and 4-pounder calibres. The eighteen brigades of horse artillery are armed with the 4-pounder guns.

The normal organization of the active army is into eighteen or nineteen army corps of three divisions each.

All the special services, such as the engineer troops, hospital corps, railway detachments, telegraph corps, etc., are fully and admirably organized.

The contingent of conscripts for 1873 was about 150,000, and not far from the same for each year since then. If then the statehent already given, that in 1873 Russia had over 650,000 men available for offensive operations be correct, she must now have more than a million of trained soldiers at her disposal. The infantry and cavalry are well armed with the Berdan breech-loader, now made in large quantities in Russia. The lance has been taken away from all or most of the cavalry, and they are to a great extent trained to fight on foot.

The tactics of the infantry have been altered to meet the changes in modern warfare, and it is believed that the army is in every respect far more efficient than at the time of the Crimean War. In one most important respect there has been a vast change for the better since the fall of Sebastopol, and that is in regard to railways. At that time the only railways in Russia were those from Mylowitz to Warsaw, and from St. Petersburg to Moscow. The difficulties and losses arising from the transportation of troops and supplies to the Crimea were far greater than those resulting from the action of the allies. At the present time the railway system is well advanced towards completion, and affords facilities for the movement of troops and supplies to the most important points of the Empire. It is not saying too much to assert that, had the present railway system been in operation in 1855, the siege of Sebastopol would have been impossible.

In the present war, as was the case in 1828 and in 1855, operations are conducted upon two distinct and distant theatres, Turkey in Europe and the eastern part of Asia Minor. These must be described separately.

First let us touch upon the main topographical features of Turkey in Europe. Referring to any good map of that region, the first thing that strikes the eye is the river Danube. We are concerned with the portion of the river below where it breaks through the mountains

at the Iron Gates, near Orsova. Under existing circumstances this river is the first Turkish line of defence. Below the Iron Gates the Danube, except when divided by islands into several arms, is nowhere less than nine hundred paces in width, often more than double that. In places it is from seventy to eighty feet deep, often shallower, but always a deep river, nowhere fordable. There is only one place, at Tuldscha, where a sandbar reduces its depth so much as to render a pile-bridge practicable; at all other points bridges must be supported upon boats. The current averages about two and one half miles per hour. As a rule the right, or Turkish, bank commands the left bank, which is often marshy to the water's edge. The points suitable for crossing large bodies of troops are few, and are generally covered by fortifications on the Turkish bank.

Of these works, the most westerly of any importance is Widdin. This is a town of considerable size and importance, on the right bank of the river; it is well fortified, and contains extensive military establishments. Kalafat, on the opposite bank, formerly served as its tête de pont, but is now in possession of the Roumanian troops, -a great advantage for the Russians. Below Widdin there are small works at Lom and Orsova. Nikopoli is a place of more importance; the Osma River here enters the Danube from the south, and the Aluta from the north. This is a possible point of crossing for the Russians. At Sistova is another small work. Still lower down is the important fortress of Rustchuk, which is well fortified; opposite to this, but at long range, is Giurgevo. At Rustchuk is the terminus of the railway from Varna. About twenty-five miles below Rustchuk is Turtukai, which has been strengthened of late years. Here is one of the most advantageous crossings of the Danube from the north. The river is here 995 paces wide, the banks, on the left side, firm and always passable. The river Dombrowicza here enters the Danube from Bucharest, and affords great facilities for collecting bridge materials. Next below is the strong fortress and intrenched camp of Silistria, so well known from its admirable defences in 1828 and 1855. Hirsova is a smaller work, covering a very important point for crossing the river.

Some forty miles below is Brailov, now in the hands of the Russians, and at some little distance from it, on the Turkish side, the fortification of Matchin. Galatz, Reni, and Ismail are all in

the hands of the Russians. Tuldscha and Satunovo, though small works, are important as covering good crossing-places for the Russians. A few words are necessary in regard to Roumania.

This principality may be roughly described as bounded by the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube, and the Pruth. The general direction of the Carpathians is parallel to the two rivers, and the average height of the chain is from 3,000 to 4,000 feet, some peaks attaining an elevation of from 7,000 to 8,000 feet. From the main range spurs project towards the Danube and the Pruth, but below Widdin they sink into a broad plain before reaching the Danube, whose northern bank is very low, usually consisting of marshes and morasses. The plain of Roumania is exceedingly productive. The roads are very bad in wet weather, and from the marshy nature of the northern bank the problem of throwing an army over the Danube is difficult of solution.

The only main railway of this region is that from Lemberg in Gallicia through Galatz, Brailov, and Busco to Bucharest, whence one branch leads to Rustchuk and Varna, another to Krachova and Zernetz. From the same main line a branch leads through Jassy to Kischenev and the southern system of Russian railways. South of the Danube, and at an average distance of some sixty miles, the Balkan range extends eastwardly from Albania to Cape Emineh on the Black Sea. This is the second line of deBetween it and the Danube lies Bulgaria, of so much interest as having been the cause, and now about to be the theatre, of the war. At Rassova the Danube, in its course to the sea, turns sharply to the north; and just at this point commenced Trajan's wall, which extended to Kostendji on the Black Sea

fence for the Turks.

