August 23, 1914 
LAND AND WATEB 
A TOPOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE 
WAR ZONE. 
By E. CHARLES VIVIAN. 
Aerschot,— A village midway between Loiivain and 
Diest. on the main road connecting these two points. 
AQlivari or Bar- — So called from its position opposite 
the Italian Bari, ia a town eighteen miles north-west from 
Scutari, near the Adriatic coast, and surrounded by dense 
forests of olive trees. The population is mainly Albanian, and 
amounts to about 1,600. The harbour will accommodate only 
vessels of light draught, but is well-protected. Antivari is 
about twenty miles distant from the Austrian frontier, and 
forms the most important harbour on the Montenegrin coast. 
Be1i;rade. — Capital of Servla, with a population of 
over 00,000, is the most important town in Servia, and one of 
the most important in the Balkan peninsula. It is situated at 
the confluence of the great rivers Save and Danube, on a trian- 
gular ridge, of which the southern side slopes up by way of the 
Avala Hill to the Shumadiya mountains of central Servia. At 
the northern end of the city, on a chalk ridge 200 feet above the 
river level, ia situated the citadel, and just opposite this the 
Hungarian town of Zimony stands on the other bank of the 
Danube. The position of Belgrade has always been considered 
one of great strategical importance, more especially as regards 
an advance against Hungarian territory. It is not of such great 
importance for an advance from Hungary to Servia, as its garrison 
can fall back on the hills toward which the city slopes from the 
river, and thus can command a succession of strong positions. 
I'rom Roman times onward the citadel of Belgrade has been 
garrisoned, and, previous to the Servian Government's authority, 
it was held by a Turkish garrison. Belgrade is said to have 
known more battles under its walls than any other fortress in 
Europe. It was delivered to the Scnians by Turkey in 1866. 
Brussels- — The capital of Belgium and of the Belgian 
province of Brabant, lies in the valley of the river Senne, which 
river, flowing through the city, is enclosed by an immense arch. 
In old times Brussels was strongly fortified, but at the present 
time it has little in the way of artificial defences ; its chief military 
station is the suburb of Etterbeck, where is accommodation for 
a large force of cavalry and artillery, together with a miUtary 
school and shooting ground. The Charleroi and Willebrocck 
canals meet in Brussels, and railway lines radiate from the city 
to Ostend, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Bale, Paris, Lille, and, in times 
of peace, to Berlin, St. Petersburg, and Vienna. The population 
of the communes comprised in the Government of Brussels is 
well over half a million. 
Cattaro. — Capital of the Government of the same name 
in Dalmatia, on the Austrian Adriatic coast. It is situated at 
the head of a winding gulf, of which the shores are hilly and 
strongly fortified. The garrison of Cattaro in normal times is 
about 1,500 men, and the total population of the town is about 
6,000, mainly Slav, with a German minority. Cattaro lies quite 
near the Montenegrin frontier, and, although well protected 
against attack from the sea by its system of forts, is liable to 
attack from superior heights on the Montenegrin side of the 
border, whence such fire can be brought to bear on the town 
and garrison as to make the position practically untenable. It 
is connected by road with Cettinjc, the capital of Montenegro, 
and by steamer service with Trieste. 
Chateau Salins. — A small town on the river Seille, 
in Gei-man Lorraine, twenty-five miles south-east from Metz. 
It is a railway junction for the Metz, Nancy, and Saargcmund 
lines of railway, and takes its name from a salt works in the 
neighbourhood. 
Chaudfontaine- — The fort of Chaudfontaine forms one 
of the most important points in the defence of Liege from the 
south-east. The village of the same name, in the vicinity of the 
fort, is situated on the Lii'gc-Verviers hne of rail, at about six 
miles distance from Liege. 
Colmar. — A German town in the territory of Alsace- 
Lorraine, forty miles south south-west from Strasbourg by the 
Strasbourg-Bale Une of rail. It is an important centre of trade 
for upper Alsace, and has a population upwards of iOfi()0. It 
is connected by rail with Mulhausea, £!trasbourg, Halstatt, 
Miia?ter, and Freibcrc;, and forms an important junction of the 
strategic railways of the German frontier system. 
