Christian like himself; that he had brought an action in the Court of First Instance at Rethymo, where the same witnesses, including a Mussulman, who are said in the sentence of the court-martial to have deposed against him, declared that they had never seen him at the village of St. George on the occasion of its destruction, and that in consequence thereof a sentence was issued in his favour, which was brought before the Appellate Court, but that the latter refused to proceed with the case in consequence of Djevad Pasha's instructions. He further stated that, while he could produce the most positive proofs of his innocence, he would be a ruined man if the sentence were carried out, as by it the eleven men found guilty (of whom he is one) are jointly and separately responsible for the payment of the indemnity of 153,000 pesetas awarded by the Court, and he is the only one who has any property. I persuaded him to submit his case direct to the Vali, to whom I myself spoke on the subject, pointing out that it was a very hard case if the statements of the plaintiff were true, and asking whether it would be possible to find some means for discovering the real state of things. His Excellency answered that he did not object to Colives dissociating himself from the responsibility of the condemned parties by proving his statements, but that this should be done independently of the sentence, as he could in no case allow its reversal. The term of hard labour originally inflicted was dropped from the sentence, but it was stated at the time by the Government that the other part of it was to hold good, viz., that relating to the payment of the indemnity. As this covers the damages on both real and movable property, I pointed out to Djevad Pasha that, in consequence of the later decision taken by the Porte with regard to indemnities for houses, it might be fair to deduct from the 153,000 pesetas the value of the buildings destroyed or burnt, and to assimilate it to the general rule for indemnities under this head without making any exception in the case of the village of St. George or in any other, but his Excellency said that it was impossible to follow the course I suggested to him. However, this would also be favourable to the Mussulman sufferers, as I understand that five of the condemned individuals are outlaws, and the other five have very little, if any, property to indemnify them in full. I have, &c., The Marquess of Salisbury. ALFRED BILIOTTI. No. 7.-The Marquess of Salisbury to Rustem Pasha. M. L'AMBASSADEUR, Foreign Office, January 13, 1891. On the 16th ultimo your Excellency was good enough to leave at this Office a Memorandum on the subject of a proposal to levy, for a fixed term, a small surtax on imports in Crete for certain public works and for educational purposes. I have the honour to inform your Excellency that Her Majesty's Government have no objection to offer to the above scheme, provided that the following conditions be observed: 1. That the tax be levied on all foreigners and natives alike; 2. That it be not increased except with the consent, previously obtained, of the Consular Representatives of all the Powers; 3. That the objects for which the proposed tax is to be levied shall be clearly stated; and 4. That whatever sums may be raised by the tax shall not be applied to any other purpose. Rustem Pasha. I have, &c., SALISBURY. No. 8.-Consul Biliotti to the Marquess of Salisbury.-(Received MY LORD, January 15.) Canea, Crete, January 5, 1891. WITH reference to my despatch of the 29th ultimo, recent information received by the Vali is to the effect that Liapis landed with ten cases of ammunition in the district of Selinos, where two out of the four men who accompanied him abandoned him in consequence of a quarrel; that he proceeded thence to Sphakia proper, where he recruited four men, and then left for the district of Ayos Vassilios and Rethymo. The information which I have obtained. from other sources is much the same. Djevad Pasha is of opinion that Liapis was compelled by the Sphakians to leave their district, as it was only on the condition of their keeping it free from outlaws that they were allowed to have a native gendarmerie, and that they do not care to lose on his account the salaries they derive therefrom. Well-informed Christians assure me that the inhabitants of Sphakia have intimated to Liapis that he must return to Greece, and that he is likely to be compelled to do so. Some say that neither the Greek Government nor the Cretan Committee at Athens, nor the Opposition to the Greek Ministry, had anything to do with his expedition, but that it was organized by a certain Ritzinos, a Deputy of the Greek Chamber whose election was invalidated. Most people, however, believe that the Archimandrite, Parthimos Kilaïdis, of Leghorn, to whom I referred in my despatch of the 20th June last, and who last year raised money by subscription in Italy, has furnished Liapis with 10,000 fr. to start his venture. His arrival has caused great consternation among Mussulmans; they expect to be exposed to outrages which the Government will be powerless to prevent; and they complain that there is no more security for them now than in the past, and that after all the foreign gendarmerie is not more efficient than the native gendarmerie was. As public opinion among Christians is quite adverse to the present expedition, Liapis may be compelled to return to Greece; but I am told that letters have been received from influential Chiefs of Apokorona now at Athens telling their countrymen to keep themselves in readiness for a movement. In this connection I am informed that Gogonis, one of the four escaped political prisoners now at Athens, has abandoned Sifaka and Kakouris' party (the Conservatives), which caused all the trouble in 1889, and joined Captain Mathio, the principal Liberal leader of Apokorona, to which district all these Chiefs belong. Sifaka and