550 



MONTENEGKO. 



Hotti would never become Cernagoran sub- 

 jects, and could not be made to abandon their 

 pasture-lands without force, and that the Porte 

 was not willing to carry on a military cam- 

 paign against them to carry out uncertain pro- 

 visions of the Berlin Treaty. Prince Nicola 

 replied that these things should have been 

 thought of before signing the treaty, that Mon- 

 tenegro had need of valley-lands, and that it 

 had an historical claim to territory once peopled 

 by Serbs and ruled by the Servian emperors. 

 With that it was agreed to postpone discussion 

 for several months, and leave the boundary 

 controversy open while peace was being re- 

 stored and friendly intercourse resumed. Mus- 

 tapha Assim Pasha invited the Albanian chiefs 

 to a conference to discuss measures of public 

 safety, but the message was answered with a 

 refusal. The chiefs of the Shoshi, Shallas, Mar- 

 turi, Nikai, Gashi, Kastrati, and Hotti, all be- 

 longing to the Malissora group of tribes, com- 

 municated with the Mirdites, and the Luria, 

 Matija, and Dibra-Posht tribes, with whom 

 the Jma-oath had been taken. An assembly 

 was held at Kastrati April 26th. Here it was 

 resolved to revive the Albanian League. They 

 swore together to resist any encroachment of 

 Montenegro on Albanian territory, and the 

 Ottoman authorities if they infringed on the 

 rights of the tribes. No communications were 

 to be held with the Vali. The Albanians sent 

 for a large supply of cartridges for the Martini- 

 Henry and Snyder rifles with which they were 

 all armed. The Vali strengthened the garrison 

 at Tusi, and upon his urgent request 6,000 Ni- 

 zams were sent, from Crete. The Porte admon- 

 ished the new Vali to adopt conciliatory meth- 

 ods with the Malissora tribes. An obnoxious 

 ordinance relating to the collection of the tax 

 on cattle was revoked, but orders were given 

 to collect the tax where the authorities had 

 the power. This, and the firing upon the 

 Djovanni, a branch of the Shoshi tribe, when 

 they entered Scutari to purchase supplies, ex- 

 asperated the Albanians. The unnecessary se- 

 verity of the Vali in preventing the harboring 

 of outlaws in Scutari drove a number of influ- 

 ential persons into the mountains to aid in the 

 organization of the League. A proclamation 

 was issued to the Hotti, Gruda, and Kastrati, 

 May 19th, assuring them that the Sultan de- 

 sired nothing but the conservation of their an- 

 cient customs and their submission to his au- 

 thority. A deputation of the tribesmen met 

 the Pashas at Scutari. Mustapha Assim Pasha 

 declared that a regulation of the boundary-line 

 was unavoidable. This question, the Albanian 

 representatives replied, could only be consid- 

 ered by a council of all the tribes. From the 

 general council the answer came that the Al- 

 banians had for four hundred years given 

 proofs of their readiness to give their lives for 

 the Padishah, and that they would not enter 

 into negotiations with the Government, which 

 had often deceived them, unless they had a 

 guarantee that the Government would not 



demand the cession of their territory to their 

 mortal enemies. The Vali then announced 

 that the regulation of the boundary would be 

 carried out with force, if necessary. The 

 League held an assembly at Rabshi, May 25th, 

 which resolved to send armed men into the 

 disputed district to be ready for eventualities. 



On the night of June 1st they took Tusi by 

 surprise, captured all the military stores, dis- 

 armed the garrison, and sent the troops to 

 Matagosh. A simultaneous attack upon Helmi 

 was frustrated through the vigilance of the 

 garrison. Hafiz Pasha, with a body of Cretan 

 Nizams, marched against the Albanians. He 

 was preceded by a deputation of notables of 

 Scutari, who brought back word that the 

 troops would not be allowed to enter the terri- 

 tory of the tribes. When the Turkish troops 

 appeared, the Albanian outposts opened fire. 

 The Nizams advanced to the village of Kas- 

 trati, where a desperate fight of several hours' 

 duration took place. The steam ironclad and 

 gunboats on Lake Skadar bombarded and de- 

 stroyed the village. The next day, in order to 

 gain time for re-enforcements to come up, 

 Hafiz Pasha resumed negotiations. In the 

 night of the 2d, contingents of the Hotti, 

 Shalla, and Shoshi tribes came to the aid of 

 Kastrati. Abdul Aga, the Hotti chief, took 

 command and ordered an attack. The battle 

 lasted from morning till night. More than 500 

 dead and wounded covered the field. A truce 

 was called on the 5th for the burying of the 

 dead, but a conflict took place between the 

 Albanian re- enforcements, who were hurrying 

 to the scene of conflict, and the Posripa tribe. 

 The latter joined the League after their chief 

 had fallen. On the 6th hostilities were re- 

 newed in the vicinity of Shiptzanik, where the 

 Albanians had intrenched their camp. The 

 battle was decided by the Krupp artillery of 

 the Turks, and in the afternoon the Albanians 

 retreated in good order toward the northeast 

 into the district of the Hotti. Hafiz Pasha ad- 

 vanced on his march to Tusi. The next morn- 

 ing he was again set upon by Abdul Aga's 

 bands near Hum. In a furious hand-to-hand 

 combat hundreds fell on both sides. Although 

 terrible damage was inflicted on the Turks, his 

 own forces were so weakened that th,e Alba- 

 nian commander retreated into the mountains. 



On the 9th Hafiz Pasha reached Tusi. but could 

 not retake the fort without re-enforcements. 

 Mustapha Assim Pasha was preparing to march 

 into the field in person, when lightning struck 

 the powder-magazine at Scutari, June 8th, and 

 destroyed the whole supply of ammunition. On 

 the night of the 9th some bands of the Skreli 

 crept up to the intrenchments with which 

 Hafiz had surrounded his camp, and from un- 

 der the cover of the trees opened fire. In the 

 darkness the Turks fought with one another, 

 killing and wounding 300, while the Albanians 

 disappeared. When the Pasha made ready on 

 the llth to proceed to Tusi, he found the road 

 blocked by superior numbers of the mount- 



