slow. Shells from the various ships screaming through the air at the
rate of about one every two minutes.

The Turkish batteries, however, were not to be drawn, and, seeing this,
the British Admiral sent one British ship and one French ship close in
shore toward the Sedd-el-Bahr forts. As they went in they sped right
under the guns of the shore batteries, which could no longer resist the
temptation to see what they could do. Puffs of white smoke dotted the
landscape on the far shore, and dull booms echoed over the placid water.
Around the ships fountains of water sprang up into the air. The enemy
had been drawn, but his marksmanship was obviously very bad. Not a
single shot directed against the ships went within a hundred yards of
either.

At sundown on account of the failing light Admiral Carden withdrew the
fleet. On account of the bad weather the attack was not renewed until
February 25th. It appeared that the outer forts had not been seriously
damaged on the 19th, and that what injury had been done had been
repaired. In an hour and a half the Cape Helles fort was silenced. The
Agamemnon was hit by a shell fired at a range of six miles, which killed
three men and wounded five. Early in the afternoon Sedd-el-Bahr was
attacked at close range, but not silenced till after 5 P.M. At this time
British trawlers began sweeping the entrance for mines, and during the
next day the mine field was cleared for a distance of four miles up the
straits.

As soon as this clearance was made the Albion, Vengeance and Majestic
steamed into the strait and attacked Fort Dardanos, a fortification some
distance below the Narrows. The Turks replied vigorously, not only from
Dardanos but from batteries scattered along the shore. Believing that