The warlike incursions of former days have ceased now, for the boundaries of Montenegro have been defined by an international commission, and the mountaineers have established friendly relations with their neighbours, from whom they are able now to purchase what they require. In summer they permit the inhabitants of the coast to take their cattle into the hills, whilst in winter they themselves descend to the seaboard, where they are sure now of a friendly reception. The Montenegrins have always been anxious to possess a port on the Adriatic, which would enable them to import freely, and without the intervention of the merchants of Cattaro, the powder, salt, and other articles they require, and to export their own produce. Their commerce, even now, is of some importance. They export smoked mutton, sheep and goats, skins, tallow, salt fish, cheese, honey, sumach, insect powder, &c., of an estimated value of £40,000 annually. The Montenegrins, like their neighbours the Albanians, frequently leave their country for a time in order to seek work in the great cities of the East. Thousands of them are to be met in Constantinople, where they manage to live on friendly terms with the Turks, their “hereditary enemies.” They are even to be found in Egypt. The Tsigani are the only strangers met with in the country. They resemble the Servians in language, dress, religion, and customs, and only differ from them by working at a useful trade, that of smiths. Their industry, however, causes them to be objects of disdain, and they are not permitted to intermarry with Servians. The government of Montenegro is a curious mixture of democratic, feudal, and despotic institutions. The citizens fancy that they are equals, but they are not, for certain families exercise a powerful influence. The sovereign, who appropriates about half the revenue of the country, and receives 8,000 ducats annually from Russia in addition, appoints the members of the Senate, or _Sovyet_. The _Skupshtina_ includes the _glavars_, or chiefs, of the thirty-nine tribes (_plemena_), but has hitherto limited itself to applauding the “speech from the throne.” There is a body-guard of a hundred men, and the whole of the male population is bound to take the field under the leadership of Serdars. The country is divided into eight _nahiés_, or districts, of which four (Bielopavlichka, Uskochka, Morachka, and Vasoyevichka, with the country of the Kuchi), constitute the Berda, and four (Katunska, Liesanska, Riechka, and Tsermnichka) belong to Montenegro proper. Each of these districts is placed under a _kniaz_. The families and associations of families (_brastvos_) are governed by _hospodars_ and _starshinas_, dependent upon the tribal chiefs, or _glavars_. [Illustration: ITALY] {183} [Illustration] ITALY.[59] I.—GENERAL ASPECTS.