The Press.
London, England, 1855-06-30 00:00:00

THE SEA OF AZOFF.

The termination for the moment of operations in
the Sea of Azoff, together with the general results of
the expedition, are described by a correspondent of
the Times who writes from Kertch on the 13th inst.
subjoin some extracts from his letter :

'f he mission of the fleet and army having been accom-
plished, the force is on its way homewards. Sir George
Brown and his staff are embarked. The admirals are at
Ambalaki. The troops are on board, with the exception
of those who are ordered to remain in garrison at Yenikale
and Pavlovskaia, and we leave the roadsteads this after-
noon for Balaklava and Kamiesch. It has been decided to
occupy Pavlovskaia, because it is in a fine position to com-
mand the entrance to Kertch and Yenikale, at a place
where the channel is narrowed by one of the sandbanks
from Taman to the breadth of a mile and a half. The
lines which have been thrown up around Yenikale are ex-
tremely strong; they are of the moat massive and durable
character, and reflect great credit on the engineers who de-
signed and superintended their construction. They inclose
the ramparts of the old town, and present on every side
towards the land a broad ditch, a steep parapet, defended
by redoubts, and broken into batteries, which are aided by
the fire of the pieces on the walls. In fact, the place is
lost to Russia so long as we like to keep it. The spits or
banks which formed such important natural defences of
the position are now in our hands, or are, at least, rendered
useless to the enemy, and are converted into an ingredient
of our strength. As long as we have a gun-boat no Russian
will dare to march on these open arid roads.
The Crimea is morally lost to Russia if the allies deter-
mine to carry out their successes to a legitimate result.
Already the Tartars have, as far as they dared, evinced
their hatred of the oppressors whose final conquest of the
Crimea does not outrun the memory of men still living.
They have seized on Russians and brought them in as
prisoners. The other night a party of Tartan carried a
Russian captain and an officer of the commissariat., or a
paymaster of a regiment, bound fast, into the allied lines
at Yenikale. They reported that the Cossacks, in parties
thirty and forty strong, were ranging through the villages
and driving away all the cattle at the distance of thirty
verats from Yenikale. The strength of these parties shows
that they are afraid of the native population, but I do not
believe the least reliance is to be placed on the Tartars for
any movement of importance, so demoralised and down-
trodden are they, and so destitute of arms and military or-
ganisation, and of the ability to use them. They are at-
tached to their religion and fond of the traditions of their
race. They relate with a sort of lazy delight apocryphal
stories of the bravery and courage of their ancestors, but
they show no desire to emulate them. The actual popula-
tion of the Crimea has decreased rapidly under the
influence of the harsh administration of Russia, and its
sudden accessions under Prince Woronzoff have been more
than compensated by the losses which it underwent during
the rule of Prince Idenscbikoff. The Tartars have no
element of strength or power in them now, and it would
be as useless to establish them as an independent Power,
or even as lieges of the Porte, as it would be to reconstruct
the duchy of Loraine or the kingdom of Lietrim. But
what is to become of them ? What is to be done for the
poor creatures who have compromised themselves beyond
all redemption with the authorities by their co-operation
with the allies ? Those who have done so are to be num-
bered by tens of thousands. In justice and in pity we are
bound, whatever comes, to Covez these poor people with

SATURDAY?,

the cloak at least of an amnesty. We must trust to the
honour of Russia to carry it out, and we had better not lift
up the hem of the,eloak, perhaps, to see what is going on
underneath. But, whatever happens, let the dream of a
Crimean independence be dismissed from every European
brain av soon as eyes can be rubbed and opened. The
Crime have been twice subdued in a few years, and they are
about as fit to form a State, whether independent oroubject
to a sovereign power, as the descendants of the ancient
Salons would be to restore the Heptarchy. The very
disquisition on such a subject is, however, hopeful. Six
months ago few people indeed would have thought of the
terms on which the Crimea would be ceded to Russia, or
have bestowed a thought on the fate of the Crim Tortoni.
CRIMEAN COOKERY.

M. Boyer thus reports progress concerning the
culinary reforms which he has been so successfully
accomplishing at Scutari and in the Crimea:—
Having with Mr. Bracebridge and several " Sisters of
Charity" accompanied Miss Nightingale to the Crimes, feu•
the purpose of organising and improving if required the
hospital there, in accordance with those on the banks of
the Bosphorus, and I to introduce my new diet, already in
practice at Constantinople, likewise to teach our brave
brothers at arms to cook, if possible, as well as they can
fight—the latter they know how to do, while the former
they had to learn—l can assure you that though my new
pupils are rather numerous, numbering between 80,000
and 40,000, I do not despair of being able to considerably
ameliorate their present system of cooking, with the ready
assistance I received from head-quarters and the superior
officers throughout the camp. I have now returned for a
short time to Constantinople, to see if the new diet is
carefully carried out, and to station a civilian cook who
well understands his business in all the hospitals of
Kulalee, and take away with me the soldiers who formerly
officiated in those establishments as cooks. At Scutari, I
am now engaged in teaching them the rough art of bivouac
cookery, by making experiments out of twenty-four rations,
the daily provisions allowed to the troops, which were
delivered to me by the commissariat in the Crimea, upon
my request at headquarters; and part of the result of
*hioh I beg to forward you, in the shape of a series of
receipts, several of them being for some time adopted in
the camp, where I personally put them into practice, and
they have been printed for distribution. In a week
or so my new staff of warrior 000 ks and I shall start for
the Crimea the second time, to terminate my culinary
campaign.