Chapter II: Preface

The reason of the anonymity of this book is obvious. Revealing as it does the actual state of affairs in the Balkan Peninsula in this present year of grace 1907, it contains many plain truths and much outspoken criticism.

By a long journey of close, confidential inquiry through Montenegro, Northern Albania, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Servia, Bulgaria, Roumania, Turkey, and Macedonia, I have, at risk of betraying certain information imparted to me under seal of secrecy, endeavoured to place the actual and serious truth before English readers, and thus render complicated questions, such as Bulgaria and the Exarchate, more intelligible than heretofore.

Private audiences were granted me by the various kings and princes of the Balkan States, and by His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, as well as by almost each member of the various Cabinets in turn, so that I was enabled to gather information, some of which is, of course, known in the chancelleries of Europe, while other facts will probably come as a revelation, even to Balkan diplomats themselves.

What I was told in one country was often contradicted in the next. Yet, possessing many “friends at Court,” I was afforded unique facilities for studying, in each country, the various questions on the spot. My inspection of the Servian prisons, in company with the Minister of Justice, was, for instance, the first occasion upon which a foreigner has been allowed to study the penal system in that country; while I am, I believe, the only Englishman to visit and be the guest of those wild brigandish tribes of Northern Albania.

The secret aims and aspirations of the various Balkan States herein explained are based upon actual information gathered from confidential and reliable sources. The exposure of the shameful German and Austrian intrigues is no mere idle denunciation, but are actual facts, as revealed to me by certain Cabinet Ministers and other persons equally responsible, and supported by documentary evidence which I have had through my own hands.

As regards that land of terror, fire, and sword, Macedonia, I can only say that I have spared the reader many horrifying details and photographs of what I saw there with my own eyes. The blood of those poor defenceless women and children who are daily slaughtered by Greek bands cries aloud to Europe for vengeance.

Will there be war between Bulgaria and Turkey during the present year?

To arrive at a definite conclusion upon that very serious point was one of the chief objects of my inquiry, and this record of its result—injudicious though I may be in putting it in print—will probably be read with interest by many to whom the Near East, with its mysteries, its constant plots, and its tangled politics, is as a closed book.

All through the Balkan Peninsula the weak are to-day being crushed by the strong. The Austrian Eagle has overshadowed and grasped Bosnia, she has her talons into Servia, and is casting covetous glances upon gallant little Montenegro. On the other hand, as part of the secret policy of Christian Germany in her advance southward, the poor defenceless Macedonians are being daily outraged, murdered, or burned alive—the true facts being always suppressed and the news scarcely ever being allowed to leak out—while the Kaiser every day lifts his eyes to Heaven, implores the Divine aid, and consigns the destinies of his Empire to the direction of the Almighty!

To Germany, in great measure, is the present terrible state of Macedonia due. Her diplomacy at the Sublime Porte has recently exposed, beyond all doubt, that she secretly aids Greece and abets the Greek bands in their nefarious work of outrage, murder, and extermination.

The Kaiser could, by simply lifting his hand, stem the blood-lust of those armed hordes, and bring peace and security to the Macedonian population. But his secret policy is to create disorder in that terror-stricken country, so that Bulgaria and Turkey must be compelled, ere long, to fly at each other’s throats.

Therefore he closes his Imperial eyes to those scenes of wanton slaughter that daily are a disgrace to our civilisation in this twentieth century, and matters are rapidly going from bad to worse.

SOFIA, _April 1907_.

CONTENTS

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MONTENEGRO

CHAPTER I
THE CITY IN THE SKY

PAGE

Why I went to the Balkans—The road to Montenegro—Cettinje and its
petroleum tins—About the blood-feud—England and
Montenegro—Warned not to attempt to go to Albania—My guide a
marked man—The story of Tef—A woman’s fickleness, and its
sequel 19

CHAPTER II
AN AUDIENCE OF PRINCE NICHOLAS

The Palace at Cettinje—A cigarette with the Prince—The policy of
Montenegro—A confidential chat—His Royal Highness’s admiration
for England—His views upon Macedonia—He urges me not to attempt
to go to Albania, but I persuade him to help me—His Highness’s
kindness—Souvenirs 29

NORTHERN ALBANIA

CHAPTER I
INTO A SAVAGE REGION

Wildest Albania—Warnings not to attempt to travel there—I decide
to go, and take Palok—Prince Nicholas of Montenegro bids us
farewell—On the Lake of Scutari—Arrival at Skodra—Passports,
rabble, and backsheesh—Photographing the fortress in
secret—Treading dangerous ground—Albania the Unknown 41

