
mised me a Kawas, the interview was over, and
I returned to the khan, impatient to attack the
street- scenery of Monastir forthwith under the
auspices of my guard. These availed me much,
and I sketched in the dry part of the river-bed
with impunity — ay, and even in the Jews'
quarter, though immense crowds collected to
witness the strange Frank and his doings ;

58 JOURNALS 01

and the word, " Seroo, Seroo,"* resounded
from hundreds of voices above and around.
Hul a clear space was kept around me by the
formidable baton of the K;i\va>, and I contrived
thus to carry off some of the best views of the
town ere it grew dark. How picturesque are
those parts of the crowded city in the Jews'
quarter, where the elaborately detailed wooden
houses overhaiur the torrent, shaded by grand
plane, cypress, and poplar ! How the sunset
lights up the tire-tinged clouds — floating over
the snow-capped eastern hills ! How striking
are the stately groups of armed guards clear-
in ir the road through the thronged streets of
the bazaars for some glittering Bey, or mounted
Pasha ! Interest and beauty in profusion,
O ye artists ! are to be found in the city of
Monastir.

The Seraskier's letter to the principal Bey of
Akhridha awaits my return to the khan, together
with a large basket of pears for which a deal of
baksheeshf is required. Tea, and packing for a
start to-morrow, rill up the evening. Giorgio
seems by no means to like the idea of commit-

* Sec page 42. t Baksheesh, a present of money.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 59

ting himself to Albanians, Gheghes, and Mere-
ditti, and avoids all speech about Albanians in
general or particularly. Three of these men
occupy part of the gallery near me, and seem
to pass life in strutting up and down, in grind-
ing and drinking coffee, or in making a dimi-
nutive sort of humming to the twanging of an
immensely long guitar. Sitting on their crossed
legs they bend backwards and forwards and
from side to side, shaking their long hay-
coloured hair, or screwing their enormous
moustaches ; now and then they rise, whirl
their vast capotes about them, flounce out
their full skirts, and then bounce up and
down the gallery like so many Richard the
Thirds in search of Richmonds. But Giorgio
by no art can be induced to say more of
them than, " Sono tutti disperati ;"* and by all,
this race seems disliked and mistrusted most
markedly.

September 20.
At Monastir the Muezzeens, or callers to

* They arc all miserable creatures.

60 JOURNALS OF

public prayer from the minarets, are delightfully

musical : none of the nasal Stamboul monotony
is heard, but real bits of melody, echoing at
night or early morn from the still city to the
cloud-veiled hills.

Good horses are ready before sunrise, though
it was past six ere we escape from the full
bazaars and narrow suburban streets; carl-,
oxen, laden mules, buffali in herds

" Choked up each roaring gate ;"

and when we had a little cleared these obstacles,
all the luggage suddenly lopsided, and after
fruitless attempts to balance it with stones, all
had to be finally re-adjusted. I had not yet
adopted the bi-sack principle.

The morning's journey was not interesting,
the less so that its monotonous features were
gloomy with dark and lowering clouds, making
the miow above look unnecessarily cold, and
shading the vale below, where large herds of
ii-oats browsing wandered among the stunted
herbage under the guarding eare of ferocious
(logs. About five hours were consumed in
winding through two valleys or passes shut
in between lofty hills, in all which expenditure
of time and patience no object of beauty or

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 61

interest presented itself. But in these regions
such a cause for complaint is of no long duration,
and about noon, the road — a wide, dishevelled,
stony track — emerged from the pass into a
valley, which opened into a plain, disclosing at
its southern extremity a bright lake, walled
in by high, snowy mountains.* Westward, a
charming village, embosomed in plane and
chesnut, and spangled with two or three glitter-
ing minarets, enlivened the scene with all the
characteristic loveliness of Albanian landscape,
and surrounded, except on the southern side, by
most richly- wooded heights.

But, as usual, all the charm is outside. The
village of Peupli possesses only the filthiest of
khans, and it was difficult to find a spot to cook
the mid-day meal. Wandering meanwhile, I
succeeded, between heavy showers, in making a
drawing from a rising ground, whence village,
lake and hills formed a most beautiful scene ;
dark purple mountains delicately and sharply
delineated against sweeping rain-clouds ; a fore-
ground of massy chesnut trunks ; foliage in

* I believe, the lake of Peupli — but neither my guide nor
Soorudgi knew ; and I foolishly omitted to ask at the place
itself.

52 JOURNALS 01

gloomy, forcible masses against the silver lake

and light parts of the sky; and in the plain
below, the village, with its tufts of shade. Spite
of threatening, no more rain fell, so I resolved

that it was wisdom to go on to Akhridha,
where Lodgings could hardly he worse than
at Peupli, and scenery probably more valu-
able.

At half-past two, left Peupli. Its inhabitants
are a different order of beings to those 1 have
\et seen, a wilder and more savage race than
the inhabitants of Macedonian plains ; there are
fewer Greeks and Bulgarians apparently, and
more Turks and Albanians ; the Bulgarian
lainmage is also on the decrease.

If the morning's ride were all valley, this of
the afternoon is all mountain. Straightway out
of the valley of Peupli went we up the steepest
of heights, climbing it by a constantly winding
staircase-road, though a better one than might
be expected in these parts. Beautiful was the
afternoon, and rejoicing in all sorts of cloud
effect. As we ascended towards magnificent
hanging beech-woods, the plain and moun-
tains behind, with the blue lake of Peupli,
its southern side fringed with pale hills
fading into the distance, were a scene of the

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 63

most gorgeous description. At the summit of
the pass is a guard-house, (a hut containing
two armed Albanians, and an irritable dog,
who watch over the interests of passers-by),
and here, ere the western descent begins, the
view is one of the loveliest eye can see. From
this great height, one looked over all the lake
of Peupli, to plains beyond plains, and hills,
and blue Olympus beyond all ; the whole seen
through a frame, as it were, of the gnarled
branches of silver-trunked beeches crowning
the ridges of the hill, whose sides feathered
down to the lake in folds of innumerable
wood screens : it was difficult to leave the
scene, and I resolved, at any hazard, to
revisit it.

Less than half an hour was occupied in cross-
ing the height we had been scaling — a narrow
rocky plain, interspersed with stunted beeches
— and here, properly speaking, begins my
tour in Albania, for all I have passed through
is Macedonia, nor is the Albanian tongue in
much use eastward of Akhridha.

Soon a new world charmed the eye, and
on arriving at the edge of the western face
of this high ridge, the beautiful plain and lake
of Akhridha burst, as it were, into existence ;

64 JOTJRN Uj8 01

gilded in the setting sun, and slumbering

below hills, forest, and snow, piled up and
mingled with cloud midway in heaven. It is
scarcely possible to dream of finer scenes than
these, their beauty perhaps enhanced by grand
storm effects, which -gave them more than
ordinary magic of colour and variety of
interest. Bright, broad, and long lay the
great sheet of water — the first of Grecian lakes
— and on its edge the fortress and town of
Akhridha, (in form singularly resembling the
castle rock of Nice, in the Sardinian States),
commanding the cultivated plain which stretches
from the mountains to the shores of the lake.
Such sublime scenery obliterated from the me-
mory all annoyances of travel, and astonished
and delighted at every step, I already re-
pented of my repentance that I had undertaken
this journey.

The descent to the plain of Akhridha is
exceedingly steep, and one watches the lake,
as one slowly reaches its level, diminishing most
beautifully in perspective. Nor was time want-
ing to observe it, for the downward passage was
uncomfortably obstructed by numerous mules
laden with long planks of wood, which, as
their bearers jolted down the sharp turns of

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 69

he discover the form of the castle, on the paper
than shrieking out " Shaitan !" he fled rapidly
from me, as from a profane magician. A
mizzling rain began to fall, and when — avoiding
herds of buffali, and flocks of sheep, with large
dogs on the look-out — I made for the lake through
some by-lanes, several of these wild and shy
people espied me afar off, and rushed screaming
into their houses, drawing bolts, and banging
doors with the most emphatic resolve against
the wandering apparition. Returning to the
khan, I prepared to visit Shereeff Bey, the
Governor and principal grandee of Akhridha,
to whom the Seraskier Pasha's letter was
addressed.

The fortress, towering over all the town of
Akhridha, and commanding an equally good
view of lake, plain, and mountain, contains
the serai, or palace of the Governor ; its over-
hanging, ornamented roof, lattices, and bow-
windows, and the groups of wild, strange crea-
tures peering and lounging about the narrow
stairs and wooden galleries, were all objects of
curiosity to one who had seen but little of
barbaric pomp and circumstance, for in
Monastir the dignitaries are like great officials
in any other great town ; and were a traveller to

7() JOURN VLS OF

<>() to that city after visiting the wilder parts of
Albania, its effect would be unprntitably flat
and civilized, though, to those coming from
Stamboul, it is striking enough

The room in which Shereef Be\ was sitting
— a square chamber (so well described in
Urquhart's ki Spirit of the East") of no very
meat size — was full enough of characters and
costumes to set up a dozen painters for life.
The Bev* himself, in a snuff-coloured robe,
trimmed with fur, the white-turbaned Cogia,f
the scarlet-vested Gheghes, the purple and
gold-brocaded Greek secretary, the troops of
long-haired, full-skirted, glittering Albanian
domestics, armed and belted — one and all
looking at me with an imperturbable fixed glare
(lor your nonchalant Turkish good-breeding
is not known here) — all this formed a picture I
greatly wished I could have had on paper. The
Iky, after the ceremonies of pipes and coffee,
offered a letter to Tyrana, a town on the road to
Skddra, and expressed his willingness to send
guards with me to the end of the world, if I

• Bey, ;i person of superior rank, frequently governor of a
town.
t . ;i pries!

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 71

pleased, declaring- at the same time that the roads,
however unfrequented, were perfectly safe.
Mindful also of missiles, 1 begged for a Kawas
to protect me while drawing in the town of
Akhridha, and then returned to the khan to dine,
and afterwards passed the afternoon in sketching
about the town with my Mohammedan guard,
unannoyed by any sticks or stones from the
hands of true believers.

At sunset the view from the portal of the for-
tress becomes a scene of placid splendour one can
never tire of contemplating, and both in mass and
in detail, Akhridha has already far surpassed
my expectation. They talk of the Monastery
of St. Naum at the far, or southern end of
the lake, as the great lion of the district ; but I
rather postpone the wish to see it until I am in
the neighbourhood of Berat, as a visit thither
at present must involve a return here, and
occupy two days.

The certainty of night-rest is not among the
good things of Akhridha ; in the small cell I
inhabit, a constant clawing and squalling of cats
on one side of my pillow, and quacking of ducks
on the other, is not favourable to sleep.

72 ■l"1 RNALS 01

September 22.

A cloudless morning, fresh and brilliant,

induces me to put in execution my plan of
retracing the route to the mountain pass by
which I came hither, for the purpose of sketch-
in g the Lake of Peupli ; wherefore my armed
Kawas and horses were ready at seven, a.m.
At the foot of the hills, the little Monasters
was exquisitely pretty in the clear shadows of
early morning, and an outline of it occupied
me some time; after which 1 began the
steep ascent to the beech forests, and in the
course of the upward progress, many were my
pauses to contemplate the wide silver lake, and
its castled rock. A Government " avant-
courier," blazing in scarlet and white, his robe
trimmed with fur, and his kilt and gilt belt
looking afar off like the plumage of some
tropical bird among the dark-green foliage, nut
us when half-way up the mountain, and shortly
afterwards the Bey-Governor of Tyrana, with
a long string of laden mules and glitter-
ing retainers added interest to the novel and
beautiful scene. By half-past ten, we had
passed the little plain at the mountain's sum-

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 73

mit, and had reached the solitary guard-
house.

I was glad to have devoted a day to revisiting
this most noble scene. Soothing and beau-
tiful is that vision of the Lake of Peupli, so
dreamy and delicately azure, as it lies below
ranges of finely-formed mountains, all distinct,
though lessening and becoming more faint, till
the outline of Olympus closes the remote view.
Then the nearer hills, with their russet smooth-
ness and pard-like spots of clustering forest
groups ; — and closer, the dark masses of feathery
beech glowing with every autumnal hue! It
is long since I have tasted hours of such quiet,
and all the roughnesses of travel are forgotten
in the enjoyment of scenery so calm and lovely.
Many a day — month — summer passed among
the beautiful forests of Monte Casale, amid the
steep ravines and oak-tufted rocks of Civitella
di Subiaco, in the sheltered convent and the
gleaming village of the woody Apennines ; —
many a recollection of the far plains of Latium
and the Volscians — of the brightness of Italian
mornings — -the still freshness of its mountain
noon — the serenity of its eventide, when laden
villagers wind up the stony paths to aerial
homes, chaunting their vesper chorus, — all this.

74 JOURNALS 01

and a great deal more, Hashed strongly on my
memory as I sate hour after hour on this glo-
rious hill-summit, when the present, by one of
those involuntary actions of thought which all

must have experienced, was thus linking itself
with places and persons of the once familiar past,
with all the decision and vivacity of reality.

At half-past two, after a rural dinner of
excellent cold fish (the trout of the Lake
of Akhridha are surpassingly fine), I retraced
my way westward, and was once more at the
khan before dusk.

September 23.

One more day in Akhridha, and then westward
and northward. There is a street scene below the
castle, where a majestic plane shades bazaars
rich with every sort of gay-coloured raiment.
Through its drooping foliage gleams the bright
top of a minaret, and below it are grouped every
variety of picturesque human beings. To carry
away a sketch of this was the work of half the
morning; the rest was occupied in a walk on
the eastern shore of the lake, an excursion I was
obliged to make alone, as the protecting Kawas
was sent to procure horses for to-morrow's

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 75

journey. Beautiful was the castle on its rock
reflected in the clear bright water; but what
most amused me was the infinite number of
birds which, all unsuspectingly sociable, enli-
vened the scene ; thousands of coots fraternising
with the domestic ducks and s;eese — white esrrets
performing stately tours of observation among
the reeds — magpies (a bird remarkably abundant
in the vicinity of Akhridha), hooded crows and
daws — a world of ornithology. Far away at the
end of the lake* glitters a solitary white speck,
which they tell me is the monastery of St. Naum,
but that is out of my track for the present ; so I
sauntered back to the khan, lingering now and
then to look at the Greek women who, with em-
broidered handkerchiefs on their heads and
dressed in scarlet and black capotes, were wash-
ing linen in the lake, when, having watched their
opportunity, and seeing me unescorted, a crowd
of the faithful took aim from behind walls and
rocks, discharging unceasing showers of stones,
sticks, and mud. May my spectacles survive the
attack ! thought I, as forced into an ignominious
retreat I arrived at the khan considerably

* They count six hours' journey from Akhridha to the
southern end of the lake.

7f, JOURNALS OF

damaged about the nose and ears, and not a
little out of humour.

In the afternoon, with my guide, I was able
to laugh at my enemies, while I drew a fine old
Greek church, now turned into a mosque, and
obtained lastly an extensive view from the eloek-
tower on the castle hill, whence the town tran-
quilly lying among tufted planes and tall
e\ presses recalls the lines of Childe Harold —

" And the pale crescent sparkles in the glen
Through many a cypress grove within each city's ken."

Certainly Akhridha is a beautiful place. All
the hill- side below the fortress is thickly studded
with Mohammedan tombs — little wedges of
rough stone growing out of the soil, as it were,
like natural geological excrescences — by thou-
sands. From the streets below, parties of
women clad in dark-blue, and masked in white
wrappers, wander forth to take the air, and near
me several crimson and purple coated Gheghes
>iiioke abstractedly on scattered bits of rock;
when the sun throws his last red rays from
the high western mountains up the side of the
castle hill, long trains of black buffaloes poke
hither and thither, grunting and creaking forth
their strange semi- bark, which sounds like the

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 77

cracking of old furniture. On the whole, the zoo-
logical living world of Akhridha is very oppres-
sive ; what with dogs, geese, buffali, asses, mules,
and horses, jackdaws, goats, and sheep, the
streets are a great deal too full of animated
nature to be comfortable, however confiding and
amiable the several species may be. As for the
white-eyed buffali, they are lazy and serene
brutes, very opposite in character to their rela-
tives in the marshes of Terracina and Pesto.
You may bully them, either by pushing their
noses or tugging at their horns as much as you
please when they are in your way, and they
never resent the indignity.

The khan was swarming with magnificence
when I returned to it, the Bey of Tyrana and
all his train having arrived. Simplicity is the
rule of life with Albanian grandees ; they sit
silently on a mat and smoke, but their retinue
bounce and tear about with a perfectly fearful
energy, and after supper indulge in music accord-
ing to their fashion until a late hour, then throw-
ing themselves down to sleep in their capotes, and
at early morning going through the slightest pos-
sible form of facial ablution — for cleanliness is
not the most shining national virtue. These at
Akhridha seem a wild and savage set, and are

7S JOURNALS OF

not easy to catch by drawing. Yet to-morrow
I enter the wildest parts of Ghegheria, and
must expect to see "a rugged set of men"
indeed. In preparation, the Frangistan " wide-
awakes" are packed up, as having a peculiar
attraction for missiles, on account of their
typically-infidel appearance. Henceforth 1
adopt the fez, for with that Mohammedan sign
on the head it matters not how you adorn the
rest of your person.

September 24.

The wind, which whistles through the planks
and holes of my " bedroom" here, is conducive
to cold in the head, and seems to prevent my
neighbours, the ducks, from sleeping any more
quietly than myself. Why these domestic ani-
mals inhabit the " first floor" I cannot divine.
Some fifteen of them thrust their heads through
the lower crevices of the wall, and resting them
on my mattress and pillow, look at me with
one eye in the most comical manner, and seem
to wish I was made of barley or duckweed.
Although we were ready at 5 a.m., yet our
guard was not, and it was six ere he joined us,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 79

flaunting in crimson drapery, and we made for
the land of the "poveretti, paurosi, desperati,
spaventati, fuor di loro, fuor di tutti",* as Gior-
gio distinguishes the Albanesi.

On leaving the suburbs large parties of Zin-
gari or gipsies, employed by Shereef Bey in
various agricultural works, were setting out to
their labour. These people are very numerous
in Albania, and their peculiar physiognomy and
dark complexion at once distinguishes them
from the natives, who are mostly light-faced and
yellow-haired. Our route lay westward by the
shore of the silver lake, now enchantingly quiet
and bright in the cloudless morning sun. High
in air was a large falcon — possibly an eagle- —
hovering over a great colony of jet black coots,
who were swarming together in dismay, every
one drawn up in a long straight line, and all per-
forming simultaneous dives whenever the spoiler
made a downward swoop. I saw three sets of
these battles, waged by one against many, but
could not observe that the persevering watchers
gained aught by their warfare.

By eight we reached Istruga, a picturesque vil-

* Poor, timid, despairing, afflicted ; wanting sense ; wanting
everything.

SO JOURNALS OF

laee not far from the egress of the river Drino,
and as all the women here (with that caprice
or love of variety which characterises the cos-
tume of every Greek province), wore white
and pink capotes instead of black and crim-
son, there was a pleasant air of gaiety in
the bazaar. From hence, the native place
of Bekir our Albanian guard (whom I had
taken with me, not knowing certainly if the
road were or were not unsafe), we proceeded
after a short delay through pleasant groves of
chestnut, until quitting the beautiful Lake of
Akhridha, we toiled for three hours up a dull
pass, walled in by low hills covered with
stunted oaks. The sun was hot ; and a fez,
if you are not used to wear it, is an unsatis-
factory substitute for a " wide awake" felt hat,
so that, after a descent as uninteresting as the
ascent, and beyond that two hours of a narrow,
dull valley, I was most heartily tired, and re-
joiced to see a khan, never more welcome
than when seven hours of sleepy riding in an
abominable Turkish saddle have made a man
anything but happy.

Luckily we had brought food, for at this
forlorn place there was literally nothing to be
procured, not even a drop of water, nor did

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. $\

the situation of the khan possess interest,
though I contrived to pass an hour by sketch-
ing it from the shelter of an oleander bush,
surrounded by scores of tame kids. At half-
past 2 p.m. we were again in the saddle. A
most desolate and wild country does this part
of Albania seem, with scarcely a single habi-
tation visible in so great a space ; stern-
wrinkled hills wall in the horizon, covered
midway with oak forests ; but after passing
another range of low hills we came to the
valley of the Skumbi,* and thenceforth the land-
scape began to assume a character of grand
melancholy not to be easily forgotten. About
five, the infinitely varied lines of the western
heights were most glorious, their giant-rock
forms receding into golden clouds as the sun sank
down, while below stretched the deep widening
valley of the Skumbi, a silvery stream winding
through utterly wild scenes of crag, forest, and
slope as far as eye could see. By six we
crossed over the river on a high single arch, and
shortly began to ascend the heights on the left
bank, where, among dark clusters of trees

* Anciently Genusus — the mountain range between Akhridha
and Elbassan, in the lllyrian Candavia. Leake.

G

82 JOURNALS OF

a straggling village was perceptible far above a
solitary khan, at which we were to rest, for
there is here but little choice of a night's
Lodging.

Until it was too dark to discern either pencil
or paper, 1 worked away at a sketch of this
lonely place, half hidden among huge rocks and
walnut trees, and then turned into the single
room or floor of the little windowless khan,
which is the first and only inn of Kukues — so is
the spot named. The accomplished dragoman
had swept it perfectly clean. In the middle was
a bright wood fire, the smoke escaping by a hole
in the roof. On one side was my bed on a mat,
while six or seven of the sons of the soil wrere
preparing their kabobs* at the blazing logs,
squatting quietly enough, and busying them-
selves about their own cookery, without over-
much remarking the tea and toast Giorgio
prepared for me. Scenes of this kind are most
striking and picturesque, and the traveller lies
down, as it were, with one eye open — the savage
oddity of all around fixing itself with his last
waking thoughts in the imagination. Long after

* Kab6bs. slices of moat cooked on wooden skewers.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 83

all the inmates of the khan were fast asleep I
lay watching the party by the dying embers.
The Albanians were slumbering in their capotes,
each with his bare feet turned, and closely, to
the hot charcoal ; and if years of shoeless walk-
ing have not hardened the said feet, they must
inevitably become altogether broiled before

morning.

September 25.

In spite of the apparent discomforts of the
place, T slept well enough. The lively race of
" F sharps" do not abound in these solitary khans
half as much as in an Italian locanda. The
Albanians never stirred ; and as the fire burned
more or less all night, their feet must have been
handsomely grilled. Once, only, I was awakened
suddenly, by something falling on me — flomp —
miaw — fizz ! — an accidental cat had tumbled
from some unexplored height, and testified great
surprise at having alighted on a moveable body.
Would that her disturbance of my slumbers had
been her only fault, and that she had not carried
off a whole fowl and some slices of cold mutton
— the little all I had to rely on for dinner
through to-morrow's journey ! Our Albanian

c; 2

H4 JOURNALS 01

co-tenants of the khan would assuredly have
been blamed for this " mancanza,"* had not a
fierce quarrel over the fowl, between the invading
robber and an original cat belonging to the

establishment, betrayed the cause of evil — the
bigger cat conquering and escaping from the
roof with the booty.

At half-past five a.m. we were off; the red
morning sky, and the calm shade of that broad
valley Avere very striking ; and the line of coun-
try we were to pursue promised a hard da\ 's
work. Continuing to ascend, on the left bank
of the Skumbi, towards those gigantic rocks I
had drawn yesterday evening, and once or twice
pausing to make hasty memoranda sketches, we
advanced by perilous paths along the moun-
tain-sides towards a village at a great height
above the river. It is very difficult, on such
days of travel as this, to secure anything like
a finished drawing. Even let the landscape
be ever so tempting, the uncertainty of meeting
with any place of repose or shelter obliges the
most enthusiastic artist to pass hastily through
scenes equal or superior to any it may be again

Lo

ss.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 85

his lot to see. Our progress here, too, is of the
very slowest : either along sharp narrow paths
cut in the rock, at the very edge of formidable
precipices, or by still narrower tracks running on
the bare side of a perpendicular clay ravine, — or
winding among huge trunks of forest trees,
between which the baggage-mule at one time,
is wedged — at another loses her load, or her
own equilibrium, by some untimely concussion ;
such was the order of the day for travelling ease
and accommodation ; so that Dragoman Giorgio,
greatly desirous of reaching Elbassan ere night-
fall, strongly besought me not to linger. Never-
theless, after diving by a tortuous path into the
depths of an abyss — (the home of a lateral
stream which descended from the mountains to
the Skumbi) — and after mounting a zigzag
staircase out of it to the village above-men-
tioned, I could not resist sitting down to draw
when I gazed on the extraordinary scene I had
passed; it combined Greek outline — Italian
colour — English luxuriance of foliage — while
the village with its ivory minarets peeping from
huge walnut and chesnut groves, was hanging,
as it were, down the stupendous precipices to
the stream below ; — all these formed one of
the wildest and grandest of pictures.

N(j 101 RNAL8 "K

Beyond this (to appease Giorgio I made but
a slight outline of that which I should gladly
have employed a day to pourtra\ ), the road
was perhaps more dangerous, and our progress

still slower; at the narrowest point we en-
countered some fifty laden mules, and a long
time was consumed in arranging the coming
and going trains, lest either should jostle and
pitch into the abyss beneath. At another sharp
turning lay a dead ox skinned, tilling up half
the track (the edge of that track a sheer pre-
cipice of sixty or eighty feet in depth), and
l)\ no measures could we cause our horses to
pass the alarming object ; nor till our united
strength had dragged the defunct to a niche
in the rock, could we progress one foot's
length. At a third cattivo passo* a pro-
jecting rock interfered with the sumpter horses'
idea of a straight line ; and, lo ! down went
all the baggage, happily to no great distance,
but far enough to occasion a half hour's delay
in readjusting it. Every stony descent, and
every toilsome climb up this mountain ridge
side, brought us, if possible, to more vast and

* Bad |ia>s.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 87

wondrously beautiful scenes ; far below in the
valley the river wound among dark dense
oaks, sparkling like a silver thread, while
above towered a mountain screen, whose snow-
crowned, furrowed summits, frowned over
slopes richly clothed with hanging woods.
Perhaps the extreme beauty and variety of the
colour in these scenes was as attractive as their
sublimity, and in some degree offered a com-
pensation for a certain clumsiness and want of
refinement in many of the larger mountain out-
lines ; while tracts of green wood, of bright
pink or lilac earth, of deep grey hollows, or
silver sides of snowy barriers, fascinated the
eye from hour to hour.

On approaching the midway khan, (really
four hours and a-half from Kukues, but which
it took me till eleven to reach), I drew till
dinner was ready, many peasants opportunely
passing on their way to a fair or bazaar at
Tyrana. The female costume is a blue dress
and white petticoat, with white or yellow
aprons, embroidered with crimson. The khan
was situated as most of these halting places
are, in a dell, whence there is no discernible
object of interest; and as soon as dinner was
despatched, two old cats and an army of

88 JOURNALS OF

ducks and fowls assisting at the repast, I was
affair en route by noon.

After three hours of winding along fright-
ful paths at the edge of clay precipices and
chasms, and through scenery of the same
character, but gloomier under a clouded sun,
we began to descend towards the seaward
plains, and were soon effecting a steep and
difficult passage between trunks of oak trees
to the purple vale of the Skumbi, which wound
through the plain below till it was lost in a
gola or chasm through which is the pass to
Elbassan. We crossed the Skumbi, here a
very formidable stream, by one of those lofty
one-arched bridges so common in Turkey,
and as the baggage horse descended the last
step, down came the luggage once more, so
that my sketches would have been lost, " senza
rimedio,"* had the accident occurred two
seconds sooner. Two hours were occupied in
passing the opening between the rocks, which
admitted only a narrow pathway besides the
stream, and after another hour's ride through
widening, uncultivated valleys, and Elbassan is

* Without remedy.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 89

in sight, lying among rich groves of olives on
a beautiful plain, through which the Skumbi,
an unobstructed broad torrent, flows to the
Adriatic. The same deceptive beauty throws
its halo over Elbassan as over other Albanian
towns ; and, like its fellow paesi,* this was as
wretched and forlorn within, as without it
was picturesque and graceful. It was six p.m.
ere we reached its scattered and dirty suburbs,
and threaded its dark narrow streets, all roofed
over with mats and dry leaves, and so low
that one had to sit doubled over the horse
to avoid coming into sharp contact with the
hanging sticks, dried boughs, loose mats and
rafters. The gloomy shade cast by these
awnings did not enliven the aspect of the town,
nor was its dirty and comfortless appearance
lightened by a morose and wild look — a settled,
sullen, despairing expression which the faces
of the inhabitants wore. At length, thought
I, these are fairly the wilds of Albania !

Three khans did we explore in vain, their
darkness and vermin being too appalling to
overcome ; luckily there was still a fourth,

* Towns.

90 jourwi- 01

which was a palace in comparison, though its
accommodations were scanty, consisting of a

row of perfectly dark cells, cleanly white-
washed and empty, but without a glimmer of
any light but what entered at the doors, which
opened into a corridor exposed to the street;
so \<m had your choice of living in public or
in the dark.

September 26.

A grey, calm, pleasant morning, the air seem-
ing doubly warm, from the contrast between
the low plains and the high mountains of the
last two days' journey.

I set off early, to make the most of a whole
day at Elbassan — a town singularly picturesque,
both in itself, and as to its site. A high and
massive wall, with a deep outer moat, sur-
rounds a large quadrangle of dilapidated houses,
and at the four comers are towTers, as well as
two at each of the four gates : all of these for-
tifications appear of Venetian structure. Few
places can offer a greater picture of desola-
tion than Elbassan ; albeit the views from the
broad ramparts extending round the town
are perfectly exquisite: weeds, brambles, and

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 91

luxuriant wild fig overrun and cluster about the
grey heaps of ruin, and whichever way you
turn, you have a middle distance of mosques
and foliage, with a background of purple hills,
or southward, the remarkable mountain of To-
mohr, the giant Soracte of the plains of
Berat.

No sooner had I settled to draw — forgetful
of Bekir the guard — than forth came the popu-
lace of Elbassan, one by one, and two by two,
to a mighty host they grew, and there were soon
from eighty to a hundred spectators collected,
with earnest curiosity in every look ; and when
I had sketched such of the principal buildings
as they could recognise, a universal shout of
" Shaitan !" burst from the crowd ; and strange
to relate, the greater part of the mob put their
fingers into their mouths and whistled furiously,
after the manner of butcher-boys in Eng-
land. Whether this was a sort of spell against
my magic I do not know ; but the absurdity of
sitting still on a rampart to make a drawing,
while a great crowd of people whistled at me
with all their might, struck me so forcibly, that
come what might of it, I could not resist going
off into convulsions of laughter, an impulse the
Gheghes seemed to sympathise with, as one

92 JOURNALS OF

and all shrieked with delight, and the ramparts
resounded with hilarious merriment. Alas !
this was of no Ions: duration, for one of those
tiresome Dervishes — in whom, with their green
turbans, Elbassan is rich — soon came up, and
yelled, " Shaitan scroo ! — Shaitan !"* in my ears
with all his force ; seizing my book also, with
an awful frown, shutting it, and pointing to the
sky, as intimating that heaven would not allowr
such impiety. It was in vain after this to
attempt more ; the " Shaitan" cry was raised in
one wild chorus — and I took the consequences of
having laid by my fez for comfort's sake — in the
shape of a horrible shower of stones, which
pursued me to the covered streets, where, finding
Bekir with his whip, I wrent to work again
more successfully about the walls of the old
city.

Knots of the Elbassaniotes nevertheless
gathered about Bekir, and pointed with angry
gestures to me and my ' scroo.' " We will not
be written down," said they. " The Frank is a
Russian, and he is sent by the Sultan to write
us all down before he sells us to the Russian

* The Devil draws ! — the devil.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 93

Emperor." This they told also to Giorgio,
and murmured bitterly at their fate, though
the inexorable Bekir told them they should not
only be scroo'd, but bastinadoed, if they were
not silent and obedient. Alas ! it is not a
wonder that Elbassan is no cheerful spot, nor
that the inhabitants are gloomy. Within the
last two years one of the most serious rebel-
lions has broken out in Albania, and has been
sternly put down by the Porte. Under an
adventurer named Zuliki, this restless people
rose in great numbers throughout the north-
western districts ; but they were defeated in
an engagement with the late Seraskier Pasha.
Their Beys, innocent or accomplices, were exiled
to Koniah or Monastir, the population was
either drafted off into the Sultan's armies, slain,
or condemned to the gallies at Constantinople,
while the remaining miserables were and are
more heavily taxed than before. Such, at least, is
the general account of the present state of these
provinces ; and certainly their appearance speaks
of ill-fortune, whether merited or unmerited.

Beautiful as is the melancholy Elbassan — with
its exquisite bits of mosques close to the walls —
the air is most oppressive, after the pure
mountain atmosphere. How strange are the

!) | JOURNALS 01

dark covered streets, with their old mat roof-
ings hanging down in tattered shreds, dry
leaves, long boughs, straw or thatch reeds ; one

phosphorus match would ignite the whole town !
Each street is allotted to a separate bazaar, or
particular trade, and that portion which is the
dwelling of the tanners and butchers is rather
revolting, — dogs, blood, and carcases filling up
the whole street, and sickening one's very
heart

At three p.m. I rode out with the scarlet
and gold-clad Bekir to find a general view of
the town. But the long walled suburbs, and
endless olive-gardens, are most tiresome, and
nothing of Elbassan is seen till one reaches the
Skumbi, spanned by an immensely long bridge,
full of ups and downs and irregular arches.
On a little brow beyond the river I drew till
nearly sunset ; for the exquisitely graceful lines
of hill to the north present really a delightful
scene, — the broad, many-channelled stream
washing interminable slopes of rich olives, from
the midst of which peep the si her minarets of
Elbassan.

The dark khan cell at tea-time was enlivened
by the singing of some Gheghes in the street.
These northern, or Sclavonic Albanians are

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 95

greatly superior in musical taste to their Berat
or Epirote neighbours, all of whom either make
a feeble buzzing or humming over their tink-
ling guitars, like dejected flies in a window-
pane, or yell forth endless stanzas of a whining,
monotonous song, somewhat resembling a bad
imitation of Swiss " jodeling." But here there
is a better idea of music. The guardian Bekir
indulged me throughout yesterday with divers
airs, little varied, but possessing considerable
charm of plaintive wild melody. The Soorudgi,
also, made the passes of the Skumbi resound
with more than one pretty song.

September 27.

Great was my alarm, when two hours before
sunrise the whole khan was knocked up by a
government Tatar, raging for horses to proceed
towards Skodra. All that were to be found
in Elbassan I had engaged for my own journey,
and the fear was, that should the Khanji yield
our steeds to the new-comer, my detention in
so charming a place as this might be in-
definitely prolonged ; but for some reason of
his own the Khanji chose to lie in the most
fertile manner, saying that some of his horses

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were ill, some away ; and so the baffled Tatar
retreated; and as the fibs were not uttered by
m\ orders I became composed, and went to
sleep again with a good conscience. At half-
past six a.m. we left Elbassan, Giorgio growl-
ing at all the inhabitants, and wishing they might
be sold to the Czar, according to their fears.
In any case, attachment to Abdul Medjid is
not the reigning characteristic of this forlorn
place. It was long before wre left walls and
lanes (there is more cultivation, especially of
the olive, in these environs, than in any part
of Albania I have yet seen), or ceased to jostle
in narrow places against mules laden with black
wool, and driven by white-garbed, black-cloaked
men ; but when the route began to ascend from
the valley, the view southward over to Skumbi,
in which the giant Tomohr or Tomorit, forms
the one point of the scene, was remarkably grand.
In the early morning's ride there was but little
interest; the greater part of it being through
the narrow valley of a stream tributary to
the Skumbi ; the winding bed of which torrent
we crossed more than thirty times ere wre left
it ; and much after-time was occupied in pain-
fully coasting bare clay hills till we began to
climb the sides of the high mountain which

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 97

separates the territory of Elbassan from that
of Tyrana.

How glorious, in spite of the dimming sci-
rocco haze, was the view from the summit, as
my eyes wandered over the perspective of wind-
ing valley and stream to the farthest edge of
the horizon — a scene realizing the fondest fancies
of artist imagination ! The wide branching oak,
firmly rivetted in crevices, all tangled over with
fern and creepers, hung half-way down the
precipices of the giant crag, while silver-white
goats (which chime so picturesquely in with
such landscapes as this) stood motionless as
statues on the highest pinnacle, sharply denned
against the clear blue sky. Here and there the
broken foreground of rocks piled on rocks, was
enlivened by some Albanians who toiled up-
wards, now shadowed by spreading beeches,
now glittering in the bright sun on slopes of
the greenest lawn, studded over with tufted
trees, which recalled Stothard's graceful forms,
so knit with my earliest ideas of landscape.
These and countless well-loved passages of
auld lang syne, crowded back on my memory as
I rested, while the steeds and attendants reposed
under the cool plane-tree shade, and drank from
the sparkling stream which bubbled from a

H

98 jorux.vLS of

Stone fountain. It was difficult to turn away
from this magnificent mountain view — from
these chosen nooks and corners of a beautiful
world — from sights of which no painter-soul
can ever weary : even now, that fold beyond
fold of wood, swelling far as the eye can reach
— that vale ever parted by its serpentine river —
that calm blue plain, with Tomohr in the midst,
like an azure island in a boundless sea, haunt
my mind's eye, and vary the present with
visions of the past. With regret I turned
northwards to descend to the new district of
Tyrana ; the town (and it is now past eleven)
being still some hours distant.

By half-past twelve we had descended into
a broad undulating valley-plain, with limits
melting into undistinguishable hill and sky
(for the day was a scirocco with its dust-like
mist, and the atmosphere like an oven), and
were soon at a roadside khan, where a raised
platform, with matting shelter, was by no means
unacceptable. The magnificent Akhridhan,
Bekir, who was charged to accompany me as
far as Tyrana, is of very little service in any
way ; his first care is to secure a good place on
the platform — to take off his shoes, and smoke ;
while Giorgio's alacrity in cooking a good

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 99

dinner is a strong contrast to the Albanian's
idleness. There were whispering olives hanging
over the khan-yard; and while a simple melody
was chanted by three Gheghes in the shade, the
warm, slumbrous midday halt brought back to
memory many such scenes and siestas in Italy.

Starting at two, the scenery along the banks
of a river, a noble stream enclosed between fine
rocks, (the name of which I know not) was
fine and varied; but the fear of arriving late
at Tyrana urged me onward, to the omission of
all drawing — though, had time allowed, it
would not have been easy to have selected only
one from so many continually-changing pictures
as the afternoon's ride afforded. Other things
also, good and bad, were included in the day's
carte, such as capital grapes at the khan, and
from frequent gardens as we approached Ty-
rana ; — many objects of costume among the
peasantry, — great flocks of turkeys, — and inse-
cure wooden bridges over little streams, which
obliged us, for fear of the horses falling through
the planks, to make detours through charming
bosky oases of cultivation. At four we forded
the river, and hastened on, gradually descending
by low brushwood undulations to the plain of
Tyrana, while to the east, the long rugged

h 2

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range of the kmia mountains became magnifi-
cently interesting from picturesqueness and

historical associations.

A snake crossing the road gave Giorgio an
occasion, as is his afternoon's wont, to illustrate
the fact with a story.

" In Egitto," said he, " are lots of serpents ;
and once there were many Hebrews there.
These Hebrews wished to become Christians,
but the King Pharaoh — of whom you may
have heard — would not allow any such thing.
On which Moses (who was the prince of the
Jews) wrote to the Patriarch of Constantinople
and to the Archbishop of Jerusalem, and also
to San Carlo Borromeo, all three of whom went
straight to King Pharaoh, and entreated him to
do them this favour ; to which he only replied,
" No, signori."

" But one fine morning these three saints
proved too strong for the King, and changed
him and all his people into snakes ; which," said
the learned dragoman, " is the real reason why
there are so many serpents in Egypt to this

day."

Wavy lines of olive — dark clumps of plane,
and spiry cypresses marked the place of
Tyrana when the valley had fully expanded

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 101

into a pianura, and the usual supply of white
minarets lit up the beautiful tract of foliage
with the wonted deceptive fascination of these
towns. As I advanced to the suburbs, I ob-
served two or three mosques most hisrhlv orna-
mented, and from a brilliancy of colour and
elegance of form, by far the most attractive of
any public building I had yet beheld in these
wild places ; but though it was getting dark
when I entered the town (whose streets, broader
than those of Elbassan, were only raftered and
matted half way across), it was at once easy to
perceive that Tyrana was as wretched and dis-
gusting as its fellow city, save only that it
excelled in religious architecture and spacious
market places.

Two khans, each abominable, did we try.
No person would undertake to guide us to
the palace of the Bey (at some distance
from the town), nor at that hour would it have
been to much purpose to have gone there.
The sky was lowering ; the crowds of gazers
increasing, — Albanian the only tongue ; so, all
these things considered, I finally fixed on a
third-rate khan, reported to be the Clarendon of
Tyrana, and certainly better than the other
two, though its horrors are not easy to describe

102 JOURNALS OF

nor imagine. Horrors I had made up my
mind to bear in Albania, and here, truly, they
were in earnest.

Is it necessary, says the reader, so to suffer?
and when you had a Sultan's bouyourldi could
you not have commanded Bey's houses ? True ;
but had I done so, numberless arrangements
become part of that mode of life, which, de-
sirous as I was of sketching as much as possible,
would have rendered the whole motives of my
journey of no avail. If you lodge with Beys
or Pashas, you must eat with them at hours
incompatible with artistic pursuits, and you
must lose much time in ceremony. Were you
so magnificent as to claim a home in the name
of the Sultan, they must needs prevent your
stirring without a suitable retinue, nor could
you in propriety prevent such attention ; thus,
t ravelling in Albania has, to a landscape painter,
two alternatives; luxury and inconvenience
on the one hand, liberty, hard living, and filth
on the other ; and of these two I chose the
latter, as the most professionally useful, though
not the most agreeable.

O the khan of Tyrana ! with its immense
stables full of uproarious horses ; its broken
ladders, by which one climbed distrustfully up to

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 103

the most uneven and dirtiest of corridors, in which
a loft some twenty feet square by six in height
was the best I could pick out as a home for the
night. Its walls, falling in masses of mud from
its osier- woven sides (leaving great holes exposed
to your neighbour's view, or, worse still, to the
cold night air) ; — its thinly raftered roof, anything
but proof to the cadent amenities resulting from
the location of an Albanian family above it ; its
floor of shaking boards, so disunited that it
seemed unsafe to move incautiously across it,
and through the great chasms of which the
horses below were open to contemplation, while
the suffocating atmosphere produced thence are
not to be described !

O khan of Tyrana ! when the Gheghe Khanji
strode across the most rotten of garrets, how
certainly did each step seem to foretell the down-
fall of the entire building ; and when he whirled
great bits of lighted pitch-torch hither and
thither, how did the whole horrid tenement
seem about to flare up suddenly and irre-
trievably !

O khan of Tyrana! rats, mice, cockroaches,
and all lesser vermin were there. Huge flimsy
cobwebs, hanging in festoons above my head ;
big frizzly moths, bustling into my eyes and

i(M JOURNALS 01

fare, for the holes representing windows I could
close but imperfectly with sacks and baggage:

yet lure I prepared to sleep, thankful that a
clean mat was a partial preventive to some of
this list of woes, and finding some consolation
in the low crooning singing of the Gheghes
above me, who, with that capacity for melody
which those Northern- Albanians seem to possess
so essentially, were murmuring their wild airs
in choral harmony.

September 28.

Though the night's home was so rude, fatigue
produced sound sleep. The first thing to do
was to visit Maehmoud Bey, Yice-Governor
of Tyrana, to procure a Kawas as guardian
during a day's drawing, and a letter to his
nephew, Ali Bey, of Kroia, for to that city of
Scanderbeg I am bent on going. Of the Bey's
palace, nothing can be said beyond what has
already been noted of the serais of similar
grandees.

Returning to the khan, I gave five dollars
to Bekir of Akhridha, for his five days'
service, an expense 1 resolved in future to
forego, as the chance of robbery in these

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 105

mountains seems a great deal too small to
authorize it — the more, that the only assist-
ance I really want (that of a guard while
sketching in the towns) I have no difficulty in
procuring.

But even with a guard, it was a work of
trouble to sketch in Tyrana ; for it was market,
or bazaar day, and when I was tempted to
open my book in the large space before the
two principal mosques — (one wild scene of
confusion, in which oxen, buffaloes, sheep, goats,
geese, asses, dogs, and children, were all running
about in disorder) — a great part of the natives,
impelled by curiosity, pressed closely to watch
my operations, in spite of the Kawas, who
kept as clear a space as he could for me ; the
women alone, in dark feringhis, and ghostly
white muslin masks, sitting unmoved by their
wares. Fain would I have drawn the exquisitely
pretty arabesque-covered mosques, but the
crowds at last stifled my enthusiasm. Not the
least annoyance was that given me by the per-
severing attentions of a mad or fanatic dervish,
of most singular appearance as well as conduct.
His note of " Shaitan " was frequently sounded ;
and as he twirled about, and performed many
curious antics, he frequently advanced to me,

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shaking a long hooked stick, covered with
jingling ornaments, in my very face, pointing to
the Kawas with menacing looks, as though he
would say, " Were it not for this protector you
should be annihilated, you infidel !" The crowd
looked on with awe at the holy man's proceed-
ings, for Tyrana is evidently a place of great
attention to religion. In no part of Albania
are there such beautiful mosques, and nowhere
are collected so many green-vested dervishes.
But however a wandering artist may fret at the
impossibility of comfortably exercising his
vocation, he ought not to complain of the
effects of a curiosity which is but natural, or
even of some irritation at the open display of
arts which, to their untutored apprehension,
must seem at the very least diabolical.

The immediate neighbourhood of Tyrana is
delightful. Once outside the town and you
enjoy the most charming scenes of quiet,
among splendid planes, and the clearest of
streams. The afternoon was fully occupied in
drawing on the road from Elbassan, whence
the view of the town is beautiful. The long
line of peasants returning to their homes from
the bazaar, enabled me to sketch many of their
dresses in passing ; most of the women wore

A LANDSCAPE PAINTEE. 107

snuff-coloured or dark vests trimmed with pink
or red, their petticoats white, with an em-
broidered apron of chocolate or scarlet ; others
affected white capotes ; but all bore their hus-
band's or male relative's heavy black or purple
capote, bordered with broad pink or orange,
across their shoulders. Of those whose faces
were visible — for a great part wore muslin
wrappers — (no sign hereabouts of the wearer
being Mohammedan, for both Moslem and
Christian females are thus bewrapped) — some
few were very pretty, but the greater number
had toil and careworn faces. There were
many Dervishes, also, wearing high, white felt,
steeple-crowned hats, with black shawls round
them.

