By the Treaty of Berlin, Montenegro acquired twenty-five miles of seacoast adjoining Albania; the bulk of her trade, however, continues to come and go through the Dalmatian port of Cattaro, a port upon which these people of the mountains have ever cast a covetous glance, but from which they are shut out by the great rocky barriers of the Dinaric Alps.
Railway building in Montenegro is very difficult, and as yet the principality is without means of transportation other than by wagon train and a few small steamers which ply on the Lake of Scutari. The project is now on foot to build a railway from Antivari, on the coast, to Virbazaar, a short distance inland.
Podgoritza, situated in a part of the territory acquired in 1878, is a town of eleven thousand inhabitants, the largest in Montenegro, and is the centre of trade. Hard by are the ruins of the Roman city of Docle, the birthplace of Diocletian. Excellent tobacco, for which the district is famous, is grown in the vicinity of the great Lake of Scutari, half of which stretches over into Albania. The annual imports of the country are valued at about $1,375,000, while the exports, consisting mainly of tobacco, dried meats, hides and fish, are valued at $1,040,000.
A few years ago the Montenegrins shouted from hill to hill the news of the country, and in these regions the human voice is said to carry exceptionally long distances. The news of the defeat of the Russians at the Alma was “holloed” by the shepherds from mountain to mountain across the Balkan Peninsula, and in a marvellously short time the tidings reached the Dalmatian coast. To-day, telegraph wires are stretched across the Black Mountains, connecting almost all of the towns; the seaport of Antivari boasting even of a Marconi wireless station, which places Montenegro in direct communication with the coast of Italy.
CHAPTER XVI
THE ROAD TO CETTINJE
The Ascent of the Mountains—Njegushi—The Montenegrin Capital—Historical Monuments in Cettinje—The Return to Cattaro.
It takes nine hours to drive the twenty-eight miles and a quarter across the mountains from Cattaro to Cettinje, the miniature capital of this miniature principality. Because of the time consumed in the drive it does not follow that the going is rough. On the contrary, the road is of the best, for, as far as the Montenegrin frontier, it was built with infinite care by the Austrian government in order to facilitate the passage of troops and field pieces, should the occasion arise. The mountain gorges are bridged with stone arches, their foundations being imbedded in the rocks many feet below the roadway, while along the outer side of the latter stretches a continuous protecting wall of cut rock, cemented, of a yard in height. The road itself is smooth and free from stones, but the white, powdery dust sifts into your hair and through every stitch of your clothing. If Cattaro, the starting-point of the trip across the mountains, were not sealed up in such an out-of-the-way corner of the continent, touring motorists, doubtless, would be more familiar with the topography of Montenegro. As it is, there have been up-to-date but two or three automobiles to cross the face of the mountains on the way to Cettinje, and the distinction of driving these machines lies at the thresholds of Americans.