Chapter LI (5)

Salona is rich in antiquarian remains, though nothing is extant to redeem from improbability the testimony of Porphyrogenitus, that Salona was half the size of Constantinople. Of its origin no record exists, nor is much known of its history till the time of Julius Cæsar. Subsequently to that era it was subject to various fortunes, and bore various titles. At last, in Christian times it became a Bishop's see, and was occupied by 61 bishops in succession. Diocletian was its great embellisher and almost rebuilder. Later in the day, we find that it was from Salona that Belisarius set out in 544, when recalled to the command of the army of Justinian, and intrusted with the conduct of the war against Totila. The town remained populous and fortified, till destroyed by the Avars in 639. These ferocious barbarians having established themselves in Clissa, the terror of their propinquity scared away the Salonitans. The terrified inhabitants, after a short and ineffectual resistance, fled to the islands. The town was pillaged and burnt, and from that time Salona has been deserted and in ruins.

"With these historical facts before us, it is interesting to
observe the present state of the place, which affords many
illustrations of past events. The positions of its defences,
repaired at various times, may be traced: an inscription lately
discovered by Professor Carrara, shows that its walls and towers
were repaired by Valentinian II., and Theodosius; and the ditch
of Constantianus is distinctly seen on the north side. Here and
there, it has been filled up with earth and cultivated; but its
position cannot be mistaken, and in places its original breadth
may be ascertained. A very small portion of the wall remains
on the east side, and nearly all traces of it are lost towards
the river: but the northern portion is well preserved, and the
triangular front, or salient angle of many of its towers, may be
traced.

"In the western part of the town are the theatre, and what is
called the amphitheatre. Of the former, some portion of the
proscenium remains, as well as the solid tiers of arches, built
of square stone, with bevelled edges, about 6-1/4 feet diameter,
and 10 feet apart."

We have a good description of the annual fair of Salona. The description will be suggestive of picturesque recollections to those who have seen the open air festivities celebrated by the orthodox--_i. e._ by the children of the Greek Church, about Easter time. We can take it upon ourselves to recommend highly the lambs, wont to be roasted whole on these occasions. The culinary apparatus is rude--consisting merely of a few sticks for a fire, and another stick to be used as a spit--but the result of their operations is most satisfactory.

"All Spalato is of course at the fair; and the road to Salona
is thronged with carriages of every description, horsemen,
and pedestrians. The mixture of the men's hats, red caps, and
turbans, and the bonnets and Frank dresses of the Spalatine
ladies, contrasted with the costume of the country women,
presents one of the most singular sights to be soon in Europe,
and to a stranger the language adds in no small degree to the
novelty. Some business is done as well as pleasure; and a great
number of cattle, sheep, and pigs are bought and sold--as well
as various stuffs, trinkets, and the usual goods exhibited at
fairs. Long before mid-day, the groups of peasants have thronged
the road, not to say street, of Salona; some attend the small
church, picturesquely placed upon a green, surrounded by the
small streams of the Giadro, and shaded with trees; while others
rove about, seeking their friends, looking at, and looked at by
strangers, as they pass; and all are intent on the amusements of
the day, and the prospect of a feast.

"Eating and drinking soon begin. On all sides sheep are seen
roasting whole on wooden spits, in the open air; and an entire
flock is speedily converted into mutton. Small knots of hungry
friends are formed in every direction: some seated on a bank
beneath the trees, others in as many houses as will hold them;
some on grass by the road-side, regardless of sun and dust--and
a few quiet families have boats prepared for their reception.

"In the mean time, the hat-wearing townspeople from Spalato
and other places, as they pace up and down, bowing to an
occasional acquaintance, view with complacent pity the
primitive recreations of the simple peasantry; and arm-in-arm,
civilisation, with its propriety and affectation, is here
strangely contrasted with the hearty laugh of the unrefined
Morlacchi."

We do not know the country where men will meet together and eat without drinking also: at the al-fresco entertainments of this kind which we have seen, the kegs of wine have ever been in goodly proportion to the spitted lambs. And wherever a mob of men set to drinking together, they will most assuredly take to fighting. The rows at this fair used to be considerable; and, considering that more wine is said to be consumed here on this one day than during the whole of the rest of the year, we cannot be surprised that fights should come off worthy of Donnybrook. At present, better order is preserved than of old, because these rows have been so excessive that they have enforced the attendance of the police.

At this fair is to be seen the picturesque _collo_ dance of the Morlacchi, of which our author affords a capital pencil-sketch, as well as the following description:--

"It sometimes begins before dinner, but is kept up with greater
spirit afterwards. They call it _collo_, from being, like most
of their national dances, in a circle. A man generally has
one partner, sometimes two, but always at his right side. In
dancing, he takes her right hand with his, while she supports
herself by holding his girdle with her left; and when he has two
partners, the one nearest him holds in her right hand that of
her companion, who, with her left, takes the right hand of the
man; and each set dances forward in a line round the circle. The
step is rude, as in most of the Slavonic dances, including the
polka and the _radovatschka_; and the music, which is primitive,
is confined to a three-stringed violin."