No sooner, after retiring to my pig-stye dor-
mitory, had I put out my candle, and was
preparing to sleep, than the sound of a key
turning in the lock of the next door to that of
my garret, disturbed me, and lo ! broad rays
of light illumined my detestable lodging from a
large hole a foot in diameter, besides from two
or three others, just above my bed ; at the
same time a whirring, humming sound, followed
by strange whizzings and mumblings, began to
pervade the apartment. Desirous to know

108 J0UENAL8 OF

what was going on, I crawled to the smallest
chink, without encountering the rays from the
great hiatus, and what did I see? My friend
of the morning — the maniac Dervish — perform-
ing the most wonderful evolutions and gyra-
tions ; spinning round and round for his own
private diversion, first on his legs, and then
pivot -wise, " sur son scant," and indulging in
numerous other pious gymnastic feats. Not
quite easy at my vicinity to this very eccentric
neighbour, and half anticipating a twitch from
his brass-hooked stick, I sat watching the event,
whatever it might be. It was simple. The
old creature pulled forth some grapes and ate
them, after which he srraduallv relaxed in his
twirlinirs, and finally fell asleep.

September 29.

It was as late as half-past nine a.m. when I
left Tyrana, and one consolation there was in
quitting its horrible khan, that travel all the
world over, a worse could not be met with.
Various delays prevented an early start; the
postmaster was in the bath, and until he came
out no horses could be procured (meanwhile I
contrived to finish my arabesque mosques) ;

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER, 109

then a dispute with the Khanjf, who, like
many of these provincial people, insisted on
counting the Spanish dollar as twenty-three,
instead of twenty-four Turkish piastres. Next
followed a row with Bekir of Akhridha, who
vowed he would be paid and indemnified for the
loss of an imaginary amber pipe, which he de-
clared he had lost in a fabulous ditch, while
holding my horse at Elbassan ; and lastly, and
not the least of the list, the crowd around the
khan gave way at the sound of terrific shrieks
and howlings, and forth rushed my spinning
neighbour, the mad Dervish, in the most foam-
ing state of indignation. First he seized the
bridles of the horses ; then, by a frantic and
sudden impulse, he began to prance and circu-
late in the most amazing manner, leaping, and
bounding, and shouting " Allah !" with all his
might, to the sound of a number of little bells,
which this morning adorned his brass -hooked
weapon. After this he made an harangue for
ten minutes, of the most energetic character,
myself evidently the subject ; at the end of it he
advanced towards me with furious gestures,
and bringing his hook to within two or three
inches of my face, remained stationary, in a
Taglioni attitude. Knowing the danger of

110 JOURNALS Or

interfering with these privileged fanatics, I

thought my only and best plan was to remain
unmoved, which I did, fixing my eye steadily
on the ancient buffoon, but neither stirring nor
uttering a word ; whereon, after he had screamed
and foamed at me for some minutes, the demon
of anger seemed to leave him at a moment's
warning; for yelling forth discordant cries, and
brandishing his stick and bells, awray he ran, as
if he were really possessed. Wild and savage
were the looks of many of my friend's excited
audience, their long matted, black hair, and
brown visage, giving them an air of ferocity,
which existed perhaps more in the outAvard, than
the inner man ; moreover, these Gheghes are all
armed, whereas out of Ghegheria no Albanian
is allowed to carry so much as a knife.

I was <Had enough to leave Tyrana, and
rejoiced in the broad green paths, or roads,
that lead northwards, through a wide valley
below the eastern range of magnificent moun-
tains, on one of which, at a great height from
the plain, stands the once formidable Krdia, so
long held out against the conquering Turk, by
Iskander Bey. Certain of its historical interest,
I was nowr doubly anxious to visit it, from its
situation, which promised abundance of beauty.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 1 1 1

After four hours' ride, over ground much
intersected with marks of inundation, we arrived
at a khan where, under a sort of " pergola "* of
dry matting, I remained to dine, and to draw
the sublime view before me over the plain, and
wide beds of torrents towards the bare, craggy,
dark mountain of Kroia, with the town and
rocks glittering like silver aloft, below a heavy
curtain of black cloud. At two we left the
Skodra, or post-road — the Soorudji growling
frightfully at my so doing — and struck directly
across the vale to Kroia — a winding ascent
through o-reen wooded hill-buttresses or shoul-
ders, changed ere long for a sharp climb up to
the foot of the great rock round which the town
clusters and hangs — at which point I arrived at
half-past four p.m, and where I gladly paused
to sketch, rest, and enjoy the view above,
below, and around. Few prospects are more
stately than those of this renowned spot ; and
perhaps that of the crag, with its ruined castle
projecting from the great rocks above, and lord-
ing over the spacious plain country north and
south from Skodra towards Durazzo, reminded

* In Italy a vine trellis.

112 JOURNALS 0]

me more of Olevano, that most lovelj landscape
in a land of loveliness, than any place I ever
saw. At the base of this isolated rock lies the
town — a covered semicircular line of bazaars ;
and overlooking all is the Bey's Palace, and a
tall white minaret against the blue sky. The
peasants who passed me while drawing, lingered,
whispering quietly while observing the sketch,
all thoroughly well-behaved, and a great contrast
to my spectators of Elbassan. But evening
advanced, and I was compelled to shut up my
book, feeling for the hundredth time how diffi-
cult it is to pourtray scenery in a country where
the mere daily occupation of journeying from one
town to another is attended by so much labour
and hurry. Ascending through the dark-roofed
bazaars — the huge crags towering over which
reminded me of Canalo in Calabria — we arrived
at All Bey's palace — a singularly picturesque
pile of building, composed of two-storied,
painted galleries, with irregular windows, pro-
jecting roofs, and innumerable novelties of archi-
tecture— all in a dreary court-yard, the high
walls of which shut out effectually the glorious
landscape below.

In the arabesqued and carved corridor, to
which a broad staircase conducted me, were

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER- 113

hosts of Albanian domestics ; and on my letter
of introduction being sent into the Bey, I
was almost instantly asked into his room of
reception — a three-windowed, square chamber
(excellent, according to the standard of Turkish
ornament, taste, and proportion) — where, in a
corner of the raised divan, sate All, Bey of
Krdia — a lad of eighteen or nineteen, dressed in
the usual blue frock-coat now adopted by
Turkish nobles or officers. A file of kilted and
armed retainers were soon ordered to marshal
me into a room where I was to sleep, and the
little Bey seemed greatly pleased with the fun
of doing hospitality to so novel a creature as a
Frank. My dormitory was a real Turkish
chamber ; and the raised cushions on three sides
of it — the high, square, carved wooden ceiling —
the partition screen of lofty woodwork, with long
striped Brusa napkins thrown over it — the
guns, horse-gear, &c, which covered the walls
— the fire-place — closets — innumerable pigeon-
holes— green, orange, and blue stained-glass
windows — all appeared so much the more in
the light of luxuries and splendours when found
in so remote a place as Kroia. It was not easy
to shake off the attentions of ten full-dressed
Albanian servants, who stood in much expecta-

i

1 1 4 JOURNALS OF

tion, till, finding I was about to take off my
shoes, they made a rush at me as the Jews did
at Saloniki, and showed such marks of disap-
pointment at not being allowed to make them-
selves useful, that I was obliged to tell Giorgio
to explain that wre Franks were not used to
assistance every moment of our lives, and that
I should think it obliging of them if they would
leave me in peace. After changing my dress,
the Bey sent to say that supper should be served
in an hour, he having eaten at sunset, and in
the meantime he would be glad of my society ;
so I took my place on the sofa by the little
gentleman's side, and Giorgio, sitting on the
ground, acted as interpreter. At first Ali Bey
said little, but soon became immensely loqua-
cious, asking numerous questions about Stam-
boul, and a few about Franks in general —
the different species of whom he wTas not
very well informed. At length, when the con-
versation was nagging, he was moved to discourse
about ships that went without sails, and coaches
that were impelled without horses ; and to
please him 1 drew a steamboat and a railway
carriage ; on which he asked if they made any
noise ; and T replied by imitating both the
inventions in question in the best manner 1

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER 115

could think of — " Tik-tok, tik-tok, tik-tok,
tokka, tokka, tokka, tokka, tokka — tok"
(crescendo), and " Squish -squash, squish-
squash, squish-squash, thump-bump" — for the
land and sea engines respectively — a noisy
novelty, which so intensely delighted All Bey,
that he fairly threw himself back on the divan,
and laughed as I never saw Turk laugh before.

For my sins, this imitation became fear-
fully popular, and I had to repeat " squish-
squash," " tik-tok," till I was heartily tired,
the only recompense this wonderful little
Pasha offered me, being the sight of a small
German writing-box (when new it might have
cost three or four shillings), containing a
lithograph of Fanny Ellsler, and two small
looking-glasses in the lid. This was brought
in by a secretary, attended by two Palikari,*
at the Bey's orders, and was evidently con-
sidered as something uncommonly interesting.
So, when this very intellectual intercourse
was over, I withdrew to my wooden room, and
was glad of a light supper before sleeping.

* Palikari — Albanian or Greek military.

» 2

116 JOURNALS OK

Ski»tkmber .'U).

But one day can be allotted to Kroia, so how
to make the best of that day ? Little liberty
do I look for, the more, that while I take my
caf§, an Albanian stands at the door, who shies
off his slippers if I only move a finger — rushing
forward to know if I want anything. How-
ever, I have caused it to be known through
Giorgio, that I only require a single attendant,
and that that one should be well paid. Spite
of forebodings, I actually escaped from the
palace, and having re-passed the bazaars, was
at work on a drawing of the castle rock, one
of the most imposing of subjects, ere yet the
sun had risen over the eastern hills. Above
the town the view is still more majestic, and
although many of the inhabitants came and sat
near me, yet no one annoyed me in the least,
and I drew comparisons between these well-
bred people and the rude men of Elbassan and
Tyrana. At eleven I returned to dine with
Ali Bey, an amiable little fellow, who was evi-
dently anxious to make my stay agreeable,
though he could not long control his childish
curiosity from bidding Giorgio (who could ill

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 119

bowl into which we dipped in rotation. So
ended my first Turkish dinner.

It is not easy to keep conversation going, on
terms so unequal as those in which my host and
I communicated, so I was not sorry to be once
more at work, and the outside of Ali Bey's
palace, fretted, and galleried, and painted, occu-
pied me an hour or two, while the castle rock,
taken from the east, filled up my time till sun-
set. After this, I was devoted for two hours
to the little Bey, during which my employ-
ment was repeating in English the names of the
days of the week, and the twelve months, and
the letters of the alphabet, varied by " squish-
squash, squish-squash, thump, thump, tikka-tok-
katok," and by occasional contemplations of the
Fanny Ellsler writing-box. Later, Ali Bey
showed me the rooms of his hareem (the first
and last I am most probably destined to see),
which he was repairing with an indistinct view to
future matrimony. Very picturesque and Arabian-
night-like chambers they were, with a covered
gallery, looking down on the (now) still bazaars
and the tall minarets, to the rocks and the oak
woods sloping down, down by undulating hills
to the boundless plains, moonlit sea, and far
faint hills of Skodra. Imagination peopled this

120 JOUBNAL8 mi

gallery with houri tenants, waving feringhees,
and laughing faces, hut the halls of All Bey were

silent for the present.

Supper — a fac-simile of the dinner, save that
I did not upset the soup — concluded my day in
Kroia, and I took leave of good-natured little
Ali Hey with the sort of half regret with which
any human being, whose salt one has eaten more
than once in wilds such as these, is bade a
farewell for ever.

October 1.

The muezzins' call to prayers is more delight-
fully musical at Kroia than at any place I have
yet been to — it is the wildest of singular melodies.
We were off by six a.m. While the horses
were being got ready, Ali Bey desired to see
nie again, and accordingly we had series the
last of coffee, pipes, " squish-squash, tikka-
tok," and the alphabet. He had asked Giorgio
of his own accord, how the Franks saluted each
other, and hearing that it was by shaking hands,
lie seized both of mine, and shook them as a
London footman might a door-knocker. Long
after I had left the palace, he was watching me
from his corner-window, and doubtless will longer

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 121

remember the Frank who ran about and wrote
down houses, and divulged to him the noises of
steam-ships and coaches. All is representative
of his uncles, Suleiman and Machmoud Beys,
governors of Tyrana, and as their deputy, judges
all disputes in Kroia. Young as he is, he has a
good deal of energetic character, and keeps the
people in strict order, " I took away all their
guns," said he, " directly I was chief here : for
why ? they shot more men than birds." Among
other amusing questions which he asked, one was,
after long and accurate observation of my dress :
" How does the Frank make the collars of his
shirt stand upright ?" Giorgio informed him,
by means of starch, on which he inquired the
nearest place where he could purchase a Frank
laundress ; and being told Trieste, he expressed
his determination to send for one shortly.

The morning was clouded and gray, and a
heavy mist over the northern plains and shore
foretells rain. We be^an to descend from
Kroia through graceful olive woods and pretty
scenery, above which, on the right, the tops of
the high mountain range peeped out through
gathering clouds. Great fragments of dark
rock cumber the downward path, and on the
left the distant view would have been glorious,

122 JOURNALS OF

if the spreading mist had been less dense.
Crossing a stream by a high-arched bridge, the

route lay through ever increasingly beautiful
oak forests, stretching from hill to hill, and
wrapping the bald and gloomy mountains in
their grey and brown robes; and had not the
day become more threatening each minute, I
should have enjoyed the scenery more. In the
thickest of the wood, down came the rain in
torrents ; the paths were slippery, our progress
was slow ; and Giorgio, who considers Albania
and Albanians as the most depressing of horrors,
made the morning truly melancholy by inces-
sant croaking about robbers ; besides all which
evils, a most odious impish little Soorudji, who
had brought me from Tyrana, and who was
aggrieved at being taken, as he called it, up into
the hills, delayed me out of spite in every pos-
sible way, by rushing into quagmires, and leaving
the path suddenly to search for imaginary pools
of water in impenetrable copses, that his horses
might drink thereof ; these symptoms of unruli-
ness we were at last obliged to check, by leading
his horse forcibly, spite of his yell of " Sui-sui."*

* " Drink, drink \"

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 1 23

In about three hours from Krdia, we reached the
Skddra road once more, and in half an hour ar-
rived at a khan situated in a close jungly wood, a
small spot of ground being cleared around the
tenement, which, says the Khanji, is five
hours from Alessio, the place meant to be the
end of my day's journey. Here I resolve to
halt, as the rain cannot be more violent than it
is at present. Moreover, there is a fine fowl
roasting, which I seize on, and purchase for two
piastres. These bye-road khans are infinitely
preferable to the vile places in the towns of
Albania ; a floor and a fire are comforts, and
the stable at the far end of the long building
did not incommode me, whose luncheon on the
fowl, with rice, was only more or less disturbed
by little chickens and kittens, who continually
ran over me, snatching at casual bits of fugitive
food. No parasitical creatures are more worrying
to a traveller in Albania than chickens ; they
swarm by scores in these khans, and their in-
cessant chirp and flutter are incorrigible, nor
until they have shared the picking of their ances-
tors' bones can they be quieted.

At eleven o'clock — the rain ceasing unexpect-
edly— we were off again, ever through a thick

124 JOURNALS OP

wooded tract of country, the tangled branches
heavy with the rain, greatly impeding our pro-
gress, and the roads being deep in mud and
water. Often, to avoid the high raised cause-
way (the government post-road) — the unequal
pavement of which it is misery to ride over —
we went aside into quiet glades of green, return-
ing when the too thick foliage prevented the
secondary pathway being followed. At an
hour's distance another khan stands on the
right of the road, and beyond this the wood
gives place to more open glades, until we
reached the plain of the broad and rapid river
Mathis, which, always a disagreeable process,
was forded about one p.m. Hence the hills we
had passed began to gleam in returning sun-
shine, and covered with thickest foliage, seemed
like vast piles of moss ; while northward, and
to the west, flat ground, with occasional spots
of cultivation, appeared to spread to the sea —
the high rocks of the ancient Lissus rising
directly in front of our route. Having passed
a third khan on the left at half-past one, the
road enters a thick copse or jungle, a belt of
underwood stretching over the low marshy
grounds near the Drin. The staple productions

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 1 25

of this region are tangled brambles and low ilexes
through whose green growth tall whispering
reeds shoot up, while, above all, trees scattered
at intervals tower, their branches bending with
the weight of vines and creepers which
swing in graceful festoons, in all the luxuriant
rankness that surely indicates a condition of
atmosphere fatal to man, but favourable to vege-
table life.

In these narrow and intricate paths we met
many peasants returning from the bazaars of
Alessio, the women clad in fringed and tasselled
dresses, the men all armed; for the Gheghe
Albanians, from not having formed any union
with their brethren of Toskeria and Tzamouria
in the last rising against the Turkish Govern-
ment, are still allowed the privilege of carrying
arms, which is denied to all south of the Skumbi.

About four o'clock I reached Alessio* — a
miserable village representing the ancient Lissus,
many remains of which exist around and upon the
remarkable pointed hill (the ancient Acropolis)
rising above the street of bazaars which forms
the chief part of the modern town ; the rest of

* Or Leah.

126 JOURNALS 01

Alessio consists of houses standing in gardens
on the banks of the Drill — in which the Chris-
tian population chiefly dwell — or in suburban
residences of the Mohammedans on the hill-
side. On the summit of the rock is a mosque,
and here tradition says that the remains of
Scanderbeg repose beneath the ruins of a
Christian church.

The khan of Alessio was too bad to think of
as a lodging ; so, by means of a letter from the
Bey of Tyrana, we proceeded to a quarter in the
house of a Greek Christian residing here as
agent to the Austrian Consul at Skodra; and
leaving Giorgio to make the best of this refuge —
a sort of loft in a courtyard, bearing all the tokens
of vermin — I went forth with its master, Signor
Giuseppe, and by way of finding a general view
of Alessio, crossed the river in a punt-ferry, and
proceeded to a Latin convent which stands on a
height opposite the town. Nearly all the
Christians in this part of Northern Albania
(that is, on the north-western coast, where the
Venetian Republic was once so powerful) are
of the Latin Church, and the residents of the
Greek persuasion are the minority. From this
spot the views are most exquisite. Looking
south, they extend towards the high mountains

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 127

above Kroia and Tyrana ; and northward, they
range over a beautiful river which winds down
from the heights above Skodra, reflecting trees
and hills in the clear water.

The sole tenant of the convent, a Capuchin
Friar, came forth to meet me, when, having
advanced a few yards, he set up a shout, ejacu-
lating, "O, possibile ! Si : — e il Signor Odoardo !"
while I on my part recognised him as a monk
I had fallen in with some years back when
staying with some friends in the Maremma near
Corneto, and afterwards had frequently seen at
Ara-Coeli in Rome ; but the singularity of the
circumstance — that we should meet again in
this remote corner of Illyria — was one of those
events that we should reject if in a novel, as
too impossible to happen. Fra Pietro exhi-
bited great glee at seeing a " Christian," as he
called me ; and on the other side, I was glad
enough to hear good Roman speech. " But," said
I, " the people of Alessio are Christians, are they
not ?"* — " Cristiani si, lo sono," said the monk ;
" ma se domani volesse il buon Dio far crescere

* Yes they are ! but if it pleased Heaven to-morrow so to
swell the river as that they might be all swept off into Paradise,
1 should be happy, &c. &c. May they all die of apoplexy !

ll>S JOURNALS OF

il fiume per portargli tutti in Paradiso, ci avrei
gusto! — Cristiani? Ladri! Cristiani? — porchi!

— Cristiani ? Lupi, anhnali, sciocchi, scimie,
brutte bestie, Grechi, Turchi, Albanesi — che gli
piglia ad uno e tutti un accidente. O che Cris-
tiani ! O che rabbia !" Seeing that a sojourn in
the Latin bishopric of Lissus had by no means
improved my friend Fra Pietro's disposition to
suavity (he was never, in the days when I
formerly knew him, of the calmest or happiest
temper), I hastened to change the conversation,
but during the rest of our discourse, this victim
of exile in " partibus" continued to growl out
bitter anathemas at all his Alessian flock. At
sunset I left the angry friar (after all, a solitary
life here must be no slight penitenza), and,
promising to visit him on my return, I re-crossed
the Drin to Signor Giuseppe's house, where
I found bed and supper ready in the upper
chamber.

An old Skodrino, who talks Italian, squats on
the opposite side of the fire, and tells me a great
deal about Skddra and other places hereabouts,
which I ought to have remembered, but I fell
fast asleep. Eight hundred Latin Christian-,
according to him, live at Skddra ; and he says,
" there may be some twenty Greek Christian

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 129

families." The Roman Catholic Bishop of Lissus
resides there. In spite of all his intelligence,
the old gentleman was a bore, as he was seized
with a literary fit in the middle of the night,
and smoked, and scribbled, and conghed, to the
utter driving away the little chance of sleep
which mice, musquitoes, and fleas had left me

October 2.

It is half-past four a.m., and torrents of rain
are falling ; they may fall for two or three days,
in which case I am a prisoner here, as all the
rivers will be impassable, so I order the horses
to proceed to Skddra at all risks, though of
course the obstinate little Soorudji would not
bring them till seven.

The journey was of the wettest, and kept
always along the banks of the Drino, beneath
enormous abele trees, with fine forms of moun-
tains looming through the downward mist. To
a man who wears spectacles, a fez is not advan-
tageous as a covering for the head on a rainy
day ; the glasses are soon dimmed, and little
does he see of all above, below, and around.
In three hours we arrived at the ferry over the

K

\Ui) J0URNAL8 0]

Drino, having passed two or three scattered
villages, which were proclaimed as Christian by

the fad of pigs (lean, hairy pigs they were)
roaming around them. Nothing in the world
could be more picturesque than the ferry and
its capoted rowers ; but the incessant rain for-
bade attempts to draw, nor did I halt again, till
at eleven, when we reached a khan, distant still
three hours from Skddra. A small bit of salt
cheese, and some very bad wine, was all the food
I could obtain ; but the loss of luncheon was
compensated for by the increasing interest of
the costumes of the peasantry ; their scarlet and
crimson capotes, short coarse kilts, long black
hair, dark faces, and immoderately long pistols,
gave them an air of romance and savageness
I had not yet seen.

Half-past eleven — on again, through clay and
water, and willowy tangles, and high broken
causeways. Turkish paved roads, even when in
repairs, are miserable ways and means of travel ;
but when you have twenty yards of elevated
stonework, and then a four feet interval of mud,
the causeway being often two or three feet in
height, the alternation of ups and downs is not
pleasant. Vast mountain forms are lowering

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER, 131

remotely on all sides, till the castle of Skodra*
appears in sight. In all the objects of this, to
me, new district, extreme wildness is the domi-
nant impression. The peasantry were pictu-
resque to an incredible degree. Flocks of sheep
and goats, guarded by the most savage-looking
fellows, armed to the teeth, and magnificent in
all the colours of Gheghe clothing, were fre-
quently in our path, and more than once fierce
dogs sprang out on our half wild Soorudji, from
hidden ambushes. Once, the young pickle made
as if he would pursue one of the invaders, with
his raised whip, but the herdsman rose from his
lair, and coolly pointed his long gun at the
offender, till he resumed his course.

Skodra is situated to the south of the lake of
the same name, on a point of land between two
rivers, one of which,f the Boyana, sweeps below
the south side of the isolated ridge of hill on
which the fortress stands, which ridge, shutting
out the plain and lake is, as it were, split into
two, by a deep hollow immediately to the east-
ward of the fortress, wherein, and on the southern
side of the hill, appears to stand the town. But

* Or, Scutari d'Albania. t The other is the Drino, or Drill.

K 2

L32 JOl RNALS 01

this is all deception; for having crossed the
Boyana — at this season a fordable stream — you
arrive at the southern suburbs, only to discover
that they are deserted; the Avails of numerous
houses, ruined in some of the late sieves of this
unquiet capital of Illy nan Albania, one or two
handsome mosques, and a considerable extent
of garden constitute the real condition of the
place ; while ascending through this scene of de-
solation to the long lines of bazaars, which cluster
below the domineering fortress, and fill up the
hollow pass in the ridge of hill, you are still sur-
prised to find that you are not yet in Skodra. For
these bazaars, by the oddest arrangement pos-
sible, are only tenanted by day ; a busy scene
throughout the forenoon, they are regularly
closed an hour before sunset ; every male inhabi-
tant coming to his warehouse early in the morn-
ing, and returning as regularly to what is now7
really the town of Skodra (though it is some-
times called "The Gardens"), namely, a wide
collection of villages and detached houses,
scattered over the plain on the northern side of
the eastle-hill and bazaars, between them and
the lake. The lake, stretching far and wide to the
mountains of Montenegro, is not seen except by
climbing high up the rock toward the castle.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 133

On arriving in the piazza in the centre of the
bazaars, I was told that Signor Bonatti (the
English Vice-consul to whom I had letters)
resided at some distance : it might be a mile, or
two, or four, said the bystanders, with happy
vagueness, — the mercantile world of Skodra
seemed unprepared to give a decided opinion.
However that might be, the odious little
Soorudji of Tyrana instantly vowed he would
go no further, and in spite of threats and
entreaties became unmanageable. Unloading
all the baggage in a rage, he threw it into
the mud in the piazza, and decamped with the
horses, swearing at all Christians with most
emphatic zeal. All the Gheghes looking on,
maintained a provoking composure. To have
sent to the Pasha in his castle would have been
an operation of an hour's length, and after all of
uncertain result : the Consul's abode was afar
off, and so little seemed known of him that it was
to be doubted if his succours would have availed
anything : so, in this climax of discomfort —
hard rain falling all the while — we had to
wait until another horse was procured for the
baggage ; and with a very lame guide we left
the bazaars, and descended to the suburban or
" garden part of Skodra, in the northern plain.

134 JontXALs 01

A pretty chase ensued for tlie Consul's dwell-
ing; for in this strange place your house, or
your mosque, or your garden stands, indepen-
dently of any other building, among walls and
labyrinths of lanes intricate beyond belief.
Much of this flat ground is afflicted by inundation
— the communications across it being formed by
very narrow raised causeways, crossing intervals
of mud or water as the case may be; and a full
hour was consumed in walking among these weary
pavements without apparently being any nearer
the object of our search. At last we arrived at
a door at the end of a cul-de-sac lane, when the
lame old man stopped and said: "to o-7rm,*
[ngliz Consul." But this was wholly an inven-
tion of his own, for no consul lived there ; and
had not a friendly scarlet-cloaked Christian
woman volunteered acting as guide, I cannot
tell when the real house might have been found.
Signor Bonatti, a native of Corfu, and British
Vice-consul in the city of Skodra, is an active
and lively little man, full of kind anxiety to do
the agreeable to the few passers-by in these
regions ; but having a large family of nine or

* to oniTi, \\\v h0US€

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 135

ten children, he is unable to exercise so much
hospitality as he is known formerly to have
done : the more the pity, for a more amiable set
of people one could not be indebted to. He
recommended me to a lodging in the village-
city ; and after a short stay with his family,
thither I went.

By sunset I was settled in the house of Signor
Marco, a Venetian apothecary, whose substantial
dwelling standing in a good cortile and garden,
contains two or three large rooms. Here —
possibly the last place in which rest will be
accessible before I arrive at Ioannina — I pur-
pose staying three days before turning south-
ward— Skddra being the furthest point of my
Albanian wanderings ; — even were not money
becoming scarce, autumn advances, and I
shall have scarcely time to reach Malta ere
Christmas.

October 3.

Half the morning passed by in endeavours to
find the lake — which, after all, I — who have no
organ of locality — did not succeed in doing.
So, after walking in a circle among lanes,
houses, tombs, mosques, drains, bridges, and

136 •",l RNAL8 OF

w wiled gardens, I returned to the apothecary's
as wise as when I set out. Repairing to the

Consul, and walking -with him about the
suburbs, I came to the conclusion that the most
picturesque points of Skddra are to be found on
the southern side of the ridge — or at least that
whatever views were to be obtained in the
north would occupy, from their remoteness,
more time than I commanded, merely to select.
To an artist who could remain here for a
month, much noble material could be gained
on the shores of the lake at the foot of the
Albanian mountain-boundary to the east; and
greatly did I long to penetrate towards Podgo-
rizza, and the land of the Montenegrini.

At three p.m. I set out with Sismor Bonatti
on a visit to the Pasha of Skodra, to whom Mr.
Blunt of Saloniki has given me a letter; and
after a visit to some of the merchants in the
bazaars, we climb the steep castle-hill, whence
the line of the lake and mountains are surpass-
ingly lovely. The castle occupies the whole of
the summit of the hill, and by its area-walls
and numerous decaying forts within, betokens
greater extent and power in bygone day-. The
palace of the Pasha is a building with no pre-
tention- to size or picturesqueness, nor is its

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 137

interior otherwise than of the commonest kind.
From the windows, however, the view is truly
magnificent on all sides : northward, it sweeps
across the village, the dotted plain, and wide
blue lake to the jagged Montenegro or Tcher-
nigore mountains ; southward, it extends over
the ruined town at the foot of the hill to the
plains of the Drino ; westward, along the wind-
ings of the Boyana to the Adriatic ; and east-
ward, to the third part of this oddly arranged
place — the busy bazaars.

Osman Pasha, the dignitary who at present
governs the city of Skddra and its surrounding
district, is a Bosniac by birth, and is said to be
in great favour with the Porte from having,
while in his present command, made some suc-
cessful warfare against the Montenegrini, who
are ever at feud with the Mohammedan Govern-
ment. His Highness is short and fat, with an
intelligent and amiable expression of counte-
nance ; and spite of his Oriental attitude as he
squatted in his corner, a pale frock-coat and
European-made trousers gave him little of the
air of a Turk. Beside him sat an individual,
whose closely-buttoned grey vest, clerical hat,
gold chain and cross, proclaimed the Roman
Catholic bishop ; this was Monsignore Topicka,

138 JOUBNAM OF

the diocesan of Lissus, in which is included the
district of Skodra. By means of the Vice-
consular Dragoman, the conversation became
animated. The Pasha was remarkably affable,
and asked me to dine with him on the 5th.
And then came pipes and coffee — pipes, pipes,
sweetmeats — pipes, sherbet, and pipes ; through-
out which ceremony, discourse was extremely
plentiful when compared with the usual run of
Turkish visits.

They call this place the Siberia or exile of
Turkey in Europe ; and indeed it must be little
less than banishment to those who have lived in
Stamboul. The Pasha made several remarks,
showing that he wTas by no means an ill-informed
man. He asked if " Lord" Cook (chi girava il
mondo,*) had left any children, and if so whether
they also went intorno l'universo ? Various anec-
dotes— some very facetious, at which His High-
ness laughed immoderately — were told by the
Consul and Bishop ; and on the whole the
visit, though rather long, was a merry one.
There was much talk also regarding reports of
battles between the Cattaresi and Montenegrini

* Who went round the world.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. I39

on the far side of the lake. After the departure
of the Vescovo, I was invited to walk on the
ramparts ; and, said the Pasha, " You may note
down all the state of the fortress, if you please :
you may look at everything, for your Sovereign
is a friend of ours." It would have been in
vain to have said that I had no commission to
report upon fortresses, or that I was totally
incapable of so doing : any attempt to disabuse
the august mind of so natural a conception would
have had no other result than that of appearing to
confirm it. After this I had hoped the visit was
over, and was horrified to find that we returned
to the divan, when fresh pipes and rose-water
ensued, and pipes — pipes — like Banquo's pos-
terity, till I was utterly weary ; by the time
we had taken leave and re-passed the gal-
leries full of retainers, the sun had set, and it
was dark ere we reached the plain, where we
fell in with long lines of Scutarini leaving the
bazaars and returning home, each with his
empty sack.

October 4.

All day the weather looks threatening, but
the clouds add a charm of magnificence to the

140 JOURNALS OF

dark blue mountains surrounding the plain of
Skodra. The Skodra merchants cross it in
troops at early morn on their way to the
bazaars ; many of these are men of consider-
able property, and trade largely to the coasts
of Italy, especially Venice, the dialect of which
place nearly all of them speak as well as Greek,
Sclavonic- Albanian, and Turkish. They live in
a homely style in their own town, and never
adopt the fustianell or kilt, being clad in dark
loose capote-vests, with blue or black linen
trousers like those of Corfiotes, or the popu-
lation of the Greek isles ; below these are
scrupulously white stockings — changed daily,
wonderful to say — but the Scutarini are totally
different in appearance, habits and manners, to
the southern Albanians. The women have their
faces covered, so that when out of doors you
cannot distinguish Christians from Mohamme-
dans, and one and all dress in scarlet cloaks with
square hoods. But it is in Venice or Cattaro that
the Skodra merchant unfolds himself, as it were,
for at home his fear of exciting the cupidity of
the Turks prevents any such display. Abroad
he exhibits all the blazing richness of full
Gheghe costume ; while it is at home that the
Skodra lady indulges in a magnificence of

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 141

costume almost beyond belief. In domestic
arrangements the Latin Christians of Skodra
have much in common with their Mohamme-
dan rulers, under whose power they have so
long dwelt as to adopt most of their practices
— such, for instance, as the marriages being
fixed by the parents, the bride and bridegroom
never meeting till she is brought to her be-
trothed's house on the day of the marriage.
As in Turkey, also, the female of each family are
almost close prisoners, excepting when masked,
and in no case hold communion with the males
of any other household.

While sketching about the village I was
plentifully pelted by little Gheghe boys, until
the arrival of a Kawas from the Pasha secured
me from annoyance. The Skodra Albanians
have the reputation of excessive ferocity and
turbulence ; and to say truth, their countenances
do not belie the report. The Latin Christian
populace, on the contrary, seem as timid as
civil. By the aid of a tractable Kawas I drew
throughout the whole day unremittingly, from
various points below the south side of the
castle, whence the view is very imposing, and
near a wondrous old bridge across to Bryana,
constructed of pointed arches of irregular width,

142 J0UBNAL8 "I

and baring somewhat the effect of the columns

in a Gothic cathedral, suddenly resolved on
spanning the stream, some with little steps,
some with long. Everywhere the various groups
of buffalo cars and peasants, or of scarlet-coated
Gheghes sitting on the ground, were full of
interest ; but the thin population of a place so
extensive as Skodra is very7 apparent, and it is
a great contrast to the lively and thriving
Monastir.

Perhaps the grandest of all the views of
Skodra is from the rock eastward of the bazaars ;
the castle, the mountains above — the ruined
town below, — the river winding beneath its
1) ridges into far distance, form one of the finest
of pictures. As the sun was sinking low,
his rays, clouded through the day, lit up the
northern side of the landscape brilliantly, and
from the steep castle hill — my last halt —
nothing could be more splendid than the rich
foliage and glittering dwellings on the one side,
and the dark ranges of deep blue and violet
hills against the bright sky. But there is far to
go, and it is time to set out homeward over the
ankle-twisting paved causeways of Skodra.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 143

October 5.

It rained hard all night, and at ten a.m.,
(when we should have been going up to the
Pasha's dinner), torrents descended, with vio-
lent thunder and hail. Towards eleven it held
up a little, so as the invitations of three-tailed
Pashas are not to be neglected, I set off to
the Vice-consul's, taking Giorgio, with a supply
of shoes, linen, and cloth clothes, as a remedy
against the wetting there was small chance
of escaping. Whereupon, fresh storms com-
mencing, Signor Bonatti, myself, the Dragoman
Pazzini and a Kawas, all rushed desperately
through the falling torrents, by odious paved
paths to the castle, arriving there in a perfect
deluge. Having changed our dress, the time
till dinner was served (about noon), passed
in continual repetitions of sherbet, sweetmeats,
pipes and coffee, the Pasha being always very
lively and merry.

Osman Pasha affects European manners, and
(to my great relief) we all sat on chairs round
a table ; a Bimbashi (or captain on guard) ap-
pearing about as much at ease in his new posi-
tion as I had done when in that of the natives.

1 1 I JOURNALS OF

A.s for the Legion-dinner, it is not to be de-

scribed. I counted up thirty-seven dishes,
served, as is the custom in Turkey, one by one
in succession, and then I grew tired of reckon-
ing (supposing that perhaps the feast was going
on all day) though I think there were twelve or
fourteen more. But nothing was so surprising
as the strange jumble of irrelevant food offered :
lamb, honey, fish, fruit ; baked, boiled, stewed,
fried ; vegetable, animal ; fresh, salt, pickled ;
solid ; oil, pepper ; fluid ; sweet, sour ; hot,
cold — in strange variety, though the ingredients
were often very good. Nor was there any order
in the course according to European notions ; —
the richest pastry came immediately after
dressed fish, and was succeeded by beef, honey,
and cakes ; pears and peaches ; crabs, ham,
boiled mutton, chocolate cakes, garlic, and fowl ;
cheese, rice, soup, strawberries, salmon-trout
and cauliflowers ; — it was the very chaos of a
dinner ! Of those who did justice to the repast
I was not one ; and fortunately it is not con-
sidered necessary, by the rules of Turkish
etiquette, to do more than taste each dish ; and
although the Pasha twice or thrice helped me
himself, it is sufficient to eat the smallest atom,
when the attendant servant removes your plate.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 145

As for drink, there were marsala, sherry, hock,
champagne, Bass's pale ale, bottled porter, rakhi,
and brandy, — a large show of liquor in a Mo-
hammedan house ; nor did the faithful seem to
refrain particularly from any fluid ; but there
was no unbecoming excess, and as is remarkably
the case with Turkish manners, quiet and
order were observable throughout the festivity.
Only the Bimbashi, a heavy, dull man, seemed
marked out for practical jokes, and they
made him take an amazing mixture of porter
and champagne, assuring him it was a species
of Frank soup, which he seemed to like little
enough. As the entertainment draws to a close,
it is polite to express your sense of the host's
hospitality, by intimating a sense of repletion,
and, by pointing to your throat, the utter impos-
sibility of eating any more ; and perhaps the last
delicate act of complimentary acknowledge-
ment, which it is not easy to describe otherwise
than as a series of remarkable choral ventrilo-
quism, was the queerest and most alarming trait
of the whole fete. On the whole, there was
much to amuse, though I should not like to dine
with Pashas often. Osman Pasha surprised me
by his questions concerning Ireland, Scotland,
the game laws, &c, and appeared to have read

]4 fi JOUKN LLS 01

and understood a good deal about European
nations. After dinner, I amused him greatly by

drawing one or two of his attendants, and
should have obtained the portraits of more, had
not the Mufti, or Mollah, or Cadi, in an ortho-
dox green and white turban, been suddenly an-
nounced, a visit which put a stop to my
unholy pastime. At six we came away. How
disagreeable the raised pavement of Skodra is,
none but those who have slipped off it into deep
mud and water every five minutes can tell.

October 6.

An April day of sun and showers. Early I
went to the Consul's, to make a drawing of a
Gheghe chief, Abdullah Bey, who was magni-
ficently attired in a full suit of scarlet and gold ;
and afterwards one of Calliope Bonatti, the Con-
sul's second daughter, a very pretty girl, who
good-naturedly sate to me in a bridal Scutarine
dress, which Madame Bonatti had most
obligingly borrowed. No toilet can be more
splendid : purple silk and velvet, elaborately em-
broidered in gold and silver, form the outer
garment, the patterns worked by hand with the
greatest taste ; two or three under rests cow red

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 147

with embroidery, full purple trowsers, innu-
merable chains of gold and silver coins and
medals, with a long white veil, complete the cos-
tume, excepting several coloured silk handker-
chiefs, which are sewn inside the outer vest, and
have a tawdry and ill-arranged look, when com-
pared with the rest of the dress. This gay attire
is only worn on great fete days, or on marked
occasions, such as marriages and christenings.

The Consul and his wife are in great distress
about the ways and manners of Skodra, as to
face-hiding, for, since Christian as well as Mo-
hammedan women conceal their faces, no woman
can stir out unmasked without receiving some
insult, as indeed to appear barefaced marks
total loss of character. Consequently, Mesde-
moiselles Bonatti do not like to go out under
such risk of reproach, while, on the other hand,
their mother will not allow them to wear the
yashmack ; for she says : " Are you not Chris-
tians ? and why should you be ashamed of
showing your face ?"

Their being one of the few families here pro-
fessing the Greek form of Christianity, probably
makes this objection stronger ; and the result
of this difference of opinion is, that the young
ladies never leave the house at all, from one

L 2

11^ JOI l;\ LLS OJ

year's end to another. Bitter complaints of
Sk6dra a^ a residence may be heard on all sides.

m

The clashing of various races, religions, and
castes, must render it an odious abode ; while

alarms and feuds, risk of property and life
hatred and petty warfare, prevail among all.

At one p.m. dinner was served at the Vice-
consular table, the only guest being Antonio
Summa the merchant, a very good specimen of
hi- order. Of the host and hostess it would be
difficult to speak too favourably. The eldest
daughter alone is wedded to Skodra fashions ; and
the being obliged to appear in the company of
men was evidently a great pain to the unfortu-
nate girl, who with difficulty refrained from
crying if looked at or spoken to : so strong is
the force of habit.

At four we adjourned to the house of Antonio
Summa — a substantial building in a large court -
\ ardj all the appurtenances about which indicated
opulence and comfort. The usual compliments
of pipes, coffee, and lemonade were gone through,
and I made a drawing of the worthy merchant
in his Skodra costume ; but on his younger

V *

brother coming in (both were men of about
forty \ car- of age ), and requesting to be sketched
also, I, for want of paper, was obliged to make

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 149

a small though accurate portrait of him on the
same page as that on which I had drawn his
eldest brother, on a larger scale.

" O, santo cielo !" said the younger, in a
fury of indignation, when he saw the drawing ;
" why have you done this ? It is true I am the
youngest, but I am not smaller than my brother ;
and why should you make me so diminutive ?
What right have you thus to remind me of my
inferior position ? Why do you come into our
house to act so insultingly ?"

I was so amazed by this afflicting view of my
innocent mistake, that I could hardly apologise,
when the elder brother took up the tale.

" I, too," said he, " am vexed and hurt, O,
Signore ! I thought you meant well ; but if
you think that you win my esteem by a compli-
ment paid me at the expense of the affection of
my brother, you are greatly mistaken."

What could I say ? Was there ever such a
lesson to unthinking artists in foreign lands ?
I had made two enemies by one sketch, and was
obliged to take a formal addio, leaving the
injured brothers bowing me out with looks of
thunder.

A settling regarding horses and luggage, and
the procuring a fresh supply of money in bills,

150 JOI UN LL8 ni

OD Avlona and Ioannina, at the hospitable
Casa Bonatti, concluded my fourth and last day
in Skodra.

October 7.

The apothecary's house has been no bad
resting-place in the Illyrian metropolis. It hath
very few disagreeables. A large doe sits and
howls at the window during the night, and a
good many mice and rats course about its
rooms — but that is all. Don Marco is a mys-
terious little man ; and his household con-
sists of one old and three young women, of
whom two are very pretty, but timid to the last
degree of Skodra bashfulness — catching up
towels, or saucepans, or whatever comes to
hand if they are unfortunate enough to meet a
man when their face is uncovered. The
apothecary tells Giorgio that he came there
from Venice to try his fortunes, and found this
widow and family, who let him the house :
" And," said he, " while I hesitate as to which
of the three daughters I shall marry, time
passes, and we all growr old !"

All things being in readiness for starting, I
went to take leave of the Vice-consular family

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 151

— the members of which I left with regret,
almost the only feeling of the kind I had
experienced in a month's travel. How different
are these to the days of Abruzzo and Calabria !
Poor Signora Bonatti with her ten children !
There is something very sad in snch isolation as
Greek Christians are here doomed to live in.
And considering the hopeless character of Skd-
dra, " vendette, nasconderie, sospetti, incendie,"*
— the extremes of revolutionary and despotic,
Turk against Christian, Latin opposed to Greek,
— no place seems more fully fraught with the
evils of life. Addio, Skdclra ; and here termi-
nates the northern extent of my Albanian
journey — though much novelty yet is in store
in the south. I looked my last on the Ulyrian
city as we came round the eastern side of the
castle ridge to avoid the bazaars, and were
soon on the flat ground beyond the Boyana.

The day was bright ; and the horses being
good, we soon reached the khan I had halted at
on the 2nd — the roads beins: far better than was
to have been expected after the heavy rains.

* " Revenge, intrigue, suspicions, incendiaries," represented
to me as the daily ingredients of Skodra existence.

I.V2 J01 K\ H8 0]

Grand in form and colour arc the ranges of hills
east of the Drino, and beautiful arc the huge
white-stemmed abclc trees, their branches loaded
with wild vine festooning into the water. At

half-past two we reached the river, and crossed
it in a crowded ferry-boat. Large parties of
Toskhide Albanians, known by their white caps
and grey capotes, were waiting in many a
picturesque group to pass the broad stream, for
there is some great bazaar at Skodra to-morrow,
and a world of travelling merchants are hasten-
ing to it.

After an hour of quick trotting, below the
silver armed abeles — by the Latin villages with
the hairy lean pigs and scrubby yellow goats,
and beyond these, after some slow pacing over
ground inundated by the rains, we entered the
melancholy Alessio at half-past five. Small
time, alas ! was there for sketching, since I had
still to recross the Drino, a feat soon accom-
plished by the aid of the Soorudji (a good-na-
tured fellow pleasantly contrasted with that wild
ouran-outang who guided me from Tyrana),
but it was nearly dark ere I arrived at Padre
Pietro's convent, and with a desperate energy
I outlined the proportions of the hills as they
loomed out from the grey sky, hoping that a

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 153

bright morning would console me for this
second failure in my attempt to sketch Alessio.

I found the friar more energetic than ever in
abuse of his Albanian flock, " Maledetti tutti
dal cielo," being his mildest expression con-
cerning them ; the fact of a favourite servant
having been that morning found murdered at a
short distance from the convent, being no slight
excuse for his anger. The tenantless cells, and
large gloomy refectory of the monastery, joined
to the unceasing vituperation of its sole occu-
pant, did not add liveliness to the evening.
My own stores set forth a very tolerable supper,
and the Monk's acid wine contributed to vary
the repast. In the first part of the evening
the poor man was diffuse about his own situa-
tion. " Vita d'inferno," &c. ; and with that of
his co-mates in exile, " Sparsi siamo noi altri
frati della religione vera. Sparsi qua, e la ne'
boschi come majali spaventati."* This sub-
ject exhausted, he fell upon Pope Pio IX.,
whose inaptitude to govern, he predicted, was

* " We brethren of the true religion are dispersed here and
there in these woods like frightened pigs."

154 JOURNALS OP

about to bring great miseries on Rome and the

Church ; then he lashed out against the Turchi
of the district, attributing vices by wholesale to
their community in a comfortless category of
bitter accusation; nor did the Christians escape.
A black list of crimes, falsehood, unbelief, im-
morality of all kinds covered them with blots,
and he summed up his maledictions by say-
ing : — "In fine, sono tutti porchi pregiati del
gran Diavolone nero." Poor Signor Bonatti
came in for his share, too, though poverty
seemed to be the only evil condition to be attri-
buted to him ; and a slight seasoning of flattery
to, " Quella nazione tanta forte che amabile,
quel gran popol d'lnghilterra," filled up his
eloquent discourse. After supper, Padre Pietro
insisted on giving up his room to me, a
favour I firmly resisted as long as it was pos-
sible, for I should greatly have preferred the
bare corridors to a close dormitory filled with
books and furniture; but the monk Avas in-
exorable, so I retired for the night to wrap my-
self in my plaid, and endeavour to think lightly
of the gnats, which are very numerous from the
vicinity of the river. In the chamber hang
engravings of the Piazza del Popolo and San

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 155

Pietro. How clearly and sharply in this remote
place do they bring back the memory of years
passed in Rome !

