528 WITH THE INTERNATIONAL FIELD FORCE IN CRETE, 1897. 
On the 21 st December the mule detachment arrived at Malta where 
the Battery remained until the 3rd February, 1898, when it embarked 
for England minus 110 N.C.O’s and men sent to the batteries on service 
m Tirah, and all its mules and cobs which were embarked for service 
in the Soudan. It arrived at Gibraltar on the 7th, where I was ordered 
to disembark a small party to take over a detachment of remount 
mules for the battery, which arrived at Newport on 13th February, 
having been absent just ten months from England 
In the spring of 1898, Germany ajid Austria withdrew their con¬ 
tingents from active part in the concert, and from the 21st November, 
1897, till the out-break in Candia on the 6th September, 1898, the 
British contingent consisted only of one battalion, which up to the 
beginning of August, 1898, was the 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh Fusi¬ 
liers, 600 at Candia and 250 at Canea. In August, 1898, they were re¬ 
lieved by the 1st Battalion Highland Light Infantry. The out-posts 
at Candia had been partially occupied by the British detachment 
during that summer, so that on September 6th when the massacre took 
place there were only about 130 N.C.O’s and men, I understand, in 
Candia to repel the attack made on Colonel Reid’s party of Highland 
Light Infantry at the Custom House. The British garrison was im¬ 
mediately increased by four battalions and the Turkish troops with¬ 
drawn. It was then composed of a battalion of the Rifle Brigade and 
Northumberland Fusiliers; the latter were withdrawn a few months 
later on the formation of the new gendarmery, and the former relieved 
by 1st Lancashire Fusiliers. 
As regards the International troops it was generally admitted that 
the N.C.O’s and men of the British contingent, both in physique, 
soldierly bearing, and general appearance took the first place. This 
was the more remarked on by the foreign officers as it was previously 
with them the general belief, that we had no regular troops worth 
speaking of in our Army, which they imagined was composed for the 
most part of Volunteers, generally devoid of military knowledge and 
discipline. The Russians were a fine body of men, and they and the 
Austrians may be said to have divided the honours of second place 
in public estimation. The movements of the latter with their rifle, 
which our infantry officers considered the most simple and effective in 
its breech block and magazine action, were most precise, but at Canea 
they seemed to' devote an unnecessary amount of time to marching 
v past. The former, the Russians, like ourselves, devoted much time 
to route marching. When marching at ease one man would start sing¬ 
ing some National song in which the men joined in the chorus, and the 
rate of pace of the march, was made to fit in with the rhythm of the 
music,sometimes slow and sometimes very quick, the men all moving 
the arm not engaged with the rifle, to the time of the music. They 
say it eases the men, this marching at different rates of speed. This 
is I think open to doubt. 
The Italian troops were sturdy, cheery little fellows, but very excit¬ 
able and with vague ideas as to the necessity of camp sanitation, which 
was a source ofmuch inconvenience to the detachment of Seaforth 
