FALSE IMPRESSIONS OF MONTENEGRO—AGRICULTURE ON A
MINOR SCALE—FIELD-LABOURERS—MONTENEGRIN FACCHINI AT
CONSTANTINOPLE—FEMALE LABOUR—PRODUCTION OF SUMACH—COMMERCIAL
RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES IMPEDED—IMPOSING PAGEANT.
Truly very little is known about Montenegro and its mountaineers, and
that little is very incorrect. They have been generally represented
as wild, savage, bloodthirsty, thieving scoundrels, closely allied to
Italian brigands and Greek palikari—if anything, worse than either. Fond
of fighting for fighting's sake, and when not engaged in that amiable
recreation, spending their time in strutting about in their fine clothes,
peacocking in the sunshine, while those too poor to have fine trappings
whiled away the weary hours and forgot their fleas and their sorrows
in the tones of their national _guzla_, while the women were left to do
all the labour in the fields.
Such was certainly not my impression. The part of Montenegro through
which I travelled, though sterile and barren to a degree, was a wonderful
specimen of what man could do when driven to it. Every little nook, where
the least bit of soil could be found, among that wilderness of rocks
where stones had rained from Heaven, was carefully taken advantage of;
the rocks adjoining these little nooks were often removed by the most
laborious exertions, and in some instances earth was scraped up here and
there, and carried in small baskets to these spots, in order to increase
their depth of soil. I saw clearings of so small a size as barely to
admit of _one potatoe plant_ or three of maize, and little fields not
_one yard_ in diameter!
Hard at work, cultivating the soil, I saw not only women but plenty
of sturdy mountaineers. At Niegosh I observed one of the Petrovichs,
the handsome young fellow who entertained me on my way to Cettigne,
superintending himself a number of men who were working in a field near
his house; and the only difference I could observe between them and our
own labourers was that they were all fully armed, although employed at
the peaceful occupation of agriculture. They have not yet turned their
yataghans into spades and reaping hooks, but they have done the next
best thing by keeping the first at ease while energetically plying the
others.
I have seen the Montenegrins in their own valleys and mountain fastnesses,
and I utterly deny the charges brought against them. They are not
lazy—leaving all the hard work to their women—that is utterly false, and
the best proof I perhaps can give, lies in the self-asserting fact of the
toiling colony of three thousand Montenegrin Facchini at Constantinople,
well known as about the most hard-working and honest labouring men in
that capital. It is true that they allow the women to do much of the
heavy agricultural work, and carry heavy loads up and down the mountains;
but it must be remembered that for years past the Montenegrins, like the
proscribed clans of Scotland in the last century, have been treated by
their neighbours, the Turks, very little better than wild beasts. They
would long ago have been exterminated, but for their indomitable courage
and constant fighting, during which period, of necessity, the agricultural
duties fell entirely on the decrepit old men and the women, as all men
who were at all able to carry arms were engaged in fighting—and many
of the women too! It must also be remembered that in all mountainous
countries the women toil more heavily than in the plains, and even in
civilized Italy hear what a distinguished Italian, Massimo d'Azeglio,
writes:
"For example, if a faggot of wood and a bunch of chickens have to be
carried down to the shore from one of the villages half way up the
mountain, the labour is thus distributed in the family. The wife loads
herself with the faggot of wood which weighs half a hundredweight, and
the husband will take the chickens which weigh a mere nothing." The
Montenegrins are not, therefore, singularly and atrociously barbarous
in this respect.
Considering the small extent of the Principality and its great sterility,
it is wonderful the amount of produce they are able to export, even with
the disabilities under which they labour, being entirely deprived of any
seaboard, though clearly entitled to one. One of the most important of
their natural products, one which under favourable circumstances might
be increased a thousandfold is "sumach," a substance largely used in
tanning the more expensive kinds of leather. A small amount is exported
to Holland, none comes to England, but a small parcel I brought over with
me was declared by competent judges to be equal to the best Sicilian,
which is considered the best of all sumachs.