Dancing for dancing's sake, is what enters into no Englishman's category of the enjoyable, nor into many an Englishwoman's either, we should think, after the passage out of her teens; but that it is, in sober earnest, an enjoyment to many people under the sun, there is no doubt. Surely there is something wonderful in the faculty of finding pleasure in the elephantine manœuvres of the _romaika_, or in the still more clumsy gyrations of a _palicari's_ performance. The _collo_ we readily believe to be a picturesque dance: but such qualification is not the general condition on which the people of a nation accept dances as national. Most of these exhibitions in Greece and Eastern Europe must be condemned as graceless and unmeaning: as an exhibition of earnest tomfoolery, they may be accepted as wonderful; and, at all events, may safely be pronounced co-excellent with the music that inspires them.

In passing from Salona to Traü, a distance of about thirteen miles and a half to the westward, the traveller passes by several of the villages called Castelli. The name has been given them from the circumstance of their having been built near to, and under the protection of, the castles which, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, were constructed here by some of the nobles.

"The land was granted to them by the Venetians, on condition
of their erecting places of refuge for the peasants during the
wars with the Turks. A body of armed men lived within them, and,
on the approach of danger, the flocks and herds were protected
beneath the walls; and, at harvest time, the peasantry had a
place of security for their crops within range of the castle
guns."

The rights of lordship over the villages, which used to be exercised by the nobles in virtue of the protection afforded, have nearly all fallen into disuse. The only relic of feudalism that seems to survive is found at Castel Cambio, over which two nobles still possess certain rights. One of these was the hospitable host of Sir Gardner, and his friend Professor Carrara, on their passage to and from Traü.

A fact connected with the peculiarity of the position of this town is, we think, well worthy of notice, and deservedly recorded by our author. The town stands partly on a peninsula, and partly on the island of Bua. A fosse, cut across the narrow neck of the peninsula, has completed its isolation. This ditch has proved, on occasion, the most effectual of fortifications to the Traürines. They were, in 1241, besieged by the Tartars in pursuit of King Bela IV., who had fled hither before them. These impetuous assailants were unable to pass the ditch; and, having waited on the other side till food and forage were exhausted, they were obliged to retire. One cannot read this story without thinking of the account that Sir Francis Head gives of the La Plata Indians, whose habits of warfare are in many respects so exactly akin to those of the Tartars. These terrific horsemen would be scarcely resistible by their less robust enemies, save for their inability to cross anything in the shape of a ditch. Out of the saddle they can do nothing, and their horses will not leap; so that, if you wish to be safe from their inroads, you have but to surround your dwellings with a moderate trench. And very striking is the story that Sir Francis Head tells of the handful of men who, under such protection, held out successfully against a host of Indians. Traü, however, has been elaborately fortified in European fashion, though now the works are neglected, as being a useless precaution against dangers no longer existent. It has also a fine old cathedral, and some pictures of pretension.

After a brief notice of the islands of Brazza and Solta--a notice, however, sufficient for all useful purposes--we pass on to the picturesque neighbourhood of the falls of the Kerka. Sir Gardner speaks of the delay to which the passage by boat from Sebenico to Scardona is subject, but does not exactly complain of it. In fact, we can easily understand that, for the sake of the passenger, it is expedient that some authoritative note should be taken of his departure under charge of the particular boatmen who undertake his convoy. We never did ascend to Kerka, but from what we have seen of the class of men under whose guidance the expedition has to be performed, we are disposed to vote the caution of the police to be anything but superfluous. Every now and then one hears dreadful stories of the atrocities of boatmen in convenient parts of the Mediterranean; and there is good reason to be thankful that the Austrians think it worth while to be so careful of strangers.

The people about Sebenico, through whose lands the course of the lake leads, are spoken of as not paying much attention to agriculture or to their fisheries; but it seems that they are sedulously bent on raising grapes, and neglect no patch of ground at all likely to be available for this purpose. The lake of Scardona is considerably larger than that of Sebenico. On the shore here the Romans had a settlement, of which scarcely any remains are perceptible. They are, however, remarkable as affording a manifest proof of the rise of the level of the lake, for some of them are under water.

Scardona, we are told, does not occupy the site of the old Scardon, which was a place of considerable importance under the empire. Some have even imagined that the old city stood on the opposite bank of the river. The town at present is small, but well furnished for the convenience of strangers. It boasts an inn, at which Sir Gardner put up for one night. He then proceeded to the falls, which are distant from the inn a three-quarters-of-an-hour journey. As he intended to ascend the river above the falls, he had to send to the monks of Vissovaz to ask for a boat, and they readily complied with his request. The falls do not seem to have been full on the occasion of this visit--but, when full, the effect must be striking. They are divided into two parts, and their picturesque effect is greatly enhanced by the surrounding scenery.

At a distance of a few minutes' walk up the river, above the falls, the boat was waiting to transport Sir Gardner to the convent of Vissovaz. It is to this fraternity that we have before alluded, as being the sole mill-owners on the Kerka. Their convent must indeed be beautifully situated, and we can quite enter into the eulogium bestowed on it. The fathers are of the Franciscan order. The name of Vissovaz is of curious allusion; and as probably few of our courteous readers will be the worse for a little help in the matter of Slavonian etymology, we may as well tell them that its import is "the place of hanging." Not a very complimentary or well-omened name, certainly, we would think at first sight; but we see that it is so when we learn that the allusion is to the martyrdom of two priests, who were hanged here by the Turkish governor of Scardona. By the record left of the event, we cannot see that the death of these unfortunate victims was in any sense martyrdom: they were cruelly and unjustly put to death, but for a cause entirely worldly. However, they were Christians, and their murderers were Turks; and this has been enough to constitute a claim to canonisation in more places than at Vissovaz.

