Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-07-09
THE NEW SEAT OF WAR.
Bulgaria ana the RRIBkHD PasyeE-
strategic Features o the Country.

strategic Features II the Country.
Gen. Mcclellan in North American
The portion of the Bulgarian
plain between Traian's wall and
Bazardiik is quite as desolate aud
as destitute Of wood and water, SO
that troops marching through the
middle OF this desert must contend
against the total absence of the
necessaries Of life during a march
Of about one hundred and twenty
miles. The rest of the Bulgarian
plain, between the Danube and the
Balkan, is very different. The soil
is rich loan, and in the wet sea-
son well nigh impaSsable. The
roads are bad, and there are no
bridges except such as have been
constructed of late years on the
main roads through Shumla and
Varna. In the winter there is
much snow, the summers are hot,
the autumns dry. Until the early
summer the ground is carpeted
everywhere with verdure; the slopes
of the valleysare covered with trees,
the streams bordered by green
meadows, and wherever cultivation
extends there are abundant crops
of grain. In the autumn vegetation
withers and water is scarce. The
population is crowded into large
villages, where there are abundant
stores and provisions. The inhabi-
tants are agricultural and pastoral.
The towns are either on the Dan
ube or at the foot of the Balkans.
In the former the Moslems, in the
latter the Christians predominate.
The Bulgarians are inclined toward
the Russians by their Slavonic ori-
gin and Greek faith, and hate the
Turks, who have long plundered
and oppressed them. The only
railroads in Bulgaria are the short
lines from Kostendji to Rassova
and from Varna to Rustchuk. Once
across the Danube the Russians are
masters of Bulgaria to the Balkan
range, except the ground covered
by the fire of the fortresses and in
trenched camps.
To hold Bulgaria the passes of
the Balkan must be secured; to
dictate peace in Adrianople or Con-
stantinople, these passes must be
carried and traversed. So that
when they have overcome the diff
culties Of the Danube the Russians
next find the Balkan athwart their
path. At its western extremity the
Balkan unites with the range
t-syersing Albania and Dalmstia,
and connects with the mountain
system of herzegovina aud Seryia ;
near Sophia it sends out to the
north an otfshot which connects
it with the Carpathian range, and
it is through this oifshoot that the
Danube forces its way at the Iron
Gates. The greatest elevation of
the main Balkan range is to tile
! west Of the sources of the Jantra
and Tundscha, that is, west OF
Kassanlik and Tirnoya, where the
SUBMITS are covered with snow
until midsummer. Thence to the
sources Of the Kamtschik the ele-
yaHon is not over FIVE thousand
feet, and farther east not more than
four thousand feet.
The prevailing character Of the
range is that of richly wooded
round hills, IL is only in the val
leys Chat masses of rock are found
The southern slope is by far the
most steep. On the northern side
is a parallel range Of foothills, diff
fering much from the main range
These foothills are of limestone,
With fat tops, often falling off al
The sides IN perpendicular walls
from one hundred 10 two hundred
feet in hight, and forming Sipgp.
lar dehles. Toward the bottom Of
Che valleys the face of the rock
slopes more gradually as it de
} scends. The hill tops apo noI
easily accessible, and are covered
not with the magnificent trees O
the main range, but with denst
brushwOod. For long distancel
. from the foot of the lower rangl