ragments of
mosaic floors. Coins and other relics are still found in large
quantities, and it seems a pity that excavation, which could do so
much, has been only carried on in a very halting and desultory manner.
Legend and history relate that the famous Roman Emperor Diocletian was
born here, and gave his name to the town. The district of Dioclea,
which was one of the seven confederate Serb states formed by Heraclius
to repel the attacks of the Avars, is in reality the germ of modern
Montenegro.

CHAPTER VIII

Achmet Uiko tells his story--Sokol Baco, ex-Albanian chief--Shooting
on the Lake of Scutari--Our journey thither--Our frustrated
nap--Arrival at the chapel--The island of Vranjina--The
priest--Fishing and fishermen--Our visitors--We return to Podgorica.

One market day, walking through the streets of Podgorica, we overheard
a strange conversation. A Montenegrin Turk was sitting on a stone,
when two Albanians approached him. Touching his revolver, one of the
Albanians said--

"Sooner than own the whole of Montenegro, would I empty _this_ into
thy body."

The Turk, a small man, with slightly grey hair, looked up, and said
indifferently--

"And thy desire is mine."

So they separated.

Almost immediately an acquaintance joined us, and we asked him the
meaning.

"That man," said he, "is the famous Achmet Uiko. A terrible man, who
has killed many men, and at the present moment there is an enormous
sum of money on his head in Albania."

We then went to him, and asked him to come to our hotel to-morrow, and
to tell us the story of his life. He consented readily, saying that
he would be with us at nine next morning, "if," he added
significantly, "nothing occurred to detain him."

It happened that evening that an Englishman arrived on a short tour
through the country, believing firmly that everything was as safe and
as orderly as the average stranger thinks. A Turkish girl had been
abducted from her home shortly before, and the town was in a state of
great excitement, as it was the second case within the last few weeks.
A rising of the Turkish inhabitants was feared nightly, and the house
where the girl was confined--previous to her marriage with her
Montenegrin lover--was carefully guarded by a score of armed
Montenegrins.

We took the Englishman to this house, and as we were showing him the
men with rifles around the doors and windows, we heard sounds of a
sharp rifle fire some distance away o