ousand feet high, covering the village of
Galatista, and next by a chain to the Hortak Dagh Mountains, one of
the nearest points in the line to Saloniki.

To the north again the ground falls abruptly to the level of Lake
Langaza, thence turns eastward to the height of Dautbaba, after which
the lines could be stretched to the borders of the swampy region at
the mouth of the Vardar, ground which is as impassable as the Pripet
Marshes on the Russian front and which were formerly occupied by the
Bulgarian comatjis, in spite of all the efforts of the Turks to eject
or capture them.

[Illustration: The Allies at Saloniki.]

On December 20, 1915, there arrived in Saloniki, General de Castelnau,
Chief of the General Staff of the French Army. He came with the same
purpose that had brought Lord Kitchener, to make a tour of inspection
of the Near Eastern situation. No doubt a certain anxiety was felt in
France and England regarding the security of the Saloniki position,
and General de Castelnau had been dispatched to investigate. With
General Sarrail he made a thorough survey of the French lines, and
with General Mahon he undertook an equally searching tour of the
British section. Apparently he was satisfied with the situation, for
soon after he stated in an interview to the press that the position of
the Allies in Saloniki was excellent. After having passed a week with
Generals Sarrail and Mahon, he paid a short visit to King Constantine
on the 26th. On the same day the French Government issued an official
communique, which announced that General de Castelnau, together with
Generals Sarrail and Mahon, had settled upon the plan of action to be
followed by the Allies and that he had assured the French Government
that the arrangements which had already been made rendered the safety
of the whole expedition absolutely certain.

This statement came as rather a strong contrast to an official
declaration made by the German Government to the effect that Germany
would be established in Saloniki by January 15, 1916. Possibly the
Teutonic allies may have planned at that time to initiate a campaign
against Saloniki, but apparently pressure on their lines on the other
fronts became so strong as to divert them from this object.

However, the year was not to close without some disturbance of the
monotony of the situation that now set in at Saloniki. In the middle
of the forenoon of December 30, 1915, an attack was made on the city
by a fle