84 MONTENEGRO 



lovely children who abound out of all proportion to 

 the visible means of subsistence. 



Ah, but the cattle are not to be envied. In strange 

 contrast to their lordly owners are the plough-oxen, 

 about the size of Kerry cattle, hardly to be recognised 

 as of one species with the lusty, dun animals of 

 Lombardy. The ponies, too, are miserable roach- 

 backed creatures ; the donkeys are the smallest I ever 

 saw ; only the mules, of which there are not many, 

 seem to make a decent living. 



The soldier-like bearing of the peasantry is greatly 

 accentuated by their scrupulously shaven cheeks and 

 chin, according to the custom which, as classical 

 writers have testified, prevailed among the Celtic tribes 

 at the time of the Roman conquest of Britain. Then 

 the national dress, universally worn by men of all 

 ranks, save the bearded clergy, is practically a military 

 uniform. Under a white, full-skirted woollen coat, 

 adorned with silver buttons and gold embroidery 

 according to the means of the wearer, is worn a double- 

 breasted scarlet waistcoat, broadly embroidered with 

 gold. Blue cloth pantaloons, wide and pleated in 

 Oriental fashion, and supported by a silken loin-scarf, 

 come below the knee, meeting white stockings or else 

 white woollen gaiters, fastened at the back of the leg 

 with myriads of silver buttons. Then come a pair of 

 soft-soled white shoes, of which the advantage will 

 become apparent to the tourist who attempts to traverse 

 in hobnails this region of friable limestone. He may 

 get along well enough on the highways, which carry a 

 very fair surface, but for mountain paths, mule-tracks, 



