Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/53

 ILLYRICUM. with scarcely a hidden danger, frive ships a secure passage between them. Cherso, Oscro, Ltissin, San- sego (Absyrtides), abound with fossil bones. The bone-breccia of these islands appears to be the same conglomerate with those of Gibraltar, Cerigo, and other places in the Mediterranean. The Libumian group {^ti-iSvpviSf^ vriaoi, Strab. ii. p. 124, vii. pp. 315, 317; " Liburnicae Insulae," Plin. iii. 30), LissA {Grossa), Bhattia (Z?m^^a), Issa (Z,?!s,w), Mklita (Mtkufa), CoKCYiiA Nigra {Cvrsola), TuAROS {Lesina) and Oi.ynta (^Solta), have good ports, but are badly supplied with drinkable water, and are not fertile. The mountainous tract, though industriously cultivated towards the shore, is for the most part, as in the days of Strabo {I. c), wild, rugged, and barren. The want of water and the arid ^oil make Daluiatia unfit for agriculture ; and therefore of old, this circumstance, coupled with the excellency and number of the harbours, made the natives more known for piracy than for commercial enterprise. A principal feature of the whole range is that called Monte-Negro (^Czernagora), consisting chiefly of the cretaceous or Mediterranean limestone, so extensively developed from the Alps to the Archi- jielago, and remarkable for its craggy character. The general height is about 3000 feet, with a few higher summits, and the slopes are gentle in the direction of the inclination of the " strata," with precipices at the outcroppings, which give a fine variety to the scenery. There is no sign of volcanic action in Dalmatia; and the Nymphaeum near Apollonia, celebrated for the flames that rose continually from it, has probably no reference to anything of a volcanic nature, but is connected with the beds of asphaltum, or mineral pitch, which occur in great abundance in the num- nutlitic limestone of Albania. The coast of what is now called Middle Albania, or the lllyrian territory, N. of Epirus, is, especially in its N. portion, of moderate height, and in some places even low and unwholesome, as far as Aulon ( Vulona or Avlona), where it suddenly becomes rugged and mountainous, with precipitous cliffs descending rapidly towards the sea. This is the Khimara range, upwards of 4000 feet high, tlreaded by ancient mariners as the Acro-Ceraunian promon- tojy. The interior of this territory was much su- perior to N. Illyricum in productiveness: though mountainous, it has more valleys and open plains lor cultivation. The sea-ports of Epidamnus and Apol- lonia introduced the luxuries of wine and oil to the barbarians; whose chiefs learnt also to value the Woven fabrics, the polished and carved metallic work, the tempered weapons, and the pottery which was furnished them by Grecian artisans. Salt fish, and, what was of more importance to the inland re- sidents on lakes like that of Lychnidus, salt itself, was imported. In return they supplied the Greeks with those precious commodities, cattle and slaves. Silver mines were also worked at Dajiastium. Wax and honey were probably articles of export ; and it is a proof that the natural products of II- lyria were carefully sought out, when we find a species of iris peculiar to the countiy collected and sent to Corinth, where its root was employed to give the special flavour to a celebrated kind of aromatic unguent. Grecian commerce and intercom'se not only tended to civilise the S. Illyrians beyond their northern brethren, who shared with the Thracian tribes the custom of tattooing their bodies and of offering htmian sacrifices ; but through the intro- ILLYEICUM. 37 ditctlnn of Grecian exiles, made them acquainted with Hellenic ideas and legends, as may be seen by the tale of Cadmus and Hannonia, from whom the chiefs of the lllyrian Enchelees professed to trace their descent. (Comp. Grote, Hist, of Greece, vol. iv. pp. 1 — 10, and the authorities quoted there; to which may be added, Wilkinson, Dalmatia and Montenegro, vol. i. pp. 38 — 42; J. F. Neigebaur, Die Sudslaven, Leipzig, 1851; Niebuhr, Led. on Ethnog. and Geog. vol. i. pp. 297 — 314; Smyth, The Mediterranean, pp. 40 — 45 ; Hahn, Albane- sixhe Studien, Wien, 1854.) 4. Race and National Character. — Sufficient is not knovra either of the language or customs of the Illyrians, by which tlieir race ma^ be ascertained. The most accurate among the ancient writers have al- ways distinguished them as a separate nation, or group of nations, from both the Thracians and Epirots. The aiicient Illyrians are unquestionably the an- cestors of the people generally known in Europe by the name Albanians, but who are called by the Turks " Arnauts," and by themselves " Skipetares," which means in their language " mountaineers," or " dwellers on rocks," and inhabit the greater part of ancient Illyricum and Epirus. They have a pe- culiar language, and constitute a particular race, which is very distinct from the Slavonian inhabit- ants who border on them towards the N. The an- cients, as has been observed, distinguished the Il- lyrians from the Epirots, and have given no intima- tions that they were in any way connected. Uut the Albanians, who inhabit both Illyricum and Epirus, are one peojile, whose language is only varied by slight modifications of dialect. The Illyrians appear to have been pressed southwards by Slavonian hordes, who settled in D:ilmatia. Driven out from their old territories, they extended themselves to- wards the S., where they now inhabit aiany districts which never belonged to them in former times, and have swallowed up the Epirots, and extinguished their language. According to Schafarik (^Slav.Alt vol. i. p. 31) the modem Albanian population is 1,200,000. Ptolemy is the earliest writer in whose works the name of the Albanians has been distinctly recognised. He mentions (iii. 1 3. § 23) a tribe called Aldani {'A§avoi) and a town Axbanopolis ('AASa- vdTToAis), in the region lying to the E. of the Ionian sea ; and from the names of places with wiiich Albanopolis is connected, it appears clearly to have- been in the S. part of the lllyrian territory, and in modern A Ihania. There are no means of forming a conjecture how the name of this obscure tribe came- to be extended to so considerable a nation. The latest work upon the Albanian language is that of F. Eitter von Xy lander {Die Sprache der Albanesen- Oder SJchipetaren, 1835), who has elucidated this subject, and established the principal facts upon a firm basis. An account of the positions at which Xy lander arrived will be found in Prichard (The Physical Eistory of Mankind, vol. iii. pp. 477 — 482). As the Dalmatian Slaves have adopted the name Illyrians, the Slavonian language spoken in Dalmatia, especially at Ragusa, is also called lllyrian ; and this designation has acquired general currency ; but it must always be remembered that the ancient Illyrians were in no way connected with the Slave races. In the practice of tattooing their bodies, and offering human sacrifices, the Illyrians resembled the Thracians (Strab. vii. p. 315 ; Herod, v. 6) : tho D 3