FOOT RACES—MONASTERY OF OSTROG—OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION—A
COURSE À LA MONTAGNE—RACING WITHOUT BETTING—BEN TROVATO—A FLAT
RACE—CONVERSATION ABOUT ENGLISH LAWS AND CUSTOMS—LAW OF HABEAS
CORPUS.
In the afternoon I went out into the plain to see the foot races, which
the Prince had told me would be very amusing.
On my way to the plain, where the races were to take place, I rambled
again through the fair, and a second time got into conversation with the
fellow that spoke English so well. We chatted together on many subjects,
all more or less connected with the country; he praised the Montenegrins
to no end, and told me he would trust them to any amount, they were so
thoroughly honest and scrupulous in their dealings. He wanted me to go
with him, in a couple of days after the fair was over, to the monastery
of Ostrog, but my time was not my own, and I could not give myself that
additional pleasure.
It was a great disappointment, however, as Ostrog is a wonderful place,
cut out of the rock, not perched on one as some of the monasteries of
Mount Athos are, but partly excavated at a great height out of the face
of the rock, and partly built on a ledge which the upper part of the
rock overhangs. It is approached by a narrow path cut into steps, where
no more than two could walk abreast, and therefore easily defended by a
handful of men against any number of assailants. There is an ample supply
of water in it at all times, and it is always stored with a good supply
of rations, and an immense quantity of ammunition. Except by starving
out the garrison, it never could be taken.
My companion wanted me then to go with him into the interior of Northern
Albania, where he was well known, and where under his protection and
guidance I should have been perfectly safe; while his knowledge of the
languages, both Oriental and English, would have enabled me to make
many interesting inquiries. When I asked him about the administration
of those countries by the Ottoman Government, and the opening up of the
country by the projected railway from Adrianople to Novi-Bazar which
has already been surveyed, he shrugged his shoulders, and then, with a
toss of his head, said:—
"Railways are all very good, but they are almost useless here. What we
want is a good Government, and that we never shall have as long as this
Christian country is ruled by the Turks. You talk of the progress of
civilization among them; but you simply know nothing about them. I can
speak, for I have lived with them and among them from childhood; and as
to their civilization, it is simply a farce. Even at Stamboul, among the
better educated, among those who have been to Paris and London, their
civilization is nothing more than the gilding of Brummagem jewelry—the
slightest rubbing will cause the copper to blush out from beneath.
Civilization indeed! See what a powerful navy they possess; but let
Hobart Pasha go home and take with him all his European officers, men
and engineers, leaving nothing behind but pure full-blooded Turks to man
it, and the entire Ottoman navy would not be a match for the smallest
British ironclad. In making this disparaging statement as to the so-called
civilization of Turkey, I have selected the navy as an example because
in old times the Turks were able to hold their own at sea, and showed
a great aptitude in naval matters; but naval science has progressed
and they have remained stationary. But so it is—their civilization is
a dream; their finances a colossal sham; and their final exodus from
Europe, I trust, is in the very nearest distance. In fact, if all the
Christians in Ottoman employ—English, French, Armenian or Greek—were to
abandon their several posts, Turkey would simply collapse in six months."
I don't say that these are my opinions, but simply the clearly expressed
convictions of a sharp trader who had long been intimate with European
Turkey.
It wanted not much more than an hour of sunset; the western crags threw
long purple shadows along the plain of Cettigne, while the rocks which
bound it on the east were steeped in the richest tints of gold, and
russet, and purple. Up, near to the old Palace of the Vladikas, was a
splendid group of native magnates with the Prince in the midst, while
ranged in a row before them were about a hundred and fifty of the most
athletic men in Montenegro—competitors all in a coming foot race for
a splendid pair of silver-mounted pistols, offered by His Highness to
him who should first lay his hands on them. The pistols were placed on
a conspicuous rock a considerable way up the cliffs on the south-west
side of the plain.
