to escort us over the mountain. At the frontier I dismissed them with presents, and descended the formidable mountain by the precipitous foot-path used by the natives, many of whom, both men and women, were met conveying heavy burdens on their backs.

POPULATION AND ORGANIZATION.

The minister of foreign affairs estimated the population of Montenegro at about 200,000; but added that there had been no accurate census taken. The organization is tribal, and the elected tribal chief acts as magistrate in peace and commander in war. The assemblage of these tribal chiefs forms the skuptschina, whom the prince consults on important occasions. There is also a senate, more frequently consulted, composed of sixteen members. To this body any Montenegrin is eligi ble; but, in fact, the members are chiefly taken from the most distinguished and best-known families-a sort of untitled aristocracy. Practically, the government is patriarchal, and the power of the Prince nearly absolute.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION.

The established church to which the mass of the people firmly adheres is the "Orthodox," and is affiliated with the Russian Church. The number of adherents of the Roman Church and of the Moslem faith, originally small, has been increased by some thousands since the additions of territory and population resulting from the treaty of Berlin. The ecclesiastical and temporal power were formerly united in a prince-bishop (vladika). From that one-Petrovic Njegos-who liberated the Montenegrines in 1697 from the dominion of the Turks, the present prince is descended. His successors continued to be heads of church and state until 1851, when Danilo I renounced the ecclesiastical jurisdiction with its title of vladika, and assumed that of hospodar, or Prince. The center of the priesthood and seat of the church is at Cettinje, where a large monastery and diocesan residence exists.

The two forms of social life which most interest the people are the fêtes and ceremonies of the church on the one hand, and on the other the operations of war against the Turks. Schools are now, however, introduced into the country, and better instruction appears to be the object of increasing interest.

Up to this time a good soldier has been more important for the safety of the principality than a good school-master. With the adjustment of its new frontiers there is hope for a change in the direction of govern. mental action toward the internal and peaceful development of the country.

CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY, ITS PRODUCTS, AND COMMERCE.

The mountain range fronting the Adriatic Sea presents a bold and most forbidding aspect, which justifies its name of "Black Mountain." It is lofty, precipitous, rugged, and without foliage or verdure. The Austrian Government has built up the mountain face, a little to the south of Cattaro, a fine zigzag road intended to be practicable for wagons, and probably, I ought to add, for artillery also. It cost much labor and money to build it, and would have been useless without an extension into Montenegrin territory.

The poverty of the principality being a good reason to excuse the

Prince from undertaking it, the Austrians gave him an annual subsidy to continue the road to Cettinje. This has nominally been done. On my return I passed over the whole extent of this route in Montenegro, and found it often nearly impracticable for wagons, and at strategical points suspiciously imperfect and easily destroyed.

A justifiable suspicion exists that the Montenegrins were quite willing to receive the money for the work, but took good and wise care that a nominally commercial road could on short notice be made impracticable for the military movements of a powerful neighbor. Their savage mountain walls form their best lines of defense, and the agility and courage of their mountaineers, rifle in hand, make them more than a match for mountain howitzers or heavier artillery along a difficult and obstructed road. The inhabitants continue, however, to take the old and steep paths of their fathers, utterly neglecting the longer and smoother road constructed in aid of foreign interests, which they leave to the waste of time and the elements.

The valleys between the rough mountain summits have no appearance of fertility, but rather that of being forced to yield a cold and stingy product for the support of man. Often were seen old pool basins among the rocks, in the bottom of which the disintegration of stone and other waste had formed something like a soil mixed with small rocks. These were laboriously removed, in order to provide a little spot where some vegetable product could be raised. The valley of Cettinje itself, which is four or five miles long and belongs to the Black Mountain, has great spaces which cannot be made productive. It is also a basin without a stream or water outlet through its surrounding ledges of wild rock. From one of the summits on the way I had a distant view of a better country to the northeast and eastward, where there are streams and good ground for cultivation, and forests and game.

