There were two full-blooded niggers aboard with
us: they were descendants of the Ethiopian slaves of the harems; but the
race is dying out, for the climate does not suit them. We steamed out
into the lake, down the "kingly" canal, a shallow ditch in the mud.
Magnificent mountains rush down on every side to the water, in which
stunted willow trees with myriad roots--like mangroves--find an
amphibious existence. We passed through their groves, hooting as though
we were leaving Liverpool, and out into the eau-de-nil waters of the
open lake.
In three hours we reached Plavnitza, a quay on the mud, where more
passengers were waiting for our already crowded craft. There were
officers, peasants, Turks, and soldiers clad in French firemen's
uniforms. These uniforms, by the way, caused a lot of ill-feeling in
Montenegro. The French sent them out in a spirit of pure economical
charity, and had the Frenchmen not been, on the average, small, and the
Montenegrin, contrariwise, large, perhaps the gift would have been
received with a better grace; but the sight of these enormous men
bursting in all places from their all too tight regimentals, was
ludicrous, and the soldiers felt it keenly.
Pages:
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129