October 8.

With difficulty I contrived to obtain two
views before it began to rain ; and by the time
horses and luggage were ferried over the river,
a blackening thunderstorm was fast rising in
hard edged masses of cloud from all the plains
below Krdia, soon to burst over the hill of
Alessio. To proceed while it lasted was im-
possible, so I sate in the empty, dark bazaars ;
it was Sunday, and no Christians were at their
shops, though the few passing peasants were
worth observation, the female costume covered
with fringes, tassels, and embroidery, and the
men wearing a capote sort of short spencer, the
hood of which, square and oddly fashioned,
protects the head against rain, and looks like a
tuft or crest of some strange black bird. Such
deluges fell, that the rattling roofs seemed about
to give way ; but, as the sky gave token of
clearing, we thought it better, towards noon,
to remain for the mid-day meal before starting,
and accordingly I adjourned to Siguor Giu-

[56 J0UBNAL8 01

Seppe's house once more, where the old Scu-
tarino still lingers on his way to Skddra.

At one we started, as I was resolved to make
some progress, if possible, seeing that the road-
side khan below Kroia cannot be a worse abode
than this, and one is further out of the low
country, which may be inundated if the bad
weather lasts ; but, though the soft scirocco air
threatens no distant change, all is bright and
clear for the present. Soon we entered the
briery copse, with its tall, creeper-hung trees; the
pathway which led through its tangled mazes —
never very obvious — wras now, from the heavy
rains, which had beaten down the branches, and
half obliterated the narrow, winding track, well
nigh impassable. At one moment the long
drooping boughs, and drapery-like clematis,
seemed to defy all progress ; at the next, a tract
of mud, two feet deep, threatened to become a
stable for the night to our luckless steeds.
Many wrere my misgivings as to the chance of
ultimately passing through this hideous swamp;
but thanks to patience and our very good
horses, we crossed it after two hours' hard
work, and were glad to rest for a short
space by the road-side khan nearest Alessio,
and then to proceed by le^s disreputable roads

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 157

to the Mathis, which was much swollen, and
barely fordable.

The Kroia range of mountains were magnifi-
cently indistinct in a watery haze ; and as the sun
sunk, a thousand tints were thrown over all the
wide landscape. After this, the beautiful oak
wood was reached, and the green oases, with
the scattered flocks, and the slippery causeway
or selciata, winding beneath the fresh, tall trees
seemed a perfect paradise, after the frightful
copse-wilderness on the plain of Alessio. About
five we arrived at the first khan in the forest ;
but as there was a moon, or three quarters of
a moon, it was judged feasible to press on to
the khan at which we lunched on the 1st,
making a better division of distance between
Alessio and Tyrana ; so on we went. As the
moonlight gained strength, nothing could exceed
the beauty of those silent groves ; where the giant
aerial stems of abeles, with their white branches
loaded with wild vine grouped together, with
the majestic oak, and spreading beech — it is long
since I have enjoyed so exquisite a forest scene
fc by moonlight. Yet some drawbacks were notable
by a short-sighted man ; the projecting boughs,
against which I came often with great force,
had more than once well nigh done a mischief to

158 JOURNAL "I

head and eyes. By seven p.m., furious barking
proclaimed the neighbourhood of the kk roast fowl
khan," and there we shortly arrived. The raised

part of it was already occupied by five ven
unclean-looking Albanians, but one side of the
fire was at liberty, and soon swrept and arranged
for me ; and Giorgio, ere long, prepared tea on
the little squat stool-table, after which sleep
quickly followed ; not, however, before I had
leisure to meditate on the fact, that I wras now
actually in the very wildest phase of Albanian
life.

Those five wild creatures, blowing the fire,
are a scene for a tale of the days of past
centuries. When they have sipped their coffee
they roll themselves up in capotes, and stretch-
ing out their feet to the embers, lie motionless
till an hour before daybreak. The large khan
is nowr silent (for even the vile little fussy
chickens cease to scrabble about in the dead of
night), and only the champing of the horses in
the farther part of this great stable-chamber is
heard ; the flickering light falls on these out-
stretched sleepers, and makes a series of wonder- *
ful pictures never to be forgotten, though I fear,
also, never to be well imitated by the pencil.
That I do not speak the language, and that I

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 159

had not previously studied figure-drawing, are
my two great regrets in Albania.

October 9.

During the night, a shrill and wild cry echoes
through the forest several times, and the bark-
ing of distant dogs follows it. This proceeds
from shepherds, who perceive the vicinity of a
wolf by some movement of the flock, and there-
upon alarm their watch-dogs.

With morning comes the reflection that I
must go to Tyrana to-night, and no further — per-
haps even to that very foulest of pigstyes, with
the circulating Dervish seen through the hole in
the wall.

The day begins badly, according to Giorgio's
way of regarding omens ; for, firstly, as he
has made an admirable basin of coffee, with
toast, a perverse hen, either owing to the
infirmity of a near sight, or a spasmodic presen-
timent that she should one day become broth
in a similar piece of earthenware, suddenly
came down from the rafters above with a great
shriek and flutter into the well-filled breakfast
platter, upsetting coffee and toast together into
the fire in her efforts at self-extrication. Giorgio

160 JOURNALS "i

meekly prepared to make it all over again ;
but, said he, a day so commenced must have

other ill-luck in it before sunset. — Secondly
(and consequently), the horses being all in
starting trim, — when an obese buffalo foolishly
persisted in walking all among them into the
centre of the khan, and when the alarmed
beasts put themselves, us, and the luggage in
jeopardy, amid a fearful confusion of flying
fowls and barking dogs, then Giorgio saw the
spell of ill-luck at work, and foreboded more
evil ere we reached Tyrana. — Thirdly, on start-
ing, down came the rain, and for a lonir time
we could only advance at the very slowest rate
through the thick forest, athwart pendant vines
and dense foliage, beaten down across the nar-
row pathways. The day, however, cleared, and
we soon entered beautiful undulating wood
scenes, where paintings of Hobbima or Swan-
veldt start to life at every moment ; such were
the tall and spreading, or light fairy-like oaks,
with misty grey distances of hanging foliage on
the green hills below Kroia, seen through open-
ing boughs, while below were red winding paths,
amid a carpeting of dear old English fern : most
lovely were these scenes. At half-past eight the
khan of Presa was passed on the right, and after

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 161

two and a-half more hours of riding over alter-
nate wooded undulations or flat ground, we ar-
rived at the khan where, on September 29th, 1
had drawn majestic Kroia, soaring high over the
plain on the opposite mountain side. Poor little
Ali Bey ! perhaps he is yet sitting in his corner,
meditating on tik-a-tok, squish-squash, A, B, C,
&c. Here I halted to dine and ruminate on cold
veal — wasps — and clouds ; the first I eat, the
second I killed as fast as may be ; the third grew
hideously black, and threatened the most violent
of storms.

At two, we were again on the road ; the cur-
tain-clouds above the hills gradually lost their
outline, and draw a gradual gray veil over all na-
ture, and torrents soon fall. Lucky have I been
to get drawings of Kroia before this wet season's
commencement ! Few intervals of light, or of
cessation of rain, ensued ; and long before Ty-
rana was reached, I was drenched thoroughly;
it was some consolation that we had really
good horses, and an active, good-natured Soo-
rudji, so that we gallopped on at a great rate.
Luckily, too, a better khan was found on this,
than at our last visit to Tyrana ; since only a
part of its broken roof admitted the rain, and the
walls were tolerably sound. Clearly it is my best

M

[62 JOURNALS 0]

plan to make for the south without delay, for
the great rivers and swampy land of these
Gheghe regions will shortly become totally
impassable, and who can tell how long one
may be detained among them ? Had I re-
mained at Alessio, this afternoon's rain must
have rendered the Mathis, and the marshy copse,
a bar to all further progress for the present.

October 10.

It is four a.m. and the Muezzins chant, so
plaintively beautiful in these wild North xllba-
nian places, awakes me. There are other symp-
toms too of approaching day peculiar to these
places ; none more so than the incessant tremu-
lous cackle of numberless geese. At seven,
spite of the threatening looks of cloud, we
prepare for a start ; the smallness of this smoky
den — for den is the mildest term that can be
applied to even this, the best khan here — pre-
vents anything being dried, and one may just as
well be making progress in wet clothes as sitting
still in them. Yet it is nine o'clock before horses
come, by reason of the postmaster being in the
bath as before, — this delay is the more unde-
sirable, inasmuch as that there is every prospect

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER, 163

of fresh storms ere we can finish our day's
journey. Durazzo is the next place in my
route, as I plan to return southward by the
coast, striking inward only to Berat, whence
to Avldna, and thence, if it be possible, to
Acroceraunia — the great point of novelty in
the tour. Shortly after leaving Tyrana, we
overtook and joined company with a Moham-
medan Albanian of that town. He calls it but
eight hours or less to Durazzo, though you pay
post for nine. This Osman, who speaks
Italian, is diffuse on his domestic circumstances
— he talks of how much substance he had col-
lected during twelve years' service with a Trieste
merchant — of what property speculation had
since procured him — buffali, terre, cavalle, and
two wives ; and hints that one grows old, and that
he should shortly get a third. After two hours'
riding we crossed a wide river by a fine stone
bridge, built, according to our Albanian compa-
nion, by a Trieste merchant of Tyrana, and
shortly afterwards we rode into the river itself,
the bed of which occupies all the narrow valley
down which we proceeded, the broad but shal-
low stream winding from side to side, so that
before we arrived at Dirocchio, we had passed

m 2

l(j i JOURNALS "I

it eight times — always an unpleasant task. At
DirocchiOj a scattered village among olive
grounds, the banks advance, and the river runs
between high cliffs; in another half-hour the
valley widens out towards the sea, into which, as
we rose over heights commanding a broad view
of the coast, the silver stream can be traced by
it- white torrent track. There was now a high
and barren range of hills to cross, along the
sides of which, deeply indented into hollows,
runs a pathway so narrow, that had it rained,
the slippery clay soil would have prevented the
surest footed beast from making progress ; for
in parts, eight inches of slanting earth were all the
foot had to depend on ; and 1 looked down the
deep-shelving abyss with a conviction that I
might be better acquainted with it before long,
the rather, that towards the summit the horses'
nerves were miserably troubled by the ferocious
attacks of some fourteen or fifteen dogs, who
saw us from afar off, and expended a most un-
necessary amount of labour and breath in crossing
a deep ravine before they reached us. When we
arrived at length at the highest point, the view
was very beautiful, with a wide expanse of blue sea
stretching southward to the plains of Kavaya, and

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 165

northward to the long slender promontory of
Durazzo,* on the point of which stands the
ancient castle of that once important city ; and
doubtless there was much more of extended dis-
tance now hidden by heavy cloud and mist. A
rapid descent brought us to the shore ; and a
gallop on the smooth sand was no bad contrast
to the tiresome hill-paths.

By four (a seven hours' journey after all) we
reached a large khan standing in a suburban
street outside the walls. The town itself has
now shrunk to the dimensions of a single street
running to the end of the promontory, and
overlooked by the massive gray towers of the
castle, which are built on considerably higher
ground. Towards these I speedily set out to
procure a good view of Dyracchium. The castle
is a building apparently Norman, though much
patched and repaired ; its fortifications extend
down the hill-side to the water's edge, where
they join the town- walls ; and in various parts
of them I observed armorial shields having owls
carved on them in basso-rilievo. The combina-
tions of scenery around are very elegant and de-

* Durazzo — Epidamnus; afterwards Dyracchium.

[g(J J01 TvNALS OF

liirhtful, and extremely unlike any Albanian view
I had \ e1 seen. At this point I thought I was safe
from intruders, but all the children of the town
soon espied me, and climbed up to my retreat,
so that I was surrounded by a host of red-
capped, red-robed urchins, all calling out,
lfc Capitagno ! O capitagno ! Para! para!" I
adopted one as guide and safeguard against the
rest of his brethren, promising paras* on return-
ing to the khan ; whereon, armed with a little
brief authority, he dealt promiscuous blows
among his brethren, and kept them at a respect-
ful distance. My sketch finished, I wrent down
to the town, and entering the gates, walked
through the single street of modern Durazzo
which occupies nearly the whole of the narrow
point of land projecting into the sea, and ending
in a mole. The houses here are far neater
than in the interior of Ghegheria ; and although
the line of bazaars was as usual partly covered
over, it was with rich pergolata of vine-trellis,
not with old mats — a substitute which gave an
Italian air to the scene. The tradespeople, too,
seem to speak Italian, — whether from com-

* A small Turkish coin.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 1(J7

merce with the opposite coast, or from old
links of former Venetian existence, I know not.
As I walked down the bazaars nearly every-
body spoke to me — an odd contrast to the
savage indifference of Elbassan or Tyrana — and
mostly with complete familiarity, as if I had
been an old acquaintance. " Ah, Signor Capi-
tano ! (for the knowledge of foreign parts being
confined at Durazzo to the medium of cap-
tains— omne ignotum pro capitano). Come
stai, Capitano ? Donde vieni, caro Capitano
mio ? onde sei ? dove vai ? Comprate qualche
cosa, &c." At the end of the bazaar-street is a
fortress, through which a quay is reached,
where a Turkish garrison were smoking. The
Bimbashi or Captain desired to interrogate me,
merely looking at my teskere as a matter of
form, and asking sundry news about the
" malattia" of Salonfki — whether it was coming
that way, &c. — the first I had heard of it since
we left Yenidje. The familiar people of Durazzo
nevertheless inveigled me into purchasing some
of their wares before I quitted the town, of
which an oke (three pounds) of walnuts and
apples, though costing one penny only, was not
a sample of excellence. Returning to my cell
in the khan at dusk, to supper, I was greatly

K;s J0URNAL8 01

charmed by the singing df a man in the street
(according to GtogiOj a Sclavoniatt of Monte-
negro), who appeared to enthral the whole
neighbourhood by his tuneful voice, and I
regrett( d not being able to take down, otherwise
than very imperfectly, the wild and strikingly
beautiful airs he sang. His audience seemed to the
highest degree enthusiastic, and frequently inter-
rupted him with applause, forcing him to repeat
many verses. But there is a musical atmo-
sphere in Durazzo, and 1 hear many melodious
hummings, of which most of Albania seems
liiiiltless.

October 11.

Rain again ! — but it subsides into drizzle, and
meanwhile I prowl about Durazzo. It possesses
singularly little of artistic interest, considering
its former extent and grandeur, though many
tine pictures might still be made in its neighbour-
hood, the castle being always to be introduced as
the principal feature. From eight to ten,
between showers, I jotted down scraps of
the town and bay, but clouds obscure the line
of hills towards Acroceraunia, which ought to
be seen from this place, and the damp prevents

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 169

steady drawing, besides which, the Gheghes came
and bullied me (as it was not worth while asking
for a Kawas), by shaking my sketch-book in
paroxysms of orthodox piety, by secreting pencils,
and asking for paper. So I gave up Dyracchium,
and retreated to the khan through groups of iras-
cible female buffaloes, which creaked and grunted
as I passed, following me with their porcelain-
white eyes, as if I intended to embezzle their
calves — strange little beasts, motionless except
the twinkle of their ears, and lying crouched
together like bits of hairy Indian rubber on the
grass.

At twelve, early dinner being over, it is time
to start for Kavaya, but from this place there
is no more posting, and henceforth throughout
Albania, the journeys must be on horses hired
from place to place, and adieu to Soorudjis and
leather saddles. In the present instance the
horses are good, but there are only pack, or
wooden saddles to be procured (I, for one,
think them far more comfortable than your
Turkish penance), rope stirrups and bridles
made of string. The route lay at first along
the shore, with a green and troubled sea break-
ing on the sounding sands, but in two hours
we left the coast and struck inland, and after

1 70 JOURNALS OF

crossing some low hills, the mosques of Kavaya
were already in sight standing in the flattest
and widest of plains. The aspect of this part
of Albania is very striking ; the immense plains
which reach in an almost unbroken level from
Durazzo to Avlona southward, and extending
to the foot of Tomorit, and the hills of Elbas-
san towards the east, the sea being their western
limit, may, indeed, rather be called one vast
meadow .* Their appearance from the neigh-
bourhood of Kavaya — perfectly green and
dotted with numberless herds and flocks — is
as novel as beautiful, "while northward the long
promontory of Durazzo resembles an island on
the water's edge.

Kavaya is the most southern town of the
Gheghes on the coast,*and*'the entrance to it
by a long dirty street was not prepossessing, or
prophetic of a comfortable dwelling ; there
were two or three more than ordinarily pic-
turesque mosques, and long bazaars matted and
roofed as usual to the jeopardy of the heads
of the incautious. The khan stood beyond the
town, and in our way to it, I met the Governor

* This district is termed the Mizakia.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 171

with a suite of some twenty guards, taking that
minute portion of exercise which these people
call their afternoon walk. Remotely considered,
the khan was not a bad khan, but on a near
inspection, it proved to be a negative abode,
and quite out of the question as a lodging for
the night, for there were no walls to the rooms,
no ceiling, no floors, no roofs, no windows, no
anything, so that I was in despair as to where
to go, when a Greek Papas,* who had followed
us, came up, and in good Italian offered me his
house, which I gladly accepted, and after a
tour of half the town, we arrived at a galleried
picturesque place in a court-yard thronged with
geese, and incumbered with barrels. " Camera
vostra," said the priest, showing me into a
large and handsome room occupying one wing
of the upper floor of the building, and I, with
the utmost innocence, supposing that this offer
was all hospitality such as one may find in dear
old Abruzzi or Calabria, made fifty apologies
and agreeable speeches to the reverend man,
till I accidentally caught sight of Giorgio 's
knocker-like visage writhing itself into amazing

* Papas, a Greek Christian priest.

172 JOURNALS OF

contortions in the background, by way of ex-
pressing that I was quite wrong, and should
have to pay full dearly for my place of refuge.
So I settled myself for the night with Papa
Andrea, the Eeonomos of Kavaya, taking occa-
sion to sketch his house between falling showers
— for there seems no chance of settled weather ;
and how Herat is to be reached, if these storms
last, I know not. Meanwhile, at eight or
nine o'clock, supper is brought in, composed
of various dishes of fish, salad, beans, &c. ; the
Eeonomos (who resembles the statue of Moses
in S. Pietro de' Vincolis — I mean as to his length
of beard), with his son and two grandsons,
continually waiting on me much more obse-
quiously than I could wish. Lastly, a bed and
sheets are brought in by the clergyman and his
descendants, but though very picturesque and
antique, there were many objections to availing
myself of them in preference to my own.

October 12.

The morning is brilliant, and I make early
use of it, taking an armed Kawas as well as
the priest's son, to keep off intruders. Close
above Kavaya there is a rising ground, whence

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 1 73

the view is delightful, and full of rural quiet ; it
consists of large olive trees spreading over paths
and broken banks ; of lanes, mosques, and a high
clock tower ; Gheghe figures, bright in black, red
and white ; burying grounds with sparkling
tombs ; garden trees anon, tower above dark red
roofs and tall white chimneys ; waves of blue-
green groves of olive ; and then vast flat meadows
stretch to the sea, with " endless flocks and
herds," while a line of pale low hills to the
south-west, and the blue Adriatic with Durazzo
on its promontory melts tenderly into the
horizon.

At half-past eight I went with Giorgio to
Achmet Bey, the Governor, whose palace,
though highly picturesque, is inferior to Ali
Bey's of Krdia. The great man sat in his corner,
in a large ancient square room, gilded and
carved all over so that it resembled the inside
of some gigantic toy. Blue-vested and furred
Muftis, with some red and black Gheghes,
composed groups of wondrous colour, and the
Governor himself was all politeness. Among
other matters, he wished me to see a surprisingly
excellent map of London and Frangistan, in
the finding of which there was much delay, and
great fuss in presenting it for my inspection.

174 JOURNALS OF

Lo ! it was a chart of the Japanese Seas, and a
map of Java, published in Holland a century
back ! " Pecche ?" said the Bey, " is it good ?
Is London like ?" After this morning call, I
drew in the town, but with great difficulty,
owing to the press of people, besides the vicinity
of odoriferous slaughter-houses ; for your only
points for sketching in these places are sure,
by infallible rules of destiny, to be close to
some horror. There is a very curious burying-
ground in the centre of Kavaya surrounded
by numerous columns, apparently antique and
mostly wanting their capitals ; but I could learn
nothing of whence they came (possibly from
old Apollo nia, or Dyracchium). While sketch-
ing this, there was a hum and hush among
the crowd, " Gynaike* — gynaike !" said some
of them to me, and all retired to the side
of the street, allowing room for some twenty
ghost-like females to pass, shrouded in dark
feringhis with white head- wrappers. It seemed
an etiquette with the world of Kavaya to look
another way while the fair procession was
near us.

* Women.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 175

The patriarchal family of the Ecdnomos had
prepared "an unnecessarily sumptuous repast
against my return; but the horses which his
reverence had procured for us were not in
harmony ; all four were in evil condition, yet
no^others jwere to be had. We started at noon.
Berat I cannot hope to reach to-night, but
Leustri,* six hours hence, is to be aimed at, and
the weather seems to favour the possibility.

The great meadow-plains of Kavaya, bounded
by low down-like hills, clothed with growth of
olive-trees, were most pleasant to look on ; and
in consequence of the baggage horse falling, by
which all the roba was disarranged, one had the
more time to^contemplate the oxen and buffali
without number, and the sheep and geese that
enliven the wide green surface. Throughout the
extent of flat country great flocks of geese are
taken out to pasture every morning by a goose-
herd ; they are carefully watched from sunrise to
sunset, for fear of vultures by day and wolves
by night ; and are then driven home to their
respective villages, after the fashion of goats in
Italy. We met many peasants, but the gay

* Or Lusna.

17(i JOURNALS OF

Ghcghe colours are giving place to white
costume. They all furnish a bad account of
the great river of Elbassan, the Skumbi, which
is to be crossed, and which they say is rising
rapidly in consequence of the mountain rain^.
About three we met a bridal party — the bride
being conveyed on horseback to the future hus-
band's house ; she seemed to be a strange thing,
like a large doll — so closely swaddled and
wrapped up that neither face nor figure were
visible, while a tall sprig of rosemary, which
finished off her head-dress, gave her the ap-
pearance of some exotic plant in process of
careful conveyance to a gardener's ground.

Several times we turned towards the river,
but always retreated at the approach of peasants
who exclaimed : " Yok, yok !" " Mir ist !"* said
some Albanians, pointing to the sea, so on we
went for two hours — the plain becoming more
and more beautiful as the sun sank lower in
the horizon, and the great monarch Mount
Tomdhr, frowned in purple grandeur amid cloud
and storm. At last we arrived at the formid-
able river — one too broad, deep, and rapid, to

* " No, no !" « Yonder it is sood lM

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 177

be forded, while the bridge, a long and narrow
structure of a shaking and incoherent nature,
presented wide gaps through which you saw
the rushing stream between the loose wattles
that formed its floor. The transit was really
not a little dangerous. I felt relieved when
the last man had passed over it, each lead-
ing his horse very slowly from end to end
before the next put foot on the crazy fabric,
which would not have supported two parties at
once : — if the river continued to rise, we must
assuredly have been the last who ever made use
of that bridge as a medium of passage.

For half an hour we returned eastward on
the left bank of the river, and then proceeded
by broad lanes, deep in thick black mud, to
the village, or scattered collection of hive-like
thatched huts, called Tjermi. I have now left
Ghegheria, and am in the land of the Tos-
kidhes — a new tribe ; the people, at least these
of Tjermi, seem a poorer and more squalid
race ; their dress is white — even to their little
scull caps ; but dirt and squalor of the outer, and
timid wretchedness of the inner man, seemed
the characteristics of these pauper-beings, who
arose from the ground in their rags as I passed,

N

17* .lol'RNALS OF

and saluted me with looks of terror — widely
differing from the haughty gaze of the crim-
son-coated Gheghe. Here, too, the defeat of
the last Albanian movement under Zuliki, is
recorded in the absence of arms, as well as in
the appearance of the peasantry.

I never saw grander landscape than that of
these plains, as majestic Tomohrit grew gray in the
waning light. It wras dusk when we arrived at
the khan of Tjermi — a place far short of our ori-
ginal destination, for it is in reality only three
hours distant from Kavaya, though it has taken
six to reach it, owing to the long detour the
swollen river has compelled us to make. Khan
Tjermi is a wretched looking den, standing all
alone on the wide waste, yet its little loft to
which one climbed by a ladder, possessed at
least a new floor, clean walls and mats, and
wooden window shutters.

Four Delvino Greeks, or Epirotes, had arrived
before me, but there wras still a corner, and the
fire was by no means disagreeable, either from
its heat, or from calling up many pictures of
light and shade so often remarked in these night
scenes. Giorgio, who expected to have been
unable to pass the Skumbi, or possibly to have

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 179

fallen through that alarming bridge, is in great
glee and makes a capital supper. They talk of
nine or ten hours from here to Berat.

October 13.

A fearful night of wind and storm-rain.
Doubts passed through my waking thoughts if
we should not all be carried away into the river,
khan, Epirotes, Frank, and Dragoman, by one
of those thunderful gusts which swept over the
plain at intervals with terrific force. In the
pauses between the rage of the tempest, all the
surrounding country seemed alive with dogs,
whose howling and barking added point to the
furious din of the elements.

" Water — water — every where, but not a drop

to" wash in ; for, in spite of the pouring rain,

the supply of fluid within reach was of the
smallest, and that little was seized for coffee —
breakfast versus cleanliness. Long before sun-
rise the three Delviniotes should have set off, but
the utter blackness of the tempest confined us
all to the circle round the embers, waiting till day-
light should bring better times. The Khanji, an
emigrant Acharnanian, diverted me by his scraps
of polyglot discourse : " Bavarese nichts gut —

N 2

ISO JOURNALS 01

tittotk, - [ngliz, Franciz, *a\x, x«xa, MoscofFs
oichts. Bavarese ™au wein drinkt, oxiyov wasser,"

&c. At six the rain ceased, and the scowling
clouds curtained themselves into gloomy folds,
so, hoping for the best, (though assuredly my
Albanian journey does not prosper at present),
1 was again at half-past six on my way towards
Herat, over plains surrounded by the roots of
hills, whose heads were hidden in cloud, except-
ing a low, bare, ill-outlined range on the left,
which was ugly enough to have been obscured
without any loss. Farther on, the downs on the
west sink into the plain, and a lake stretches out
almost to the shore. Perseverance through mud
and water brought us to Leustri at half-past ten ;
but hoping to arrive at Berat I did not halt,
except to rest horses at a wayside khan ; its floor
was occupied by a Skodra merchant, wTho was
making himself as comfortable as circumstances
permitted — considering that neither bread nor
water could be obtained, and that the rain came
through the roof plentifully. To have lingered
in such a place would have been folly, so hey for
Berat once more at eleven. They said it required
but five hours to reach it, so in spite of fresh
falling deluges, 1 persisted in advancing, though
never was there less inducement to do so, for,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 118

apart from the vexation an artist feels who
knows that he is surrounded by beautiful scenery,
the only chance in his life of seeing which is so
adversely destroyed by unlucky weather, the
physical annoyance of sitting hour after hour in
drenching rain and high wind, on a stumbling
horse — advancing one half-mile per hour (at
the quickest pace) through thick mud and over-
inundated meadows — this is no trifle, added to
the loss of time and money, from such unprofit-
able pastime, which is very trying to purse and
temper. During this part of the day our late
host, the Ecdnomos of Kavaya, was regarded by
Giorgio with the most acrid feelings of disgust,
(that reverend man of Ghegheria having charged
us unseemly prices for steeds which were posi-
tively next to useless), and the recollection that
I had so foolishly fancied the priest a hospitable
man, who was offering his home for the use of
me as a wanderer and foreigner, embittered the
oppressed Dragoman to such a degree, that at
each stumble of his horse, strong expressions
escaped from him to the prejudice of Papa
Andreas, and Greek Papades in general.

After three hours of this miserable work,
feeling that there might be six or eight more at
the rate we advanced to Berat, and as the track

1S.2 JOURNALS 01

became andistinguishable from the increasing
rain, I gave in, the rather, that Giorgio was
hurt by the last fall of his horse, and seemed
unwilling to proceed. So having passed the
fast -rising Beratino* by a bridge opposite to the
khan Tehuka — a large building on a rising
ground above the river — here we halt for the
night. kk Do I lie on a bed of roses ?" was the
substance of my remonstrance to Giorgio, who
grumbled for awhile with deep groans about all
this " soffrire per niente ;"f but the worthy
Fanariote soon came to himself as we bustled to
secure the two sides of the fireplace in the huge
lofty-raftered khan-stable : — first come first
served being khan-law.

The difficulty of changing all one's wret
clothes (and to escape fever this precaution is
always most requisite) can only be appreciated by
those who have made their toilette under similar
circumstances; but this done, a good dinner of
rice, pilaf, and kabobs, with coffee and a cigar,
are beyond description refreshing ; and the way-
farer soon forgets the inconveniences of travel

* Anciently Apsus ; above Berat it is called the Uzuini.
I, rake.

; Suffering for nothing.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 183

while recording with pen or pencil its excitements
and interests. Truly, in such weather as this of
the last week, there is little pleasure in travels
even where better accommodation exist : so to
Ioannina, unless times grow better, must be my
direct path.

At three the storm cleared, and then came
the pleasing reflection, that had I proceeded, I
might have reached Berat, though possibly it
was more prudent to stop here. I go on to the
bridge — the river rolls furiously below, and
heaps of purple and golden-edged clouds hang
over the shaded base of Tomohrit.

Midnight, — O khans of Albania ! Alas ! the
night is not yet worn through ! I lie, barri-
caded by boxes and bundles from the vicinity
of the stable, and enduring with patience the
fierce attacks of numberless fleas. All the khan
sleeps, save two cats, which indulge in festive
bouncings, and save a sleepless donkey, which
rolls too contiguously to my head. The wood-
fire, blazing up, throws red gleams on disco-
loured arches within whose far gloom the eye
catches the form of sleeping Albanian groups.
Bulky spiders, allured by the warmth, fall thick
and frequent from the raftered ceiling. All is
still, except the horses champing straw within,

184 JOURNALS OF

and the gurgle of the rapid river chafing
without.

October 14.

The principal event of the night was the don-
key's walking unexpectedly into the fire-place,
thereby causing a confusion in my nocturnal
arrangements only to be remedied by a complete
decamping. By half-past four, therefore, coffee
is taken, the horses are ready, and I once more
on my way to the unreachable Berat. There
was a brilliant full moon, but big clouds are
Hitting over it, and the road is now in bright
light, now dark as Erebus ; nor is it too warm
at this early hour, the more, that wet apparel
is as yet barely dried. The wild Gheghe guide
from Kavaya insists on loading Gionrio's turn-
ble-down horse with the baggage, and all we
can do in opposition is fruitless, as the mind of
a Gheghe, when once arranged, is immovable.
So on we advance by the strange flickering moon-
light. Presently clouds gather, and down comes
rain as usual.

AYe are crossing the great plain of Berat,
and following a sort of track two feet deep
in mire and water; when lo ! — the baa^aire-

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 185

horse falls, as I foreboded, — but gets up again,
which I did not look for. An old sick
Albanian on his mule joins us, and we jog on
slowly for an hour, when losing the right path,
that wretched baggage-horse falls plump into a
ditch, and no art can extract him. This is not a
pleasant matter in a tempestuous moonlight
night, but there is no help for the evil but the un-
loading the oppressed beast, and transferring his
burden to another. During this operation, the
contrast between the conduct of Giorgio — who,
knee-deep in water, and suffering from a fall
yesterday, spake never a word — and that of the
Kavaya guide, who swore himself into convul-
sions, is edifying. The priest, of whom the
horses had been hired, seemed the chief object of
his eloquence, as the word prift (Albanian for
priest) was frequently heard among the clatter
of strange monosyllables — Dort beer, dort bloo,
dort hitch, hitch beer, blue beer, beer chak, dort
gatch, with other musical sounds. During this
delay the sick Albanian was reposing on a knoll
of turf (rather a damp bed,) raised above the
water ; and when at length we were ready to
start, in getting up he missed his footing, and
rolled down into the very ditch whence we had
just extricated the steed ; so there was a fourth

\HVt JOURNALS 01

halt, to pull out and set up this feeble old man
of the mountains.

A very break-down procession did we make,
slowly plodding through quagmire and stream,
when at last we were fairly under-weigh, and
right glad was I when cocks crew, dogs barked,
the moon faded, and gray day coldly and slowly
(Mine, unveiling " vast Tomohrit" a long way off
beyond a weary expanse of plain. Yet over that
have I yet to go, for Berat lies immediately at
the foot of the mountain. About the third
hour the journey became interesting, for Tomoh-
rit is a noble mountain, and the multitudes of
sheep scattered over the wide, shrub-dotted
meadow-plain, formed beautiful features in the
landscape. At length the celebrated fortress of
Herat appeared — dark blue, and diminutive, on
a pointed hill. Approaching the capital of Cen-
tral Albania — a place I had so long desired to
see — every step leads into grander scenes. The
river Apsus or Beratino is repassed on a stone
bridge, and the road winds over the plain on the
banks of the wide stream, through a tract of
country of the finest character ; the high form
of Tomohrit, here seen from end to end, being
the principal feature throughout. I do not
remember to have known a finer specimen of a

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 187

simple river scene than this — it combines the
broad white-channelled serpent-stream, with its
broken and reed-clad banks varied by sheep,
goats, kine, and buffali ; while above rises the
giant mountain's single form, wrinkled into a
thousand furrowed chasms, towering aloft over
the uninterrupted and decided lines of the plain
in grand simplicity.

Owing to the deep mud, it took us two long
hours to ride from the bridge over the Beratino to
that in the town ; and at ten a.m. we entered
this magnificently picturesque place, which, much
as I had imagined of its grandeur, far surpassed
my expectations.

Berat* is situated in a narrow gorge or pass
of the Beratino, which seems to have forced a
passage through the tremendous rocks on either
side, leaving merely a narrow space between the
cliff and the water. The great Tomohr fills up, as
it were, all the eastern end of the pass ; and to the
west and south the mountains through which the
vale of the Beratino winds, seem equally to
enclose this singular place, though the fortress
height looks over the plains to a great distance.

* Bcnit, anciently Autipatria. Leake.

188 JOURNALS OF

The city is placed chiefly on the right bank
of the river, as also is the Acropolis or castle-
hill which rises immediately above the town —
the houses and mosques are piled one above
another on the steep ledges of rock which slope
from the frowning fortress and its stupendous
cliffs down to the water's eds;e, and constitutes
■x view that combines Tyrolese or Swiss grandeur
with all the pretty etcetera of Turkish archi-
tecture.

Passing below the cliffs of the gorge, and
entering the street of bazaars which runs quite
through the town, I was at once struck by the
entire change of costume in this district — that
of the Toskidhes. Instead of the purple frock,
scarlet vest, black wTaistcoat, and short kilt of
Ghegheria, here all is white, or spruce fluffy
gray cloth, with long, many-fluted fustianells,
while the majority, instead of the red fez, wear
white caps. Beyond the bazaars, which are
extensive and well filled, is a wide open space
by the river, whence the view of the dark
gorge of the Beratino, the town and castle are
truly wondrous. On one side of this piazza or
market-place is a large new khan, and here I
took possession of a corner room looking out on
to the busy scene that extends to the foot of the

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 189

hill —a space in which hundreds of figures sat
continually before me for their pictures without
suspicion or restraint. This was a khan-ar-
rangement which pleased me not a little, besides
the comfort of the room, which was new and
clean, and had well-glazed windows. Nothing
could be more amusing than the variety of life
below. There was the Dervish with high white
or green caps — the Mohammedan, as well as
most of the Christian women, in loose blue
feringhis and closely veiled — while infinite num-
bers of carts drawn by coal-black buffali —
Greeks, Turks, Albanians, mingled and moved
in profusely changing groups.

Having a letter to the Pasha (Berat, with
Skodra and Ioannina, are the three existing
Pashaliks of Albania), I sent Giorgio with a
request for a Kawas, who shortly arrived, and
after early dinner I began to sketch (there is
no time to be lost in places so full of interest)
on the river-side below the castle, hundreds of
people pouring forth to see my operations ; but
all were violently repelled by the active guardian
Kawas with a stick, which he threw with all his
force at the legs of such unlucky individuals
as pressed too closely on me, or interfered with
the view. When this club was ejected from the

1!)() JOURNALS OF

incensed authority's hand, the rush to escape
was frightful, and the yells of those who received
the blows very disagreeable to my feelings.
After a time my guard got tired of his work,
and sitting down calmly to smoke, delegated
his power to a young pickle of a boy, who took
infinite delight in using his temporary dignity to
the utmost, greatly to the disgust of his elders,
who durst not complain.

Towards evening I walked through the town
and over the bridge to that part of Berat which
is built on the left bank of the Beratino ; but the
best general views are from the side on which
the castle stands.

October 15.

The mountain Tomohr is nearly clear ; I draw
figures from the window till eight; then putting
on " society dress," I go with Giorgio and a
Kawas to make a morning call on Hussein, Pasha
of Berat. A most picturesque palace is his resi-
dence ; galleries and courtyard full of the pomp
of attendant guards as usual, and in the recep-
tion-room is no lack of secretaries and officials,
among whom a Cadi, in white turban, and
long brown gold-embroidered robes, shone

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 191

resplendent. The visit was much like other
Turkish visits. The Pasha was agreeable in
manner ; and conversation, by the aid of con-
tinual pipes and coffee, dragged its slow length
along. The cholera at Saloniki being touched
upon, Hussein Pasha asked Giorgio to inquire if
I had known in that city (where he, the Pasha,
was educated), an English Bey called "Jim,"
who resided there, and used to take the Pasha
out hunting, with " cani magniiici," and " fucili
stupendi ;"* but I, never having heard of " Jim,"
could give no information. I made a point of
asking for good horses, for the journey from
hence to Avlona, remembering what I had suf-
fered by those of theKavaya priest; and his High-
ness ordered the matter to be looked to instantly,
for he said : " It is a pleasure, as well as a duty,
to assist an Englishman ; Inghilterra, and his
master the Sultan, loved each other, and so
should all the subjects of both countries." After
this visit, I employed two hours by sketching
from the door of the khan, supported by the
Kawas, the crowds gazing at a respectful dis-
tance ; not that this self-restraint on their parts

* Magnificent dogs, and stupendous guns.

1 <jo JOURNALB 01

Bayed them from disgrace and evil, for a huge
Bolubashi (or head of the police), casuallypass-
Lng, and being seized with an extemporaneous

conviction of some impropriety requiring castiga-

tion, thereupon he rushed wildly into the midst of
the spectators, with the energy of a Sampson,
dashing his stick at their legs, heads, and backs,
and finally dispersed the unresisting crowd. After
this, the enraged guardian of public manners gave
my Kawas a blowing up for allowing the slightest
symptom of interruption, and finally committed
two large staves to some lively juveniles,
with a stern charge that they should use them
well and frequently. This unnecessary harsh-
ness grieved me, and on finding my remon-
strances were unheeded, I gave up my sketch.
Of all the numerous Beratini so unceremo-
niously struck, I observed but one who did not
exhibit great signs of fear and dismay ; this man
remained steadily till he was twice hit, when he
picked up a stone, and walked away scowlingly,
and muttering suppressed anger. A pleasant
land to live in !

Sketching on the bridge, and on the west side
of the town, occupied me for two or three hours.
The women of Berat are all veiled. They wear
a close-fitting, dark blue cloth vest, or pelisse.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 1 93

not at all unbecoming; and their very thin
muslin "face-cover" is so well and cleverly
adjusted, particularly by the younger and pretty
part of the female population — and these are
numerous — that the outline of the features can
easily be distinguished.

Towards evening, the lines of purple Tomdhrit
were exquisitely fine. Every wrinkle and chasm
in its vast sides is perfectly delineated; and
from the market-place (that is, in fact, at this
season, the dry bed of the river, which does not
rise so high until much later in the year), the
broad foreground of yellow sand, covered with
a never-failing succession of reposing groups,
was charming. A great part of the people sit
about and smoke, by tens and twenties, after the
indolent fashion of the Albanians ; and the com-
munity seemed to enjoy keenly the pranks of a
little imp whom they called Mdostafa. Long
mounted lines of elderly men, on asses, were re-
turning to Berat, from vineyards or village gar-
dens, higher up the river ; and as they passed by,
Mdostafa teazed the old-men-bearing-quadrupeds
to a fearful degree, by pulling their tails, avoiding,
with will-o'-the-wisp activity, all the blows
aimed at him by the incensed riders. At length
the furious victims dismounted, when behold

0

|<) | J01 l<\ \l> 01

Little Puck was running away like lightning; and
the exasperated ancients, knowing all hope of
chase t<> be out of the question, remounted

slowly and sullenly, to find their graceless
persecutor at their backs in two minutes,

when the same scenes occurred again, "da
capo." All the crowd, of four or five hundred
spectators, were greatly interested at these gam-
bols, and yelled with delight at each of Mdos-
tafa's exploits, though they nearly ended by a
kicking horse putting the little buffoon's head
in jeopardy.

As for me, I finished the day in a cemetery
eastward of the town, whence the fortress and
river are extremely grand. There is an air of
seclusion and sternness about the pass of Berat
which makes it certainly one of the most inte-
resting of scenes. Home to the khan early, to
try if, by getting some more sleep, I can have a
longer day to-morrow. But oh ! the way in which
eats bounce and tear about these places all night
long ! and then the mode of singing adopted by
the Tdskidhes Albanians, all through the dead
hours of darkness ! There is a large party of
them in the next room to mine : four begin to
form a sort of chorus ; one makes a deep drone
or bass ; two more lead the air ; and the re-

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 195

mainder indulge in strange squeaking falsettos,
like the winnings of uneasy sucking-pigs.

October 16.

As this day was to be passed on the banks of the
Apsus, for the purpose of sketching Tomohr, I
awoke and rose at three, and by daylight the
mountain sparkled like clear crystal. A sketch of
the palace, and a visit to Hussein Pasha's brother,
Achmet Bey (an hour of pipes and coffee), and
ten o'clock is arrived. A Kawas and horses were
ready, for I had planned to go some miles from
the city, and was soon on my way upon a
white charger, most gorgeously bedecked, with
my armed guide on another, trotting (for the
deep mud of last week's rain is already dry) by
the river side as far as the bridge, by which I
had arrived on the 14th. The Kawas put
up his horses at an hut, and I drew very satis-
factorily till it was time to return ; and although
a gray scirocco had thrown a cloud over all the
beauty of colour, yet the form of Tomohrit is in
itself a picture, combined with the broad Bera-
tino in its stony channel and cliff banks, and the
distant fortress of Berat perched on its rocky
hill. My ever-smoking iruide, too, is now and

o 2

]<h; joukn ua oi

then meeting a fellow rider, when the two guards
greet each other by rushing forwards impetu-
ously with drawn swords in attitudes of wrath, as
if the last moments of one or both had come,
firing off their pistols, and closing with their
hands at each other's throats as if for mortal
combat. Below the fortress a company of
Turkish cavalry were exercising, wheeling about,
discharging fire-arms, and charging full speed
into the low ground by the river. Such inci-
dents, united with the scenery, were wildly
picturesque.

I was back at Berat by four or five, and rode
over the castle hill, whence there is a superb
view of the mountain, with the valley of the
Beratino at its feet, and the minarets of the
town in the near foreground.

October 17.

Rain, hail, and thunder all night long, and
at daybreak small chance of starting. Weary
of this bad weather, I could half bring myself
to go straight hence to Tepeleni, and thence to
Ioannina, giving up Avlona and Acroceraunia.
Gleams of sunshine burst forth at nine, and the
arrival of the horses decides me in favour of

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 197

Apolldnia, which I cannot, however, reach to-
day OAving to my start being so late. So, at
half-past ten, declining the escort of six foot
guards sent me by the polite Hussein Pasha,
and taking a mounted armed Kawas, we set off.
We were soon out of the gorge of Berat, and
I could not help regretting having left a scene
of such great magnificence ; for an artist may go
easily enough at any time of his life to Rome
or the Rhine, Matlock, Constantinople, Jeru-
salem, Killarney or Calcutta, but Berat and
Illyria are not easy places to re-visit. The
horses are good : two of them belong to the
sick old man whom we call the Filosofo, by
reason of his remaining so placidly in the
ditch on the morning of the 14th, he being
on a return journey to Avlona; the other
two belong to a man of Berat, who walks by
our side : — (if you hired fifty horses of fifty men
in this part of the world, you would have all
the fifty owners for company, because in Al-
bania nobody lends anything to anybody). Our
party is farther illuminated by a Greek priest
in his blue dress, black cap, and floating hair
and beard, and by a friend of his, a lean, tor-
toise-necked Albanian, in a bran new capote
and white cap ; these, with my Kawas, who

198 J(J' Rfl LLS "I

glittered in blue and gold, made a picturesque

caravan, and we all gallopped over the plain,
which, at a little distance from the first bridge
(for we must retrace our steps as far as the
second bridge), was capital ground. The plains
of Herat, dotted over with infinite flocks of
sheep, and spotted with clumps of dark reeds
or briers, were beautifully cheerful ; the sun
-hone brilliantly across their wide expanse, and
light clouds climbed around the highest rocks of
Tomohr.

At half-past two we reached Khan Teh ilka,
re-crossed the Beratino, and following its right
bank quitted the road by which we had come
from Kavaya and Leustri on the right hand.
The priest and his friend advise me to go for
the night to the Greek convent of Ardhenitza,
which, say they, is but three or four hours from
Apollonia, and stands on a high hill command-
ing a view of all the world. Meanwhile he
tells me a marvellous story of his having travelled
here with a part) of six friends some years back
in a violent thunderstorm. The horses took
sudden fright at the lightning while passing
along the narrow path we are now upon, and
one and all fell into the river ; swimming over to
the other bank with the seven riders holding fast,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 199

when all of them landed safely and undamaged,
excepting that one of the party became entirely
deaf, and has ever since remained so. The history,
if true, is uncomfortable to hear just now, be-
cause the path is so slippery and narrow that
I contemplate the ducking, if not the deafness,
as extremely probable occurrences. At half-
past three we came in sight of a long, low,
isolated hill, a dark spot on the highest part
of which is pointed out to me as the convent
trees ; but though another hour was passed in
wading through mud in uncultivated places,
where now and then remote from every other
sign of life, a tranquil young buffalo peered
calmly out of a pool of black water, yet still
Ardhenitza on its hill seemed " never the
nearer."

