250

CURIOUS ANECDOTE OF ALI PASHA.

bers in which he kept his plate and other valuables were uninjured, as well as the great tower in the garden which is the depository of his treasures. He now set his head at work to contrive some plan for restoring the edifice without incurring any expense. His first care was to issue proclamations throughout his dominions stating that the vengeance of heaven had fallen upon him, and that Ali had no longer a home in the place of his ancestors. He called therefore upon his loving subjects to assist him in his distress, and fixed a day on which he expected their attendance. On the day appointed Tepeleni was crowded with deputies from the various districts of Albania, with his old associates and intimate friends, his children, and relations of every degree. At the outer gate of the seraglio Ali was seen seated upon a dirty mat, cross-legged and bare-headed, with a red Albanian cap in his hands to receive contributions. He had been cunning enough to send large sums of money beforehand to several of his retainers, from whose poverty little could be expected; and these they now brought and restored to him as if they had been voluntary presents from their own When therefore any bey or primate offered a sum inferior to his expectations, he compared his niggard avarice with the liberality of others, who he felt certain had deprived themselves even of the necessaries of life for his sake, refusing the present in the following terms: "What good will this offering do for Ali, a man afflicted by the Divine vengeance? Take it back murrie, take it back, and keep it for your own necessities." This hint was quite sufficient to double or even treble the contribution, and by such means he collected a sum of money which enabled him not only to rebuild his seraglio, but to add very considerably to the treasures in his garden.

stores.

After breakfast this morning we set out to investigate the ruins of a palaio-castro, which, as we heard, lay at about one hour's distance from Tepeleni. The road led us for about a mile up the stream of the Bentza, a small river which flows into the Voïussa below the town. At a village of the same name, its bed is contracted by two con

GARDENS OF THE SERAI.

251

verging ridges of Mount Argenick, a branch of the great Acroceraunian mountains. Here the vizir has established extensive powder-mills, and the scenery is very romantic. We crossed the river by a handsome bridge of a single arch, and proceeded in an easterly direction to the object of our excursion. This we soon discovered upon a moderate eminence, in a small district called Jarresi, but we were disappointed in our expectation of finding either a Greek or Roman fortress it appeared from its mode of construction scarcely so ancient as the time of Justinian, and may possibly have been erected by the Norman invaders of this country in the reign of Alexius Com

nenus.

On our return to Tepeleni we took a walk in the gardens of the seraglio, which are extensive, and laid out by two Italian gardeners, somewhat in the style of their own country. These men were deserters from the French army at Corfu, whom Ali received gladly into his service, giving them houses, with a good salary, and wives from his own harem of Tepeleni.

*Οικόν τε κλῆρόν τε πολυμνήτην τε γυναῖκα.

We caught a view of these liberated captives during our walk, but they seemed to possess neither beauty nor elegance. The great tower, or treasury, in which more than two millions of money are withdrawn from circulation, is a vast oblong building three stories in height, and secured by ponderous doors, of which Ali alone keeps the key. Such are the resources of ambitious tyrants who are unable to establish or sustain public credit by any constitutional guarantees, and are dependent upon their people's fears rather than their love for support.

This day the sultana sent us a very excellent dinner from the harem, consisting of soup, ragouts, pilau, and various kinds of pastry, at which we were again gratified by the company of the governor. When the wine, of which he partook freely, had opened the heart of this worthy

252

DEPARTURE FROM TEPELENI.

old Mussulman, his tongue became very fluent, and he entertained us with many curious and highly interesting anecdotes. This night we slept in splendid misery, and if I had not feared it might have been taken for incivility, I should have made a retreat into my snug little trunk-bed.

Early in the morning, after sending our best acknowledgments to our kind hostess for the hospitality we had experienced, we departed for Berat, taking Demetrio alone to attend us, and sending Antonietti with greatest part of the luggage through the defile of Antigonea to wait our arrival at Premeti. Upon mature consideration we preferred this tour to one which we at first contemplated along the coast of the Adriatic through Avlona and Delvino. That part of Epirus however has been subsequently visited by my friend the Rev. William Jones, who has kindly permitted me to make an extract from his manuscript journal, which will be found at the end of this chapter. As we descended towards the river, a mad dervish came jumping out of the portico of a new mosque near the serai, vociferating the most horrid imprecations against our Christian heads: the application of some paras quickly changed his tone, and the poor wretch remained dancing in the wild manner of his fraternity upon the bank, and eulogizing us in a most Stentorian voice till we were out of sight.

