fearless as their native mountains.
Their food consists of a piece of maize bread at daybreak, and they eat nothing again till sunset, when bread and a little milk form their evening meal. Meat is eaten but rarely, and then they feast. The athletic feat of crossing rock-strewn surfaces, bounding from rock to rock at a great pace, rivalling their goats in sure-footedness at dizzy and precipitous heights, has lent their gait that perfect grace of motion which characterises the mountaineer, and in particular the Montenegrin. The danger in which they have perpetually lived, accustomed to look death in the face at any moment, has stamped upon them that open and fearless look which most forcibly strikes the stranger.
Their blood is of the purest and noblest in the Balkans, for they are largely descended from the noble families of the old Servian Empire who fled to the Katunska after the bloody field of Kossovo, which destroyed the might of the Serbs for ever. It is probably from these ancestors that their noble bearing and perfect manners, in even strange and unaccustomed surroundings, are derived. Their notion of honour is of the highest, and thieving and robbery are practically unknown.
Prince Nicolas, like King Alfred, trusts his subjects in this matter of thieving implicitly. Should a man drop a case of banknotes on the road, the law says that the finder shall pick it up and place it on the nearest stone, so that the loser has but to retrace his steps, glancing at the wayside stones. This law is invariably followed.
The Montenegrins are still an armed nation, and the following proverbs illustrate their love of weapons. One says, "A man without arms is a man without freedom"; the other says, "Thou mayest as well take away my brother as my rifle."
Their patriotism and unswerving loyalty to the reigning Prince have ever been their most brilliant virtues.
The famous traveller Kohl has likened the Montenegrins to the ancient Greeks of Homeric times, and the comparison holds good to this day.
"Love of freedom and pride of weapons, simplicity of life—remember the love of mutton and wine, as described by Homer—hospitality, the superiority of man over woman, all these features, together with the fact that the heroes are themselves the singers of their deeds," says Kohl, "are to be found in the Montenegrins, as well as in the Greeks of Homer."
Woman takes a very inferior position in Montenegro. She is respected in a sense, and her position has improved greatly in recent times, chiefly owing to the example set by the Prince himself. At the official reception held on New Year's Day, when the humblest peasant can go to Cetinje and kiss the Prince's hand, Prince Nicolas places his wife to his right, and every man must first kiss her hand. Thus in the highest classes woman takes very nearly the same place as in civilised lands, but as the social scale descends, so does the position of woman.
In the lowest classes she is still not much more than a beast of burden, given to man to ease his lot. She carries heavy burdens to market, while her lord rides; she may not walk at his side, but a few paces to the rear; neither may she sit at table in the presence of strange men. The kiss with which men salute each other is not allowed to her, and she must kiss the hand only of the man. Likewise, she must rise to her feet when men pass by, and in some districts, should she meet a man on the way, she must stop and remain standing meekly at the side of the path; also, she must leave the room backwards. Neither of these last-mentioned customs is universal, but are to be found largely in the Brda.
The men are handsome and often of immense stature. Giants of 6 feet 8 inches are by no means uncommon; in fact, a few such men will be seen in every town. The average height is quite 5 feet 10 or 11 inches, broad-shouldered and deep-chested, with pleasant faces.
The women are often strikingly beautiful, especially when young, but hard work ages them very quickly; in the upper classes, however, middle-aged and elderly women of regal appearance can often be seen. It is the manners of such women and universally of the men which comes as the greatest surprise, when it is remembered that none or very few have ever seen anything of the outside world.
The faults of the nation are inordinate vanity in their appearance, causing them to impoverish themselves for the sake of gorgeous clothes, and gambling. They gamble to an excessive degree, heaping debt after debt upon their heads. Both these vices have caused an active legislation. Gold embroidery has been abolished on the uniforms of the army officers, and Prince Danilo has already declared that on coming to the throne he will abolish the national costume altogether, i.e. amongst the officials and the upper classes.
They love money and will do a good deal to get it, but when they have money, they spend it in a reckless and freehanded manner. Thus they will overcharge a stranger in an exorbitant fashion, thinking, in their simple minds, that travellers are possessed of unlimited means. Tourists are largely to blame for this, and pay, without audible comment, what is asked. If a strong remonstrance is made, the charge will be reduced in most cases. The dawn of civilisation has brought the love of money, the frugal Montenegrins are now awakening to what money will procure them, and they take as much as they can get without thought, and without swindling intentions. Perhaps the lack of banks or any institute where money can be saved up, may account for this. Merchants buy houses or increase their stock. The peasant, as often as not, gambles it away or buys fine clothes, a few thrifty ones purchasing an extra cow.
No doubt the influence of civilisation, and in particular the long-delayed prosperity of the land which is now slowly raising its head, will alter this.
They very rarely quarrel, never brawl, and are hardly ever to be seen in a state of intoxication.
On the other hand, they are merry, convivial, boon companions, and are never happier than when dancing, singing their war songs and love romances, or listening to the "guslar"—the national troubadour.
The characteristic bravery is still manifested in reckless deeds of "derring do" on the Albanian borders. Shepherds will deliberately drive their flocks across the frontier, thereby courting instant death. Many instances have been given illustrating their love of danger.
Privacy of dwellings is non-existent. Men walk in and out, seating themselves in the room and talking. In the evening the men will congregate, stand and squat in a large ring, and solemnly discuss the events of the day, or in towns will walk majestically up and down the main street swinging the graceful "struka" or shawl from their shoulders. Likewise, the drinking-houses are used as common meeting-places, and there is no need to order refreshment.
Marriages, baptisms, deaths are occasions for great feasting, when the national sheep is killed and roasted whole, and wine and spirits consumed in appalling quantities, without however affecting the heads of these iron people.
To keep order, there is a ridiculously small force of police or gendarmes, and their object is more to preserve the peace in places where different races meet, animated with fanatical hatred of each other. But during the whole time of our sojourn in Montenegro, we never witnessed a single case of men arrested for petty offences, or for breaking the peace by common brawling or drunkenness. The only cases that we did see were connected with the vendetta, which still flourishes. In the course of our travels in the land we have sufficiently illustrated this lamentable feature that no further comments are necessary.
Prince Nicolas is said to know the name of every one of his subjects, and will accost him by it. This is doubtless a great exaggeration, and probably means that he knows personally all those who fought under him in the last war, when the nation was considerably smaller than it is now.
No man is too humble but that the Prince will stop and speak to him, and ask him how the world is using him. The man rarely goes empty-handed away. In these latter days the Prince is not so open-handed as formerly, neither does he make so free with his presence, but still it is no difficult thing for any of his subjects to obtain an audience.
