heures distant de Melnik, et a brûlé la maison d'un notable du village, avec toute sa famille, femmes et enfants, au nombre de six; || 2. Une bande composée de soixante-dix personnes, et commandée par Sandaloff, qui opère à Demertzik-Koli; || 3. Et une bande composée de neuf personnes, et commandée par Radet, qui opère entre Vrondou et DémirHissar. || En général à Rilo les Comités se préparent activement pour une invasion prochaine en bloc.

IV.

Vice-Consul Fontana to Consul-General Graves.

Uskub, August 11, 1903.

(Extract.) || I telegraphed to His Majesty's Ambassador on the 9th instant, reporting an explosion of dynamite at Zibefché station, and I now have the honour to report further upon the incident in question. || It seems that a portmanteau containing a dynamite bomb and detonator was registered at Philippopolis for Uskub. The trunk was removed from the luggage van at Zibefché by the zealous, though somewhat illiterate, employés of the custom-house there, who, by the time they has spelled out the adress, were too late to replace it in the van. It was accordingly taken to the depôt, or luggage room, to await the following day's train. Towards 1,30 P. M. the explosion occurred, the train from Zibefché usually reaching Uskub at about that hour. The depôt was wrecked, but there was no loss of life. There seems no doubt that the detonator was timed to cause an explosion at the Uskub station at the moment of arrival, and before the train from Salonica (which is compelled to await the arrival of the train from Zibefché) had steamed out. The panic would then have been complete

the two trains full of passengers, the station platform crowded, as it always is, by loungers, police, hamals, soldiers, hawkers, and travellers

and a general rush for the two narrow station outlets, and trampling under foot of men, women, and children would very probably have ensued. Subsequent to the explosion, a bag and a box containing dynamite were discovered in another part of the custom-house at Zibefché They were destined, it appears, for Ishtib and Stroumnitsa. || It is alleged that a Bulgarian named Poushkouroff, at the head of a band of eighty Bulgarians, quite recently made is appearance in the Radovishté Caza, and that his followers split up into eight bands, each of ten men, who, after trying unsuccessfully to incite the peasantry thereabouts to open revolt, made their way into the vilayets of Salonica and Monastir. The immediate frontier district it said to be now overrun with small bands. The telegraph posts in the Kratova-Keuprulu district are so damaged

that some time must elapse before telegraphic communication is fully re-established. || Since the 5th instant, thirteen battalions have passed Uskub from Mitrovitsa and Ferisovitch for the Monastir and Salonica vilayets. || A requiem mass was celebrated by the Bulgarians of this town in their church this morning in memory of M. Rostkovsky, the Russian Consul murdered at Monastir. The town is quiet; the majority of the Bulgarians have refused hitherto to listen to the incitement of the Komitajis, and it is hoped that no serious outbreak will occur. It is feared, however, that the bolder spirits are merely awaiting the signal for action. The Moslem townspeople are fully armed, and the shopkeepers have weapons to hand both in their houses and their shops. In obedience to the instructions of His Majesty's Ambassador, I have pointed out to the Vali the extreme importance attaching, in the interest of Turkey, to the suppression of any eventual Bulgarian rising in this province by the troops, and by them alone, to the exclusion of Moslem civilian interference. His Excellency expresses his thanks, and states that measures to that end have already been adopted. I have on several occasions spoken to Hilmi Pasha in the same sense, and he always gave me every assurance that only the military and the gendarmes would be employed in suppressing a revolt, and that not the slightest excess on their part would be tolerated.

V*).

Consul-General Graves to Sir N. O'Conor.

Salonica, August 13, 1903.

Sir, I have the honour to transmit herewith a report on the condition of the Caza of Doiran, which has been prepared for me by the author of the reports on the Cazas of Demir-Hissar and Kilkish, inclosed in my preceding despatch. || My informant thinks that the eastern half of Doiran, bordering on Demir-Hissar and Kilkish is, like the two lastmentioned cazas, reduced to comparative tranquillity, and unlikely to participate in any insurrectionary movement in the near future. The western half of the Doiran Caza, on the other hand, appears, like Gevgeli, to be ripe for revolt. || From Gevgeli I learn that on the 10th instant, the day of the blowing up the Gevgeli Railway bridge, a large band of insurgents appeared at the village of Konsko, where the insurgent flag was unfurled, and the leader, Apostoli, sent a letter to the Turkish authorities, announcing that the time for concealment had passed, and

*) Die Berichte V-VII kamen am 24. August nach London. Red.

that he was about to commence hostilities. I am also informed that disturbances have taken place at Goumenja, where bombs were thrown and some loss of life ensued, but no coherent account of what took place is as yet forthcoming. || Bands are also reported to be operating in the mountainous district of Malesh, situated of the south of Joumaia-Bala and west of the Upper Strouma Valley. | I am informed to-day by the Vali that he has received authority from Constantinople to enrol a force of gendarmes, 2000 strong, whom he considers better fitted than regular troops for the pursuit of the bands in difficult ground, and he assures me that he will be able to put 500 or 600 of them in the field very shortly. || Special precautions are being taken to guard against disturbances in the town of Salonica, where great apprehension exists of a renewed attempt by Bulgarian anarchists to bring about panic and massacre by the use of dynamite. || I have strongly impressed upon his Excellency the urgent necessity to which he seems quite alive preventing any sanguinary excesses on the part of the troops and of the Mussulman population in the repression of the insurrection.

--

R. W. Graves.

of

VI.

Report on Doiran Caza.

