WITH THE INTERNATIONAL FIELD FORCE IN CRETE, 1897. 529 
Highlanders who shared the same camping ground with them at Canea. 
The Turkish troops were solid in appearance resembling some of our 
better Indian regiments, but their officers for the most part were old 
and inefficient Commanded by British officers the Turkish Army 
would, I fancy, be hard to beat; but for the most part badly drilled, 
clothed and fed, they are at a great disadvantage at present. A sentry 
would be on his beat for 12 hours at a time and although the slack-look¬ 
ing individual lounging on his post, appeared to be the last person in 
the world to interfere with the curiosity of the passer-by, let the latter 
have attempted to inspect one of the Krupp 6-in. B.L. guns mounted 
on the sea front, and he would have found the apparently lethargic- 
looking sentry suddenly electrified into life, and his curiosity remained 
ungratified 
Though their Mountain Batteries are very fine troops, the French 
troops of the Marine were, I am afraid, not as in the other cases, in¬ 
variably picked representatives of their country. Their physique was 
poor, and the fitting of their uniform indifferent. A perfect 
“ entente cordiale ” existed amongst the officers of the Russian, 
Austrian, Italian and British troops, and amongst all the Navies of 
the different Powers. The Italians, French and ourselves were dressed 
in khaki, except on grand occasions. The Russians wore their ordinary 
dark grey baggy trousers tucked into long boots, a white drill cotton 
tunic and cap cover. The Austrians wore their ordinary blue grey 
uniform with English pattern helmets. French more or less good or 
bad, was the universal language of communication between officers. 
Amongst the men a good deal of gesticulation and loud conversation 
each in his own language, seemed to promote much cordiality. Our 
own N.C.O’s chummed mostly with the Italians, and the men with the 
Turks. I fancy a sort of recollection of service with Indian troops on 
the North West frontier, was called up by association with the Turk, 
which increased the latter’s popularity. Though why their Mountain 
Batteries were christened “Malta Artillery ” by our men I never quite 
understood. 
The Mountain Batteries of the foreign contingents were armed with 
guns in one portion of about 2 cwt. The Shrapnel shell varies in the 
equipments from 9 lbs. to 12 lbs., and the muzzle velocity from 825 f.s. 
to 925 f.s. They are consequently less accurate at long ranges than our 
screw gun, as also than the 10-pr. B.L. gun adopted by Switzerland, 
which I recently inspected at Sion. The pack transport of the Russian 
Battery was pack horses of about 15 hands, like miniature cart horses. 
Including their baggage transport, 160 were brought from Sebastopol 
for the six guns, a section of the battery of 8 guns beino- left behind 
with the depot of the 13th Regiment F.A. in the Crimea to which it 
belongs. 
The Italians, the French, (in reserve at Toulon), the Turks and the 
Greeks use mules in their batteries, but those of the French and Italian 
Batteries from their enormous size strike me as being more suitable 
for draught than for pack purposes. No relief line of animals is em- 
36 - 
