CHANAK: ITS HISTORICAL INTEREST.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3147, 11 December 1922, Page 7

CHANAK: ITS HISTORICAL INTEREST.

(11 v Lieut. R. A. Faro, late Army

Educational Corps.)

Tin l little town of Chanak, which now occupies so large a place in the minds of thinking people, is perhaps not much known to the average Englishman. It is situated on the Asiatic side side of the Dardanelles, on the Narrows, and if faced 1 across them by Tv iI id Bahr, a small town on the rocky peninsula of Gallipoli, for ever sacred to the* English-speaking race for the heroic sacrifices made there, hy British and Anzae troo])s in 11)15. The journey to Chanak from Constantinople is made hy steamer, and usually takes about 12 hours. Approaching from tlio sea. the steamer rounds the promontory of Xagava, the spot from which Lord Byron accomplished Ins historic swim across the Straits, and in classic times the scene of Leandcr’s nightly journey to his. beloved Hero at fSestos. on the European side. Next is seen the dismantled Madjieh fort, now occupied hy British troops, and about half a mile beyond Chanak itself comes into view. From tho'sea. Chanak resembles one of tliose small towns that arc dotted ahont the coast of Southern Italy. Jn shape it is a cnt-ccnt, its houses are mostly a dirty white, with green or < hequerqd Hindis. it looks its host from the sea, and in the summer the blue sea. and sky and the white town offer a pleasing contrast to the sunbaked masses of rock and dried-up earth composing the Gallipoli Peninsula. The charm, however, is soon lost on landing, and one is greeted with the smells and pandemonium of noise common to all Eastern' towns. There are Turkish. Greek, and Armenian quarters. in the town, and the inhabitants keen a jealous distance from one another. The shops are poor and meanlooking, and the bazaars in the Turkish quarter have lew attractions to the cfirions traveller. The Greeks appear to be in the most nourishing condition. due. no doubt, to their superior business instincts. At the southern end of the town, facing towards the zEgea n Sea., is the ancient Turkish castle of Kaleh Sultanieh, built by Mahomed 11. in 1454, just after the capture of Constantinople. Tt consists of a square keep, surrounded by a semi-circular wall. Both keep and wall bear the marks of the Queen Elizabeth’s 15-inch shells, great piles of masonry being scattered 1 about. Opposite, at Kilid Bahr, is a similar fortress, built at the same time. A battalion of a famous Lancashire regiment now occupies Chanak, and the cheery, bronzed faces and khaki uniform of our soldiers offer a pleasing contrast to the swarthy Turk and dirty Levantine who are continually to be met with in the streets. At the back of the town is a range of bills averaging 2.000 ft in height, which stretches 1 from Bigha, some thirty miles south of Chanak. These hills have an imposing appearance, and,in the winter and spring are covered with green herbage. They are usually overrun hy brigandsi, who are in league with the inhabitants of the neighboring villages, and the bills' themselves are cm up bv deep ravines, which make excellent hiding-places'. The country generall v is wild and rugged looking, and the roads few and far between, and usually in a ruinous condition. The majority of the villages arc inhabited by Turks, the Greeks being in a zone further to the south. These Turkish villagers are friendly, hospitable people, I,rave and open-hearted. They have a ijreat lovc for their sod, and.arc industrious husbandmen. Long streams of them in picturesque and multi-colored clothing, mounted on ponies or donkeys, or leading long strings of camels', may lie seen entering Chanak every morning laden with vegetables and farm produce. especially milk, eggs, and “ycru-. art.” or Turkish cream, made from buffalo’s milk, of which animals they keep ] a r<re herds. The scene, whether enteriu<Tin the morning or leaving, as the sun « e t« i-; a very picturesque otic, remindino 'thc onlooker of the life described in the Old Testament, and one realises the unchangeable ness of the East, even in these days of progress. The climate of Chanak- vanes between two extremes—intense cold in winter, accompanied hy ice and snow, and great heat in the summer, especially during the months oi 4ul\ and \ n ‘„n4 All vestige of green disappears from the countryside; the land becomes brown in appearance, and baked like hanl clay; dust lies thick in streets and houses, and penetrates: the month jtikl throat of persons unused to the climate, although the native, he he Turk or Greek, seems little incommoded. Largo pariah dogs wander about in the sun. and clouds of Dies prove almost as great a worry as they seem to have been to that Pharaoh who kept the Israelites in bondage. The sun is at its hottest about two o’clock in the afternoon, and all tlio.se who are foi tuna te enough lo have no wells’ to do take a siesta.. Later on its starts to get a little cooler, lint one’s rest at night is apt to he troubled owing to the swarm of mosquitoes and sandflies, and the eoieeqnent necessity ot .sleeping under a. close-fitting not, which keeps out the air as well as the insects. The neighborhood of Chanak is rich in historic interest. There are the remains of many Graeco-Roman cities, both on the coast and inland. The Nga.ra promontory is on the .site of the ancient Abydos. Near by the Persians crossed into Europe in their invasion in the fifth century B.C. At Knrahigha, some thirty miles north of Chanak. arc std! to ho seen the remains of the walls and a temple of the ancient Priapns, the former in a good state of preservation. But by far the most famous are the ruins of Troy. They can lie reached in a three hours’ motor drive from Chanak. Excavations have been previously carried out, tint it would seem that there is still a lot more that might he done. Part of the mound on which the city stood is untonnehed, and there are remains of nine different cities .dating from 15.C. 1800 to theHoman era on the. site. Chanak and its vicinity is not. therefore, a place devoid of interest even in peaceful times,and if only the roads were better, and the bands of brigands who infest the country dispersed, it might attract the European or American visitor who is interested in foreign peoples, and their customs, or (lie student of bygone history and its memorials.