LIFE IN ALBANIA

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 81, 2 October 1929, Page 17

LIFE IN ALBANIA

•R-OSITA FOEBES'S ACCOUNT

....Fresh from the wilds of the primitive 'tribal hills of Albania, Miss Bosita Forbes, the famous woman explorer, recently found herself in the striking conjtrast of London, bent on holiday-mak-ing, among every luxury of modern civilisation.

"It seems strange to mix with the well-dressed, conventional people of London after tbo queer society which I have just left,?' Miss Forbes said in an interview at her West End hotfte. "The strangest of all tho people I met in the Balkans were the Albanian virgins. These are women who, according to tho custom of tho hill tribes, have been betrothed before they were born. On" reaching marriageable age^—l3 or 14— they rejected their selected fiances and have been punished by being sentenced to perpetual singlo blossedness..

"The first of these women that I met gave mo ono of the biggest surprises of |my life," said Miss Forbes. "As I api proached a mountain dwelling I saw, 'standing precariously on a rock,* what ! I took to be a man. He was dressed in tho usual male garb of the hills. On his head was a white skull cap. He wore a white cotton ' shirt and baggy whito cotton trousers, with a red sash at the waist. On his feet were rough sandals, and he wore also a cartridge belt and carried a rifle. LAND OF BLOOD TEUDS. "Suddenly ho throw back his head, opened wide his mouth, and let out such a terrific yell that tho veins and muscles of his neck stoodsout like iron bands. It was the signal'that guests were arriving, and a very necessary signal, tpo. For in this land of perpetual blood : feuds shooting affrays are common, but jit is the codo of the hills that a shot shall never be fired in the presence of a woman or a guest. '/When I remarked on the violenco of the yell, which must have carried a' mile or more, I was astonished when my host told me that the crier was not a man at all, but a woman—one di tho Albanian virgins. • / . "I learned," said Miss Forbes, "that when these betrothed girls rejected their fiances they were immediately, ordered Ito dress and live as mon. They eat as I men, drink as men, sleep as men. They ihave also to learn to shoot and-fight as men, and are expected to take part in tho blood feuds and when necessary kill as men. ,-The one thing that is barred to them is love-making. "The sense of personal honour among tho*-hill tribes," Miss Forbe.s explained, "is extraordinarily highland although she will not marry, an virgin |is still regarded as the.lawful fiance of j the man to whom she is. engaged. In a sense the virgins have much for which to' be thankful. ■ Living as men, they enjoy many advantages and privileges. It is the women who Tdo most of the wlork,-, even tolling iv the fields. The Albanians make tho 'ideal hosts. Ac•cording to one of the quaint greetings, a guest possesses their 'bread, their salt, and their hearts.' • ■ * THE DUTIES OP A HOST. "My host in the hills," said Miss Forbes, "slept armed .withr knife and rifle across the threshold of my roomi In the event of a guest being killed,"' Miss Forbes added,: "the host must •avenge his honour by taking five lives, that of the murderer and' four- of: his tribe. ' .(' The Albanians are1 the most kindly and courteous of people. They have | a tremendous regard for ■the English. No one could do too much for me. I met King Zogi of Albania. He. is a charming man of about 30, and is doing a great work toward civilising and modernising his country."