Travels in Southeastern Europe

The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.

294 THE BURDEN OF THE BALKANS. lay the district of Malakastra, of evil repute. The natives of the neighbourhood do not hesitate to call it the 'slave country.' I made many efforts to learn the truth about this, and repeat the facts as told mne. Since the Egyptian slave-trade has been checked, the natives of Malakastra, who are a lazy lot and all Moslems, have taken to selling their daughters into service for, some said, as little as ~T5 or ~T6 to anyone who requires 'servants.' The houses of the wealthy Begs are, in many instances, served entirely by these girls, who remain from ten to fifteen years according to the terms of the agreement, and are then free, and usually return home and marry. At Permeti I was told that some men with a gang of thirty girls had very recently passed through, en route for the larger towns. And at another place I heard of a girl who had escaped, after having been frightfully beaten, and had been recaptured. The Government is aware of the trade, but winks at it, and pretends that the service is voluntary. The zaptiehs Were surprised at my doubting the possibility of the fact, and declared that the Malakastrans sold all their female children. They (the Zaptiehs) lived on the slave route, and often saw men bringing along parties of girls. Many people spoke to me about the disgrace of this traffic, and begged me to make the facts known. These were all Albanians. When, however, I asked a foreign Consul about it, he laughed, and said it was only a custom of the country, and as the girls were set free in the end, it was all right; also
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About this Item

Title
The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.
Author
Durham, Mary Edith, 1863-1944.
Canvas
Page 294
Publication
London :: Nelson,
[1905]
Subject terms
Eastern question (Balkan)
Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

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https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001
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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bosnia/ans3900.0001.001/301

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"The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham." In the digital collection Travels in Southeastern Europe. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 30, 2025.
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