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PREFACE
PREFACE
The reason of the anonymity of this book is obvious. Revealing as it does the actual state of affairs in the Balkan Peninsula in this present year of grace 1907, it contains many plain truths and much outspoken criticism. By a long journey of close, confidential inquiry through Montenegro, Northern Albania, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Servia, Bulgaria, Roumania, Turkey, and Macedonia, I have, at risk of betraying certain information imparted to me under seal of secrecy, endeavoured to place t
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CHAPTER I THE CITY IN THE SKY
CHAPTER I THE CITY IN THE SKY
Why I went to the Balkans—The road to Montenegro—Cettinje and its petroleum tins—About the blood-feud—England and Montenegro—Warned not to attempt to go to Albania—My guide a marked man—The story of Tef—A woman’s fickleness, and its sequel. I entered the Balkans by the back door. The luxuries of the Orient Express had no attraction for me. I wanted to see the Balkans as they really are, those great, wild, mountainous countries, so full of race hatreds, of political bickerings, of fierce blood-fe
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CHAPTER II AN AUDIENCE OF PRINCE NICHOLAS
CHAPTER II AN AUDIENCE OF PRINCE NICHOLAS
The Palace at Cettinje—A cigarette with the Prince—The policy of Montenegro—A confidential chat—His Royal Highness’s admiration for England—His views upon Macedonia—He urges me not to attempt to go to Albania, but I persuade him to help me—His Highness’s kindness—Souvenirs. “His Royal Highness the Prince will be pleased to grant you private audience at four o’clock this afternoon, gospodin.” The tall, burly aide-de-camp in the little round cap, high boots, pale blue overcoat, and pistols in his
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CHAPTER I INTO A SAVAGE REGION
CHAPTER I INTO A SAVAGE REGION
Wildest Albania—Warnings not to attempt to travel there—I decide to go, and take Palok—Prince Nicholas of Montenegro bids us farewell—On the Lake of Scutari—Arrival at Skodra—Passports, rabble, and backsheesh—Photographing the fortress in secret—Treading dangerous ground—Albania the Unknown. Before leaving London various insurance companies had flatly declined to accept the risk of “accident,” because it was known that I intended visiting Albania. Indeed, no company in the City would insure me,
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CHAPTER II WHERE LIFE IS CHEAP
CHAPTER II WHERE LIFE IS CHEAP
Fired at in the street of Skodra—My comfortless inn—Panorama of life—Armed bands of wild mountaineers in the streets—The Sign of the Cross—Scutarine people—The fascination of Skodra—In the den of my friend Salko—Making purchases—Short shrift with swindlers—Some genuine antiques—Ragged and shoeless soldiers of the Sultan—Men shot in the blood-feud—“It is nothing!” I had not been in Skodra half an hour before a man fired at me with his revolver. It was my welcome to Albania, and I confess that I d
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CHAPTER III THE LAWLESS LAND
CHAPTER III THE LAWLESS LAND
My friend Pietro—Visit to his house—His wife and sister-in-law unveil and are photographed—Scutarine hospitality—Forbidden newspapers—I get one in secret—The Turkish post office—I want to visit the Accursed Mountains—Difficulties and fears—The Feast of the Madonna—Christians and Mohammedans—My first meeting with the dreaded Skreli—Shots in the night. Those bright, sunny autumn days in Skodra will live for a long time within my memory. Though a stranger in that half-savage place, where law and or
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CHAPTER IV IN THE ACCURSED MOUNTAINS
CHAPTER IV IN THE ACCURSED MOUNTAINS
