THE WAR IN THE EAST.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 172, 23 July 1877, Page 4

THE WAR IN THE EAST.

MONFENEGEUS. ! tJ[CTa,EY AT DUG A - r,,lJfee ; folldwiog .:deaoripfio.li> df tftk ddis- | B^aHjr V* N^' ;-r-^ • V;r'< : '.y ItONQONi JufQQ'lil, I^77^ " 1i: - ; A f^*ffijsl%ti%W!^%k\ji{itxai! \ : a'i K fbno^'i^l-iftßr maki,og!-^'l* ■ 4?PEi¥f'\9R BiWUI»-grq«rfr.o»r8 iWUI»-grq«rfr.o»rB > and seizing i ai^4 r »l important positiona in (roiit'Jof- \ Krystaz and at the iaQmediffiteentraafie i of !the^Daga-FaBB, SalTeman Paßhi advanced with several battalions and i mountain artillery to force the deßle I held by the Montenegrins. There be- • ipgjOnty' one available road, and (hat leading, directly/ through iha T Daga Pas^ the Tuikß sought, by dinfc of cheer fighting to seize the bends of the \ ;rpad, so. as to place their 1 guns in posi--1 tioa to support the advance of the head of their column, : . "tfoe ground wbb favourable for this plan of operations for the first two days. The Montenegrins slowly retired before the, well deployed Turkish; line until the narrowing of the ground and the increasing difficulties of the road forced the Turks to reduce their front. Then the concentrated fire of the Montenegrin& delivered from every rock and gully of the rugged mountain slopes, began to tell with frightftilieffect upon ihe Turks. Amid a perfect hail storm , of bullets the brave Turkish infantry struggled onward, encumbering the road with their dead and wounded at; every step. The guns 'posted before Golia shelled the defile in advance bufc wishr little' effect, as the Monfeoegrins. were well ' eoYer.e.d. and soffered only: when the Turks desperately charged on them amid the rocks and brushwood. The fighting on the third day w»3 almost hand-to-hand, the combatants firing in each other's faces at only a few yards distance. But although the Xurka gained ground slowly, it was at at a terrible cost in men. Their sjipperior numbers enabled them to push up supports to take the place of the slain, and it seemed as if the head of the column of attack was melting away as before a furnace. Notwithstanding the stubborn bravery of Suliecnaa Pasha's troops, the fourth day's fighting found them no nearer the key of the pass, and they had already lost nearly 3000 men. Still-, they endeavored to maintain possession of the ground they had gained at such a fearful cost'; but tbo effort Was hopeless. The hardy Montenegrins repulsed every attempt to advance, and it became now only a question' of covering the retreat of the exhausted column, This was commenced by a furious onelanght on the Montenegrins by., the troops furthest in advance, but"" wtiich was quickly repulsed by a murderous fire. The retreat now became general, and the victorious mountainers speedily followed the retiring Turks, kiljing an immense number, and re.ojcqupyiug their former positions. In this yrolouged and bloody combat* lasting over five days, the Turks haye lost over 4000 men, and a quantity of arms left on the field. The victorious Montenegrins lost 700 men, and the disproportion is due wholly to I the natural strength of their position and to the necessary? exposure of the Turks during the attack and retreat. The failure of the Turks, to force the Duga Pass is believjed here to insure the capitulation of Nickic within a short time, but it is likely that SuHeman Pusha may again attempt to relieve the town;