FRIGHTFUL BARBARITY IN CRETE.
A letter from Canea, in the island of Crete, dated the Bth August, says : — ""An act of dreadful barbarity, committed by the inhabitants of a Greek village almost at the gates of the capital of the island, has again aroused the ill-quieted passions of our irreconcilable Greek and Turkish populations, and threatens to kindle once more the torch flame of insurrection. Constandi Georghila, a Greek of jbhe .village of Van, in the district of Apokdrona, nacT been owing for some time to the government 40,000 piastres, for tithes, which he had farmed. His brother, his partner in this transaction, was already detained in Canea for this debt, but Constandi had always declined coming into town to render his accounts. A warrant of arrest was in consequence issued against him, and Tohsouch Hadji Hussein, of the local police, and four zaptiehs (armed policemen) were ordered to Vafi to execute the warrant. Hadji Hussein and his men arrived at Vafi, and immediately went to the house of Constandi ; there they found Constandi and his friends armed and ready to resist them ; an affray ensued, in which both Greeks and Turks received slight wounds, and Hadji Hussein, finding that he was outnumbered, withdrew, and left the village to return to town. In the meanwhile, Constandi, to revenge himself of the attempt made to arrest him in his own house, assisted by his friends, circulated the report that the zaptiehs had killed Captain Costaro, a favourite chief, who did not happen to be in the neighbourhood at the time. Excited by this report, all the villagers were soon up in arms, and started in^ pursuit of Hadji Hussein and his party. They came upon them unexpectedly, and immediately opened'" fire, which was returned by the Turks. Three Greeks and two of the zaptiehs at once fell; Hadji Hussein and two other zaptiehs were taken prisoners and carried off to the mountains ; here the barbarities commenced. Hadji Hussein was killed in detail, his limbs were cut off one by one, and his body afterwards roasted. His two unfortunate companions had their eyes plucked out and their teeth pulled, and were at last mercifully shot. The British and French consuls, as soon as they heard of what had been done, sent Mr. Boon, and Mr. Franco to Vafi to investigate the circumstances of these horrid crimes ; these gentlemen were shown the mangled and charred remains of Hadji Hussein and his companions, and this account is from their official report. You may judge of the exasperation felt £by the Turkish inhabitants of the islands. In the meantime the perpetrators of the crime have fled to the mountains, and the intervening districts are all up in arms, so that it will be difficult to bring the offenders to condign punishment. In several other villages murders have since been committed, both on Turks and on Greeks, and unless immediate and energetic steps are taken the disorder in the island will be worse than ever."
FRIGHTFUL BARBARITY IN CRETE.
Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVI, Issue 1277, 9 December 1859, Page 3
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