Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-05

An OuCOuQueTeO 3NdCc.
But if the people and the scenery of
Dalmatia are interesting. those of Monte
negro are infinitely more so. A land of
mountains. apparently without valleys.
and almost destitute Of vegetation, Mon
tenegro seems to have emerged out of
chaos of the gods to be primeval rib of
the world. And in keeping with the
country is the proud and Independent
character of this race. who have retreat
ed step by step before the Turk from the
fat lands they once held preferring free
dom in their rocky Businesses to soft
living under the yoke of Islam. And II
must be remembered To their everlasting
credit that they not only remained free
when the other Slav peoples as we'll as
the Greek Albanian and Bulgar fell be-
fore the power of the Turk. but that they
maintained their independence when all
Europe. to the gates of Vienna. trembled
before the hosts Of the Crescent.
DISSEMINATING at Cattaro dying baking
in the August SUM after a wonderful
sail through the tortuous Bocche di Cat
tarO or mouths of Cattaro. We took
the waiting carriage and started on the
climb up the mountain wall to Montene-
gro or the BLACK mountain. Cattaro
is the natural port for Monteneg gro, but Is
ealously guarded by Austria. and it was
not until We had assembled for more than
an hour tina; we came to the striped
black and yellow post that marks the
boundary. our driver stopped 10 wafer
the horses. to collect his revolver 0eft
at a wayside hut. as ii is forbidden to
carry weapons over the border). and
pointed to his native crags above. saying.
proudly. 'CrnagQra." We turned for
last look at the superb view spread out
below us, the sea shimmering in the dis
lance and at our feet the land-locked
Bocche guarded by the mighty Orjen
and the peaks OF Herzegovina to the
north and west.
We reached Niegus by the waning
light This our first Montenegrin town
vas the birthplace of the prince and Is
village with one wide street and small.
low stone houses. Wherever there is
sufficient space little patches of Vege
tables are cultivated in a series of stone
terraces. built to keep the precious soil
from being swept away by the heavy
rains. These little garden plats give
curiously checkerboard aspect to the val
leys and hillsdes In contrast to the
wastes of rocks above.
From Njegus we climbed steadily up
through the same dreary crags. even
more solitary and impressive in the moon
light. and reached the top of the pass
g. 800 feet). from which Cettinje can be
seen in the daylight. Scarce a trace of
habitation was to be seen We stopped
to water the horses at a wayside hut.
wild young girls Shyly waited on us,
then passed a solitary dwelling and
heard the minor wall of the one-stringed
guSle tine natlOndl iUUScdi luStTul
and a strong bass voice singing one or
the old ballads. probably about the Tar
IIaZar and the field of kosovo. or posi-
bly, of the doings of the singers own
immediate forefathers in border fray
against the hated Albanians.
The Capital of Montenegro.
The Europe we know is left far behind.
We drop suddenly from the compile kites
Of modern life into the peace and sim
plcty of the patrarchal system. still in
force i'm this strange little state. where
east and west meet SO subtly. Here
mans life is of small account. but he will
hold his honor above all earthly price.
while the ambition of every boy is to he
a warrior and rival the deeds of the he
roes Of old.
Twenty years ago Cettinte was col
lection Of novels. Now it is clean neat
little town With wide streets and low
stone houses rooted with red tile. There
are attempts at architectural dscora-
tior-all is plain and bare and seems to
have sprung from the very soil of the
mountain-locked plain. II has been called
kindergarten capital. and though but
village in size. conducts itself with the
| Importance BETTING the center of the
country. 1t boasts a theater and the
princes very modest palace, while the
large. pretentiOus embassies of Austria
ana Russia guard opposite enuS OF lne
town like two great bloodhounds waiting
| TO pounce on their prey
Sights. in the strictest sense of the
word, there are none. but one may enter
tain oneself by bargaining in the market
with the handsome girls for the colored
strips of embroidery with which they
trim their blouses chatting with some
one who has a word or two of German
or Italian, admring the medals of the
older men gained in the last with
the Turks tproudly shown off by the
younger men. the wearers modeStly dep
reca ting their own glory. taking a friend
ly cup of coffee with the tailor who is
making one a national costume. or wait
ing for a glimpse OF some member of the
royal family to pass by. possibly the
prince himself.
But the amusement of all others that
never palled on was watching this
handsome race airing their firery in the
open streets of Cettnje The national
costume seems designed to show off the
grace and dignity inherent in even the
humblest Montenegrin-crimson and gold
sparkle in the sunshine, in dazzling con-
trast to the somber tints of the encir-
cling mountains. real gold too. which
is deliberately worked in the garment by
hand. From the royal family down the
men wear long, wide-skirted coat OF
light gray, white. robins egg blue or
dark green cloth, embroidered in gold or
dark red. open vide in front over a Grim
son waistcoat heavily decorat ed in gold
and confined about the waist by broad
sash OF plaid silk The belt is stuck full