A British and French fleet is bombarding the Dardanelles, the strait which separates south-east Europe from western Asia and connects the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmora. It is impossible at the moment to say whether or not a serious attempt is being made to demolish the fortifications with 8 view to forcing a passage to Constantinople and the Black Sea. There has been considerable controversy on the subject of the right to pass through these straits, but the Powers agreed in 1841 that Turkey should have the right to Prevent any man-of-war from passing through if she desired to do 60. The channel is about forty-two miles in length, and its breadth varies from one to four miles. In order to prevent an attack on Constantinople the steep and sterile shores on the west and the slopes on the eastern side have been strongly fortified, and doubtless the entrance has now been mined. The straits, being so important stratetically, have always been more or less prominent in the history of struggles between the East and the West. It was here that Xerxes passed into Europe by a bridge of boats, and that Alexander the Great. led an expedition against Persia.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.