THE DARDANELLES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5276, 21 February 1878, Page 3

THE DARDANELLES.

(From the Home News.) A correspondent sends us the following extract from Miss Martineau’s “ Introduction to the History of the Peace” ; —“ Before the end of 1806 Russia had driven Selim into the arms of France, and Alexander was filled with alarm. lie besought the British to undertake another of those diversions wlr’ch began to sound so disagreeably in the ears of Englishmen —to send a fleet of theirs which was cruising in the -TEgean Sea up to Constantinople, and to compel Selim to relinquish his alliance with France and make terms with Russia and England. The Grenville Cabinet was rather glad of an opportunity of obliging Alexander, to whom they had refused both money and sailors, and whose friendship it was important to retain ; and they gave orders to Sir John Duckworth, then erasing off Ferrol, to join Admiral Louis at the mouth of the Dardanelles. Mr. Arbuthnot, the British Ambassador at the Porte, offered the final terms of the two Courts to Selim as soon as ho heard of the final junction of the two squadrons off Tenedos, on the 26th of January, 1807. They were declined, and from certain threats about making hostages, Mr. Arbuthnot feared for his own safety and that of all the English in tho place. Ho arranged with the captain of the Eudymion, which lay at hand, to invito all the English merchants and the whole Legion to dinner on board his ship on the 29th January. They went, wholly unaware that they were not to land again. When sitting in their dinner-dress they were told that their wives, children, and merchandise must be left to tire mercy of tho Turks and the generosity of Sebastiani. They had little appetite for the dinner before them. No communication with the shore was, however, allowed, and by eight in tho evening, when it was very dark, the Eudyruion was under way; The Turks did not find it out, nor molest her passage down the Dardanelles, and she arrived in safety at the rendezvous at Tenedos. The strong and rapid current makes the passage of tho narrow and intricate passage comparatively easy that way. The difficulty is in passing the other way up to Constantinople, A strong south or south-west wind is necessary for this, and the fleet had to wait for this till February 19. A terrible fire had destroyed the Ajax, of 7-1 guns, in the interval, with the loss of 250 lives. Seven line-of-battle ships remained, and followed each other at intervals into the mouth of the Strait. Neither the efforts of Sebastiani nor tho explosion of the Ajax, nor any other warning that the English were coming, had roused the Turks to make tho (lightest preparation. Tho ships sailed proudly up the .Strait, undelayed by tho fire of tho forts at the narrowest part of the channel, and belching out flame and cannon balls as they went. They took and burnt some Turkish ships and appeared before Constantinople to tho horror of the whole population, who woro absolutely without the means of defence. The Divan would have yielded at once, but Sebastiani prevented it, and instituted a negotiation which proved a fatal snare to Sir John Duckworth, notwithstanding express warnings and instructions from Lord Colliug-

wood. He was unwilling to destroy the city and shoot down the defenceless inhabitants, and he allowed himself to he drawn on from day to day, exchanging notes and receiving promises, instead of fulfilling his threat.-. Meantime, not a moment was lost by the Turks. Women and children worked day and night at the defences, and in a few days the whole coast was bristling with artillery, and the chance was over. The British officers had seen through their glasses the placing of the cannon, the arrival oi the ammunition, tire lining of the coast with spirited troops, and the lodgment of garrisons in the towers, and they chafed under the intolerable disgrace of their inaction. But Sir John Duckworth had been negotiating during the whole of that fatal week; at the end of which there was nothing to be done but to get away as safely as they best might. The wind had not changed, and it did not change till March 1, and the further delay thus caused gave time for charging the forts at the Dardanelles with men and ammunition. For thirty miles, reckoning the windings of the channel, the ships ran the gauntlet of an incessant fire, and such a fire as was never seen before. Stone balls, weighing 7001 b. or 8001 h„ broke down the masts, crushed iu the decks, snapped the rigging, and amazed the hearts of the sailors. The hills smoked from end to end, and the roar of the artillery rolled from side to side. In another week Sir John Duckworth declared in his despatch any return would have been impossible. The news of this singular affair spread fast over Europe.”