The New York herald., 1877-10-01

nred TO try the range which brought tho batta0ns
standsti but Il was not repeated and they went on
also that al The close OF the action on rnursda,
evening tho Turks dragged heavy Krupp gun up te
a commanding position The ridge ana fired al lonl
rsnge into the retrcating columns. Tho first sho
went over them, but the next burst In their mds
and caused general stampede, completing their dis
comnturc ! also hear II confirmed that tho Clrcas
sians aud bsshi-bazouKs behaved very badly anc
themselves to be thoroughly useless for fight
ing. They away when the Russians opened ars
and only returned In tho evening when all quiet
MEnEMEr ALI's ATTACK ON RUSSIANS ON THE
LoM-cAPTuRE OF KARAHAssAN.
CAMP OF THE TURKISH ARMY,
SARSAsUFLAR, August 80, 1877
The two days fighting which gave the allied armies
OF Nehemel All and Prince Hassan command OF the
Heights Of Kiritchen. the right bank Of the LON
opposite to the villages OF Popken and Aiaslar have
becE followed by . brilliant engagement, which has
brought the Turks up the river for ut least another
ton miles OF It's From Osman Bazaar northward
far as karahassankcni. a distance Of twenty five
miles, the headwaters and upper course OF the
western branch OF the Lom nhe Kara, or "Black''
LON, IL is callcd) arc in the grasp OF the Turco-
Egyptian army and the whole position between those
two points is absolutely mprecnabe TO any forces the
Russians could bring against It. You haye, no doubt,
heard good deal lately about tho ne OF the LON -
and, as 1t is military expression which seems likely
80 become famous the history OF war. few words
as 70 the topography oi the country raversed by tho
now celebrated ltto stream may not be out OF place.
rHg RIVER LON.
II is easy to get distinct idea OF tho nature OF
the and the district wae.ed by It, even with tn
assistance OF the beet maps. In tho Austrian Ord
nance Survey. which, although abouEdng with mac
curaces is tho best large scale map Of tho seat OF
war there arc three Ions, which unto and TORN a
single stream whle in Kieperts general maps OF Tur
key in Europe two branches only are shown. have
been over much OF the ground along the river and be
tween the branches and have thus been able to form
an idea of the general topogr Apply, which amount
OF poring over maps could givc. The simple namc
LON is applied only TO the main stream between the
confluence Of the branches and the town OF Rust.
chuk where IL discharges it's waters into the Danube
At a distance of only twelve miles above ts en-
bouchure and ncar the village OF Iovan Cftiik, the
river divides itself into two branches; tho eastern
branch 10 called the Bell, or ''White" LON, and the
western the Kara, "Black" Lom. Four miles abovo
tho confluence of these two branches tho Bell Lom re-
ceives a tributary, which flows between them in a
nearly parallel 10 that OF the Kara Lom and at
an average distance OF about eight miles This little
tributary Of the Bell Lom does not appear
to have any recognized name. In one por-
tion OF its course 1t Is called tho Soienik,
and little higher up 1t assumes the name OF tho
united stream ana Is spoken OF .'tho Lom." This
Hs
arises from the fact that this whole system of
Turks who worry careless Of proper Names all OF
them simply the Lom. Now that tho this
side OF the Jantra Is extending along the banks Of the
Kara Lom, and people arc beginning to talk Of the
slime OF the Lom,"i 1t IN we'll TO bear in mind the
OF the river and tho topography Of the
country through which 1t flows. In the first place,
then it and its branches srivers which in mauy
places man, and in most places, horse, could jump
The .Iine OF the Lom' need not therefore, convey
idea OF formidable physical obstacle between the
wo armies.
BELL LON.
The eastern. or Bell LON, is the smaller and sh orter
Of the two main branches; but the important OF
Rasgrad situated upon IT, and the main road from
that place to Rustchuk follows its course
for some distance. Between the Bell and the Kara
LON lows the doubly named tributary which have
and which think II will be conve-
nient to call the Middle Lom. This little brook is
about tho same length the Bell LON; upon IL and
near II are the villages OF Spahilar Kesil, Murad,
Sadina, Kostantcha and Solcnik.
THE KARA LON
The Kara Lom Is the most important stream OF the
SYSTEM which, aitor what have said as 10 s s,zo is
saying much for tho othcrs and present repre-
itself the '1ine of the Iom" II rises west of
EskI Djuma, In tho group OF lofty hills known tho
Derbcnd Balkan, and flows for the first part Of It's
course in a northory direction, past tho largo villages
of Jazer or Alaslar sultankeni Popkeni apd Hadar-
keni all OF which are situated on the left, wo
may cali IL the Russian bank Thence it runs in
direction past the small hamlets OF
Gagova, Polmarca, opaka, Kulcwtscna name OF III
omen to tho Tork), Ab!ava and ostrica the left,
and Karahsssankeni Ogartchin and Kuceljevo on the
right bank; whence II resumes its northerly course
and emptes into the Danube at Rustcnuk At tho
place where the stream again to the northward
II is just twenythree miles distant from Biea the
headquarters of the Russian army. Taking into cal
cuation all The wndings and bends of the Kara LON
should say IL is the longest river in the world;
but tho actual distance from its source to
its mouth is just fifty miles The Maander
itself with all Its mcanderings nothing 10 the Kara
LON. Its course cs through q broad, unduatng
alluvial valley in which thero Is apparently nothing
to prevent straight bed, but IL flows north, south,
east and west in a compass OF halt a mile When II
ought TO be on lis way toward It's homo in tue Danube
IL bankers after its cradle in the Derbend Balkan and
instead Of remaining the middle Of its valley it goes
OF AT tangent from side SIDE, though paying al
ternate visits the hills which shut in. Moreover.
hall the time you i at ALL for it is buried
deep down beneath steep banks, and II is only when
you come suddenly upon the edgc OF the miniature
cliffs that you are made aware Of its existence.
THE VALLEY
Throughout almost the whole OF its course The VAL
ley OF the Kara LON is bounded on the right bank OF
the river by lofty hills, often wooded TO the summit,
which dominate the opposite side. Ths is especially
remarkable in the nTst half OF its course, where the
hlsthe Kiritchen they are cacd--on the ono side
may almost be termed mountains. Soon after leaving
the village Of Kucejevo the river enters the downs,
which fringe tho Danube and the characteristics Of
the two sides Of the valley becomes Identical.
The Kara Lom receives the waters OF many tributary
brooks which now down from the hills ON either sidc
through well marked, lateral valleys The chief OF
these is winding little stream called the Banicka
LON, which rises not far east of Bela joins tho
Kara LON about eighteen miles from Rustchuk. II Is
possible that If all COOS we'll with the Turks the
Bancka LON may form defensive line for the Rus
slams at somo not very distant day.
THE HEIGHTS LON
The three Ions are divided from each other by two
ranges OF heights, which descend sharply down to tho
vala in Uh ich faa nou