TURKEY. 



7C7 



Ions himself. On July 28th Mukhtar Pasha 

 began his march from I'lana in three column-; 

 l)iit IK- hail luinlly set out on his maivli when, 

 to liis astonishment, he was attacked hy the 

 Montenegrins. The advanced guard retreated 

 as t la- Turks began to reply to their tire, and 

 on its retreat was reenforced by other corps 

 on its thinks. The Turks, as usual, were ac- 

 companied I iy Hashi-Ba/ouks, who, as soon as 

 they saw that there was to be serious fighting, 

 took to flight, in which they also involved 

 some of the other battalions. As soon as the 

 Montenegrins saw this, they set out in pursuit, 

 cutting down with their long knives every one 

 who came in their way. The Turkish regulars 

 were cut down while fighting bravely for their 

 artillery. Among the prisoners taken was Os- 

 man Pasha, the commander of one of the three 

 Turkish columns. Mukhtar Pasha retreated 

 to Bilek, and, not finding here the necessary 

 means to restore his army, continued his re- 

 treat to Trebigne, where he arrived on July 

 29th. The allied Montenegrins and Herze- 

 govinians immediately separated into several 

 corps, one of which took up its position be- 

 fore Bilek, while the others blocked up the 

 roads leading from Trebigne. Mukhtar Pasha, 

 from Trebigne, sent repeated messages to Con- 

 stantinople asking for aid, which in due time 

 was rendered him. On September 2d he set 

 out from Trebigne with 12,000 men, crossed 

 the frontier on the 3d, at Saslap, and, after a 

 short engagement at Zagoni, intrenched him- 

 self at Saslap, the Montenegrins taking up their 

 positions opposite to him. Occasional engage- 

 ments now took place between the different 

 outposts, until, on September 16th, complete 

 quiet began to prevail here also. 



On the southern border of Montenegro the 

 Fort Medun was the centre of operations. The 

 Montenegrins succeeded in surrounding it, and 

 repulsed several attempts of the Turks to pro- 

 vision it. In the beginning of August the Turks 

 received considerable reinforcements ; and on 

 August 15th Mahmoud Pasha, the Turkish com- 

 mander, attacked the Montenegrins, but was 

 completely routed, his loss being very great. 

 Mahmoud Pasha was placed before a court-mar- 

 tial, and was succeeded by Dervish Pasha. On 

 September 6th he crossed to the north shore 

 of Moratcha, at Rogatzi, and there attacked 

 the Montenegrins, but was repulsed with great 

 loss. On September llth he attempted another 

 battle, on the heights of Welie Brdo, northwest 

 of Podgoritza, but was forced to retreat to the 

 latter city. 



When, on the 18th of July, Servia and Mon- 

 tenegro had declared war against the Porte, 

 the other dependencies of Turkey occupied 

 various attitudes toward her. The Herzego- 

 vina and Bosnia were in a state of insurrec- 

 tion ; outbreaks had taken place in Bulgaria, 

 which had been repressed with severity. Egypt 

 hesitatingly sent the contingent of troops 

 which the Porte demanded. Roumania occu- 

 pied a neutral position, stationing a corps of 



observation on her borders and carefully guard- 

 ing her neutrality. On the 16th of July the 

 Roumanian Government addressed a memoran- 

 dum to the guaranteeing powers, expressing 

 the desire that the Porte, which was arcutt- 

 tomed to speak officially of the principalities 

 of Moldavia and Wallachia, should recognize 

 the historical name of Roumania for the united 

 principalities, as the other powers had done. 

 It demanded the acceptance of a Roumanian 

 agent as one of the accredited diplomatic body 

 at the Porte, and that this agent have juris- 

 diction over Roumanians settled in Turkey ; a 

 definition of boundaries in respect to the isl- 

 ands of the Danube which belong in part to 

 Turkey and in part to Roumania; and, further, 

 it demanded for Roumania the privilege of 

 making trade, postal, telegraphic, and delivery 

 contracts; that passports issued by the Rou- 

 manian Government should be recognized by 

 the Porte; and, finally, asked for a rectifica- 

 tion of the boundaries on the lower Danube, 

 so as to assure a free use of the stream to the 

 adjacent Roumanians. The powers declared 

 these demands to be at present inopportune. 

 In Crete, discontent prevailed at the failure of 

 the Government to carry out the reforms 

 promised in the constitution granted in 1669; 

 the Christian judges and councilors had re- 

 signed their offices in expression of this dis- 

 content ; the people, relying upon the statute, 

 refused to respect the judgments of the Mo- 

 hammedan judges, and a dead-lock existed in 

 judicial administration. 



The declaration of war by Servia was fol- 

 lowed by a like act on the part of Montenegro. 

 Under these circumstances the European pow- 

 ers were constrained to consider what policy 

 they should adopt in reference to the new 

 questions that were arising. The Porte an- 

 nounced its intention not to consider Ser- 

 via and Montenegro as war-making powers; 

 toward Servia, in particular, as being a vas- 

 sal-state, it would place itself on the ground of 

 formal right. Turkey had signed the Con- 

 vention of Ghent of 1864, which provided for 

 the immunity of the sanitary organizations of 

 belligerents and for the care of the wounded ; 

 but it was given out that Servia and Monte- 

 negro not being recognized as belligerents, the 

 provisions of the treaty would not be held 

 binding as to them. The international com- 

 mittee of the Convention of Ghent addressed 

 a memorial to the powers which had signed 

 the convention, in which, without discussing 

 the political question set up by Turkey, it sug- 

 gested that any power as party to the con- 

 vention was under a double obligation, in case 

 of a civil war, to observe its rules toward its 

 own subjects ; for the Treaty of Ghent was not 

 a mere political document, but was a declara- 

 tion of high moral and humanitarian prin- 

 ciples. It did not become necessary for the 

 powers to act collectively upon this subject, 

 for, at the suggestion of the English Govern- 

 ment, the commanders of the Turkish forces 