Sir Gardner arrived at the picturesque, red-tiled convent in time for dinner; but as the day happened to be a fast, the fare provided was not sufficiently tempting to induce a wish to stay. He therefore was preparing, with many thanks, to take his leave of the good fathers, and proceed on his journey, when he found himself brought up by an unexpected difficulty. He was informed that he could not proceed except by favour of the monks of the Greek convent of St Archangelo, another religious house still farther up the stream. His hospitable entertainers readily volunteered to send in quest of the requisite assistance. These are the conditions of travelling, because there are no carriages for hire hereaway, nor any boats to let. The Franciscans had volunteered to do what, when it came to the point, was found to be rather an awkward thing. No great cordiality subsists generally between the Latins and the orthodox. Each charges the other with destructive heresy; and doubtless both of these great branches of the church esteem a Protestant safe, by comparison with the arch-heretics that they each see the other to be. Thus, though dwelling on the confines of Christendom, and in a solitude that might have rendered them neighbourly, we find that very little intercourse takes place between the two religious establishments. Accordingly, the writing of the letter was found to be no easy affair; and their guest saw them lay their heads together in consultation, after a fashion that boded ill for the prospects of his journey. They confessed themselves to be in a fix; and were afraid of exposing themselves to some affront if, contrary to their wont, they should open a communication with the Greeks, asking of them a favour.

"'Did you ever go as far as the convent?' said an old father
to a more restless and locomotive Franciscan, and a negative
answer seemed to put an end to the incipient letter; when one of
the party suggested that those Greeks had shown themselves very
civil on some occasion, and the writer of the epistle once more
resumed his spectacles and his pen. 'They are,' he observed,
'after all, like ourselves, and must be glad to see a stranger
who comes from afar; and besides, our letter may have the effect
of commencing a friendly intercourse with them, which we may
have no reason to regret.'"

This very sensible hint of the Franciscan philosopher was happily acted out. The letter was sent, and in due course of time--_i. e._ in time for a start next morning--an answer arrived from the Archimandrite. It was to welcome the stranger to their hospitality, and to inform him that a boat awaited him at the falls. As the issue on the first intention was so favourable, let us hope that the other good results anticipated from the sending of the letter will have been by this time realised. At all events, Sir Gardner may congratulate himself on having afforded occasion for the opening of personal as well as epistolary communication between the convents, as one of the Franciscans accompanied him in the expedition to St Archangelo.

Much praise is bestowed on the beauty of the Kerka, and the view of the Falls of Roncislap is especially distinguished. Sir Gardner praises it in artistic language; and we may be allowed to regret that he has not added a sketch of this scene to the views with which his book is embellished. The waters of the Kerka possess a petrifying quality that is common in Dalmatia. Much of the rock has been formed under the water, and must present a singular appearance.

Near the Falls of Roncislap a depôt for coal has been established, that, by all accounts, would seem to be anything but a good speculation. We mention it merely for the sake of a good story that hangs by it. It seems that the Austrian Lloyds' Company patronise this coal because it is cheap. It is one reason, certainly, for buying it; but, as the coal will not burn, we may doubt their wisdom. We do not wish to spoil the market of the Company of Dernis, but we agree with Sir Gardner, that there are reasonable objections to the using of food for the furnaces that will get up no steam, and must be taken on board in such quantities, as to lumber up the decks. Besides this, hear how it goes on when it does burn:--

"It has also the effect of causing much smoke, and the large
flakes of soot that fall from the chimney upon the awning
actually burn holes in it, till it looks like a sail riddled
with grape-shot; and I remember one day seeing the awning on
fire from one of these showers of soot; when the captain calmly
ordered it to be put out, as if it had been a common occurrence."

"A Russian consul,"--this is the story:--

"A Russian consul, who happened to be on board, and who was not
much accustomed to the smoky doings of steamers, seemed to be
deeply impressed with the inconvenience of the falling flakes
of soot. His voice had rarely been heard during the voyage, and
he appeared to shun communication with his fellow-passengers;
when one afternoon, the awning not being up, he burst forth
with these startling remarks, uttered with a broad Slavonian
accent,--'_Que ces baateaux à vapeur sont sales! Par suite de
maaladie, il y a dix ans que je ne me zuis paas lavré, mais
maintenant j'ai zenti le bezoin de me lavver, et je me zuis
lavvé!!_'"

This must have been a Russian of the old school.

Arrived at the convent of St Archangelo, they had every reason to be content with their hospitable reception. The Archimandrite is praised as being gentlemanlike, and of mien as though educated in a European capital. This is a very unusual characteristic of any Greek ecclesiastic, and what we could predicate of but one or two out of the numbers that we have seen. Greek priests of any kind are bad enough, but those living in convents seem generally to go on the principle of the Russian consul just mentioned, and might fitly be invited to associate with him. All honour, then, to Stefano Knezovich, and may his example be abundantly followed among his brethren!

