December 4, 19x5. 
LAND AND WATER. 
I 
THE ENEMY ADVANCE IN 
MACEDONIA. 
By HILAIRE BELLOC. 
NOTE. — This Article lias bcsn submitted to the Press Bureau, which doss not object to th; publication as censored, and takes no 
responsibility for the correctness of the statements. 
In accordanc: with the requirements of the Press Bureau, the positio.ns of troops on Plans illustrating th'S Article roust only be 
regarded as approximate, and no definite strength at any point is indicated. 
THE week which comes to a close at the side and the Borse on the other. It is marked 
moment of writing has been almost X X on Sketch L This shght elevation dominates 
without noticeable incident on any of all the neighbouring river and Island* 
the fronts with the exception of a small 
affair at the farm of Borsemund, up the river 
some miles from Riga, which deceived some ob- 
servers of the war into believing that another 
vigorous enemy attack was preparing in that 
region. 
But though the week has been almost devoid 
of local incident it looks as though the moment in 
which we stand will mark the beginning of two 
very considerable things, one the enemy advance 
against the AUies in Macedonia ; the other the 
enemy effort for peace. I will deal first with the 
affair at Borsemund. and then with the t^^'o larger 
matters. 
THE AFFAIR OF BORSEMUND. 
The hght at Borsemund isthehfthorsi.xththat 
has taken place over the same ground during the 
last few montlis. Sharp as it was, it is dilhcult 
to believe that it was more than a demonstration. 
But at any rate it was made in some force, and 
the nature of the effort will be best understood if 
we refresh our memory with a sketch map of the 
district and repeat certain essentials with regard 
to the position in front of Riga. 
As the reader knows, Riga stands just above 
the mouth of the Dwina river, where that stream 
falls into the Gulf of Riga. About five miles up- 
stream from the town, with its road and railway 
bridges, an island, called Dahlen Island, about 
four miles long, stands in the river. Much the 
larger branch of the stream goes to the north of it. 
The narrower branch runs to the south. Almost 
at the further or eastern apex of this island, just 
within the beginning of the narrow branch of the 
Dwina, falls in the little stream of the Borse, and 
in the peninsula between the Borse and the Dwina 
stands the farm of Borsemund named from its 
position c n tl e river. 
It is clear that if a serious effort were to be 
attempted for the crossing of the Dwina— the 
immediate object of all the work in this field— this 
locality would offer great advantages. Supposing 
the triangle of Borsemund, between the Dwina 
and the Borse were solidly occupied, the passage 
over to Dahlen Island would be facilitated. It 
would be (i) over a narrow piece of water (2) a 
piece of water where the stream is less rapid than 
in the mam branch to the north, and (3) at a place 
where pontoons could be floated down from the 
Borse stream for the construction of a bridge. There 
is more than this. The end of the triangle between 
the Borse and the Dwina. the farmstead iitself 
is flat. But immediately above it is slightly 
higher land, which falls in a steepish bank dowr^ 
to the North and South over to thf Dwina on r-nc 
Farm oi^ <^„> 
Borsemund 
cl 
5 
_L_ 
10 
MILES 
J 
The occupation of Dahlen Island would not 
mean necessarily the command of the crossing of 
the Dwina. On the contrary, Dahlen Island has 
been occupied by the enemy once at least, and 
perhaps twice, in the past, according to the 
accounts we have received in the West, and yet he 
has been driven out of it. But a position solidly 
established at Dahlen Island would be a good 
preliminary to crossing. It would have behind it 
the narrow branch of the Dwina and the tributary 
Borse for the floating of the pontoons further on to 
the broader branch, and it seems, by the accounts 
received, to be ground upon which a very con- 
siderable force of men could be massed, under 
protection, of course, of the heavy artillery upon 
the bluff of the southern bank. Further, a group of 
small islands to the North faciUtates a crossing : 
and half the island is wooded, giving good cover. 
According to the Russian description of the 
affair, about 20,000 of the enemy were got together 
for the attack of last week, and their first offensive 
succeeded. They cleared the triangle of ground 
between the Borse and the lesser branch of 
the Dwina and established themselves upon the 
heights overlooking the triangle as well as upon the 
[Copyngfit in America by " The New York American," 
