he map if it were possible
to come to it on the ground. He then said he would send me up to look at
the place through my own glasses in the Phaeton to-morrow; that it would
not be possible to land large forces on the neck of Bulair itself as
there were no beaches, but that I should reconnoitre the coast at the
head of the Gulf as landing would be easier with every few miles we drew
away towards the North. I told him it would be useless to land at any
distance from my objective, for the simple reason that I had no
transport, mechanical or horse, wheeled or pack, to enable me to support
myself further than five or six miles from the Fleet and it would take
many weeks and many ships to get it together; however, I ended, I would
to-morrow see for myself.

The air of the Aegean hardly differs so much from the North Sea haze as
does the moral atmosphere of Tenedos differ from that of the War Office.
This is always the way. Until the plunge is taken, the man in the arm
chair clamps rose coloured spectacles on to his nose and the man on the
spot is anxious; _but_, once the men on the spot jump off they become
as jolly as sandboys, whilst the man in the arm chair sits searching for
a set-back with a blue lens telescope.

Here, the Peninsula looks a tougher nut to crack than it did on Lord K.'s
small and featureless map. I do not speak for myself for I have so far
only examined the terrain through a field glass. I refer to the tone of
the sailors, which strikes me as being graver and less irresponsible
than the tone of the War Office.

The Admiral believes that, at the time of the first bombardment, 5000
men could have marched from Cape Helles right up to the Bulair lines.
(Before leaving the ship I learnt that some of the sailors do not
agree). Now that phase has passed. Many more troops have come down,
German Staff Officers have grappled with the situation, and have got
their troops scientifically disposed and heavily entrenched. This
skilful siting of the Turkish trenches has been admired by all competent
British observers; the number of field guns on the Peninsula is now many
times greater than it was.

After this the discussion became informal. Referring again to my
instructions, I laid stress on the point that I was a waiting man and
that it was the Admiral's innings for so long as he could keep his
wicket up. Braithwaite asked a question or two about the trenches and
all of us deplored the lack of aeroplanes whereby we