Vatt Marashi, chief of the Skreli tribe, invites me to become his guest—Our start for the Accursed Mountains—Rok, our guide—Independence of the Skreli—Brigandage and the bessa —A night under a rock—My meeting with Vatt Marashi and his band—The Skreli welcome—How they treat the Turks—Vatt’s admissions—I become the guest of brigands—A chat in the moonlight. While seated on the box in Salko’s dark little stall in the bazaar he introduced his friend Rok to me. A middle-aged tribesman in the regulati
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CHAPTER V LIFE WITH A BRIGAND BAND
CHAPTER V LIFE WITH A BRIGAND BAND
The Skreli a lawless tribe—No man’s life safe unless the chief gives his word—Vatt prophesies a rising against the Turks—Our walks and talks—Our meeting with our neighbours the Kastrati, and with Dêd Presci their chief—A woman who avenged her husband’s death—The significant story of Kol—Manners and customs of the wild tribes—Farewell to my good friend Dêd—An incident a fortnight later. The bright sunny days I remained with the Skreli were full of interest. On every hand, from Vatt himself down t
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CHAPTER I SOME REVELATIONS
CHAPTER I SOME REVELATIONS
Through Dalmatia to Herzegovina—Over the Balkan watershed—Bosnia and Sarayevo—A half-Turkish, half-Servian town—Austrian persecution of the Christians—Some astounding facts—A land of spies and scandals—The police as murderers—A disgrace to European civilisation. In the darkest hour before daylight I bade farewell to my friend Mr. Charles des Graz, the British Chargé d’Affaires in Cettinje, and mounting into the pair-horse carriage, left the Montenegrin capital to descend that most wonderfully en
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CHAPTER II DUST IN THE EYES OF EUROPE
CHAPTER II DUST IN THE EYES OF EUROPE
How spies work in Bosnia—Secret agents dog the stranger’s footsteps—My own experience—Fighting the spy with his own weapons—To “nobble” the foreigner—How an unfavourable book was purchased by the Austrian Government—Bribery of Press correspondents—A country worse than Russia—Some suggested reforms—The secret policy of Austria in the Balkans. Spies are a necessity to autocratic Governments. Their business is to prevent the execution of plots, to discover all secrets affecting the security of the
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CHAPTER I THE TRUTH ABOUT SERVIA
CHAPTER I THE TRUTH ABOUT SERVIA
The diplomatic circle in Belgrade—Studying both sides of the Servian question—Austrian intrigue—113 known foreign spies in Belgrade!—An illustration of the work of secret agents—Quaint Servian customs—Pauperism unknown—Servia to-day and to-morrow. The stranger’s first impression of Belgrade is that it is a rather dull Russian town. Coming from Bosnia and Albania, one misses the quaint costumes and the life and movement in the streets, the fierce men with rifles, and the veiled shuffling women. T
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CHAPTER II AN AUDIENCE OF KING PETER
CHAPTER II AN AUDIENCE OF KING PETER
At the New Konak—I sign His Majesty’s birthday-book—The audience-chamber—King Peter greets me, and we chat over cigarettes—My private audience—His Majesty and English capitalists—Great openings for British enterprise—The King gives me some instances of paying concerns, and tells me many interesting facts—His Majesty invites me to return. As I drove into the wide gates of the New Konak one evening in November to have private audience of His Majesty King Peter of Servia, sentries saluted, idling d
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CHAPTER III SERVIA’S AIMS AND ASPIRATIONS
CHAPTER III SERVIA’S AIMS AND ASPIRATIONS
Audiences of M. Pachitch, the Premier and “strong man” of Servia, and of M. Stoyanovitch, Minister of Commerce—My friend, Dr. Milenko Vesnitch, Minister of Justice—The Servian case as I found it—Austria Servia’s arch-enemy—Dr. Vesnitch an up-to-date politician—Undeniable prosperity of the country under King Peter’s rule. He who attempts to study Servian politics will find himself engulfed in a perfect vortex of mystery and intrigue. Politics occupy everyone’s thought in Belgrade. The Pachitch Pa
