THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRESENT SEAT OF WAR.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 189, 10 November 1876, Page 7

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRESENT SEAT OF WAR.

-** It may be of some further use to our readers if we briefly glance at the seat of war where the difficulties are considerable. The names mentioned are often obscure places not to be found upon the map. The most trustworthy guides are the names of rivers and large towns, but it is not always possible to make the intelligence Bent to us square with our previous knowledge. So far as we can ascertain, hostilities would seem to have begun at four points, and the first thing necessary in order to get a clear understadding of the course of events is to keep these localities before us with tolerable distinctness. The most important of them is on the eastern boundary of Servia, and is most easily identified by the River Tiinok. This small stream, rising in the south of Servia, flows northward to the frontier, and where it falls into the Danube River forms the boundary between Servia and Bulgaria. Nearly opposite the point where it reaches the Servian frontier the Danube makes the famous bend which served as a position of bo much strategical importance to the Turks in the opening chapters of the Crimean war. Close at hand we find the name of Citate and Kalafat, points in the Danube which Omar Pasha held victoriously against the Russians when the latter took possession of the Principalities as " material guarantee." It adds to the fame of Widdin, the largest town in the neighborhood, that it is the place where Kossuth and his companions in flight found refuge at the breakdown of the Hungarian insurrection, and there he pressed on that vigorous study of Shakespeare which enabled him afterwards to address English audiences so eloquently in their own tongue. This is the whereabouts of Prince Milan and the Russian General Tchernayeff with the bulk of the Servian forces, and it is there that the most important prizes of the campaign will be lost and won.

The point to which the Servians are'directing their operations appears to be Sophia, an important Bulgarian town at the foot of the north slope of the Balkan range, and should they succeed in getting there we shall know what conclusion to draw. The next important scene of hostilities is on the opposite side of Servia, where,'#bout ten miles beyond the Drina, which marks the western frontier \>f the Principality, stands Belina, the chief town in the north-eastern corner of Bosnia.

The third and fourth quarters [where hostilities are going on correspond respectively to the north and south frontiers of Montenegro. Prince Nikita descends this mountain on the northern side, and is said to be advancing on Gatschko, while the Turks are also said to he retreating towards Mostar, ox crossing over into Bosnia. Here, again, the intelligence is too meagre to allow of any positive conclusions being drawn. On Jthe south side of Montenegro, near the Lake of Scutari, and close to the Albanian frontier, there seems to have been a fight of some importance. The Albanians are described as siding with the Montenegrins, and repulsing the Turks, who fled to Podgoritza. It was announced recently that Petrovich, a relative of Prince Nikita, had left Trebinje to take command of the operations in Albania.

To complete our view of the theatre of war it is requisite to take the Danube into account. For some distance it flows between Wallachia and Servia, and from Orsova to Belgrade it divides Servia from the Austrian territories. If the Turks succeed they will no doubt inarch upon Belgrade, and a flotilla on the river will be able to render essential service to a besieging force ; but in the meantime they have to guard against supplies of men and material being sent into Servia by sympathisers on the opposite bank, and in this respect neither the Wallachians nor the Austro-Serbs can be trusted. Hence to blockade Servia on the side of the Danube military operations will be necessary along the

river, and difficulties of a very embarrassing character may be expected to arise. Roumania, of which Wallachia is one of the constituent provinces, has already protested against measures which may put a stop to all trade along the Danube, and expose its own. side of the river to hostilities. — ' Manchester Examiner.