At half-past four we passed Ghourza, a village
of detached thatched houses, in gardens, and full
of furious dogs ; here we had intended to stay
the night had it not been resolved to go to the
convent. A little farther on is Kadipasha, our
companion priest's residence, and at a most pic-
turesque little spot, embosomed in plane and
abeles, we halted. It was the court-yard sur-
rounding the Greek Church, and over the
gateway leading to it were two rooms, the

•_)()() JOURNALS 01

abode of our reverend comrade. \nd wr\
glad was I to rest there awhile, for gallopping
in shorl Turkish stirrups is not refreshing to
the gasterocnemii muscles, nor is a small cup

of coffee sufficient support from four a.m. to
four p.m. Some capital cheese, less salt than
the generality of that of Greek manufacture,
and wine less savouring of resin, were by no
means disagreeable additions to the repose on
the cushions of the hospitable priest's little
room. Before we left him, he shewed me some
old bassi-relievi on the walls of his church, where
numerous ancient bits of material bore witness
to some pre-existing building of days by-gone;
several twisted columns also, and a remarkably
hideous St. George and the Dragon were part
of this antiquarian feast, after which we set off
to Ardhenitza once more.

Beautiful green meadows like those of Kava\ a.
stretch on all sides (indeed, from Durazzo to
the Yiosa is one continued meadow), unbroken
by any division. Sheep, geese, and turkeys
whitened these plains, the goose-herds and
turkey-drivers sitting by their charge. The
sheep have bells; and now and then a song,
not unlike the jodeling of the Swiss, breaks the
quiel "I" these placid meads, or a huge dog

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 20 1

rushes to attack the Albanian pietone.* The
bright sun was setting behind the hill of Ard-
henitza as we arrived at its foot, and having
passed another village we began to wind upward
to the summit, by paths through pleasant under-
wood, where the monastery, a plain building,
stands among cypresses and ilex. The interior of
this, the first Greek convent I have seen, is pic-
turesque ; and a painter is ever sure of a group
of bearded brethren in the fore-ground. The
view, as might be supposed from the isolated
position of the hill, is truly stupendous — it in-
cludes the meadow-plain to Durazzo — the far
mountain ranges of Tyrana and Skodra — the
near majesty of Tomohr and its dependent
heights, and the plain again to Apollonia. At
dusk I was taken to a most comfortable little
room surrounded with sofas, where for two
hours or more I awaited the reverend house-
hold's performances in cookery, though I had
much rather have had a simple meal at once.
But at eight the chief Papas, with five or six
others, entered with dishes unnumbered ; pilaf,
roasts, boiled, fried, — fish and fruit — honey.

* Foot-travcllcr

202 JOURNALS OF

cheese, walnuts and wine. \> SOOB as I could,
I begged to dispense with my host's attendance,
and as Giorgio and the Kawas had, like myself,
fasted since sunrise (the refection at Kadipasha"
excepted), I was glad to hear the festivities
of supper beginning in the priestly halls on the
opposite side of the corridor, whence the old
Protopapas' voice resounded in hearty laugh
through the monastery — a cheerful noise in these
days of living among Turks, who hardly ever
laugh at all. After supper they paid me a
visit, and inculcated Romaic sentences, ™ x^i,
won xaXprtfov enru tov wfo*,* with other similar moral
apothegms. One old gentleman entreated, as
some of the Albanians at Kroia had done, to be
taken to England, the protection of my signoria
being all he desired for the rest of his life.
Giorgio describes the supper in the refectory, as
M un pranzo di paradiso,"f and says that the
Protopapas means to accompany me to a church
and school on the way to Apollonia to-morrow,
there to give me a roast lamb at the archiepis-
copal residence ; an ecclesiastical attention not

* Wine is better than water,
t A dinner i»t Paradise.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 203

fully appreciated by me, as I want time to
sketch at Apollonia.

October 18.

The clear and glorious sunrise from Ard-
henitza was a sight never to be forgotten. I
drew for an hour or two. " Scroo, scroo,
scroo," I heard the Albanian servants saying,
and well they may wonder what I write down
so much. The Economo or Protopapas also,
Papa Lazus, was a magnificent subject for a
sketch, and in return for his likeness, he begged
me to give him a little memorandum recording
my reception at the convent, that he might
shew it to Hussein Pasha, to prove how
devoted a servant of his Highness he delighted
to be : poor people ! naturally enough they
seek to win golden opinions from any one having
the least communication with their rulers.

The Protopapas and his servant accompanied
me, at half-past ten, down the pleasant hill of
Ardhenitza, and in an hour we arrived at the
ferry over the Beratino, to cross which was a
work of time, as the boat was small, and the
horses having to be unloaded could go but one
at once. The day was warm, but scirocco wind

•2<U J0UBNAL8 0!

began to rise, dimming the colour of the beauti-
ful prospect, which from a little height above
the river greatly resembles that from Richmond
Hill ; olives (for hereabouts there is much cul-
tivation, under the auspices of the monastery),
being placed in the picture instead of elms. On
the southern side of the Beratino we at first
crossed a marshy flat tract, with scattered shrubs,
throughout which concealed dogs rushed out
with unpleasant abruptness from innocent look-
ing bushes. There are few peasants to be
seen, saving here and there some women laden
with implements of husbandry, for through-
out the whole of Albania, females are a hardly-
worked race. We now advanced towards a
group of low hills — the site of ancient Apollonia
— once more over rich smooth meadow land,
and about twelve reached a little wood of
plane trees, with exquisite creepers falling in
long festoons from their branches, and over-
shadowing a convent and church built by that
arch-dodger, All Pasha, in the days when it
suited him to buoy up the hopes of the Greek
christians, as well as to support those individuals
among them from whose care and cultivation of
all these rich plains more advantages accrued to
his interests than could have arisen had they been

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 205

dispossessed of their lands for the sake of less
industrious Mohammedans.

This Greek church, forming one side of a
quadrangle, the remaining three being composed
of a convent and stables, with two lines of
cloistered arches, the whole shaded by the high
trees which hunsT over them, bending with wild-
vine, is as pretty a picture as may be found.* A
little village is scattered in the heart of this quiet
wood scene ; and a school, a rural building, sup-
ported by a long row of arches, and shaded by
feathery trees, stands by the church ; some thirty
or forty children were sitting in a row learning
to read, or chaunting in a low tone. Many of
these are the children of Papades resident in the
villages of these plains, and others the offspring
of ' well to do' peasants ; they were a bright-
eyed, cheerful set of little ones, and added much
to the interest of this new scene. The ground
below the trees is perfectly carpeted with that
beautiful little flower — the cyclamen — in full
bloom. While I am sketching, Papa Zacaria,
who resides at this village, comes to inform me

* Intent on my sketching, I carelessly omitted to ask and
note down the name of this place, though I have an imperfect
recollection of its being Kosma.

206 JOi l;N IL8 "I

that the fathers of Ardhenitaa are roasting a
turkey, a duck, and a fowl, for my lunch, and
that the repast will (like that of Beau Tihb> in
4 the Citizen of the World') be ready in two
hours at farthest. This, to me, is not agreeable
news, as I fear to lose day-light for drawing
Apollonia by the delay ; but, as the compliment
is well-meant, I cannot refuse it, and so I wait
patiently till the dishes are served, Papades
Lazus and Zacaria keeping me company during
the entertainment. The former is one of the
Ylachi — a tribe which in this part of Albania is
generally found wandering as shepherds, but in
the recesses of Pindus exists in several lance set-
tlements. Papa Zacaria is a Khimariote by birth,
and ijives me a good deal of information about
Acroceraunia, which, if it be possible I am
resolved to visit. About half-past two, p.m., I left
these courteous people, and their establishment
in the wood, and set off through deep mud sur-
rounding the village (for the flocks of sheep,
and herds of buffali, efface all vestige of a road),
and thence over a wilder and less mead-like tract
of flat ground, towards the hill of Apollonia ;
but the scirocco wind which is making earth and
sky of one uniform gray, is now blowing so
furiously that the afternoon ride is anything but

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 207

agreeable. At the foot of the hills — which give
no prospect of beauty, so dreary and dull do
they seem — we halted at the little village of
Pdllina, which, with the convent above, is all
the representative left of the old city. It was
desirable to re-establish the baggage, shaken by
the terrific wind, and to allow the old Filosofo
to have some wine, but for this, when Giorgio
offered a small coin as payment, the proposal was
received by the villagers with an unanimous
groan, and a small child who made a snatch at
the lucre was buffetted and snubbed severely.
A short ascent led us to the monastery of Apolld-
nia, enclosed within walls, and standing on the
highest part of the hill — the inconsiderable
height of which does not prevent its command
of a most extensive view, owing to its isolated
position in so level a country. The exterior of
the building offers nothing picturesque — but
inside the walls the large courtyard, strewn with
ruin and overgrown with grass, is very striking
— everywhere evidences of past ages meet the
eye — a strange mixture of ancient Greek stones,
Roman columns, mediaeval cornices and capitals,
later Greek brickwork, and Turkish galleries.
The church, in a ruinous condition, occupies the
centre of the quadrangle, and the rooms of the

208 JOl ELN LL8 01

convent form one of the sides — if those can be
called rooms which are merely two half roofed
barns over a great stable, the abode of number-
less goats. Meanwhile the wind continues to rise,
and it is well if the " rooms" do not take flight
altogether; — to hold a sketch-book become- im-
possible, and after I have with difficulty drawn
the church, I stroll out on to the hill among
extensive remains of what seem the walls of the
great IUyrian city. From this spot I perceive
the solitary column on the low rising ground
to the south, of which a drawing is given in Dr.
Holland's work. But the sun sinks into a red
bank of cloud beyond the western sea, and I re-
turn with the goats to the convent.

One of the barn-apartments is allotted to me,
the other to Giorgio, and what he dignifies by
the name of my " seguita"* (namely, the Filosofo,
the Pietone, and the Kawas,) share with two
very poor Greek monks. Certainly, the night's
lodgings are not obtrusively luxurious, though
there is a romance in these solitudes, and their
want of accommodation, which contrasts plea-
santly with the annoyances of the populous

* Suite.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 209

Gheghe towns, whose appearance led to infer
greater expectations of comfort ; here one anti-
cipates none, and consequently is not disap-
pointed. The loft is wide and dark ; the planked
floor is full of holes, through which comes up a
perpetual jingling of goats' bells, and their sneez-
ings and coughings — they are very asthmatic
goats ; and it is difficult to keep a lamp burning-
owing to the blasts which circulate on all sides ;
— verily these are not cheerful phases of existence;
and what is worse, I fear rain for to-morrow.
However, from seven to ten, the lay-friars of the
Apollonian establishment were most musical,
and together with my " seguita," did all they
could to enliven the dullness of an Illyrian city
in the nineteenth century, by singing their mo-
notonous wild airs ; the melody indeed was little
varied, but the harmony of the voices taking-
different parts was pretty.

October 19.

In spite of all those superfluous goats below,
not a drop of milk is to be had ; but this I have
long observed to be a general rule in Italy, as
well as in Greece. The more goats, the less milk.

Taking a peasant from the convent as guide,

p

•210 .lOl'HNALS Ol

I went at sunrise to the single Doric column —
the only remaining token of Apolldnia above

ground. It stands on a dreary little hill,
covered with Long grass and brambly thorn, and
a more lonely and forlorn record of old times
cannot well be contemplated. The pillar is of
coarse sandstone, and all the marks and dimen-
sions of cella and temple are distinct, though
the remaining columns have been transported
by some Pasha to adorn Berat. On every side
of tins single relic of grandeur, how noble are
the objects in the distance. Eastward and
northward, the mighty Tomohr, the convent of
Apollonia, and the hills of Durazzo ; and south-
ward, the smooth green plains, stretching to the
very foot of the Acroceraunian range. Descend-
in g from this interesting spot about nine, I was
joined by Giorgio and the KawTas, and for two
hours rode over the greenest of pasture land,
without a single undulation. The morning be-
came perfectly fine (contrary to expectation),
and the clang of our shovel stirrups resounded
merrily as we gallopped over the plain.

The great flocks on these beautiful quiet tracts
would inspire the stranger with a complete idea
of peace, were they not always attended by huge
guardian dogs, who rush out like enraged

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 211

demons at the horses, and threaten the riders'
legs. One company of these angry brutes was
particularly outrageous ; and although the
Kawas repeatedly shouted to the wild shepherd,
as he lay on his shaggy cloak, he merely looked
up, and neither checked his hounds by voice
or gesture. The neglect cost him dear ; for as
the horse on which the Kawas rode became
unruly, from the persevering attacks of some
eight or ten of the dogs (who gather, at the sound
of battle, from all parts of the plain), the man of
arms lost patience, and gallopping straight to
the peasant, thundered over his shoulders with
his kourbatch* till he yelled. This, however,
did not mend the matter ; for the beaten man
showed signs of fight, by setting on all the dogs
at once, and threatening the Kawas with an
immense club, so that I momentarily expected
to see my Berat escort suffer the end of
Acteeon ; when suddenly he changed weapons,
and pointing his gun at the enemy, reduced him
to terms. The doos were called off, and the
club thrown away : and the shepherd was left

* Whip.

P 2

•21:2 JOURNALS OF

to reflect that resistance to armed Turks, and
setting dogs upon travellers, is unprofitable
pastime.

At eleven a.m. we reached the Viosa,-* here very
broad and rapid, ere it joins the sea ; and as
current and wind were both against us, it was
some time before we reached the opposite side,
both men and horses were stowed away in a ferry-
boat, resembling a magnified washing-tub. Hence
we went on again, over plains, sometimes
marshy, sometimes greensward, and alive with
still greater multitudes of sheep. Thirty or forty
immense flocks were frequently in sight at once,
and all guarded by lion-like dogs ; and by degrees
the plain became gradually bare, and white with
salt ; and the sea-view, as we neared the hills
of Avlona, was shut out by the long island of
Sazona. A most beautiful amphitheatre of
olive-covered heights surrounds Avlona, whose
silvery mosques peep out from deep green
foliage, while Kanina, a town majestically placed
upon an eminence beyond, finishes one of the
prettiest of pictures. Full of artistic incident is

* Viosa, the ancient Amis. L( lake

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 213

the town itself (where I arrive before four) ; you
have mosques, and bazaars, storks' nests,* and
picturesque desolation ; for Avldna is but a poor
place now ; and having suffered in the latest
Albanian (or Zuliki's) rebellion, exhibits a
mournful air of decay.

Passing through the town, I made my way

to the residence of a merchant, Herr J ,

who, with Herr S -, a doctor of quarantine

in these coasts, lives in a two-storied wooden
house overlooking town, plain, and sea ; and by
means of a walled courtyard, a broad verandah,
a gallery, and some inner rooms, has made him-
self a very comfortable place for such an out-of-
the-way part of the world. I was received, on
presenting a letter from Signor Bonatti of
Skdclra, with courtesy, though with an eternity of
fuss and compliment I would have dispensed
with. A good room, used as an office, was given
me to abide in, but the difficulty of attaining
the usual degree of travelling cleanliness was
greater here than at the houses of either Greeks
or Turks, seeing that the masters of this con-

* The storks arrive at Avlona from the 15th to the 20th of
May, and depart before August 15th.

21 1 'i RNALfi OB

tinually came in and out, and scrutinised with
infantine curiosity all their guests3 acts and
property. Haying read with avidity sonic Ger-
man papers conveying the latest intelligence of

the past six weeks, (news of the most extra-
ordinan events occurring throughout all
Europe}, I sate with my hosts till their
-upper-time, conversing about parts of Al-
bania, especially Acroceraunia or Khimara,
with which the doctor is well acquainted.
They advise me to visit that coast and its
unknown villages, and offer their servant
as guide — a trustworthy Khimariote, who
speaks Italian well, and is known throughout
his native territory. At supper time, Herr

S held forth on German and European

politics with alarming enthusiasm. Prophecy
succeeded prophecy, as to all the royal and noble
heads to be cut off; and the plates and salt-
cellars jingled to the thumps which accompanied
each denunciation of tyrants, and each appeal
to liberty. Not thinking it well-bred to expos-
tulate with my host on the length of his mono-
logue, and not quite agreeing with all his
sentiments, I wished he was a silent Turk, and
entreated to retire to sleep.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 215

October 20.

The perfection of an autumnal clear day !
After early coffee, I went out with Anastasio, the
Khimariote domestic — or rather Kawas — (for as
a servant of government, he carries arms). He
says I can go through " his country," weather
permitting, in five or six days, and that, as he is of
one of the best families in Vuno, everybody knows
him, and he knows everybody. This seems an
opportunity of seeing Acroceraunia not to be
lost; and I shall undertake the adventure —
leaving Giorgio Kozzachi at Avlona until I return
from those unexplored lands.

Avlona lies in a recess or bay of the moun-
tains, which here leave a level space of two
miles or more between their base and the sea.
The town is built for the most part at the foot
of a crescent of rock, but the sides are dotted
with houses ; and at the two horns of this
natural amphitheatre stand many conspicuous
Dervish tombs of pretty architecture, sur-
rounded by groves of cypress. From hence the
eye looks down on Avlona in its garden of plane
and olive-trees, its principal buildings, the tine
palace of its late Bey, and some good mosques,

216 JOURNALS OF

which stand out in beautiful relief from the wide
salt plain and gulf beyond. The gulf — shut in on
one side by the long point of mountain called La
Linguetta, and on the other by the island of
Sazona — has exactly the appearance of a lake ;
so that the effect of the whole picture is most
complete and charming. Having drawn assidu-
ously till twelve, I returned to the Casa J ,

where the renewed vehemence of my host's
political ebullitions, joined to the attacks of
numberless Hies infesting their room, made me
rejoice when the mid-day meal was over.

In the afternoon we are to ride somewhere — •

Herr S being well acquainted with all the

ins and outs of the neighbouring landscape ; and
in the meantime I draw the portraits of two
Mohammedan Gheghes of Elbassan, who come
to visit my hosts. No sooner were these good
people squatted in the little wooden gallery,
with their garments, faces, and pipes in com-
plete arrangement for my drawing, than a bit
of india-rubber fell from my book ; and making
two small hops upon the ground, as is the wont
with that useful vegetable substance when
dropped accidentally, caused indescribable alarm
to the two orthodox Gheghes, who jumped
up and hissed at it, saving, " Shaitan ! shaitan !"

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 217

and trembling with horror as the little imp re-
mained close to their feet. Nor did my taking
it up calm their fears ; and when I put it in my
pocket, their disgust was increased at such
ostentatious truckling to the comforts of a
familiar demon. So as I found they could not
be again induced to remain tranquil enough to
be sketched, I seized a moment when they were
not looking at me, and bounced the offending
caoutchouc on the planked floor, when up it flew
to such a degree that the unhappy and tormented
Mohammedans screamed aloud, and shrieking
out " Shaitan ! shaitan !" jumped off the accursed
platform and fled away.

At four, horses being brought, we set off in
quest of the picturesque, attended by a black
slave Margiann in full-armed costume. Paths
such as none but very sure-footed horses could
climb, narrow slippery ridges along the brink of
deep ravines, ascend from Avlona, through
groves of large thick olives like the slopes of
Tivoli. At a distance of two or three miles we
reached the top of an eminence whence, looking
down on the valley of the Viosa on the one
side, the great mountain of Kiidhesi near at
hand, and Tomohr ever towering in the distance,
with the ruined fortress town of Kanina, forming

218 JOURNALS Ol

tin' opposite interest of the picture, I confessed
thi' taste of my host in matters of landscape,
and passed an hour gladly in sketching those
views. By sunset we returned to Avldna.

October 21.

A bright sun and clear sky seem to fortell
prosperity in the beginning of my Khimariot jour-
ney, the most romantic as well as the most novel
of my own (or anybody else's) Albanian wander-
ings. I shall have six days for the excursion :
longer than that I must not stay, for by the 30th
I should be at Arghyrd Kastro, or at least,
Tepeleni ; and on the 7th of November at
Ioannina, a plan of arrangement necessary by
way of timing steamers for Malta.

Messrs J. and S. having politely volunteered
to accompany me as far as Kanina, I waited for
them till past ten, grieving over the loss of
what I always consider the best part of the day;
hours, moreover are valuable, in a tour of this
kind, apart from the loss of mountain shadows
when the sun is high. After unpleasant potter-
ings and fussings, horses brought without sad-
dles, &c., &t\, we at length moved off, attended
t»\ Anastasio my Khimariot guide, and the

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 219

black Margiann whose employment was to supply
his masters with pipes unlimited. After having
passed a ruined fort by the sea-side, and the out-
skirt olive-grounds south of Avldna, a strong and
steep pull brought us over evil ledges of preci-
pitous ascent to Kanina : but the journey was
not rendered more pleasant by my hosts, for
Herr J. being very slow, stopped every ten
minutes for tobacco, and entreated Herr S., who
was of the liveliest, not to be so rapid ; thereby
arose contentions betwixt the two, and the
effect of the constant jarring was to make me
reflect on friends who do not dwell in unity.
By degrees we reached the fortress, one of the
most commanding positions I have seen in
Albania. On the one hand, you have the wide
sea beyond Avldna, its bay, and the Island
Sazona ; on the other, Tomohr and Kudhesi,
with inland torrents and woods, and gorges
infinite. This crowning fort of Kanina* occu-
pies the highest point of the hill, and has long-
since been a heap of ruins, though the area of its
walls still remain ; below stands the modern
town with its two or three mosques and
scattered little houses. Some of the lower

• Kiiiiinn, Bullis Muritiuia. Leake.

220 JOURNALS 01

parts of the wall seem of very ancient work-
manship, but I grew tired of poking into all
the corners of the old citadel, the brothers
being full of weary tales and surmises con-
cerning its downfall. Among other matters,
they say it was long the residence of the widow
of Manfred of Sicily.

At eleven we went down to the town, and
therein, to the gallery of a Dervish's house,
where two Cogias brought us coffee and pipes,
after which our sitting broke up, and my late
hosts returned to Avlona, leaving me in charge
of the Khimariote, who, with a pietone, sent
with me by the Turkish police, formed my whole
retinue. Down the opposite side of the hill
of Kanina we rode. A small knapsack con-
tained all my property (the fewest articles of
toilette ever known to have been taken by a
Milordos Ingliz) — a plaid and great coat (for
there are snowy mountains to cross), and a
Large stock of drawing materials. I had
arranged about payment of expenses, by giving
Anastasio, who is a trustworthy servant of the
Casa J., a sum of money, from which he is
to defray all the outlay, and account to me
for the same, though I anticipate no great
prodigality, as I am to live at the houses of

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 221

the natives, and go from village to village,
experiencing the full measure of Khimariote
hospitality.

Before one, p.m., we reached the shore, and
made for a little cove (there are many like it on
the coast east of Plymouth), where a spring of
pure and icy fresh water gushes from the foot
of a rock into the sea, and offers a natural halt-
ing place for all who travel between Khimara
and Avlona. Kria Nera is the name of this
sea-side station; and it was pleasant to rest
on a carpet thrown down on the smooth sand
beneath the high rocks which shut in this little
nook. Several peasants with their horses are
resting here, and Anastasio and the policeman
join them in a lunch of bread and cheese ; be-
yond them are gray cliffs and green dun heights
—a strip of white sand, and the long promontory
of Linguetta stretching out into the gulf; the
clear splashing sea at my feet, and above all
the bright streaked sky. A quiet half-hour in
such a scene crowds many a reflection into the
tablets of thought, but such can have no place
in journals.

Of the peasants halting at this natural khan
with my own party, most are Khimariots, going
to Berat or other mid-districts of Albania ;

222 J0UBNAL8 01

others art Beratini These wild and rugged
men have in general a forlorn and anxious look,
and are clad in blanket-like capotes, their caps
mostly white. " Some," saith Anastasio, " two

years ago, were i roba fina cle' ladri,' "* but now
Albania is purged of danger and romance,
thieves and rebellion, from end to end.

But it is past one, and time to set off once
more, for there are four long hours to Dra-
ghiadhes, the first Khimariot village. The path-
way is ever along the side of the gulf, and rises
far above the blue, blue water. Anything more
frightful than these (so-called) paths, along the
iron rocks of Acroceraunia, it is not easy to
imagine : as if to baffle invaders, the ledges
along which one Avent slowly, now wound
inward, skirting ravines full of lentisk and
arbutus, now projected over the bald sides of
precipices, so that, at certain unexpected angles,
the rider's outer leg hung sheer over the deep sea
below. To the first of these surprising bits of
horror-samples of the highways of Khimara I
had come all unknowingly, my horse turning
round a sharp rocky point, and proceeding

■ The cleverest of robbers.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 223

leisurely thence down a kind of bad staircase
without balustrades ; I declined, however, try-
ing a second similar pass on his back, and at the
first spot where there was safe footing, dis-
mounted. Meanwhile the Khimariote who ever
and anon kept shouting, " Kakos dromos, Sig-
nore,"* fired off his pistol at intervals, partly, as
he said, from " allegria,"f and partly to prevent
any one meeting us in this dire and narrow
way. When we had overcome the last of the
Kakos dromos— lo ! a beautiful scene opened at
the narrow end of the gulf, which lay like a still
and dark lake below the high wall of Khimara
territory. Draghiadhes, the door, as it were,
of Acroceraunnia, stands on a height imme-
diately in front, while the majestic snowy peak
of Tchika (the lofty point so conspicuous from
Corfu, and on the southern side of which stand
the real Khimariot villages), towers over all
the scene, than which one more sublime, or
more shut out from the world, I do not recollect
often to have noticed. At the sea-side I stole
time for a short sketch, and then remount-
ing, our party rode on over the sands to nearly

* A bad road, Sir. t Mirth.

224 JOURNALS OF

the'end of the gulf, whence we turned off to
the left, and gradually ascended to Dra-
ghi&dhes. Flocks of sheep, and most ferocious
doss abounded as we climbed higher: and
Anastasio, never wearied of injunctions as to
the awful character of the doss of Khimara,
especially of the two first villages. " It is
true," said he, " I am responsible for your life,
but at the same time you must do just as I bid
you ; for if you look at a dog of Khimara,
there will hardly be anything but some of your
Largest bones left ten minutes afterwards !"
which unfettered poetical flight seemed about
to become a fact in the case of the pietone,
who shortly had to defend himself from some
ten of these outrageous beasts ; they assailed
him spite of all manner of missiles, and the
battle's issue was waxing doubtful when some
shepherds called off the enemy. As we ad-
vanced nearer to the town Anastasio's cheer-
fulness seemed to increase. " Mi conoscono
tutti," * said he, as each peasant hailed him by
the title of " Capitagno." With some he
stopped to laugh and converse ; others he

Everybody knows nic.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER, 225

saluted after the fashion of Albanian mock-
skirmishes, drawing pistols or yataghan from his
girdle, and seizing their throats with many
yells, and between whiles he kept up a running
accompaniment of a Greek air, sung at the top
of an immense voice, and varied by pistol shots
at irregular intervals. We passed the village of
Radima high above us, and after I had con-
trived to make another sketch, the scene
momentarily grew finer as the descending sun
flung hues of crimson over the lonely, sparkling
town of Draghiadhes, and the bright peaks of
the huge Tchika.

Presently we came to the oak-clad hills imme-
diately below the town, where narrow winding
paths led upwards among great rocks and
spreading trees worthy of Salvator Rosa, and
not unlike the beautiful serpentara of Olevano.
I have never seen more impressively savage
scenery since I was in Calabria. Evening, or
early morn, are the jtimes to study these wild
southern places to advantages ; they are then
alive with the inhabitants of the town or village
gathering to, or issuing from it ; here were sheep
crowding up the narrow rock-stairs — now lost in
the shade of the foliage — now bounding in light
through the short lentisk — huge morose dogs,

Q

226 JOUR*) LLS 01

like wolves, walking sullenly behind — shepherds
carrying lambs or siek sheep, and a crowd of
figures clad in thick large trowsers and short
jackets, and bearing immense burdens of sticks,
or other rustic materials. These last are the
women of Oraghiadhes, for here, and at the next
village (Dukadhes), the fair sex adopt male
attire, and are assuredly about the oddest look-
ing creatures I ever beheld. Worn and brown
by hard labour in the sun, they have yet some-
what pensive and pleasing in the expression of
tin eye, but all the rest is unfeminine and dis-
agreeable. They are, as far as I can learn, the
only Mohammedan women in these regions who
do not conceal their faces — whether it be that
their ancestors were Christians, and turning to
the faith of the Prophet, did not think it worth
while in so remote a place as Khimara to adopt
articles of such extra expense as veils, I know
not — but such is the fact, and they are the only
females of their creed whose faces I ever saw.
" But," said Anastasio, " when we have passed
Tchfka, and are in true Khimara, out of the way
of these Turks, then you will see women like
women, and not like pigs. Ah, Signor mio !
these are not women ! — these are pigs, pigs —
Turks — pigs, I say ! For all that, they are

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 227

very good people, and all of them my intimate
friends. But, Signore, you could not travel here
alone." And, although Anastasio certainly
made the most patronizing use of his position as
interpreter, guide, and guard, I am inclined to
believe that he was, in this, pretty near the
truth, for I doubt if a stranger could safely
venture through Acroceraunia unattended. As-
suredly also all the world hereabouts seemed his
friends, as he boasted, for the remotest and
almost invisible people on far away rocks,
shouted out " Capitagno" as we passed, proving
to me that I was in company with a widely-
known individual.

At length we reached Draghiadhes, the houses
of which were by no means pretty, being one
and all like the figures of " H was a House," in
a child's spelling-book. Alas ! for the baronial
castle or the palazzo of Italy ! the whole place
had the appearance of a gigantic heap of domi-
noes just thrown down by the Titans. Sunset
had given place to shadowy dusk as we passed
below two of the very largest plane trees I ever
beheld, where, in the centre of the village the
trowser-wearing damsels of Draghiadhes were
drawing water at a fountain — a strange, wild
scene. Many came out to greet Anastasio, and

Q 2

228 JOURNALS 01

all saluted me in a friendly manner, nor was
there the least ill-bred annoyance, though I was
evidently an object of great curiosity. Sending
on the horses to the house Ave were to sleep at,
we first went to one of Anastasio's friends, who
would take it as a " dispetto"* if he did not visit
him. I sate on the steps outside and sketched :
the rocks of Calabria, with figures such as are
to be seen only in Albania, gathered all around —
how did I lament my little skill in figure draw-
ing, and regret having so much neglected it !
The long matted hair and moustache — the un-
studied and free attitude — the simple folds of
drapery — the expression of the individual — the
grouping of the masses — all heighten the incon-
ceivable originality of these scenes. Let a
painter visit Acroceraunia — until he does so he
will not be aware of the grandest phases of
savage, yet classic, picturesqueness — whether
Illyrian or Epirote — men or mountains ; — but let
him go with a good guide, or he may not come
back again. Acroceraunia is untravelled ground,
and might not be satisfactory to a solitary
tourist.

,f- Rudeness, slight.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 229

It was dark when we returned to the upper
part of the town, and I was ushered into my
host's house for the night — a large room on the
ground floor — all rafters above and planks
below, with a fire-place and fire in the middle
of one end, and with carpets and cushions (of
no very inviting appearance) on either side of
the hearth. On to one of these I threw myself,
and waited patiently for all further occurrences.
Presently our host (whose name is Achmet
Zinani, and who is a tall, thin, ancient Moham-
medan, clad all in red, save a white kilt) having
made me a speech profuse of compliments
through Anastasio, brings two cups of coffee,
and supper is supposed to be about to follow.
Dirty, and queer, and wild, as this place is, it
is far better than those Gheghe-holes, Tyrana
and Elbassan — at least the novelty and fine
subjects for painting all about one, and the
friendly relation in which the stranger stands
with regard to the natives, makes him prefer
Khimara, even at the outset. Previously to
supper Achmet Zinani prayed abundantly, going
through the numerous genuflexions and pros-
trations of Mohammedan devotion, in the centre
of the room. After this the meal commenced.

The plan of Khimariot hospitality is this : the

230 JOUENAL8 01

guest buys a fowl or two, and his hosts cook
it, and help him to eat it. We all sale round
the dish, and I, propping myself sideways on
cushions, made shift to partake of it as well as
I could ; but a small candle being the only light
allotted to the operation, I was not so adroit
as my co-partners, who fished out the most
interesting parts of the excellent fowl ragout
with astonishing dexterity and success. The
low round plate of tin was a perpetual shelter
for eight or nine little cats, whom we pulled
out from beneath by their tails at momen-
tary intervals, when they wailed aloud, and
rushed back again, pleased even by feeling the
hot fowl through the table, as they could not
otherwise enjoy it. After the ragout had nearly
all been devoured, and its remains consigned to
the afflicted cats, there came on a fearful species
of cheese sou]), with butter, perfectly fabulous
as to filthiness ; and after this, there was the
usual washing of hands, "a la turque," and the
evening meal was done. Supper over, we all
-at in a semi-circle about the tire. Some six or
eight of the townsmen came in — a sort of soiree
— and drinking cups of coffee was the occu-
i i;it ion for some hours. Albanian only is
spoken, and very little Greek understood here.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 231

About ten or eleven, all but the family gradually
withdrew ; the old gentleman, Achmet, and the
rest of the Albanians, rolled themselves up in
capotes, and slept, Anastasio placed himself
across my feet, with his pistols by his side ; and
as for me, with my head on my knapsack, I
managed to get an hour or two of early sleep,
though the army of fleas, which assailed me as
a new comer, not to speak of the excursion cats,
who played at bo-peep behind my head, made
the rest of the night a time of real suffering, the
more so that the great wood fire nearly roasted
me, and was odious to the eyes, as a wood fire
must needs be. Such are the penalties paid for
the picturesque. But one does not come to
Acroceraunia for food, sleep, or cleanliness.

October 22.

Before daylight all were on foot, and Anas-
tasio had made a capital basin of coffee and
toast, an accomplishment he had learned of
Giorgio. Anxious to see the bright sun after
the night's penance, I ran to the door; but
hardly had I gone three steps from it, when I
felt myself violently pulled by the collar, and
dragged backwards, before I had time to resist ;

23'2 JOURNALS Ol

a friendly assault on the part of Achmet and
Anastasio, the motion of which was adequately
explained by a simultaneous charge of some
thirty immense dogs, who bounced out from the
most secluded comers, and would straightway
have breakfasted on me, had I not been so aptly
rescued ; certainly the dogs of Khimara are the
most formidable brutes I have yet seen, and
every wall and lane here seems alive with them.

" () Signore !" said Anastasio, in a tone be-
tween anger and vexation, " tanto sciocco vuoi
essere ! Ti dico — sarai mangiato — amazzato —
e se non vuoi far a modo mio, e tutto cio
che ti dico di far qui in Khimara, sei morto ;
non voglio andar piu in avante cosi ; non andrai
mai piu fuor di vista mia !"* So I promised I
would in future be obedient, for after all it was
plain that the Khimariote was in the right.

I decided on making a drawing at Dra-
ghiadhes, before starting for Dukadhes, the
next village, where I am to sleep to-night; for
1 K'yond that is the great pass of the Tchika moun-

* " 0, Sir, why will you be such a fool ? I tell you you will
be eaten, murdered, and if you won't do as 1 bid you, you are a
dead man. I will not go farther with you in this manner ;
henceforth you shall not stir out of my sight."

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 233

tain, which shuts in the Khimara coast, and
to arrive at the further side of it would require
more time than could be found to-day without
hurrying. So I sate above the huge planes, and
drew the view towards the gulf, very Poussi-
nesque and fine ; some twenty picturesque fel-
lows sitting smoking round me, all infinitely
polite. One of them who speaks Italian, volun-
teers a list of the Khimariote villages in their
consecutive order, from Draghiadhes. All of
these I cannot hope to see ; but I would fain
get as far as Khimara, which gives its name to
the whole district.

About nine we left Draghiadhes, and began
to ascend towards the hill of Dukadhes, first
through a tract of low wood, and then by an
uninteresting gorge, down which the wind came
with frightful force, making it very difficult to
keep a footing on the loose stones of the water-
course, which was our road. Higher up in the
pass the violence of this sudden and furious
mountain storm was such that both Anastasio
and myself were knocked down more than once,
and towards the summit we could only advance
by clinging from rock to rock.

At the highest part of the pass a most singular
scene opens. The spectator seems on the edge of
a high wall, from the brink of which giddy eleva-

234 JOURNALS 0 1

tion he looks down into a fearfully profound
basin, at the roots of the mountain. Above its
eastern and southern enclosures rises the giant
snow-clad Tchika in all its immensity, while at
his very feet, in a deep, dark green pit of
wood and garden, lies the town or village of
Dukadhes, its houses scattered like milk-white
dice along the banks of a wide torrent, which
finds its way to the gulf between the hill he
stands on, and the high western ridge dividing
the valley from the sea *

To this strange place, perhaps one of the
most secluded in Europe, I began to descend,
and as we slowly proceeded, halted more than
once to sketch and contemplate. Shut out as it
stood by iron walls of mountain, surrounded by
sternest features of savage scenery, rock and
chasm, precipice and torrent, a more fearful
prospect, and more chilling to the very blood I
never beheld — so gloomy and severe — so unre-
deemed by any beauty or cheerfulness. After a
weary ride over rugged places in the bottom of
this hollow land of gloom, we stopped at length
at one of the houses of the village — standing,
like every dwelling of Dukadhes, in the midst

* River of Dukhadcs — Celydnus. Leake.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 235

of a little garden or courtyard. Its general ap-
pearance was very like my last night's abode,
only that we had to climb up a very odious
ladder to the family " reception room" — which,
besides being several shades dirtier than that of
Achmet Zinani, had not the advantage of being
on the first floor. Most of these houses consist
of two stories, the upper floor, divided into two or
three chambers, being allotted to the women of
the family, the lower being a single large room
serving for general purposes. It was half-past
one when we arrived, and before I go out to
sketch, Anastasio cooks a lunch of eggs roasted
and fried in butter, of which he partakes with
the Pietone. This last accomplished person
does not indulge in shoes, and I observe that
when his hands are occupied, he holds his pipe
in his toes, and does any other little office with
those, to us, useless members. Throughout the
whole of the day's journey I have seen numbers
of women carrying burthens of incredible size
and weight ; — from one hundred and fifty to one
hundred and eighty pounds, I am assured, is no
unusual loading. These poor creatures are indeed
little like women in appearance, for their faces
are worn into lines and furrows of masculine
hardness by excessive and early toil ; and as they

•2H6 JOURNALS OF

labour pitifully up the roeky paths, steadying
their steps with a staff, or cross the stony tor-
rent beds, bent nearly double beneath their
loads, they seem less like human beings than
quadrupeds. A man's blood boils to see them
accompanied by a beast of a husband or brother,
generally on horseback, carrying — what ? — no-
thing but a pipe ! And when he is tired of
smoking, or finds himself over-clad, he gives the
women his pipe to hold, or throws his capote
<>\ er her load ! The ponderous packages of wool,
grain, sticks, &c, borne by these hard- worked
creatures are hung to their neck by two strong
straps ; their dress is dark blue, with a blue
handkerchief on the head — dark full trowsers —
no petticoat, or apron — and red worked woollen
gaiters. They are short and strongly made in
person, with very light hair; their eyes are almost
universally soft gray, and very pretty, but the
rest of the face, apart from the worn and ground-
down expression, is too broad and square in form
to be prepossessing.

In the afternoon I made drawings of Dukii-
dhes, a gloomy sky and threatening storm
adding to the inherent melancholy of the land-
scape. The lines around the town are on too
gigantic a scale, and its houses too destitute of

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 237

the picturesque, to supply much employment for
the pencil ; and the chilling sullenness of this
dreary abyss of terror did not incline me to de-
vote much time to its ungracious qualities. I was
accompanied in my researches by Siilio, the
Pietone, Anastasio being engaged in finding
mules for the morrow's ascent, since horses go
no farther than this place — the threshold of Khi-
mara ; and I give the last hour of daylight to
delineating a tree full of Albanian idlers who
sit smoking tranquilly on the gnarled wide-
spreading branches of a huge ilex, which hangs
over a precipice — as wild a piece of poetical
painting as Salvator might wish for.

At sunset, the indescribable dark terror of this
strange place was at its full ; yet unwilling to
retreat to my night's prison till the last moment,
I lingered on a rock in the middle of the ravine,
while crowds gathered round me, saying, "Scroo,
scroo, scroo," after their fashion, and were
greatly pleased at my drawing them. At length
it became quite dusk, and I went reluctantly to
my second night-home in Khimara. The loft
had a more comfortable appearance by fire-light
than, by day, inasmuch as its mysterious and
suggestive gloom was more prepossessing than
its bare walls. A rug was, as before, laid for

238 JOURNALS (M

me in the farther corner, fitting in between the
wall and the wood fire, which is always made
on a square sort of hearth projecting into
the room. Two pillows, also, were in readi-
ness ; but mistrusting these adjuncts of luxury,
I wrapped myself in plaids and coats, with ni\
knapsack under my head. It is needless to sa\
the traveller reposes by night in the same dress
he wears by day, for it is by no means possible to
change it on all occasions. Vuno, however,
Anastiisio's native town, is held out to me, with
what degree of truth or poetry I know not, as a
sort of metropolitan abode of the luxuries and
graces, which are to atone for all privations en-
dured previously to reaching that favoured spot.
Meanwhile he informs me, that supposing I
am desirous of seeing as much of Khimiiriote
manners and society as is possible, he has asked
two gipsies (!) to pass the evening with us, they
being great performers on the guitar, which they
accompany with the voice ; and as not impro-
bably we might have a dance also, he had
invited a Christian — one of his own friends
(from Arghyro Kastro), staying at present in
Dukadhes — to dine with us, a gentleman whose
lonir dishevelled hair fell most dramaticallv over
his shoulders, and who, like the rest of the

A LANDSCAPE PAINTEK. 239

' society,' rejoiced in bare feet and gaiters. In
fact, my arrival at Dukadhes seemed the signal
for a sort of universal soiree; and I was to
promote the general hilarity by the gift of an
unlimited quantity of wine — an arrangement I
willingly acceded to for the sake of witnessing
" life in Khimara."

In an hour or two came in the usual round
tin table, preceded by napkin and water, precur-
sors of a good dish of hashed mutton, and a
plain roast fowl, which, with tolerable wine,
made no bad supper. After the repast is done,
a process of sweeping always goes on, a mere
form, but never neglected by these people ; un-
willing to incommode me, they swept all round
me carefully, and now there was nothing to do
but to announce the visitors.

Presently the company came, and queer
enough it was ! The two Messieurs Zingari,
or gipsies, are blacksmiths by profession, and
are clad in dark-coloured garments, once
white now grey -brown ; the contrast between
them and the Albanians round them, all of
whom nearly have light hair and florid com-
plexions, is very striking. The gipsy, all grin
and sharpness, who plays second fiddle, is
continually bowing and ducking to me ere he

240 JOURNALS <>|

squats down ; but the elder, or first performer,
is absolutely one of the most remarkable Look-
ing creatures I ever beheld; his great black
eyes peering below immensely thick arched
brows, have the most singular expression of
cunning and ferocity, and his black moustache
and beard enclose a mouth which, when shut,
argues all sorts of tragic obstinacies, but, on
opening, discloses a grin of brilliant ivory from
ear to ear. Take him for all in all, anything so
like a diabolical South Sea idol I never yet
sawr living.

At first the entertainment was rather slow.
The gipsies had two guitars, but they only
tinkled them with a preparatory coquettish-
ness ; till another friend dropping in with a
third mandolino, a pleasing discord was by
degrees created, and increased to a pitch of
excitement that seemed to promise brilliant
things for the evening's festivities. Anas-
tasio, also, catching the melodious infection,
led the performers by his own everlasting
Greek refrain — sung at the full power of a tre-
mendous voice, and joined in by all present in
the first circle — for now, many more than the
chorus had entered the room, remaining seated
or standing behind, and the whole formed, in the

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 24 1

flickering light of the wood torches, one of the
most strange scenes imaginable. Among the au-
ditors were the padrona of the house (a large lady
in extensive trowsers), her daughter (a nice look-
ing woman), and two pretty little girls, her grand-
children— all unveiled, as is the mode in Du-
kadhes. As the musical excitement increased,
so did the audience begin to keep time with
their bodies, which this people, even when
squatted, move with the most curious flexibility.
An Albanian, in sitting on the ground, goes
plump down on his knees, and then bending
back, crosses his legs in a manner wholly im-
practicable to us who sit on chairs from infancy.
While thus seated, he can turn his body half
round on each side as if on a pivot, the knees
remaining immoveable ; and of all the gifted
people in this way that I ever saw, the gipsy
guitarist was pre-eminently endowed with gy-
ratory powers, equal almost to the American
owl, wrhich, it is said, continues to look round
and round at the fowler as he circles about him,
till his head twists off.

Presently, the fun grew fast and furious, and
at length the father of sonj>; — the hideous idol-
gipsy — became animated in the grandest degree;
he sang and shrieked the strangest minor airs

it

242 J0UENAL8 "I

with incredible accompaniments, tearing and
twanglingthe guitar with great skill, and energy
enough to break it into bits. Everything he

■r

sane seemed to delight his audience, which at
times was moved to shouts of laughter, at others
almost to tears. He bowed backwards and
forwards till his head nearly touched the ground,
and waVed from side to side like a poplar in a
gale. He screamed — he howled — he Went
through long recitatives, and spoke prose writh
inconceivable rapidity ; and all the while his
auditors bowed and rocked to and fro as if par-
ticipating in every idea and expression. I never
saw a more decided instance of enthusiastic
appreciation of song, if song it could be called,
where the only melody was a wild repetition of
a minor chorus — except at intervals, when one
or two of the Toskidhes' characteristic airs
varied the musical treat.

The last performance I can remember to have
attended to, appeared to be received as a capo
d'opera : each verse ended by spinning itself
out into a chain of rapid little Bos, ending in
chorus thus •. " Bo, bo-bo-bo, BO ! — bo, bobobo,
BO!" — and every verse was more loudly joined in
than its predecessor, till at the conclusion of the
last verse, when the unearthly idol-gipsy

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 243

snatched off and waved his cap in the air — his
shining head was closely shaved, except one glossy
raven tress at least three feet in length, the very
rafters rang again to the frantic harmony ; —
4'Bo, bo-bo-bo, bo-bo-bo, bo-bo-bo, bobobo,
BO !"— the last " BO !" uttered like a pistol-
shot, and followed by an unanimous yell.

Fatigue is so good a preparation for rest, that
after this savage mirth had gone on for two or
three hours, I fell fast asleep, and heard no
more that night.

October 23.

I am awaked an hour before daylight by the
most piercing screams. Hark ! — they are the
loud cries of a woman's voice, and they come
nearer — nearer — close to the house. For a
moment, the remembrance of last night's orgies,
the strange place I was lying in, and the horrid
sounds by which I was so suddenly awakened,
made a confusion of ideas in my mind which I
could hardly disentangle, till, lighting a phos-
phorus match and candle, I saw all the Alba-
nians in the room, sitting bolt upright, and
listening with ugly countenances to the terrible
cries below. In vain I ask the cause of them .

r 2

do one replies; but one b\ one, and Anastasio
the Last, all descend the ladder, Leaving me in a
mysterj which does not make the stale of
things more agreeable; for though I have not
" supped full of horror" like Macbeth, yet m\
senses are nevertheless " cooled to hear so dismal
a oighl shriek."

