Weekly North Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1850-1858, 1853-12-07
NuMfBEn 1901.

IN. Dxen4sxzI.a 44lo11 Gates q Jnuu wers
opened when Rome sas e ~ - ti,eir mosier,
sPrototypeS the Dardanenes Stras(l - open only
when state Of war makes treaty s6poI yp;d,
ana the Porte deems Il to be necessary TO sdll
allies hruugh them to protect his capital The
counts We have are that they are now open for the
passage Of the British and French fleets z.
The Dardanclles from which the Strait, or HeIiS>
pont derives its name, four strong eastles buts
opposite TO eaeh on the European and Asste coasts
and are the keys Of Constantinople Two Of these
castles, the old castles, were raised by Mahommed
soon after the conquest of sConstantinople its-
l403 the other two, the new castles were built ms
the middle of the 18th century, to protect the Turks
against the fenetans The latter command the en-
trance to the Helespont and the distance from each
IS about two miles and quarter in hours sail up
the strait the old castles which are about tbres5
quarters of q mile apart. These are we'll mounted
with formidable batteries All along the European:
shore to the Marora the aspect of nature in its rti
gedness corresponds with the frown Of the guns
but the scenery on the Asiatic shore is Beautiful
The region abouuds too In splaces knous il elssslp
story Here It was Lcandcr paid his nightly visit e.
Hero here the illated hosts Of Xerxes crossed on .
bridge of boats here Solomon crossed on = bs4e
rail; and in modern time, here Byron swan from
Scstos to Alydos. e,sss..E - sat.3ss5ssss
These famous straits have been more than once
passed In ITO the Russian squadron, under EI-.
phistone, appeared before the tower castles and the
admiral actually went by without damage But the:
oehCi hot iOifOW MIN nc returned, with
drums and trumpcts sounding British feet un-
der Admiral Duckworth forced their passage in 1907
Duckworth, in his dispatch to his government, CIV
ing an account of this fact acknowledges that he r
a narrow chance. lie set sail on the morning of the
18th of February At quarter before nine, the
whole squadron, under tremendous fire, had pass
ed the outer castles at halfpast nine the leading ship
the Canopus entered the narrow passage of Sestos
and Alydos, under heavy esnnonade from both cas-.
ties, receiving stone shot of 500 pounds weight Each
ship, as it passed. had to endure this cannonade The
admiral remained before Constantnople until the Sd
of March, when his squadron of ten ships returned
In this interval the Turks had been SO busy thatthe
castles were made "doubly formidable" The admi-
raj weighed anchor in the morning ofthis day, and
"every ship in safety outside the passage about
noon" The admiral in his dispatch expresses his
"most lively sense Of his good fortune and admits
that had the Turks been allowed week longer, s it
would have been very doubtful point whether =
return would lay open to him at ALL" He lost ~
killed and 235 wounded. The Turks were SO indig-
nant at the escape Of the British fleet that they be-
leved that the governor of the Dardaneles Was
bribed by Duckworth, and beheaded him.
The Dardanclles are said to be in such formida-
bic condition as to be imprcgnable.
B,stoa Post