They have vast forests of walnut trees which, under proper management and
due facilities of exportation, might be rendered most productive, both as
to walnut oil and timber for cabinet work. They export immense quantities
of a small dried fish "_scoranza_," much used in the neighbouring Catholic
and Greek countries during their religious feasts; and without further
wearying my readers, I will simply add that but for the difficulties
they labour under, they could export every one of the following articles
in very considerable quantities:—
Castradina (dried mutton and goat hams), honey, wax, goat and kid skins
to any amount, as also martin, fox, and hare skins, together with many
other substances I have forgotten.
The Prince is doing all he can to spread instruction among his people.
He has established numberless schools, and as all over the Principality
education is compulsory, in another generation the man or woman unable
to read and write will be a phenomenon indeed in Montenegro.
The renewed booming of the cannon and the ringing of the convent bells
now gave us warning that the Prince was going to hear Mass, and in a few
seconds I saw the whole _cortège_ pass on foot under my window. First
a squad of guards, then His Highness the Prince leading the beautiful
Princess, immediately accompanied by the Russian Consul in full uniform,
and then a number of Voyvodes in gorgeous costumes, while another squad
of body-guards brought up the rear. They walked quickly past, and in a
few minutes were lost completely to sight under the buttresses of the
old Palace. The pageant was of short duration, but it was well worth
seeing, even in that land of sunshine and gorgeous costumes.
Mass over, everyone turned in for his dinner and siesta. The Commandant
of the Grahovo went to his own abode, and I followed the general example.
In the afternoon some wonderful foot races were to be held, but not till
near sunset, when the great heat of the day would be somewhat abated. I
determined therefore to fill up the space between the end of my siesta
and the visit to the races, with a call on Monsignor Roganovich, the
Metropolitan of Montenegro. I had brought letters of recommendation to
the Archimandrite of Cettigne, and in his company I went to the monastery
to pay my respects. We entered by the great gate, after crossing the
threshing floor, and having crossed the court we ascended by a very
rough stone staircase, which landed us in a sort of primitive cloister
looking on a garden, on which opened the suite of rooms occupied by the
Metropolitan.
We were at once shown in, and had not to wait many seconds before
Monsignor Roganovich made his appearance. His reception was most
cordial. He took me by the hand and made me sit on the divan by his
side, expressing his regret that he could not converse with me except
through an interpreter, owing to his not speaking any other language than
Illyrian and Russian. We got on, however, remarkably well, thanks to the
rapidity with which the Archimandrite almost guessed what I was going
to say in Italian, translating it into Illyrian with equal rapidity.
Coffee, as usual, was served up, unaccompanied however by the customary
pipes, as the orthodox clergy are forbidden to smoke.
And now as I am sipping my coffee, let me endeavour to describe what I
saw as my eyes wandered about. The room itself was small and low, simply
white-washed, with no other furniture than one small table in front of
the divan, and four rush chairs of the homeliest description. Around the
walls were a few coloured prints of saints, and the floor was utterly
uncarpeted. All this simplicity, however, served to bring out in greater
contrast and relief the portly figure of Monsignor Roganovich, as he sat
on the divan in his ample cassock and gown of violet-purple silk. He was
not a handsome man, strictly speaking, his was more a jolly countenance
than a handsome one, still it was a face one liked to look at, with his
grand black beard flowing down to his waist. He wore his hair in ample
curls down his back as if it had never known the shears, and on his head
the little Montenegrin cap of black silk. On his breast glittered the
star of the Montenegrin order, and round his neck a massive gold chain,
from which depended a Panagia or image of the Virgin and Child, nearly
as large as a saucer, surrounded with large diamonds.
His manners were courtly and his smile most pleasing, and he gave me the
idea of one who would make an excellent companion for a little dinner
party of four, and who would be more in his element on the Boulevard
des Italiens at Paris, than in his monastic seclusion at Cettigne. We
conversed for half an hour or so when I rose to take my leave, and he gave
me the Apostolic Benediction, and embraced me on both cheeks. As we walked
back to the Palace, the Archimandrite told me he took great interest in
the schools, which he visited daily, examining and cross-examining the
students, to see that they made good use of their time.