There was not much in the Greek convent to induce a long visit; so the next morning Sir Gardner pushed on to Kistagne, in his progress through the country. Here he was again the victim of letter-writing, but in a different way. The sirdar of Kistagne took offence at the tone of the letter sent to him by the Archimandrite, ordering horses for the next morning; and the luckless traveller was consequently left in the lurch. However, the monk did his best to make up for the deficiency. He lent him his own horse, and had his baggage conveyed by some peasants--an excellent arrangement, saving that the porters were _female_ peasants. This is a sort of thing that sadly shocks our sense of decorum, but which many folks besides the Dalmatians take as a matter of course. Sir Gardner says that the custom of assigning the heavy burden to the women is prevalent among the Montenegrini; it is so also among the Albanians; and to a most atrocious extent in the Peloponnesus. In this particular case, they were well off to get the job; it was to exchange their task of carrying heavy loads of water up the hill for that of shouldering his light _impedimenta_.

Arrived at Kistagne, he found the sirdar, who had been so disobliging at a distance, much improved on acquaintance, and from him he received all requisite assistance for the prosecution of his journey to Knin; and by him was guided in his visit to the Roman arches, which point out the site of the ancient city of Burnum.

Knin is still a place of considerable strength, and has been once upon a time still stronger. It is identified with the ancient Arduba. The marshy character of the ground in its immediate neighbourhood renders it an unhealthy place of abode; but this evil is easily removable by a moderate attention to drainage. Not very far from Knin, but over the Turkish border, on the other side of Mount Gniath, is supposed to be situated the gold mine that of old conferred on Dalmatia the title of auriferous. The mine is said to exist here; but so much mystery is observed on its subject by the Turks that nothing certain can be affirmed of it. From Verlicca, to Sign we pass as quickly as may be, merely noticing that there is another convent to be visited _en route_, and that we have the opportunity of putting up at the Han, as Sir Gardner did. These people certainly have admitted a great many Turkish words into their vocabulary: we have _Sirdar_, and _Han_, and _Arambasha_--to say nothing of others. At last we come to _Sign_; and, touching this place, we must give an extract from the book. An annual tilting festival has been established here, in commemoration of the brave defence maintained in 1715, against the Pasha of Bosnia with forty thousand men.

"The privilege of tilting is confined to natives of Sign, and
its territory. Every one is required to appear dressed in the
ancient costume, with the Tartar cap, called kalpak, surmounted
by a white heron's plume, or with flowers interlaced in it. He
is to wear a sword, to carry a lance, and to be mounted on a
good horse richly caparisoned."

"The opening of the _giostra_ is in this manner: The _footmen_,
richly dressed and armed, advance two by two before the
cavaliers. In the usual annual exhibitions each cavalier has
one _footman_; and on extraordinary occasions, besides the
footman, he has a _padrino_ well mounted and equipped. After the
_footmen_ come three persons in line--one carrying a shield,
and the other two by his side bearing a sort of ancient club;
then a fair _manège_ horse, led by the hand, with large housings
and complete trappings, richly ornamented, followed by two
cavaliers--one the adjutant, the other the ensign-bearer. Next
comes the _Maestro-di-Campo_, accompanied by the two _jousters_,
and followed by all the others, marching two and two. The
rear of the procession is brought up by the _Chiauss_, who
rides alone, and whose duty it is to maintain order during the
ceremony."

We have a description of a fair at Sign that is almost as suggestive of the picturesque as was the account of similar doings at Salona. Sir Gardner shall give his own account of his departure from the town.

"In the midst of the bustle and business going on at Sign,
I found some difficulty in getting horses to take me on to
Spalato; but a letter to the Sirdar removed every impediment,
and, after a few hours' delay, the animals being brought out,
I prepared to start from the not very splendid inn.' 'Can you
ride in that?' asked the ostler, pointing to a huge Turkish
saddle that nearly concealed the whole animal, with stirrups
that might pass for a pair of coal scuttles; and finding that I
was accustomed to the use as well as sight of that un-European
horse-furniture, he seemed well satisfied--observing, at the
same time, that it was fortunate, as there was no other to
be had.... I was glad to take what I could get, and my only
question in return was, whether the horse could trot; which
being settled, I posted off, leaving my guide and baggage to
come after me--for, thanks to the Austrian police, there is
no fear of robbers appropriating a portmanteau in Dalmatia:
the interesting days of adventure and the Haiduk banditti have
passed, and the Morlacchi have ceased to covet, or at least to
take other men's goods."

And now we make a resolute halt, and determine to pass _sub silentio_ all that intervenes between this part of the book and the coming into the country of the Montenegrini. Unless we act thus discreetly, we shall never contrive to compress all we have to say into due limits; and even now we hardly know how this desirable result is to be effected. What we thus leave as fallow-ground for the reader will yield to his research a history of the coast and islands between Spalato and Cattaro. The notice of Ragusa is especially and deservedly full, and presents an admirable condensation of Ragusan history.

But it is high time for us to get amongst the children of the Black Mountain. Among things excellent it is permitted to institute comparison without disparagement to any of them: and, in virtue of this license, we are free to say that this part of Sir Gardner's book shines forth as _inter minora sidera_. The subject itself is of deep intrinsic interest; and he has treated it as we well knew that he would. A picture is given of the actual condition of a scion of the Christian stock that must astonish those who, by this book, first learn to think of the Montenegrini; and must delight those who, having heard somewhat of them, or haply even paid them a flying visit, have looked in vain for some accurate statement of detail to help out their personal observations.

