The peninsula is connected with the mainland by the isthmus of Bulair, which is but three miles across from beach to beach. From Bulair the peninsula runs in a south-westerly direction for fifty-two miles, and near its centre broadens out to its greatest width of twelve miles. The shores of the northern half of the peninsula slope steeply to the Gulf of Xeros from a chain of hills which extend as far south as Cape Suvla. On this part of the coast the cliffs rise up almost from the water's edge, and there are no landing-places except a few gullies which are too narrow for military movements. Sir Ian Hamilton,[43] the accomplished general who commanded our forces in Gallipoli, tells us that the southern half of the peninsula resembles a badly-worn boot with the ankle between Gaba Tepe and Maidos; beneath the heel lies the cluster of forts at the Narrows, while at the toe we find the strongholds which were reduced by the gun fire of our ships on 25th February. At first sight the interior of the peninsula from Suvla Bay southwards looks like a choppy sea which has been suddenly frozen. If, however, we look closely at the map on page 168, we shall be able to make out three prominent features. Running right across the toe of the peninsula from sea to sea, at a distance of three and a half miles from Cape Helles, is a ridge which rises in its highest part to the Achi Baba peak, 591 feet above sea level. Big guns on this ridge command all the toe of the peninsula, which is hollowed out something like the bowl of a spoon, so that only the outer edges can be shelled directly from the sea. The inside of the bowl is not level, but is filled up with numerous spurs and gullies. Now look at the forts of the Narrows. Behind them is a plateau--the Kilid Bahr plateau--which rises in the peak of Pasha Dagh to a height of 700 feet above the level of the sea, and extends westwards for about five miles. The Achi Baba ridge, you observe, is the buttress and outlying defence of this plateau on the south. To the north-west of the plateau you see a network of high hills with very steep sides and deep ravines. This is the Sari Bair mountain, which forms the buttress and outlying defence of the Kilid Bahr plateau on the north. Some of its peaks are nearly 800 feet high. I have already told you that the forts at the Narrows are the real defence of the Dardanelles. We had already failed to capture them by a naval attack. If, however, we could reach the Kilid Bahr plateau by land, we could attack the forts from the rear--the side on which they are least capable of resistance. But, as you notice, nature has made this plateau very difficult of access. An invader from the south must first carry the Achi Baba ridge before he can reach it, and if he lands south of Suvla Point he must fight his way across the Sari Bair.