I do not remember ever to have heard so
horrid and deadly a sound as that long shriek,
perpetually repeated with a force and sharpness
not to be recalled without pain; and whatmade
it more horrible, was the distinct echo to each
cry from the lonely rocks around this hideous
place. The cries, too, were exactly similar, and
studiedly monotonous in measured wild grief.
After a short time, Anastasio and the others
returned, but at first I could elicit no cause for
this startling the night from its propriety. At
length I suppose they thought that, as I was
now irretrievably afloat in Khimara life, I might
as well know the worst as not ; so they informed
me that the wailings proceeded from a woman
of the place, whose husband had just been
murdered. He had had some feud with an
inhabitant of a neighbouring: village (near Kud-
hesi) nor had he returned to his house as was
expected last night ; and just now, by means of

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 245

the Khimariot dogs, whose uproar is un-
imaginable, the head of the slain man was found
on one side of the ravine, immediately below
the house I am in, his murderers having tossed
it over from the opposite bank, where the body
still lay. This horrid intelligence had been
taken (with her husband's head) to his wife,
and she instantly began the public shrieking
and wailing usual with all people in this singular
region on the death of relatives. They tell me
this screaming tragedy is universal throughout
Khimara, and is continued during nine days,
commonly in the house of mourning, or. when
the performers are engaged in their domestic
affairs. In the present instance, however, the
distressed woman, unable to control her feelings
to the regular routine of grief, is walking all
over the town, tearing her hair, and abandoning
herself to the most frantic wretchedness. These
news, added to the information that it is raining,
and that the weather may probably prevent
my leaving this delightful abode throughout
this, or who knows how many more days, are
no cheerful beginning for the morning, for one
may be fixed here for some time, since the Tchika
pass is impracticable in stormy weather. Hut
towards eight the rain ceased ; and although a

246 •K" RNAia "i

drizzling mist still continued to tall, the robawas
packed under lots of covers, and we stalled on
mules, with bad saddles and packthread stirrups.
Bidding adieu to the harccm until my return, I
w as soon out of Dukadhes, spite of the multitude
of dogs ready to devour me, at every garden
and wall. A rude tract leads across the valley,
ascending gradually, now over undulations of
uncultivated turf or rich fern, and now dipping
by rough ledges and slanting paths into tremen-
dous chasms, which convey torrents from the
northern face of Tchika to the river of Du-
kadhes, west of the valley.

Advancing nearer to the pass, the giant
Tchika appeared more formidable at each
approach — its pine- clad sides black in the sullen
misty cloud ; but as we descended the last cliff-
walled abyss at the foot of the ridge or spur of
the mountain which closes eastward the valley-
plain of Dukadhes, driving clouds came furi-
ously down, and thenceforth, to my great vexa-
tion, no more of the pass was visible. Toilfully we
wound upwards, for an hour or more, among
rocks and superb pines, now and then a cloud
rolling away to disclose vistas of cedar-like firs
deep below or high above in air. It would be
difficult to see a finer pass even for foreground

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER, 247

objects : such variety of crag and shrub — such
huge pine-trunks slanting over precipices, or
lying along the side of the path like ante-mun-
dane caterpillars crawling out of the way of
the deluge. At the top of the pass the driving
fog became thinner, the " shrubless crags seen
through the mist" assumed their distinct shapes,
and we entered magnificent forests of beautiful
pine and undergrowth of gray oak, with here
and there a space of green turf and box-trees,
where great black and orange lizards were plen-
tifully crawling.

At half-past ten we began to descend, and
soon emerged from the clouds into bright sun-
light, which lit up all the difficulties of what is
called the Strada Bianca, or Aspri Ruga— a
zig-zag path on the side of the steepest of preci-
pices, yet the only communication between
Khimara and Avlona towards the north. The
track is a perfect staircase, and were you to
attempt to ride down it, you would seem at each
angle as if about to shoot off into the blue sea
below you ; even when walking down, one comes
to an intimate knowledge of what a fly must
feel in traversing a ceiling or perpendicular wall.
Half way down the descent the long flat island
of Fand, north of Korfu, is visible, and soon

2 |s .loi l;\ \l> 03

afterwards the end of Monte St. Salvador in
Korfu itself: — a merry Bight, and something of
a foreshadowing of England in this far-away
land. Immediately below the Strada Bianca
lies a lonir tract of land between sea and moim-
tain, showing the position of nearly all the Khi-
mariote villages, the whole territory between the
Adriatic and the western wall of hill being
known generally as " Khimara." Lower down
in the descent a migration of Khimariotes —
the most restless of people — met us ; some
eighty or one hundred women laden as
never women were elsewhere — their male rela-
tions " taking it easy" up the mountain — the
ladies carrying the capotes as well as babies and
packages.

" Heavens !" said I, surprised out of my
wonted philosophy of travel, which ought not to
exclaim at anything, "how can you make your
women such slaves ?" " O Signore," said Anas-
tasio, "to you, as a stranger, it must seem ex-
traordinary ; but the fact is, we have no mules
in Khimara, that is the reason why we employ
a creature so inferior in strength as a woman
is ( un animale tanto poco eapaee) ; but there i-
no remedy, for mules there are none, and women
arc next best to mul< - Vi assicuro, Signore,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 249

although certainly far inferior to mules, they are
really better than asses, or even horses." That
was all I got for my interference.

These Khimariote women were of all ages, and
many of them very pretty ; their dress was a full
white petticoat, with an embroidered woollen
apron (worn behind, and not before!) The
men were white capoted, strong-looking fellows,
walking with all that nonchalance and air of
superiority so characteristic of Albanians ; almost
all the individuals spoke to Anastasio as a general
acquaintance : — the whole party is on the way
to Avlona to work in the olive grounds there
through the winter.

After having cleared the descent of Strada
Bianca — a weary penance, the last part of it a
little shortened by a steep flight of stairs cut in
the perpendicular rock — we arrived at that ex-
traordinary torrent which, descending in one un-
broken white bed from the very mountain top
down its seaward face, is known by mariners as
' il flume di Strada Bianca,' or Aspri Ruga.
Without doubt, this is a very remarkable scene
of sheer mountain terror; — it presents a simple
front of rock — awful from its immense magni-
tude— crowned at its summit with snow and
pines, and riven into a thousand lines all uniting

•j;,() JOURNALS 01

in the tremendous ravine below — which, though

now nearly dry, is in winter a torrent of
destructive magnitude,

Crossing this great water-course, our route
lay at the foot of the hills, through ground more
and more cultivated and cheerful, and about one,
p.m., we reached the village of Palasa* Here
we halted, after a good morning's work, in a
sort of piazza near a disreputable looking
church, sadly out of repair.

A few Khimariotes were idling below the
shady trees, and Anastasio was soon surrounded
and welcomed back to his native haunts, though
I perceived that some bad news was com-
municated to him, as he changed colour during
the recital of the intelligence, and clasping his
hands exclaimed aloud with every appearance of
real sorrow. The cause of this grief was, he
presently informed me, the tidings of the death
of one of his cousins, at Vuno, his native place, a
girl of eighteen, whose extreme beauty and good
qualities had made her a sort of queen of the
village, which, said Anastasio, I shall find a
changed place, owing to her decease. " I loved

* Palasa, anciently Palaeste. Lcakc.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 251

her," said he, " with all my heart, and had we
been married, as we ought to have been, our
lives might have been most thoroughly happy."
Having said thus much, and begging me to
excuse his grief, he sat down with his head on
his hand, in a mood of woe befitting such a be-
reavement. Meanwhile 1 reposed till the mo-
ment came for a fresh move onwards, when lo !
with the quickness of light the afflicted Anasta-
sio arose, and ran to a group of women advanc-
ing towards the olive-trees, among whom one
seemed to interest him not a little, and as she
drew nearer I perceived that she was equally
affected by the chance meeting ; — finally, they
sate down together, and conversed with an
earnestness which convinced me that the new-
comer was a friend, at least, if not a sister, to
the departed and lamented cousin of Vuno. It
was now time to start, and as the mules were
loading, the Khimariote girl lingered, and I never
saw a more exquisitely handsome face than hers :
each feature was perfectly faultless in form ;
but the general expression of the countenance
had a tinge of sternness, with somewhat of
traces of suffering ; her raven tresses fell loose
over her beautiful shoulders and neck, and her
form from head to foot, was majestic and grace-

252 JOURNALS 01

fill to perfection; her dress too, the short, open
Greek jacket or spencer, ornamented with red
patterns, the many folded petticoat, and the
scarlet embroidered apron, admirably became
her. She was a perfect model of beauty, as
she stood knitting, hardly bending beneath
the burden she was carrying — her fine face
half in shade from a snowy handkerchief
thrown negligently over her head. She va-
nished when we were leaving Palasa, but re-
appeared below the village, and accompanied
Anastasio for a mile or more through the sur-
rounding olive grounds, and leaving him at last
with a bitter expression of melancholy which it
was impossible not to sympathise with. " Ah,
Signore," said Anastasio, " she was to have been
my wife, but now she is married to a horrid old
man of Avldna, who hates her, and she hates
him, and so they will be wretched all their lives."
" Corpo di Bacco ! Anastasio, why you told me just
now you were to be married to the girl who has
just died at Vuno !" " So I was, Signore ; but her
parents would not let me marry her, so I have
not thought about her any more — only now that
she is dead 1 cannot help being very sorry ; but
Fortina, the girl who has just gone back, was the
woman I loved better than anybody. " "Then

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 253

why didn't you marry her ?" " Perche, perche,"
said the afflicted Anastasio, " perche, I have a
wife already, Signore, in Vund, and a little girl
six years old. Si signor, si."

So much for the comfortable arrangement pre-
valent throughout this country* — of marriages
being arranged before-hand by the parents of
the parties, independently of the individuals
most concerned in the matter, for the refusal of
a bride by the bridegroom, if the lady be once
brought so far as his house, is strongly resented by
her family : — notwithstanding which, Anastasio,
by his own account, greatly rebelled against
orthodox Greek rules, and told his parents that
if his bride (a girl of Arghyrd-Kastro, and a
relative of his mother's kinsmen) were not suf-
ficiently agreeable or good-looking, he would not
have her at all ; and therefore they were obliged
to connive at their wilful son's seeing his be-
trothed ere they set out, lest the chiefs of the
bride's house should be outraged by a refusal at
the eleventh hour. This occurred at Delvino ;
and his account of being permitted to look at
the lady through the opening of a door was

* See page 141, Skodra.

2fi I JOURNALS 01

amusing, — how she was s i 1 1 i n lt down, and how
he said, (), Signora, camminatel Camminate,
per L'amor del cielo ; — perehe voleva vedere se
non zoppicasse.*

From Palasa to Dhrymadhes (the next in the
line of Khimara villages) the route is compara-
tively uninteresting, except inasmuch as the
great features of the Khimara country — the
bright blue sea on one hand, and the high
mountain-wall on the other, were always at-
tractive.

About half-past two we arrived at another
deep fissure or torrent-chasm, cloven from the
heart of the mountains to the sea, and here,
perched and thrust in all possible positions
among the rocks of the ravine, stands Dhry-
madhes, more magnificent in its situation than
any of the places I had hitherto seen in Acroce-
raunia, and not a little resembling Atrani, or
Amain, or Canalo in Calabria, though the beauty
of architecture in those Italian places is ill-
supplied by the scattered and formless collec-
tion of houses that hangs on the brink of the

* " 0 Madam, get up and walk, for the love of Heaven \" (for
I wanted to see if she did not limp.)

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 255

craggy gorge, through whose narrow sides
remote peeps of the lofty summits of Tchika
are visible.

Sending on Anastasio and the mules to a
house he indicated on the further side of the
ravine, I remained behind to sketch, and was
soon surrounded by curious observers ; all how-
ever treated me with the greatest good breed-
ing, and one old gentleman begged me, in
Italian, to favour him by taking some coffee in
his house. The Khimariotes are in the habit of
using the Italian tongue more than any natives
of Albania, a practice induced by their wan-
dering lives and frequent intercourse with Korfu,
Naples, &c.

To sketch Dhrymadhes hastily was impos-
sible ; so, trusting to draw it on my return, I
hurried onward round the head of the gorge,
and found Anastasio at the house of one of his
uncles — a quiet, unpretending dwelling, remind-
ing me of many at Sorrento, or other Italian
places. The civilization of this part of Albania
seems indeed (speaking of the indoor enjoyments
of life) far beyond what I have yet seen ; and my
surprise was great on observing the clean white-
washed walls of the rooms I was taken to, — the
rows of jugs, plates, &c., on shelves — the chairs

•_>;,<; JOURNALS 0]

and four-post bedstead, with tidy furniture,
and everj other comfort in proportion.

" Zia mia!"* — saidAnastasio, of a nice-looking,
middle-aged woman : — and " my uncle ' was a
fine specimen of a Palikar, in appearance vene-
rable, perfectly gentlemanlike in manner, and
speaking Italian fluently. All Khimariotes have
great store of adventures to tell you, and one
might collect a srood book of anecdotes from
these roving people. " My uncle" was one of
the Khimariotes taken by All Pasha as host-
ages, and was long imprisoned at Ioannina ; he
was also in the French-Neapolitan service, and
more lately, one of Lord Byron's suite at Misso-
longhi ; so that he had seen a variety of life.
Promising if possible to stay with these good-
natured people on my return, and having par-
taken of some very tolerable wine, I left them, and
as the mules were to go back hence to Du-
kadhes, the little roba I had with me was
strapped on the backs of two women
(according to Anastasio, the best mode of
conveyance in default of better), and sent
onward to Vuno.

* My aunt.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 257

Rapidly as a traveller but glances at a country
in this mode of journeying, the pencil conveys
a far better idea of it, and in a few lines, than an
inexperienced pen can hope to do with any
amount of description ; it is sufficient, therefore,
to say that all Khimara is full of picturesque-
ness, well worthy the study of a landscape
painter. A Avild tract of rugged nature succeeds
to Drymadhes, and in one hour I reached
Lliattes, the third village ; it consist of a little
knot of houses, standing in gardens of olives ; an
oasis of cultivation which seems a rare excep-
tion to the general barrenness of this part of
Khimara, though closer to the sea there appears
to be a considerable portion of more fertile
land.

After a halt of ten minutes at Lliattes, where
some of Anastasio's invisible friends brought us
some fresh water at his call, I am again walking-
over rock and plains of lentisk, till I reach the
last ravine, previously to arriving at Vuno, a deep
chasm between red cliffs, much like those in the
neighbourhood of beautiful Civita Castcllana,
and which, according to Anastasio, runs widen-
ing to the sea, and renders all progress by land
impossible, except by the track we are now pur-
suing, at the very root of the mountains. The

s

258 .lor UN LL8 ui

view of Korfu, above this long perspective <>t'
ravines, is exceedingly beautiful, and tempted
me to linger till the setting sun warned me to
hasten.

The bright orb went down like a globe of red
crystal into the pale sea, and the fiery hued wall of
tagged Acroceraunian mountains above us on our
left grew purple and lead-coloured, yet there was
still half an hour's hard walking to be accom-
plished ; and before I turned the angle of the
little ravine of Vuno, there was only light enough
to allow of a vague impression of a considerable
town filling up the end of the gorge, without
being able to discern the numerous excellencies
of a place, of which Anastasio wTas constantly
remarking in a triumphant tone, " Ma, Signore,
quando si vede Vuno !" as if Paris or Stambul
were nothing to it. We passed what seemed a
large building, which my guide said was " Casa
di Bdbba," the house of his uncle, who was
head of the family (his father having been a
second son), and soon came to the paternal roof,
now the property of his own eldest brother ; for
Anastasio is a secondo-genito, and obliged to get
his living kw a la Khimariote," as he can : his
mother still resides in her deceased husband's
house, as do Anastasio's wife and child, besides

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 259

Kyr Kostantino Kasnetzi, the eldest brother, with
his children, he being a widower. All this domes-
tic crowd, joined to a great variety of nephews and
cousins, were waiting to receive us as we en-
tered a courtyard, from whence we ascended to a
spacious kitchen, where the females of the family
saluted me with an air of timidity natural to
persons who live in such oriental seclusion.
The manners of Anastasio towards this part of
the community appeared to me to savour a good
deal of the relation between master and slave ;
and now that my guide is at home, he walks
about with a dignified and haughty nonchalance
very different from the subdued demeanour of

the domestic in the Casa J at Avlona.

I was led again up stairs, to a large octagonal
room, panelled and closetted, and fitted up with
sofas, &c, in the usual Turkish style ; but the
presence of many et cetera announces a people
of very different habits to those of the wild
Gheghe, or rude inhabitants of Dukhadhes. A
small four-post bedstead stands in one corner ;
half a dozen side tables adorn the sides of the
room, with intervening chairs ; the walls are
whitewashed ; there are chests of drawers ; the
centre of the ceiling is tastefully ornamented
with dried grapes, hung in patterns ; and round

s 2

>_>(iO JOURN VL8 "l

four of the sides of the chamber, shelves, thickly
covered with iues and other crockerv-ware, com-
plete the List of domestic small comforts. The

windows are very small, and several loopholes in
the exceedingly thick walls allude distinctly to
the days of predatory warfare, when people shot
their enemies out of the first Moor window. No
sooner was I settled, glad enough to rest on
the low sofa, than Anastasio's little girl, an
exquisitely pretty child of three years of age,
with eyes like black beads, came into the room,
very cleanly and nicely dressed ; down she
sate, and taking my hand in hers, began to
sing in the prettiest manner possible, with as
little shyness as if she had known me all through
her short life. Next came the Capo di Casa, the
eldest brother, Kostantino, a rough but prepos-
sessing fellow, with moustache enough for ten.
He spoke no Italian, so our converse was con-
fined to Greek common-places, while Anastasio
talks in his stead, and assures me that his
brother is a man of extreme wisdom and attain-
ments, and by profession a doctor. " O Signore!
e un uomo chc sa assai — per Bacco ! sa tutto !
E medico. Two years ago, there was a boy of
Vuik) who threw a stone at another little boy ;
lie broke his head, and filled it full of bones : full,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 2()1

I say ! pieno, pieno, dico, di osse ; osse grande
ed osse piccole, pieno, pieno ; but the learned
man (tanto dotto e) pulled them all out — tutte,
tutte — si, Signore — every one ! and the little
boy lived for ever afterwards in great health and
prosperity."

After the usual preliminary coffee, two or
three Vuniote cousins came in, and among them
one who had been at Korfu and Vido, where
he had picked up some very lively and energetic
samples of the English language more sur-
prising than proper, with which he seasoned
his broken Italian oddly enough. His stories
were numberless, and there was no help but to
hear them. One of the least comprehensible
was of a lord, a grandissimo mylordos, who
had a cootter — con tanti marinari : e con questo
cootter il gran lordos sempre girava il mondo
ogni anno — e sempre aveva un vescovo dentro
il cootter ; but the name of this circumvoy aging
lord, or that of the marine bishop, I could not
learn.

Supper, consisting of a fowl excellently boiled
and stewed, was brought in by Anastasio and
his brother, and they waited while I ate ; but
I gave them decidedly to understand, that I
would take my meals with the family while in

262 JOUKN LLfi OF

their house, for as 1 had been hail fellow well
met with all the gipsies and dirty people
of Draghi&dhes and Duk&dhes, I did not set'
why I should be more magnificent in Vuno",
especially as 1 had here a chance of seeing
somewhat of decent Khimariote ways.

October 24.

The comparative luxuries of Vund, the clean
bed and quiet room, &c, can only he duly valued
by those who have passed such nights as my
last two in Albanian villages. Soon after sun-
rise I set off with book and pencil, accom-
panied by ten or fifteen of Anastasio's cousins
and soon found enough below7 the town to
occupy me for three or four hours. Like the
village of Dhryniadhes, Vund is placed fronting
the sea at the base of the mountains, in a sort
of horse-shoe-formed hollow at the head of a
ravine. A series of rock terraces support the
houses, behind which the hills rise magnificently
in a bay or semicircle, and towards the sea the
land slopes rapidly to the level tract of ground,
which is, perhaps, broader below Vund than
;it am pari of the Khimara country 1 have
passed. 1 was surprised at the extent and

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 263

character of the buildings at Vuno, some of
which, those of the Kasnetzi family in particu-
lar, were more like palazzi in many Italian pro-
vincial towns than dwellings in Albania ; and
the whole village has an air of neatness and
regularity for which I was quite unprepared.
The spot where I sit is bright in the morning
sun ; groves of thin olives and small oak throw
a pleasant shade over the meadow ; several of
the picturesque people of the village are playing
at quoits near me, and the quiet repose of the
scene is a great treat after the unrest of the last
few days. Close by stands the only apparent
church in the place, and that is a very small
one ; indeed, the state ecclesiastical does not
seem very nourishing at Vuno, for on my in-
quiring of Anastasio how many priests there
are in his village, he answers : " Due : uno x'e
ammalato : e 1' altro non si sa dov' e."*

At eleven I returned to the Casa Kasnetzi ;
and it is worth remarking, that one of the most
pleasant points of civilization in Vuno, consists

* Two; one is sick, and the other is <ronc, no one knows
where.

26 I JOURNALS 01

of the possibility of walking about this compact
town where the stranger pleases, without fear of
being torn to pieces by rabid mountain-dogs, as
he infallibly must be in Duk&dhes and Drag-

hiadhes, where the dwellings are scattered in
gardens, and where Hocks are the great com-
modity of life, instead of wine and corn — not that
there seems too much of that — produced by the
Khimara strip of plain.

Anast&sio's warbling little girl came and
amused me till noon, when dinner was served on
the usual tin table, in the shape of a good substan-
tial meal of rice soup, boiled and stewed mutton,
with the best wine I had tasted in Albania. It
would be most interesting for a person well
versed in Romaic (which nearly all here speak,
or at least understand), to travel through
Khimara, and by remaining there for some time
glean detailed accounts of the habits of life
among these primitive people; as for me, I
could only arrive at snatches of information by
means of Italian, which many of the Vuniote
men speak. On my asking Anastasio if his
wile and mother were not coming to din-
ner, he replied that the women never cat
with the men, but that his wife, Marina,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 265

would come and wait on us at supper, as by
that time she would have less " vergogna "* of a
stranger, an uncommon sight to Khimariote
females.

Since the days of Ali Pasha, the great puller-
down of all high persons and places in Khi-
mara (for up to his time it had existed as a set
of little republics, nominally dependent on the
Porte, but willing at any time to join its
enemies), the villages of the Khimariote district
pay certain taxes to the Turkish Government
through the Pasha of Delvino, in whose pashalik
their territories are included ; but no Turk, or
rather, no Mohammedan, resides in any of the
towns (I do not include Draghiadhes, Radima,
or Dukadhes, as within Khimara), and they
may be said still to enjoy a negative sort of
independence, though their power of union in
resistance, as a body of Greek Christians, is
virtually as much gone as that of Parguinote or
Suliote, whose habitations, and almost names,
have passed away.

Anastasio relates that two years back a
Turkish Bey, with troops, came on a recruiting

* Shyness — fear.

266 .!<>! KXALS ()!■

tour through this territory, and quartered one
hundred men in the house of his father and
uncle, during whose stay, the " spavento"* of the
Khimariote women and the "rabbia"f of the

men was unbounded. For four days the women
were shut up under lock and key in closets and
cellars, and the Bey nightly intoxicated himself
with rakhee, making a horrible row, and
amusing himself by firing off pistols all about
the room and through the ceiling, the damage
done by which facetious diversion is visible
enough to this day as proof. One of these
pistol-balls nearly killed the wife of Kostantino
Kasnetzi, and he and Anastasio thereupon con-
fronted the Bey, who finding his own men dis-
posed to take part against him, consented to
evacuate Vuno on the morrow. But, with the
exception of such rare visits, or the passing
through of the Pasha of Delvino's guards in
search of some criminal, Khimtira is a tranquil
place, though its inhabitants are forbidden to
bear arms; and in consequence of various
modes of depopulation — such as wandering
abroad, enlisting in the Sultan's armies, &c,

• Terror. t Rage,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 267

— they are now but a thinly scattered and
broken people.

While this conversation was proceeding, there
arose the wail for the poor girl, the cousin of
the Kasnetzi, who died three days ago. It
was, as at Dukhadhes, a woman's cry, but more
mournful and prolonged, with sobs between
nearly each cry ; and when the first wail was
over, a second female took it up in the same
strain. Nothing can be more mournful than
this lament for the dead ; yet there seems to be
a sort of pride in executing the performance
well and loudly, for when I spoke of the sadness
of the sound — " Ah, Signore !" said Anastasio,
"ci sono altre chi piangono assai meglio di
quella!"* The death of this cousin led the
eldest brother to apologise much for the cur-
tailed hospitality which iron custom compelled
them to shew to me under the circumstances : —
they should have killed a sheep — they would
have had a dance, and all sorts of fetes, &c,
&c. ; but on the decease of near relatives, no
allegria is ever permitted for nine days.

There was much animated conversation at

* Ah, sir, there are others who crj ever bo much bettei

■2(j,s JOUHNALS 01

dinner-time relating to the domestic affairs of
an uncle unci aunt of the Kasnctzi : the latter is
lately remarried to a Khimariote, and he is
already tired of his bride, and inclines to leave
her. " E perche ?" said Anastasio ; " E dive-
nuta sorda ! ed eccovi tutto !"* But although
the party agree that the povera donna has no
other fault hut a growing deafness, still they are
equally of accord that the uncle may purchase
a separation from the bishop of the diocese by
means of so many dollars, even for no sufficient
reason. Anastasio concludes the discourse by
saying, that if his aunt is forsaken, legally or not,
he shall " amazzare"f the zio forthwith. The
Khimariotes appear to have a code of some very
severe laws, and all tell me that they know no
instance of their ever having been broken
through. Those for instance for the punish-
ment of conjugal infidelity insist on the death
of the woman, and the cutting off ears and nose
of the other offending party. Two or three
instances have occurred among the various
towns in the memory of my informers, and one

* And why ?- she has hecome deaf, that is the only
n a<on.

+ Murder.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 209

gentleman whose head is unadorned with ears
or proboscis, I have myself seen. Another was
pointed out to me to-day, as a man who made a
great disturbance in Vuno by destroying the
peace of one of its best families : the wife was
instantly put to death, but her paramour escaped
and remained abroad for two years, when he
returned, and is now settled here " But," said
I, " how did he remain unpunished ?" " Be-
cause he escaped." " But why, since your
severity in these cases is so extreme, why was
he allowed to return ?" " Because we killed
his father instead of him !" " O, cielo, but
what had his father done ?" " Niente ! Ma
sempre ci vuol qualcheduno ammazzato in
queste circonstanze ; e cosi, abbiam preso il
padre. Somebody must have been killed. E
lo stesso — basta cosi"* — an obliquity of justice
alarming to parents with unruly offspring.

After drawing some of the innumerable
cousins of the house of Kasnetzi — each of them
a picture (though from their sense of mourning
I could not get sketches of any of the females)
— I went out, and drew Vuno from the north,

* Nothing at all ; but somebody must be killed under
these circumstances, so we killed the father ; it is all one.

•270 JOl K\ OiS OF

until sunset, surrounded by groups of Khi-
mariotes, a naturally well-behaved set of people,
whose conversation is intelligent and various,
and whose interest in my drawing reminds me
of Abruzzi and Calabria

At supper, when a dish of beef fried in batter
was placed on the table, Marina, the wife, waited
with water and towel; we were a select party of
her husband and his brother and three cousins
— so that she was able to overcome her ' ver-
gogna' sufficiently to remain in the room. It is
not surprising that Anastasio locked her up
while the Turks were in the house — for a more
lovely creature it is impossible to imagine : — her
face wras perfectly Greek in outline and form, and
her eyes of the softest dark blue imaginable —
her figure was thoroughly graceful, and her ex-
pression so simple and pure as to resemble that
of a saint drawn by one of the early masters ;
at present being in mourning, her dress was dark
gray, unornamented in any manner, but on a
festal day I could have liked to see her in full
Greek splendour of costume.

Tchibouques and conversation made the hour
of resl a late one. Even now, after the lapse of
so many years, a foreigner perceives that the
awful name of All Pasha is hardly pronounced

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 271

without a feeling akin to terror. I am most
curious to see the places where his great genius
and power were so conspicuous.

October 25.

Long before day, two women at once had
begun their mournful wail for the dead in the
house immediately adjoining this. The sun is
not yet up, and Korfu, like an island of opal
seems to float on the pale gray sea at the cloud-
less pink horizon. At half-past seven, I set out
for Khimara : — the toAvn so called is considered
as the capital of this district, to which it gives its
name — although Vuno is now by far the most
flourishing of all the villages. Anastasio, and a
' Germano,'* with a ' mosca' — Avhich, Albaniti-
cally speaking, means a mule — are my suite;
but I prefer walking to jolting on those wooden
quadrupeds, over such break-neck places as our
track passes.

For more than an hour after we left Vuno, we
followed paths crossing sandy chasms ; we then
approached a most savage pass in the mountains

* Cousin.

272 ' RNALS "i

which here advance close to t hi- sea. \bu\c,
in clouds and air, hangs one of the Khimariotc
villages, Pilieri, and on all sides are inaccessible
precipices — inaccessible at least to any but Khi-
inariote women, who, in their daily avocation of
gathering sticks and brushwood for firing, climb
to the most fabulous spots. I watched some
who were throwing down great bundles to their
companions in the ravine below from sheer rocks
of stupendous height; and ever as we walked
on, numbers of these Vuniote females emerged
from chasm and cliff, appearing like animated
trees, or great balls of black-wood — all crouch-
ing beneath portentous burdens of boughs or
green brushwood, and each answering to Mar^a-
ritas or Marinas as my guides called to them
from incredible distances. The acuteness of
sight and hearing in Albanian mountaineers is
beyond description prodigious, and their faculty
of conversing at great distances almost super-
natural ; the ordinary obstacles which under
such circumstances mortals find to communica-
tion, seem in their case entirely removed.

The whole of this pass was of a tho-
roughly wild character, and the path-- through
it worse than any which 1 had seen in Khimara,
and consist of mere shelves or ledges of crumbling

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 27 3

earth half-way down perpendicular rocks, or
fallen masses of stone. The broad water- course,
or ravine, in which the pass terminated, widened
out gradually between lower hills, and shortly
opened in a view of the formidable Khimara
itself — perched on a high isolated rock, the
torrent running below it to the sea, with Korfu
forming the background of the picture. Khi-
mara is now a ruined place, since its capture by
the overwhelming Ali Pasha, but it still retains
its qualities of convenient asylum for doubtful
or fugitive characters : for what force can pene-
trate the fastnesses by which the rock is sur-
rounded, without time being given to the
pursued to escape beyond the possibility of cap-
ture ?

At the foot of this celebrated Acroceraunian
stronghold I sat down to sketch, before scaling
the height. Several Khimariotes descended to
speak with Anastasio, among others the priest
of the town, in a tattered blue robe, flowing
black beard and red fez. There came also two
old women, with the hope of selling some fowls,
which they incautiously left on a ledge of rock
a short way above us, while they discussed the
terms of the purchase with Anastasio ; but
behold ! two superb eagles suddenly floated

T

27 1 JOURNALS 01

over the abyss — and — pounce — carried off each
his hen; the unlucky gallinaceae screaming
vainly as they were transported by unwel-
come win^s to the inaccessible crairs on the
far side of the ravine, where young eagles
and destiny awaited them. Hereupon the
two old ladies set up a screeching wail, almost
as loud as that in use for the departed relations,
and were only to be quieted by being presented
with the price of the hens, (about twopence each)
which had been carried off so unsatisfactorily to
all parties, excepting the inmates of the eagle's
nest. The sketch done, I began to ascend the
rock, which is only easily accessible on the
eastern or mountain side, and numbers of the
inhabitants came down to salute and examine so
novel a creature as a Frank, for by the accounts
of the people — how true I know not — I am the
second Englishman who has been here. From
Avlona hither, I do not find that any English
traveller has yet penetrated ; no great wonder,
considering the nature of the country.

The houses of Khimara are all of dark stone,
and bear signs of having seen better days ; on
every side are heaps of ruin, and a great extent
of rubbish, with walls of different dates, pro-
claims this remarkable Acropolis to have been

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 275

once a considerable place.* The people of
Khimara are all of Greek origin, and speak
Romaic, though those of the towns I have
passed on my way, although Christian, are all
Albanian with the exception of a few families
such as the Kasnetzi. The Khimariotes of this
place declare that the town contains vestiges
of sixty- two churches. There are some re-
mains of fifteen or sixteen on the lower part of
the rock, but all in a state of total ruin, and the
appearance of the Ecdnomo of Khimara is in
complete accordance with that of his native eccle-
siastical edifices.

As I walked slowly up the zigzag path
to the entrance of the town, I had leisure
to examine my numerous new acquaintance,
whom I thought by far the most wild and
most typical of Albanian character that I had yet
seen ; the men wear their hair extremely long,
and walk with the complete strut of Albanian
dignity — the loftiest and most sovereign expres-
sion of pride and independence in every gesture.
As for the females, I saw none, except a few of
the heavy stick-laden, who were toiling up the

* Khimara. anciently Cliinneva. Leake.

T 2

•J7(J JOURNALS OF

hill, clad in dark blue dresses with red aprons
(worn behind), and red-worked hose. Guided
h\ Anastasio, who seemed here, as elsewhere, a
general acquaintance, and was greeted with ex-
cessive hilarity, we proceeded to a house, where,
in a dark room of great size, a mat and cushions
were spread for me, and there was no lack of
company. A very aged man, more than a
centurj old, occupied a bed in one corner; a
screaming baby in a cradle on the opposite side,
illustrated another extreme point of the seven
ages of the family ; two or three women, re-
tiring into the obscurest shade, seemed to be
knitting, while circles of lon^-haired Khima-
riotes thronged the floor.

Many of these, both outside and in the house,
extended their hands for mine to shake, I sup-
posed from being aware of Frank modes of
salutation ; but among them, three or four gave
me so peculiar a twist or crack of my fingers,
that 1 was struck by its singularity; though it
was not until my hand had been held firmly
for a repetition of this manoeuvre, accompanied
by a look of interrogation from the holder, that
the thought flashed on my mind, that what I
observed was a concerted signal. I shortly
became fully aware that 1 was among people.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 277

who, from some cause or other, had fled from
justice in other lands.

Of these was one who, with his face entirely
muffled excepting one eye, kept aloof in the
darker part of the chamber, until having
thoroughly scrutinized me, he came forward,
and dropping his capote, discovered to my
horror and amazement, features which, though
disguised by an enormous growth of hair, I
could not fail to recognize. "The world is
my city now," said he ; "I am become a savage
like those with whom I dwell. What is life to
me ?" And covering his face again, he wept
with a heart-breaking bitterness only life-exiles
can know.

Alas ! henceforth this wild Alsatia of the
mountains — this strange and fearful Khimara —
wore to my thoughts a tenfold garb of melan-
choly, when I considered it as the refuge,
during the remainder of a weary life, of men
whose early years had been passed in far other
abodes and society.

This specimen of " life in Khimara ' had
taken away my appetite ; and when the dinner,
long preparing, was set before us, in the shape
of a substitute for the eagle-devoured hen, I
could not eat what would otherwise have been

L>78 JOURNALS 0*

a welcome refreshment. Accordingly I origi-
nated a move to visit the western or seaward
side of the town, glad to shake off mournful feel-
ings iu the gay sunlight; nor was it to be for-
gotten that the same daylight was wearing away,
and it was yet far to Vund.

Papa Nest ore led the Way, up narrow, dirty.
shattered streets, to what he called the fortezza,
three or four tiers of regular Hellenic architec-
ture, mixed at intervals with superadded struc-
tures of modern times ; the lower part of these
ancient fortifications is extremely massive and
strong. We then went down, on the west side,
to a platform overlooking all the territory
belonging to the town, from the foot of the rock
to the sea, including apparently a good tract of
cultivated land. Hence the view of Khimara,
backed by the mountains, forms a most magni-
ficent scene, and I sate down to " scroo" it, with
some thirty or fortv wild Khimariotes crowded
around me ; after which, resisting the importunity
of our morning's host to return to his house, I set
out on my retreat to Vuno, followed by adieux
in several languages, shouted to me from this
home of the homeless. I would fain visit the
farther villages in the line of the Khimara coast ;
but if I am able to do so, the journey must be

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 279

made from Delvino. We hurried on to the en-
trance of the gorge leading inwards to the hills,
and soon were shut out by the pitiless rocks
from all sight of Khimara.

Far up the ravine there is a detached rock,
covered with Greek inscriptions ; I mean modern
names, inscribed in Romaic. " Tutti scrivono,"
said Anastasio, " scrivete anche voi !"* so as I
defaced nothing by the act, I added my name to
the visitors' book of the Pass of Khimara, the
only Englishman's there, and it will be long
before there are many more. Much time must
elapse ere Khimara becomes a fashionable water-
ing-place, and before puffing advertisements of
"salubrious situation, unbroken retirement, select
society, and easy access from Italy," meet the
eye in the daily papers of England.

In the stony river-bed, we fell in with three
armed Albanians, of Delvino, and they instantly
commenced a sham fight with Anastasio, as did
the Kawas of Berat, by seizing throats, firing
pistols, laughing and screeching uproariously.
I left them at this pastime, and wound up the
path of the ravine, whence, looking down, I per-

* Everybody writes, — write your name also.

280 JOURNALS OF

ceived the men of war examining my three-
Legged sketching-stool, carried by Anastdsio,

with every kind of experimental sitting. The

sun was low by the time all the precipices and
chasms were past; and as we entered Vuno, it
seemed, by comparison with Khimara, a city of
palaces. Coffee and pipes, administered by the
charming Marina, were well earned after a hard
day's walk; and after little Alessandra Kasnetzi
had sung her usual melodies, supper and con-
versation ensued — Costantino, the brother, eating
nothing, because it was a fast day, which Anas-
tasio heeded not, saying he was on a journey.
All the family looked over my drawings, until
bed-time, and were delighted with the people
delineated.

The pooi' woman next door is still wailing,
filling the air with her monotonous cry.

October 26\

Daybreak and wailing ; wailing at night,
wailing at morn. Shrieks and Khimara will
ever be united in mv memory.

Some clouds are gathering over the sea, but
the hills are as clear as they have been for two

■I

days of cloudless sunshine. I would we could

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 281

pass that formidable Tchika to-day, but we must
halt for the night at Palasa. About eight I left
Vund, on my return to Avlona. All the Kas-
netzi family assembled to take leave of me, and
I shook hands with the mother and Marina, a
proceeding greatly diverting to the whole house-
hold. A more agreeable and respectable set of
people, as far as I have seen during my short
stay among them, it is long since I met with.
So, Anastasio fired off his pistol at the last
point of the rock where the town was visible,
and I went on my way to dine and draw at Dhry-
madhes, which I reached at half-past ten. After
making a polite call on the Zia, the sister of
Dhimitri Kasnetzi, of Vuno, and wife of the gen-
tlemanly one-eyed Palikar, I drew constantly
till noon, the magnificence of this place being
inexhaustible. Several of the villagers squatted
round me ; and while Anastasio was gone away
for a time, some of them asked me " If I had
an order from the Sultan to write down this
town ?" so constantly, and not very unnaturally,
is the idea of political espionage ever associated
with the act of topographical drawing.

The Dhrymadhiotes also inform me that snow
is sent in great quantities hence to Korfii, and
that it is gathered from the summit of Tchika,

282 Jni'RNALS o|.

turn glittering above me, by women of the vil-
lage. There are but few good houses in Dhry-
niadhes, and it seems far below Vuno in the
scale of general comfort and civilization.

At one, dinner was served at the aunt's, in
the same manner as throughout all these vil-
lages— plain boiled fowl, bread and cheese,
being the principal articles of food. The Zio
relates, that up to All Pasha's time the Kasnetzi
family were not only the first in Vuno, but in
all Khimara ; but the Vizir took all their plate
and goods and thoroughly ruined them, with all
the other proprietors of the district — a state-
ment quite consistent with his known levelling
policy and the extent of his genius for grinding
and oppression. The golden age of Khimara's
liberty seems to have been in the days of the
Pashas of Avlona, before All had swallowed up
all Albania ; but since his reign this restless
race are withered and broken. " We serve the
Sultan," say they ; but if asked whether they
are Albanians, Christians, or Turks, they say —
" Neither ; we are Khimariotes."

We had left the clean and comfortable dwell-
in g of the aunt and uncle, and were threading a
little lane, before we had turned the end of the
deep ravine which divides Dhrvmadhes into two

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 283

portions, when a frightful shrieking burst forth
from the upper room of a house immediately over
us. Anastasio became fixed as a statue as another
house took up the cry, and then another, and so
on till the echoing chasm of Dhrymadhes, with
its scattered dwellings above and below, resolved
itself into one dismal howl.

u It is my uncle's brother," said Anastasio,
the man of many relatives ; "I heard he was ill,
but did not know he was in such danger. That
is his house, and he has died there just this very
minute. That was his daughter who first
began the death-shriek, and as all Dhrymadhes
are more or less nearly related to his family, you
see, Signore, the wailing is general. Ringraziamo
Dio," he went on to say — " let us thank Heaven
that we have dined ! for if this old gentleman
had died ever so little earlier — una mezz'ora
piu presto — we could not have had anything to
eat, for the Khimariotes dress no food on the
day a near relative dies. Dunque, Signore mio,
ringraziamo Dio che abbiamo gia pranzato !"
After this novel reflection on the death of his
aunt's brother-in-law, we passed over to the
further side of the ravine, and I had time for a
large sketch of this surprisingly grand place.
" Sentite ! O sentite, Signore !" said Anastasio,

284 JOURNALS OF

"quella e la mia Zia che piange! — my aunt
has now heard of her brother-in-law's death,
and that loud cry is hers ! Piange davvero,
come piange bene !"* as if this fearful shrieking,
so characteristic of Khimara, were the most
(banning of accomplishments, any excellence in
the performance of which was greatly appreci-
ated.

There was a group sitting near me all the
time I was drawing — formed of an aged man,
weeping plenteously, who appeared with much
energy to oppose a host of reasoners and ad-
visers of all ages, and among them a pretty girl,
who might be his grand-daughter, — that were
sympathising with and trying to console him
by caresses. Unluckily they talked Albanian,
so the tragedy was a riddle to me, until
Anastasio explained to me that the old man's
son had just been seized, by mistake, at Berat,
for a robbery; and although the real cul-
prit had been subsequently captured, yet by
some error of the judicial authorities the inno-
cent victim was not yet liberated. The old

* Listen, Sir ! that is my aunt who is crying ; she cries pro-
perly ! How well she cries !

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 285

man's friends were advising him to bribe some
of the grandees of Berat, but he, setting forth
his poverty, became at last so angry with his
Job's comforters, that he stamped and raved in
fury, and finally strode away with an air like
that of a distraught seer.

We reached Palasa just as the sun was set-
ting, and went to one of the few, detached
houses of the place — a long, low boarded loft of
one story in height belonging to one Dhimitri,
who had once been a policeman in Korfii. I
was soon established for the night on the usual
mat by the fireside. Our party was increased
from Vund by the addition of one of Anastasio's
interminable nephews on his way to see life
at Avlona ; and after supper, the priest of the
village, in blue gown and black beard,* came in,
when we sate talking and smoking until late.
But the night was so lovely that I was glad to
sit on the outside of the hut, and exchange its
atmosphere of tobacco for cool freshness, while
I gazed on the clear sky spangled with myriad
stars, and on the solemn mountains calm in
silence.

* The priests alone wear beards among the Christians and
Albanians.

•2M(J JOURNALS 01

October 27.

A more bright and cloudless morning could
not be desired ; so at least this time the Pass of
Tchika may be visible throughout. We were
off soon after sunrise, and had not gone far from
Palasa when, behold once more the beautiful
Fortina carrying my knapsack and the capote
of Anastasio, who had been suddenly seized by
a great compassion for the mules, and thought
fit to diminish their lu°:°ra«:e : and since so it
was to be, there was Fortina (by the merest
chance in the world), perfectly unoccupied, and
too glad to have the means of gaining a few
piastres by this division of labour. So the fair
Khimariote, with the small nephew and the
mosca, went round by the horse-track to the
Strada Bianca, while I, after making a drawing of
the great ravine, and ascending by the steps or
scortatura, rejoined them during the ascent.

Slight mists began to gather as we toiled up
the Strada Bianca. Anastasio and Fortina,
during a halt we made on the sides of this Great
mountain, held rather a prolonged discourse
with two women, so they said, very high up in
the gorge on the Palasa side ; they might have

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 287

been talking to any one in the air for aught I
could see or hear, yet, at so immense a distance
can these people communicate with each other,
that it was no wonder I could not discern the
other half of the conversationists, since evenAnas-
tasio said, "Appenasipud sentirle."* At the
summit of the Strada Bianca the mists cleared
away and the Pass of Tchikaf commenced in all
its unhidden majesty. The huge sides of the
mountain are wrapped in pine forests, and the
bare snowy peaks above stood forth in the utmost
magnificence. The groups of trees are most
beautiful, and resemble feathery cedars ; indeed
the whole Pass throughout is a noble scene of
mountain beauty.

About eleven we had reached the little foun-
tain in that world of dark pines ; and the beauty
of the place was increased at this moment, by the
arrival of fifty or sixty Khimariotes, on the way
to find work during the winter about Avlona and
the Berat district. All rested to drink at the
pure stream, and sate in parties at the foot of the
clustering pines, or on the top of the rocks, in

* They can hardly be heard.

t I am uncertain as to the true name of this mountain ; pos-
sibly Gika would be nearer the truth.

288 JOURNALS Of

varied groups which 1 could not resist trying to
sketch, though there was little chance of fixing
any, for they soon rose and in their sweeping
style of progress rushed through the forest.

We also soon followed down the steep-clothed
sides of the Tchika towards the gloomy Duka-
dhes, and after one of the most beautiful walks
I have ever enjoyed, arrived there an hour before
daylight, not without a regular fight with the
troops of dogs which hastened to attack us.

The family at whose house 1 had spent so
festive an evening on the 22nd, were away at a
farm, or vigna, on the hills, and it was some
time ere it was certain where I was to pass the
night ; but by the time I had * scroo'd' a few
figures, the key of the lower part of the house we
last lodged in was found, and we took possession
of that vast barn with its earthen floor ; and by
the time the fire was lighted in its centre, the
daughter of my late host, with his wives (numbers
two and three) had arrived, and preparations for
supper began. After the evening meal, enter-
tainment appeared in the shape of the Idol-
Gipsy and his guitar (his follower, from having
committed himself by drinking too much at the
last soiree, having been forbidden polite society),
and the singing and swinging to and fro were as

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 289

energetic as on my first visit. About midnight
we dismissed the performers, and became a more
select circle, though for my own part I was
writhing under the attack of myriads of ants,
(not at the time supposed to be such innocent
creatures). They infest every part of the mud
floor ; indeed, from being a constantly inhabited
part of the dwelling, entomology would have
been a thriving study. Sleep was impossible,
and I watched the strange scene by the dying
embers. The daughter of the house (who had a
new pair of gray trousers on), chose to sit up all
night, and was particularly animated and loqua-
cious, devoting herself to my instruction in
Greek and Albanian phraseology. " Ah ! quella
porca turca !" said Anastasio irreverently, " non
vuol lasciarci dormire ?"* On the other side of
me sate the sad Fortina.

October 28.

Long before daylight the wail for the man
murdered on the day of my last visit com-
menced ; while crowing cocks and howling dogs

* 0 that Turkish pig ! will she not let us sleep ?