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CHAPTER IV THE FUTURE OF SERVIA
CHAPTER IV THE FUTURE OF SERVIA
Servia and the Macedonian question—A sound Cabinet—England and Servia—Appointment of Mr. Beethom Whitehead as British Minister very gratifying to the Servians—King Peter ever solicitous for the welfare of the people—What the Prime Minister told me concerning the future—The new railway to the Adriatic. I make no apology for the assassination of King Alexander and his Queen. That matter is a closed page of Servian history. I only can state what I saw and heard in Servia, and explain how I drew my
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CHAPTER V TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW IN SERVIA
CHAPTER V TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW IN SERVIA
A retrospect—A sitting of the Skupshtina—Peasants as deputies—Servia as an open field for British enterprise—Enormous mineral wealth—Mr. Finney, a mining engineer who has prospected in Servia for seventeen years, tells me some interesting facts regarding rich mines awaiting development—No adventurers need apply. Servia has, indeed, had a turbulent past. For centuries she has been torn by war and ground under the heel of the oppressor. From the days of Stevan Lazarevitch, at the end of the fourte
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CHAPTER I SOFIA OF TO-DAY
CHAPTER I SOFIA OF TO-DAY
At the Bulgarian frontier—A chat with M. Etienne, French ex-Minister of War—Evening in Sofia—A city of rapid progress—Engaging peasants for Earl’s Court Exhibition—Amusing episodes—Social life in Sofia—The diplomats’ club—The Bulgarian Government grant me special facilities for investigation. The Orient Express—that train of dusty wagons-lits which three days a week gives communication between Ostend and the East—had just passed the Bulgarian frontier at Tzaribrod, and my passport had been exami
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CHAPTER II BULGARIA AS A FIELD FOR BRITISH ENTERPRISE
CHAPTER II BULGARIA AS A FIELD FOR BRITISH ENTERPRISE
Audiences of members of the Bulgarian Cabinet—Dr. Dimitri Stancioff, Minister for Foreign Affairs, the coming man of Bulgaria—His policy—Facts about the mineral wealth and mining laws—Advice to traders and capitalists by the British Vice-Consul in Sofia—Our methods as compared with those of other nations. One of the objects of my observations being to point out where British capital can, with advantage and security, be employed in the Balkans, I made, while in Sofia, very careful and exhaustive
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CHAPTER III WILL BULGARIA DECLARE WAR?
CHAPTER III WILL BULGARIA DECLARE WAR?
A sitting of the Sobranje—Declarations by the Prime Minister and Dr. Stancioff—The new Minister of Foreign Affairs—A sound progressive government—Strong army and firm policy—Will the deplorable state of Macedonia still be tolerated?—Ominous words. It was a bitterly cold November evening when, accompanied by Sir George Buchanan, I entered the Sobranje, or Bulgarian Parliament, to hear the Ministerial statement upon the future policy of Bulgaria and her attitude towards Turkey. A great high-roofed
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CHAPTER IV THE BULGARIAN EXARCHATE AND THE PORTE
CHAPTER IV THE BULGARIAN EXARCHATE AND THE PORTE
A difficult and little-understood problem—Bulgaria the “dark horse” of the Peninsula—An explanation of the question between Bulgaria and Turkey—The Bulgarian Church and the Imperial Firman—The present position of the Exarchate—Europe should listen to the Bulgarian demand—Chats with Macedonian orphans—Their terrible stories. The question of the Bulgarian Exarchate and the Porte is of paramount importance in Bulgaria at the present moment—a very difficult problem which the Government have to face.
