1'Vl 



ALBACETE. 



ALBANIA. 



170 



and merge at last into the blue line of the sea ; the shore of which, 

 girt with a dark stripe of woods, relieved here and there by white 

 watch-towers, spreads without interruption before the eye for a space 

 of more than 60 miles, from Civita Vecchia to Antium, embracing the 

 double mouth of the Tiber, the marshes of Ostia, the ruins of Ardea. 

 Laviniura, and Laurentum the whole scenery, in short, of the last 

 six books of the JEneid, as well as that of the first struggles and 

 achievements of infant Rome. Hovering over the silent dusty plain 

 below, where immense farms now occupy the place of former cities, 

 the eye, following the grayish lines of aqueducts and roads, is led 

 to rest on the hundred domes, and towers, and palaces of modern 

 Rome St. Peter's ball and cross rising proudly above the rest ; the 

 whole encircled by a narrow zone of gardens and vineyards. 



The Alban Mount is of volcanic formation ; and the basin of the 

 Alban Lake as well as that of the neighbouring smaller Lake of Nemi, 

 are evidently extinct craters. The whole of this delightful region is 

 healthy, well cultivated, and thickly inhabited. It is a favourite place 

 of resort for the nobility and gentry of Rome in summer and autumn. 



(Livy, i. 3, 29, 52; Dion. Hal. i. 66; iii. 31 ; Virgil, <n. iii. 390; 

 viii. 45; iii. 134; Cell's Topography of Rome ; Nibb/s Dintorni di 

 Roma, and Roma Antica ; Niebuhr's Hutory of Some; Piranesi, 

 Antichita di Albano ; Ricey, Storia di Alba Lortya.) 



ALBACETE. [MUBCIA.] 



ALBANIA, called A lania by the Greeks, was an ancient country of 

 Asia, lying about the eastern extremity of the Caucasus, which was 

 first made known to the Romans by Pompeius' s expedition into the 

 Caucasian countries in pursuit of Mithridatea, B.C. 65. It was bounded 

 N. by the Ceraunius lions (Caucasus), which divided it from Sarmatia 

 Asiatics ; E. by the Mare Albanum, or the Caspian ; S. by the Cyrus, 

 or Kur. which separated it from Armenia Major; and W. by Iberia, 

 towards which lay the district of Cambysene, drained by the Cambyses, 

 a feeder of the Cyrus, and partly touched by Armenia also. The northern 

 boundary, according to Pliny, wag the Casius ( Koisou) ; and the western 

 boundary, according to the same author, was the Alazun, now the Alazan, 

 a feeder of the Cambyses. Ptolemseun says the northern boundary was 

 the Soana, which was probably the Sulak or south branch of the Terek. 

 The country corresponds with Shirvan (or Guirvan), Leghistan, and 

 Daghestan, which form parts of Russian Georgia. The northern and 

 western parts of the country were mountainous ; the rest of it was a 

 vast plain. The mud brought down by the Cyrus made the shore of 

 the Caspian marshy ; but in general the soil was fertile in corn, wine, 

 and vegetables. In some parts three harvests were gathered in the 

 year. The wild and domesticated animals were the finest of their 

 kind ; but there were scorpions and venomous spiders. These par- 

 ticulars, given by Strabo, are confirmed by modern travellers. 



The inhabitants, supposed to be identical with the Alani, were a fine 

 race, tall, handsome, and fond of war. They lived chiefly by hunting, 

 , and the produce of then- flocks and herds ; paying little atten- 

 ti'iii to agriculture, but making frequent predatory incursions among 

 their more agricultural neighbours of Armenia. They traded by 

 barter ; money was almost unknown among them ; and it is said 

 that they could not count beyond 100. The same diversity of race 

 'ml language existed amongst them as still distinguishes the countries 

 of the Caucasus. They spoke 26 different dialects, were divided into 

 1-J tribes, each governed by its chief, but all subject to one king. 