._><H) JOUEN \LS 0]

added their mites also to the morning melodies
of Duk&dhes. The " upper chamber" where I
abode on the night of the 22nd, was the perfec-
tion of repose compared with this usual home
of the family, which seemed to abound in every
parasitical enemy to humanity.

Before sunrise, as they were baking their large
flat cakes of bread by the fire, Fortina eame in
;u id stood for awhile, with the red light shining
on her most beautiful features, saddened with
the keenest expression of sorrow. She took
leave of Anastasio in a very few words, and
turning to me, wished me, with a half- broken
voice, "many happy years of life," and then wrap-
ping her handkerchief closely over her head,
went out rapidly, and by the time the sun rose
must have been already far on her journey to-
wards Palasa.

Long also ere the sun had risen above the
frowning cold walls of the gloomy mountains
circling Dukadhes, we also had recommenced our
journey. I had hired two diminutive mules,
with a pietone to take us back to Avlona, all the
good beasts being away at vintage or harvest in
the Campagna.

Avoiding the gorge of Draghiiidhes, we de-
scended the bed of the Dukadhes river, which,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 291

after passing through the deep basin where the
town stands, emerges from its narrow boundaries
and flows through a widening vale to the gulf.
The journey by its banks, between high-wooded
hills, possesses nothing of remarkable interest,
though the cool, broad shadows of morning, and
the groups of Dukadhes' peasants returning to
the town, added variety to the scene ; the women
were all clad in immensely clumsy capotes and
large breeches, and were driving mules laden
with Indian corn.

Below Draghiadhes the stony white river
channel was our tedious route, and heartily glad
was I to regain the little stream where, on the
evening of the 22nd, I had stopped to draw, and
further on to arrive at the bright gulf, into
whose waters I eagerly rushed, recovering in
their coolness from the tortures of last night's
dormitory.

To this succeeded the ugly crag-paths, and len-
tisk and myrtle- covered precipices below Radi-
ma, and at noon we had regained the quiet little
cove of Cria nera, where we halted to lunch. At
two we began to ascend towards Kanina ; turning
the corner of the path, I came suddenly upon a
most magnificent eagle, sitting majestically not
four feet from me, on a rock, whence he soared

U 2

292 JOURNALS 01

;iw;i\ deliberately to higher points. Therewas
time to make two drawings of Kaninaere the sun
was sinking low, and we left it by the descent to
A\l<ma. One view of it has a striking back-
ground : the great sea-level of the Avlona plain,
with a curious peninsula, shaped like a forceps ;
the pincers holding, as it were, the island of Aghia
Marina, in an enclosed space of water, all but a
perfect lake. Anastasio's nephew, a boy who
had never before been out of Khimara, was hor-
ribly alarmed at the sightof the Kanina women,
who are all masked ' a la turque.' " O ! Aghio
Janni! O! Aghio Dhimitri !" said he, and
crossed himself at each goblin face Ave met.

One hour after sunset sawT me again in Avlona
at the Casa J., having made one of the pleasant-
est of excursions, and rejoicing in my good for-
tune as to weather, and in the number of new
ideas and sketches I had obtained.

October 29.

Alas ! for the integrity of Khimara ! A new
coarse waistcoat and trousers which I had
taken in my knapsack have disappeared;
whether by the hands of the Dukadhes' mule-
teer while I was bathing, or by those of the

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 293

fair, forsaken Fortina, with or without the
connivance of Anastasio, can never be learned.
I had rather impute the theft to the former
of the two ; but the clothes were gone, and
there was no remedy. I said nothing about
the loss, for one hates to make odious memories
of squabbles. On the whole, the trip through
Acroceraunia has greatly rewarded me, and I
have been particularly satisfied and pleased
with the constant good-humour and attention
of the Khimariote Anastasio. As for Giorgio
Kozzachi, my hosts were full of complaints
against that luckless Dragoman, who they
declared was " immer besoffen" — always in-
toxicated from morning to night ; though with
me he had hitherto shewn no signs of intem-
perance. On the other side, Giorgio thanked
his fate that he was not to remain at Avlona,
where he vowed the usasre of the domestics
was worse than that of any slaves he had known
in his wide travels.

At sunrise I went down into the plain with the
Black Margiann, and drew Avlona from the level
ground near the sea, returning to dinner before
noon. At this meal, the overbearing and violent

political thunderings of 1 1 err S against

all monarchs, tyrants, kings, autocrats, &c,

294 J0[ KNAL8 01

(they had received new gazettes from Austria).
was so profoundly disagreeable, that I was
rejoiced to know that two horses had arrived.
with which, the Black being my guide, 1 was

to visit the monastery of Aghia Marina di
Svernez, in a little island about two miles from
Avlona.

We had soon passed the border of olives
that surround the town, and were trotting over
the wide plain, almost impassable with mud when
I had arrived, but now hard and dry ; and
beyond this, always making for a little woody
peninsula which projects into the sea, we came
to the salt works. Here they take a sort of
mullet, from which is prepared the roe called
" bottarga," for which Avlona is famous. As
we skirted these salt lagunes, I observed an
infinite number of what appeared to be large
white stones, arranged in rows with great
regularity, though yet with something odd in
their form not easily to be described. The more
I looked at them, the more I felt they were not
what they seemed to be, so I appealed to
Blackey, who instantly plunged into a variety
of explanations, verbal and active ; the chief
of which consisted in flapping his arms and
hands, puffing and blowing with most uncouth

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 295

noises, and putting his head under one arm,
with his eyes shut ; as for his language, it was
so mixed a jargon of Turkish, Italian, Greek and
Nubian, that little more could be extracted from
it, than that the objects in question ate fish and
flew away afterwards ; so I resolved to examine
these mysterious white stones forthwith, and
off we went, when — lo ! on my near approach,
one and all put forth legs, long necks, and
great wings, and " stood confessed ' so many
great pelicans, which, with croakings expressive
of great disgust at all such ill-timed interrup-
tions, rose up into the air in a body of five or
six hundred, and soared slowly away to the
cliffs north of the o-ulf.

These birds frequent the coast around Avlona
in great numbers, breeding in the rocky inlets
beyond the bay, and living on fish and refuse
in the salt lagunes. Pleased with these orni-
thological novelties, hitherto only seen in zoolo-
gical gardens, or at Knowsley, I followed the
faithful Margiann (who nearly fell off his horse
with laughter at my surprise at the transmu-
tation of the white stones), through levels of
deep sand, by tracts of sedge and rushes, and
groups of salt-kilns, till we reached the foot of
the low hills beyond the isthmus which I had

296 J0URNAL8 01

drawn yesterday from the hill of Kanina. Here
a pleasant fountain, glades of green, and tufts
of thick olives, contrasted delightfully with the

sand 1 had passed. At the top of the hill is a
small scattered village, and beyond it, the track
descends through a perfect little park slope to
the shore of the lake, in the centre of which
stands the monastery, half hidden in its island
by cypress and plane foliage. A charming ob-
ject is that solitary building in its quiet isle ;
beyond, Sazona and the great summits of
Tchika, add to the beauty of the scene ; but
the sun was setting, and I was desirous of
making a drawing of Avlona from the salt
works, with a foreground of pelicans, where-
fore, as Asrhia Marina contained in itself nothing
remarkable, and as a long time would have been
occupied in ferrying thereto and back again,
I turned my horse, and on my way over the
sandy plain, obtained three sketches of that
singular scene; the last when the sun was
throwing its latest red ray over the beautiful
form of lofty Kiidhesi and the glens of Avlona.
Then we gallopped across to marshy sand waste,
pursued now and then by ravenous howling
dogs, and by half-an-hour after dark were at
the gate.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 297

The party there was increased by a Vuniote,
who had been one of Lord Byron's guards at
Missolonghi. He told me some anecdotes of
the poet, but on such slight authority, I write
them not down. As for my hosts, the news of
the Emperor's flight from Vienna had made
them more full of political excitement than
ever ; between their pipes they thumped their
table destructively, predicting with sinister glee
all sorts of bloodshed and downfall of tyrants.
In vain did I attempt to change the current of
discourse ; but when they proceeded to some long
and violent tirades against " England and the
English," I broke through my role of passive
listener, and having much the advantage of my
hosts in fluency of Italian, took the liberty of
telling them what I thought of their ill-
breeding in thus victimizing a guest who might
by possibility not quite agree with all their
opinions — requesting earnestly that we might
henceforth talk about pelicans, or red mullet,
or whatever they pleased, so that we eschewed
politics.

To-morrow I intend to start for Tepeleni,
and hope to sleep at Kudhesi; but as yet it
seems no horses have been procured, so, early
starting appears out of the question.

•_)<),S J01 RJfALS OP

October 30.

To Kudhesi — to Tepeleni, and Ioannina! —

But the horses ? — Seven, eight, nine, ten o'clock
came, and none arrive. At eleven, after fre-
quent messages from Giorgio, they are driven
into the yard, and saddles and luggage are
about to be fastened on, when a dire dispute
arises, the owners insisting on being paid the
whole of their bargain (i. e. as far as Arghyro-
Kastro, three days' journey) before starting,
and Giorgio very properly refusing to do what
would probably prevent our moving at all. He
offered half the money ; but all or none was the
word ; and anxious as I was to start, I could
not interfere with the experienced Dragoman,
who said that if they received all their payment,
there would be no hold on their fears, and they
would, in all probability, desert us at Kudhesi
to-night. He never had paid all beforehand, in
fifteen years' dm go manship; and so help him
Saint Dhimitri ! he never would. The Casa

J interfered on the side of the men of

Avlona, and said they always paid the whole
sum for horses before leaving home ; but tin-,
as Giorgio replied, was no precedent for ns,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 299

who were not known in the land, and who would
cut but a miserable figure if left in the lurch
to-night or to-morrow. So, as neither party
would yield, off went the owner of the horses
with his steeds, and Giorgio repaired to the
police, leaving me aghast and disconsolate, and
moreover exposed to the triumphant consola-
tions of my hosts, who assured me I should now
probably remain there for an indefinite period
— " it might be for years, and it might be for
ever."

In half-an-hour Giorgio returned in fierce
anger. The police had procured two weasels,
quoth he ; horses ? — mice, starved mice ; so as
a last resource, and in spite of Herr J/s crow-
ings, he rummaged out the Sultan's Bouyourldi
(never yet used in my behalf), and declaring
that we would and should go to Kudhesi this
night, rushed forth in a frenzy, my hosts still
professing to doubt the probability of my ulti-
mate departure. But the inflexible Drago-
man knew his business, and presently returned,
saying that he had been to the Bey of Avlona,
and had terrified him horribly with the sight of
the Bouyourldi, by virtue of which he had
demanded instant attention, and had left him,
vowing that if horses — and good ones — were

300 JOURNALS 0]

not forthwith supplied, a message should be
sent off to the Pasha Kaimakan of Herat, the
results of which step he would not like to
contemplate.

Immediately, all Avldna was in a hubbub;
and shortly after, horses and mules of all kinds
came rushing into the courtyard of the Casa

J in the most ludicrous numbers, driven by

frantic emissaries of the alarmed Bey, who had
seized and imprisoned various dodging natives
who had sworn to haying no quadrupeds. Of
this confused assemblage of beasts we chose
three, and by twelve were off, with a Zafti, or
armed footguard.

As I left the courtvard the black Marsriann
took my hand and kissed it after slave-fashion,
and surprised me by suddenly sobbing; and
crying as if his heart would break. Poor
fellow ! he had told Giorgio that he would go
away with me if he could, and wras greatly vexed
by being informed that I could take no more ser-
vants, even though he offered to i^o all over the
world for no wages. What a suite one might
be travelling with, if all the offers of service so
lavishly made had been accepted !

From the olive-hills above Avldna I went on
my way to the birthplace of the wondrous All

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 301

Pasha. The day's journey was not at first very
interesting, though bright sun and fresh air made
it pleasant : there was a long, winding, narrow
vale, and a stream to cross, then an interminable
hill, from the top of which one looked over the
broad Vidsa hurrying to the sea, between cul-
tivated hills on whose sides frequent villages
glittered — Gradista, Karbonara, &c. (scenery
not unlike that of Abruzzo Citeriore), while
towering over all rose the great Tomohr.
By four, we had crossed a level tract at the
summit of this hill, and descending thence
towards the north-east, the view was strik-
ingly magnificent. The Vidsa pours through
a narrow gorge in the rocks at the foot of
Mount Kudhesi, and above this dark outlet
rise the detached and finely-formed mountains
of Trebushin and Khdrmovo. Immediately
below the spectator is the great extent of stony
river course, along which the Vidsa, no longer
confined in its straitened limits — its dark waters
sparkling like so many winding threads on a
dazzling white ground — rushes in broad free-
dom, and many-channelled, to the sea.

Numerous scattered hamlets cluster round
the sides of Kudhesi, and are all called by the
mountain's name. To one of these, on the

M)2 JOURH \l.s OB

banks of the Vidsa, we descended, after T had
made a drawing, as there was a little khan
there where a night's lodging might be hoped
for; and reaching it before sunset, found, by
great luck, two little rooms unoccupied, and
clean. Supper, and journal written by the
light of a tiny Albanian lamp hung to a nail,
complete my day.

In the stable below, the Zafti and his two
friends sung half " the live-long night."

October 31.

It is yet half-an-hour before sunrise. Break-
fast is over, and all things are packed for start-
ing. The pure, cloudless sky is of the palest
amber hue over the eastern mountains, whose
outlines are dimmed by a fewT filmy vapours ;
and all is still except the formidable Viosa
murmuring in its white stony channel. It
was too chilly to ride, even had the mule-
tracks — rudely-marked ledges or broken paths
by the side of precipices — tempted me to do so.
The route ascends the Viosa to the dark gorge
— which is so narrow as to allow only of the
passage of the river — and when that is swollen,
it must close this communication altogether ;

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 303

but though grand and gloomy, I did not
think the scenery so fine as others of the
sort I have seen, (for instance, the pass of the
Sagittaria at Anversa in Abruzzo Ulteriore ;
although, in one or two spots, where the
cliffs rise perpendicularly to a great height
above the stream, or where the path mounts
by a corkscrew ascent over the rocks, and
the eye looks down on the abyss below,
the effect is very imposing. The whole
morning passed in threading the winding vale
of the Viosa, through scenes of wild gran-
deur, but possessing no particular quality of
novelty or beauty : the mountain of Khormovo,
ever in view, gave the chief character to the
walk, delightful as it was from the exquisite
autumnal weather.

Nearer Tepeleni we met many peasants,
all in white caps and kilts, and of a more
squalid and wretched appearance than any
I had yet seen ; the whole of this part of
Albania is indeed most desolate, and its in-
habitants broken and dejected. Their rebellion
under Zuliki seems to have been the last convul-
sive struggle of this scattered and disarmed
people, and the once proud territory of Ali
Pasha is now ground down into a melancholy

304 JOURNALS "I

insignificance, and well nigh deprived of its

identity.

It was nearly three, p.m., ere the last tedious
windings of the valley disclosed the great moun-
tain Trebushin, and its neighbour of Khormovo
visible now from base to summit — each calmly
toweling in bright purple below peaks of glit-
tering snow. Beneath them the junction of the
two rivers Viusa and Bantja forms the long pro-
montory of Tepeleni,* whose ruined palace and
walls and silver-toned mosque srive a strange air
of dreamy romance to this scene, one of the
most sublime and simple in Albania, and cer-
tainly one most fraught with associations ancient
and modern.

My curiosity had been raised to its very
utmost to see this place, for so many years full
of the records of one of the most remarkable of
men ; yet it seemed so strange, after all one
had read of the " no common pomp ' of the
entertainer of Lord Byron and Sir J. C. Hob-
house, to find a dreary, blank scene of desola-
tion, where once, and so recently, was all the
rude magnificence of Oriental despotism !

* Tepcleni, anciently AntigOIieia. Leake.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 305

Giorgio went on to find a lodging in this fallen
stronghold of Albania, and I, meanwhile, sat
down above the Bantja, to sketch the town, which,
on its rocky peninsula seems a mere point in com-
parison with the magnificent mountain forms
around. Afterwards, having forded the river
with the Zafti and a horse, I walked up, over
heaps and lines of ruined fortifications, to the
strong and high walls of Tepeleni, which still
exist, though there are but very few buildings
within their enclosure. Outside the walls is a
short street of miserable bazaars, and beyond —
near a green burying ground covered with the
ordinary tombstones, and some of those pretty
Dervish tombs — stand a khan, some barracks,
and a Bey's house ; these are all now existing of
the once celebrated Tepeleni ! There wras still
time to make a drawing within the walls, so,
taking with me the Zafti guard I went inside the
gates, and through a few streets — than Avhich
anything more sad and gloomy cannot be.
Heaps of stones and falling walls arrest your
attention as you pass along the very narrow
lanes, and here and there a carved stone window,
or columns at the doorway of a deserted house,
and over all an indescribably melancholy air of
ruin and destruction.

'M)(\ JOURN \l> OF

At the end of the space enclosed by the walls,
and overhanging the river, is a single mosque —
solitary witness of the grandeur of days past ; —

and beyond that, all the space, as far as the bat-
tlement terrace looking north and west is occu-
pied by the mass of ruin which represents All's
mined palace. The sun was sinking as I sat
down to draw in what had been a great
chamber, below one of the many crumbling
Avails — perhaps in the very spot where the
dreaded Ali gave audience to his Frank guests
in 1809 — when Childe Harold was but twenty-
four years old, and the Vizir in the zenith of
his power.* The poet is no more ; — the host
is beheaded, and his family nearly extinct ; — the
palace is burned, and levelled with the ground ;
— war, and change, and time have, perhaps, left
but one or two living beings who, forty years
back, were assembled in these gay and sumptuous
halls. It was impossible not to linger in such
a site and brood over such images, and of all the
scenes I have visited the palace of Ali Pasha at
Tepeleni will continue most vividly imprinted
on my recollection.

I luU. Harold. Canto II 56

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 307

But the desert chambers, and the rushing
wide river below, and the majestic peaks above,
are grown cold and gray as the last crimson of
daylight has faded. A solitary Cogia, having
cried a mournful cry from the minaret opposite,
sits motionless on the battlements — the only
living object in this most impressive scene. Of
all days passed in Albania, this has most keenly
interested me.

November 1.

The khan of Tepeleni is a concatenation of
minute cells or closets, with uncloseable doors,
pervious to cats and dogs, while a perverse old
goat with a bell round his neck, who infests the
wooden gallery, bumps and jingles up and down
it all night long ; the wind also howled dis-
mally as it swept through the hollow passes of
the lofty mountains ; so there was little sleep —
but the feeling of the deadly cold loneliness of
Tepeleni was a preventative against being ha-
rassed by such common-place evils.

An hour after sunrise I set off to draw on the
eastern side of this melancholy town ; but
though most majestically placed amid towering-
heights, Tepeleni and the lines of its landscape

x 2

308 JOl i:\ UL8 "I

are not easily adaptable t<» art. Soon came
Giorgio and the horse-, when the Zafti returned
to his master the Hey of Avlona, and I com-
menced walking to Arghyro* Kastro, which they
reckon as seven hours hence.

The whole morning was employed in making
way along the valley of the river Pry no, which
abounds in fine features, though not very draw-
able, or possessing any individual characteristics.
The river runs in a deep bed below the road,
here both broad and good, and carried on banks
high above the level of the stream; and the
whole valley bears a striking resemblance to that
of the Anio below Roviano, or Cervara, on the
way from Tivoli to Subiaco. One of the prettiest
spots in the morning's walk was a fountain below
a group of large planes. It was constructed by
Ali Pasha, who was wont to halt under its shades
in his progresses through this part of Albania,
which it i> said he used to perform in a carriage.
Indeed the communication between Tepeleni and
[oannina merits more the name of Strada Car-
rozzabile than any I have seen in his dominions.

At noon we arrived at the khan Subashi,
standing in the narrowest part of the valley, and
exhibiting a guard of soldiers placed by the road-
side to ask for Teskeres, or passports; the Bolu-

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 309

bashi, or head of which guard, was authoritative
and disagreeable, declaring that the muleteers of
Avldna had no regular passes, and that he had
serious thoughts of detaining me accordingly.
Upon this, Georgio thought fit to make a speech
about mtos MiKo^og ii/yAj?? which favourably im-
pressed his auditory, inasmuch as the Bolubashi
ceased his expostulations, and condescended to eat
some bread and cheese in my company forthwith.
A stone bridge crosses the Dryno opposite the
khan Subashi, and I thenceforth proceeded, at
half-past twelve, along the right bank of the
river, which here runs through the wide valley
of Deropuli. Its magnificent dimensions now
opened in all their extent ; the high wall of
mountains on its western side displaying the city
of Arghyro Kastro, yet afar off, at its foot. For
two hours I advanced through the rich flat
meadows of this broad vale — leaving the hills of
the fatal Gardhiki* on the right, and speculating
on the distant peaks towards Pindus and Ioan-
nina. The lines of Deropuli are, however, pic-
torially speaking, rather straight and mono-
tonous, and I was less struck with the beauty of

* For accounts of the massacre of the Gardhikiotes by All
Pasha. See Lcakc, Hughes, &c, &c.

;no JOi i;\ LLS 01

this aoble valley than I expected to be, though the
sensation of freedom of breathing, the delight of
leaving the close river-bed and pent-up moun-
tain gorge, made my walk through it a charming

OIK'.

All through the cultivated grounds which I
have passed since I entered the vale of theDero-
puli district, the costumes of the Greek female
peasantry have been very pleasing and various :
dark bine or red capotes, fringed and tasselled
most fancifully and prettily. " These," quoth
Giorgio, kfc are Greeks ! — Greeks, signore ! We
are not among Albanians now, Signore ! let us
be thankful we had gone out of the reach of
those poveri disperati ! Qui siamo in Epiro,
Signore ! ringraziamo il cielo, we are among
Epirotes !" (For though the country opposite
Koi'fu is distinctly known as Albanian, the inno-
cent traveller who happens to speak of its natives
to one of themselves as ' Albanians,' finds himself
in as wrong a position as if he should address
Mosrs. A. and B. and C., residents at the Cape
of Good Hope, as so many Hottentots.)

At about four we arrived opposite Arghyrd
Kastro, at a bridge over the Dryno, one of those
parapetless, high-arched constructions which rise
in the most alarming manner, till a descent quite
as precipitous brings you to the opposite shore.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 31 1

Many of the women were washing clothes in
the stream, and two or three were pouring forth
lamentable jocleling wailings for departed rela-
tives, after the manner of the Khimariots.

Hence we crossed the plain — for so this wide
valley must be called — directly to the foot of
the city.

The general appearance of Arghyrd Kastro is
most imposing ; but the glittering triangular
area of houses, which from afar appears as one
great pyramid of dwellings against the moun-
tain side, is broken up, on a nearer approach,
into three divisions. The whole town is built
on three distinct ridges, or spurs of rock, spring-
ing from the hill at a considerable height, and
widening — separated by deep ravines or chan-
nels of torrents — as they stretch out into the
plain. The town stands mainly on the face or
edge of these narrow spurs, but many buildings
are scattered most picturesquely down their sides,
mingled, as is the wont in Albanian towns,
with fine trees, while the centre and highest ridge
of rock, isolated from the parent mountain, and
connected with it only by an aqueduct, is
crowned by what forms the most striking feature
of the place, a black ruined castle, that extends
along its whole summit, and proudly towers,

312 -1"1 RNAL8 01

even in decay, over the scattered vassal-houses
below.

\ i-'j.li\ r<") K astro is in fact three town-: and
no place could have been more beautifully con-
trived for the perpetuation of the family feuds
which long disturbed its harmony ; rival houses
placed at the opposing edges of the same ravine-
could brave each other's anger: and while their
inmates were distant only a space of a few yards
in appearance, a real hour's descent and climb
separated two seats of hereditary squabble ; but
after the inevitable All had seized on the town,
the separate communities ceased to differ,
and it was thenceforward reduced to the level
of his other widely-scattered dependencies.

We ascended the most northerly of the three
ridges, and threaded our way between thickly
placed and most picturesque houses, up the
dirtiesl and steepest of narrow streets, to the
upper part of the town, where, at the junction of
the three ravines, are lines of bazaars, placed on
a considerable space of level ground. The first
khan we examined was " a la Gheghe," and did
no sreal credit to Giorgio's boastings of Epirote
superiority; but the second was in all ways
perfection. Speaking of khan-, it- galleries and
stairs, of bright new deal, announced a cleanli-

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 313

ness hardly to be looked for ; while its ample
new-boarded corner chamber, with large glazed
windows, looking out on the castle and grand
trees below it, presented a luxury beyond the
reach of hope to have pictured. Violent rain
began to fall by the time I was settled ; and as
Arghyrd Kastro is a halting-place for a day or
two, it is a comfort to think that detention of
weather can be little annoying in a lodging so
tolerable within, and so picturesque without.

November 2.

A very mistiferous morning, and this high
part of Arghyro Kastro enjoys all the rolling
mountain clouds. After the oft-repeated neces-
sity of arranging pencil-drawrings so as not to
be obliterated, a duty known only to wan-
dering draftsmen, I went with Giorgio to the
serai of the Khimakan, Governor of the town.
The houses in this singular place have a most
independent air; scattered here and there,
standing on crags and precipices, or on little
isolated levels or platforms of ground, each
adorned with whitewash and arabesque paint-
ing, which gives the whole building (itself pretty
in form) the most pleasing character of colour

314 J0URN U,s OF

and finish. The Governor's serai, as well as
the visit to it, was of the ordinary class

of similar places and visits. There was the
usual narrow wooden stair and guarded gal-

Lery ; the ante-room, with secretaries and
Cogias : and the audience-chamber, with the
great man in the corner. The real Kaimakiin
was away ; but his deputy wTas a gorgeous
object, in a fur-trimmed yellow silk vest ;
and when (pipes and coffee the while) I had
explained my wish for a guard, to enable me to
sketch without molestation, and a refulgent Bolu-
bashi, glittering like a South American beetle,
in purple and gold, had sent for a Kawas to
wait on me, the visit drew to a close. It was
prolonged only by the inquiring investigations
of a half-witted old Dervish, who was squatted
on the floor, as to the nature of my three-legged
camp-stool, a zeal for knowledge which led to the
display of my useful travelling companion in the
centre of the chamber, and the trial of it by more
than thirty guards successively with the most un-
limited applause. Taking leave of the dignitary
clad in sulphur-coloured silk, I went off with my
attendant, and drew hard while daylight lasted.
But Arghyro Kastro is a place so wonderfully
crowded with beautiful bits of landscape, that

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 3 1 5

knowing how few can be pourtrayed, even with
the utmost energy, an artist is angry with him-
self for not being able to decide where to settle at
once, that no time may be lost. Indeed, to reach
various parts of the town is no easy task ; for
though the houses seem close together, the deep
fissures between the rocks separate them widely
in reality. From almost any point you may select,
the views of the fortress and line of broken
aqueduct, backed by a sublime horizon of plain
and snowy mountain, are as exquisite as inde-
scribable. Late in the day I went into the castle,
at present a shell of dark mouldering walls ; it
was built by Ali Pasha, to command the town
after its subjection to him, but was dismantled
and destroyed upon his fall, though its remains
are witness to its former strength and import-
ance. But of all surprising novelties, here or
anywhere else, commend me to the costume of
the Arghyrd Kastro women ! The quaintest
monsters ever pourtrayed or imagined fall short
of the reality of these most strange creatures in
gait and apparel ; and it is to be wondered at
when and by whom the first garb of the kind
was invented, or how human beings could submit
to wear it. Suppose first a tight white linen
mask fixed on the face, with two small slits

;$l(j JOURNALS 0]

cut in it for the eyes to look through. Next,
a voluminous wrapper of white, with broad
buff stripes, which conceals the whole upper
part of the person, and is huddled in immense
folds about the arms, which are carried with the
elbows raised, the hands being carefully kept
from sight by the heavy drapery ; add to these,
short, full, purple calico trousers, and canary-
coloured top-boots, with rose-coloured tassels ;
— and what more amazing incident in the
history of female dress can be fancied?

November 3.

A day of pouring rain : a mountain tempest
continued hour after hour ; thunder-storms
bursting at intervals, with thick cloud driving
down the ravine, or effacing the dark earth
and aqueduct into so many dissolving views.
Well it is that the khan is so good, and that it
has such a spacious gallery, tenanted, more-
over, by several Epirotes in all their plumy
finery, who not being at all averse from being
pourtrayed, gave me employment in ' scrooing '
all day long.

But hark ! — wailing again ! The quiet of
the hill city i^ suddenly broken, and all the

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 317

world of Arghyrd Kastro is startled with the
ill-omened cries !

Heavens ! what howls ! Is all the Epirote
city going distraught ? The cause of all this is,
news has just been received that one of the
principal Arghyro Kastriote merchants has
died suddenly at Stamboul. The Cogia is
chaunting from the mosque opposite, a few wild
notes, most impressively sad as they rise above the
small tumult of little cries in the lower part
of the ravine. Each note is held on for an
incredibly long time, and is distinctly marked
with a singular power and effect. Then the
immediate family of the deceased swell the
chorus, jodeling and shrieking with deafening
clamour, and wonderful cries, half sob, half
piercing howls ; house after house takes up the
doleful tale, and in less than an hour the melody
of grief pervades the whole place, bursting forth
from crags above, and resounding from depths
below — shrill and solemn, bass and treble, —
one general lamentation and woe. Thank
goodness, none of my neighbours in the khan
feel it incumbent on them to add to the wail-
ing ! for they are all travelling merchants, and
share not in the three-hilled city's mourning.

From three to half-past four, p.m., it was clear,

;*I8 JQl KNA1S "i

and I sketched 1>\ the river at the foot of the
town ; hut the cold-Cumberland feeling of these

mountains after rain, savours too much of fever to
allow of sitting long to draw. It is a pleasant
thing in walking: about to meet Christian women,
whose faces, though coarse by early toil, are
always more or less pleasing; but the oddity
of the Mohammedan females is beyond belief,
as, half-blinded by their masks, and bungling
with their awkward muffled arms, they fumble
in their yellow boots among the rocks. When
they perceive a man coming, they instantly rush
at the nearest wall, butting at it with the crown
of their heads at right angles while he passes
them, staring at him, nevertheless, out of their
small eye-holes, directly he is a little way from
them.

A bright sunset gives hopes of a fine day for
starting towards Ioannina to-morrow. AYon-
derful luxuries of food are there in this city of
Epirus ! Turkeys and tongues, walnuts and
good wine, with other pleasant solidities and
frivolities quite out of character with Albanian
travel.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 319

November 4.

The morning is clear, though the upper part
of the town is all in mist. The tremulous and
multi- vocal wailing is already in full play. The
horses are here (we take three out of six,
which are on the return to Ioannina, having
brought merchandize hither). The sun has
not yet risen ; but what with packing and
arranging the " bill" at the Arghyro Kastro
hotel, and a squabble with the Kawas, who
gave way to the most fallacious expectations
as to what I should give him for his one
day's work (viz. sitting near me and smoking
a pipe, for which he asked seven dollars,
and I would only give him one), it was nearly
nine before we crossed the head of ravine
No. 1, and making a tour half round the castle
or centre ridge, began to descend ravine No. 2
into the plain. The whole town was hidden
from sight by dense mists, nor till we were
fairly down in the great vale of Derdpuli, did
the mountain tops and blue sky become visible.
The route lay among fields of corn and gran-
turco, — cultivation was on all sides ; anon there
were perplexing little dykes and irrigations.

;{•_><> JOURNALS 01

with irritations on finding the track suddenly
cm off — then broad, grassy routes only inter-
rupted by dee}) spaces of black mud, from which

our horses not unfrcqileutly extricated them-
selves with difficulty ; such was my progress up
the wide green vale of Derdpuli, while always
on the left hand the white clustering town of
libdchovo is in siLcbt (the next place in import-
ance in the district of Arghyro" Kastro), and
many other villages hang on the side of either
range of mountains. But, in spite of having heard
much of the vale of Derdpuli, I did not feel
inspired to draw any part of it ; and I often
thought of the bare valley of Aquila in Abruzzo,
only that this Epirote vale is more decidedly
simple in its outline. About noon we reached
a solitary khan at the foot of the low hills,
which concludes and shuts in the valley at the
southern end, and gradually ascending, we
reached the pretty little village and church of
Episkopi at its summit. Hence I look back on
all the great valley of Arghyro Kastro — a
smiling and cultivated tract of land, but as
landscape, deficient in many qualities ; chiefly
from lacking variety of form and detail in its
hill-sides, which are very bare of interest.
We halted at the khan of Episkopi, close to

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 32 1

a little stream full of capital water cresses
which I began to gather and eat with some
bread and cheese, an act which provoked the
Epirote bystanders of the village to extatic
laughter and curiosity. Every portion I put
into my mouth, delighted them as a most
charming exhibition of foreign whim ; and the
more juvenile spectators instantly commenced
bringing me all sorts of funny objects, with an
earnest request that the Frank would amuse
them by feeding thereupon forthwith. One
brought a thistle, a second a collection of sticks
and wood, a third some grass ; a fourth pre-
sented me with a fat grasshopper — the whole
scene was acted amid shouts of laughter, in
which I joined as loudly as any. We parted
amazingly good friends, and the wits of Epis-
kopi will long remember the Frank who fed on
weeds out of the water.

So various are the accounts here as to the
time required to reach Delvinaki, where I ought
to halt for the night, that I dared not linger to
draw, though the grouping of some houses and
cypresses, combined with the mountains to-
wards Delvino, strongly tempted me to do so.
I longed also to sketch a little Greek church,
exquisitely placed in a grove of trees on a plai -

Y

322 JOURNALS OF

form of rock overlooking the whole vale below,

and certainly one of the prettiest spots in the
days journey.

After coasting a hill-side commanding the
last view of the region of Deropuli, a barren
rocky pass succeeded, and dullness reigned
for an hour, till a descent brought me, as it
were, into a new land, in which the hills were
broken into various forms, with wood and rock,
foreground and distance, in every variety. At the
foot of the pass is a khan, and a dignified Bulu-
bashi, with attendants, made a great rout about
Teskeres and luggage, insisting upon a most
minute inspection of the latter ; this for a short
time we resisted, until on the party in power
vowing to look into all my portfolios, Giorgio
told them they should do so, but that after they
had exercised their authority, they should see
the Bou\ ourldi, enjoining all the Sultan's liege
subjects to let my lordship pass unmolestedly ;
on hearing which they were seized with uncon-
trollable dismay, and tying up the unloosened
baggage, whipped our horses, entreating us to
depart from them immediately.

Infinitely beautiful is the route beyond this
khan Xerovalto. It is full of variety of form —
brushwood hills, light oak woods — bare sand

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 323

rocks — lines of plain — far blue mountains — and
undulating meadows ; but there was no time to
sketch, for it was now two p.m., and Delvinaki is
declared four hours distant ; moreover, the driver
of the Ioannina horses says there is no place to
lodge in at Delvinaki, and that we must go on
to a khan below it, called Tzerovina.

Few human beings are encountered in these
lonely regions : you meet now and then a Greek
family migrating with furniture and household
— a peasant or two, near some forlorn hut — or a
travelling merchant, with laden mules and
armed guards. The sun was setting as we arrived
at a height overlooking the valley of the Kalama,
and caught sight of a little lake, immediately
below my feet, surrounded by most beautiful
scenery. I walked on alone by the side of that
quiet, still water, enjoying the calm glades, and
the pleasant wood of brown oak. There was a
carcase of a horse, with a vulture soaring above
it, and many falcons on the upper boughs of the
trees, and there were numerous tombstones, and
two or three dervish sepulchres in one of those
quiet solitudes.

After sunset I reached the khan of Tzerovina
— a solitary, walled, dilapidated building, not
promising in appearance, with a distant back-

y 2

324 J0UENAL8 01

ground of the snowy Pindus range. Alas,
for accommodation ! All the little space of the
khan was already fully crowded by a fat der-
vish in green and white, and some sixty or
eighty Albanian guards, journeying to Berat,
or Arghyrd Kastro, so that no shelter remained
but that of the lofty and wide stable ; and even
this, five minutes later had been denied me, for
several parties came in, and those who could not
find room in the stable slept outside. " Bisogna
adattarsi,"* as the Romans say : the evening
was bitterly cold, and a bad shelter is better
than none.

A huge fire is lighted on a sort of hearth on
one side of the windy, half-dismantled tenement,
and Giorgio seizes upon all the khanji offers by
way of supper, so that there was no danger of
starvation. The travelling groups of Albanians
arranged themselves in different stalls of the
building, forming, with mules and horses, many
a wondrous fire-light scene. After their repast,
they all sang furiously about Zuliki till late in
the night, by which time I was fast asleep in a
thick capote.

* Make the best of things.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 325

November 5.

Aurora was saluted by some score of geese
who lived in the khan-yard, but there was no
alacrity on her part to look pleased at the com-
pliment, for nothing but a thick cloud could be
perceived, and a mist or rain soon began to fall.

All the higher part of the landscape seems
hopelessly invisible for the day, but the nearer
and lower scenery clears as we proceed, and
shows a rich and beautiful country through the
vale of the Kalama. All the scene appears
richly wooded, and abounding in forms of dell
and o-entle heights with innumerable charms of
broken foreground. Perhaps one of the prettiest
points in the morning's ride was near the falls
of the Kalama (three hours after leaving
Tzerovina), which not even the incessant
drizzle of sleet, with bitter wind, could prevent
my admiring. A wearily cold ascent led up the
hill of Zitza — a place I had looked forward to
visiting as much as to any in Albania — and it
would have been the more vexatious to reflect,
that I should enjoy it so little, had not its small
distance from Ioannina held out hopes of revisit-

32f) JOURNALS 01

ing it. All my enthusiasm regarding ''Monastic
Zitza," so long familiar in prose and poetry
vanished as the rain eame down in torrents, and
the wind blew so hard as to make sitting on
horseback ditfieult, By the time 1 arrived at the
door of the much celebrated convent, numbed
and shivering, I had no other feeling left
but that of desire for dry clothes, a fire, and
Luncheon.

The monastery of Zitza — a low-walled build-
ing at the highest point of the hill on which the
village stands — resembles that of Ardhenitza, or
most other Greek convents, as to its internal
arrangement — of its cloistered courtyard, gal-
leries, and little rooms. There are now but three
or four Papades living in this retreat — a place of
greatly diminished grandeur — and these monks,
with the schoolmaster of the hamlets below, were
my hosts. Meanwhile the outer storm increased,
and the little divan-surrounded room to which
the Economos led me was darker than it would
have been otherwise — its small window and low
roof allowing no great light at any time. With
that pleasing and unassuming politeness so
usual among these people, the priests set before
me a very good meal of boiled beef, omelette, &C,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 327

during which a mixed discourse of Greek and
Italian — the Didaskalos being slenderly fur-
nished with the latter medium of communication
— enlivened our intercourse. Lord Byron was
of course one of the subjects — the elder of the
two priests well recollecting his stay at the
convent in 1809 on his way to Tepeleni. Many
questions were asked to wrhich I could not
reply, and some comments were made and anec-
dotes told, which slight, and perhaps unfounded
in strict truth, I shall not add to the list of
crude absurdities too often tacked to the memo-
ries of remarkable men.

There is a pause in the rain, so I resolve to
descend to Ioannina, and to return hither at a
more favourable opportunity — leaving a place I
had looked forward to seeing with the greatest
interest, in, (be it confessed) no satisfied humour.
Making due allowance for the bad weather, I
cannot but feel disappointed in Zitza : the sur-
rounding scenery, though doubtless full of varied
beautv, does not seem to me sufficient to call forth
such raptures of admiration, even if selected as a
spot where an imaginative poet, reposing quietly
after foregone toils and evils, might exaggerate
its charms. Hut after travelling through the

328 JOURNALS OF

daily-remarkable beauties of Albania, the view

from Zitza, to speak plainly, disappointed me.

The route led through extensive vineyards,
and across the little plain on the to}) of the hill
of the monastery — the charms of which I had
been so indifferently able to appreciate, and a
tiresome, stony descent of an hour and a half
in duration led to the plains of Ioannina
and the lake Lapsista. Thenceforth relentless
torrents poured down, and the lake Lapsista
was only dimly seen through intervals of
shifting dark cloud — conveying a sensation of
water and mountain, rather than an ocular
conviction of their presence ; and so amid
rolling thunder and flashing lightning did I
gallop on, across the treeless level, till the sky
cleared suddenly, and in three hours and a
half from leaving Zitza, I saw from a slight
eminence the lake of Ioannina unexpectedly
spread below me.

With the keenest interest I surveyed a scene,
already familiar to me from many drawings.
Apart from its associations with modern and
ancient records, the first feeling with which I
gazed on it as a picture was nearly akin to
disappointment — perhaps from the extreme

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 329

bareness of the surrounding hills, and the too
unbroken line of Mitzekeli, the great moun-
tain which forms one side of the landscape.*
There lay the peninsula stretching far into
the dark gray water, with its mosque, its
cypress tufts, and fortress walls ; there was
the city stretching far and wide along the
water's edge ; there was the fatal island, the
closing scene of the history of the once all-
powerful AH.

The approach to Ioannina through its
straggling suburbs of wooden houses, walls,
and gardens, Turkish burying-grounds, &c,
has nothing of peculiar interest to require
description, and I was soon at the British Con-
sulate, where Signor Damaschino, Her Britannic
Majesty's Vice Consul in Albania, received me
with those amiable manners, and that hospitality,
which dwell pleasantly in the recollection of
all Englishmen who have passed through this
part of Albania during his residence in its
capital. After the khans and horrors of

* I learned to think far differently of the scenery of Ioan-
nina afterwards.

330 JOURNALS OF

upper Albania, the spacious and clean rooms
at the Vice Consulate were delightful to
repose in ; and newspapers, letters, joined
with all kinds of comfort, suddenly and amply
atoned for all by-gone toils and disagree-
ables.

November 6.

Among my letters is one from a friend asking
me to accompany him to Cairo, Mount Sinai,
and Palestine, an offer not to be lightly refused ;
yet to avail myself of it, I must go hence di-
rectly to Malta and Alexandria. But I am the
more inclined to do this, by the increasing cold
of the weather, and from the small chance of
making farther progress in drawing among
Albanian scenes at this late season. 1 deter-
mine, then, if possible, to come back a second
time to Albania to " finish" Epirus, before I
return in the summer of the following year to
England ; and meanwhile resolve finally to
start to-morrow for Arta and Prevyza, and so
by the Ionian Isles to Malta with all speed.

Meanwhile my friend, C. M. C , between

whom and myself the monks of Athos drew

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 331

their cholera cordon, passed through Ioannina
but two days ago ; and this chance of rejoining
him at Prevyza or in quarantine — not to speak of
the necessity of timing one's departure by certain
steamers — all contribute to my decision ; thus,
therefore, I arrange the final page of my tour
in Albania.

The rest of the day I pass in exploring
Ioannina under the guardianship of a black
Kawas of the Vice Consular household — another
Margiann. From every point the beauties of
this fair spot are innumerable, and increase
by observation ; and the difficulty would be,
where to settle to draw its infinite variety of
combinations with lake and mountain. The
bazaars, too, are most interesting with their
endless exhibition of wooden ware, national nick-
nacks and embroidery ; but all these things
I trust to see more completely on my return
to these localities next year.

November 7.

I started before daylight in order to have
as long a day as possible to reach Arta before
dark. A Zantiote, on his way back to the

332 JOURNALS OT

islands with horses purchased at loannina, two
of his countrymen, a messenger of the Consu-
late, and Margiann, the Black, joined our party;
and long before sunrise we were far out of the
city. Many a beautiful scene I left behind
with regret, for the day's work was toilsome,
and sketching could not be permitted. Beyond
the long- suburban street of the capital of
Southern Albania, we crossed a wide plain,
with the fine forms of the Epirus mountains
around; but the cold was bitter, and even by
hard walking it was impossible to keep warm
until the sun had risen hiirh. At about the
third hour, after passing two or three khans,
we began to ascend a bare hill leading to
a bleak valley equally uninteresting, whence
the road ascended again to the khan of Pende
Pig&dhia, the half-way house betwixt loannina
and Arta, each of which are six or seven hours'
journey from the summit of the hill on which
it stands. Nothing could be more dull and
disagreeable than the walk ; but the view of
the Piudus range from the high ground is very
noble. The khan of Five Wells is a perfect
specimen of the lonely and hopeless place
of refuge in these parts : — it is a large, ruin-

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 333

ous building (though once fortified), in an
extensive court-yard. Here we were to halt
for luncheon, but while doing so, a first-
class quarrel ensued, which I thought might
have ended awkwardly. A frantic, or intoxi-
cated Albanian guard, insisted on seeing the
inside of every article of luggage, to which the
consular officials said no — it is " Roba Ingliz
Consul." From words and gesticulations pistols
were drawn, and the wrathful Kawas was
rushing at Black Margiann when he was seized
by the Bulubashi and others, and the struggles
and yells ensuing are not to be described. Giorgio
extricated the Bouyourldi from the depths of
the baggage, which partly calmed the affray ;
but the confusion was immense ; and the en-
raged Albanian tore his long hair and foamed
in a way I never witnessed in any human
creature.

From this squabble we passed to a cold colla-
tion of bread and bottarga, and starting once
more at half-past two, descended the hill to the
plains of Arta, which, with many a blue pale line
of Acharaanian hill now appeared far away ; —
in another hour, however, we had become pent
up in a weary river bed, nor did we reach the

;W4 JOURNALS OB

plain, over gravelly paths and good trotting
ground, till the full moon rose, throwing long
shadows from scattered trees. How tedious was
that hour or two after sunset! — the long point
of hill behind which Arta is placed seemed never
fated to be reached. No sensation is more dis-
agreeable than the inability to keep awake on
horseback, and when the traveller is creeping a
mile in the hour, over a paved Turkish causeway,
the wearisome disgust is intolerable.

Endless lanes and gardens seemed to environ
Arta ; and after having passed the great bridge
over the Arachthus, we wound through dark and
strange places full of mud, among masses of
building black againstbright moonlight, till jaded,
and more fevered than I had been ever since I
had left Saloniki, we arrived at the house of the
British consular resident agent, Signor Boro, a
Greek of Arta. I long earnestly to retire at once
to sleep, but the hiccupping flutter of a fowl in the
death-agony, announces, in spite of my entreaties,
that a supper is in preparation : nevertheless,
this clean large house, these good rooms, and
sofas, are most welcome to a way-worn
tourist.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 335

NoVExMBER 8.

More Albanian obstacles : our horses are all
seized and dragged from the stables by a Turk
— a nautical Turk, whose ships are at Prevyza ;
he, with many Mohammedan ' middies' require
steeds to gallop over the plains of Arta ; so he
takes ours, and snaps his fingers at Giorgio, and
the Bouyourldi of the Sultan.

" Bouyourldis are for land Turks," quoth he,
" I am a water Turk." Giorgio storms, the con-
sular agent remonstrates, and both send to the
Governor with an instant requisition of fresh
horses for a Prince of Frangistan, desirous of
going immediately to Salagora, there to embark
for the country of the Franks.

