644 CHAPTER II.

THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR AND THE OPPOSING FORCES.

I'VHE progress of events in Crete, the landing of the 3,000 under Colonel Vassos, the summons for his withdrawal andits rejection by the king, the successes won over the Turks, and the armed action of the international fleet against the insurgents, had all be lest without supplies of foodor cartridges, and forced to retreat through a hostile country or surrender to the Greeks in its front. It was reported that the Turkish Government was so short of money that already it could not obtain supplies for the troopsit was trying to mobilise■ combined to fan to fever heat the popular excitement in Greece. To the Sultan's order for the partial mobilisation of the Turkish armyKingGeorge had replied by concentrating the Greek army on the frontiers of Thessaly and Epirus. The fleet had alreadybeen prepared for war with a view to the expedition to Crete. The calling out of the reserves of the landarmy rapidly raisedthenumbers of the troops on the frontier,and these werefurther reinforced by the irregular bands organised by the Ethnike Hetaireia, which wereallowed by theGovernment toforwardcampsoftheirown near the border. This added considerably (o that those who had been got together were starved, ragged, barefoot ; and that smallpox and fever had broken out in their camps. These reports, as we shall presently see, had very little foundation in fact, but they served to increase the popularenthusiasm for war.

The Turkish fleet was notoriously inefficient. The navy had taken a leading part in the deposition of Sultan Abdul Aziz in 1877,andAbdulHamid regarded it alwai suspicion. He didnot like the idea of his palace andcapital beiag under the guns of a smart squadron that some intriguing Pasha might use asthetrump card in another game PAPAMAI.EKO, A LEADER OF THE GREEK IRREGULARS.

(Photo: Mafiuminnakis, Athens.) the danger of war, The demonstrations in Athens had now become almost daily events. Zeto o Polcmos! ("Hurrah for War!") was the popularcry. The leaders of the agitation had persuaded themselves and their followers that war meant certain and easy victory over the Turk. Macedonia would rise in arms, Albania would proclaim its independence andrefuse to fight for the Sultan, the communications of the Turkish army would be cut by the insurrection in its rear. It would of revolution. So the fleet was allowed to rust at its anchors. The most powerful ships were ironclads of a type that wasgetting out ofdatetwentyyearsbefore. Even they were in such a condition that it was considered doubtful whether their boilers could get up steam or their engines wouldgo round. On the eve of the war, orders were given to patch them up. But, do what they would, the Turks had to confess that the Greek fleet with three small modern battleshipsand a flotillaof toipedo