(called by the natives Zernagora, and by the Turks Karadagh, all which names are derived from the dark forests with which the mountains are covered) is a small state in European Turkey, tributary to the Porte, but virtually independent. It extends from 42° 10' to 42° 56', N. Lat.; and from 18° 41' to 20° 22', E. Long.; and is bounded on the N. by Herzegovina, E. and S. by Albania, and W. by Dalmatia. Area about 1450 square miles. This country consists for the most part of a mass of mountains, forming a part of the Dinarian Alps. The slope towards the sea is very steep; so that there are no rivers of any size on that side, and very little vegetation is found on the rocky acclivities. The lowest parts of this mountainous district are probably more than 2000 feet in elevation, and many of the higher summits rise upwards of 5000 feet above the sea. The interior is intersected with numerous ridges, forming valleys, which, however, are of no great size. Towards the E. the mountains diminish in height, till they are lost in the plain of the Moratsha; and the access to the high lands from this side lies through several narrow gorges. The Moratsha is the only river of any importance in Montenegro; it flows southward, and falls into the Lake of Skutari, which is situated in Albania, on the confines of Montenegro. The climate is healthy, but cold, owing to the elevated position of the country. The winter is long, and the spring and autumn are often very severe. Owing to the configuration of the country, there are few streams or rivers, and wells do not occur in large numbers; so that the inhabitants are obliged to collect the rain-water in cisterns to supply their wants. Except in a few well-watered spots, the fertility of the soil is not very great; and the ground is not largely cultivated. Indian corn, potatoes, cabbages, and other vegetables are raised; but the inhabitants depend for support chiefly on the live stock which they rear. Sheep, goats, and pigs are numerous, but there are few horses or cattle. Most of the mountains are covered with forests, chiefly consisting of oak and beech, which, though they do not attain their full height on the higher elevations, are often of great size in the lower regions. The Venetian sumach, a shrub, the wood of which is largely used in tanning, is found here in great abundance, and forms an important article of trade. The Montenegrins, from fear of invasion, have made no roads in their country; and internal communication is carried on by means of footpaths impassable for beasts of burden. A good deal of trade is carried on with the inhabitants of Cattaro in Dalmatia; but the Montenegrins are not allowed to carry on any intercourse with the neighbouring Turkish towns. They export live stock, smoked mutton, bacon, cheese, tallow, sheepskins, wool, &c., as well as the sumach wood and firewood; while they import wine, spirits, oil, salt, gunpowder, fire-arms, and other manufactured articles. The average value of the annual exports to Austria is L1,392, and that of the imports from that country L434. Montenegro proper consists of four nahias or cantons—Katunska, Rietskha, Zermnitshka, and Lieshanska; but besides these there are some other tribes which belong to the confederation. These also are divided into four cantons, called berdas, distinguished by the names of Bielopovitskha, Piperska, Kutschka, and Moratshka; and the inhabitants are called Berdiani, to distinguish them from the Montenegrins proper, or Zernagorzi. The government is in the hands of a vladika or prince, residing at Zetlinie; and the office is hereditary in the male line. The religion of the people is that of the Greek church; of which the vladika was formerly a bishop, uniting the supreme civil and ecclesiastical authority in his own person; but since 1851 these offices have been separated. There is a Senate, or council of elders, consisting of 12 members, to assist the prince. The people are tall, hardy, and athletic. They have great hospitality and a strong feeling of patriotism; but their mode of warfare is barbarous and unsparing, and they are constantly making plundering forays into the neighbouring districts. Their system of defence, when their country is invaded, consists of posting sharpshooters in various positions in the mountains, and enticing the invaders into these fastnesses, where they are gradually shot down by the unerring aim of the Montenegrin riflemen. When out of their own country, however, these mountaineers cannot stand against regular troops. The language spoken in Montenegro is a dialect of the Slavonic, the same as that spoken in Servia. Education is in a very low state, and it is thought a great accomplishment to be able to read and write. There are only two schools, one at Zetlinie and one at Dobroskoselo, both of which have been founded since 1841. The Montenegrins were reduced under the dominion of the Turkish empire in the reign of Soliman the Magnificent, and they remained in this condition till the year 1700, when, at the instigation of the Vladika Daniel, all the Mohammedans were put to death, and the country declared independent. In 1712 the inhabitants of the canton of Katunska took up arms in Monte Rosa, a mountain of the Pennine Alps, on the borders of Switzerland and Piedmont, is a union of several mountain chains rather than a single summit. Four mountain chains radiate from a centre point, N., S., E., and W., respectively. A ridge of inaccessible mountains extends E. and W., from the Cime de la Pisse on the E., to the Col du Mont Cervin on the W.; and this is intersected at right angles by another chain, extending northwards as far as the Cima di Jazy, and southwards as far as the Col d'Olen. The centre where these branches unite, called the Signal Kuppe, is not the most elevated point, there being three of greater height on the northern range. The first of these is called the Zumsteinspitze, and is the only one of the three which has been ascended; the second is the Höchste Spitze, or highest of all, which is connected with the former by a narrow and sharp ridge, descending steeply on one side into a tremendous abyss; and the third is the "Nord-End," which, like the highest, has not yet been Monte Rosa ascended. The difference of the height of these four peaks is not, however, more than 200 feet between the highest and the lowest. The height of the highest is 15,158 feet above the sea. The four branches of Monte Rosa inclose between them four glaciers,—viz., that of Macugnana on the N.E., that of Gorner on the N.W., that of Lys on the S.W., and several of less size in the valley of Sesia on the S.E. The geological formation of Monte Rosa is gneiss and mica-slate; and it separates the waters flowing to the Rhone from those which join the Po. (See Alps.)

MONTE SAN GIULIANO, a town of Sicily, in the province of Trapani, is situated on a mountain 2184 feet high, 5 miles E.N.E. of Trapani. It has a large number of churches and convents, and an hospital. The mountain was in ancient times called Eryx, and had a temple of Venus on the top, founded, according to tradition, by Æneas. This is now replaced by a Saracen castle. The town of Eryx belonged to a Sicilian tribe called Elymi, but afterwards fell into the hands of the Carthaginians. Though taken by Pyrrhus in 378, it was regained by the Carthaginians, who abandoned it in the first Punic war. It does not seem to have been restored by the Romans. Pop. 6600.