The Montenegrini are descended from the old Servian stock, and still look to modern Servia with affection, as to their mother country. Thither also we find them, by Sir Gardner's account, retiring, when forced by poverty to emigrate from their own territory. Among them the Slavonian language is preserved in unusual purity. The present population is about 100,000; and the number of fighting men amounts to 20,000--a number which, on occasion of need, would be greatly augmented by the calling out of the veterans. In fact every individual man of the nation, whose arm has power to wield a weapon, is a warrior; and the very women are ready to assist in defence. On the Turkish border, as is well known, a constant system of bloody reprisals is going on; and the endeavours of the Vladika to reduce their hostilities to civilised fashion have hitherto failed of success. They are sustained at the highest pitch of confident daring by the successful war which they have so long been able to carry on against their powerful neighbours. One is glad of the opportunity of giving, on the authority of Sir Gardner, some of the stories of their prowess; for to retail, without the authority of some such _padrino_, the tales current in Cattaro, would be to win the reputation of talking like Mendez Pinto.

In judging the Montenegrini, we should give charitable consideration to their circumstances. War is a system of violence; and with them, unhappily, war is a permanent condition of existence. The treachery and cruelty of the Turks--are these such recent developments that we need make any doubt of them?--have worked out cruel consequences in the character of the Montenegrini. They believe a Turk to be utterly without honesty and good faith--one with whom it is impossible to hold terms--and such, probably, is about the right estimate of some of their Turkish neighbours. Who, for instance, that knows anything about them, has any other opinion of the Albanians? Are Kaffirs much more hopeless subjects? The Montenegrini are far from the commission of the horrid cruelties that are of everyday occurrence among the Albanians. Their imperfect appreciation of Christianity allows them to behold in revenge a virtue; and hence the acts of violence which are quoted to their dispraise. Their marauding expeditions are but according to the usages of war; and if they sometimes break through the restrictions of a truce, it would seem to be because they really do not understand what a truce is. We think that a very apt apology for the Montenegrini is found in the speech of a German traveller quoted by Sir Gardner. He had been mentioning several occurrences of English and Scotch history, and spoke in allusion to them.

"'What think you,' he observed, 'of the state of society in
those times? Were the border forays of the English and Scotch
more excusable than those of the Montenegrins? And how much more
natural is the unforgiving hatred of the Montenegrins against
the Turks, the enemies of their country, and their faith, than
the relentless strife of Highland clans, with those of their own
race and religion! Has not many an old castle in other parts of
Europe, witnessed scenes as bad as any enacted by this people? I
do not wish to exculpate the Montenegrins; but theirs is still a
dark age, and some allowance must be made for their uncivilised
condition.'"

The character of the present Vladika affords good hope that an improvement will take place among the people; for he evidently has devoted all his energies to their amelioration. Sir Gardner entered their territory, by what we believe to be the only route--that is to say from Cattaro--whence he took letters of introduction from the Austrian governor to the Vladika.

We shall best illustrate the condition of the Montenegrini by quoting some of Sir Gardner's accounts.

"Four Montenegrins, and their sister, aged twenty-one, going
on a pilgrimage to the shrine of St Basilio, were waylaid by
seven Turks, in a rocky defile, so narrow that they could only
thread it one by one; and hardly had they entered between the
precipices that bordered it on either side, when an unexpected
discharge of fire-arms killed one brother, and desperately
wounded another. To retrace their steps was impossible without
meeting certain and shameful death, since to turn their backs
would give their enemy the opportunity of destroying them at
pleasure.

"The two who were unhurt, therefore, advanced and returned the
fire, killing two Turks--while the wounded one, supporting
himself against a rock, fired also, and mortally injured two
others, but was killed himself in the act. His sister, taking
his gun, loaded and fired simultaneously with her two brothers,
but, at the same instant, one of them dropped down dead. The
two surviving Turks then rushed furiously at the only remaining
Montenegrin--who, however, laid open the skull of one of them
with his yatagan, before receiving his own death-blow. The
hapless sister, who had all this time kept up a constant fire,
stood for an instant irresolute; when suddenly assuming an air
of terror and supplication, she entreated for mercy; but the
Turk, enraged at the death of his companions, was brutal enough
to take advantage of the unhappy girl's agony, and only promised
her life at the price of her honour. Hesitating at first, she
pretended to listen to the villain's proposal; but no sooner did
she see him thrown off his guard, than she buried in his body
the knife she carried at her girdle. Although mortally wounded,
the Turk endeavoured to make the most of his failing strength,
and plucking the dagger from his side, staggered towards the
courageous girl,--who, driven to despair, threw herself on the
relentless foe, and with superhuman energy hurled him down the
neighbouring precipice, at the very moment when some shepherds,
attracted by the continued firing, arrived just too late for the
rescue."

Fancy the tone that must be given to their lives by the constant necessity of being ready for encounters such as this. They never lay aside their arms; but in the field, or by the wayside, are armed and alert. One hand may be allowed to the implement of tillage, but the other must be reserved for the weapon of defence.