 Among the tribes were the Gelae, who dwelt in the mountains on the 

 N. and N.W. ; the Gerrhi, whose territory lay about Gerrhus, pro- 

 the Ak.-ai ; and the Legic, whose name is preserved in Leghistan. 

 When Pompeius entered their country, they met him with 60,000 

 infantry and 22,000 cavalry. Their arms were javelins and bows 

 and arrows ; they wore leathern helmets and shields ; many of the 

 cavalry were sheathed in complete armour. The Albanians nominally 

 submitted to Pompeius, and this is all we know of their history in this 

 their native seat. See however the article ALANI. 



Among the towns the most important was Alltana, now Derbend, 

 v. iiirh commanded the pass called Albania:, or Caspise Pylse, formed 

 by a spur of the Caucasus on one side, and by the Caspian on the 

 other, (janynra or (iartnra, is supposed to be Bakou, famous for its 

 naphtha springs ; Cabalaca, a town in the interior, Pliny says was the 

 capital. (Smith's Dictionary of Gretk and Roman (iewjraplnj. ) 



ALBANIA, a country of European Turkey, stretching along the 

 coast of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas. It is difficult to 

 define the exact limits of Albania, but the following account is, 

 perhaps, nearly correct: It is bounded N. by the mountainous 

 district of Montenegro, from which the river Moroka divides it, and 

 by the ridges which connect this district with the great central 

 chain, anciently known by the name of Scardus. The eastern 

 boundary nearly coincides with the mountain-ridge that bounds 

 the basin of the Drin towards the east, and runs southwards from 

 lat 42 not far from 21' E. long. ; and from lat. 40 it runs S.W. and 

 meets the sea-coast nearly opposite the inland of Paxo. Albania thus 

 has Hertsek, or Turkish balmntia, with the territory of Montenegro 

 ri'i the N.W. ; Bosnia and Si-rviu on the N. ; Roumili or Roumelia on 

 the E. and S.E., and the Mediterranean Sea on the \V., along which 

 the coast runs for more than 200 miles. It comprises the southern 

 part of ancient Illyria, and the northern part of Epirus. These are 

 the limits of Albania properly so called (i.e. of the country in which 

 the Albanian language is the vernacular tongue), and they exclude 



the districts of JosSnnina, Arta, K(5nitza, and Paleo Pogoneana ; but 

 as these districts formed part of the territories of the late Ali Pasha, 

 in whose times this country has been most frequently visited, and as 

 they will hardly come into any of the great territorial divisions of 

 Turkey, they will be spoken of as parts of Albania in this article. 

 The eastern frontier must then be considered as advanced to the 

 ridge of mountains between the river Aspropotamo and the river 

 Arta; and southwards to the Gulf of Arta. 



Surface and Hydrography. Albania is a mountainous region. 

 Ridges intersected by deep raviues cover the southern part of the 

 country : the northern part is not so well known, having been less 

 visited by travellers. The Acro-Ceraunian Mountains, now called 

 Khimara, after running N.W. nearly parallel to the coast, form the 

 bold headland of Cape Linguetta, just at the entrance of the Adriatic. 

 The nigged rocks heaped one upon another, with their summits hidden 

 in the clouds, and their base washed by a sea continually agitated, were 

 regarded with apprehension by ancient navigators. The hills of Zagori 

 running S.E. near the frontier of Albania and Macedonia, have flat 

 summits spreading into extensive plains. A semi-circular chain of 

 lofty mountains, once known by the name of Scardus, and now called 

 Gliubotin and Nissava Gora, incloses the basins of the Moroka and the 

 Drin ; and the continuation of it runs southwards, under the denomi- 

 nations of Tzumerka and Metzovo, uniting with the Pindus range not 

 far from the source of the Aspropotamo. The character of this range 

 is hardly determined. It is doubtful if it form a continuous chain, 

 or an elevated ridge crowned at different distances by lofty hills. 

 The mountains of Khimara and Tzumerka are not less than 4000 

 feet above the level of the sea. 



