ALBANIAN NOTIONS OF PROPERTY. 155 



that it was in fine condition, and asked if he knew 

 to whom it belonged. " How could he tell ?" 

 was his reply ; " any one that can afford to watch 

 and guard it, may sow wherever he pleases, and 

 when the time of harvest comes, he may reap it, 

 if it has not been stolen before that, and then 

 some one perhaps sows there the next year, and 

 the man who has had the crop sows somewhere 

 else." '* Then am I to understand that the land 

 belongs to no one, and that any one may plough 

 or sow where he pleases?" said I, somewhat sur- 

 prised. *^ How can the land belong to any one?" 

 asked in reply the equally astonished Albanian. 

 " If I sow corn there, the corn is mine ; if you sow, 

 it is yours ; if I see good grass there, I feed my 

 horses, or sheep, or oxen, if I have any, and any 

 other person may do the same, but the land is 

 not mine." " But to whom, then, does the land 

 belong ? May I come and turn out your flocks, 

 or sow seeds where you want to sow ?" " Of 

 course you may, if you can ; but if I sow corn 

 there, or feed my flocks there, I take good care 

 to guard it, and not let you." 



I was very much struck with this magnificent 

 plain of Thessaly. The snow-topped Pindus, 



