in 1828, Ayub Pasha defended the passes of the Suvanli Tagh against the Russians, the latter pushed on their advanced cavalry to Bardes, and these routing the small garrison of the place, they spread dismay in the main body, and caused them to disperse. Something very nearly of the same kind happened in 1854. The battle of Uzurgheti, which drove the Turks, under the incapable Selim Pasha, upon the Juruk Su on the 8th of June, and the subsequent assault upon their rear on the 16th, were followed up by the decisive battle of Kuruk-Darah on the 15th of August, fought by the Russians under Generals Bebutoff and Prince Dolgorouki, against the Turks under Kerim Pasha and Vali Pasha, and which placed Artan and Ardahan at the mercy of the Russians. The Suvanli Tagh is mainly composed of volcanic rocks, which give origin to narrow passes of a peculiarly stony character; the slopes of the hills are for the greater part covered with pine forests, from which the Russians were supplied with timber for the erection of the fortress of Gumri, and such was then the paramount authority of Russia, that the Turkish peasants were compelled to cut the wood, gratis, for their professed enemies; and such was the grasping avarice of the Pasha of Kars, that he received 70,000 ducats from Russia for selling it. The summit of the ridge is a plain, from whence mountain chains are seen branching off in all directions. When Mr. W. J. Hamilton crossed the ridge in June, snow was still lying in considerable patches around. Mr. Consul Brant says, however, that it would be easy to make a carriage-road across this mountain range, which is traversed during summer by carts, used for the transport of goods between Kars and Erzerum. The ascent is long and gradual, and the estimated height may be 5500 feet above the sea; the descent to the plain of Pasin, on the Aras, being short and rapid. This latter plain is separated from that of Erzerum by the Deveh Boyini, or Camel's Neck,* a range, the base of which is supposed to be the loftiest-although the culminating points are by no means so-in Armenia, as the sources of the Aras and of the Euphrates approach there within a few miles of one another.

Beyond the Suvanli Tagh lie the town and fortress of Kars, picturesquely situated in a rocky amphitheatre of black basaltic hills, on a semicircular bend made by the Kars Chai, or river, as it quits a narrow gorge of the Tchildir range. The northern and principal portion of the town is protected by a ledge of scarped rocks, that rise abruptly from the bed of the river. Upon these General Williams had erected those tabiyahs, or forts, which so materially aided in the defence of the place. The other three sides had a rough stone wall of four or five feet thick, and from twelve to twenty-five feet in height, flanked by square towers. Bastioned enceintes and other works had also been thrown up outside of this wall as an additional defence.

At the north-west angle of the town is the citadel, built by Amurath (Murad) III., but called Narin Kaleh, and which is composed of three separate castellated buildings, whose guns sweep the river both above and

below the town; and this castle was in former times its almost sole and principal defence. The suburbs of Orta Kapu, or of the East Gate, ex

* Selim Pasha's reserve remained in occupation of this pass during the whole time of the siege of Kars.

tend eastward from the Kars Chai, along the southern side of the town. To these an impracticable marsh succeeds; and again, between this and the hills of Kara Tagh, is the remaining portion of the suburbs called Bairam Pasha. Kars, by this its natural position in the centre of the region leading from the Transcaucasian provinces to Armenia, has been the seat of repeated conflicts. It successfully resisted an army of 90,000 men under Nadir Shah in 1735, and the Russians in 1807. But in 1828, Paskievitch having occupied the hills, obtained possession, after a protracted struggle, of the tower of Temir Pasha, carried the suburbs by storm, and by a succession of daring assaults, one of the most important places of Asiatic Turkey fell into the hands of the Russians, who retained possession till the treaty of Adrianople. The defence made of this bulwark to the Ottoman power in the north-east, by the Turks under General Williams and his gallant companions in arms in 1855, will ever remain a memorable page in the history of warlike exploits.

It has been supposed that an attempt to relieve Kars might have been made by way of Batum; but the difficulties presented by that line of road are even greater than those that occur on the road by Erzerum. First, we have the coast district, rising immediately from the sea to from 4000 to 5000 feet, clothed with dense forests and inhabited by the warlike Lazis and Offis, who, by the last census, were reputed able to furnish 42,000 fighting men, but with no towns or roads, and only one open roadstead at Khopah, from whence goods are conveyed to Artan, a small manufacturing town on the river Juruk. Sometimes goods destined for Akhaltsikh used to be landed at Khopah and carried through Artan, but more generally they were landed at Batum, and conveyed by the Ajirah or Kulah Valley.