CHAPTER II
WHERE LIFE IS CHEAP

Fired at in the street of Skodra—My comfortless inn—Panorama of
life—Armed bands of wild mountaineers in the streets—The Sign
of the Cross—-Scutarine people—The fascination of Skodra—In the
den of my friend Salko—Making purchases—Short shrift with
swindlers—Some genuine antiques—Ragged and shoeless soldiers of
the Sultan—Men shot in the blood-feud—“It is nothing!” 48

CHAPTER III
THE LAWLESS LAND

My friend Pietro—Visit to his house—His wife and sister-in-law
unveil and are photographed—Scutarine hospitality—Forbidden
newspapers—I get one in secret—The Turkish post office—I want
to visit the Accursed Mountains—Difficulties and fears—The
Feast of the Madonna—Christians and Mohammedans—My first
meeting with the dreaded Skreli—Shots in the night 58

CHAPTER IV
IN THE ACCURSED MOUNTAINS

Vatt Marashi, chief of the Skreli tribe, invites me to become his
guest—Our start for the Accursed Mountains—Rok, our
guide—Independence of the Skreli—Brigandage and the _bessa_—A
night under a rock—My meeting with Vatt Marashi and his
band—The Skreli welcome—How they treat the Turks—Vatt’s
admissions—I become the guest of brigands—A chat in the
moonlight 68

CHAPTER V
LIFE WITH A BRIGAND BAND

The Skreli a lawless tribe—No man’s life safe unless the chief
gives his word—Vatt prophesies a rising against the Turks—Our
walks and talks—Our meeting with our neighbours the Kastrati,
and with Dêd Presci their chief—A girl who avenged her
husband’s death—The significant story of Kol—Manners and
customs of the wild tribes—Farewell to my good friend Dêd—An
incident a fortnight later 81

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

CHAPTER I
SOME REVELATIONS

Through Dalmatia to Herzegovina—Over the Balkan watershed—Bosnia
and Sarayevo—A half-Turkish, half-Servian town—Austrian
persecution of the Christians—Some astounding facts—A land of
spies and scandals—The police as murderers—A disgrace to
European civilisation 95

CHAPTER II
DUST IN THE EYES OF EUROPE

How spies work in Bosnia—Secret agents dog the stranger’s
footsteps—My own experience—Fighting the spy with his own
weapons—To “nobble” the foreigner—How an unfavourable book was
purchased by the Austrian Government—Bribery of Press
correspondents—A country worse than Russia—Some suggested
reforms—The secret policy of Austria in the Balkans 108

SERVIA

CHAPTER I
THE TRUTH ABOUT SERVIA

The diplomatic circle in Belgrade—Studying both sides of the
Servian question—Austrian intrigue—113 known foreign spies in
Belgrade!—An illustration of the work of secret agents—Quaint
Servian customs—Pauperism unknown—Servia to-day and to-morrow 119

CHAPTER II
AN AUDIENCE OF KING PETER

At the New Konak—I sign His Majesty’s birthday-book—The
audience-chamber—King Peter greets me, and we chat over
cigarettes—My private audience—His Majesty and English
capitalists—Great openings for British enterprise—The King
gives me some instances of paying concerns, and tells me many
interesting facts—His Majesty invites me to return 130

CHAPTER III
SERVIA’S AIMS AND ASPIRATIONS

Audiences of M. Pachitch, the Premier and “strong man” of Servia,
and of M. Stoyanovitch, Minister of Commerce—My friend, Dr.
Milenko Vesnitch, Minister of Justice—The Servian case as I
found it—Austria Servia’s arch-enemy—Dr. Vesnitch a smart
up-to-date politician—Undeniable prosperity of the country
under King Peter’s rule 136

CHAPTER IV
THE FUTURE OF SERVIA

Servia and the Macedonian question—A sound Cabinet—England and
Servia—Appointment of Mr. Beethom Whitehead as British Minister
very gratifying to the Servians—King Peter ever solicitous for
the welfare of the people—What the Prime Minister told me
concerning the future—The new railway to the Adriatic 146

CHAPTER V
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW IN SERVIA

A retrospect—A sitting of the Skupshtina—Peasants as
deputies—Servia as an open field for British
enterprise—Enormous mineral wealth—Mr. Finney, a mining
engineer who has prospected in Servia for seventeen years,
tells me some interesting facts regarding rich mines awaiting
development—No adventurers need apply 157

