W M'f-ff sA* JOURNALS OT \ LANDSCAPE PAINTER IN ALBANIA. &c BY EDWARD LEAR A A \ w LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY. $u&Its!)ct fu ©rtjfnavo to %]n fHajesttr. 01 • I don: Printci clnilze and Co., 13, Poland Street. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. MAP To face YENinjK VODHEXA MO.V A STIR A KM Rill II A TYRANA KROIA sk<5dra DURAZZO BERAT KHIMARA AVLONA TEPELKNT ARGHYROKASTRO IOANNIXA NICOPOLIS ART A SULI PARGA METEOR A TKMPE 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 and those who wish for a clear regions ; 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 1 2 l\ I R0D1 i 1 1 of journals, nor their -cope, permil an) attempt to follow in track of those on his pari the 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 order. Whatever he puzzle of the highest — may already know of ancient nomenclature— Epirus, Molossia, Thesprotia, &c, is thwarted and confused bv Turkish divisions and Pasha- liks wheel within a j beyond these, wheel, 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- and splittings, Liape, Mereditti, Khimariotes, • 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." M.D. "Travels in Greece (1812—13), by Henry Holland, ; and the Rev. T. S. B.D. Albania," (1813— 11), by Hughes, ; "The Spirit of the East/' (1830), by D. Urquhart, Esq. B 2 [NTR0D1 < TTON I —of Kr<5ia painter. Yel of parts of A.croceraunia of and of scenes in the (the cit) Scanderbeg), — neighbourhood of Akhridha the Lake Lych- nitis, the Author believes himself to be the onlj Englishman who has published any account and and as his may ; scanty slight 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 have her of them you change deprived ; 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 fortresses with gloomy ; palaces glittering gilding and paint; mountain- passes such as you encounter in the of Switzerland snowy regions ; deep bays, and blue seas with bright, calm isles on the horizon meadows and resting ; grassy knolls olive-clothed ; convents and villages ; mountain — slopes, and snow-capped 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 and of EpiruSj the less ym find of that grace 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- of at fixed times penses food, horses, &c, ; 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 and the better for stronger plainer ; 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 should not be two or three plaids neglected ; books some and ; rice, curry-powder, 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 work some rough, everyday ; quinine made into pills (rather leave all behind than s [NTB0D1 < TIOW of intro- this); a Boyourldi, or genera] order duction to or and governors pashas ; 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- kk in c-ally termed Roba" by Italians, are 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.