The rivers of Albania are not of any great size or importance. 

 They flow from the eastern frontier into the Adriatic or the Medi- 

 terranean. The Moroka and Poskola unite their streams, and pass 

 through the lake of Skutari (Skodre), or Zenta, into the Adriatic, 

 assuming between the lake and the sea the name of Bojana. The 

 general direction of the Moroka is south ; the Paskola runs to the 

 S.W. ; and the distance from the source of the Moroka to the mouth 

 of the Bojana, following the winding of the stream, and including the 

 length of the lake Scutari, is more than 100 miles. Two streams, one 

 the Black Drin, flowing in a northerly direction, or from Lake Okhrida 

 (ancient Lychnitis), the other the White Drin, proceeding from the 

 mountains on the frontier, aud flowing south, meet and run westwards 

 into the Adriatic. The windings of this stream, measured from either 

 source, render its course equal to about 150 or 160 miles, and make it 

 the chief of the Albanian rivers. Farther to the south, we meet with 

 the Skombi (ancient Genusus), the Beratina, or Krevasta (ancient 

 Apsus), and the Voiussa or Viosa, the ancient Aous or J&as. This 

 last-mentioned river rises in the northern part of the Pindus range, 

 and flows first above 75 miles in a N.W. direction, then W. by S. 

 for about 12 miles between two high and steep mountains, which 

 approach very near each other, forming the celebrated pass anciently 

 called Fauces Antigonenses (from the city Antigoneia at its northern 

 entrance), and now the Stena or pass of the Voiussa or Viosa. 

 Leaving the pass at the village of Klisura, the river recovers its 

 N.W. direction, which it retains till it reaches the sea 16 miles north 

 of Cape Linguetta. At the northern entrance of the pass it is joined 

 by a considerable stream called the Dhryno or Druno. The total 

 length of the Viosa is about 130 miles. The river Calamas, the 

 ancient Thyamis, falls into the sea opposite Corfu ; and farther to 

 the south we have the ancient Acheron (now the Garla or river of 

 Suli), and the Arta which falls into the Gulf of Arta. The Arta is 

 the ancient Aracthus, which separated Greece from Epirus. The 

 principal lakes are those of Scutari or Zenta, Okhrida, Joannina, and 

 Butrinto. The lake of Joannina is said to be 10 or 12 miles long and 

 3 miles broad. 



< 'li Mate. The climate of Albania in the lower regions is perhaps 

 about as warm as that of Italy, but droughts, and sudden and 

 violent north winds, render it less agreeable. In the part which 

 lies south of lat. 40, and which corresponds to the ancient Epirus, 

 the climate is colder than in Greece. The spring does not set in 

 before the middle of March : in July and August the oppressive heat 

 often dries up the streams and rivers, and withers the plants and 

 grass : September is the time of vintage ; and the rains of December 

 are succeeded by frosts in January, which, however, seldom last long. 

 The country is in general healthy. Tertians indeed prevail at Jodnnina 

 in spring and autumn, owing, probably, to the vicinity of so large a sheet 

 of stagnant water as the lake on which the town stands. 



Of timber-trees may be mentioned many species of oak, among 

 them the Quercut cerris, with its broad indented leaves, and large 

 hairy-cupped acorn, affording timber of good size and quality ; and 

 the Valonia oak (Quercw (eyilopt), the acorns of which are deeply set 

 in a thick scaly cup used in tanning, and supply an article of export 

 from many parts of Turkey : the plane, the cypress, the ash, the 

 cedar, the pine, and the larch, may be added. The last three appear 

 in the mountains of Pindua, together with the chestnut ; the three 

 which precede them are mingled on the sea-coast with the laurel and 

 the lentiscus. The wild vine and the elder are also frequent on 

 the mountains, and the Amphilocian peach, the Arta nut, and the 

 quince grow wild in the woods. The cultivated fruits are, the olive, 

 which might be rendered more productive by better care; the vine, 