Corroy Le Grand. — A village of the province of 
Brabant, about five miles south-east of the forts of "VVavre. 
Delle. — A frontier town in French Alsace, situated on 
the railway from Belfort to St. L^rsanne. Although situated on 
the Swiss frontier, Delle is the point of junction for two main 
roads from German Alsace. 
Diest. — A fortified town in the Belgian province of 
Brabant, thirty-eight miles south-east of Antwerp, with which 
it is connected by rail, on the Antwerp-Maestricht line. Also 
connected by rail with Brussels via Louvain. The population 
is over 8,000, and the fortifications are of only secondary 
importance. 
Eydtkuhnen. — The German frontier station on the 
line of rail from Konigsberg in Germany to Vilna in Western 
Russia. The corresponding station on the Russian side of the 
frontier is Wirballen. 
Hasselt. — The capital of the Belgian province of Limburg, 
forty-seven miles east of Brussels, and at an important junction of 
railway lines by which it is connected with Dutch and Belgian 
centres. The population is about 15,000. Hasselt is situated in 
wooded hilly country about midway between Diest and Maastricht 
on the Dutch frontier. 
Huy. — A town about midway between Liege and Namur, 
on <;he river Meuse and the Liege-Namur railway. Its 
principal industries are the extraction of coal and the manufacture 
of firearms, and it is a centre of considerable importance, standing 
in wooded, hilly country. 
Kiao-Chau. — This important Chinese port was seized 
in November, 1897, by the German Fleet, nominally in repara- 
tion for the murder by the Chinese of two German 
missionaries in the province of Shantung. The result was the 
leasing by the Chinese of the port and 117 square miles of territory 
on either side to Germany for a period of ninety-nine years, 
together with a further protected area. Large sums have been 
spent by Germany in the construction of a breakwater and the 
dredging of the harbour, and, since the expulsion of the Russians 
from Port Arthur, China and Japan have viewed with disapproval 
the existence of a fortified German port on the Chinese coast. The 
terms of the Japanese ultimatum of the 17th inst. provide for the 
dehvery, " on a date not later than September 15th, to the 
Imperial Japanese,Govcrment, without condition or compensation, 
the entire leased territory of Kiao-Chau, with a view to the 
eventual restoration of the same to China." 
Kiel CanaL — Known also as the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, 
is fifty-one miles in length, and connects the mouth of the Elbe 
with Kiel Bay at the western extremity of the Baltic. It is so 
constructed that vessels of the largest size can maintain a speed 
of ten miles an hour throughout its entire length, and is so defended 
that it is absolutely unassailable from the sea at cither end. The 
object of its con.struction was to double the fighting value of the 
German 'Na.vj, for any attacking fleet would have to maintain 
a blockade at the western end of the canal, and also would have 
to blockade the entrance to the Baltic, north of Denmark, in 
order to confine the German Fleet from the North Sea, while 
a third naval force would be necessary to prevent the German 
Fleet from taking action in the Baltic itself. The canal traverses 
the province of Holstein from west to east, and at its eastern 
end is situated the naval base of Kiel, on Kiel harbour, where 
sufficient accommodation is available for the whole of the German 
Fleet. There is no doubt that the canal, which was finished only 
a few months ago, adds enormously to the striking value of the 
German Navy, but it is generally considered, with the short 
experience afforded of its usefulness by the present war, that its 
value has been rather overrated. 
Liege. — Situated at the confluence of the Meuse and 
the Ourthe, Liege is one of the principal Belgian centres of 
industry, being engaged largelv in the production of coal and the 
manufacture of small arms, of which latter it produces more than 
a million pieces annually. Metal-smelting, tools, electrical 
machines, and railway material are also important products, 
while Lii'ge is the centre of several important industrial localities. 
The principal lines of communication are the Meuse and a canal 
which runs from Liege to Maastricht, while the railways run to 
Namur, Brussels, Hasselt, and Limbourg, to Maastricht, and to 
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