WITH THE TURKS. 
487 
did not apparently expect to see us again till next morning. 
On the 11th May we commenced the day by a visit to the hospital 
of the Ottoman Bank Ambulance, organised by and at the expense of 
the bank, and were shown round the wards by Dr. Lardy (a well 
known Swiss surgeon) and Mr. Sandison, a nephew of the British 
Consul-General at Salonica and Secretary to the Ambulance. 
There were then 220 wounded under treatment and up to that time 
eight deaths only had occurred in the hospital and no amputations had 
been found necessary; the patients seemed as cheery as possible and 
were enjoying the, for them, unwonted luxuries of clean sheets and 
unlimited tobacco; nevertheless, I was told that many of them were 
only anxious to be sent back to the front again. The officers of the 
ambulance said that their behaviour under operations was quite 
admirable. Mr. Sandison, for instance, related the incident of a man 
suffering from three severe wounds, who, having (as on religious 
grounds the Turks generally do) refused anaesthetics whilst one wound 
was being sewn up, noticed a comrade near him in great pain and 
motioned to the doctor to give him water. 
At about 1 p.m. we left Larissa and, passing through more deserted 
villages, in one of which a terrible massacre of pigs had taken place, 
entered the range of low hills which extends westward from the 
Karadagh or Kunnocephalos Mountains ; it was in these hills that the 
action of the 6 th May, generally spoken of as the battle of Pharsala, Action of 6th 
was fought. It would appear that this was in reality a rear-guard p£J r3 aia* 
affair fought by the Greeks to cover the evacuation of Pharsala and 
the villages round by their inhabitants, and in which they took up 
successive positions about Tekke and between that village and Pharsala, 
finally withdrawing from the latter place during the night unmolested 
by the Turks. After various delays, due to the ignorance of our guide 
of the exact locality of the Head-Quarters’ camp, we reached Tekke at Head, 
about 10.30 p.m. and were accomodated for the night in a captured Q ¥ekke. at 
Greek bell-tent (of French manufacture) 20 ft. in diameter. 
Next morning, the 2nd May, we proceeded to pay our respects to 
the Field-Marshal, Edhem Pasha, who gave us a pleasant reception Edhem 
and were glad to be able to express our gratitude for the hospitality la8hi * 
which we had already experienced. He gave the impression of an 
humane and intellectual person and in the various appointments which 
he has formerly held under the Government has, I understand, always 
been most popular and highly respected by the Consuls and officials of 
other nations with whom he has been brought into contact. I have 
since heard his conduct of the campaign blamed as too dilatory, but it 
is not to be supposed that he had an entirely free hand in the matter 
and the practical absence of cavalry from the Turkish force hampered 
him greatly both in pursuit and reconnaissance. No doubt the long 
interval between the retreat of the Greeks from Pharsala and the next 
advance of the Turks enabled the former to take full advantage of the 
naturally strong position at Dhomokos ; but it was also necessary for 
the latter to push forward ammunition and supplies and to elaborate 
their plans for the attack of that position with the least possible risk 
of failure. 
