istance of the narrow section of the waterway, is a matter
of thirty-three miles. At one point the passage is less than 1,400
yards wide and at no point is it more than 7,000. Although there is a
good depth in much of the channel, shallows are to be met with in most
unexpected places. To make navigation even more difficult, there is a
swift and powerful surface current running through the Narrows, on
some occasions at a speed of eight knots an hour. In addition there is
not only a strong undercurrent, but, as well, many cross currents. At
certain seasons of the year the wind and weather make navigation of
large vessels almost impossible.

Both sides of the Dardanelles offered natural positions of enormous
advantage to a defending force. On the Gallipoli side were a tangled
mass of rocks and hills, almost devoid of vegetation except for stubby
yellow bushes. In a few of the little valleys, stray clusters of olive
trees relieved the monotony of the view. Heights rose upon heights and
along the shores of the peninsula nearly perpendicular cliffs made
landings almost out of the question.

This whole peninsula was a difficult country to traverse even in times
of peace. No large maps existed of its intricate paths, there were few
roads, and those that did exist were so commanded by heights and
concealed positions for guns and infantry that the progress of an
attacking force would inevitably be most difficult and costly.

Water was almost nonexistent. Most of the available supply was so
protected that an attacking force would in no case be able to use it
until its task of conquest was complete. As such a force advanced
inland, these difficulties as well as those of the country would
constantly and rapidly increase. From Cape Hellas, at the tip of the
peninsula where a sandy beach made a landing possible, if difficult,
the ground rapidly rose to a height of 140 feet. Hill country then led
to ridges standing 600 feet, while a mile and a half beyond stood 600
feet in the air the commanding peak of Achi Baba, destined to play so
large and so tragic a part in the struggle for the peninsula of
Gallipoli. At the narrowest part of the Narrows, the real key position
to the straits, stood the Kilid Bahr plateau, 700 feet, while to the
northwest, almost 300 feet higher, stood the precipitous eminence of
Sari Bair, a dense mass of trackless ravines and thickets.

Where the peninsula of Gallipoli joined the mainland is, comparatively
s