On many occasions, Montenegrin courage has prevailed against odds far greater than in the above case--indeed such odds as, but for authentication of facts, would be incredible. In the year 1840, "seventy Montenegrins, in the open field, withstood the attack of several thousand Turks; and having made breastworks with the bodies of their fallen foes, maintained the unequal conflict till night; when forty who survived forced their way through the hostile army, and escaped with their lives." Another astonishing achievement was the successful defence of a house held by seven-and-twenty Montenegrins, against a body of about six thousand Albanians. Of this last action, trophies are preserved by the Vladika in his palace at Tzetinié, and there Sir Gardner saw them.

We cannot wonder that the effect on their minds of these astonishing successes, should be an unbounded confidence in their superiority over the Turks. Sir Gardner Wilkinson found them impressed with the idea, that bread and arms were the only needful requisites to enable them to drive the Turks out of Albania and Herzegovina. It seems certain that, in their rencontres With these enemies, they dismiss all ordinary considerations of prudence. The spirit of their feeling with regard to the Turks is thus portrayed:--

"It is not the courage, but the cruelty of the Turks which
inspires him (the Montenegrin) with hatred; and the sufferings
inflicted upon his country by their inroads makes him look upon
them with feelings of ferocious vengeance.

"These savage sentiments are kept alive by the barbarous custom,
adopted by both parties, of cutting off the heads of the wounded
and the dead; the consequences of which are destructive of all
the conditions of fair warfare, and preclude the possibility
of peace. The bitter remembrance of the past is constantly
revived by the horrors of the present; and the love of revenge,
which strongly marks the character of the Montenegrin, makes
him insensible to reason or justice, and places the Turks, in
his opinion, out of the pale of human beings. He dreams only of
vengeance; he cares little for the means employed, and the man
who should make any excuse for not persecuting those enemies of
his country and his faith, would be treated with ignominy and
contempt. Even the sanctity of a truce is not always sufficient
to restrain him; and the hatred of the Turk is paramount to all
ordinary considerations of honour or humanity."

This cutting off of heads is not peculiar to the Montenegrins. The Turks are, in this respect, just as bad, and Sir Gardner found, on the occasion of his visit to Mostar, that, in point of this barbarism, there is not a pin to choose between them. The Turks, however, exceed in cruelty. It appears, on the evidence of the letter of the Vladika, given in the second volume, that they (the Turks) impale men alive; whereas the Montenegrins are chargeable with no wanton cruelty. Indeed, they do not restrict the performance of this operation to the case of enemies; but, as an act of friendship, decapitate any comrade who may so be wounded in action as to have no other means of avoiding capture by the enemy. "You are very brave," said a well-meaning Montenegrin to a portly Russian officer, who was unable to keep up with his detachment in its retreat,--"you are very brave, _and must wish that I should cut off your head_: say a prayer, and make the sign of the cross."

Life, passed amidst every hardship, and threatened by constant and deadly peril, ought, we suppose, according to all rule, to be short in duration. But we find that these people are remarkable for longevity. A family is mentioned, in one of the villages, which reckoned six generations, there and then extant. The head of the family was a great-great-great-grandfather.

The Vladika received his visitor most courteously, as he always does those who have the privilege of being presented to him. He afforded to Sir Gardner every facility for seeing the country, and engaged his secretary to draw up for him a _précis_ of Montenegrin history. We will condense some of its more important facts. The supremacy in things spiritual and temporal has not been very long vested, as it at present is, in the person of the Vladika. The two chieftain-ships were of old distinct, and the figment of a separate temporal authority was continued till comparatively lately: the year 1832 is mentioned as the epoch at which the office of civil chief was definitely suppressed. The present family (Petrovich) have possessed the dignity of the Vladikate since the close of the seventeenth century. The reigning Vladika--this man of magnificent presentment--this brave, intellectual, and athletic ruler of an indomitable race--is nephew of the late Vladika, who has been canonised, although but few years have passed since his death. The prince-bishop is not theoretically absolute in power, as the form of a republic is kept up: the general assembly has the right of deliberation, under the presidency of the Vladika. But this restriction of power is pretty nearly nominal only: we give Sir Gardner's account of the native Diet.

"In a semicircular recess, formed by the rocks on one side of
the plain of Tzetinié, and about half a mile to the southward
of the town, is a level piece of grass land, with a thicket of
low poplar trees. Here the diet is held, from which the spot
has received the name of _mali sbor_ (the small assembly.)
When any matter is to be discussed, the people meet in this
their Runimede, or 'meadow of council,' and partly on the level
space, partly on the rocks, receive from the Vladika notice of
the question proposed. The duration of the discussion is limited
to a certain time, at the expiration of which the assembly is
expected to come to a decision; and when the monastery bell
orders silence, notwithstanding the most animated discussion, it
is instantly restored. The Metropolitan asks again what is their
decision, and whether they agree to his proposal or not. The
answer is always the same: '_Budi po to oyema, Vladika_,'--'Let
it be as thou wishest, Vladika.'"