We crossed the Voïussa in a curious kind of trough, scarcely oblong in shape, but broader at one end than the other: the horses were driven with great shouts and cracking of whips into the river, and made to gain the opposite bank by swimming: much confusion ensued, as some of the animals swam to a considerable distance down the stream, and others turned back when half way over: at length all arrived safe at the other side, when, the saddles and luggage being replaced, we proceeded on our journey, and followed the course of the Voïussa north, to the distance of six miles, where it takes a sweeping turn westward, in the direction of Apollonia. The country now began to lie in a regular ascent, the road winding along the side of continued chains of

MAGNIFICENT SCENERY.

Nearly half

253

Nearly half way between Tepe

point, when the views both before

low hills, rising one above the other. leni and Berat we gained the highest and behind us were extremely grand. In front we looked over a mountainous country, which can be compared to nothing so well as to the Atlantic in a storm: the extreme horizon verging to the left was bounded by the hills around Durazzo, that on the right by the mighty Tomour, which in bulk and general outline bears a greater resemblance to Ætna than any mountain I have seen. His huge head, clothed in a bright snowy mantle, rose splendidly sublime, like a citadel which the mountain Genius of this wild territory might fix upon for his dwelling. Behind us was a spectacle still more superb: the Voïussa pouring down its foaming torrent between its Alpine boundaries; the distant summits of Pindus; the noble scenery of Derópuli; and the vast mountains of Kimarra, those dreaded heights of Acroceraunia, little inferior to the huge Tomour itself, which reflected in their snow-capt peaks the brilliant tints of the rising sun. After having feasted our eyes some time with these enchanting prospects, we descended into a deep fiumara, through which the road continues for about two hours: from this point all the rivers take a different direction, and instead of flowing towards the bed of the Voïussa, seek to pour their tribute into the river of Berat, the ancient Apsus". The manners of the people in these northern regions seemed much more wild and barbarous than those to which we had hitherto been accustomed. The peasants stared at us with a curiosity bordering upon insolence, whilst the women and children ran away, or if we came them unawares, turned their faces from us till we had passed.

upon

* There can be little doubt respecting this identity. The river of Berat is the only one of any consequence between Durazzo and Apollonia, through the intermediate territory of which places it flows into the Adriatic sea. That this was the direction of the Apsus, vid. Liv. lib. xxxi. c. 27. "Consul Sulpicius eo tempore inter Apolloniam ac Dyrrachium ad Apsum flumen habebat campum." See also Cæs. de Bell. Civ. 1. iii. c. 13. It was on the banks of this river that the first actions took place between Cæsar and Pompey. "Inter bina castra Pompeii atque Cæsaris unum flumen tantùm intererat Apsus," &c. De Bell. Civ. lib. iii. c. 19, &c..

2

254 CURIOUS DWELLING-HOUSES AND MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE.

The villages, some on the declivities of the mountains, and others in the valleys, had a very dull and gloomy appearance, the houses being built of a dark red stone, all widely distant from each other: their construction served to give us a proper notion of that dreadful insecurity which must have rendered society a perfect state of misery before the conquests of Ali Pasha: each mansion was formed like a tower, the entrance to which was in the second story, at least three yards from the foundation, and whenever any member of the family wanted ingress or egress, a rope ladder was lowered and drawn up again by the rest: no apertures admitted the free light of heaven to these keeps, or dungeons, except a few loop-holes pierced in the wall, from whence the family muskets might be pointed against an advancing foe. Almost all the inhabitants of these regions profess the Mahometan faith, though they know as much about Mahomet as the Grand Lama: they abjured Christianity to save their possessions, and are despised equally by the Osmanlis and Greeks. A few years ago this country was quite impassable to a foreigner; every house which he had ventured to approach would have teemed with muskets aimed against his life. Surely even the tyranny of Ali Pasha is happiness compared with such a state as this!

When we arrived within a few miles of Berat, which is distant twelve hours from Tepeleni, the aspect of the country appeared more pleasing and cultivated, and the manners of the people more civilized. Just about sun-set we entered a charming valley extending towards the north, through which a gentle stream flows into the Apsus and distributes verdure and fertility in its course. Here we observed, in several instances, a nearer approach to the country villa than we had before seen in Turkey: some houses on the banks of the river were surrounded by a lawn, plantations, and fences, which, with a little more taste, might have been rendered most agreeable retreats. The rich mellow tints of the sky shed an additional lustre upon the landscape, as we turned to the right up the magnificent valley of the Apsus, where