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 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 "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 I don't say that these are my opinions, but simply the clearly expressed convictions of a 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." 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 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 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. Decoration
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