MONTENEGRO. 



107 



woman who was the bearer of his large and long 

 portmanteau. 1 Consequently, though the race is 

 beautiful, and this beauty may be seen in very 

 young girls, as women they become short in stat- 

 ure, with harsh and repulsive features. Nor is 

 their social equality recognized, since they not 

 only labor but perform menial offices for the men. 

 One of our authorities 2 informs us that the hus- 

 band often beats his wife. This, however, to my 

 knowledge, was a practice which did not excite 

 general repugnance, one generation back, among 

 the Hellenic inhabitants of Cephalonia. 



The portrait thus set before us is sufficiently 

 ungainly : let us turn to its more winning feat- 

 ures. Crime of all kinds is rare in Montenegro : 

 Miss Mackenzie and Miss Irby inform us that in 

 a year the jail had but two prisoners. But the 

 crimes, or sins, which have reference to woman, 

 are, whether in their viler or their milder forms, 

 almost unknown. Not violation only, but seduc- 

 tion and prostitution, says Goptchevitch, are not 

 found in Montenegro. 3 The old law of the coun- 

 try punished all unchastity with death — a law of 

 which there seem to be traces also in Bulgaria. 

 Everywhere the purity and modesty of the maid- 

 en enjoy an absolute respect ; and a woman, in 

 every defile, every hamlet of Tsernagora, is a 

 perfect escort for the traveler. Moreover, even 

 the French writer to whom I am so much in- 

 debted, and who seems to view this matter 

 through a pair of Parisian spectacles, candidly 

 admits that the Montenegrin woman is quite sat- 

 isfied with her state. " La Montenegrine semble 

 du reste se complaire dans ce role d'inferiorite 

 et d'abjection." 4 If the condition of the wom- 

 en was not Parisian, neither, it may be truly 

 said, was that of the men. 



The women have the same passionate attach- 

 ment with the men to family and country, and 

 display much of the same valor. Goptchevitch 

 supplies two most remarkable examples. A sis- 

 ter and four brothers, the four of course all 

 armed, are making a pilgrimage or excursion to 

 a church. The state of war with the Turk being 

 normal, we need not wonder when we learn that 

 they are attacked unawares on their way, in a 

 pass where they proceed in single file, by seven 

 armed Turks — who announce themselves by 

 shooting dead the first of the brothers, and dan- 

 gerously wounding the second. The odds are 

 fearful, but the fight proceeds. The wounded 

 man leans against the rock, and, though he re- 

 ceives another and fatal shot, kills two of the 



1 G.. p. 81. 

 = G., pp. 76, 77. 



2 F. and W., p. 153. 

 * P. and W., p. 150. 



Turks before he dies. The sister presses for- 

 ward, and grasps his rifle and his dagger. At 

 last all are killed on both sides, excepting her- 

 self and a single Turk. She asks for mercy ; 

 and he promises it, but names her maidenly hon- 

 or as the price. Indignant, and perceiving that 

 now he is off his guard, she stabs him with the 

 dagger. He tears it from her hand, they close, 

 and she dashes the wretch over the precipice into 

 the yawning depth below. 1 



The second anecdote is not less singular. 

 Tidings reach a Montenegrin wife that her hus- 

 band has just been slain by a party under the 

 command of a certain aga. Knowing the road 

 by which they are traveling, she seizes a rifle, 

 chooses her position, and shoots the aga dead. 

 The rest of the party take to flight. The wife of 

 the dead aga sends her an epistle. " Thou hast 

 robbed me of both my eyes. Thou art a genu- 

 ine daughter of Tsernagora. Come to-morrow 

 alone to the border-line, and we will prove by 

 trial which of us was the better wife." The 

 Tsernagorine appeared, equipped with the arms 

 of the dead aga, and alone as she was invited. 

 But the Turkish woman had thought prudence 

 the better part of valor, and brought an armed 

 champion with her, who charges her on horse- 

 back. She shot him dead as he advanced, and, 

 seizing her faithless antagonist, bound her and 

 took her home, kept her as a nursemaid for 

 fourteen years, and then let her go back to her 

 place and people. 2 



Such, in the rudest outline, is the Montenegro 

 of history, and of fact. Such it was. Such it 

 is. But what will it be ? On some points we 

 may speak with boldness ; on others it must be 

 with reserve. However unskillful may be the 

 hand which has inscribed these pages, it can 

 hardly have expelled so completely from the 

 Avonderful picture both its color and its form as 

 not to have left in it vestiges at least and sugges- 

 tions of a character greatly transcending the 

 range of common experience, and calculated to 

 awaken an extraordinary interest. Montenegro, 

 which has carried down through four centuries, 

 in the midst of a constant surge of perils, a 

 charmed life, we may say with confidence will 

 not die. No Russian, no Austrian eagle will 

 build its nest in the Black Mountain. 3 The men 

 of Tsernagora, who have never allowed the very 

 shadow of a Turkish title to grow up by silent 

 prescription, will claim their portion 4 of an air 



'G,p. 79. 2 Ibid., p. 78. F. and W., p. 159. 



2 In the arias of Montenegro appears a " sovran eagle " 

 crowned. * F. and W., p. 500. 