Down comes the Governor, Secretaries and
Muftis ; and away go Kawasi all over the place
as they did at Avldna, so that in less than an
hour three horses are in readiness. Meanwhile,
I walk with Signor Boro to the ancient walls of
Arta, which are fine examples of Hellenic archi-
tecture. Nor can any place be more superbly
situated than this ; which, with the sweeping
Arachthus below the town, and the Tzumerka
range beyond the plain, forma a magnificent

336 JOURNALS OF

picture. There is a very curious old Greek
church too ; but trusting to return to these parts
of southern Albania I gave but little time to
lionizing Arta, and at eleven we were again ready
to start for Prevyza.

Threading the incommodious streets of Arta
(which streets are deep gutters, or ditches, full
of mud, with a raised trottoir on each side) and
once more passing the lanes, olive-grounds, and
orange gardens, and the lofty bridge over
the broad river, we came at length to the grand
open plain which stretches uninterruptedly
to the gulf. No groups of mountains are lovelier
than those within sight of this part of Epirus :
whether the eye gazes at the Acharnanian
heights beyond Vonizza — or at those of Agrafa,
Tzumerka, and Pindus — or whether it turns to-
wards the dread Suliote hills, and terrible Zalon-
go, the closing scene of heroism and despair.*

The latter part of the journey was by a high
paved road over a wide, marshy ground close to
the gulf, and in four hours from leaving Arta
I reached the hilly peninsular eminence shelter-
ing a hamlet of ten or fifteen houses, known as

* See Journals, May 2, 1849.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 337

the Scala of Salagora, or port of Arta. Here
we should have embarked for Prevyza, but
owing to the wind, which is peculiarly perverse
at the mouth of this gulf, the caique which
plies between the two coasts is not come, and
the khan is full. Meanwhile a Greek merchant
good-naturedly gave me a lodging in a ware-
house of rice till midnight, when the bark
arrived, and taking our party on board, set
sail to Prevyza.

November 9, 10, 11.

I pass these days at Prevyza, a place that
does not possess in itself any agreeable com-
pensation for the vexatious detention by contrary
wind, which prevents my sailing across to the
quarantine of Sta. Maura.

But the kindness and hospitality of Sidney
Smith Saunders, Esq., and all his family, would
render any place an agreeable sojourn. It is
delightful, after roaming over the most uncivilized
places, to find a nook stamped with the most
thoroughly English character in one of the
spots where you would least expect it.

z

;{;{(S -'"I FINALS 01

November 12.

The wind has changed, and the sea is like
glass; before sunrise I am in the Consul's cutter;
even moment brings me nearer to Leucadia; —
the point of Prevyza, with the ruins forming part

of what was once All Pasha's serai, lessens into
one little bright speck on the water's edge. The
snowy ranges of Tzumerka glitter palely in the
early sun-beams, and gradually fade into hazy,
cloud-like forms. And so, bidding farewell to
Albania, for the present I enter a nine da\ s'
quarantine at Santa Maura.

J 0 U E N A L S

OP

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER.

April 24, 1849

After two months passed most pleasantly in
Greece (the winter having been well defied in
Cairo and at Mount Sinai), there are yet six
weeks on my hands, ere, after having suffered
from repeated attacks of Greek fever, it would
be prudent to encounter the variable English
spring. And now, if ever, I must endeavour
to complete my tour in Albania ; I long to visit
that most romantic portion of it — the land of
the Suliotes : to make careful drawings of
Ioannina : to see Meteora and Thessaly — even
to the gulf of Volo — and once more to attempt
reaching the lonely Mount Athos.

a 2

340 ■"" HNAL8 "i

F. L., my Greek companion, is obliged to
return to Malta, so I set out alone; but first,
the judicious old Andrea Vrindisi,* who is equally
at home in the wilds of Tzamouria as in the
civilized streets of modern Sparta, and whose
tongue (master of ten languages) is not less
valuable than his general skill and arrangement
of the domestic comforts of travel, is taken by
me at the usual rate of ill os. daily, for an
indefinite period of service.

Perhaps the best way of entering Albania
from Patras would be by crossing to Misso-
longhij and thence, by a journey of three or four
days' length, to Vonizza and Prevyza ; but the
desire to see some persons in Korfu who will
not be there on my return, as well as the choice
which, when the traveller is once in that island,
is open to him, as to the part of the opposite
coast he will first explore, these determine me on
relinquishing my design of passing through
Acharnania; and I have embarked in the
Austrian steamer ' Elleno," which luckily arrives

* Andrea Vrindisi, of Patras : an excellent guide and dra-
goman in every respect, and worthy of high recommendation.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 34 1

and starts on the very day after the conclusion
of my Greek journey with L.

For the third time I watch the high Mount
Voidhia, now glittering in a snowy mantle, and
contemplate the exquisite forms of the Pelopon-
nesian and Acharnanian hills ; then, as evening
gradually covers the cloudless sky with duskier
tints, Ithaca succeeds, and lastly Leucadia's
""rock of woe," starlit and solemn, sleeps on the
bosom of the calm sea.

April 25.

" Morn dawns, and with it stern Albania's hills,
Dark Suli's rocks, and Pindus' inland peak :"

and no lines of mountain more beautiful — none
more teeming with romance and interest — can
be gazed on by traveller, be he painter or poet.
Fast advancing through that lovely channel, we
soon reach the long-descried citadel of Korfii,
and delight in again welcoming scenes, than
which the world has few more charming.

During the four succeeding days time went
by very pleasantly in the Government palace,
where the kindness of the Lord High Commis-
sioner and his family added one more to my
many pleasant recollections of Korfii. But on the

342 JOURNALS OF

30th, Lord Seaton offering to take me as far as

Prevyza, on his way to Santa Maura, I decided
to recommence my Albanian researches from
that point, and joined the party in the Govern-
ment steamer. We were off PreVyza at four
p.m., when I once more set foot in Epirus,
Signor Damaschino, the Vice-consul at loan-
nina, and my acquaintance of last year, his wife,
and her brother Yiani, were also of the Alba-
nian-hound party, and we were all soon heartil\
welcomed at the Consulate b\ Mr. Saunders and
his ever-hospitable family.

May 1.

To-day Andrea being employed in procuring
little necessaries for the journey — I devote to
visiting and making drawings of Nicdpo-
lis, which I had hastily glanced at when
passing through Prevyza last year. The ruins
of this city, founded by Augustus after the
battle of Actium, lie not above three miles from
Prevyza,* and the walk thither i> very pleasant,
through plantations of olive-trees.

Si Leaki , Holland, Hughi

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 343

The scattered remains of Palaio-Kastro (so
the peasants call the site of Nicopolis) occupy
a large space of ground ; and although there
are here and there masses of brickwork, which
forcibly recall to my memory those on the Cam-
pagna of Rome, yet the principal charm of the
scene consists in its wild loneliness, and its com-
mand of noble views over the Ionian sea as well
as of the Gulf of Arta and the mountains of
Agrafa. My principal object was to obtain correct
drawings from the great theatre, as well as from
the Stadium and the lesser theatre ; but at this
season of the year I found many impediments
which in the late autumn of 1848 had not pre-
sented themselves. Vegetation had shot up in
the early spring to so great a size and luxuriance,
that a choice of position was difficult to find
among gigantic asphodel four or five feet high
— foxgloves of prodigious size, briars and thistles
of obstinate dignity. Nor was the passing from
one point of the ruins to another, through the
fields of beans and Indian-corn which cover the
cultivated portions of the soil, a light task;
there were snakes too in great numbers and size,
so that when the sun's heat became powerful, I
found the operation of exploring the whole
of the Augustan city too nearly allied with

344 JOURNALS OF

risk of fever-fits to prolong it. Great as was
the destruction of Nicopolis by All Pasha",
who carried off vast portions of it for the con-
struction of his palace at Prevyza, there is
yet abundance of picturesque beauty in what
remains ; and the view from the upper seats of
the great theatre, looking across the Gulf of
Ambracia to the hills of Acharnania and Leu-
eadia, is one of the most noble of prospects.

Returning to Prevyza at noon, I sketched for
the remainder of the day in the outskirts of the
town. A student of landscape might well em-
ploy himself in this corner of Epirus for a
summer : it abounds with pretty bits of fore-
ground and peeps of the beautiful mountain
forms around. But in itself, this frontier-town
of Albania contains little interest. The great
palace of All Pasha exists no more — it is utterly
destroyed — and the whole place has an air of
melancholy desolation, increased possibly by
one's knowledge of its past history and evil
destiny.

*

May 2.

It is eight a.m. before the horses and " roba"
are ready, and Andrea gives the signal for start-

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 345

ing. He has ordered three horses to Ioannina,
but it is understood that I am to go thither as
I please — bound to no particular route, or time
of arrival. Travelling on Turkish horses has
led me to adopt one improvement, namely,
take with me a pair of stirrups and a strap to
hang them by. These I have purchased in
Patras, and they are gilt ; whereon, as I leave
the town, I hear an old Greek woman remark :
" This milordos is the son of a king : even his
stirrups are of gold !"

We go through the olive woods as far nearly
as Nicdpolis, and then, turning to the left, reach
the sea, following a route by its bright blue
waves at the foot of low sandy cliffs clothed
and fringed with rich fern. In three hours
after starting we turned inland towards the
hills of Zalongo, but rain, long threatening,
prevented any sketching, though the scenery
became more interesting at every step. All
nature was of the freshest green, and the
luxuriant oakwoods, deep dells of brushwood,
gentle lawns, and vales dotted with flowering
thorn, formed pleasant rural landscapes on
every side.

At half-past one we reached the village of
Kamarina, which stands high up on the hill.

3 1(1 J0UENAL8 OF

and is a straggling hamlet of white-washed
houses and reed-built cabins, placed in gardens
of fruit-trees, or shaded by great forest timber,
growing at the foot of overhanging rocks clothed
with trailing, wild vino.

At three or four, in a pause between showers,
I attempted to reach the rock of Ziilongo, im-
mediately above the village. This was the scene
of one of those terrible tragedies so frequent
during the Suliote war with All. At its summit
twenty-two women of Suli took refuge after the
capture of their rock by the Mohammedan-,
and with their children awaited the issue of a
desperate combat between their husbands and
brothers, and the soldiers of the Vizir of
Ioannina. Their cause was lost ; but as the
enemy scaled the rock to take the women
prisoners, they dashed all their children on the
crags below, and joining their hands, while they
sung the songs of their own dear land, they
advanced nearer and nearer to the cd^e of the
precipice, when from the brink a victim preci-
pitated herself into the deep below at each
recurring round of the dance, until all were de-
stroyed. When the foe arrived at the summit,
the heroic Suliotes were beyond his reach.

But this is only one of many such acts

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 347

which, during the Suliote war, furnished some
of the most extraordinary instances on record of
the love of liberty.*

I wished much to see the actual scene of these
events, as well as to visit the remains of Cas-
sope,f on the summit of the hill; but to my
great vexation, such violent rain fell, that I could
not even reach the rock of Zalongo, and return-
ing to the cottage, at Kamarina, I was obliged
to content myself by drawing at intervals from
the door of the cottage, in which Andrea had
arranged my night's lodgings. It was one of
those large and long rooms, usual in Greek vil-
lages, and forming the home of a whole family,
which sate at the farther end, while I occupied
my own allotted portion of clay floor. The
inhabitants of Kamarina are all Greek Chris-
tians, and indeed throughout the south of Epirus
there are very few Mohammedans ; the women of
the house have a mournful air ; and well may
they, for many of the elders among them can still

* Leake, North. Greece, I. 245, 519; in Hughes, II. 184,
the number of women is stated at nearly 100. The rock of
Zalongo is famous also for other combats between t lie Suliotes
and the soldiers of the Vizir.

f Lcakc.

348 JOURNALS 01

remember the terrors of those evil days, in the
Hist years of the present century.

Outside this cottage of Kamarma all is de-
lightful, so quiet is the foreground near at hand,
so fair the prospect far below ; the long point of
Nieopolis and Prevyza, the broad bright Gulf
of Arta, the scene of the battle of Actium ;
and the clear hills of Greece and Sta. Maura, all
spread like a map at my feet. It seems a spot
marked out for peace and tranquillity, nor can I
remember a village more deliciously placed as
a summer's retreat ; the rain has made the herbs
and spring flowers around full of fresh odour,
and multitudes of nightingales are singing on all
sides.

May 3.

I am off by half-past five. The morning is
bright, and the nightingales, who have warbled
all i light long, are as melodious as ever. In spite
of my regret at not having been able to see
Zalongo or Cassope, I shall remember the green
hill of Kamarma with pleasure.

I descend through woodland glades, with views
of the Gulf of Arta ever before me, and the
peaks of its fine mountains are wrapped in rolling

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 349

mist. Lower down, towards the plain, the
route winds among groups of oak and walnut
trees, and below them are shepherds with their
flocks. In about two or three hours we reach
Luro, a scattered collection of huts, with one or
two better houses at the foot of the hills, and
following the track at their base, shortly arrive
at clear springs, and a quiet secluded lake,
fringed with luxuriant foliage, and resounding
with the notes of the nightingale and the
cuckoo.

All the country hereabouts resembles the most
beautiful park or woodland scenery in England,
excepting that the variety of underwood is
greater, and the creepers and flowering shrubs
are such as we have not. The tall white stems of
the ash and plane shooting out of dark masses
of oak foliage, and reflected in the clear water
below, form charming pictures.

In the midst of this delightful bosky region, at
an hour's distance from Luro, stands Kanza, a
hamlet of a few very poor thatched huts ; and
from hence, keeping always through a thick and
shady wood, which skirts the base of the hills,
the route passes onward, till it emerges (after
two hours' ride from Kanza) on to an elevated

350 lul 1{X ^s of

pasture land, opposite the Castle of Rogus;*
and here I halt for mid-da) rest.

This fortress, standing OH an ancient site,
forms a part of one of those beautiful Greek scenes
which a painter is never tired of contemplating.
Rising on its mound above the thick woods,
which here embellish the plain, it is the key of
the landscape ; the wraters of a clear fountain are
surrounded by large flocks of goats reposing.
The clumps of hanging plane and spreading oak,
vary the marshy plain, extending to the shores
of the Gulf; while the distant blue mountain>
rise beyond, and the rock of Zalongo shuts in
the northern end of the prospect. All these form
so many parts, each beautiful in itself, that com-
bine to make a composition, to which I regretted
not hems: able to devote more time.

After a short repose, I pursued my journey
across the plain in the direction of Arta, where
I intend to pass the night. We soon cross the
Liiro, on a narrow bridge, and so unstable as to
allow of but one horse passing it at a time, and
then we follow the track across the wide level.

* Rojxus — ancient Charadra. Leake. The stream of Luro
(Charadrus) runs below the walls.

I

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 351

During this morning's ride I have seen upwards
of twenty large vultures • but now, the ornitho-
logical denizens of this wide tract of marshy
ground are storks, which are walking about in
great numbers, and their nests are built on
the roofs of the houses, clustered here and there
in the more cultivated part of the district.
Snakes and tortoises also were frequent during
the morning, concerning which last animals
Andrea volunteers some scientific intelligence,
assuring: me that in Greece it is a well-known
fact that they hatch their eggs by the heat of
their eyes, by looking fixedly at them, until the
small tortoises are matured, and break the
shell.

We arrived at Arta* about four. The group
formed by castle, and town, and mosques, half
encircled by the broad sweeping Arachthus, and
the fine range of Djumerka, struck me as even
more beautiful than I had thought it on my visit
here last November. The house of the Consular
agent, Signor Boro is now, as then, hospitably
open.

* Lcakc, I. 102.

352 journals as

May 4.

At early morn I was finishing my drawing

began six months ago. Few places in Albania
are more magnificent in aspect and situation
than Arta ; and to an antiquarian its attractions
are still greater than to the artist. Nothing can
exceed the venerable grandeur of its picturesque
Hellenic walls, and from the site of its ancient
Acropolis, the panoramic splendour of the view
is majestic in the highest degree. Before nine,
I left Arta for the second time, and it was long
before we escaped from its narrow, muddy
streets, and endless suburban lanes ; these, how-
ever, were less disagreeable now than hereto-
fore, on account of the odoriferous orange trees,
all in full bloom. Arta is surrounded by gardens,
and in a great degree supplies the markets of
Ioannina with fruit and vegetables.

We pursued the paved post-track to Ioannina
for nearly two hours ; and as the pace over
those causeways is of the slowest, I am on the
look-out for incidents of all kinds, and find
sufficient amusement in watching the birds
which haunt these plains ; there are jays and
storks, and vultures, in greater numbers than

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 353

I had supposed ever congregated together.
Even the unobservant Andrea was struck by dis-
covering, on a nearer approach, that multitude of
what we thought sheep, were in fact vultures ;
and on our asking some peasants as to the cause
of their being so numerous, they said, that owing
to a disease among the lambs, greater quantities
of birds of prey had collected in the plains
than "the oldest inhabitant could recollect."
A constant stream of these harpies was passing
from the low grounds to the rocks above the
plain ; and they soared so closely above our
heads, that I could perfectly well distinguish
their repulsive physiognomies. I counted one
hundred and sixty of them at one spot, and
must confess that they make a very grand ap-
pearance when soaring and wheeling with out-
stretched wino-s and necks. All the ground in
this marshy part of the plain was covered with
the most brilliant yellow iris in full bloom.

On leaving the Ioannina road, we held on our
course westward, and crossed the plain to the
village of Strivina river on the banks of the
Luro, which we followed for more than an hour.
The scenery of this part of Epirus is not
unlike that of the Brathay near Ambleside, but
the closely-wooded sides of the hills are here

A A

354 JOURNAL- ul

and there enlivened by a Greek scattered ham-
let, giving its own character to the scene.
Higher up the stream the trees are of a larger

size, and fringe the lower hills beautifully ; and
when, at one p. m. we reached Pasheenas bridge,
I thought 1 had never seen a more romantic bit
of English-like scenery. It is delightful to rest
below the tine old oaks and planes in this spot,
whence as far as the eye can reach thick foliage
gladdens the sight. Crossing the Charadrus, we
started once more at two, and in one hour — the
route always leading through glades and wild
woodland — came to the little Lake Zero,
which I had been strongly recommended by
Mr. Saunders not to omit seeing. And, in
truth, it is well worth a visit, not that it has
any character peculiar to Epirus or Greece (for
it is more like Nemi than any lake I am ac-
quainted with), but on account of the surpass-
ing beauty of its deep and quiet waters, from
whose clear surface bold red rocks rise on all
sides, hung with thickest ilex, and surmounted
by dense woods of oak which extend to the very
summit of the hills above. There was barely
time to make two sketches of Lago Zero, ere the
sinking sun warned me onward, and another hour
brought us to the vale of Lelovo, a village which

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 355

is built on the western side of the hills enclosing
the glen ; the other, as I entered the hamlet,
became gloriously bright in the last rays of
sunset, all the detail of rock and tree chan^ino:
from red and purple, and cold grey, until finally
lighted up by the bright full moon.

A very comfortable lodging was obtained at
the top of the village of Lelovo, in a house
which, like all in these parts, stands alone in a
court-yard, and is well arrayed with galleries and
stairs. Its tenants were a Greek priest (Lelovo
is a Christian community), and a very old nun;
they allowed me to occupy for the night,
one of their rooms, a clean and good one. The
scenery through which I have passed to-day
and yesterday has greatly delighted me ; it is
rare in Greece to find such rich foliage com-
bined with distant lines of landscape, and this,
indeed, is a beauty peculiar to the southern
parts of Epirus ; towards Ioannina, and to the
north of it, such clothing of vale and mountain
is not frequent.

May 5.

At sunrise the vale of Lelovo is full of mist,
and resounding with the lowing of invisible

A A 2

:tr>i; jnrn\ \i> oi

cows, on hearing which domestic sound, I
thought, of course, there would be no milk,
but for a wonder, there was. How enjoyable
was the walk through the meadows a^ we left
the village on our route to Suli. The song of
birds, the fresh breeze, and all those charms of
early morning which to the experienced so-
journer in southern lands, mark the best hours
of the day ! We halted but once at a shep-
herd^ capanna, for a bowl of fresh milk, ere
we began a severe ascent, which in two hours
brought us to Kragna, a little village among
noble old oaks, whence the views extended over
the gulf of Arta with the Tzumerka and loan-
nina hills. But the people of Kragna were
cross-grained and disobliging, and no offers
would induce them to furnish us with another
horse (that which carried the baggage not
being a very strong one), nor would they shew
ii- the road to Zermi, on the way to Suli, ex-
cept for a minute's walk beyond their village.
About eight we left it, and passed from dell
to dell, by very difficult paths, steep, narrow
and rocky, with no little fear of losing the way
in places where the track was quite obliterated
by torrents. We steered well however, and
finally leaving the thick oak woods, arrived at

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 357

the hill of Zermi, high up on which is the scat-
tered village of the same name, guarded by
troops of angry dogs, as is the custom in these
parts.

We went to the house of the Primate,* and
found him and all his family at dinner : it was
the fete of St. George, to-day being with them
the 23rd of April. With the heartiest hospi-
tality they insisted on our sharing their feast,
which was by no means a bad one, as it con-
sisted of roast lamb, two puddings made of
Indian corn, one with milk and herbs, the other
with eggs and meat, besides rakhee. The
room was extremely neat and clean, and the
best in all respects I had seen in Southern
Albania ; but, sitting in a draught of air when
heated by exercise, that premonitory feeling
which indicates coming fever, obliged me to
quit the society almost immediately. We waited
for some time in expectation of another horse,
but at half-past twelve tidings came that it had
escaped, and so we divided our baggage into
two parts, in order to lessen the feebler steed's
burden, and thus arranged set out again.

Primate, the first or head proprietor of a Greek village.

:i,-,H J0UKNAL8 0]

Descending the hill of Zernri we came in Leas
than an hour to the vale of Tervitziand, through
which the river of Suli flows ere, " previously
making many turns and meanders as if unwill-
ing to enter such a gloomy passage," it plunges
into the gorge of Suli. We crossed the stream, and
began the ascent on the right of the cliffs, by
narrow and precipitous paths leading to a point
of great height, from which the difficult pass of
the Suliote glen commences. And while toiling
up the hill, my thoughts were occupied less with
the actual interest of the scenery, than with the
extraordinary recollections connected with the
struggles of the heroic people who so lately as
forty years back were exterminated or banished
by their tyrant enemy. Every turn in the pass
I am about to enter has been distinguished by
some stratagem or slaughter : every line in the
annals of the last Suliote war is written in
characters of blood.*

* As some notice of the Suliote history may be desirable, I
and as much matter as is necessary to illustrate the subject.
The mountain of Suli may be conjectured to have been occupied
by Albanians about the thirteenth or fourteenth century, and
when the greater part <>f the surrounding country lapsed to the

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 359

But my reflections were interrupted by a dis-
agreeable incident : in a rocky and crabbed part
of the narrow path, the baggage horse missed
footing and fell backward ; fortunately, he es-

Mohamniedan faith, this race of hardy mountaineers adhered
firmly to Christianity.

During the eighteenth century, the Suliotes carried on a pre-
datory warfare with the surrounding territories of Margariti,
Paramythia, &c, but when Ali Pasha, under pretext of reducing
disaffected districts to the obedience due to the Sultan, had
subdued all the surrounding tribes, the inhabitants of Suli found
that he was an enemy, determined either by craft or force to dis-
possess them of their ancestral inheritance. From 1788 to
1792, innumerable were the artifices of Ali to obtain possession
of this singular stronghold ; in the latter year he made an
attack on it, which nearly proved fatal to himself, while his
army was defeated with great slaughter. In 1798, after six
years of bribery and skirmishing, a portion of the territory of
Suli was gained by the Mohammedans, through treachery of
some of the inhabitants, and thenceforward the accounts of the
protracted siege of this devoted people is a series of remarkable
exploits and resolute defence, by Suliotes of both sexes, seldom
paralleled in history.

Every foot of the tremendous passes leading to Suli was con-
tested in blood ere the besieger gained firm footing ; and after he
had done so, the rock held out an incredible period, until famine
and treachery worked out the downfall of this unfortunate
people.

Then, in 1803, many escaped by passing through the

360 JOURNALS OF

raped the edge of the precipice ; but the labour
and loss of time in re-arranging the Luggage
was considerable; and when we had scaled the
height, and I sat looking with amazement into
the dark and hollow abyss of the Acheron, a
second cry and crash startled me — again the
unlucky horse had stumbled, and this time,
though safe himself, the baggage suffered; — the
basket containing the canteen was smitten by a
sharp rock, and all my plates and dishes, kni\< -.
forks, and pewter pans — which F. L. had be-
queathed to me at Patras — went spinning down
from crag to crair till they lodged in the infernal*

enemy's camp, many by paths unknown to their pursuera;
numbers fled to the adjacent rocks of Zalongo and Seltzo ;
others destroyed themselves, together with the enemy, by gun-
powder, or in a last struggle; or threw themselves into the
At-licnm, or from precipices. Those of these brave people who
ultimately escaped to Parga, crossed over to Korfu, and thence
entered the service of Russia and France. Many, since the days
of Greek independence, have returned to various part of Epirus,
or Greece; but they have no longer a country or a name, and
the warlike tribe who, at the height of their power, formed a
confederacy of sixty-six villages, may now be said to be extinct.
See Leake, Northern Greece, Vol. I. p. 501 ; Holland, p. 448;
Hobhouse, p. 174 ; Hughes, II. Chapters, 6, 7, 8, &c.
* The river of Suli is the Acheron of antiquity.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 361

stream below. These delays were serious, as the
day was wearing on, and the ' Pass of Suli' was
yet to be threaded. This fearful gorge cannot
be better described than in the words of Colonel
Leake : "A deep ravine, formed by the meeting
of the two great mountains of Suli and Tziku-
rates — one of the darkest and deepest of the
glens of Greece ; on either side rise perpendicular
rocks, in the midst of which are little intervals
of scanty soil, bearing holly oaks, ilices, and
other shrubs, and which admit occasionally a
view of the higher summits of the two mountains
covered with oaks, and at the summit of all with
pines. Here the road is passable only on foot,
by a perilous ledge along the side of the moun-
tain of Suli ; the river in the pass is deep
and rapid, and is seen at the bottom falling
in many places over the rocks, though at too
great a distance to be heard, and in most places
inaccessible to any but the foot of a goat or a
Suliote."

I shall not soon forget the labour it cost to
convey our horses through this frightful gorge.
In many places the rains had carried away even
what little footing there had originally been,
and nothing remained but a bed of powdered
rock sloping off to the frightful gulf below ; and

all our efforts could hardly induce or enable
each horse to cross singly. The muleteer cried,
and called on all the saints in the Greek calen-
dar ; and all four of us united our strength to
prevent the trembling beast from rolling down-
wards. There were three of these passi cattivi,
and the sun was setting. I prepared to make
up my mind, if I escaped to Acheron, at least
to repose all night in the ravine.

At sunset we reached the only approach on
this side of " the blood-stained Suli" — an ascent
of stairs winding up the sides of the great rocks
below Avariko — and very glad was I to have
accomplished this last and most dangerous part
of the journey. Before me is the hollow vale
of Avariko, Kiafa, and Suli — places now exist-
ing little more than in name ; and darkly
looming against the clear western sky stands
the dread Trypa — the hill of Thunderbolts —
the last retreat of the despairing Suliotes.

Here, at the summit of the rock, Ali
Pasha built a castle, and within its walls I
hope to pass the night. I reach it at nearly
two hours after sunset, the bright moon show-
ing me the Albanian governor and his twenty
or thirty Palikari sitting on the threshold of the
gate. But as unluckily I had not procured any

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 363

letter from the Turkish authorities at Prevyza,
the rough old gentleman was obdurate, and
would not hear of my entering the fortress.
" Yok," said he, frowning fiercely, " yok, yok."
And had it not been for the good-nature of a
Turkish officer of engineers who had arrived
from Ioannina on a visit of inspection, I must
have passed the night supperless and shelterless.
Thanks to him, men and horses were at length
admitted to the interior of the fort.

I was ushered through several dilapidated
courtyards to the inner serai or governor's
house — a small building with wide galleries
round two sides of it. In a narrow and low
room, surrounded with sofas, the military digni-
tary sate down with his suite of " wild Alba-
nians ;" and to be polite, I followed their
example ; but the excessive smoke of the wood
fire, added to that of the tchibouques, was so
painful a contrast to the fresh air, that it was
almost intolerable. No Greek was spoken ; so
Andrea was called in, and they expressed their
conviction that I "looked miserable — neither
eating, nor talking, nor smoking" — an accusa-
tion I willingly acceded to, for the sake of rest
and fresh air, and transferred my position with
all haste to the outer gallery. There I had my

'M4 JOURNALS (U

mattress and capotes spread, and old Andrea
brought me a capital basin of rice soup. It had
been a severe day's labour for a man of his
years and great size, and during the passage of
the gorge, he had more than once been unable
to advance for some minutes ; yet, with his
wonted alacrity, he had not only prepared my
bed as usual, but had exercised his talent for
cookinir withal.

I gazed on the strange, noiseless figures about
me, bright in the moonlight, which tipped with
silver the solemn lofty mountains around. For
years those hills had rarely ceased to echo the
cries of animosity, despair, and agony ; now all
is silent as the actors in that dreadful drama.

Few scenes can compete in my memory with
the wildness of this at the castle of Kiafa, or
Suli-Kastro ; and excepting in the deserts of
the peninsula of Sinai, I have gazed on none
more picturesque and strange.

May 6.

Before sunrise every one wras on foot ; but
the military duties of the garrison were inter-
rupted by the circumstance of my being obliged
to wrash my face in public. Unlike the Turkish

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 365

Mohammedan, the Albanian prefers satisfying
curiosity to the maintaining of dignity. Officers
and men came hastily, on the report of the
Frank's extravagance, to gaze at the extraordi-
nary proceeding. I believe they thought it a
species of water-worship.

I passed some hours on the rock of Trypa,
and a more mighty scene of grandeur can hardly
be conceived. On each of the jutting ends or
horns of the hill, which is semicircular in shape,
there was formerly a fortress. These are now
destroyed ; but from their ruins the view is most
characteristic, and seems as it were a part of the
sad Suliote history, so darkly and terribly mag-
nificent. One little peep towards the east shows
the Gulf of Arta with its hills beyond the stern
precipices of the Acheron ; that to the west
looks on to the plain of Fanari and the Ionian
Sea, while in each picture the deep, deep river
rolls far below in its close and wooded gulf.*

At eight, the baggage having gone before, I

* From the precipices impending over this ravine, it is
related that the Suliote women threw their children, when the
contest for their liberty had come to an end. To such a spot
the epithet given by Aristophanes, "the rock of Acheron
dropping blood," may indeed be well applied. Holland, p. 452

366 JOURNALS OF

took leave of the cross old Governor. 1 had
distributed some coffee to his men; hut he
nevertheless asked for several articles for
himself, begging 1 would send to Suli from
the next large place I came to, a mirror, a
good telescope, four wine glasses, and a cut
glass bottle for rakhee ; pistols, scissors, and
English cloth ; all of which things Andrea said,
in Albanian, that I would forward on the first
opportunity ; which lavish promises, as I did
not hear them made, I did not feel bound to
observe.

The descent westward to the Acheron is a
difficult narrow path, in some places of extreme
steepness, but of course not like the route of
yesterday, which was never intended for horses.
At the bottom of the ravine, they ford the
deep rapid torrent, while I go on to a point
beyond the junction of a stream where the
Acheron is crossed by a bridge. But what a
bridge ! The river, confined between two very
narrow perpendicular crags, boils and thunders
below them, while the space between is con-
nected by two poles, over which branches of
trees are laid transversely, and over all a covering
of leaves and earth, by way of pavement ; an awk-
ward structure, and one well calculated to render

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 367

the approach to Suli, even on this side, a matter
of difficulty. Slowly, on hands and knees, and
holding the poles, I passed this bridge over the
river of Pluto, its oscillations being far from plea-
sant ; but the hu^e Andrea manifested much
solicitude ere he ventured his heavy frame on
the slight support, throwing his shoes and most
of his dress over to the other side, before he
attempted to cross. On the left bank, the
road thenceforward becomes a little less diffi-
cult ; and after following several windings of the
stream, sometimes at a great height above it,
finally leaves the tremendous gorge of the
Acheron for the level plain of Fanari, on which
I was once more glad to welcome the familiar
lentisk and clumps of squills.

Shortly we again forded the Acheron, here,
in the vicinity of the ruined church of Glyky,
a broad and considerable river ; the Albanians
who accompanied me breasting the rapid waters
on foot, hand-in-hand. At every turn of the
gorge, through which the river escapes, there
are views of Suli most varied and magnificent,
but from this point its general aspect is most
strikingly noble.*

* Sec the description of this spot by Col. Leake, whose
remarks on scenery combine the taste of a landscape painter to

'MS J0UKNAL8 OF

Anxious to reach Parga ere night, I did not
visit the ruins at Glyky, but pursued the route
in the plain, through rice-grounds, to the village
of Potamia,* where at mid-day Ave halt.

I could well have liked to have made many
studies of these wild homes of Tzamouria ; but
the difficulty of drawing during the whole of the
day is <rreat, especially at this period, when the
heat begins to be oppressive, and a little neglect

the accuracy of a geographer. " Three tiers of steep, and almost
precipitous rocks present themselves in front, appearing through
the gorge of the river, the hill of Try pa, crowned with the
Castle of Kuifa, between two smaller buildings at either end of
the ridge. Above all rises the mountain of Suli, apparently
double the height of Trypa, the elevation of which, above Glyky,
seems to be about 1200 feet." Leake, North. Greece, IV. 57.

* The appearance of this and similar Albanian villages, is well
described by Mr. Hughes, at his visit in 1815, and will perfectly
well serve for their illustration in 1819 — the best huts consisting
of hurdles, were constructed formed " only of branches of trees,
half cut through, which being turned down and fastened to the
grcmnd, form a kind of tent, to which the trunk of the tree
serves as a pole. Notwithstanding its apparent misery, the
village has a curious and picturesque appearance, being inter-
sected with green alleys, covered with vines, shaded by trees,
and adorned with a vast quantity of flowers for the nourishment
of bees, which every family seemed to cultivate." Hughes,
II. 437.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 369

and idleness is excusable, though often afterwards
regretted. After an hour and a half of repose,
below large vine-hung willow-trees, lulled by
the murmur of innumerable bees, and always
jealously watched by a score or two of the
ferocious dogs which guard these villages, it was
time to proceed once more, and we again rode
on towards the sea.

A good deal of time was devoted to picking our
way among the ditches and irrigations of the rice-
grounds, which are very extensive in this part
of the marshy plain of Fanari ; the paths among
them form a perfect labyrinth, and much labour
is lost in making useless detours. At length,
however, we crossed the Vuvo* by a bridge,
and leaving the Acherusian plains, took a course
eastward towards Parga.

Another hour was wasted by the muleteer
persisting in the descent of a ravine, which con-
ducted to no place whatever. There were new
cuts of mule tract also, which evidently greatly
puzzled poor old Andrea, who had not been
here since 1833 ; and by the time we arrived at
the hills on the coast looking towards Paxos,

* The ancient Cocytus. Leake.

B B

;i70 JOl KNALS "i

the sun was very low, and there were no symp-
toms of Parga. It was so late, that as this new
broad track seemed necessarily about to lead to
some village, an experimental retrograde move
was objectionable, so we went onwards, though
by the winding of the path over cliffs to the
south, it was evident to me that Parga was not
to be my home to-night.

At length we entered a thick wood, and began
to descend rapidly, when lo ! once more we
were in sight of the Acherusian plains, with the
port of Fanari or Splantza at our feet. The
route we had followed by mistake was a new
one, lately made from that increasing village to
Parffa and Paramythia ; but the discovery of his
error threw poor old Andrea into great distress.

" Old age is coming upon me, and my
memory is going," said he ; " I never missed
my way before, and now for the first time I
perceive that I shall be unable to act as guide
any longer. I, my wife, and my daughter, shall
all die of starvation."

In vain I declared, in order to comfort him,
that he had done me a great service, for I par-
ticularly wished to have a drawing: of the ancient
port Glycys Limen, which in reality is a beautiful
scene. The poor old fellow was inconsolable,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 371

so I sent him onward with the baggage, and re-
mained until the sun had set, sketching the quiet
little bay and its village, at the edge of the
marshy plain, with the beautiful island of Leu-
cadia forming the background.

It became dark ere I reached the edge of the
thick wood ; and in places where the track
divided, the Albanian who led my horse, felt (for
it was too dark to see) for the freshest traces
left by the horse's shoes, on the edges of the
flints in the path. I left the thicket, and on
rounding the hill which overhangs the marsh, I
saw Andrea and the horses far on the shore, ' lit
by a large low moon ;' and following the edge of
the Acherusian swamp, that sparkled with my-
riads of fireflies, I reached the sands of the calm
bay, and the hamlet of Splantza, where I found
lodging provided in the large room of a Greek
family, agents to the people whom I knew at
Prevyza, and who were glad to make any arrange-
ment for my comfort.

Late at night I strolled on to the bright sands,
and enjoyed the strange scene : air seems peopled
with fireflies, earth with frogs, which roar and
croak from the wide Acherusian marsh ; low-
walled huts cluster around ; Albanians are

n b 2

372 JOURNALS OF

stretched on mats along the shore ; huge watch-
dogs lie in a circle round the village ; the calm
sea ripples, and the faint outline of the hills of
desolate Suli, is traced against the clear and
spangled sky.

May 7.

Long before sunrise we were away from
Splantza, and taking another guide to insure
certainty in reaching Parga, I bade adieu once
more to the plain of the Acheron and dark
Suli, as we followed the track which led us in
less than two hours to the spot we had reached
last afternoon, and thence for some distance
along the high cliffs above the bright blue sea,
through underwood of lentisk and thorn.

About nine we arrived at beautiful and ex-
tensive groves of olive, for the cultivation of
which Parga is renowned ; they clothe all the
hills around, and hang over rock and cliff to
the very sea with delightful and feathery luxu-
riance. At length Ave descended to the shore
at the foot of the little promontory on which
the ill-fated place and its citadel stood ; alas,
what now appears a town and castle consists of

A LANDSCAPE PAINTEE. 373

old ruined walls, for Parga* is desolate. A new
one built since the natives abandoned the ancient
site, — is, however, springing up on the shore,
and with its two mosques is picturesque : this,
with the rock and dismantled fortress — the
islands in the bay, and the rich growth of olive
slopes around, form a picture of completely
beautiful character, though more resembling an
Italian than a Greek scene ; but it is impossible
fully to contemplate with pleasure a place, the
history of which is so full of melancholy and
painful interest.

A dark cloud hangs over the mournful spot.
Would that much which has been written con-
cerning it were never read, or that having been
written it could be disbelieved !

A lodging was found me in a very decent
house, and shelter against the heat of midday,
was grateful. In the afternoon and evening I
made many drawings from either side of the
promontory of Parga. From every point it is
lovely, very unlike Albanian landscape in
general, and partaking more of the character
of Calabrian or Amalfitan coast scenery. But

* Hughes, II. 244, 474. Hansard, Vol. XL. pp. 806, 1177, &c.

374 JOURNALS OF

iii spite of the delightful evening, and the spark-
ling white buildings that crowned the rock at
whose feet the waves murmured, the whisper-
ing olives above me, the convent islets, and
the broad bright sea beyond, in spite of all
this, I felt anxious to leave Parga. The picture,
false or true, of the 10th of April, 1819, was
ever before me, and I wished with all rav heart
that I had left Parga unvisited.

May 8.

About seven I retraced my steps to the
road communicating between Paramythia and
Splantza, and throughout the route leading over
the hills which surround the Parguinote territory
there was but little interest, excepting some
Hellenic remains on the right, which I did not
leave the track to examine.

Before eleven we reached Margariti ; it
stands in a close valley surrounded by hills,
the outline of which is not possessed of much
beauty ; but, as in many other instances, the
frequency of interesting detail that forms, as it
were, numerous small pictures, atoned for the
want of general effect. Along the hill-side are
scattered great numbers of detached Turkish

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 375

houses situated in gardens ; one or two small
minarets glitter above the fruit trees, and fine
groups of plane shade parts of the vale below.

Margariti, still a considerable place, was once
extensive and powerful, and one of the last
which held out against the power of Ali, but in
the end it shared the fate of its neighbours. A
cottage received me for repose and refreshment
until the heat of noon was over. At half-past
one p.m. we began to ascend the range of high
hills which divide the territories of Margariti and
Paramythia, and to toil over a tract of ground
as barren of herbage as of interest and beauty ;
near the summit of the height, however, is seen
the extremity of Korfu, and higher up to the
south lies Santa Maura ; and the day being very
sultry, there was a pleasant breeze, which partly
compensated for the absence of charm in the
landscape. Nor was there long to wait for this
worthier scene ; for we shortly began to descend
into the green and pleasant plains of Paramythia,
the town and castle of which are situated at
its northern end, backed by magnificently-
formed mountains. Every step across the
plain of the Cocytus increases the beauty of
the appearance of this fine place, without doubt
one of the most grandly situated towns in

376 JOURNALS OF

Albania. The mountains which enclose the
valley on every side prevent any distant view,
but the interest of the hill of Paramvthia is in
itself sufficient to employ an artist for a long
space of time. The summit of the rock, on
the sides of which the houses of the town are
built, is crowned with a castle, and below it are
scattered the picturesquely grouped dwellings
intermingled with cypress and all kinds of
foliage, while streams, stone fountains, Greek
churches and mosques, — a second castle, that
rises above what may be termed the lower
town, large tufts of lofty trees in the vale, and
the fir-clad mountain above, add to the charm
and splendour of the scene.* I lingered long
on the banks of the Cocytus drawing this beau-
tiful place. The costume of the Greek women
here is one of the prettiest I have seen ; and as
a party passed me on its return to the town
from a neighbouring wedding, I had a good
opportunity of observing several of them.

On arriving in that part of Paramythia which
is most thickly inhabited, the narrow and dirty
streets present a strange contrast to the beauty

* Hughes, II. 430.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 377

of the town, when seen from below, and although
we discovered a khan to which some of the pea-
sants had recommended me as " troppo polito !"
it was so dismal and filthy an abode that we
tried to find a substitute in some Greek chris-
tian's house. After some search, however, I
was forced to relinquish the idea of comfort, and
remain in a close and foul cell for the night (a
place little better than some of my Illyrian
lodgings), and listen to the wild octave-singing
of the Albanians below, till the arrival of mid-
night, silence, and sleep.

May 9.

In these holes, miscalled rooms, light there is
none, and it is only by the sudden and simul-
taneous clattering of storks, twittering of swal-
lows, bleating of goats, and jingling of mules'
bells, that a man is advised of the coming day.
Starting at seven, two hours of toil brought us
to the top of a rocky and uninteresting pass, at a
place called Eleutherokhorio, one of the often-
contested spots in the wars between Ali and the
people of Paramythia, Margariti, and Suli.

Here passports were demanded by a guard of
Albanians, a matter more of form than use, as

378 journals or

Andrea hardly deigned to exhibit my Boyourldi
Hence we descended into the bed of a torrent,

whence we remained making weary way among

low planes, not yet in leaf, so much colder is
the temperature in this district, than on the
southern and western side of the mountains,
where all was brilliant verdure. By one, p.m.,
we had already crossed this tiresome stream
forty times ; rain began to fall, and the day was
gloomy and cloudy, so that, growing colder every
hour, I grew every moment more weary of a
day's journey, in which there was little beauty,
novelty, or interest.

About three wre turned to the right, leaving
the road to Ioannina, which weflhad hitherto
followed, and ascending the sloping base of
Mount Olytzika, arrived about half-past four at
the village of Bagotjus, where we halted to pass
the night. It was too late to visit the theatre of
Dhramisius, so after drawing some of the scenery
from the door of the priest's house where I am
to lodge, I pass the evening as well as I can ; —
the ceiling of my night's home is hung with pen-
dant Indian corn, and irreat globes of raw cot-
ton ; outside, the viewr is peculiarly interesting :
infinite clumps of tine trees clothe the sides of
the hill, or are dispersed in the pasture-land

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 379

below ; some of these shelter the village church
in a very pleasing manner, as is the usage in
these countries.

May 10.

To my great disappointment, it was raining
hard at sunrise, and the clouds did not give any
promise of holding up. Nevertheless, resolved
to see the ruins of Dhramisius : I walked thither
with a guide, as they are not above twenty
minutes' distance from the village of Bagotjus.
In spite of the driving cold rain, which nearly
hid Mount Olytzika from view, it was impossi-
ble not to be greatly struck with the magnificent
size and position of the great theatre, which
ranks in dimensions with the largest ones of
Greece, Sparta, Argos, Athens, Megalopolis, &c*
its total diameter being four hundred and sixty
feet.

It is supposed that these extensive remains
belong to a hierum and place of public meeting
of the Molossi : "a place of common sacrifice
and political union, for the use of all the towns

* Leake, North. Greece, I. 2G3.

,'JHO JOURNALS OK

of that division of Epirus."* I greatly regretted
not being able to make such drawings as I

wished at this interesting spot, though I did get
one; but, had it been fine, the vale below the in 1-
mense theatre, with the great peaks of Olytzika
above, the immense clumps of trees at its base,
would have tempted me to pass a day there.

On Andrea joining me with the horses, we
made the best of our way to Ioannina in pouring
rain, which never ceased until we were near the
lake, when Pindus, glittering in silvery snowr,
peeped forth from clouds, and all the wide mea-
dows south of the city were flocked with num-
berless white storks.

Before eleven 1 reach Ioannina, and am once
more at the hospitable vice-consulate, where
Signor Damaschino and his family have arrived
a few days back from Prevyza.

May 11, 12, 13.

Three days passed at Ioannina, but with con-
stant interruptions from showers. The mornings
are brilliant, but clouds gather on Mitzikeli

* Leake, North. Greece, I. 268.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 381

about nine or ten, and from noon to three or
four, thunder and pouring rain ensues. The air
is extremely cold, and whereas at Parga I could
only bear the lightest clothing, I am here too
glad to wear a double capote, and half the night
am too cold to sleep.

Apart from the friendly hospitality of the
Damaschind family, a sojourn at Ioannina is
great pleasure, and were it possible, I would
gladly pass a summer here. It is not easy to
appreciate the beauty of this scenery in a hasty
visit ; the outlines of the mountains around are
too magnificent to be readily reducible to the
rules of art, and the want of foliage on the
plain and hills may perhaps at first give a barren
air to the landscape. It is only on becoming con-
versant with the groups of trees and buildings,
picturesque in themselves, and which combine
exquisitely with small portions of the surround-
ing hills, plain, or lake, that an artist perceives
the inexhaustible store of really beautiful forms
with which Ioannina abounds.

