AT GALLIPOLL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8340, 6 January 1916, Page 3

AT GALLIPOLL.

APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY

SOLDIERS INTERESTING DESCRIPTION.

Writing from Lemnos, where lie was resting on October 26, Corporal W. J. Henry, D.C.M., of Aiickland, gives a very interesting description of that part of the Dardanelles that has just oeen evacuated by the New Zealanders and Australians. He says:—-• "At Cape Helles the whole of the front above the water-line is faced by cliffs 100 ft. to 300 ft. high, broken by occasional gullies, the back being flat or rolling land dotted with farms, vineyards, . and almond and olive groves, although the -greater area has been under crop—wheat or-oats. Of tihe productivity of the soil I could not judge, but might guess medium second-class. There is an-abundance of water, wells being in all directions. Sloping land extends right up to the base of Achi; Baba, but there are no fences anywhere, the fields being'merely divided by a ditch. ■: The pastoral ground had evidently; lain fallow during the past year, for the fields bore only .weeds with a few straws of selfsown grain—l saw a few fair.heads of oats ; with about 3ft. 6in. straw daisies, poppies, irises, and the like ga.y-colourea flowers which, when we first landed, gave the couniry an as- | pect of" great beauty. "Altogether different is the country behind Anzac on the foothills of Sari Bahr—Hill 971, so named fix>m its height—and there are flanking spurs run down to the beach. -Where-,we landed the sand extends only to about spring high tides, then immediately steep broken ground rises several hundred feet to an irregular plateau, cut in all directions by ridges and gullies. These latter would be in winter creek beds, with a foot or two of waiter. Tortuous, steep, rugged, the sides covered with a straggling scrubby growth, it makes ideal country rto defend, but fearful stuff to attack. Once, in a mile or two a bit of flat hill-side is v encountered, and this has been put under cultivation, enough to- plant, perhaps, three dozen olive or. almond trees. ■■■,■•-.'•

; "Just north of Anzac is a belt of flat land 100 yds to 300 yds broad, from beach to hills. This was for a long time no good to us, as it could be swept by the enemy's guns, of which the principal ones were nick-named ' Bbachy' Bill,' ' Tuckertime Liz,' and ' Anafarta Annie.' Still, further north, at.Suvla Bay, there is a flat gully, per' T haps a mil© broad, running from a big stretch of flat right up "under the village of, Anafarta towards Sari Bahr, and it was up this gully that the advance of August 4 was pushed. This land appeared to be burnt, but it may have been under cultivation, though I think not. Here are. a> .few miles of arable country. dotted • with farmhouses; butthe tenants were not ;.in evidence. ■■■■' '■"■■ ■ '.- •'■'}' •. '* -. ! ' ■■■•-;■■'-■

"The weather 5 for. the six .months; that we have been. here..has beenjivery dry, luckily so for us,.-.,as the appearance of the gully beds suggests torr rential rains in winter, causing frequent landslips along the coxirses of the steep gullies. We could see by the minarets that there were mosques in the villages, but'these were sedulously avoided by our gunners. ■-" "On these islands where^we iite now resting, and where the population is Greek, the scenes are most, tranquil. Little villages dot broad, valleys, whilst quiet-goin^ old mills are a feature of the landscape. The land seems to be of poor to fair quality; but here again the crops are oft", and the ground is burnt and_ bare. The vine and olivo are cultivated, and grain is grown for home consumption. What we may buy here at Lemnos is! somewhat limited in variety, though! less so in price, tinned butter (Dutch) i "•oing as high as 8s per lb. with Italian half that amount, plain biscuits 2s per lb, and eggs 2s per dozen."