Beyond this we have the valley of the river Juruk, one of the largest rivers of Armenia, which receives the waters of the Marsat Darah near Baibut, of the Kulah, or Ajirah, and of all the valleys on the western and northern sides of the mountains in which are the sources of the Kur, the Aras, and the Euphrates. In this valley are situated the towns of Baibut, of Ispera, Olti, Artan, and at its mouth, Batum. Baibut fell into the hands of the Russians in the campaign of 1829, but they did not carry their arms down the valley of the Juruk Su. Kars and Erzerum were then in their possession, and the capture of Baibut opened to them two roads by which to move into Central Asia Minor by Kara-Hissar, or to establish communications with the sea by Trebizond. Baibut thus became the pivot of that campaign. Defeated once by the redoubtable Lazis at the neighbouring village of Khart, with the loss of their general, Burtsoff, the incapacity of the Turkish commander, Osman Pasha, left the Russians to recover from the check, and, under Paskievitch himself, ultimately to revenge the disaster upon the unsupported mountaineers.

The Russians, however, failed in being able to reap those advantages from the position which they had gained in the heart of the Armenian mountains which might have been anticipated. We particularly dwell upon this fact, because there is a tendency among some to believe that the fall of Kars, and the possible advance of the enemy to Erzerum, leaves Asia Minor at the feet of the conquerors. It is even said that the Turks themselves, terrified probably by European advisers who are

ignorant of the geographical peculiarities of the countries in question, contemplate removing Omar Pasha and his army from the field of operations in which they are engaged, to defend countries quite capable` of resisting, with proper succours, the advance of a hostile army.

The main body of the Russian army advanced in 1828 along the route of Kara-Hissar, as far as Temlia, whilst a strong column diverged to the right, under Simonitch, and reached the mines of Gumush Khana, before alluded to, on the 14th of August. But, although scarcely forty-six miles from the important port of Trebizond, difficulties presented themselves which proved to be insuperable. Instead of experiencing, as at Erzeroum and other places, the support of the Armenian people, the Russians found, as they advanced through a country almost impracticable for artillery, that their communications were seriously threatened by the Adjars, and other mountain tribes. Paskievitch was then obliged to retrace his steps, Baibut was evacuated and the works blown up, and the Russian forces were concentrated at Erzerum. The same autumn the Turks and Lazis occupied Baibut in force; but on the approach of the Russians they were foolish enough to enter the field. This time Mouravief, the capturer of Kars, led the attack, the Turks were beaten, notwithstanding the stubborn resistance of the Lazis at the village of Daduzar, and, following the fugitives into the town, Baibut once more fell into the hands of the enemy.

Between the valley of the Juruk Su, at the head of which is Baibut, and at the extremity Batum and Kars, is a mountainous region, inhabited by various tribes, among whom the chief are the Adjars. Some idea may be formed of the natural obstacles presented by this region, added to those which appertain to its own warlike population, by the impediments which it has thrown in the way of Russian subjection. With the purpose of putting an end to the constant and seriously annoying incursions of the Adjars, General Osten Sacken marched from Akhaltsikh, in 1829, with four battalions, two regiments of Cossacks, and four mountain guns. With this force he boldly entered the country of the Adjars, burning the villages as he proceeded, and ultimately taking possession of Kulah, the residence of the chief of the Adjars, Ahmed Bey. The latter, however, had retreated to an inaccessible fastness in the mountains, and his intrepid followers even re-occupied the passes in the enemy's rear. General Osten Sacken sought, under these circumstances, for relief from General Hesse, but this failing, he was obliged to make his retreat by a flank march to the frontiers of Guriel. To effect this he had to dismount his guns, and carry them piecemeal by manual labour, and then he only found himself entangled in a difficult country, with narrow pathways and precipitous defiles, which the Adjars, who of course knew their country thoroughly, took advantage of to alternately oppose his march in front, or to attack him in flank and rear; by which, during his perilous progress on the 19th of August, seven officers and 142 men were put hors de combat. On the following day the Russians entered a more favourable country, and therefore only lost twelve men; and on the 21st they succeeded in reaching the Sarmonli range, on the borders of the Guriel, from whence he was enabled to continue his retreat, through the Sandjak of Kubliyan to Akhaltsikh.

Batum is well sheltered, and its bay is capable of containing a large

number of ships; but it is a most unhealthy station, and those who venture to reside there during the autumnal months become almost the inevitable victims of a severe form of malaria. The country around is without roads, very mountainous and woody. There are pathways to Kars, without touching the fortress of Akhaltsikh, by Artan, Ardanah, and Kulah, or from Ardanah to Ardahan and Kars, but they present such difficulties as to have never yet been used for military purposes. The devious but most feasible route starts from the coast and passes through Akhaltsikh and Ardahan to Kars. There is, however, another route by which Akhaltsikh, but not Ardahan, which the Russians under Mouravief took care to occupy previous to laying siege to Kars, could be avoided. This route leads first by a wild mountain gorge, well wooded, to the valley of Khino. Beyond is Jaghat, a village, the houses of which are dispersed among the woods. The same wooded mountainous country continues past Zerehbozel, a straggling village, and Didewaghi, a village of eighteen families, at an elevation of about 4000 feet above the sea. The inhabitants of these villages are a fine race, speaking the Georgian language, but very poor, for the long winters of nearly eight months' duration, the foggy and wet summers and early autumns, render cultivation of the land very precarious; and the difficulty of procuring winter fodder causes them to have few cattle or sheep.