Après l'attentat de Salonique et l'arrestation de plusieurs Bulgares de la ville de Doiran et de son caza, les Bulgares y avaient perdu tout à fait leur courage, mais plus tard, après la mise en liberté de ces arrêtés, la population Bulgare y devint de nouveau audacieuse et même provoquante. Maintenant, si en prenant comme base la ville de Doiran on divise le Caza de Doiran en deux parties, on peut remarquer que dans la zone de l'est, située entre la ville de Doiran et les limites des Cazas de Demir-Hissar et Kilkisch, il y a une grande tranquillité. Dans cette zone il n'y a eu jusqu'à présent aucune bande Bulgare depuis l'extermination de la bande d'Alexis, qui y agissait dernièrement. Plusieurs grands villages, comme Akindjali, Sourlovo, Potorose, dans cette zone, ont déjà reconnu le Patriarchat, et se sont déclarés comme Grecs. Les villageois de cette zone ne se préparent nullement pour un mouvement prochain, et si des troubles éclataient dans cette zone, ils seraient provoqués, non pas par les villageois, mais par des bandes étrangères. || Tout autre est la situation dans la zone de l'ouest, comprise entre la ville de Doiran et Guevguéli. Dans cette zone il y a plusieurs bandes Bulgares, entre autres la bande d'Arghyre, originaire du village Sechevo, près de Guevguéli; celle de Savvas, originaire de la ville de Guevguéli; et encore

la bande de Delio Kylitzli, originaire du village Bogdantsa. Comme lieux principaux de ces bandes servent les villages Bogdantsa, Guirtsista, Diabato, et Stoyacovo, de cette zone, où elles trouvent toujours un refuge. Il paraît que plusieurs Turcs du village Bogdantsa se seraient entendus avec les bandes auxquelles ils servent comme recéleurs. Ces bandes visitent dans ces endroits surtout les maisons de Patriarchistes, d'où elles prennent des vivres mème par force en disant qu'elles ne travaillent pas ici pour les intérêts Bulgares, mais exclusivement pour la liberté de la Macédoine. Avant quelques jours ces bandes ont appelé les gens du pays inscrits déjà dans les rangs des bandes, et vingt-sept jeunes gens du village Bogdantsa se sont rendus à cet appel, mais de ces vingt-sept jeunes gens on a gardé seulement sept, et les autres ont été renvoyés chez eux. En mème temps les bandes avaient enlevé par force deux jeunes frères du village Guirtsista, mais le père de ces jeunes hommes s'est rendu auprès du commandant de la bande, qui les laissa s'en aller. | Les Bulgares préparent un mouvement dans cette zone, mais pas avec activité; il paraît qu'ils n'ont pas assez d'armes, et encore qu'ils veulent tromper les autorités Turques. Les Bulgares pensaient qu'après les désordres dans le Vilayet de Monastir, les autorités Turques auraient concentré des grandes forces militaires à Monastir en dégarnissant de troupes ces contrées-ci, qui paraissent tranquilles, et ils veulent profiter d'un pareil moment pour commencer le mouvement ici. Les Bulgares comptaient commencer le mouvement ici dans une dizaine de jours, mais il paraît que l'appel de nouveaux réservistes Turcs les décourage. La population Turque de Doiran est fort agitée, et elle s'est décidée, en cas de troubles, de se débarrasser des Bulgares de la ville en les massacrant tous. | D'après de nouvelles venant de Strumnitza, ce caza est encore tranquille, malgré la présence de deux bandes Bulgares, dont l'une est commandée par un certain Rizoff. Des bandes Bulgares ont mis le feu aux céréales des Turcs aux villages de Malesch, et elles ont brûlé plusieurs moulins Turcs.

VII.

Consul-General Graves to Sir N. O'Conor.

Salonica, August 16, 1903.

Sir, || Although confirmation has been received of the news reported in my despatch of the 13th instant that there had been fighting at Goumenja, little is known of the details of the affair except that the

Turkish authorities claim to have repelled an insurgent attack, and that the Exarchist Bulgarian inhabitants of Goumenja, who are reported to have acted in concert with the bands, are believed to have been severely handled. A battalion of troops on the way from Uskub to Monastir was stopped at Goumenja, on an urgent request of the authorities there for reinforcements, but has, I believe, been sent forward to its original destination. || The only other recent sign of actively aggressive tactics on the part of the insurgents in this vilayet has been an attack made on the night of the 14th on a train conveying four battalions of troops from the north. An insurgent band killed or put to flight the guard at the Vardar bridge between Keuprulu and Zelenico, and then proceeded to place dynamite on the bridge before the arrival of the train. The engine-driver, not seeing the signal light of the bridge guard, stopped the train before the bridge, and the insurgents, disappointed in their attempt to destroy the train with the bridge, threw a hand bomb which struck the last truck and killed a couple of soldiers, and then retired. A large quantity of dynamite was found on the bridge. || The railway authorities expect that during the next few days, as there will be no moon, attacks on the railway line will be more frequent. || These, however, are isolated instances, and it is clear that the signal has not yet been given, as in Monastir, for the general outbreak in this vilayet. But there is abundant evidence that such a movement is in preparation, and may be expected to occur at any moment. Large bands have made their appearance, some of them within a few miles of Salonica, and it is believed that they actually meditate an armed demonstration against Salonica, probably in concert with accomplices within the city, who are said to be provided with dynamite and might create a diversion by throwing bombs in the Turkish quarter, and thus provoke reprisals and massacre. || The attention of the military authorities appears to be entirely occupied with the Monastir insurrection, to combat which the city and province of Salonica have been largely denuded of regular troops, and there is as yet no sign of the arrival of the promised reinforcements from Anatolia. || The Vali, Hassan Fehmi Pasha, continues to be active and vigilant, and shows himself calin and confident in the face of increasing difficulties. But the Mushir commanding this army corps is old, and so broken in health as to be quite unequal to the requirements of his position. R. W. Graves.