6yS CHAPTER IX.

THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN EPIRUS.

the recognition of the autonomy of the island under the Turkish flag), a small warindemnity, and the "rectification " of the northern frontier of Thessaly between Karya and Lake Nezeros, so as to place the frontier range at thispoint in Turkishhands. At the same time it was unofficially intimatedthat the Sultan didnot wish to transact any business till after the coming feast of Bairam. This, however, was close at hand,as it fellon May 16thin1897.

THE earlier successes at Velestino had for a moment encouraged the hope that the tide of victory was turning in favourof Greece. The retreat fromPharsala andthe loss ofVelestino andVolodispelledtheseillusions,and the hopes of a few days before gave way to the deepest discouragement. Tlae Ralli Cabinet applied to the representatives of the Powers at Athens, asking them to use their good offices withthe Sultan to obtain an armistice. At the same time it wasrequestedthat the fleets blockading Crete would allow Greek transports to bringback to the Piræus the 3,000 troopswhich Colonel Vassos had landed in the island in defiance of tlae Powers. This request wasan act of submission which removed at once the chief reason alleged by Turkey for the war. The ambassadors at Athens replied to the Greek Government that they would do their best to obtain first an armistice and then a favourable treaty of peace, provided that Greece would withdraw its troops from Crete as soon as possible ;recognise the autonomy of the island under the suzerainty of the Sultan, without pressing for the removal of the Turkish flag,and undertake generally to follow the advice of the Powers during the coming negotiations. On May 10th the required pledges were given by M. Ralli. On the 12th the ambassadors at Constantinople addressed a joint note to the Sultan bringing these proceedings to his notice, and urging that he should grant an armistice, and name terms of peace that would make it easy to bring the war quickly to an end. The Turkish Government replied that they did not feel inclined to grant an armistice which might only result in the Greeks securing time to reorganise their forces;that although the Turkish army in Thessaly would continue its advance, there was no reason why peace should not be quickly concluded, and all further operations "-topped,if theGreek Governmentwould consent to give up tlae struggle and accept the Sultan's terms. These would include,besides thepoints already named by the ambassadors (viz., the withdrawal of Vassos's brigade from Crete, and At this stage of the negotiations there was goodreasonto hope thatpeacehadbeen secured. The day after the appeal to the Powers the Queen had made a surprise visit to the Daily Chronicle hospital near the Piræus. She expressed her personal thanks to Captain Birch,of theBritish company of theForeign Legion,who had been wounded in tlae fighting at Pharsala.

She also spoke to each of the wounded soldiers of the company. One of them, an Irishman named Corrigan, told her he hoped to be well enough in a few days to go to the front again and rejoin his comrades of the Legion. " The waris over, mygood man," replied the Queen; "happily there will be no morefighting." This was the general opinion in the capital, but unfortunately there were two obstacles to the immediate conclusion of peace. On the one hand, tlae Sultan wished to continue the campaign at least until his army wasinpossessionof all Thessaly up to the line that had been the frontier of his empire till 1881 ; and on the other,M. Ralli and his colleagues thought that they could avoid any cession of territory by getting possession of Prevesa before tlae armistice, and using it as a set-off to any Turkish claim for a "rectification" of the Thessaliati frontier. On May nth they had ordered Colonel Manos, who was still in command -it Arta, to re-enter Southern Epirus. TheTurks were holding tlae edge of the hills from the heights of Gribovo to the bridge of Luros, and had reinforced and reprovisioned the garrison of Prevesa. The plan on which Manos was to act was to use thebulk of his force tohold back the Turks from succouring Prevesa, while a