Kakouris seem to have written here to inquire as to the impression produced on the population, whether Christian or Mussulman, by the arrival of Liapis, as they intend to send here another party of armed Cretans, but are not agreed on the time when they should be dispatched, some wishing to send them at once, others within two months. In consequence of this communication little doubt can remain as to their participation in Liapis' expedition, and of the fact that the refugees at Athens (nearly all of whom are Conservatives), having been deprived of the subsidies they have hitherto received, have themselves turned against M. Delyanni. The latter is attentively watching and trying to defeat any move on the part of Cretan refugees, whether Conservatives or Liberals, from fear that they may be promoted by M. Tricoupi. At the same time, although the Greek Government does not favour trouble in Crete just now, and does not appear to take any part in the ecclesiastical question, it is, nevertheless, believed to be urging Christians through its secret agents to stand by the Patriarch in his conflict with the Porte. The Marquess of Salisbury. I have, &c., ALFRED BILIOTTI. No. 9.-Consul Biliotti to the Marquess of Salisbury.-Received January 21.) MY LORD, Canea, Crete, January 11, 1891. BESIDES the murder of a German traveller, which I reported in detail in two preceding despatches, the number of assassinations within the last month is limited to two, One is that of a Mussulman, killed by four Christians near the town of Sphakia, where he had gone, it is said, in order to become a Christian, but he was suspected of being a spy; the culprits have not been apprehended. The other is that of a Christian miller, near St. Constantinos, in the Province of Rethymo; the author of this murder, who is in prison, is a former gendarme, named Turk Ahmed, against whom Christians bitterly complained seven or eight months ago. He is supposed to have committed the murder in revenge for the miller having assisted in October last in the elopement of his daughter with a Christian who is now in Greece. He is presumed to be the murderer of another Christian who was shot dead near the village of Petré about that time. It was reported at first that the corpse of the miller was shamefully mutilated, and that his child, a boy of 4 years old, had been thrown into a well; but both these rumours have proved unfounded. There has also been an attempt at murder by a Mussulman on a Christian on the main road to the village of Galata. A gendarme was knocked on the head a few days ago with a stick on the high road near Vamos (Apokorona) by two Christians, and was robbed. of his rifle. A Sphakian was rather seriously assaulted by one of his fellow-townsmen. And a Christian funeral procession, passing through a Turkish quarter in the town of Canea, was insulted by having waste vegetables thrown at it from the windows of a Mussulman's house. All these cases are being investigated. The Marquess of Salisbury. I have, &c., ALFRED BILIOTTI, No. 10.-Consul Biliotti to the Marquess of Salisbury.-(Received MY LORD, January 21.) Canea, Crete, January 12, 1891. WITH reference to my despatch of the 29th ultimo, I have the honour to report that Liapis, whose band is reported to consist of seven men, on his departure from Splakia proper went to Rodakino, in the district of Ayos Vassilios, sat in the café of that village, and treated the Albanian gendarmes, to whom he is unknown. The café-keeper not having consented to entice the gendarmes to leave their station as he wished him to do, Liapis later in the day laid in ambush, and shot dead one of the four gendarmes stationed in that village who happened to go out on an errand. The villagers subsequently took charge of the remaining three gendarmes, and conducted them in safety to the military authorities stationed at the village of Kosare. Meanwhile, Liapis had taken up a position on the heights of Kotsifos, a short distance from Rodakino, and fired without result on a few other gendarmes who were passing by. On Friday last he was at Dramia, on the confines of the district of Rethymo and Apokorona, and fired on a squad of soldiers who were in the neighbourhood, and were not aware of his presence, slightly wounding one of them. Subsequently, four shepherds who happened to be near were bound and conveyed to Vamos by the soldiers. According to reliable information just obtained, Liapis landed at Tripiti in the easternmost part of the district of Selinos. He crossed the whole of the district of Sphakia without being in any way interfered with by the native gendarmes, with four of whom he even left cartridges, and who are now in prison for that reason. Liapis stated that the Cretan refugees wanted to make a demonstration in connection with the ecclesiastical question, and that he came first, other armed Crefans promising to follow him shortly; but that he does not intend to remain here long if he receives no assistance from without. His band had increased to ten men, but two of them have parted company with him in consequence of bad blood between them and one of his followers, and another is very ill. Liapis intended to proceed to the district of Messara in Candia, while one of his companions tried to induce him to come to that of Cydonia. But, whatever may be his final decision, his route is expected to be marked by murders or attacks on the foreign gendarmes and troops. Liapis' kinsmen are the only Cretans who appear not to be displeased at his presence here, but, except the members of the family who have to take vengeance on him, no Christian will lift his band against him. The Marquess of Salisbury. I have, &c., ALFRED BILIOTTI. No. 11.-Consul Biliotti to the Marquess of Salisbury.-(Received MY LORD, January 21.) Canea, Crete, January 13, 1891. I HEARD lately that the Porte had refused to sanction the proposed reforms concerning the Courts of Justice which have |