BRIGANDAGE IN THESSALY.

Kumara Times, Issue 1392, 18 March 1881, Page 2

BRIGANDAGE IN THESSALY.

The correspondent of the Levant Herald draws the following picture of the state of affairs on the Turco'Hellenic frontier :—“ Since the appointment of the Christian guards, things had become so quiet in Pelion that we were ready to imagine that the brigands, finding the pursuit becoming too hot for them, had all retired to Ardmiro or Ayah ; but tidings received here recently once more startled us out of our false security. Last week a band, variously stated as numbering from twenty-five to forty, entered the village of Zagorah, one of the largest atu&4Sgt important villages in after purchasing a quantity of they proceeded to the .boys' school and obliged the master with all .the boys to accompany them to the hills, where theyproduced a paper containing their names; these they read out and selected nine of the sons of the richest inhabitants. After distributing sweetmeats to all, they took off the warmest clothing of the party they sent back and dressed the nine boys in it. This done, they marched off with their hostages, leaving the others to return home, where the alarm had already been given b y a woman, who feaw the brigands enter the school, and whom they shot

in the hand when she attempted to call for help. The men of the village were absent,'|nther engaged in olive picking or in tj&Pineyards, and the two guards who had been appointed were altogether inadequate to protect the place, which contains about six hundred houses, covering a large extent of broken hilly ground, and divided by gardens, walla, and trees, A communication has since been received from the brigands, couched in the usual terms, and demanding an enormous ransom. It is impossible to convey an idea of the misery which this has brought into the different families. Active measures cannot be taken, lest the lives of the children should be endangered, and even exposure on the hills at this season of the year cannot but lead to serious consequences.