During these days time passed rapidly away,
for there was full employment for every hour ;
one moment I would sit on the hill which rises
west of the city, whence the great mountain
of Mitzikeli on the eastern side of the lake is

382 JOUENALS 01

seen most nobly : at another, I would move with
delight from point to point among the southern
suburbs, from which the huge ruined fortress of
Litharitza, with many a silvery mosque and
dark cypress, form exquisite pictures : or watch
from the walls of the ruin itself, the varied
effects of cloud or sunbeam passing over the
blue lake, now shadowing the promontory of
the kastron or citadel, now gilding the little
island at the foot of majestic Mitzikeli. Then
I would linger on the northern outskirts of the
town, whence its long line constitutes a small part
of a landscape whose sulflime horizon is varied by
mountain forms of the loftiest and most beautiful
character, or by wandering in the lower ground
near the lake, I would enjoy the placid solemnity
of the dark waters reflecting the great mosque
and battlements of the citadel as in a mirror.
1 was never tired of walking out into the
spacious plain on each side the town, where
immense numbers of cattle enlivened the scene,
and milk-white storks paraded leisurely in quest
of food : or I would take a boat and cross to the
little island, and visit the monastery, where that
most wondrous man Ali Pasha met his death :
or sitting bv the edsje of the lake near the
southern side of the kastron, sketch the massive.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 383

mournful ruins of his palace of Litharitza,
with the peaks of Olytzika rising beyond. For
hours I could loiter on the terrace of the kas-
tron opposite the Pasha's serai, among the
ruined fortifications, or near the strange gilded
tomb where lies the body of the man who for
so long a time made thousands tremble ! It
was a treat to watch the evening deepen the
colours of the beautiful northern hills, or sha-
dows creeping up the furrowed sides of Mitzikeli.
And inside this city of manifold charms the
interest was as varied and as fascinating : — it
united the curious dresses of the Greek peasant
— the splendour of those of the Albanian :
the endless attractions of the bazaars, where
embroidery of all kinds, fire-arms, horse-gear,
wooden-ware, and numberless manufactures
peculiar to Albania were exhibited — the clat-
tering storks, whose nests are built on half
the chimneys of the town, and in the great
plane-trees whose drooping foliage hangs over
the open spaces or squares : — these and other
amusing or striking novelties which the pen
would tire of enumerating, occupied every
moment, and caused me great regret that I
could not stay longer in the capital of Epirus.
And when to all these artistic beauties is added

;j,S4 JOURNALS Ol

the associations of Ioannina with the later years
of Greek history, the power and tyranny of its
extraordinary ruler, its claim to representing
the ancient Dodona, and its present and utterly
melancholy condition, no marvel that Ioannina
will always hold its place in memory as one of
the first in interest of the many scenes I have
known in many lands.

Of the people of Ioannina* I saw nothing ex-
cept in the streets. 1 went about perfectly un-
molested ; nor was there any curiosity shown as
to my drawing : once only some Turkish
officers observing my $ork on gray paper, sent
for an interpreter to tell me that what I was
using was not good London paper, for it was
not white. Margiann, the black Kawas of the
Vice-consulate, accompanied me everywhere,
and smote the little red-capped children hither
and thither if they came too near me. Among
the women I observed none very pretty, and
several were painted (as I remarked also at
Paramythia) in the coarsest manner, quite to
the eyes and roots of the hair.

* Col. Leake, North. Greece, Vol. IV. Chap. 37, for a most
interesting and admirable description of Ioannina, its customs,
history, &c.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 385

The unsettled state of the weather, which
characterises the spring and early summer in
this place, prevented my even being able to
obtain such sketches of the city and its neigh-
bourhood as I had wished ; and the same cause
made me very undecided as to pursuing my
journey eastward ; yet it seemed hard to return
to England without seeing Meteora, Tempe,
Olympus, and Athos ; and when on the 13th
the wind changed, and there were all sorts of
atmospherical signs of permanently fine weather
about to set in, I finally resolved on crossing
the Pindus into Thessaly, and ordered horses
for the morrow.

May 14.

The morning promises well, and we start as
early as half-past five ; it is bitterly cold at this
early hour, and the paved Turkish road forbids
other than a very slow pace. At the southern
end of the lake, the passage between it, or rather
a tract of marsh, and the hill of Kastritza is
merely wide enough to admit of this causeway
— the high road from Ioannina to Constanti-
nople. The ancient remains on the hill I reserved
for a visit on my return, when I hoped to make

o c

386 joi i;\ \lb OJ

drawings to aid at a future da\ in some poetical
illustration of Dodona, for with thai ancient eit\
the site of Kastritza* is considered by Colonel

Leake to be identical; the fortress peninsula of
the present city of Ioannina he suirirests as the
position of the Dodonean temple. The cautious
research carried on for so long a time in Epiru-,
and the great learning brought to the aid of such
careful personal observation, oifer very weighty
reasons for putting faith in any of Colonel
Leake's suggestions as to the sites of antiquity:
but apart from these, I feel determined to believe
that his arguments concerning Kastritza are
correct. And until I see a more beautiful
Dodona I will believe, and it is a harmless even
if an ill-founded credulity, that Dodona and the
temple did stand at Kastritza and Ioannina.

Cros>ing the plain of Barkumadhi, where
there is a road-side khan, I began to ascend
Mount Dhrysko — apart of Mount Mitzikeli, or
the ancient Tomarus — arriving about nine at
the top of the ridge, thence looking back on the
1 ike, peninsula and island. Descending on the

tern side of the ridge, the prospect shows the

* Leake, IV. 157—196.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 387

two oreat branches of the Arachthus, or river of
Arta ; that on the west coming from the hills of
Zagori ; that on the east from the mountains of
Metzovo. Above, the vast forms of the Pindus
range tower amid snow and forests of pine ; —
woods in dense array clothe the hill sides, and
below the river winds in many a serpentine
detour.

Passing a khan, not twenty minutes in de-
scending from the ridge of Dhrysko, we continue
the downward route to a second khan — near a
bridge which crosses the Zagori branch of the
river. Here we made the mid- day halt ; — there
is ever somewhat pleasing in these moments of
repose, if the weather permit them to be enjoyed
out of doors ; — you have the rustling plane-tree
shading the galleried khan, around whose steps
a host of little kids are sleeping, nightingales
singing on all sides, purple-winged dragon flies
gleaming in the sun, and unseen shepherds
pouring forth a pleasing melody from rustic
pipes ; all these are matters of interest, though
the actual scenery around me has rather a cum-
brous air with undefined forms of hugeness not
very adaptable to paper.

Half an hour after noon we again set off, and
crossing the bridge begin the ascent of the Met-

c c 2

388 JOURNALS 01

zovo branch of the Arta. Disliking the continual
necessity of fording the rapid stream, I essay
to follow the road, which is carried along the
right hank of the stream; but soon finding it
entirely broken down by torrents, wc are obliged
to retreat and descend to the bed of the river.

To those who are pleased with the operation
of river fording I strongly recommend the ascent
of the Metzovo mountain, as insuring a greater
portion of amusement in that line than any other
equal space of ground. No fewer than forty-
seven times had Ave to cross and re-cross the
tiresome torrent ere Ave reached our evening's
destination.

I had hoped to lodge at Triakhania, where
there are, as the name implies, three khans ; but
we found on arriving there, as late as four p.m.,
that none were inhabited, and owing to last year's
inundations one was carried away, and the other
two left roofless and dilapidated.

Meanwhile the scenery was becoming more
alpine and tremendous in character as Ave ad-
vanced into the darker gorges of the ravine, and
the picturesqueness of the pass was much en-
hanced (though my chances of getting a night's
lodging were proportionally diminished), by the
passage of a regiment of Turkish cavalry with

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 389

led horses. As the route occasionally leads at
a considerable height from the river, while cross-
ing from one ford to another, the long lines of
soldiers dashing through the stream added great
life to the picture.

Disappointed of our resting-place at Tria-
khania, there was now no alternative but to pass
on to Metzovo, and after much tedious splash-
ing through the roaring stream, we passed the
military detachment, and hastened onwards,
hoping to secure some part of a khan before
they arrived. After much labour and hurry
over roads which skirt the edge of precipices
overhanging the torrent, we reached Anilio, the
southern half of Metzovo — a large town divided
into two portions by the ravine, and presenting
no very picturesque appearance. Here Ave
arrived at half-past seven o'clock, after a harder
day's work than I had contemplated.

Guards were stationed at the public khans,
to prevent any one taking rooms in them ; so
we had gained nothing by our haste. Andrea,
however, soon procured a lodging in one of
the houses of the village — a great contrast to
those of the ordinary Greek peasants, being,
although very small, perfectly neat and clean.

Metzovo is inhabited by Vlakhi or Vlakhi-

;W<> J01 RNAL8 01

otes — a people of Wallaehian descent, already
Bpoken of in these journals as occupying por-
tions of Albania. In general their employment
is that of shepherds, and as such they move
about with their flocks from district to dis-
trict. But in certain parts of the mountains
settled colonies of them exist, who possess larg<
flocks of sheep and goats, and are distinguished
for their industrious and quiet habits of life.
Many of the men emigrate as labourers, arti-
zans, &c, to Germany, Hungary, Russia, &c,
and return only in tluL summer to their fami-
lies. They retain their language. Their cos-
tume is ordinarily that of the Greek peasantry
— a dark blue capote — with the head frequently
bound by a handkerchief turban-wise above the
fez or cap.

May 15.

There is much that is interesting and pleasanl
in this elevated town. The houses stand mosth
detached among gardens, rocks, beech and ilex
trees, and a thousand pictures of pastoral moun-
tain-life might be chosen, though the ireneral
scenery is of too large a character for the
pencil. The people also seem simple and

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 391

sociable in manners : while I am drawing, many
of them bring me bunches of narcissus and
cowslips, and endeavour to converse. All have
a robust and healthful appearance, very different
to the people of the plains.

At half- past six I begin to ascend towards
the highest ridge of the Metzovo pass, called
the Zygos, a formidable journey when there is
any high wind or snow.* At present the
weather is calm, and the magnificent groups
of pine at the summits of the ridge are undis-
guised by even a single cloud. Few mountain-
passes are finer in character than this part of
the Pindus range. Towards the very highest
point the rock, bald and rugged, is so steep
that the zigzag track cannot be overcome but
upon foot ; and the immense space of mountain
scenery which the eye rests on in looking west-
ward is most imposing. Parent of the most
remarkable rivers of Greece, and commanding
the communication between Epirus and Thes-
saly, the Zygos of Metzovo is equally renowned
for classical associations, for geographical and
political position, and picturesqueness.

* Leake, I. 296—301 ; Holland, 226. Dr. Holland states
the height of the ridge of Zygos to be 4,500 feet.

;<<j_> JOURNALS 01

But in this latter quality it is for the won-
drous and extensive view over the plains of
Thessalv that it is most celebrated — a scene I
was not fated to be indulged with ; for no
sooner had I surmounted the last crag of the
ridge, in enthusiastic expectation of the out-
stretched map of which I had so often heard,
than lo ! all was mist. Nor, till I had for some
time descended through the beautiful beech-
forests which cover the eastern side of the Zygds,
and which are carefully preserved as a shelter
from the winds which^would at some seasons
otherwise prevent the passage of the mountain,
did the clouds disperse ; but even then only so
partially as to show but little of the vast Thessa-
lian distance.

Passing a khan — the Zygos khan — shortly
below the summit, we descended through woods
into the more open country to a second, and in
two hours and a half from the Zvi^os reached
the third khan, that of Malakassi, on the
Salympria.

At the khan of Malakassi we rested till nearly
one p.m., when we pursued the route by the
banks of the Salympria, or Peneus, often cross-
ing and recrossing it, according as the track was
more eligible on one or the other side. The

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 393

scenery, confined at first and unmarked by any
peculiar character, became more beautiful as we
advanced farther from the mountains, whose
thickly wooded slopes began to assume the blue
tints of distance. Luxuriant planes grow in the
greatest abundance by the river side ; and the
route often wound for half-an-hour through
fresh meadows and the richest groves, resound-
ing with the warbling of nightingales, and
overshadowing rivulets which flow into the
stream. We met numerous files of laden
horses, journeying from Thessaly to Albania;
but picturesque as they often were, there was
a civilized sort of common-place appearance
about them, which to an artist's eye is in-
finitely less pictorial than the bearing of the
wild hordes of Albania. We passed also more
than one khan by the road, and usually at
these places the Albanian guards asked us ques-
tions, and insisted on seeing passports which
they had not the slightest idea of reading. As
a proof of this, on my taking out by mistake
the card of a hotel-keeper at Athens, the
Palikar snatched at it hastily, and after gravely
scrutinizing it, gave it back to me, saying,
" Good ; you may pass on !" At the next
guardhouse, I confess to having amused myself

39 l JOURNALS 01

1>\ showing a bill of Mrs. Dunsford's Hotel, at

Malta, and at another the bark of an English
letter, each of which documents were received
as a Teskere. So much for the use of the Der-
veni guards, placed by the Turkish Government
to take accurate cognizance of all passers-by.

As the day wore on, and the river opened out
into a wider valley, the eastern horizon suddenly
exhibited a strange form in the distance, which
at once I felt to be one of the rocks of the Me-
teora. This object combines with a thousand
beautiful pictures, ^nited with the white-
trunked plane-trees and the rolling Peneus, ere,
escaping from the woods, the route reaches the
wider plain ; and the inconceivably extraordi-
nary rocks of Kalabaka, and the Meteora con-
vents, are fully unfolded to the eye.

" Twelve sheets," says Mr. Cockerell, in a
letter, Feb. 9, 1814, "would not contain all the
wonders of Meteora, nor convey to you an idea
of the surprise and pleasure which I felt in
beholding these curious monasteries, planted
like the nests of eagles, on the summits of high
and pointed rocks."* We arrived at Kastraki, a

* Hughes, I. 509.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 395

village nestled immediately below these gigantic
crags, at sunset. I do not think I ever saw any
scene so startling and incredible ; such vast
sheer perpendicular pyramids, standing out of
the earth, with the tiny houses of the village
clustering at the roots.

With difficulty — for it is the time when silk-
worms are being bred in the houses, and the
inhabitants will not allow them to be disturbed —
Andrea procured a lodging for me in the upper
part of a dwelling, formed as are most in the vil-
lage, like a tower, the entrance to which, for the
sake of defence, was by a hole three feet high.
Here, after having gazed in utter astonishment
at the wild scenery as long as the light lasted,
I took up my abode for the night. The inhabi-
tants of this place, as well as of Kalabaka (or
Stagus),* are Christians, and every nook of the
village was swarming with pigs and little child-
ren. " Uoxxa ttkJW ," said an old man to me, as the
little creatures thronged about me, " &« ™ vs§6v
xccxov" What a contrast is there between the
precipices, from five to six hundred feet high, and
these atoms of life playing at their base ! Strange,

* Anciently Acgmium. Leake, I. 422.

396 JOURNALS OP

unearthly-look ing rocks arc tlicsc, full of gigan-
tic chasms and round holes, resembling Gruyc-re
cheese, as it were, highly magnified, their sur-
face being otherwise perfectly smooth. Behind
the village of Kastraki, the groups of rock arc
more crowded, and darkened with vegetation ;
and at this late hour a sombre mystery makes
them seem like the work of some genii, or
enchanter of Arabian romance. Before the
dwellings, a slope covered with mulberry trees
descends to the river, and grand scenes of Thcs-
salian plain and hill till up the southern and
eastern horizon.

May 16.

I went very early with a villager to visit and
sketch the monasteries. Truly they are a most
wonderful spectacle ; and are infinitely more
picturesque than I had expected them to be.
The magnificent foreground of fine oak and
detached fragments of rock, struck me as
one of the peculiar features of the scene.
The detached and massive pillars of stone,
crowned with the retreats of the monks,
rise perpendicularly from the sea of foliage,
which at this early hour, six a.m. is wrapped

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 397

in the deepest shade, while the bright eastern
light strikes the upper part of the magic heights
with brilliant force and breadth. To make any
real use of the most exquisite landscape abound-
ing throughout this marvellous spot, an artist
should stay here for a month : there are both the
simplest and most classic poetries of scenery at
their foot looking towards the plain and moun-
tain ; and when I mounted the cliffs on a level
with the summit of the great rocks of Meteora
and Baarlam, the solitary and quiet tone of these
most wonderful haunts appeared to me inex-
pressibly delightful. Silvery white goats were
peeping from the edge of the rocks into the
deep, black abyss below ; the simple forms of
the rocks rise high in air, crowned with
church and convent, while the eye reaches the
plains of Thessaly to the far-away hills of
Agrafa. No pen or pencil can do justice to
the scenery of Meteora* I did not go up to

* Yet more has been done for these monasteries, both by pen
and pencil, than for any place so remote from the ordinary
routine of English travel. The best accounts of them are
published by Colonel Leake, who visited this and the adjoining
villages in 1805—1810. North. Greece, Vol. I. 118, and Vol.
IV. 537; and in Dr. Holland's tour (1812, 1813), who gives

398 JOUiN\LSOF

any of the monasteries. Suffering from a

severe fall in the autumn of la>t year, I had no
desire to run the risk of increasing the weak-
ness of my right arm, the use of which 1 was onl\
now beginning to regain, so the interior of these
monkish habitations I left unvisited ; regretting
that I did so the less, as every moment of the
short time I lingered among these scenes, was
too little to carry away even imperfect repre-
sentations of their marvels.

I had been more than half inclined to turn
back after having ^n the Meteora convents,
but the improvement in the weather, the in-
ducement of beholding Olympus and Tempe, and
the dread of so soon re-encountering the gloomy-
Pass of Metzovo, prevailed to lead me forward.
Accordingly, at nine a.m. I set off eastward

accurate views of them, together with elaborate and excellent
descriptions of the scenery, &c, sec pages 231 — 245. The
monastery of Baarl&m represented in Mr. Cockcrell's drawing
(Hughes, Vol. I. 508), conveys, it is needless to say, a thoroughly
correct idea of that place. (1810.) There arc also striking
descriptions of the Meteora rocks in Urquhart's ' Spirit of the
East/ Vol. I. 271, &c. And last, not least, the drawings of
Viscount Kastnor, and the lion. K. Cuivon's amusing account
of these remarkable monasteries, have made them familiar to
all who read.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 399

once more along the valley of the Peneus, which
beyond Kastraki widens rapidly into a broad
plain, enlivened by cattle and sheep, and an
infinite number of storks. As we approached
Trikkala, the pastoral qniet beanty of the wide
expanse increased greatly, and the view close to
the town is delightful. Standing on a rising
ground, the Castle of Trikkala, with magnificent
plane trees at its foot, makes a beautiful fore-
ground to a distance, the chief ornaments of
which are the chain of Othrys and distant
Oeta. The scenes of life and activity, the
fountain with groups of Thessalian women at its
side, the little mosque with its cypresses, offer
a most welcome change to me after the sullen
ravines of the Pindus, and the close-wooded
valley of the Upper Salympria.

We halted at mid- day in a cafe of Trikkala,
the keeper of which was a man of Trieste, who
talked of 'quella Londra, e quel Parigi ' with the
air of a man of travel. But the sort of mongrel
appearance of every person and thing in the
town, are not pleasing to the eye of an artist
who has been wandering much among real cos-
tume and eastern characteristic. Blue-tailed
coats worn over white Albanian fustianelles,
white fleecy capotes above trousers and boots,

•100 JOURNALS OF

arc doubtless innocent absurdities, but they are
ugly

At half-past three we again proceeded. The
town of Trikkala is large,* but greatly neglected,
and partly in ruins ; nevertheless, the bazaars
seem extensive and bustling.

The plains grew wider and wider. AVe pass
a few villages, each more wridely apart from its
neighbour than the preceding, and by degrees I
feel that I am really in Thessaly, for width and
breadth now constitute the soul and essence of
all the landscape, ^fo the north only the
distant form of Olympus rears itself above a
low range of hills ; and to the south, the hills
of Agrafa and Oeta are gradually becoming
less distinct. Before me all is vast, outstretched
plain, which never seems to end. Agriculture
and liveliness are its predominant charac-
teristics. It is full of incident; innumerable
sheep, goats, horses, buffali, and cattle, corn or
pasture-land, peasants' huts, hundreds of per-
ambulating storks, give a life and variety every-
where. And then so green, so intensely green, is
this immense level ! and the peasant women, in

* Trikkala, ancient Tricca.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 401

their gay, fringed and tasselled capotes, — how far
handsomer than any Greeks I have seen !

At sunset we halt at a village (Nomi) ; there
are plenty of villages as halting-places on all
sides, but I have had enough work for to-day.

The Primate's house, which we go to, is newly
whitewashed, and very damp, so Andrea per-
suades a Mohammedan agent for the Turkish
proprietor of the village, Seid EfFendi, to let me
have a room in his house. And a delightful
house it is — the room on the upper floor is lined
throughout with new wood, and adjoining a
gallery, which looks over all the wide, wide
plain.

With curried mutton, roast fowl, and fish
from the Peneus, Andrea makes an excellent
dinner. He tells me that Seid EfFendi possesses
seven thousand sheep, which are kept by the
shepherds of these villages, who receive the
tenth lamb with the tenth of the wool of the
flock as their pay.

These Thessalian plains are alive with dogs,
who bark all through the night.

May 17.

A lovely scene ! as the sun rises over the

D D

!()•_> JOURNALS OB

immense extent of verdure, which soon becomes
animated with rural bustle. It will be difficult

at a future period to recall, even to memory, the
indescribable clearness and precision of this
Greek landscape, far more to place it on paper
or cam as. We start early, and trot quickly over
green roads, which cross the wide level from vil-
lage to village. There are buffali ploiuidiinir ; and
there are strange waggons, with spokeless wheels
of solid wood, drawn by oxen ; and great cara-
vans of horses carrying merchandise from
Saloniki to the mountains — the lading tied in
sacks of striped cloth. With some there are
whole families migrating, children, puppies, and
fowls, mingled in large panniers. The men wear
black capotes, the women white, and dress their
long plaited hair outside a white handkerchief.
There are great gray cranes too, the first I ever
saw enjoying the liberty of nature. These birds
seem made for the vast plains of Thessaly : how
they walk about proudly by pairs, and disdain
the storks who go in great companies! Now
and then there is a vulture, but there is too much
society for them generally. As for jackdaws and
magpies, they congregate in clouds, and hover
and settle by myriads.

We come to the Peneus once more — now a

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 403

great river. Giant, white-stemmed abeles, in
Claude-like groups, are reflected in its stream ;
herons are peering and watching on its banks ;
and immense flocks of brown sheep are resting
in the shade of the trees.

Between nine and ten we stop for a little
while at the khan below Zarcho, and after that
we enter a wide valley, through which the
Peneus runs ; the sides of the vale are low un-
dulations, which shut out all the distant plain.
At twelve, we came again to the river side, and
passing it by a ferry, halt for food and repose
below large plane-trees. Bee-eaters* with their
whistling pipe flutter in numbers around the
upper branches.

At two p.m. we are off again ; — the delightful
character of the Thessalian plains is changed.
The ground is no longer a perfect flat, but com-
posed of undulations of such great size, that no
part of even the mountain boundaries of the
plain — Olympus, Ossa, Oeta, or Pindus — can
be well seen; and sometimes for half-an-hour
the traveller dips into an overgrown corn-field,
beyond the limits of which he sees and knows

* Merops A piaster.

D I) k2

|()| JOURNALS <)1

nothing. I confess I was most heartily weary,
ii- 1 came in sight of the minarets of Larissa;
and although the view of all Olympus is unob-
structed at its entrance to the town, from which
there is a view of the river sweeping finely
below it, yet it is clear that the extremely simple
lines of this part of Thessaly are ill adapted for
making a picture, and least of all can anything
like expression of the chief character of the
country, i.e., its vast level extent, be given.

The heat is great, and I have, moreover, a
feeling of returning ftver, so that I do not ob-
serve the environs of Larissa so much or so
carefully as I might, but entering the city, go at
once to the house of Hassan Bey, the richest
proprietor in Larissa (to whom the Hon. Cap-
tain Colborne has given me a letter) ; and
although the Bey himself is from home, his
family gave orders for my being placed in a
good room, where I pass the night.

May 18.

The morning is occupied in a visit to the
Governor of the Pashalik, Sami Pashet, an agree-
able man, who has lived at Cairo, London,
and all kinds of civilized places. He is a

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 405

Greek by birth ; but speaks French and Italian
well.

There is a heaviness in the atmosphere here,
which either producing, or combined with, a
constant fear of fever fits, prevents my making
the least exertion in sketching any one of the
beautiful things around me. Yet to be so near
Tempe, and not to go there ! Nay, whatever
happen, I will see Tempe.

At noon I dine with two of Hassan Bey's
sons, his eldest by one wife ; various other sons
come into the fine room in which dinner is served,
but retire before the meal begins. Hassan Bey
has seven wives, and eleven wivelets, or concu-
bines, and consequently is a sad polygamist;
nurses and children are continually to be seen
in every part of the residence ; but they all
appear to dwell in harmony. It is provoking
to know that from a high lattice on one side
of the courtyard all the eighteen pair of eyes
can perfectly look at us while at dinner, and
yet that I can perceive none of them. The
conversation of our party is not very current, as
neither I nor my young hosts are very proficient
in Romaic. After dinner, I amuse them by
drawing camels, &c, till Andrea informs me
that it is time to start for Tempe.

406 JOURNALS OF

Promising to return to Hassan Bey's family,
a well-bred and good-natured circle, 1 set off
with Andrea, two horses and a knapsack, and a
steeple-hatted Dervish, at whose convent in
Balm, at the entrance to the Pass of Tempe, my
night's abode is to be.

They call the Dervish, Dede Effendi, and he
is the head of a small hospitable establishment,
founded by the family of Hassan Bey, who
allows a considerable sum of money for the relief
of poor persons passing along the ravine. The
Dervish i> obliged to lodge and feed, during
one night, as many as may apply to him for
such assistance. There are many interesting
views about Larissa ; but not feeling sufficiently
fever-proof, I dared not halt to sketch. During
two hours we crossed the level plains ; and as
the sun was lowering, arrived at pleasant green
lanes and park scenery, below the mighty Olym-
pus. By six we arrived at Baba,which stands at
the very gate, as it were, of Tempe, and is cer-
tainly one of the loveliest little places I ever
beheld. The broad Peneus flows immediate!}
below the village, and is half hidden by the
branches of beautiful abeles and plane-tree-,
which dip their branches in the stream. A small
mosque, with its minaret, amid spin cypresses,

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER- 407

is the Dervish's abode ; and on the opposite
side of the river are high rocks and the richest
foliage, rejoicing in all the green freshness of
spring. In the summer-time, when this exqui-
site nook still preserves its delightful verdure,
the hidden passage from the wide parched
plains of Thessaly must doubtless be charming
beyond expression.

The little square room in the Teke, or house
of the Dervish was perfectly clean and neat, and
while I ate my supper on the sofas surrounding
it, the well-behaved Dede EfFendi sate smoking
in an opposite corner ; his son, the smallest pos-
sible dervish, five or six years old, dressed like
his father in all points excepting his beard,
squatted by his side. For the Dervish is a mar-
ried man, and his wife, he assures me, has made
one or two dishes for my particular taste, and is
regarding me at this moment through a lattice at
the top of the wall.

Towards nine, many poor passengers call for
lodging, and are stowed away in a covered yard
by the mosque, each being supplied with a ration
of bread and soup.

JOS JOl RNAL8 01

May 19.

The early morning at Baba is more delightful
than can he told. All around is a deep shadow,
and the murmuring of doves, the whistling of

bee-eaters and the hum of bees fills this tranquil
place.

The village of Ambelaki is situated on the side

■

of Mount Ossa, and thither, having heard
much of its beauty and interest, I went early,
before pursuing the road by thePeneus, through
the gorge of Tempe. I cannot say I was so
much delighted with the expedition as I expected
to be, but this was mainly because heavy clouds
shut out all the upper portions of Olympus, partly
also from not having felt well enough to seek for
the best or most picturesque points. But judging
from what ought to be seen if the great moun-
tain of the Gods had been clear, and relying on
the descriptions and taste of perfectly good
judges,* I believe Ambelaki would well repay
a long visit. On returning to the route to Tempe
I met a young man dressed in the usual

* Leake, HI. 385 ; Holland, 287.

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 409

Thessalian garb, and on my hailing him in
Greek, I was surprised to find my salutation
returned in good French. At the fall of the
commercial community of Ambelaki, the father
of Monsieur Hippolyte, one of the richest mer-
chants of the place, fled to France, settled and
married there : this was his son, who, returning
to his native place, had for some years resided
on the paternal property. " Sometimes I live
here," said he, " sometimes in Paris ; but I come
here principally for hunting." Town and country,
— Paris and Tempe — certainly are two points of
Europe in which one might easily find pleasure
and occupation.

Leaving Monsieur Hippolyte I went onward
into Tempe, and soon entered this most cele-
brated ' vale' — of all places in Greece that which
I had most desired to see. But it is not a ' vale,' it
is a narrow pass — and although extremely beau-
tiful, on account of the precipitous rocks on each
side, the Peneus flowing deep in the midst,
between the richest overhanging plane woods,
still its character is distinctly that of a ravine or
gorge.

In some parts, the Pass, (which is five or six
miles from end to end), is so narrow as merely
to admit the road and the river ; in others the

HO JOl'HNALS OF

locks recede from the stream, and there is a little
-pace of green meadow. The cliffs themselves
are very lofty, and beautifully hung with creepers
and other foliage ; but from having formed a
false imagination as to the character of" Tempe's
native vale," I confess to having been a little
disappointed. Nevertheless, there is infinite
beauty and magnificence in its scenery, and fine
compositions might be made, had an artist time to
wander among the great plane-trees on the border
of the stream : a luxuriant wooded character is
that which principally distinguishes it in a pic-
torial scene from other passes where there may
be equally fine precipices bounding a glen as nar-
row. Well might the ancients extol this grand
defile, where the landscape is so completely
different from that of any part of Thessaly, and
awakes the most vivid feelings of awe and de-
light, from its associations with the legendary
history and religious rites of Greece.

As it was my intention to pursue the route
towards Platamona as far as time would allow.
and to return to Baba at evening, I left the gorge
of Tempe and crossed the Peneus in a ferry-boat
opposite a khan at the eastern extremity of the
Pass. Hence, the scener j was precisely that of
the finest English park : — rich meadows, and

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 41 ]

noble clumps of trees at intervals. In two hours
we reached a guard house, called Kara All Der-
veni — and from a rising ground above it I halted
to make a drawing of the view, which is one of
great beauty. The waters of the Peneus mean-
dered sparkling in many a winding curve,
through delightful meadows and woods, to the
sea ; — beyond was the low isthmus of Pallene,
and above it the lonely Athos, whose pyramid I
gazed on a second time, without much hope of
reaching it.

Towards Ossa and Olympus also the scenery
would, doubtless, have been fine, but thick
clouds provokingly hid them throughout the
day.

In some meadows near a little stream flowing
into the Peneus were several camels, which are
frequently used about Saloniki and Katerina, &c.
They were very ragged and hideous creatures, and
offered a great contrast to the trim and well kept
animals of our Arabs, which we had so familiarly
known in our journey through the desert of
Suez and Sinai. But as I returned towards
Tempe, I perceived a young one among the
herd, and I rode a little way towards it spite of
the clamorous entreaties of the loannina mule-

1 [2 JOURNALS OP

tecr. I had better have attended to his
remonstrances, for the little animal (who re-
sembled nothing so much as a large white muff
upon stilts), chose to rush towards us with
the most cheerful and innocent intentions, and
skipping and jumping after the fashion of de-
lighted kids, thrust himself into the way of our
three horses with the most facetious perverse-
ness. One and all took fright, and the mule-
eers reared, threw him and escaped. There
was much difficulty in recapturing the terrified
animal, and when we had done so, forth came
the little muffy white beast once more, pursu-
ing us with the most profuse antics over the
plain, and rendering our steeds perfectly un-
manageable. To add to our discomfiture, the
whole herd of camels disapproving of the dis-
tance to which we were inveigling their youmr
relation, began to follow us with an increasingly
quick trot ; and we were too glad to ford the
stream as quickly as possible, and leave our
gaunt pursuers and their foolish offspring on
the opposite side.

It was evening when, having recrossed the
Peneus, I arrived at the Dervish's house in
Baba, and the little owls were piping on every

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 413

side in that sweet valley.* Mr. Urquhart, says
that when he was at Tempe,f the Dervish roosted
in one of the cypress trees ; but I cannot say that
the respectable Dede Effendi indulged in such a
bird-like system of repose. He, the female,
and the miniature Dervish, all abide in a little
house attached to the mosque, and the good
order and cleanliness of his whole establish-
ment very much disarranged all my previously-
formed ideas of Dervishes in his favour.

May 20.

On my return to Ioaninna there is but just
time to make one drawing of dark Olympus,
ere a frightful thunderstorm, with deluges of
rain, breaks over the plain and pursues me to
the city. It continues to pour all the afternoon,
and I amuse myself, as best I can, in Hassan
Bey's house. It is a large mansion, in the best
Turkish style, and betokening the riches of its

* The Strix Passcrina (or Scops ?) which abounds in these
groves, as in the olive-woods of Girgenti in Sicily, and southern
localities in general : its plaintive piping, so different to the
screech or hoot of the larger owls, is a pleasant characteristic of
the evening hours.

f Vol. II. 28.

1] I JOURNALS 01

master. It occupies three sides of a walled
court-yard, and one of its wings is allotted to
the hareem, who live concealed by a veil of close
lattice work when at home, though I see them
pass to and fro dressed in the usual disguise worn
out of doors. I watch two storks employed in
building on the roof of that part of the build-
ing. These birds are immensely numerous in
Thessaly, and there is a nest on nearly every
house in Larissa. No one disturbs them ; and
(hey are considered so peculiarly in favour with
the Prophet, that the vulgar believe the conver-
sion of a Christian as being certain to follow
their choice of his roof for their dwelling ;
formerly, a Christian so honoured, w7as forced
to turn Mussulman or quit his dwelling, — so at
least they told me in Ioaninna, where two pair
have selected the Vice Consul's house for their
abode. It is very amusing to watch them when at
work, as they take infinite pains in the construc-
tion of what after all seems a very ill-built nest.
I have seen them, after twisting and bending
a long bit of grass or root for an hour in all
directions, throw it away altogether. That will
not do after all, they say ; and then flying away
they return with a second piece of material, in
the choice of which they are very particular ;

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 415

and, according to my informants at Ioaninna,
only make use of one sort of root. When they
have arranged the twig or grass in a satisfactory
manner, they put up their heads on their
shoulders, and clatter in a mysterious manner
with a sound like dice shaken in a box. This
clattering at early morning or evening, in this
season of the year, is one certain characteristic
that these towns are under Turkish Government,
inasmuch as the storks have all abandoned Greece
(modern), for the Greeks shoot and molest
them ; only they still frequent Larissa, and the
plain of the Spercheius, as being so near
the frontier of Turkey, that they can easily
escape thither if necessary. This is foolishness
in the Greeks, for the stork is most useful in
devouring insects, especially the larva of the
locust, which I observed in myriads on the
plains near the entrance of Tempe ; and I counted
as many as seventy storks in one society, eating
them as fast as possible, and with great dignity
of carriage.

That part of the roof of the hareem which is
not occupied by storks, is covered with pigeons
and jackdaws ; a humane attention paid to the
lower orders of creation being always one of the
most striking traits of Turkish character.

H6 JOURNALS OF

The storm continues all night. The air of
Larissa is heavy and close, and so much threatens
fever, that I resort to quinine in no little quan-
tities.

May 21.

It is fine, but with that instinctive feeling
that certain air in this country infallibly brings
on return of fever, I decide on leaving the
capital of Thessaly without making even one
sketch to recal it to memory ; and I do this
with great regret, for there must be many of
the most beautiful and characteristic Thessalian
scenes to be found in its level environs, and on
the banks of its broad river.

Starting about seven, we held a southward
course ; the plain was one unvaried green undu-
lation. Larissa, and even Olympus, except iioav
and then its highest peaks, are soon lost to
sight, from the comparatively uneven nature of
the ground ; and it is only from some eminence
where a village is planted (of which there were
two or three in the day's ride), that anything
like a satisfactory drawing can be made.

Yet the very simplicity, the extreme exag-
geration of the character of a plain, is not with-

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 417

out its fascination ; and the vast lines of
Thessaly have a wild and dream-like charm of
poetry about them, of which it is impossible for
pen or pencil to give a fully adequate idea.

After passing some elevated ground, from
which the view of the range of Mount Oeta is
most magnificently fine, we halted at midday at
one of these villages — the name I neglected to
take (Hadjobashi ?) — and hence the charm of
Mount Oeta and the hills ofPharsalus or Fersala
make one of the most beautiful of landscapes,
combined with the mosque and its cemetery,
and the profusion of animal life usual in these
Thessalian hamlets.

Having crossed the stream Fersalitis (the
Enipeus), it was past five p.m. ere we arrived
at Fersala, which is full of picturesqueness.
The scattered town on the side of the rocky
height, and the splendid plane-tree groups,
delighted me extremely. I was glad to have
visited a spot so famous in history as well as
interesting from its beautiful situation — one,
not the least of its claims to admiration, being
the full view of the broad Olympus opposite.

•

* Pharsalus. Leake, IV. 1?."").

E E

I is JOURNALS 01

The view from the Acropolis, its ancient walls,
the ruins, and the fountains below the town,
with its kiosk below the white-branched planes,
whose fluttering foliage shelters numerous

storks and their nests, all combine to render
Fersala a place worthy of a longer stay than 1
could make in it.

May 22.

With a feeling of attraction towards new
scenes, and with%faint hope that I might yet,
if there were a fair wind, sail from Volo to
Athos, I started early from Pharsalus. There
was much interest, if not great beauty, in the
morning's ride, and the route passed near seve-
ral ancient sites.* But it was not until the
afternoon, that crossing the low rans:e of hills
near the gulf of Volo, we came in sight of
its blue waters, and looked down on the plain
of Armym, with the chain of Othrys beyond,
and the Magnesian promontory to the east.
Visions of Athos still float before me, and
I decide on going to Yolo instead of Armyro:

* Thftidiuiii. Eretria Phthiotis, Phjrlace?

A LANDSCAPE PAIN TEE. 419

for although it had an appearance of great
prettiness, imbedded as it is in green groves
of wood, yet I must have devoted a whole
day to it had I gone thither at all, the hour
being already far advanced : so, having halted
for a while, I turned northward.

Many were the incidents which filled up the
rest of the day : — first, we lost our way among
cultivated rice-grounds ; and secondly, in a
deep quagmire — a more serious matter, which
took up much time to remedy. At length,
by the sounding blue waves, we went onward
towards the head of the gulf, keeping in view
some white houses to the left where we trusted
to find a night's lodging ; but alas ! when we
arrived at them they were nothing but ruined, un-
inhabited walls. At sunset, having retraced our
steps, we were climbing the lentisk-covered cliffs
at the furthest head of the gulf, and many
parts of it brought back scenes and pleasant
journeys in Attica and Eubrea. But as it grew
dark, and we were descending towards Volo,
Andrea's horse fell, and precipitated him from a
rock some four or five feet in height. It was
long before the muleteer and myself could lift
the unlucky Dragoman on to his horse once
more ; and the great pain he was suffering

E E 2

I -JO J0UKNAL8 01

obliged us to go at a very slow place over t1u>
causeway of rough pavement which leads to the
town. There we arrived at ten at night ; and
it was midnight before we could procure Lodg-
ing within the cellar of a house — in which never-
theless it was necessary to be contented till
morning.

May 23.

Alas ! the woes of Thessaly! It is again pouring
with rain, and the^Tind is set in southerly, so
that once and for altogether I give up all idea
of sailing to Athos.

The horses are ordered, and as soon as An-
drea can get about, I start at length to return
to Ioannina.

As I ride way, Volo, its gulf, and the scat-
tered villages on the hills of Magnesia, seem
truly beautiful; but to what purpose should I
linger ? To-morrow, and to-morrow, may be
equally wet. Mount Athos ! Mount Athos ! All
my toil has been in vain, and I shall now most
possibly never see you more !

All da\ long I rode on in hard rain, and at
sunset we stopped at one of the many villages
in ihi- gre. ;<<n plain No one would look

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 421

at the Bouyourldi, although poor old Andrea
ran about with the open document in his hand,
exclaimino- ! " tc Qximrs — look at it !" with the
most dramatic emphasis. But no one would look
at it. One said he was blind, another declared
he had illness in his family, and all retreated
into their houses from fear, or obstinate resolve
to have nothing to do with strangers ; and if an
old woman had not charitably given me a lodg-
ing, in a shed full of calves, I might have been
drowned in the torrents which fell. Eventually,
however, we procured a cottage floor.

May 24.

The woes of Thessaly continued : once more
by deep mire and incessant corn-fields, through
pastures full of cranes, jackdaws, and storks,
and always in hard rain as before. We kept on
the right bank of the Peneus, as far as the bridge
near the khan of Vlokho, and in the evening
found shelter once more in the house of Seid
Effendi, at Nomi.

Toward sunset it cleared a little ; and as 1
arrived at the night's halting place, all the vil-
lage was alive with the gaieties of a wedding.

122 JOl RNALS 01

Like the dance L and I had seen at Arac-

hova, the women joined hand-in-hand, mea-
suredly footing il in a large semicircle, to a minor
cadence played on two pipes : their dresses were
most beautiful. Half the women wore black
capotes, bordered with red; their hair plaited;
long crimson sashes ; worked stockings and red
shoes : these were the unmarried girls. The other
half — matrons, or betrothed — wore dazzling
white capotes, worked at the collar and sleeves
with scarlet ; the skirts bordered with a regular
pattern of beautifflPeffect, and the red fez nearly
covered with silver coins, which hung in festoons
on their necks, and half-way down the crimson
sash tails.

Besides this the belt, six or eight inches broad,
was covered with coins, and fastened by two em-
bossed silver plates, four inches in diameter, and
gave a beautiful finish to the dress ; the aprons
too were magnificently worked. Of this livery
company, most were pleasing in countenance,
but few could be called beautiful. The bride,
one of the prettiest of the party, came round to
ever\ one present, and kissed their hand, placing
it afterwards on her head, a favour she extended
to me also as one among the spectators. Fa-

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 4 23

tigued and wet through, I regretted not being-
able to avail myself of the opportunity of draw-
ing this pretty village festive scene.

May 25.

The woes of Thessaly continued. In the
middle of the night, the roof of Seid Effendi's
house being slight, a restless stork put one of his
legs through the crevice, and could not extricate
it ; whereon ensued much kicking and screams,
and at the summons came half the storks in
Thessaly, and all night long the uproar was
portentous. Four very wet jackdaws also
came down the chimney, and hopped over
me and about the room till dawn. It rained
as hard as ever as we went over the plains
to Trikkala, and infinitely worse between that
place and Kalabaka, so that the spectral
Meteora rocks looked dim and ghastly in their
gigantic mistiness. With difficulty we crossed
the Peneus beyond Kastraki, and at sunset
reached one of the small khans in the wood by
the roadside which must be my abode till morn-
ing. This unceasing deluge is, however, a very
serious affair, as should the Metzovo river be too

!•_> | JOf|;\\i> OF

much swollen to ford, I maybe a prisoner in the
Pass for an indefinite time.

May -2G.

The woes of Thessaly prolonged ! Until
a little after sunrise, (when it began to pour
again, ) how grand were the Meteora rocks rising
above the thick dark foliage on the banks of the
Salympria !

For hours we threaded the narrowing valley
of the river, whiPft at each ford grew more
violent and rapid; above the next two khans,
parts of the road were very dangerous, and near
Malakassi the streams running into the Salym-
pria — mere rivulets on our journey hither — were
now such foaming torrents that my little white
pony could hardly accomplish the passage.

At noon avc reached Malakassi yet the pea-
sants declare that it has been quite dry on the
Metzovo side of the mountain. Starting at one,
we made the ascent to the Zygos khan by half-
past four, and thence to Metzovo, rinding it to be
true that less rain had fallen there. (The sum-
mit of the mountain was in thick mist, as when I
came, so I never saw that Thessalian view.) We

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 425

passed the town, anxious to be as far advanced
within the gorge as possible in case of bad
weather to-morrow ; and halted for the night at
sunset, at the little khan about a mile above
Triakhania.

May 27.

No more Thessaly — we are in Epirus once
more. We hasten down the river, now dis-
agreeably wide, and reaching in places from
bank to bank ; at length we reach the Lady's
Khan, and ascending Mount Dhrysko, halt. Then
bursts the rolling thunder and the buckets of
heaven are emptied. Floods pour down from
Metzovo and Zagori, and the river will be very
shortly impassable ; it is therefore lucky I have
crossed it. So I reach Kastritza, and the causeway
by the lake, and the Casa Damaschino once more
before five, most heartily delighted to have quitted
Thessaly, however much I regret the little I have
drawn there. But May is the wet season of
Albania, and an artist should avoid it.

May 29.
Resting throughout yesterday (when, as is

|-_)() JOl BNALS 0]

universally the case, rain feU after ten through-
out the day), I prepare to leave Ioannina this
morning, and take leave of the hospitable
Damaschind. Zitza, Kastritza, Zagdri, Dhra-
misius, and many other drawings I lose — so
short is my time — so uncertain the weather.
Addio, Ioaninna ! which I gaze on for the last
time from the height above the lake, its bright
city barked by black clouds of thunder.

Soon the storm burst, but we halted ere lo,
at Verchista, and in the afternoon proceeded
to the night's resting-place — Raveni, a village,
in a beautifully wooded hill district.

May 30.

Wonderfully rich and beautiful landscapes are
there between Raveni and Philates ! perhaps
some of the most lovely I have seen in Albania,
both as to the form and clothing, and arrange-
ment of the hills, and the disposition of the fore-
grounds. After descending a narrow ravine,
we arrived at Philates about twelve, a place
abounding in exquisite beauty, and placed near
that very remarkably -formed rock, which from
Korfu is so effective a feature in the scene.

Much 1 regretted not to draw Philato from

A LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 427

the descent to the plain by the sea-shore, for,
indeed, there are some of the very finest scenes
in all Albania or its environs.

At the Scala of Sayades I arrived at six, and
hiring a boat for Korfii, was deposited safely in
quarantine by noon on the 31st.

June 9.

I was out of quarantine on the 5th, and have
passed some pleasant days in the town since,
though not so much so as formerly. " All things
have suffered change." Lord Seaton's family,
and many others I knew, are gone.

Good old Andrea Vrindisi I have paid, and
sent off to Patras ; and to-day I am on board the
Malta steamer ' Antelope,' and am sailing through
the Ionian Channel for the ninth time. Off
Parga : — there are the mosques, silvery-white ;
there, high up beyond the plain, is the dark
hill of Suli. There is the fatal hill of Z&longo
— the point of Prevyza.

At sunset, Sappho's leap — Leucadia's rock of
woe. The mountains of Tchamouria fade awa\ ,
and I look my last on Albania.

At midnight, the moon rises over dark Ithaca,

128 JOl RNALS OF \ LAND8CAPE PAINTER.

and lights up the Ba\ of Samos, where we
>ta\ half-an-hour.

Sunrise. — Patras once more, and the pearly-
tinted Mount Voidhid. Noon. — Gay Zante,
briehl and bustling as ever.

And so, with the last point of Xakynihus, and
the dim, distant mountain of Kefalonia, ends
m\ journey in the lands of Greece.

THE END.

S l» l> N" :

Print* Poland S

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DR Lear , Edward

701 Journals of a landscape

35L4- painter in Albania

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