Amongst those hardy borderers we made many warm friends, but it would be invidious to mention names amongst so many.  We came to the country with a single introduction, to Dr. Stefanelli, the companion of many of our journeys, and we left at the conclusion of six months with a host of friends.  Still to two we wish humbly to express our gratitude for many acts of, at the time, unknown courtesy, namely, H.R.H.  Prince Nicolas, and the Metropolitan of Montenegro, Mitrofanban.  As a slight token of our thanks to, and admiration of, that true father of his people, Prince Nicolas, we respectfully dedicate this book to the soldier-poet and prince of the Land of the Black Mountain.

Since we finished the story of our travels, I have had the honour of speaking long with Prince Nicolas and of seeing him on many occasions; for during our first travels in the land we were always strangely unlucky in this respect.  I then learnt how our progress through Montenegro had been watched over, and contingencies provided for, which we had taken as a matter of course.

Some, alas! of our friends are now no more.  The Governor of Podgorica was shot down in broad daylight a short while ago whilst taking his midday promenade in which we so often shared.  Others, too, have fallen on the borders.  Friends are easily lost in Montenegro, where a charge of powder and a bullet settle differences.

Disagreeable episodes happened to us—­they happen everywhere—­but these we have rightly or wrongly omitted.  The good that we experienced certainly outweighed the bad, and that shall be our reason for so doing.

And again, throughout the book we have given our first impressions, much of it was written during our actual progress through the land.  It may be that our feelings will thus be more interesting than a cut-and-dried treatise of the land and its inhabitants.

In conclusion, it will not be amiss to add an explanation of the Serb names which appear throughout the book in the original spelling.  The names have often an unpronounceable appearance, and look harsh and forbidding.  This is far from the case, for the Serb language is full-toned and musical.

In common with the Slav languages it has a sixth vowel, viz. “r”—­hence such words as “Srb” (Serb), “trg” (place or square), and “Trst” (Triest).  It is only necessary to roll the “r” to overcome this seeming anomaly of a collection of consonants.  The language is spoken exactly as it is written, as for instance Italian, but the consonants s, c, and z vary according to their accents.

“s” is our sharp s; but with inverted circumflex

“s” it becomes “ssh,” as in “show.”

“c” is pronounced “tz”:  thus Cetinje is spoken Tzetinje; Podgorica as Podgoritza.

“c” and “c” are accentuated “tsch”:  as Petrovic, Petrovitsch; Moraca, Moratcha.

“z” is soft, as “s” in “rose.”

“z” is sounded like the French “j” in “journal.”