has rendered them slightly productive. The olives are usually exported to Italy and Austria, where the famed Valona oil is extracted.

The future of tobacco is, on the other hand, most promising. The fine blond tobaccoes of Elbasan and Scutari are renowned throughout the Balkans.

Nothing could do more to increase the production of tobacco and olive oil than the erection of a number of factories which might utilize the splendid water-power of the rivers which traverse the country in all directions.

Cotton and rice raising have shown very good results.

The principal kinds of livestock raised in Albania are, in the order of their importance, horses, which are exported mainly to Italy, sheep, of which only the wool and hides are exported, and some species of domesticated cattle.

During the Middle Ages, the horses of Muzakia were used in great numbers in all the armies of Europe, and the light Albanian cavalry enjoyed a most enviable reputation. Many a battle won by Scanderbeg was due to this light cavalry. But since his time, the equine race has deteriorated, though the small horse of Muzakia retains some highly valued qualities.

Under present conditions, and unless the Albanian-Serbian frontier be rectified, there is not much hope for stock raising, because the most convenient pastures are across the boundary line.

Poultry and eggs are raised in immense quantities, and owing to the great demand for them in Italy and Austria there is a bright chance for the future of poultry raising.

Game and fish are plentiful, too, and likely to become sources of wealth.

III. COMMERCE

From the day of the completion of the railway net of Macedonia, connecting Western and Central Europe with the Balkan Peninsula and the eastern territories, Albania lost the commercial position she had previously enjoyed in the Balkans. Isolated entirely from the continent, with no railways or other means of communication, with only a few naturally good harbors, which remained just in their natural state, the country was constrained to be self-sufficient, importing very few articles of commerce, and exporting fewer still.

Up to the year 1913, the total amount of foreign exchange was estimated to be only 20,000,000 francs, of which two-thirds consisted of imports. With the winning of independence, the commercial movement showed a quick upward tendency, the increase being one-third in nine months only. And yet, Albania's natural situation on the eastern shore of the Adriatic has predestined her to a privileged commercial position.

The exported articles range as follows, according to the order of their importance: Olives and olive oil, poultry and eggs, live-stock, mainly horses, wool, hides, salted and fresh fish, fruit, wood, etc.

Imports: Cotton and cotton-goods, flour, sugar, coffee, timber for construction, paper, manufactured goods, liquors, etc.

It is idle to speculate as to the value and amount of each of these imported and exported articles, because there are no exact and reliable statistics.

Those furnished by the Turkish Custom authorities are simply Turkish. It is to be borne in mind, however, that the above estimate of 20,000,000 francs represents only a fraction of the commercial movement, inasmuch as the larger part of commercial business was done with the adjacent inland European province of Turkey as well as with Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro. It is not, therefore, right to think that the commerce of Albania is as small as that sum would seem to imply.

The construction of the projected railway lines, which will connect Albania with the rest of the Balkans and with Europe, will surely revive the formerly flourishing commerce of the Albanian coast.

The sordid little town of Durazzo, with her natural harbor, which is none too safe as compared with the splendid bay of Valona, holds the first place in the commercial life of Albania, and is likely to become once more what it was in ancient times, the first port on the eastern shore of the Adriatic, when the projected Durazzo-Monastir railway is constructed.

In her scanty commercial dealings, Albania has hitherto had very little to do with the rest of the world, outside of her immediate neighbors.

Austria has been the heaviest importer and exporter. She took about 40% of all the Albanian articles of export, especially olives and olive oil, hides, poultry and eggs.

Italy comes second, but in the independent Albania her merchants competed very successfully with the Austrians.

There are no reliable statistics to indicate the trend of commerce along the entire Albanian coast.

The Balkan Revue gives, however, an account of the commercial movement of the various nations in the port of Durazzo, which is as follows:

The above statement may be incomplete in many respects, but still it constitutes a good illustration of the upward tendency of the commercial movement in 1913, i. e., the first year of Albanian independence, and that only in the port of Durazzo, a port not very much frequented in that year.

Again, it should be noted that no account is given of the commerce by land.

Before bringing this topic to an end, let us add a few words in regard to industry and manufactures, as there is very little to be said about them.

There are few manufacturing industries in Albania, and those that exist are in a state of infancy.

Valona produces some oil from her olives, but the best Valona olive oil is extracted abroad, mainly in Italy and Austria, to which countries the olives are exported.

There are a few flour and saw mills, but flour and timber are mainly articles of importation. There is a thriving soap factory at Elbasan, and there are two or three unimportant tanneries at Korcha.

Yet, the natural resources of the country and its magnificent water-power mark out Albania as an important industrial center in the near future.

IV. MINERAL RESOURCES AND FORESTS

The general belief is that Albania is very rich in mineral resources. It is reported that the Romans extracted from the Albanian soil large quantities of gold, but in our day little is known of the location of those mines. Mirdita, however, is believed to be rich in gold.

French and German engineers have discovered gold, lead, iron, petroleum, copper, chomium, antimonium, and cinnabar, and one of them has reported that in each ton of mineral ore there may be found from 4 to 6 kilos of silver.1

One thing is certain; that Albania is very rich in coal of high quality. The coal mines of Korcha are now being exploited, on a very limited scale, by the authorities of that independent Albanian province.

The same thing may be said in regard to petroleum.

Moreover, at Selenitsa, in the province of Valona, there are mines of mineral pitch, which are being exploited by a French company. The boulevards and chaussées of Paris are mainly paved with this Albanian pitch.

There are also numerous salt-works along the coast.

Another important item of national wealth is the forests, some of which exist in their virgin state. This is true of the forests of Northern Albania, and especially of Mirdita. But the area covered by forests has never been measured, although, according to one estimate a quarter of the soil is wooded.2 Many of the forests of Central and Southern Albania

1 F. Gibert, "Les Pays d'Albanie," p. 155, 2 Ibid., p. 153.