Chapter I: Front Matter

Peaks of Shala

_Rose Wilder Lane_

Peaks of Shala

By
Rose Wilder Lane

_Profusely Illustrated by
Photographs taken on a
Special Expedition to
Albania_

Harper & Brothers Publishers
New York and London
MCMXXIII

PEAKS OF SHALA

Copyright, 1923
By Rose Wilder Lane
Printed in the U.S.A.

D-X

To My Mother
Laura Ingalls Wilder

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

Introduction

I. Shadows on Scutari plain--The voice in the Chafa Bishkasit--The
lands of the hidden tribes--A woman of Shala 1

II. Trails of the mountaineers--The man of Ipek kills his donkey--The
house of the Bishop of Pultit--Marriage by the Law
of Lec--The blood feud between Shala and Shoshi 15

III. The story of Pigeon and Little Eagle--The prehistoric city of
Pog, and the tale of the golden image--The gendarmes sing
of politics 33

IV. Welcome to the house of Marke Gjonni--We hear the voice
of an oread--A guardian spirit of the trails 54

V. The unearthly marriage of the man of Ipek--First night in a
native Albanian house 65

VI. The song of the flight of Marke Gjloshi--The hunted man of
Shoshi--The way through the Wood of the Ora--A woman
who believes in private property 87

VII. Can a man own a house?--We sing for our hosts of Pultit--Dawn
and a meeting on the trail--The village of Thethis
welcomes guests--Life or death for Perolli 111

VIII. In the house of Padre Marjan--Lulash gives a word of honor
and discusses marriage--The stolen daughter of Shala 131

IX. The chiefs of Thethis probate a will--We visit the house of
Lulash--A journey to upper Thethis 156

X. The water ora of Mali Sharit--The coming of the tribes to
Europe before the seas were born, and how the first Greeks
came in boats--Why Alexander the Great was born in
Emadhija, and of his journey to Macedonia--The sad
house of Koi Marku 171

XI. Mass in the church of Thethis--A mountain chief seeks a
wife--Down the valley of the Lumi Shala, while the drangojt
fight the dragon--How Rexh came to Scutari 203

XII. The song of the last great war with the dragon--An unexpected
bandit--How Ahmet, chief of the Mati, went by
night to Valona--The raising of Scanderbeg’s flag--An
Albanian love song 220

XIII. The backward trail--The man of Shala has a sense of humor--The
byraktor of Shoshi hears that the earth is round 243

XIV. A night by the byraktor’s fire--The byraktor calls a
council--Rexh to the rescue--The byraktor’s gendarme tears a
poncho--Moonlight on the Scutari plain 259

Postscript. In which is related what may be found behind
the curtain of silence which hides Albania, also how the
men of Dibra came with their rifles to Tirana, and how
Ahmet, the Hawk, chief of the Mati and present Prime
Minister of Albania, saved the Balkan equilibrium 285

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE ROLLER THAT IS SMOOTHING THE NEW BOULEVARD
IN TIRANA _Frontispiece_

THE CHAFA BISHKASIT _Facing p._ 8

AN OLD SHEPHERD ” 38

RROK PEROLLI ” 58

AN ALBANIAN HODJI OF THE MATI ” 76

A GROUP OF MOUNTAIN FOLK ” 106

THE PLATEAU OF THETHIS ” 120

THE SHOPPING CENTER IN TIRANA ” 150

ONCE A DAY SHE COMES WALKING OVER FIFTEEN MILES
OF MOUNTAIN TRAILS ” 176

THE BANDIT WHOM WE MET IN THE CAVE ABOVE THE LUMI
SHALA AND WHO SANG US THE SONG OF DURGAT PASHA ” 224

THE SHALA VALLEYS ” 234

THE SHALA GUIDE ” 248

THE KIRI BRIDGE ” 278

A TOSHK ” 296

THE PAINTED MOSQUE IN TIRANA AND THE LOW WALL ON
WHICH, ALL DAY LONG, MEN SIT AND DISCUSS POLITICS ” 302

THE FIGHTING MEN FROM THE MOUNTAINS WHO CAME
INTO TIRANA TO DEFEND THE GOVERNMENT WHILE
ELEZ JUSUF WAS IN TIRANA ” 326