The competitors may have been placed at a distance of three hundred
yards from the base of those cliffs; it was, therefore, partly a flat
race and partly a "_course à la montagne_:" as the Prince said, "_En
Angleterre vous avez les courses au clocher_, (steeple-chases) _ici nous
avons les courses à la montagne_." The men had divested themselves of
their white coats, and their belts and armour. For an instant there was
profound silence, and then, at a given signal, off they went at a good
pace, keeping wonderfully together for the first two hundred yards or
so; then the line began to get wavy, and with every stride more and more
fell behind, till, when they arrived at the foot of the crags, there
were not, perhaps, more than fifty that sprang up simultaneously to the
cliffs. Then, indeed, began the real race, and the mountaineers took to
it in right earnest, scaling the precipice like leopards. It was quite
exciting to watch the rapidity with which they swung themselves from
point to point, taking advantage of every cleft, every rootlet, that
offered the least hold to either hand or foot. At last, three arrived
almost simultaneously at the goal; but one, slightly in advance, made
a vigorous spring—touched the pistols first—barely winning by a hand!
It was, without exception, the prettiest thing by way of a race I ever
saw. The whole scene was before you like a panorama; the costumes of the
runners and the spectators; the gorgeous tints of the setting sun; the
enthusiasm of all, together with the shouts of the multitude, rendered
it a scene never to be forgotten; and as I watched them clambering up the
cliffs in front of me, guessing at the chances of the race, and mentally
gambling with myself on who would be the winner, I could not help feeling
a certain degree of surprise that no betting was going on in any part
of that vast assemblage. The chances were so many, the combinations
so varied, and the probabilities so constantly changing, that a fairer
game to try the luck of Dame Fortune could not have been devised, and
all the more, too, as all were honestly in earnest in striving for the
prize. There were no dark horses, no sickened favourites, no hard-pulling
jockeys to bewilder the backers; all was before you, fair and serene,
and the excitement was tremendous when some one fine mountaineer, well
in advance of the rest, maybe by five or six yards, would suddenly lose
his foothold through the giving way of some small projection of rock to
which, he was clinging, and after remaining suspended a short time by
his hands above his head, he would eventually have to let go his hold
and drop down some few feet, losing all chance in the race; while those
who had been nearest to him would redouble their efforts, and thus at
times the one who at first starting had seemed the least likely to win
would actually come to be in the first flight of the race; but he, in his
turn, by some unlucky chance would slip, and another would as instantly
get on before him. These constant changes of chances made the race a
most exciting one; still not a bet among the multitude of lookers-on!
One of the Prince's aide-de-camps having heard me express surprise at
the absence of all betting, said, "Betting is quite a characteristic
of you others (_vous autres_) in England. I am told you would bet on
anything. I have heard a story of a poor girl who once threw herself off
a bridge in London. The police-boat, fortunately, was near, and pulled
away to her rescue, when two lords happening to pass by, stopped on the
bridge for a bet as to whether the girl would be saved or not, and lost
and won an immense sum on the event."
I laughed, and replied,
"_Se non è vero è ben trovato._"
After this we had a flat race for about a mile across the plains. So
far as running went, it was a _flat_ race indeed, and I have often seen
better at an Irish country fair; but it was well worth seeing from the
rich colouring of the costumes of those taking part in it, as they ran
with their clothes on; and as every one was eligible to compete, and not
Montenegrins alone, the effect was most singular and picturesque. The
prize was in this case also a pair of silver-mounted Turkish pistols,
given by the Prince, and I was glad to hear that the winner was a
Montenegrin.
In the evening I had the honour of dining at the Palace, when the Prince
again asked me many questions concerning England, its habits and customs,
of which, although he had read much in French books, he knew absolutely
nothing.
We again spoke about the law of primogeniture, about which he could
not exactly make up his mind, and could not understand how it did not
produce disastrous occurrences in families. He understood, however,
quite well what I explained to him concerning the Law of Habeas Corpus,
and again declared it to be a grand institution, _so far as the people
were concerned_.
I left at a late hour, after spending a most delightful evening, and
as I went back to my rooms to pack my small valise for my early start
next morning, I felt an undefinable regret at leaving Tchernagora and
its interesting mountaineers. I had enjoyed among them a courteous
hospitality and a patriarchal welcome, the prominent characteristics of
which will, I fear, before very long disappear under the pressure and
_vis a tergo_ of our so-called European civilization. I should like,
above all things, to visit them again; but should it never be my lot to
enjoy that pleasure, I cannot take leave of Montenegro without expressing
my deep sense of the cordial reception I met with there on every side.