THE WAR IN EUROPEAN TURKEY.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 918, 4 June 1877, Page 3

THE WAR IN EUROPEAN TURKEY.

[From the Melbourne Argus.']

A 8 the valley of the Danube is likely to be the scene of some of the earlier incidents of the campaign in European Turkey, some account of that river, from its outflow into the Black Sea up to Eustchuk, may not be unacceptable to our readers. Our sources of information are the recent, or comparatively recent, travels in that region of Mr Lawrence Oliphant, of Captain Spencer, of M. G-uil-laume Lejean, and other works of a trustworthy character. The Danube has three mouths, the Kilia, the Sulina, and the St. George. Between the first and second lies the island of Leiti or Leti, and between the second and third that of Moische. The southern bank of St. Greorge's Channel is the Turkish, and the northern bank of the Kilia Channel is the Russian boundary, as far as Rcni, at the confluence of the Pruth, where the two countries cease to be coterminous. The middle channel is the broadest and most direct, but on that account it receives the greatest amount of silt. When the Sulina mouth was in the hands of the Turks, every vessel leaving the river was compelled to drag a large rake behind her, and the mud thus stirred up was carried outward to the sea by the forcejof the current. But in 1840 Russia entered into a convention with Austria, by which the former power was authorised to levy a tax on all vessels entering the Danube, and undertook in return to keep the Sulina mouth open. One part of the contract was fulfilled to the very letter. Russia collected the tax, which fell heavily upon British ships, and —she put the money into her pocket, her end and aim being, says Mr Oliphant, "to allow this channel —which she is not allowed to fortify —to fill up, with a view of forcing the river and the trade through the northern or Kilia branch. . . . The consequence is, that the difficulty of entering the Danube is far greater than ifc used to be formerly, and numbers of 'English ships are lost upon the bar every year," which is, of course, a convincing proof of the advantages which would accrue to British commerce if the Black Sea should be dominated by an enlightened and protectionist government like that of the Czar, instead of being left in the hands of an uncivilised people like the Turks. North of the Danube arc the three towns of Kilia (Russian), Ismail (Turkish), and Rcni (Russian) ; the second being celebrated in history as the scene of Suwarrow's great exploit, when he slaughtered 38,816 men, women and children, sacked and burnt the place, and then, as he told Mr Twcddell, who afterwards met him in the Ukraine, ho was " so perfectly satisfied with the conduct of the day, that he went home and wept in his tent."

On the south side of the river, before it makes an abrupt deflection from its easterly and westerly course opposite G-alatz, are the two fortified towns of Isakschi and Tultcha, the latter tolerably strong, and interesting from an historical point of view as the place at which Darius crossed the Danube on his expedition against the Scythians. G-alatz, in Roumania, is a fortified city containing 36,000 inhabitants. It is the principal entrepot for the trade between Germany and Turkey, and a good deal of the commerce is transacted by English houses established there. Situated as it is at an angle of the Danube, it is a strategic position of some importance. Brailow, which is twelve miles higher up the river, on the same bank, is also fortified, but is only one-fourth of the size of Galatz. Nearly opposite to Brailow is the Tiukish fortress of Matschin, which protects, in conjunction with Hirsova, the passage of the Danube, and the route by land to Varna and Schumla. It was taken by the Russians in 1809, in 1828, and again in 1854. Thirty miles due south of this |place lies the commanding citadol of Hirsova, situated on an undulating eminence, and covering every point in this direction where an enemy might attempt to effect a landing in the Dobrudscha, that peninsula itself being inhabited by the miserable remnant of the Nogay tribe of Tartars, who were nearly exterminated by the Russians when they seized upon the northern shores of the Black Sea.

About thirty miles south of Hirsova is the fortified town of Rassova, which is defended in front by an impassable marsh. At this point the Danube bends in a westerly direction, and here the Emperor Trajan meditated cutting a canal across the base of the peninsula. It would have been only thirty miles long, and would have shortened the navigation to Constantinople by nearly 300 miles. Forty years ago the Sultan Mahmoud had all the surveys made and the plans ready for the execution of the work, but the reigning Czar, who was bent, like a consistent and highminded protectionist, upon ruining the commerce of Austria and Turkey on the Lower Danube, informed the ignorant but enterprising Turk that if he cut the canal Russia would regard it as a casus belli. In view of this threat the undertaking was i abandoned. Following up the river on the I Bulgarian side another thirty miles will bring , us to Silistria, which is the citadel of the ' Danube, " forming as it does, with Rustchuk

and 'Schumla, a connected triangle, which must be broken before any enemy could attempt the passage of the Balkan in this direction with safety." It is immensely strong for defensive purposes, and the centra] fort, which occupies an eminence dominating the town, is highly spoken of by military engineers. It was besieged by the Russians unsuccessfully in 1773, and again in 1809. On thejthird occasion, in 1829, it was held for nine months by 12,000 gallant Turks against 50,000 Muscovites, but eventually capitulated. At that time, however, |its fortifications consisted merely of some long weak curtains, with a few badly designed and miserable bastions. Since then, money and skill have combined to render it a formidable barrier to an invading army.

The next fortified town to the westward is Turtukai, one of the best crossing places of the Danube, and the scene, therefore, of numerous conflicts between the Russians and the Turks. It was taken by the former in 1810, and again in 1829, and it was here that the Turks made a dash across the river during the last war, and gave the Russians a thrashing at Oltenitza. Rustchuk, which is nearly 50 miles from Silistria, contains a population of about 50,000 inhabitants, besides the garrison. It is a thriving manufacturing town, but suffered greatly at the hands of the Russians in 1828, when they entirely dismantled its fortifications, and levied an immense sum of money from its inhabitants, under the threat of delivering it over to be sacked and burnt.

At the beginning of February last there were 15,000 troops in Rustchuk, a large army at Widin, under the command of Osman Pasha ; another strong corps at Alexinatz, led by Ali Saib; and 150,000 troops (including the 15,000 at Rustchuk) in the famous quadrilateral. According to the special correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph —who is, however, ardently Turkophil in his sentiments —these men are among the finest troops in the world. He says : " They are not supplied, perhaps, with what English soldiers in such a climate and at such a time would consider necessaries; certainly having no comforts whatever; insufficiently protected from the cold and the snow; clothed rather for southern than northern latitudes ; yet for all that supremely cheerful, and determined to fight to the last man and the last gun in defence of their Sultan and their land. Had I not been with them in the last campaign, when in rain and sleet, without tents or shelter of any sort save such as a few boughs of the trees afforded, they merrily lived and fought, I could scarcely have believed my eyes when I saw, a few days ago, these devoted soldiers pulling sledges of biscuits over the wet snow, with a mirthful song which strangely consorted with their bare knees and necks. But a long sojourn with them in Servia had taught me that they would shrink at nothing when once they knew that the Muscov threatened. I knew, therefore, what it was which kept up their spirits in that desolate land. " Already at work, the Turks are throwing up fresh redoubts all along the line of the Danube strong earthwork fortifications which will be easily armed with powerful guns. Their plan is a very simple one—they have to wait the shock of the attack on the ranges of hills and in the great forts which command the Dobrudscha. Let Djunis bear witness to what the Turks did when they acted on the offensive."