The peninsula north of Trajan's wall and between the Danube and the Euxine is known as the Dobrutscha. The northern part of this district is broken by the mountains of Matchin, Betschepta, and Baba-Dagh; towards the south the surface is hilly and undulating, and of no great elevation. The soil is sandy, underlaid by limestone, and the interior valleys are destitute of springs and streams, so that no water is to be procured except from a few deep wells. The population is scanty. From these causes the region is a barren waste, affording no supplies except pasturage, and even this fails at midsummer.

The portion of the Bulgarian plain between Trajan's wall and Bazardjik is quite as desolate, and as destitute of wood and water, so that troops marching through the middle of this desert must contend against the total absence of the necessaries of life during a march of about one hundred and twenty miles. The rest of the Bulgarian plain, between the Danube and the Balkan, is very different. The soil is a rich loam, and in the wet season wellnigh impassable. The roads are bad, and there are no bridges, except such as may have been constructed of late years on the main roads through Shumla and Varna. In the winter there is much snow; the summers are hot, the autumns dry. Until the early summer the ground is everywhere carpeted with verdure; the slopes of the valleys are covered with trees, the streams bordered by green meadows; and wherever cultivation extends there are abundant crops of grain. In the autumn vegetation withers, and water is scarce. The population is crowded into large villages, where there are abundant stores of provisions. The inhabitants are agricultural and pastoral. The towns are either on the Danube or at the foot of the Balkans. In the former the Moslems, in the latter the Christians, predominate. The Bulgarians are industrious; they are inclined towards the Russians by their Sclavonic origin and Greek faith, and hate the Turks, who have so long plundered and oppressed them. The only railways in Bulgaria are the short lines from Kostendji to Rassova, and from Varna to Rustchuk. Once across the Danube, the Russians are masters of Bulgaria to the Balkan range, except the ground covered by the fire of the fortresses and intrenched camps.

To hold Bulgaria the passes of the Balkan must be secured; to dictate peace in Adrianople or Constantinople, these passes must be carried and traversed. So that, when they have overcome the difficulties of the Danube, the Russians next find the Balkan athwart their path. At its western extremity the Balkan unites with the range traversing Albania and Dalmatia, and connects with the mountain system of Herzegovina and Servia; near Sophia it sends out to the north an offshoot which connects it with the Carpathian range, and it is through this offshoot that the Danube forces its way at the Iron Gates. The greatest elevation of the main Balkan range is to the west of the sources of the Jantra and Tundscha, that is, west of Kassanlik and Tirnova, where the summits

are covered with snow until midsummer. Thence to the sources of the Kamtschik the elevation is not over 5,000 feet, and farther east not more than 4,000 feet. The prevailing character of the range is that of richly wooded round hills; it is only in the valleys that masses of rock are found. The southern slope is by far the most steep. On the northern side is a parallel range of foothills, differing much from the main range. These foot-hills are of limestone, with flat tops, often falling off at the sides in perpendicular walls from 100 to 200 feet in height, and forming singular defiles. Towards the bottom of the valleys the face of rock slopes more gradually as it descends. The hill-tops are not easily accessible, and are covered, not with the magnificent trees of the main range, but with dense brushwood. For long distances from the foot of the lower range the plain is covered with an undergrowth of oak, which renders the movements of masses of troops across the country difficult and almost impossible. The idea, in former times, that the Balkan was impassable arose not so much from the height and inherent difficulties of the range as from the fact that no really good roads existed, and that within a distance of five or six marches many small difficulties were accumulated which had to be overcome by all the troops in succession. The space at our disposal will permit only a brief mention of the most important passes across the Balkan range.

The most westward are in the vicinity of Sophia, where two main roads cross the mountains. One comes from Ukschub, where roads unite from Montenegro, Herzgovina, Bosnia, and Servia, and passes through Dubnitza to Tatar-Basardschyk; the other comes from Sophia, where the road from Belgrade and Nisch unites with that from Widdin, and also leads to Tatar-Basardschyk; thence the united roads lead to Adrianople and Constantinople. Sarimbeg, about twelve miles west of Tatar-Basardschyk, is the terminus of a railway through Adrianople to Constantinople, with a branch to Enos on the Ægean Sea. These passes present comparatively few natural difficulties; the roads have been improved and fortified of late years. The next important pass is that through which the road from Tirnova to Kassanlik and Adrianople is constructed. Another road leads from Tirnova by Seldino and Jamboli to Adrianople; this road is connected by a branch with Kasan and Karnabad, as well as with Aidos; the two last being important