No. 45. Sir A. H. Layard to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received June 28.) (Telegraphic.) Therapia, June 27, 1878. FOLLOWING telegram has been received from Mr. Sandwith to-day: "The Christians have been somewhat alarmed in consequence of the threats of the Mussulmans, but all is now quiet." No. 46. Sir A. H. Layard to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received June 28.) (Telegraphic.) Therapia, June 28, 1878. I HAVE received a despatch from Consul Sandwith of 24th instant which confirms report of serious engagement at Apokorona, and misconduct of Salih Pasha, who has been superseded at my request. No. 47. Mr. Cross to Sir A. H. Layard. Sir, Foreign Office, June 30, 1878. I HAVE to request your Excellency to call the attention of the Porte to the circumstances related in Mr. Sandwith's despatch to you of the 1st instant, from which it appears that Her Majesty's Consul was fired upon by the Turkish troops whilst proceeding to Fré, in Apokorona. I should wish your Excellency to express the hope of Her Majesty's Government that all possible precautions may be taken to prevent such an cccurrence from happening again. I am, &c. (Signed) R. A. CROSS. No. 48. Mr. Cross to the Marquis of Salisbury. Foreign Office, June 30, 1878, 8 P.M. (Telegraphic.) FOLLOWING sent to Sir A. H. Layard: "Eastern Telegraph Company have communicated following telegram from their Superintendent at Crete : 66 6 'Friday afternoon. Turkish Admiral insists that European ships must leave anchorage before Canea. News from Rethymo alarming. Irregulars concentrating outside town menacing inhabitants. Consuls ask for European man-of-war for protection.' Above repeated to Her Majesty's Consul in Crete. No. 49. Consul Sandwith to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received June 30, night.) (Telegraphic.) Canea, Crete, June 30, 1878. I HAVE the honour to report to your Lordship that there was some alarm here among the Christians in consequence of the threats of the Moslems, but that all is now quiet. Sir, No. 50. Mr. Cross to Sir A. H. Layard. Foreign Office, July 1, 1878. THE Marquis of Salisbury sent you on the 28th instant, from Berlin, the following telegram in cypher : "Your Excellency is instructed to inform Porte that strong feeling has been excited in England by news of Mussulman atrocities in Crete. Press upon the Porte to give the strictest orders to act with moderation, and to repress outrage.' I am, &c. (Signed) R. A. CROSS. No. 51. Consul Sandwith to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received July 2.) (Telegraphic.) Canea, Crete, July 1, 1878. WITH reference to your telegram of yesterday, it is not true that Turkish Admiral insists on foreign ships leaving harbour before this town. At Rethymo Moslems threaten Christians, and English ship of war has gone there. No. 52. Consul Sandwith to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received July 3.) My Lord, Canea, Crete, June 24, 1878. DURING the past fortnight several trifling collisions have taken place between the Turkish troops and the insurgents. I had the honour to report in my despatch of the 13th instant the attack made by the insurgents on the fortress of Spina Longa, and on the Turkish corvette "Sinope," anchored there. Sinope," anchored there. Near Candia an unimportant skirmish had also occurred, and in this neighbourhood shots have been occasionally exchanged between the hostile forces. It is quite impossible to pronounce with certainty which side in this desultory warfare are the aggressors, as both strive to throw the blame on their opponents. The Provisional Government yesterday sent me a letter, in which they prove to their satisfaction that the Turks had provoked every single conflict that had recently taken place, though they preserve a significant silence about that of Spina Longa, and they add that, in deference to the exhortations I had addressed them on this subject when last amongst them, they had given the strictest orders to the chiefs throughout the island to abstain from further hostilities. Whatever may be the desire of the Provisional Government to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, their authority over the several Chiefs is far from absolute, and I suspect that some of the latter are not loth to show their supporters in Greece, by these futile combats, that they are worthy champions of the national cause. In the affair at Spina Longa mentioned above, candour compels me to say that, so far as my information goes, the entire blame must be thrown on the insurgents, who from the neighbouring heights of the mainland poured a galling fire on the old-fashioned fortress and corvette. The Turks now appear to consider themselves released from the obligation to remain on the defensive, for an offensive movement on a considerable scale was begun yesterday morning by the advance of 2,000 or 3,000 men from the positions they hold at the southern entrance of the Bay of Suda into the district of Apokorona, and I hope to be able to add later in the day full details of this affair. The passions of the two communities have been further inflamed within the last few days by the cold-blooded murder of five Mussulmans within the military cordon, near Rethymo. The dead body of one of them, quite a lad, which bore frightful wounds, was brought by his kinsmen alongside the Vice-Admiral's ship "Menotaur," with the object of showing the English the savage character of the warfare carried on by the Christians. There was great excitement at Rethymo in consequence of this incident, the dead bodies being carried about the town, and the Vali thought it necessary to send two Turkish iron-clads to anchor in the roadstead. The Provisional Government informed the Consuls in Canea, in a long letter, that they were deeply pained at this shameful deed, and that they had appointed an Extraordinary Commission to endeavour to capture and judge the criminals. The crime was followed up on the morrow by the assassination near the same spot of three Christians, the body of one of whom was found partially burnt, and in this neighbourhood solitary instances of Christians being waylaid and murdered now and then occur. A letter signed by the well-known Chief Hadjé Michali was intercepted a few days ago as it was being brought into town by a peasant. The person to whom the letter was addressed was concealed under a pseudonym, but the envelope bore the name of my Greek colleague, and the letter stated that the writer had received by different messengers a total of 275 beans, which may be taken to mean Napoleons, as those appear to be the coins most abundant in the insurgents' camps. The Pasha allowed me to see this letter, and his Excellency considered it as conclusive proof, if proof were needed, of the complicity of the Consul in the insurrectionary movement. 