The region about Podgoritza, newly acquired from the Turks, and the Lake of Scutari were more distinctly visible. For the last two years the crops were bad and the people have suffered for necessary food; and I met numbers of them carrying sacks of grain up the steep road. Two cargoes of grain had arrived on the orders of the Prince from Odessa, one at the port of Cattaro and one at Ragusa, and these were portioned out to the poor Montenegrins. They have some herding of sheep and goats, and further eastward than Cettinje cattle are raised with advantage. As principal exports the minister mentioned skins, wool, sheep, cheese, wax, fish, sumac, and fruit. There are a few other articles exported, but the total value of exports is probably less than $800,000 per annum, and most of it not passing beyond the neighboring countries. They have little money to expend for imports-some arms and hardware, a little clothing, some house furniture, and supplies for the wealthier families, and food in a season of bad crops.

The Prince has established a small arsenal with foreign workmen at his capital, with a view to make and repair small-arms, and to teach the art to his own people.

The commerce of the principality can never be large, by reason of the hard conditions of its industry. But it will be essentially increased when a peaceful frontier shall be secured and border wars shall cease.

THE PORTS FOR THEIR EXTERIOR TRADE.

Before I had seen the country, believing that the port of Antivari, which was ceded to Montenegro in the Berlin adjustment, remained substantially as it had been, I ventured the recommendation that the United States should have a consul there. I must revoke that recommendation.

The town was almost utterly destroyed and depopulated, as the result of the military operations immediately preceding the treaty of San Stefano, and hardly any use is now made of its port. The old port of Ragusa (Austrian) is used for northern and the Bocche de Cattaro (Austrian) for Central Montenegro.

Nothing will probably be done for Antivari till a complete settlement of frontier shall be effected on the Albanian side. If Dulcigno shall be acquired (as now in negotiation), that also will effect the value of Antivari as a national port, and will be its rival.

FOREIGN REPRESENTATION IN MONTENEGRO.

Turkey and Austria have legations at Cettinje, the former an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, the latter a minister resident, both of whom were obliging enough to lend every aid to the objects of my visit. England has appointed her consul-general for Albania, who still resides at Scutari, as the British chargé d'affaires for Montenegro. France and Italy have also appointed chargés d'affaires near the gov ernment of the Prince; but they reside outside the principality, at Ragusa, for the greater comfort and convenience of living. Russia has a minister resident, who also resides at Ragusa.

The expense for strangers of living at Cettinje with any degree of comfort is very considerable, for all articles classed as comforts and conveniences must be brought chiefly on the shoulders of women up the mountain from Cattaro, and many of these articles must come from a distance by sea to that port.

I have only to add that His Highness Prince Nicolas appeared to be gratified with this first visit of an American representative at his capital, and spoke with interest of the small colony of his people who had settled themselves at San Francisco. He was himself educated at Paris, and is interested in the movements of civilization outside of his principality. His people are devoted to him, and he to their welfare. No one can know him or his people, and the difficult conditions under which they are seeking to develop a national existence, without a warm and friendly sympathy for both.

No. 351.

Mr. Kasson to Mr. Evarts.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Vienna, August 7, 1880. (Received August 23.) SIR: From the tabular report of the city magistracy in charge of the bureau which controls the provisioning of the city of Vienna, I translate the following statistics, which ought to be interesting to the corresponding official control in the great American cities, where unfit food so often causes disease.

