ing-house for the merchandise of Asia,
Africa, and Europe. From Scutari, on the opposite shore, the overland
route meandered across Asia Minor to Aleppo in Syria. Here the sign-post
to India pointed down the Euphrates Valley, by way of Bagdad, while that
to Egypt and Arabia followed the Levant or eastern shore of the
Mediterranean. Between each fork lay the Syrian desert. A glance at the
map shows the reason why in those days this was the only practical
route, as to-day it is the easiest. The wall of the Ural Mountains, the
Caspian Sea, the Caucasian Mountains, and the Black Sea shut out direct
communication from Europe to Asia, or _vice versa_, except by the
Constantinople ferry or a sea voyage.

[Sidenote: Another practical route.]

[Sidenote: The road for invasion of Egypt or India.]

[Sidenote: The Taurus range is the natural frontier of Egypt.]

In Asia Minor progress was further barred by the watershed of the
Euphrates and Tigris rivers to the south, and the Caucasian Mountains
to the east. A practical way was found at the lower elevations of the
Taurus and Amanus mountains--two parallel spurs which strike the sea at
the Gulf of Alexandretta. This narrow neck of the bottle, as it were, is
of enormous military importance alike to the Turks and to the British.
Through it must pass any army of invasion by land from Europe or Asia
Minor to Egypt or India; and, conversely, through it must pass any
invading army from Mesopotamia into Asia Minor. If the British should
conquer Mesopotamia and should intend to hold it--as they undoubtedly
would--they will have no strategical frontiers until they secure the
watershed of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the Taurus passage. If
they secure the latter, Syria, Palestine, and Arabia will fall to them
like apples off a tree. It would then be no longer necessary to defend
the Suez Canal. The natural frontier of Egypt is the Taurus mountain
range. Asia Minor is the real Turkey; the other portions of the
empire--Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, and Turkey in Europe--are
only appendages. The eastern door into Asia Minor is Erzerum, and the
southern door is the Taurus passage. Turkey can only part with these at
the cost of her life. Russia has already captured Erzerum, and the
British possess the Island of Cyprus, which commands the head of the
Gulf of Alexandretta--twenty miles from the Taurus passage. That is,
broadly, the situation.

[Sidenote: Aleppo is the starting p