THE MEDITERRANEAN PEOPLES—FISCHER. 499 
pear to be almost entirely absorbed by the Italian culture, or in the 
process of assimilation. Still more Albanians have probably been 
assimilated by the Greeks. The Albanian cattle raisers and farmers 
quickly developed into mariners, with the result that many of the 
naval heroes of the Grecian struggle for independence were of Alba- 
nian descent. In southern Albania and Epirus, also, so far as they 
adopted the Grecian religion, they willingly adopted Grecian cus- 
toms. What is fatal for them, however, more than their actual posi- 
tion in civilization, is their separation, because of racial peculiarity 
and the nature of their country, into many little clans, often in 
deadly feud with one another, and also their religious tripartition. 
From the south they are drawn into the Greek Church; from Italy 
into the Roman Catholic, and in Turkey they have been partly won 
over to Mohammedanism. There are many of them spread all over 
Turkey as soldiers and officials, often in high positions. But not- 
withstanding their pronounced warlike characteristics, by reason of 
which they form the Sultan’s bodyguard, and lend material aid to 
the Turkish armies in their conquests, and their large number of a 
million and a half, they are a factor of less consequence than might 
be expected, because of their scattered condition. 
Although scarcely subordinate, they nevertheless appear to be the 
principal support of the Turkish ascendency on the west side of the 
Balkan peninsula. Italy, in competition, is striving to win over the 
Roman Catholic Albanians, who educate their priests principally in 
Rome and thereby is endeavoring to secure a firm foothold in the pen- 
insula, even in‘ opposition to the Hapsburg monarchy. 
Scattered over the southeastern European peninsula there are still 
remnants of the pre-Roman primitive peoples in the guise of the 
Rumanian speaking Aromunes, Zinzares, or Walachians. In the 
twelfth century these still held a considerable part of Thessaly, then 
known as the great Walachia. They are largely lacking in national 
feeling, belong to the Greek church, and incline toward Grecian 
customs. Many speak three languages (Turkish, Rumanian, and 
Greek). In spite of the fact that they number hardly 200,000, they 
have recently been prominent politically for the reason that Ruma- 
nian envoys have been striving to draw them, especially the Mace- 
donian Walachs, away from the Grecian influence. 
In Asia Minor also there are still significant remnants of aboriginal 
peoples, who on account of their religion consider themselves Greeks 
and are Hellenizing themselves by founding Greek schools and em- 
ploying Greek teachers. Likewise many—in fact, according to the 
opinion of those who best know the conditions, the majority—of the 
so-called Turks of Asia Minor, and the related Mohammedan sects 
who form the remnants of the original people, are doing the same 
thing, which renders it difficult to secure accurate information con- 
