at we
observed him closer, noticing that his clothes were such as the
officials and better class wear.

"Who is he?" I asked.

"A Government clerk convicted of embezzlement," was the answer. "Six
weeks in chains is his sentence."

"And what have the other criminals done?" was our next query.

"Oh, they have mostly quarrelled amongst themselves. They are not
criminals. We have very few thieves and robbers in Montenegro. This
youth," went on our informant, pointing to a young man with a pleasant
face, and who grinned with joy as he noticed the attention with which
we favoured him, "has a ten years' sentence for quarrelling."

"But quarrelling," we repeated. "Is it punishable to _quarrel_?"

"Yes, too many lives are lost," was the laconic reply.

"Oh," we exclaimed, a light breaking in upon us, "you mean murder!
They are all murderers?"

"We have no murderers," came the indignant response. "Our land is as
safe from murder as any other in the world. No one kills to rob or
steal in Montenegro. But we just quarrel amongst ourselves. We are
hot-blooded and shoot quickly, that is all."

P. and I looked at each other, but neither of us felt inclined to
venture any further remarks; so we examined a dark cell with interest,
without furniture or light, and one of six used for the worst kind of
offender, viz. the political. They were all untenanted. We had all
crowded inside, our warders as well, and as we emerged again into the
strong light, I noticed the gate wide open and no visible guard.

"You have left the gate open!" exclaimed P., as he saw it.

Our warders laughed. Afterwards we understood.

Then we inspected a common cell, where about a dozen men sleep. Each
man brings his own bedding and nicknacks, with which he decorates the
wall above his bed and makes the place as much like home as possible.
Loss of liberty is the only real punishment, and even that is not
carried to an excess. The Prince has said that the restraint that they
suffer is enough, and thus the prisoners have comparatively free
intercourse with the outside world, plenty to eat, and on festivals
wine and even spirits and a dance with their friends outside. This
latter scene we witnessed some time afterwards on another visit to
Cetinje. The only real severity is the chains, but these sturdy
mountaineers soon accustom themselves to these thirty-pound trinkets,
and when photographed take good care to arrange them tastefully and
prominently. When w