IN MONTENEGRO.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXIX, Issue 33, 26 November 1912, Page 8

IN MONTENEGRO.

TH£ MlDOt-E AGES> |s?M«,'-;ww« or Bosnia and Hersetad other well-known books on ifpiie Balkans). Montenegro is more or I'Jlws a batten wilderness, its peogle.are %Aa#%«rtan race, reckless of suffering, to endure. Of the savagery at-, "j trusted to them in their wars with l i arfc I found no trace in their '' :Jea»ire*- l -they do not look like men Irfto would take pleasure in cruelty—- •'- fet we hive the fact of the gory Turks* : ; heads stuck round the monastery walk in the "good old days" not so very long ago! 1 . What is the secret of itrV How is it that men of a type of countenance noble and dignified are capable of committing such horrible excesses? Only the other day a border fray was reported in which the dead bodies of the . Turks _were mutilated—the despatch said not all after death. And the answer to the riddle lies in this—the Montenegrin is a survival of the Mid- ' die Ages. When he fights the infidel he is animated by the fanatic zeal that emulates the Crusaders—to him it is a ''Holy War" of righteous vengence. Curious anomaly, he calls himself a Christian, glories in his religion, but practically he knows nothing of the Christion dispensation. His religion is that of the Old Testament—his god a tribal deity delighting, in vengence. He would never dream of a brotherhood of man that included the Turk. Love for King and Country. Every Montenegrin is a soldier: even old men and mere boys are enrolled in the citizen army that is ready to follow its King to death or victory. Second only to their religion is their love for King and country. I have seen men stoop and kiss the ground when they crossed the border after long absence from their fatherland. Nor can you wonder at their passionate pride of race when you recall history and remember that at the disruption of the old Servian kingdom a mere handful of Servians found safety among the eagles and beasts of prey in the dreary solitudes of the Black Mountains, and from these fastnesses have ever kept the Turk at bay, fighting against overwhelming odds —the only represen-, tatives of the Servian race that were never conquered! Truly has Montenegro been called "a principality founded and maintained solely on physical valor." All my life I had longed to see those hardy mountaineers, and they never for a moment disappointed ine, nor would I believe their traducers over the border, who denied them any virtues and spoke of them contemptuously as "6heep stealers." Safe Travel. I have heard, however, and it may be true, though I doubt it (for do not many banks employ Montenegrins on account of their faithfulness), that their code of honor is not the same outside their territory as in it. One thing I know, that within the borders of the tiny kingdom you can travel more safely than elsewhere, for eveiy son of the soil regards you as his country's guest, and, being primitive and patriarchal, to him the laws of hospitality are those of the Medea and Persians. You may not speak his language, but his dignified salutation bids you welcome: he has little but he will offer you of his best. A high officer in the Army, resplendent in glittering uniform, will receive you in a humble little wooden house such as well-to-do workmen inhabit at home —if you knew the amount of his pay you would be less surprised—but his poverty does not detract one whit from his dignity; everyone is poor in Montenegro. Not the richest man but the bravest is to be envied and looked up to. There is no fashion to keep up with, for prince and peasant dress alike and that of men and women differs but little. All wear the circular crimson cap edged with black silk (in token of perpetual mourning for the loss of Servian freedom), but on the crown are embroidered the initials of their King within a rainbow, symbolic of hope that the lost kingdom may one day be regained. Both sexes wear the long white coat of home-spun wool made from the fleece of the hardy little mountain sheep. The men, however, add to this a scarf or plaid thrown over one shoulder, which, like that of the Scottish Highlanders, is used for sleeping out In the hills. The Montenegrins are a magnificent-looking people, and the dress suits their tall, well-knit figures to perfection. These peasants have indeed a princely mien, out the women age early, for to them, alas! is left the hard field labor as well as their household cares. Rumor says they can fight as well as the men folk, and it is related that Montenegrin widows have i avenged their husbands' death by buckling on the men's belts stuck full of arms, tracking the slayers of their spouses, and having found them, executing the stern justice of their people, "a life for a life." The spirit of the folk is embodied in the Balkan song, which may be roughly translated:

Oh! we're back to the Balkans again, Back to the joy and the pain; Back where to-morrow the quick may be dead. With a knife in his breast or a ball . through his head. Back where the passions* run fierce and blood red. '-Oh! we're back to the Balkans again. The Montenegrins will fight for fighting sake —did not Mr Gladstone say , their war annals were the most glorious in Europe?—in the same spirit as did the Crusaders and for a like cause, the triumph of a half-barbaric mediaeval Christianity over the hated Moslem. It is the old, old battle between the Cross and the Crescent that has begun agafii in the wild little Land of the Black Mountains; mediaeval cruelties will be revived and religious frenzy will be the excuse for atrocities. The Montenegrins will fight to the death against overwhelming odds. It is typical of them that they. • smallest among the Balkan peoples, should have dealt the first blow.