Montenegro first secured its independence about a generation or two before the time of the famous Scanderbeg, on the breaking up of the kingdom of Servia. Since that time they have constantly been subject to the inroads of the Turks, who, claiming them as tributaries, have continued to invade their country every now and then with savage cruelty. More than once they have carried fire and sword to Tzetinié, but have never been able to hold their ground. The Montenegrins sought the protection of Russia in the time of Peter the Great, and still continue to be subsidised by Russia. At the desire of Peter, they invaded the Turkish territory, and were subjected to reprisals on a grand scale. At one time 60,000 Turks, at another 120,000, broke into Montenegro. The first invasion was gloriously repulsed; but the second, combining treachery with violence, was successful. Great damage was done to the country; but the invaders were at last obliged to quit, on the breaking out of war between Turkey and Venice. The Montenegrins then returned to their desolate homes, and have since been unintermitting in their diligence to pay off old scores. They co-operated with the Austrians and Russians, when they had the opportunity of such assistance; and when they stood alone, they did so nobly and bravely. The last great expedition of the Turks was in the time of the late Vladika. The Pasha of Scutari, with an enormous force, invaded the country; and the result of the expedition was that 30,000 Turks were killed, and among them the Pasha of Albania, whose head now serves as a trophy of victory to decorate Tzetinié.

The capital of the Vladika, has been described before--for instance, in the pages of this Magazine; so, with one brief extract concerning it, we will follow Sir Gardner in his progress through the country.

"On a rock immediately above the convent is a round tower
pierced with embrasures, but without cannon, on which I
counted the heads of twenty Turks fixed upon stakes round
the parapet--the trophies of Montenegrin victory; and below,
scattered upon the rock, were the fragments of other skulls,
which had fallen to pieces by time,--a strange spectacle in a
Christian country, in Europe, and in the immediate vicinity of a
convent and a bishop's palace!"

And, as we said before, when he got to Mostar, in Herzegovina, he found a spectacle of the same shocking kind. He did allow his horror at this sight to evaporate ineffectually; but in earnest tried to interpose his good offices to prevent a continuance of these doings. He talked to the two people mainly concerned--_i. e._ to the Vizir of Herzegovina, and to the Vladika. He also, at Constantinople, endeavoured to effect the making of an appeal to the highest Turkish authority. His correspondence with the Vladika on the subject is evidence of his zeal; but no positive good seems to have been the result of his intercession.

The road leading from the capital to Ostrok is described as being very bad at first, and bad beyond description as it recedes from the capital. The Vladika kindly sent with Sir Gardner one of his guards and an interpreter. The party passed by several villages, and arrived at Mishke, the principal village of the Cevo district, where they put up for the night at the house of the principal senator of the province. Here some amusement was afforded by Sir Gardner's proceeding to sketch the domestic party.

In the course of the evening a scene occurred, which sets forth their social condition as graphically as the artist's pencil has their personal appearance. A party of friends came in to have a quiet pipe, and to plan a foray over the border.

"On inquiry, I found the expedition was to take place
immediately. "Is there not," I asked, "a truce at this moment
between you and the Turks of Herzegovina?" They laughed, and
seemed much amused at my scruples. "We don't mind that," said a
stern swarthy man, taking his pipe from his mouth, and shaking
his head to and fro; "they are Turks"--and all agreed that the
Turks were fair game. "Besides," they said, "it is only to be a
plundering excursion;" and they evidently considered that any
one refusing to join in a marauding expedition into Turkey, at
any time, or in an open attack during a war, would be unworthy
the name of a brave man. They seemed to treat the matter like
boys in "the good old times," who robbed orchards; the courage
it showed being in proportion to the risk, and scruples of
conscience were laughed at as a want of spirit."

In a freshly-decapitated head, affixed to a stake at Mostar, he shortly afterwards recognised the features of one of these very men.

On the next day he proceeded to Ostrok, and found occasion to admire the scenery by the way, especially the vale of Oranido, distant from Mishke about four hours. From the vale of Oranido to Ostrok is a journey of about the same time. At Ostrok he underwent a grand reception, and fully won the hearts of his new friends by proposing a ride to the Turkish frontier, and affording them by the way an exhibition of Memlook riding. On the frontier is constantly maintained a guard of Montenegrins, to give timely warning of any suspicious movement among the Turks; and so well do they execute this office that no Turk can approach the border without being shot at. Near this border it was that, some little time ago, in 1843, an affair took place which does not tell well for the Montenegrini; and which seems for the present to preclude hope of amicable arrangement with the Turks. A deputation of twenty-two Turks, returning from Ostrok, were attacked by the people, and nine of them killed. This breach of faith is, to their minds, excused by the suspicion of meditated treachery on the part of the Turks. But it is a sad affair; and the only circumstance which goes in mitigation of its guilt is, that the Vladika took precautions against its occurrence. He sent an armed guard to protect the deputation, but their defence proved insufficient.

The Archimandrite of Ostrok is the person who holds the place of second dignity in the government. He ranks next to the Vladika; and we are glad to find, by Sir Gardner's account, that he cordially co-operates with the Vladika in his plans of amelioration. Here also was met the celebrated priest and warrior, Ivan Knezovich, or Popé Yovan--a man who, in this nation of brave men, is renowned as the bravest. There are two convents at Ostrok, of which one fulfils also the function of powder magazine and store depot. Its position is very remarkable; and certainly it does bear a strong family likeness to Megaspelion. The same quality of not being within reach of any missile from above belongs to both of them, and has proved the saving of both.

