THE DARDANELLES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 23, 24 May 1912, Page 7

THE DARDANELLES.

In 1841 a treaty was first completed between the Ottoman'Porte on the one hand and the five great Powers of Great Britain, Germany, Franco, Italy and Russia, on the other, by the terms

of which, confirmed by further treaties at Paris in:-16t56;:at London--rn .1871, and at Berlin in 1878, no ship of war belonging to apv 'nation Turkey should pans the Dardanelles without the express conk'ent of the Government of the country, all merchant ships being also required to show their papers to tire Ottoman authorities. Even merchant .ships are not allowed to pass the castle of Clhanak Kaleshi except during the day.

The famous strait of the Dardanelles known in ancient times as the Hellespont, is a narrow channel about four miles wide at its greatest breadth, and about 47 miles long, which separates the south-eastern extremity of Europe from the adjoining mainland of Asia Minor. The narrowness of the entrance renders the strait easy of defence, but in 1807, an English Admiral (Sir J T. Duckworth) forced his way out with difficulty past the various castles and other fortifications, and entered -fajie Sea of'Marmora. The strategic importance of the strait can scarcely he over-rated, commanding as it does the approach to Constantinople from .the Mediterranean, while Ncgara the ancient Ahydos, is the station of the Turkish fleet. The associations of history and mythology, not always clearly to he distinguished, cluster thickly around it. Prom the time of Xerxes in 180 B.C. to that of .Mohammed 11, in the thirteenth century the Dardanelles have offered an easy and ohvioun passage for the invading hordes of Asia, Alexander the Great turning the tables by crossing it in 33-1 B.C. at tihe outset of his invasion to the Persian Empire. Here, too, {lie lapless Leander -swam nightly across to visit his beloved Hero, a feat rendered dangerous to a good swimmer only by the strong current, and one emulated by the poet Byron in 1810. Dardanelles is also the home of an important town, the seat of government of the Lesser Turkish province of Bigha, in Asia Minor, and situated at the narrowest part of the strait. Exclusive of tihe garrison the population is estimated at 13,000 of whom ; however only one-half are Turkish. The town is strongly fortified and carries on an important trade, the number of

vessels passing the strait on an annual iverage being estimated at 12,000.