AMAZING BLOOD FEUDS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 99, 2 June 1914, Page 8

AMAZING BLOOD FEUDS.

THE PLEASANT ALBANIAN. The pluck of Prince William of Wied, who lias been chosen by the Powers :as the first Sovereign of Albania, and wh® is now endeavouring to settle down .at Durazzo, the capital, lias aroused the admiration of Europe. No man was ever faced with a more stupendous task, for the Albanians have never known a King, and they certainly know no law. For the most part the Prince find his subjects halS-civilised mountaineers, frank to a friend, vindictive to an. every man a law unto himself an exchange). live, in a-perpetual state the fields bristles_with weapons, for-he loves warfare and brigandage far better than. r caitle . rea:ring , or agrieultuxe—: hence the poor cultivation of tlife soil.

' MUST KILL HIS ENEMY. He is always on guard against his enemies, and constantly seeking the blood of those who have done him an injury. In all parts of Albania the vendetta or blood feud is an established usage, and a man would be disgraced in the eyes of his friends and relatives if he did not kill an enemy who had injured him or any of those belonging to him. Delay in vengeance is held dishonourable. The man who will let years pass without killing his becomes himself an outcast. Furthermore, till he has taken vengeance he cannot marry, or if he is married he may give neither his sons nor his daughters in marriage. The first task that confronts Prince William is to stamp out these blood feuds and eudeavour to carry some semblance of law into the mountains. It is, however, an almost impossible task, for tlie duty of revenge is a sacred tradition handed down to successive generations in the family, villages, and the tribe. The consequence is that -neighbours, villages, and evea the several quarters of the same town are constantly at war with one another. A single case of homicide often leads •- to a series of similar crimes or to protracted warfare between neighbouring families and communities. A murderer, as a rule, takes refuge in the mountains from the avenger of blood, or remainsfor years shut up in his house. Tha latter is, in many cases/ like a fortress, the only windows of which are loopholes for rifles; and in these housed families sometimes of a hundred people lead self-centred lives. Many men have not left their houses for years, and food has to be brought into them by their friends. Others, again, have taken to flight after killing an enemy, and, unable to sleep in their homes or to till their fields, exist by brigandage, the latter being regarded as quite a legitimate form of livelihood. Sometimes a truce, either temporary or permanent, is arranged by the intervention of the clergy, and occasionally a general truce is proclaimed. Between conflicting parties the restoration of peace is celebrated with elaborate ceremonies. In some districts, however, there is a fixed price for blood, and a feud may be avoided if the homicide pays, by way of compensation to the relatives of "his victim, sums ranging from £lO to £2O, according to the district. Once a debt has been thus acquitted amicable relations are restored. NO WAR ON WOMEN. Curiously enough, although the Albanians are so lawless, they do not make war on women. In fact a woman may traverse a hostile district without fear or injury, and is often employed as an intermediary in the settlement of a feud.

The lawlessness of the Albanians is strikingly illustrated by the fact that no traveller can safely venture into the mountain districts without he carries with him what is knowa as a bessa, which literally means the " faith" or "pledge" of one of the inhabitants. Once this has been obtained he will be hospitably welcomed. And..so stringent are the obligations of hospitality regarded by the Albanians, that a household is bound to exact' reparation for any injury done to a guest, as though he were a member of the family.