IN MONTENEGRO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2387, 30 November 1899, Page 59

IN MONTENEGRO.

(New York Nation.)

Even in these days of world empires, the interest and importance of a country cannot yet be measured merely by its area in square miles, the number of its inhabitants at the last census, or the total of its annual trade. Montenegro is the smallest independent European State (leaving _out of account the utterly diminutive ones), and its population does- not equal that of many an American city, while its wealth is far inferior ; but this little land maintained itself for centuries free from the Turkish, con-

quests that had submerged every thing about it, and Prince Nicholas and \ is people are no mean factors in the Eastern question to-day. A visit to such a country, and especially to its easily accessible capital, is well worth the while of the inquisitive traveller.

Montenegro, Tchernagora, is supposed to got its name of " Black Mountain " from the dark, forbidding aspect of the ranges which make up its territory. This statement, like most, has been doubted of late ; for the mountains, though barren, are not particularly black — not more so than others about them. Still, they seem, bleak enough as one approaches the port of Cattaro, and sees then towering up from the water. Cattaro, which is situated on one arm of the splendid bay of that name, although it is the natural and much-coveted harbour of the Montenegrins, has long been the property of foreigners — for centuries of the Venetians, and now of Austria, which guards it with jealous care. On the hills and spurs about, one' sees the Austrian forts, ond it is said that the high road leading upward has been made with unnecessary windings, so placed as to (jxpose it again and again to a raking fire from the batteries. Cattaro itself is a picturesque lille town of some two thousand inhabitants, the great majority of whom are Slavs, in spite of which it has an Italian stamp, obvious at the first glance, and due to the rule of Venice. Few care to stay long in it, as there is nothing which ,even by a stretch of courtesy could be called a good hotel ; but when the Austrian Lloyd Company have built the one they are planning, the number of visitors ought to increase, as there are plenty of steamers from Trieste, Fiume, or Brindisi.

The carriage ride to Cettigne lasts about six hours, allowing for an hour on the way to rest the horses. The distance can be covered in a shorter time on horseback or on foot ; but one gets the finest views from the m^in road. Following the windings, we rise slowly, the panorama spreading out broader and broader. The town lies directly beneath us ; the five different arms of the bay, the Bocche di Cattaro, come gradually all into sight ; then beyond the sttep hills that divide and almost enclose them, stretches out the bright blue of the Adriatic. The green line of vegetation is far below ; above and about are the bare masses of the mountains. As we gaze we agree with Baedeker in calling the view one of the finest in Europe. The frontier here is marked by a couple of posts connected by a line of stone paving which runs diagonally across the road. After passing it, and the line of the watershed somewliat higher up, we soon reach the town (village might be a more appropriate term) of Niegosh, the cradle of Montenegrin independence, and the birthplace of the present Prince. Here, as we stop to feed the horses and pass without trouble through the custom house, we get our first glimpse of the famous mountaineers. After this the road rises again for a time. We are in full sight of the mountain chapel of Prince Peter I, who is regarded as a national saint. At one point we can look far into the interior at the Lake of Scutari, and the mountains of Albania ; then "we descend again rapidly into a little plain at whose further end lies the capital. .

Intere&ting as the aspect of the country is, the real thing one comes to Montenegro to see is the Montenegrins, and, I think, no disappointment awaits the traveller. To me, at least, they appear the finest-looking race of men (among whites) that I -have ever seen. Most of them are tall, though there are numerous exceptions ; but, tall or short, they are straight as arrows, and the fine, clear-cut features, the lazy grace of motion, the perfect ease of bearing, bespeak a people of born wrwriors, proud of their traditions, aristocratic and democratic at the same time ; men who command admiration at once, even if we must admit that these same tokens indicate a folk not given to over much toil in every-day life. The national dress, which has been copied in the uniform of the soldiers, is very becoming. Tt consists of a littlel wadded silk skull cap that does not seem much protection for the head ; a tight-fitting crimson jacket, separated from the baggy blue trousers by a brilliant sash, from which sticks out a big pistol or two, white gaiters, ivith soft shoes of the same colour, in the case of the peasants, whereas the townsmen and soldiers wear ordinary boots. The total is a costume of red, blue, and white, the national colours in the order observed on the flag. In colder weather we find among the peasantry (judging from what little I have seen), long coats of the white felt common in the clothes of many Slav peoples ; but, with or without the coat, the first extra covering put on is a narrow black or brown shawl of rough wool, with tassels eighteen inches in length at each end. This the Montenegrin, throwing it carelessly over his shoulders, wears with all the graceful ease that an Arab does his burnous ; but to the clumsy foreigner, the handling of this stiff garment is not as simple as it

looks. As for the women, they are in the main what one would expect under .the circumstances. Not being called upon to fight in time of war, - they cannot, lounge around in time of peace. Hence one sees fewer of them about, their dress is less noticeable, and, as in other countries where they have much manual labour to perform, they get old prematurely, and one is struck by the apparent absence of young women to fill the gap between those of middle age and the mere girls. Some of these girls, indeed, have superb features, so that the beauty of the race cannot be said to be confined to one sex, however evanescent it may be in the other.