The return to Tzetinié was by a different route, which took Sir Gardner within near view of the northern end of the lake of Scutari. The island of Vranina, situated at this extremity of the lake, is likely to afford the next ostensible ground for an outbreak. It belonged to Montenegro, but, a few years ago, was treacherously seized by the Albanians, who effected a surprise in time of peace. Remonstrances and hard blows have equally failed to promote a restoration, _et adhuc sub judice lis est_. Throughout the course of his journey, Sir Gardner experienced much and genuine kindness from the rude people of the country; they brought him presents of such things as they had to offer, and would accept no compensation. When at last he bade them farewell, and returned to the haunts of civilisation, it was evidently with kindly recollections of them, and with the best of good-will towards them. He was able to give a satisfactory account of his impressions to the Vladika, who inquired thus,--"What do you think of the people? Do they appear to you the assassins and barbarians some people pretend to consider them? I hope you found them all well-behaved and civil--they are poor, but that does not prevent their being hospitable and generous."

MODERN BIOGRAPHY.

BEATTIE'S LIFE OF CAMPBELL.

_Life and Letters of Thomas Campbell._ Edited by WILLIAM
BEATTIE, M.D., one of his Executors. 3 vols. London: Moxon, 1849.

The ancients, who lived beyond the reach of the fangs and feelers of the printing press, had, in one respect, a decided advantage over us unlucky moderns. They were not beset by the terrors of biography. No hideous suspicion that, after he was dead and gone--after the wine had been poured upon the hissing embers of the pyre, and the ashes consigned, by the hands of weeping friends, to the oblivion of the funereal urn--some industrious gossip of his acquaintance would incontinently sit down to the task of laborious compilation and collection of his literary scraps, ever crossed, like a sullen shadow, the imagination of the Greek or the Latin poet. Homer, though Arctinus was his near relative, could unbosom himself without the fear of having his frailties posthumously exposed, or his amours blazoned to the world. Lucius Varius and Plotius Tucca, the literary executors of Virgil, never dreamed of applying to Pollio for the I O Us which he doubtless held in the handwriting of the Mantuan bard, or to Horace for the confidential notes suggestive of Falernian inspiration. Socrates, indeed, has found a liberal reporter in Plato; but this is a pardonable exception. The son of Sophroniscus did not write; and therefore it was incumbent on his pupil to preserve for posterity the fragments of his oral wisdom. The ancient authors rested their reputation upon their published works alone. They knew, what we seem to forget, that the poet, apart from his genius, is but an ordinary man, and, in many cases, has received, along with that gift, a larger share of propensities and weaknesses than his fellow-mortals. Therefore it was that they insisted upon that right of domestic privacy which is common to us all. The poet, in his public capacity as an author, held himself responsible for what he wrote; but he had no idea of allowing the whole world to walk into his house, open his desk, read his love-letters, and criticise the state of his finances. Had Varius and Tucca acted on the modern system, the ghost of Virgil would have haunted them on their death-beds. Only think what a legacy might have been ours if these respectable gentlemen had written to Cremona for anecdotes of the poet while at school! No doubt, in some private nook of the old farm-house at Andes, there were treasured up, through the infinite love of the mother, tablets scratched over with verses, composed by young Master Maro at the precocious age of ten. We may, to a certainty, calculate--for maternal fondness always has been the same, and Virgil was an only child--that, in that emporium, themes upon such topics as "Virtus est sola nobilitas" were religiously treasured, along with other memorials of the dear, dear boy who had gone to college at Naples. Modern Varius would remorselessly have printed these: ancient Tucca was more discreet. Then what say you to the college career? Would it not be a nice thing to have all the squibs and feuds, the rows and rackettings of the jovial student preserved to us precisely as they were penned, projected, and perpetrated? Have we not lost a great deal in being defrauded of an account of the manner in which he singed the wig of his drunken old tutor, Parthenius Nicenus, or the scandalously late hours which he kept in company with his especial chums? Then comes the period, darkly hinted at by Donatus, during which he was, somehow or other, connected with the imperial stable; that is, we presume, upon the turf. What would we not give for a sight of Virgil's betting-book! Did he back the field, or did he take the odds on the Emperor's bay mare, Alma Venus Genetrix? How stood he with the legs? What sort of reputation did he maintain in the ring of the Roman Tattersall? Was he ever posted as a defaulter? Tucca! you should have told us this. Then, when sobered down, and in high favour with the court, where is the private correspondence between him and Mæcenas, the President of the Roman Agricultural Society, touching the compilation of the Georgics? The excellent Equestrian, we know, wanted Virgil to construct a poem, such as Thomas Tusser afterwards wrote, under the title of a "_Hondreth Good Points of Husbandrie_," and, doubtless, waxed warm in his letters about draining, manure, and mangel-wurzel. What sacrifice would we not make to place that correspondence in the hands of Henry Stephens! How the author of the _Book of the Farm_ would revel in his exposure of the crude theories of the Minister of the Interior! What a formidable phalanx of facts would he oppose to Mæcenas' misconceptions of guano! Through the sensitive delicacy of his executors, we have lost the record of Virgil's repeated larks with Horace: the pleasant little supper-parties celebrated at the villa of that dissipated rogue Tibullus, have passed from the memory of mankind. We know nothing of the state of his finances, for they have not thought fit to publish his banking-account with the firm of Lollius, Spuræna, and Company. Their duty, as they fondly believed, was fulfilled, when they gave to the world the glorious but unfinished Æneid.