322 Henry Skene, Esq., on the Albanians. 



have their fire- wood carried home, and to have their provisions 

 conveyed to and from the nearest market. They are con- 

 stantly to be seen on the road, riding the horse whose load 

 has been transferred to the back of the master's wife ; and 

 the poor creature, bent nearly double as she creeps slowly 

 along, is perhaps knitting a stocking for her husband all the 

 time. This has been remarked by most of those who have 

 visited the country ; and one of them* thus describes the 

 state of the Albanian women : " They are in general too 

 poor to avail themselves of the license which their religion 

 grants for polygamy, but are content with one wife, who is 

 chosen like any other animal, more for a slave or drudge 

 than for a companion. They are by no means jealous of their 

 women, nor do they confine them like the Turks and Greeks. 

 The wretched creature of a wife, with one or two infants tied 

 in a bag behind her back, cultivates the ground, and attends 

 to the household affairs by turns, whilst her lordly master 

 ranges over the forest in search of game, guards the flocks, 

 or watches behind a rock with his fusil ready to aim at the 

 unwary traveller. These women are in general hard-featured, 

 with complexions rendered coarse by exposure to all varieties 

 of weather, and with persons attenuated by constant toil and 

 scanty fare. In some districts they meet with better treat- 

 ment, and are found ready to share the dangers of war with 

 the men, as well as the labours of agriculture.' 't But the 

 least expression of compassion from a stranger enrages them, 

 for they consider their bondage honourable ; and the only dis- 

 grace with them is to be without children, or to remain un- 

 married. 



The Albanians are compared with the Highlanders of Scot- 

 land, by a writerj well acquainted with their present state, 

 and their character and habits, as well as their dress and 

 appearance, certainly bear a strong mutual resemblance. 

 Active and daring, hardy and frugal, they may become the 

 finest light infantry in the world ; and, in fact, the Turkish 

 ranks are solely dependent upon them for that branch of their 



* Dr Hughes. t Travels in Greece and Albania, vol. ii., p. \0'6. 



X Mr Urquhart. 