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CHAPTER V AT A ROSE DISTILLERY
CHAPTER V AT A ROSE DISTILLERY
Tobacco growing in Bulgaria—The otto-of-rose industry—About adulteration—Difficulties of obtaining the pure extract—Corrupting the peasant—What Monsieur Shipkoff told me—Some tests to discover adulteration—Interesting facts about roses. NO description of the present condition of Bulgaria would be complete without mention of the two principal industrial plants cultivated in the country—tobacco and roses. Tobacco, I noticed, was particularly plentiful in the south and in the departments of Silistr
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CHAPTER VI THE FUTURE OF BULGARIA
CHAPTER VI THE FUTURE OF BULGARIA
Bulgaria’s future greatness—Her firm policy in Macedonia—An audience of Dr. Stancioff, Minister of Foreign Affairs—A chat with the Prime Minister—Turkey the enemy of Bulgaria—Balkan “news” in the London papers—How it is manufactured—Turkish dominion doomed. The future of Bulgaria is assured. Bulgaria, with Servia, is destined to become the power in the Balkans. Vigorous, strong, and fearless, under a Prince who has the courage of his own convictions, the country is one of progress, of great mili
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CHAPTER I BUCHAREST OF TO-DAY
CHAPTER I BUCHAREST OF TO-DAY
My friend the spy—How I was watched through the Balkans—An exciting half-hour—The Paris of the Near East—Gaiety, extravagance, and pretty women—Forty years of progress—The paradise of the idler—Husbands wanted! My friend the spy picked me up at Rustchuk. He was a well-dressed, middle-aged man, in a black overcoat with a velvet collar. His face was sharply cut and intelligent, but his dark eyes were set rather too closely together to suit me. Suddenly I recollected having seen the same man in the
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CHAPTER II ROUMANIA’S AIMS AND INTENTIONS
CHAPTER II ROUMANIA’S AIMS AND INTENTIONS
Monsieur Take Jonesco, Minister of Finance—The smartest man in Roumania—An interview with General Lahovary, Minister of Foreign Affairs—Secret aims of Roumania—A better frontier wanted—Germany’s insincerity—Some plain truths—The question of a Balkan Federation—Oil wells waiting to be exploited by British capital. I had a number of interviews with the members of the Roumanian Cabinet, [2] General Jacques Lahovary, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and M. Take Jonesco, Minister of Finance, being both
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CHAPTER III A CHAT WITH THE QUEEN OF ROUMANIA
CHAPTER III A CHAT WITH THE QUEEN OF ROUMANIA
The royal drawing-room—Her Majesty’s greeting—Her kind words of welcome—Roumania not in the Balkan States—We talk politics—The name of “Carmen Sylva”—The Queen’s deep interest in the blind—She shows me some photographs—Public interest in the new institution—I visit it next day. I was standing one Sunday evening in the great drawing-room of the royal palace at Bucharest, chatting with Madame Zoe Bengesco, lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Roumania. Madame Maurojeni, grande-maîtresse of Her Majesty’
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CHAPTER I THE LAND OF THE WANING MOON
CHAPTER I THE LAND OF THE WANING MOON
The Orient Express again—On the Black Sea to Constantinople—A disenchantment—My dragoman—How to bribe the Customs officers—Mud and dogs—A city of spies—Feebleness of British policy at the Porte—Turkish adoration of Germany—The basis of my confidential inquiries. From Bucharest to Constantinople is not at all an unpleasant journey. The Orient Express runs twice a week to Constantza, the Roumanian port on the Black Sea, where there is a fine and comfortable passenger-steamer service direct to Cons
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CHAPTER II IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH
CHAPTER II IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH
His Excellency Noury Pasha—A quiet chat at his home—Turkish view of European criticism—The Turk misunderstood—The massacres in Macedonia—My visit to the Sublime Porte—His Excellency Tewfik Pasha tells me the truth—A great diplomatist—The fashion to denounce Turkey—The attitude of the Porte towards Bulgaria—Significant words. The first visit I paid was to His Excellency Mehmed Noury Pasha, Secretary-General of the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is one of the most advanced and progressi
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CHAPTER I PLAIN TRUTHS ABOUT MACEDONIA
CHAPTER I PLAIN TRUTHS ABOUT MACEDONIA
War imminent between Bulgaria and Turkey—My secret inquiries—Atrocities by the Greek bands—Chats with the leaders of the insurrection—The truth about the intrigues in Macedonia—I visit the scene of the massacres—Stories told to me—Horrifying facts—Germany behind the assassins—A disgraceful truth. This present record of my observations in the Near East would be incomplete without some description of my journey through Macedonia, and what I saw there. The Macedonian question is the burning questio
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CHAPTER II THE TRUTH EXPOSED
CHAPTER II THE TRUTH EXPOSED
Summary of my confidential information—War this year—The attitude of Greece, Bulgaria, Roumania, and Turkey—Procrastination, promises, and perfect politeness—A matter more serious than Macedonia—Warning to British statesmen and the public—The real truth exposed—Germany and India. As summary of all my confidential inquiries throughout the Near East, I find that the present position as regards Macedonia is a very serious one. Bulgaria, who has the largest population there, has undoubtedly decided
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