The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-07-03 00:00:00

TOWN AND FORTIFICATIONS OF SEBASTOPOL.

Nov. 13th.—We went on shore very early to Colonel
Semenow's, and actually found him getting ready (nobody is
ever ready here except for dinner),. and 31dRe. Rosen's horse
saddled in the yard, with another for Drinkwater. We sallied
forth in the wind and rain, and went over the whole of the
lines, from some points of which there are beautiful views of
the harbour and roads.
The roadstead, or great harbour of Sebastopol, is formed by
the little river Omen, or Tchernaya, which, running down in
a westerly direction from Inkerman, expands, at about four
miles from the sea, into a large and deep creek, sheltered by
high land, and capable of containing a numerous fleet. The
southern shore of the roadstead is (commencing from its
entrance) indented by several lesser creeks, between which
are high ridges, or tongues of land, sloping down to the
water's edge, and ending in low points. At the point of the
first, or westernmost ridge, as you enter the roadstead, is
placed the Alexander Battery, with barracks on the high
ground behind it. The second ridge is occupied by the town
of Sebastopol, and rises up to a considerable height with
regular streets to the telegraph, a little above which it ter-
minates abruptly with a deep ravine, at the bottom of which
is the lagoon at the head of the south harbour. The point of
the third ridge is called Paul's Point.
The bay (a small one) between the Alexander Battery and
the town is called Artillery Bay, on the town shore of which
are the barracks of the artillery.
Between the town and Paul's Point, the south harbour as
it is termed, runs inland the whole length of the town, which
overlooks it all the way. This south harbour has again a
small inlet just within Paul's Point, which is called the Ship's
Bay.
The general plan of the land fortification of Sebastopol is to
embrace with a single line of entrenchment, with redoubts at
seven or eight of the most commanding angles, the great
ridge of land upon which Sebastopol is built, together with
the adjacent harbour, barracks, and public works !
In pursuance of this view, the line of entrenchment com-
mences with the Alexander Battery, on the point of the
western ridge, at the entrance of the great harbour. From
thence it runs, with a wide sweep to the southward, along
the commanding crest of the high ground behind Artillery
Bay, till it crosses the head of the inner harbour, where that
inlet becomes merely a shallow lake. To have included it
with the deep valley in which it terminates within the lines
would have extended them too much, so the work is carried
across the water by a fortified causeway a good distance above
the shipping, and up the other bank, where, continuing over
the height, it terminates in a battery upon the shore of the
outer harbour, close to the new aqueduct, constructed by Mr.
Upton, for bringing water from Inkerman. to Sebastopol.

The book contains much shrewd observation, dis-
played without ostentation, and arranged with great
practical sagacity. In more places than one he ex-
presses disapprobation of that false liberalism, which
enabled foreign nations generally, and Russia in parti-
cicular, to become minutely familiar with the contents
and management of our arsenals and dockyards, our
fortresses and military stations, and the exact extent
of our naval and military armaments. In one portion
of his journal, he minutely describes a foreign officer
being instructed in seamanship on board an English
man-of-war, and, with proper disapprobation of such
a proceeding, concludes,—" I must say I cannot dis-
cover the advantages of instructing other nations in
our practical seamanship, merely because we happen to
be at peace with them at the present time." Of course
no one could discover the advantage to Britain of such
a line of tuition ; but it is not impossible that some of
the pro-Russian faction, which is scattered here and
there in English society, may now be able to point out
the benefits we have obtained in return for such
Quixotic liberality.

The History of England from the Invasion of
Julius Ccesar to the Accession of Queen Victoria.
By Hume and Smollett, with a continuation by the
Rev. T. S. Hughes. London : George Bell.

This handsome cabinet edition of the great English
History has now reached its sixteenth volume, the
fifteenth bringing the work down to the year 1809.
It continues to be got up with spirit and taste ; is
accurately and beautifully printed, and, notwithstand-
ing that it is copiously illustrated by high-class en-
gravings, it is published at a remarkably low price;

Land, Labour, and Gold ; or, Two Years in Vic-
toria. With Visits to Sydney and Van Diemen's
Land. By W. Howitt. London: Longman and Co.
Nearly'all the world has of late years heard less or
more of William Howitt, and not a few will remember,
with feelings the reverse of gratifying, the intense and_
virulent, some said the discreditable part, which an in-
dividual bearing that name took in respect to the
property in a periodical called the " People's Journal,"
a work which was conducted with considerable spirit,
and claimed to teach the people all manner of public
and private virtue. A difference occurred in reference
to the pecuniary affairs of the periodical, and then the
virtues of self-denial, meek and long-enduring charity,
and brotherly love, appeared to receive such a read-
ing as our remote ancestors believed those fabulous
creatures " The Witches" bestowed on their prayers.
In this unseemly dispute, the name of William Howitt
figured somewhat prominently, and at its conclusion
the name, like the last Pleiade, shot suddenly out of
the reach of human vision, and was lost to memory.
Some said the individual bearing it had migrated, and,
in the present instance, a book appearing under the
name of one so circumstanced, leads not unnaturally
to the conclusion that it may have been written by
him ; and, in the belief that such may, be the case, we
have undertaken its perusal with the caution called
for in examining the testimony of a witness who had
himself created a prejudice against its value.
The pictures of society presented by Mr. Howitt
lead to very unprepossessing impressions of the pre-
sent condition of that land to which so many thou-
sands of our enterprising countrymen have flocked
of late years ; and in which so many of them have en-
countered only bitter disappointment and a lingering
death. Still, with all its drawbacks of moral turpi-
tude—its illustrations of individual defeat of purpose
—and its black catalogue of crime, Mr. Howitt sees
in it a land of present plenty and of future hopes, He
is eloquent in denouncing the improvidence which
besets and accompanies too many of the emigrants,
who, stimulated by exaggerated hope of fortune at the
" Gold-fields," exhibit a woeful amount of apathy in

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SUPPL

respect to the pittances they have saved out of their
labour or patrimony, and which would be invaluable
to them in their new.home ; but which, with charac-
teristic carelessness, they squander in wanton indul-
gence; or recklessly waste in gambling, when they
first reach the colony, and which not unfrequently
within a week throws them penniless and beggared
upon the resources of an unknown land. The " dig-
gings" naturally occupy an important portion of con-
sideration ; and Mr. Howitt, with his own pencil and
through the aid of his friends, draws numerous pic-
tures of men and manners, of society and morals, as
these are exhibited among the newly-formed class,
" the diggers," the majority of which are greatly more
characteristic than pleasing ; yet, in most instances,
they seem to bear the impress of faithful as well as
spirited delineation. That there are sensible and
prudent, as well as very sharp men engaged in the
exciting lottery of " 0.61. digging," it would be absurd
to doubt ; but it woulde be equally unwise to deny that
a large proportion of them have few claims to be so
considered. Mr. Howitt gives the following picture
of the Bendigo operations, and of