Arrived at the convent of St Archangelo, they had every reason to be content with their hospitable reception. The Archimandrite is praised as being gentlemanlike, and of mien as though educated in a European capital. This is a very unusual characteristic of any Greek ecclesiastic, and what we could predicate of but one or two out of the numbers that we have seen. Greek priests of any kind are bad enough, but those living in convents seem generally to go on the principle of the Russian consul just mentioned, and might fitly be invited to associate with him. All honour, then, to Stefano Knezovich, and may his example be abundantly followed among his brethren!
There was not much in the Greek convent to induce a long visit; so the next morning Sir Gardner pushed on to Kistagne, in his progress through the country. Here he was again the victim of letter-writing, but in a different way. The sirdar of Kistagne took offence at the tone of the letter sent to him by the Archimandrite, ordering horses for the next morning; and the luckless traveller was consequently left in the lurch. However, the monk did his best to make up for the deficiency. He lent him his own horse, and had his baggage conveyed by some peasants—an excellent arrangement, saving that the porters were female peasants. This is a sort of thing that sadly shocks our sense of decorum, but which many folks besides the Dalmatians take as a matter of course. Sir Gardner says that the custom of assigning the heavy burden to the women is prevalent among the Montenegrini; it is so also among the Albanians; and to a most atrocious extent in the Peloponnesus. In this particular case, they were well off to get the job; it was to exchange their task of carrying heavy loads of water up the hill for that of shouldering his light impedimenta.
Arrived at Kistagne, he found the sirdar, who had been so disobliging at a distance, much improved on acquaintance, and from him he received all requisite assistance for the prosecution of his journey to Knin; and by him was guided in his visit to the Roman arches, which point out the site of the ancient city of Burnum.
Knin is still a place of considerable strength, and has been once upon a time still stronger. It is identified with the ancient Arduba. The marshy character of the ground in its immediate neighbourhood renders it an unhealthy place of abode; but this evil is easily removable by a moderate attention to drainage. Not very far from Knin, but over the Turkish border, on the other side of Mount Gniath, is supposed to be situated the gold mine that of old conferred on Dalmatia the title of auriferous. The mine is said to exist here; but so much mystery is observed on its subject by the Turks that nothing certain can be affirmed of it. From Verlicca, to Sign we pass as quickly as may be, merely noticing that there is another convent to be visited en route, and that we have the opportunity of putting up at the Han, as Sir Gardner did. These people certainly have admitted a great many Turkish words into their vocabulary: we have Sirdar, and Han, and Arambasha—to say nothing of others. At last we come to Sign; and, touching this place, we must give an extract from the book. An annual tilting festival has been established here, in commemoration of the brave defence maintained in 1715, against the Pasha of Bosnia with forty thousand men.
"The privilege of tilting is confined to natives of Sign, and its territory. Every one is required to appear dressed in the ancient costume, with the Tartar cap, called kalpak, surmounted by a white heron's plume, or with flowers interlaced in it. He is to wear a sword, to carry a lance, and to be mounted on a good horse richly caparisoned."
"The opening of the giostra is in this manner: The footmen, richly dressed and armed, advance two by two before the cavaliers. In the usual annual exhibitions each cavalier has one footman; and on extraordinary occasions, besides the footman, he has a padrino well mounted and equipped. After the footmen come three persons in line—one carrying a shield, and the other two by his side bearing a sort of ancient club; then a fair manège horse, led by the hand, with large housings and complete trappings, richly ornamented, followed by two cavaliers—one the adjutant, the other the ensign-bearer. Next comes the Maestro-di-Campo, accompanied by the two jousters, and followed by all the others, marching two and two. The rear of the procession is brought up by the Chiauss, who rides alone, and whose duty it is to maintain order during the ceremony."
We have a description of a fair at Sign that is almost as suggestive of the picturesque as was the account of similar doings at Salona. Sir Gardner shall give his own account of his departure from the town.
"In the midst of the bustle and business going on at Sign, I found some difficulty in getting horses to take me on to Spalato; but a letter to the Sirdar removed every impediment, and, after a few hours' delay, the animals being brought out, I prepared to start from the not very splendid inn.' 'Can you ride in that?' asked the ostler, pointing to a huge Turkish saddle that nearly concealed the whole animal, with stirrups that might pass for a pair of coal scuttles; and finding that I was accustomed to the use as well as sight of that un-European horse-furniture, he seemed well satisfied—observing, at the same time, that it was fortunate, as there was no other to be had.... I was glad to take what I could get, and my only question in return was, whether the horse could trot; which being settled, I posted off, leaving my guide and baggage to come after me—for, thanks to the Austrian police, there is no fear of robbers appropriating a portmanteau in Dalmatia: the interesting days of adventure and the Haiduk banditti have passed, and the Morlacchi have ceased to covet, or at least to take other men's goods."
And now we make a resolute halt, and determine to pass sub silentio all that intervenes between this part of the book and the coming into the country of the Montenegrini. Unless we act thus discreetly, we shall never contrive to compress all we have to say into due limits; and even now we hardly know how this desirable result is to be effected. What we thus leave as fallow-ground for the reader will yield to his research a history of the coast and islands between Spalato and Cattaro. The notice of Ragusa is especially and deservedly full, and presents an admirable condensation of Ragusan history.
But it is high time for us to get amongst the children of the Black Mountain. Among things excellent it is permitted to institute comparison without disparagement to any of them: and, in virtue of this license, we are free to say that this part of Sir Gardner's book shines forth as inter minora sidera. The subject itself is of deep intrinsic interest; and he has treated it as we well knew that he would. A picture is given of the actual condition of a scion of the Christian stock that must astonish those who, by this book, first learn to think of the Montenegrini; and must delight those who, having heard somewhat of them, or haply even paid them a flying visit, have looked in vain for some accurate statement of detail to help out their personal observations.
The Montenegrini are descended from the old Servian stock, and still look to modern Servia with affection, as to their mother country. Thither also we find them, by Sir Gardner's account, retiring, when forced by poverty to emigrate from their own territory. Among them the Slavonian language is preserved in unusual purity. The present population is about 100,000; and the number of fighting men amounts to 20,000—a number which, on occasion of need, would be greatly augmented by the calling out of the veterans. In fact every individual man of the nation, whose arm has power to wield a weapon, is a warrior; and the very women are ready to assist in defence. On the Turkish border, as is well known, a constant system of bloody reprisals is going on; and the endeavours of the Vladika to reduce their hostilities to civilised fashion have hitherto failed of success. They are sustained at the highest pitch of confident daring by the successful war which they have so long been able to carry on against their powerful neighbours. One is glad of the opportunity of giving, on the authority of Sir Gardner, some of the stories of their prowess; for to retail, without the authority of some such padrino, the tales current in Cattaro, would be to win the reputation of talking like Mendez Pinto.