8 P.M.-The fight, which began early yesterday morning in Apokorona, continued all day, and was resumed again this morning. There were five battalions engaged, under the command of Nedjib Pasha, who were aided by about 100 Bashi-Bazouks, while a vessel of war fired on the insurgents from the sea. They were soon driven out of the villages of Irivara and Plaka, which the troops set fire to. At Armenus, a village of 140 houses, the defence was more stubborn, and the Turks were driven back. Last night the Commander-in-chief summoned all the Bashi-Bazouks to his aid, and nearly 1,000 were streaming towards the scene of the conflict all night, and were the first to attack the enemy this morning. Armenus was soon evacuated and in flames, and the large village of Epano Chori, containing 200 families, shared the same fate. By the last advices the insurgents were retiring, and every village and all the threshing-floors were at once set fire to by the advancing troops. This afternoon I saw a letter from the General Assembly, in which they state that the Bashi-Bazouks had fired the villages and corn, and that they had massacred 11 women and 3 old men. They confess to a loss of 50 killed and wounded, and the Turks appear to have been equal sufferers. As for the massacres which the BashiBazouks are accused of, they need confirmation, but I have positive information that it was the troops, and especially Syrians from Acca (Acre), who were the first to fire and wreck the villages. I went this afternoon to the Vali, to see if a stop could not be put to this destructive warfare, which appears both ill-timed and unprovoked. His Excellency told me that the whole thing had been prepared and carried out without his knowledge; that though Governor-General, Salih Pasha had never thought of consulting him, and, indeed, had taken his measures so secretly that he had no idea that the invasion of Apokorona was contemplated. I urged his Excellency most strongly to endeavour to check the further advance of the troops, seeing that they were pillaging and burning everything before them; and while we were talking, the news was brought that numbers of horses and mules, laden with the plunder of the burnt villages, were being driven into the Moslem farmsteads that dot the plain of Canea. Costaki Pasha frankly confessed that he had no means of stopping the advance of the troops or of preventing the irregulars bringing in plunder, the power to do so lying with Salih Pasha, who would not listen to his remonstrances. Nevertheless he there and then dictated a letter to the Commander-in-chief, who was in town, informing him of the arrival of the plunder-laden animals, and urging him to arrest the plunderers. His Excellency gave me the good news that Salih Pasha had been superseded, and that his successor, Ali Haidar Pasha, had already arrived at Candia, and would be here in the morning, when he hoped to recover his lost authority. His Excellency evidently thought that Salih Pasha, having heard of his approaching recall, was determined to take his revenge for the long inaction which had been forced upon him, and had accordingly planned this last attack. June 25, 9 A.M.-Early this morning Costaki Pasha wrote me a note to ask me if I could go to see him, as he had something of importance to communicate to me. His Excellency said that he had sent two trustworthy persons to bring him exact information of the doings of the troops, and that meanwhile some women and old men had arrived from the burnt village of Armenus, and stated that many women, children, and old men had been massacred by the troops, and they had only been rescued from the same fate by some Mussulman natives. His Excellency further added that the Mussulmans of Candia and Hierapetra, in the south-east of Crete, are insisting on the authorities furnishing them with arms, with the evident intention of making incursions in the neighbouring villages, the inhabitants of some of which are fleeing from them. In Canea itself his Excellency is persuaded that a plot is afoot for driving by threats and violence the Christians from the town, with the apparent object of afterwards falling upon them and massacring them, in the hope of thus stamping out the insur rection. This morning a number of Moslem women gathered in the roads leading to the town, and insulted every Christian they met, cursing their religion, and threatening them with violence. They have since been joined by men who are beating and illtreating all the Christians they meet, those owning shops near the gates having already closed them. Yesterday eight women from the village of Chalepa, where my colleagues reside, came to me and told me that they were afraid to remain at home, as the Mussulmans threatened to cut their throats. His Excellency thought the situation very serious, and told me that he was positive that, but for the presence of the English fleet, terrible scenes would have been enacted in the island before this. He thought it absolutely necessary that Hamid Bey and Hassan Bey Kavouraki should be immediately banished, as he looked upon them as the chief fomentors of the fanatical feeling against the Christians, and Salih Pasha has all along been their intimate friend and companion. I intend to communicate the above information to Vice-Admiral Lord John Hay immediately. My Lord, No. 53. Consul Sandwith to the Marquis of Salisbury.(Received July 3.) Canea, Crete, June 24, 1878. I HAVE the honour to report to your Lordship the arrival in Suda Bay yesterday of Her Majesty's ship "Monarch" coming from Malta. I have, &c. (Signed) THOMAS B. SANDWITH. |