d made preparations for
a bombardment; but it was too late. A brigade of pursuing Montenegrins
had come up. They fell upon him from flank and rear, and a horrid
slaughter ensued.

It must be confessed that the account seems incredible, and is,
doubtless innocently enough, greatly exaggerated. But the worthy Abbot
distinctly stated that out of 25,000 Turks only 2,000 or 3,000
escaped. It was indeed "a terrible tale of a Turk that is ghastly and
grim and gory." The Montenegrins were but men 1,800 strong, just three
battalions, one of which was commanded by Michael Dozic, the Abbot,
and his battalion it was that took the Turks in the rear, throwing
them into utter confusion.

To-day the peasants still find heaps of bones in the crevices and
hollows of the rocks.

After this very pleasant story, we descended into the courtyard, which
is formed in a semicircle. In the centre stands the church. It is
built in the shape of a cross, and its porch and interior are
gorgeously adorned with the most quaint frescoes; indeed, every
particle of the walls and ceiling is covered with frescoes of the most
crude design and vivid colouring, and the altar-screen is
magnificently gilded. The colours are well preserved, and seem as
fresh as when the monks first laid them on, for the painting all dates
back to the time of the foundation.

It was somewhat horrifying to find that the frescoes behind the
altar-screen were completely scribbled over. At first we put this down
to impious tourists who delight in leaving their miserable names on
the most historical buildings; but, on closer inspection, we found
that they were copious notes in the form of a diary. The Abbot told us
that Mitrofan Ban, the Archbishop, had written them during his lengthy
abbacy many years ago.

There is another church, or rather tiny chapel, within the monastery
which is about a century older than the rest of the buildings, and the
interior is likewise covered with frescoes of the same crude and vivid
painting. They represent scenes from the life of S. Nicholas, and the
chapel is only used once a year during the pilgrimage which takes
place on the feast of their patron saint.

Every year large numbers of Montenegrins flock to the monastery to
offer prayers and offerings. Just outside the walls stands a small
cannon, with a Turkish inscription, which four Montenegrins carried
away one night from Kolasin when that town was in Turkish hands. Not
only the bravado of