From hence there are two passes to cross into the Kulah or Ajirah Valley: one by the Perenjah Tagh and down the Juwanah Valley, the other over the Kolowah Tagh and down the Akho Valley. Both are difficult, with mere footpaths through thick forests, and beside dangerous precipices. The summit of both passes is covered with deep snow till the latter end of May or beginning of June. The descent into the valley of Akho, in the Kulah or Ajirah Valley, is very steep; in the valley itself are some sixty families, and the climate is temperate. The road from Juruk Su joins at this point the more direct one from Batum up the Kulah Valley, and the lower portions of that road--or such as intervene between Batum and Akho-present greater impediments to progress than those between Akho and Kulah, on which several villages and some cultivation are met with. Kulah, before noticed, is the hereditary possession of Ahmed Bey, Prince of the Adjars, and formerly Pasha of Kars, and is the principal place in the Ajirah Valley, containing with its immediate neighbourhood about sixty houses, and a bazaar with twenty shops. The climate is good; grapes ripen, and wine is made there. From Kulah, the road is a continuous ascent for some fifteen miles, frequent circuits having to be made to cross torrents. Within a few miles of the crest of the mountains, which is some 5500 feet in elevation, and where birches and alder only begin to bud in June, is the village of Danesvorolah.

On the other side of the mountains the country presents a new aspect, being a succession of plains without wood. This is generally the case wherever the uplands are reached from the coast in Armenia or in Asia Minor. Here the inhabitants no longer speak Georgian but Turkish, and their dwelling-places are the usual underground habitations of the Armenians. The Sanjak is called that of Poshkof, and the Bey resides at a village called Digwir. Hence a high, mountainous, and woodless region, affording scarcely more than summer pasturage to the flocks and

herds of some Turkman tribes, leads the way to the rich plain of Ardahan, watered by the Kur, the upper part being marshy towards the sources of the river, the lower part cultivated and productive.

Ardahan is but an inconsiderable place, containing at the most three hundred houses, constructed, like those of Armenia, under ground. It has a citadel, within the walls of which is the Bey's palace, as also some other houses, built of stone and above ground. Between this place and Kars is a high table-land, abounding in excellent pastures, intersected by swamps, with but few villages.

The fall of Akhaltsikh in 1828 was followed by the loss to the Turks of Atskur and Ardahan. The former place, which is seated in the defiles of Bordjom, and had twenty-four guns, with a garrison of five hundred men, capitulated to a force sent against it under Prince Wadbelski. Ardahan, which had only thirty-one guns and an armed population, also hoisted the white flag on being cannonaded by a force under Mouravief operating on one side, and another on the opposite side under Bergmann. In the campaign of 1828 the four principal reserve depôts of the Russians were Derbend, Baku, Tiflis, and Redut-Kaleh. They are probably the same on the present occasion, with the exception of the latter, which is in the possession of the Allies. In 1828, Turkey was simultaneously attacked by a fleet under Admiral Greig, by a division that followed the line of coast under General Hesse, and by the main army operating upon Kars under Marshal Paskievitch. In the present day the Russians have no fleet and no line of coast; they are, then, notwithstanding the fall of Kars, fighting under great disadvantages, and in a crippled state, compared with what was the case in their first campaign against Turkey. It will remain with the councils of war not to ignore the advantages of the present position of the Allies, and to abandon those advantages for the mere purpose of acting upon one line of defence or aggression solely.

On the other hand, the Russians possess, by the treaties that resulted from the last war, great advantages in the position and in the basis of any future operations to be carried on against the Turks in Armenia. In 1828, Paskievitch advanced at once by Gumri upon Kars; but when that fortress was subjected he was unable to advance thence upon Erzerum, because the Turks were in possession of Ardahan, Akhaltsikh, and Akhal-Kalaki, in their rear.

The town of Akhal-Kalaki occupies a peninsula at the junction of the Taparawan Chai and the Ghendara Su, tributaries to the Kur. Its defences consisted of a castellated keep or citadel, and a tower of a quadrilateral figure 300 yards long, by 80 or 100 yards wide, and difficult of access. The town was also defended by loopholed walls, flanked by towers. There were fourteen guns mounted, and a garrison of 1000 men. When Paskievitch summoned the frontier fortress to surrender, its defenders proudly answered "that they were not like the people of Erivan or Kars, but warriors of Akhaltsikh, who, having sent their wives and children out of the place, were determined to die on its ramparts." The pride of the Akhaltsikhians was, however, soon humbled, for the Russian general, having opened fire against the place with eight heavy guns and eight mortars, its feeble walls were speedily destroyed, and little or no shelter left for its defenders.

As a second summons was rejected, four heavy guns and some addi