Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1836-12-02

"ehto. VIC CuVuIdte tui5 's UldkiUR use
of the lightning and beating Jonathan with
a vengeance!
THE DARDANELLES.
The Dardanelles is Turkish town, sup.
posed to be built on the site of the ancient
Dardanus. and SO corrupted into lis pres
ent name, which it gives 10 the straits
Here stand the famous castles which pro
tect the passage to the capital, one on each
side the Hollespont, where there are still
TO be seen those imense piecies of ordnance
which discharge masses Of granite pillars
instead of balls Of metal. The Turks are
alone, | believe, in the use of these unman-
ageable instruments of destruction, aud
they originated in the following circum-
stance: When Mahomet II. laid siege to
Constantinopie, Hungarian armorer, who
had been in the service of the Greeks, in
consequence Of some i'll usage, deserted to
the Turks. and was brought before the
Sultan. He asked him if he could cast a
cannon that would batter breach in the
walls OF the city; and the Hungarian un-
dertook to do So A foundry was estab
lished at Adrianople for the purpose. and
in three months the artist produced one of
stupendous size. The bore. as described
by historians, was twelve palms, or three
feet; it projected granite ball of six hun
dred pounds weight; the explosion was felt
in a circumference Of thirteen miles. and
the ball was sent mile, and bedded itself
two yards deep in mound of earth. To
the region Of Ambrath, another was cast Of
still more extraordinary kind; it was
composed oftwo parts, united like screw
barrel pistol. The difficulty Of loading it
rendered it nearly useless, till Baron de
Tott undertook to discharge it. The ball
weighed eleven hundred pounds, and it
required thirty three pounds of powder
He felt the shock, he said, at eight hum
dred fathoms distace like an earthquakes;
the ball divided into three pieces, struck
the opposite side of the strait, and reboun.
ded on the mountains, to the great terror
of the Turks.
When Admiral Duckworth repassed the
Dardanelles, after his fruitless attempt on
the capital, his flee, was greatly shattered
by these tremendous engines. The royal
George was nearly sunk with one ball,
which destroyed her cut-water. The
mainmast Of the Windsor Castle was al.
most cut in two, and the Repulse had her
wheel shot away, and seventeen men killed
or wounded BY single shot. The largest
ball that struck our ships was one of gra
mite, of eight hundred pounds weight, and
two feet two inches in diameter. 1t stove
in the whole larboard bow Of the Active,
and having crushed this immense mass Of
solid timber like so much paper, the shot
rolled ponderously aft along the orlop deck
and stopped near the main hatchway, an
object of wonder to the crew, who made
lane for it to pass. But the most extrsor
binary effect was told me by an officer in
one of the ships of the fleet, | think he
said the Standard. The ball passed in on
her larboard quarter, between decks, and
meeting with the stem of the mizen, which
was encased with iron, it made a sort Of
gyration round it during which the friction
elected from the iron stream OF scintillat
ing sparks, which communicated to some
powder lying about it. An immediate ex-
poson took place, which nearly rent the
decks asunder. and forty persons were,
more or less, injured by the effects of this
one ball. He gave me a fragment of
granite, which, he said, was part Of the
ball; it abounded with grains Of quartz.
which acted on the iron of the mast like
flint on steel. and SO caused the ignition of
the powder.
found these immense pieces of ordnance
lying on the ground without carriages, and
apparently in very awkward and unmana
geable situations, so that they can only be
discharged from one position at objects
Just before them.
A short time after, was coming up the
Dardanelles on board an English mer-
chairman; she was armed against the pi-
rates of the Archipelago, and had few real
and more false guns, SO that she had much
the appearance OF ship of war. She had
been waiting for q wind at the mouth of
the strait, and when strong and favorable
breeze sprang up, she hastened to take
every advantage Of it. We were sweeping
along at the rate of ten knots BY the cas-.
ties, when we were hailed by the sentinel
to bring to; but the captain was a stout,
sturdy man, and he swore he would mol
stop and lose the wind for the Sultan him.
self; SO we took no notice. Presently the
alarm was gven,the guard turned out, and,
just as we were opposite great gun, an
applied a match. My mind
was filled with the accounts | had heard,
and what ! had seen myself of these en-
glnes; and when was now at no great
actually looking into the enor-
nous mouth, and saw lighted match ap,
Piled at the other end, | thought in one
it was all over with US. Provi-
dentially it burnt pruning, and before the
tardy Turks could replace the powder, we
had passed beyond the range Of the shot,