IN MONTENEGRO.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1599, 16 November 1912, Page 11

IN MONTENEGRO.

MANNEKS AND CUSTOMS. Cetinje, the capital of Montenegro, lies in a bowl of black mountain ranges of wild, terrible, sublime beauty (writes a correspondent of the '"Sydney Morning Herald"). The only visible outlet into the outer world is a broad, white road that winds its way higher and higher up one : ride-of the ranges until it is lost to sight. The shady market-place is the general meeting-ground of the hill-dwellers : and various tribes of the surrounding country. , In a kind of mental kinematograph, I see once again the moving mass of humanity, the gorgeousness and dazzling splendours of the scene. .There are. the fullyarmed Montenegrins—fine, warrior-like fellows that' they are—Albanians, in ■white kilted skirts, small round capsbol- , anced- jauntily on their heads, and armed to tha tethj many carrying cotton umbrellas as■ a protection .against' the heat; Turks in scarlet : fez; men o from Scutari, in nnd sheepskins, tall, stately, -orthodox priests, and, graceful, -slender Montenegrin women in pale blue skirts, corsettos, and 6leeveless jackets, of another shade, and beautifully embpssed in gold,- , . Between the hum and buzz of a 6ea of voices theT wailing note of a street singer and his ."gusla," a one-stringed instrui menty is .heard. It all looks like a coloured print from some fairy-book. Unmarried Montenegrin girls wear Tound caps li]te the men, the hair plaited and coiled round the head; married wowear,the hair'hanging down and a •folded black handkerchief wound round the. head.. They arc beautiful women; their bearing is, graceful nnd noble, their manner quiet and dignified. Never have I 6een suclv magnificent eyes, large, black, questioning' ejs-es, filled with, suppressed fire and passion.. When meeting a mate acquaintance of their clan it is' usual/ for them to bend over nnd' kiss his hand; there is neither humility nor servilty expressed: in the action. . 1 • It is an old patriarchal oustum for various, tribes to meet in Montenegro or 'Albania, and form one larsi' family. The rjiject of these gatherings is to.discuss the "best means of aggrnndisinsr their country. A chief is 1 chosen—he is the "T)om," and fiis wife is the "Domaciea;" She attends to the'house, and tenches the children the mournful songs nnd legends of their mountain 'country. She tries to- carry-.out • a Montenegrin; saying—"Not a woman's

beauty, but her kindness of heart glorifies the home". The marriage customs are many and fcurious. One in particular is interesting. On the wedding day the bridegroom's parents receive from the bride's parents a, bundle of ears of exfrn, a jug of milk, and a maize-cake, upon which a distaff and a spindle are designed. The cars of corn denote "abundance," that the bride, by lier careful and industrious nature, brings as a'gift; the jug of milk is an emblem of her gentle disposition, and the maize cake signifies her thoroughness in all her work. A wedding is a great time of rejoicing, especiallj; among the hill, dwellera. The bride rides on 1 horseback to her new home to the sounds of joy- and rifle fijing that entice echoes a' hundredfold fcom the mountains. ;•