THROUGH WILD EUROPE 253 



attempt, the rain was so heavy and the wind of such 

 piercing coldness that we gave it up and returned 

 to his house empty-handed. We were waited upon 

 during our stay by his wife and daughter-in-law — a 

 handsome Albanian in a striking-looking scarlet 

 costume. This man and his son spoke good French, 

 as well as Italian, and had lived in Paris some years. 

 It was curious to hear them lamenting the absence 

 of theatres and picture-galleries. ' Ah, Monsieur,' 

 said one of them, ' c'est un pays sauvage,' speak- 

 ing of his native country. However, they seemed 

 prosperous for Montenegrins, and were, I expect, 

 contented enough ; but the sight of a foreigner 

 had served to awake memories of half-forgotten 

 experiences. 



There were not many birds to be seen in this 

 barren and stony country. The most interesting, 

 because it was new to my experience, was the 

 Alpine Swift, Cypselus melba. There were fair num- 

 bers of them flying at tremendous speed, sweeping 

 along the sides of the rocky valleys and mounting 

 high up into the sky. Marovitch told me that he 

 knew a place at some distance where they bred, 

 but said that it was a matter of extreme difficulty to 

 reach their eggs. I was glad to receive a specimen 

 which Marco shot for me the next day at Val de Noche. 



All this while I had not forgotten the chief object 

 of my visit to Montenegro, which was to obtain 



