Gen. Fitz-Hugh Lee, our Consul-General in Havana, has absolutely refused to have anything to do with the Ruiz case. He declares that the examination will not be a fair one, and that nothing will be gained by it.

There is very little change in the situation in Crete.

The insurgents are fighting bravely, and the Powers, though doing their best to prevent trouble, are in much the same position that they were a week ago.

The real excitement of the week has been the landing from the British warships of a troop of Highlanders. These soldiers, by their extraordinary dress, caused a panic among the Turks, who, not knowing whether they were friends or foes, mortals or bogies, proceeded to attack them.

The Turkish officers with great difficulty succeeded in quieting their men and persuading them that the Highlanders were men and friends, but the fame and the terror of them spread all over the island.

The insurgents heard that a new race of men had been landed by the allies, and in their ignorance and superstition they fancied that some new and terrible kind of creature had been sent against them.

There was a small panic among the Cretans for a few days, and it was not until they had sent scouts to discover what kind of beings these were, and the report had come back that these terrible Highlanders were but men after all, that they had the courage to continue the fighting.

This is not the first time that the appearance of these men has struck terror into the heart of an enemy, and in truth they are a very imposing body of men, all of them over six feet in height. They walk with the light, springing step that is peculiar to all Highlanders, and they hardly seem to touch the ground as they march over it. They march to the music of the bagpipes, which adds not a little to the awe which, they inspire. The bagpipe is of all instruments the most uncanny and weird. When you see a Highland regiment marching to the music of bagpipes, it seems to be the only true music to which soldiers should march. Its wails and shrieks sound like the groans of the dying, and the drone of the bass notes has a fierce sound as it throbs and marks the tramp of the soldiers' feet, that speaks of battle and conquests, and the advance of a victorious army.

These are not the only things which help to make foreigners believe the Highlanders some uncommon kind of creature. In addition, the costume they wear is so strange, that it is easy to understand how terrible they must appear to foreign eyes.

They are dressed in the old Scotch fashion, with short stockings, bare knees, and kilts (a short skirt which comes nearly to the knee). Over their shoulders hangs the "plaidie," which is a long shawl. They wear a tight coat, and in front of them hangs the sporran, a pocket made of white fur. The crowning glory of the Highland regiment is the bonnet. This is a hideous structure of brown beaver; it is over a foot in height, and from the side hang three mournful black plumes. This curious dress makes the men look about eight feet high, and as they are all strong, broad-shouldered fellows, they seem like giants.

At the battle of the Alma, in the Crimean war, the Forty-Second Highlanders turned the fate of the fight by their appearance.

They were ordered to attack a position held by the Russians, and when they sprang forward to the charge, their kilts and plaids floating around them, their bare knees glistening, and their huge bonnets and waving plumes making them look so tall, the Russians were terror-stricken. Seeing their white sporrans wave as they ran, the Russians mistook them for small horses, and could not believe that these terrible-looking creatures were but men running.

Crying out to each other that the Angels of Death on their snow-white horses were riding them down, the Russians dropped their arms, and fled in the greatest confusion.

Stories without number are told of the way Highlanders, left on the field of battle, have frightened the enemy into letting them escape, and a piper seems to need no protection but his pipes. In the Indian mutiny, one blast of them was enough to scatter a score of natives.

It is not to be wondered at that both Cretans and Turks were a little alarmed at the sight of these brawny, petticoated soldiers.

The main part of the interest in Greek and Turkish affairs is centring itself along the Greek frontier.

The Powers sent word to Greece, that unless the troops are recalled from the frontier, they will blockade all her ports.

In the mean while, the Crown Prince has arrived at Larissa, and taken the command of the troops in Thessaly. The Crown Princess is with him, to organize a Red Cross Society, to give aid to the wounded in case war breaks out. This good, kind woman has put aside all her own feelings, and is working for the benefit of her husband's people.

The Greeks show no disposition to obey the demands of the Powers, and it is said that Russia refused to join in blockading the Greek ports, because she believed that it is no longer possible to keep peace between Greece and Turkey.

The Greek army along the frontier is so large and powerful as to be beyond the control of diplomacy. It is stated, on good authority, that if the King of Greece were to listen to the Powers, and order the troops back from Thessaly, the army would revolt, dethrone him, and carry on a war on its own account.

So incensed are the people against the Turks, that nothing will satisfy them but war, and the winning back of such of their provinces as are still under Turkish control.

It is said that the Greeks are not attempting to make a strongly fortified position for themselves on the frontier. They consider themselves an invading army, and the moment war is declared, they intend to swarm over the border, and, if possible, conquer the provinces that once were theirs.

The inquiry into the Transvaal Raid is still going on.

Dr. Jameson has been called before the Committee, and appears to have told all he knows of the matter.

His story makes things look very black indeed for Mr. Cecil Rhodes, the Prime Minister of Cape Colony, and perhaps for the English Government also, if the whisper is true that Mr. Rhodes and the Government perfectly understood each other as regarded South African matters.

Dr. Jameson said that before the raid occurred, he had various talks with Cecil Rhodes and John Hays Hammond, an American mining engineer, who lived in the town of Johannesburg, and was one of the principal movers in the plot.

They spoke about the troubles of the foreigners in the Transvaal. Mr. Hammond declared that the Boers made life so difficult for foreigners that unless some change was made, the people of Johannesburg would revolt.

Dr. Jameson went to Pretoria at Mr. Hammond's invitation, and saw for himself the condition of things.

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The Great Round World And What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 24, April 22, 1897

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