AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



57 



of men. They have never been subdued, and 

 know no law or discipline. Their raids into 

 the neighboring Turkish territory have earned 

 them the epithet of " Sheep-stealers." The dif- 

 ficulties of a military expedition in their district 

 and in the adjacent parts of Herzegovina are 

 incredible. The conformation of the land is 

 the same as in Montenegro. An army must 

 advance in the intricate mountain-paths, often 

 in single file, and throw a bridge across every 

 one of the numberless torrents. They must 

 transport on pack-animals their ammunition, 

 their cannon in separable parts, all their food 

 and provender, and even their drinking-water. 

 In the occupied territory 1,830 kilometres of 

 roads were built in three years ; but in the 

 Crivoscie there are no means of communica- 

 tion but the difficult bridle-paths. The agile 

 mountaineers have no need of paths, but can 

 shoot down upon the toiling column from every 

 cliff, and disappear without a trace. They can 

 beset them anywhere on the flank or in the rear, 

 or drive away the flock which is destined for 

 the soldiers' meals. In military operations in 

 such a country it is necessary to fortify and 

 garrison every point of importance, every 

 bridge that is built, every source of sup- 

 plies. For this purpose the kulas, or block- 

 houses, which are scattered through the 

 country are of importance. They are built 

 of rough stones, with towers pierced with 

 slits for rifles. In peace-time they furnish 

 nightly shelter to the patrolling gen- 

 darmes. The hans, or way-side inns, serve 

 as gathering-places for insurgents, and 

 the landlords are their zealous spies. 



The district of Cattaro furnished its re- 

 cruits in obedience to the order of October 

 24, 1881. The inhabitants of the Crivoscie 

 only opposed a passive resistance, and 

 when the commune of Ubli was preparing 

 to send its quota the other Crivoscians 

 drove its cattle up into the mountains as se- 

 curity for its fidelity. Detachments of ri- 

 flemen were sent into the district. On the 

 approach of the soldiery, several hundred 

 men collected in bands. They were armed 

 with Martini rifles. Raids were made on 

 the neighboring districts. Skirmishes with 

 the troops commenced in December. Some 

 of the corpses of the fallen were found with the 

 ears and noses cut off, a form of mutilation cus- 

 tomary with these savage mountaineers. Their 

 threat to put to the sword every captive sol- 

 dier of Bocchese birth was not carried into 

 effect. 



By January all Herzegovina east of the Na- 

 renta was aroused, up to the southeast Bosnian 

 border. The insurgents concentrated with stra- 

 tegic sagacity at a point near Fotcha, which 

 commanded the communication between Sera- 

 jevo and the Austrian forces on the Drina; in 

 the vicinity of Konjica, on the lower Narenta, 

 a point which commands the only military road 

 leading from Bosnia into Herzegovina; and 

 near Korito on the Montenegrin frontier. The 



isolation of the Crivoscie by a military cordon 

 had proved a complete failure. 



With the spread of the insurrection into 

 Herzegovina the Austrian Government was 

 confronted with the danger of a European war. 

 A military credit was voted by the Delegations. 

 The command of the operations for the sup- 

 pression of the insurrection was given to the 

 young and energetic Lieutenant-Field-Marshal 

 Jovanovics. The number of the insurgents 

 was variously estimated at from five to fifteen 

 thousand. They were armed throughout with 

 breech-loaders. The heated language of Gen- 

 eral Skobeleff and several Russian statesmen, 

 the collection of money and war material by 

 native and foreign Slavic agitators, the activi- 

 ties of the Young Servian League of the Omla- 

 dina, and the direct aid in munitions and sup- 

 plies given by the inhabitants of Montenegro, 

 furnished the elements for another conflagra- 

 tion in the Balkan Peninsula. 



The insurgents presented in the beginning of 

 February an irregular line from Trebinje through 

 Liubinje, Bilek, and Gatzko to Nevesinje, and 



through the wild mountains of Zagorje, where 

 they concentrated in the greatest force, to Fot- 

 cha, and beyond as far as Cainitcha. Behind 

 the way of escape into Montenegro or the San- 

 jak of Novi-Bazar was open. Over a thousand 

 of them, under Dandalitch and Sekanovitch, 

 held the advanced post in the valley of the Zel- 

 jeznika, an affluent of the Drina, south of Sera- 

 jevo. In Fotcha and the Zagorje the Sirdar 

 Tungus commanded ; in Nevesinje, Gatzko, and 

 Bilek the redoubted brigand Stojan Kovatze- 

 vitch ; in Zubzie, near Korito, Tripko Fukalo- 

 vitch ; around Trebinje, Tomasevitch ; and in 

 the Crivoscie, Militch and Sutitch. They had a 

 fully equipped mountain battery, and pursued 

 systematic plans under the direction of some 



