LAND AND WATER. 
July. 3, 1915. 
In" the Straits and reaching the Sea of Marmara, 
tbou<^h esceedinglv perilous, is not impossible. 
On the other hand, these craft cannot be ot 
Bervice in the Straits themselves, where they 
would immediately be observed were they to come 
into action anywhere near the Narrows, and 
^Y0uld be subjected to fire at close range. 
We may take it that submarine work has 
made transport straight through the Sea of Mar- 
laara past Gallipoli to Maidos or Kilidbahr (1:.) 
from the main base at Constantinople very difh- 
cult indeed for the enemy. Perhaps he has 
already ceased to attempt it. 
But there is an alternative open to him, 
though a much less easy one. This is to take men 
and munitions round by land down the Asiatic 
shore of the Strait and ferry them across from F 
to E at or just above the Narrows. It is impos- 
sible to conmiand the waterway by a chance m- 
t.irect fire from the Fleet. Even by daylight the 
observation of such fire is at the mercy of the 
weather. By night it is impossible. But the 
burden of moving heavy munitions down the 
Asiatic shore where the roads are mere tracks is 
a very hea\'V one. 
there are, however, two things which must 
be noted in this connection. First, that the 
very ample notice of attack enabled the enemy to 
accumulate very large stores indeed on the Galli- 
poli side of the Straits; and, secondly, that the 
transport of munitions down the Asiatic shore 
and across the water, though difficult, is feasible. 
H. BELLOC. 
AN APPEAL FROM THE FLEET, 
To OuE Readers. 
A request has reached us from a naval chaplain serving 
on one of the ships doing duty in the North Sea to the effect 
that we should enlist the aid of our readers to provide a yachfi 
piano to be used at services, concerts, and generally for tha 
recreation of the men of the Fleet. By way of reply a fund 
has been opened and instant response obtained in the form 
of two subscriptions of two guineas each toward the purchase 
of such a piano. 
We rely on the generosity of our readers for the re- 
mainder of the necessary total — namely, forty guineas. No 
fund could be more worthy of consideration. The work that 
the men of the Fleet have to perform is arduous and exacting 
in the last degree j opportunities of recreation are few, and, 
although the physical well-being of the men has been studied 
to the full, means of recreation for them have not been given 
an equal amount of consideration. The presence of a piano on 
board a ship of the Fleet means the difference between real 
pleasure to the men and day-long monotony; the men them- 
selves are engaged in work that is most vital to the safety of 
the nation, and it may be added that they are risking their 
lives every day, and every hour of the day, to ensure our 
national safety and well-being. We are confident that our, 
readers will respond to the chaplain's appeal and will thus 
assist in furthering the welfare of nsen of the Fleet. 
Any subscription, however small, will be gratefully ro- 
ceived and instantly acknowledged by the Editor of Land 
AKD Wateb. 
MR. HILAIRE BELLOC'S WAR LECTURES. 
Mr. Hilaiie Belloi;"s neit lecture at the Queen's Hall is on Tuesday, 
July 13. 
Mr. Hilaire Belloc will Icrture at ihe Speech Hall, Wi-combe Abbey, 
High Wycombe, at 8.15, oq Wednesday, July 7, 
THE WAR BY WATER. 
By A. H. POLLEN. 
^OTE.— This article has been submitted to the Press Bureau, which does not object to the publication as censored, and talies n« 
responsibility {or the correctness o{ the statements. 
WITH the German and Austrian fleets 
confined to their harbours, and with 
every movement of the British, 
French, and Italian fleets quite 
rightly shrouded in mystery, it inevitably 
happens that the development of the naval war 
is tediously uneventful and that the principal 
interest of the campaign is more in its conse- 
quences than its obvious happenings. Indeed, 
events at sea have practically been confined for 
several weeks to the doings of the submarines of 
one side or the other. 
I have sometimes thought this page should be 
beaded " The War Under Water " instead of 
" The War By Water." This week, for instance, 
there is no news except submarine news. Of the 
attack on the Roxburgh we have tlie British ver- 
sion, which says that the ship got into port, and 
the German version, which gives the position of 
the attack as having taken place 100 miles east 
of the Firth of Forth. This is right in the centre 
of where submarines have been operating against 
merchant ships. We must f),ssume, therefore, that 
the Roxburgh knew that she was in dangerous 
waters and would have taken the usual precaution 
of going at high speed. The encounter, therefore, 
Vvas probably undesigned on both sides; in other 
IBrords, we shall be probably safe in assuming that 
the Roxburgh ran into the submarine, and not' 
that the submarine manoeuvred to attack the Rox- 
burgh. It is fortunate that the torpedo struck 
her where no fatal injury ensued. 
Then, again, there is an apparently well- 
authenticated story of the fact that a Gei'man 
submarine was destroyed off Borkum, either bv 
some spontaneous internal explosion or through 
accidentally fouling a mine. Since the war began 
we have already lost more than one submarine by, 
accident, and we know of no other German sub- 
marine that has succumbed in a similar w^ay; but 
it seems unreasonable to suppose that others have 
not been lost of w^iich we know nothing. 
Two long and circumstantial telegrams^ — one 
from Athens and one from Rome — describe the 
British submarines as extremely active in the Sea 
of Marmara. Indeed the latter correspondent 
declares that they are established there with their 
own secret petrol stores, and that the Turkish 
transport service is entirely held up. This seenls 
much too good to be true. But after the exploits 
of Ell and El4, it is not unreasonable to suppose 
that more submarines will be sent and kept con- 
stantly active on the lines of the Turkish com- 
munications, and hence that the problem of main- 
taining the enemy forces in full strength at 
Achibaba, not only in men, but, what is far more 
