Chapter I: Front Matter

THE LAND OF
THE BLACK MOUNTAIN

THE ADVENTURES OF TWO ENGLISHMEN
IN MONTENEGRO

BY

REGINALD WYON AND GERALD PRANCE

WITH FIFTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS

"SOME GLIMPSING AND NO PERFECT SIGHT"

CHAUCER

NEW AND CHEAPER ISSUE

METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON

_First Published March 1903 New and Cheaper Issue 1905_

DEDICATED BY KIND PERMISSION

TO

H.R.H. PRINCE NICOLAS OF MONTENEGRO

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I

Montenegro's geographical position--Character of the people--Their honesty, patriotism, and love of arms--Likeness to the Homeric Greeks--The women--Montenegrin manners, vices, heroism, lack of privacy, police--Goodness of the Prince--The national costume--Religion--Hatred of Austria--Russia's friendship

CHAPTER II

History from first conquest by the Romans, 300 B.C., down to the present Prince--Fruits of the last campaign--Education--The military system--Legal administration--Crime--Government--The educated classes

CHAPTER III

The journey to Montenegro--Arrival in Cattaro--Beauty of the Bocche, and the drive to the frontier--First impressions of Montenegro--Njegusi--The national troubadours--Arrival in Cetinje

CHAPTER IV

Cetinje and its sights--Prince Nicolas--The Archbishop--The barracks--The princes--A visit to the prison and its system--Our departure for Podgorica

CHAPTER V

The view from Bella Vista--New scenery--Promiscuous shooting--The market in Rijeka--The shepherds--Their flocks--Wayside hospitality--The plain of the Zeta--The Moraca--The Vizier bridge--Old war-marks--First and last impressions of Podgorica

CHAPTER VI

Podgorica--Its central position--Our headquarters--Easter in Montenegro--Our experience of it--We view the town--The prison and its inmates--Christian and Mahometan friction--The modern town--The market and the armed buyers--The Black Earth--Easter customs--Montenegrin methods of doing business

CHAPTER VII

Medun--Voivoda Marko--His life and business--His part in Montenegrin history--Our ride to Medun--His widow--We visit his grave--The Death Dirge--Montenegrin customs at death--Target practice--Our critics--The hermit of Daibabe--We visit Spuz--A typical country inn and a meal--The Turkish renegade gives his views on warfare--Dioclea

CHAPTER VIII

Achmet Uiko tells his story--Sokol Baco, ex-Albanian chief--Shooting on the Lake of Scutari--Our journey thither--Our frustrated nap--Arrival at the chapel--The island of Vranjina--The priest--Fishing and fishermen--Our visitors--We return to Podgorica

CHAPTER IX

Stephan our servant--Virpazar--The drive over the Sutormann Pass--Antivari and Prstan--The beauty of the bay--We are delayed by contrary winds--We are rowed to Dulcigno--We make the acquaintance of Marko Ivankovic--A story concerning him--We shoot together--An episode on a lake--Vaccination--The Turkish inhabitants

CHAPTER X

We ride to Scutari--The Albanian Customs officials--We suffer much from Turkish saddles--Arrival at Scutari, and again pass the Customs--"Buon arrivato"--Scutari and its religious troubles--The town and bazaar--A slight misunderstanding, Yes and No--We return to Rijeka by steamer--The beauties of the trip--Wrong change--The prodigal son's return, when the fatted calf is _not_ killed

CHAPTER XI

Preparations for our tour in the Brda--We start--Where it is not good to be giddy--A trying ride--Our inn--Nocturnal episodes--The journey continued--Pleasant surroundings--The Montenegrin _quart d'heure_--Arrival in Kolasin--We meet the Governor--Visiting--The Band of Good Hope--The Crown Prince's birthday--We are ashamed

CHAPTER XII

Montenegro's oldest building--The ride to the Moraca Monastery--A perilous bridge and ascent--The Abbot's tale--We inspect the Monastery--The health of the King is drunk--The relative merits of Boers and Montenegrins--The Abbot makes us presents--We visit a peasant's house and a Homeric feast--A feu-de-joie--Departure from Kolasin--We are mistaken for doctors again--Raskrsnica

CHAPTER XIII

A typical mountain hut--Costume of the north-eastern borderers--Supper and a song--We go out hunting, and cause excitement--The Feast of Honour--We ride to Andrijevica--Andrijevica and our inn--The Voivoda--We go to church--Turkish visitors--Alarums

CHAPTER XIV

The Voivoda's invitation--Concerning an episode on our ride to Velika--The fugitive from a blood-feud and his story--We arrive at Velika--The men of Velika--The menu--Border jurisdiction--A shooting-match--The Kom--Pleasant evenings--A young philosopher--Sunset

CHAPTER XV

We leave Andrijevica--Our additional escort--The arrival at our camping-place--In an enemy's country--The story of one Gjolic--Our slumbers are disturbed--Sunrise on the Alps--We disappoint our escort--"Albanian or Montenegrin?"--A reconnaissance--The Forest of Vucipotok--The forbidden land--narrow escape--We arrive at Rikavac--Rain damps our ardour--Nocturnal visitors

CHAPTER XVI

More memorial stones--We get wet again--Unwilling hosts--A fall--The Franciscan of Zatrijebac--The ravine of the Zem--Methods of settling tribal differences--A change of diet and more pleasant evenings--A fatalist--Sunday morning

CHAPTER XVII

A modern hero, and our sojourn under his roof--Keco's story--The laws of vendetta and their incongruity--We return to Podgorica--The Montenegrin telephone--An elopement causes excitement--The Sultan's birthday--The reverse of the picture--A legal anomaly

CHAPTER XVIII

S. Vasili and Ostrog--Our drive thither--Joyful pilgrims--Varied costumes--We meet the Vladika of Montenegro--The ordeal of hot coffee--A real pilgrimage--The shrine of S. Vasili--The ancient hermit--A miracle--Niksic--The gaudy cathedral and the Prince's palace--We are disappointed at Niksic

CHAPTER XIX

The Club and its members--Gugga--Irregularities of time--The absence of the gentle muse and our surprise--The musician's story and his subsequent fate--The Black Earth--A typical border house--The ordeal of infancy--A realistic performance which is misunderstood--Concerning a memorable drive--A fervent prayer

CHAPTER XX

We reconsider our opinion of Cetinje--A Montenegrin wake and its consequences--A hero's death--Montenegrin conversation--Needless appeals to the Deity--We visit the hospital