BULGARIA

CHAPTER I
SOFIA OF TO-DAY

At the Bulgarian frontier—A chat with M. Etienne, French
ex-Minister of War—Evening in Sofia—A city of rapid
progress—Engaging peasants for Earl’s Court Exhibition—Amusing
episodes—Social life in Sofia—The diplomats’ club—The Bulgarian
Government grant me special facilities for investigation 181

CHAPTER II
BULGARIA AS A FIELD FOR BRITISH ENTERPRISE

Audiences of members of the Bulgarian Cabinet—Dr. Dimitri
Stancioff, Minister for Foreign Affairs, the coming man of
Bulgaria—His policy—Facts about the mineral wealth and mining
laws—Advice to traders and capitalists by the British
Vice-Consul in Sofia—Our methods as compared with those of
other nations 191

CHAPTER III
WILL BULGARIA DECLARE WAR?

A sitting of the Sobranje—Declarations by the late Prime Minister
Petkoff and Dr. Stancioff—The new Minister of Foreign Affairs—A
sound progressive government—Strong army and firm policy—Will
the deplorable state of Macedonia still be tolerated?—Ominous
words 197

CHAPTER IV
THE BULGARIAN EXARCHATE AND THE PORTE

A difficult and little-understood problem—Bulgaria the “dark
horse” of the Peninsula—An explanation of the question between
Bulgaria and Turkey—The Bulgarian Church and the Imperial
Firman—The present position of the Exarchate—Europe should
listen to the Bulgarian demand—Chats with Macedonian
orphans—Their terrible stories 206

CHAPTER V
AT A ROSE DISTILLERY

Tobacco growing in Bulgaria—The otto-of-rose industry—About
adulteration—Difficulties of obtaining the pure
extract—Corrupting the peasant—What Monsieur Shipkoff told
me—Some tests to discover adulteration—Interesting facts about
roses 217

CHAPTER VI
THE FUTURE OF BULGARIA

Bulgaria’s future greatness—Her firm policy in Macedonia—An
audience of Dr. Stancioff, Minister of Foreign Affairs—A chat
with the Prime Minister—Turkey the enemy of Bulgaria—Balkan
“news” in the London papers—How it is manufactured—Turkish
dominion doomed 226

ROUMANIA

CHAPTER I
BUCHAREST OF TO-DAY

My friend the spy—How I was watched through the Balkans—An
exciting half-hour—The Paris of the Near East—Gaiety,
extravagance, and pretty women—Forty years of progress—The
paradise of the idler—Husbands wanted! 235

CHAPTER II
ROUMANIA’S AIMS AND INTENTIONS

Monsieur Take Jonesco, Minister of Finance—The smartest man in
Roumania—An interview with General Lahovary, Minister of
Foreign Affairs—Secret aims of Roumania—A better frontier
wanted—Germany’s insincerity—Some plain truths—The question of
a Balkan Federation—Oil wells waiting to be exploited by
British capital 244

CHAPTER III
A CHAT WITH THE QUEEN OF ROUMANIA

The royal drawing-room—Her Majesty’s greeting—Her kind words of
welcome—Roumania not in the Balkan States—We talk politics—The
name of “Carmen Sylva”—The Queen’s deep interest in the
blind—She shows me some photographs—Public interest in the new
institution—I visit it next day 253

TURKEY

CHAPTER I
THE LAND OF THE WANING MOON

The Orient Express again—On the Black Sea to Constantinople—A
disenchantment—My dragoman—How to bribe the Customs
officers—Mud and dogs—A city of spies—Feebleness of British
policy at the Porte—Turkish adoration of Germany—The basis of
my confidential inquiries 265

CHAPTER II
IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH

His Excellency Noury Pasha—A quiet chat at his home—Turkish view
of European criticism—The Turk misunderstood—The massacres in
Macedonia—My visit to the Sublime Porte—His Excellency Tewfik
Pasha tells me the truth—A great diplomatist—The fashion to
denounce Turkey—The attitude of the Porte towards
Bulgaria—Significant words 274

MACEDONIA

CHAPTER I
PLAIN TRUTHS ABOUT MACEDONIA

War imminent between Bulgaria and Turkey—My secret
inquiries—Atrocities by the Greek bands—Chats with the leaders
of the insurrection—The truth about the intrigues in
Macedonia—I visit the scene of the massacres—Stories told to
me—Horrifying facts—Germany behind the assassins—A disgraceful
truth 285