PREFACE THIS book is based on the despatches which I sent from Greece to REUTER'S as their special war-correspondent. These were received with so much favour by the press and the public in this country and America, that I have been induced to embody them in a connected narrative of my experiences during the very brief but deeply interesting campaign. In the descriptions of the various engagements of which I was a witnessI had almost said in which I had taken part— there is little amplification of the originals forwarded by telegraph, and which were generally written on the field, while the picture was vivid and the atmosphere of battle was still round me. The brief sketch of the history of the Ethniké Etairia, in the opening chapter, is founded on information picked up from several members whose acquaintance I made in Greece, and from facts supplied me by my friend, Mr. Johnstone, the able resident correspondent in Athens of the Manchester Guardian. Mr. W. T. Maud, the very accomplished artist of the Graphic, was my good comrade in many of the most stirring scenes of the campaign, and I had the pleasure of watching him, often under fire, making his powerful and picturesque sketches. Through the courtesy of the Proprietors of the Graphic, my publishers have been able to reproduce many of his beautiful pictures. Other of the illustrations have been drawn for the present publication from Mr. Maud's rough sketches. The plans of the battles of Mati, Velestino, and Domokos have been drawn from the rough sketches which I made in my note-book to aid me in my descriptions of the engagements, in exactly the same way as I made shorthand notes of the different phases of the battles. They do not profess to be as exhaustive or as absolutely accurate as a military engineer's survey, but I hope they will enable the reader to follow the context with additional interest. Recent events in Thessaly are likely to attract tourists to that province of Greece, for the scenes of an historical campaign have a fascination all their own. I have been asked since my return what kind of outfit should be taken. Well, what has to be guarded against, are the extremes and sudden variations of temperature, both in the mountains and the plains. During one of the days of the battles round Mati, my friend Mr. Williams noted a fall of twelve degrees Fahrenheit in ten minutes; and between mid-day and night temperature the range was sometimes no less than fifty-five degrees. Under the advice of Mr. Donald C. Frazer, manager of the wellknown firm of outfitters, Charles Baker and Co., Limited, Ludgate Hill, I took with me a ridingsuit of Scotch Tweed-in colour a light-brown and white mixture. If sometimes a little warm at mid-day, when the thermometer would run up to eighty-nine and ninety degrees, it was a complete protection at night against chills and fevers in the plains and in the lofty table-lands and mountains, as well as in open boats at sea. I could recommend nothing better for travellers or campaigners in similar climates. W. K. R. CONTENTS Instructions-Probabilities of war-A pleasant meet- ing at Brindisi-An enthusiastic Phil-Hellene- Preparations for the campaign-M. Delyannis, Prime Minister-M. Skouzes, Minister for Foreign Affairs ---Voyage through the Archipelago-Independence The Crown Prince and head-quarters staff-The |