The entire annual consumption of beef in the city amounted to 435,320 meter-centner (a meter-centner is 100 kilograms). This represents 119,200 kilograms per day, 58 kilograms per capita and per annum, or 160 grams per day for each person. This includes the inconsumable waste. The quantities of food confiscated from the market as unfit for food

is reported as follows: 60 beeves, 359 calves, 193 sheep, 83 lambs, 778 hogs, 58 horses, 27,181 kilograms beef, 9,330 kilograms veal, 482 kilograms mutton, 1,906 kilograms pork, 432 kilograms sausage, 1,784 kilograms fish, 13,600 crabs, 56 geese, 83 ducks, 1,055 chickens, 43 stags, 177 kilograms venison, 23 hares, 284 wild birds, 7,132 eggs, 2,418 liters of milk, 57,048 kilograms of fruit, 329 bottles of mineral water; 133 false measures, 29 false wagons, and 76 false weights also paid the penalty of dishonesty.

Such a record bears strong testimony to the vigilance of the inspection, and to its useful results in guarding the population against the deceptions which lead to disease or reward dishonesty in trade.

I have, &c.,

No. 48.

JOHN A. KASSON.

No. 352.]

Mr. Kasson to Mr. Evarts.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Vienna, August 7, 1880. (Received August 23.) SIR: In my No. 293 I reported in part the results of the late census of Bosnia-Herzegovina; since then, the Austrian authorities have completed the revision of the enumeration, and the new statement makes some corrections of the former figures, and affords some additional information. The following figures are said to be exact: There are reckoned 43 towns and 1 suburb; 31 boroughs and 5,154 villages, with a total of 189,662 houses and 1,158,440 native inhabitants; of whom are males 607,789, and females 550,651.

Statistics of wealth taken at the same time show the following re

No statistics are yet given of the quantity or value of either wild or cultivated land, or of the crops produced.

I have, &c.,

JOHN A. KASSON.

No. 78.]

BELGIUM.

No. 49.

Mr. Goodloe to Mr. Evarts.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Brussels, July 24, 1879. (Received August 6.) SIR: In my No. 58, after speaking of the excitement in political and religious circles concerning the much-talked-of withdrawal of the Belgian legation from Rome, I closed my dispatch with the remark that I would not be surprised if Baron d'Anethan, who had been in Brussels all the winter, never returned to his post. I was, however, to be very soon surprised, for Baron d'Anethan reached Rome before my dispatch did Washington. This solution of a question which had from the beginning been surrounded by a Belgian fog, was the culmination of a coquetry between His Holiness and the Belgian premier, which had lasted through the winter.

The ministers, prior to the election, having pledged a suppression of the Roman legation in case of success, most persons looked naturally to a fulfillment of their promises, and the more extreme wing of the Liberals clamorously demanded immediate action. The excitement and violent opposition occasioned by the introduction of the common school bill (now a law), eliminating from secular education all priestly interference, was as much, probably, as the ministry felt inclined at one time to combat. It looks very much as if the concessions from Rome hinted at, but not defined by the minister of foreign affairs, were made in the vain hope of defeating the school bill. And, on the other hand, the temporary forbearance of the Belgian Government toward that of His Holiwas perhaps but an expedient to lessen somewhat the violence of clerical opposition to the school bill, which was, after all, the great question between the parties.

ness

The final passage of this bill seemed to have aroused the worst blood in the land. The priesthood promulgated a manifesto directing Catholics to withdraw their children from such schools, else, forewarning them that perdition would be their lot. The wealthy members of the laity avowed their determination to build school-houses and supply teachers of their own. The more violent announced publicly their determination to refrain from any participation whatever in the festivities of 1880 in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Belgian independence, for the reason given that the country was no longer entitled to their regard.

When, however, such brave talk was brought to the test, as was foreseen by cooler heads, every position has in succession been abandoned. Catholic children, or rather children whose parents belong to or sympathize with the Catholic political party, do not withdraw from the public schools; wealthy Catholics have been slow to respond to the appeals for pecuniary aid; and Catholics who are now teachers in the public schools refuse to give up their situations unless they are secured in every advantage they now have, and are given 500 francs in addition. Among the other securities they require is a pension equal to that guaranteed by the government.

The refusal to participate in the festivities of next year was so manifestly absurd, working, as it would, injury only to those who held aloof, that it has been wholly abandoned.