It is a peculiar fact that Saloniki, one of the largest cities on the peninsula, with a population considerably over a hundred thousand, should represent none of the national elements of the country.  For though Bulgars, Turks, Greeks, and Serbs may be found there, an overwhelming majority, nearly 90,000 of the people, are Spanish Jews.

Walking along the streets, it would be easy to imagine oneself in Spain or in Mexico; on all sides the shouts of peddlers, the cries of cabmen, the conversation of pedestrians, are in Spanish.  With a knowledge of that language the stranger may make his way about as easily as in his own native country.  These are the descendants of the Jews who were driven out of Spain by Torquemada and his Spanish Inquisition and were so hospitably received by the Sultan of Turkey.

Saloniki, where we shall witness severe battles, is situated at the head of the gulf by the same name, an inlet of the AEgean Sea.  It is a well-fortified city, built on the water’s edge, but surrounding it is high land commanding the surrounding country.  Added to that, the swamp region is another protection from an enemy coming from inland.  Its seaward forts, however, are, or were, obsolete and would probably crumble before the fire of modern naval guns.

Stretching down the eastern shore of the Gulf is a peninsula on which is the famous Mt.  Athos, that very peculiar community of celibate monks.  Here, in the Holy Mountain, as the Slavs call it, there are monasteries representing all the various denominations of the Greek Orthodox Church:  Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Russian, each swarming with hundreds of monks, who pass their time in idleness.  Not only are women forbidden to enter this domain, but even female dogs or cats are kept out.

Across this upper end of the AEgean, from Mt.  Athos, is the Bulgarian port, Dedeagatch, to which runs a branch of the main railway from Sofia to Constantinople.  The country here is low and swampy, the port itself being little more than a boat landing.

Just below this point, across the Gulf of Saros, is the peninsula of Gallipoli, where a critical phase of the war was fought.  It is somewhat like the blade of a scimitar, covering the entrance to the Sea of Marmora.  Between this strip of land and the coast of Asia Minor is a narrow strait, the outer mouth of which is called the Dardanelles, the inner gateway being the famous Hellespont.  Here it was that Xerxes crossed over on a bridge of boats at the head of his Persian army to invade Greece, only to meet disaster at Thermopylae, and here Alexander of Macedonia crossed over to begin his march of conquest which was to extend his power as far as India.  And about this narrow strait is centered the ancient Greek myth about Hero and Leander, which inspired Byron to swim across from Asia to Europe.

How well the Turks have fortified this approach to their capital is well enough indicated in the story of the operations of the allied fleets in their attempt to force the passage.