The Press.
London, England, 1855-02-10 00:00:00

THE SIEGE.

Letters from the camp before Sebastopol to the
23rd ult. have been received in London, but convey
little information. The Times correspondent writes
on the 22nd :
A mild, still day—cloudy, dull sky—thermometer, 4R deg.
On sach a day as this our army could make great efforts
and lay up abundance of stores in the commissariat tents,
but we are met again by our enemy the mud, and the quag-
mires into which it has converted not only the roads but
all the tracks over the waste towards Sebastopol are nearly
impassable. There is no great advantage gained by the
withdrawal of Lipraudi's army from the command of the
upper road from Balaklava, except that it has left a shorter
path open to those mea encamped on our right. The
coating of snow, which has been beaten down into a sort
of concrete under foot, is pierced with holes of varying pro-
fundity, but generally deep enough to take in the pedestrian
above the tops of his boots and to break a horse's leg.
The great mantle of deep snow has nearly disappeared,
but it has left shreds and patenes on the plains and iu the
crevices in the hill sides, where it still lies fresh and white,
and in the beaten paths, where it is trodden into blackish,
dirty slabs. This looming some soldiers were sent down
to the quay, which was fast becoming absorbed by the
waters of the harbour and ground away into the sea, and
set to work repairing it by throwing large stones into the
pools. It is said that the French officers complained that
their fatigue parties sent down to assist us in getting up
shot and powder were exposed to the additional labour of
plunging through filth knee deep. Numbers of large
steamers come in here every week and shoot into the sea
excellent roadstuff, in the shape of cinders. It has been
suggested that the captains of these steamers should be
ordered to keep as much of these cinders as possible, and
to send it on shore in their boats, where a few men could
easily lay it down ; but no one is " responsible " for car-
rying out the suggestion, and every day one sees the cinders
of the newly-arrived steamers shot into the harbour, within
a few yards of the spot where he is standing over the ankles
in mud.

The Morning Post publishes a letter, dated on Jan.
23rd, from which the following are extracts :
There is an utter want of news of any interest by this
post. At the dawn of morning, on the 21st, a smart sortie
was made on the extreme left of the French position,
where a new battery has been established at the head of
Quarantine Bay. It was foreseen early by our allies, and
attacked the instant the enemy issued forth. The Russians
were repulsed after a smart contest, in which, I am in-
formed, thirty of the French were killed and seventy of the
enemy. Alter the return of the party to Quarantine Fort a
heavy cannonade was opened on the French lines, and
maintained until nearly daybreak. The French guns re-
plied with equal vigour. Since this affair nothing of the
most remote interest has taken place. A most perfect
calm prevails both in our lines and the Russians. This
cessation of hostilities leads all here to expect that some-
thing tremendous is impending; and it is mysteriously in-
titnated by those who are supposed to know the progress
of affairs that ere many days are over something of vital
importance will take place.
A most marvellous change has come over the weather
during the last two or three days. The snow has disap-
peared, and we have now a fine, mild, warm atmosphere,
without auy immediate prospect of a change for the worse.
The wind has a tendency to the north-east, which may
bring back the cold, but no rain is to be feared, which is
all we dread at present. Advantage has been taken of the
change of weather to get up considerable stores of provi-
sions at the midway depot ; and a large quantity of ammu-
nition has also been forwarded. But. in spite of full ra-
tions and the change in the weather, sickness is still terribly
prevalent among all our troops, and I think the number
invalided this week will be rather over than under 2,000
men, thus making a total of 5,000 in twelve days. The
men are now sinking under the fatigues and privations to
which they were subjected a month or three weeks ago.
The Trent arrived at Italaklava on the evening of the
20th, with 300 mules on board for the use of the commis-
sariat. They are all in good condition, and some of them
in particular are remarkably fine animals, standing up-
wards of sixteen hands five inches in height. The 900
cost on the average 451 each, and to us, in point of the
work they will do, are worth almost any money. On the
same evening (20th), the Gorgon, steam-sloop, came in
with one hundred men for the 2nd Battalion of Rifles, and
about two hundred convalescents from the hospital at Scu.
tari. The condition of the latter is really deplorable. 1
am told on good authority that not more than fourteen or
twenty at the outside are fit for any duty. The others will
merely go to swell the numbers in our already over-crowded
hospitals.
The Queen of the South, I am assured, has one thousand
tons of powder now actually on board. There are several
such powder vessels now in lialaklava harbour, where we
are so overstocked with ammunition of all kinds that there
is no room to land it. It would he more than sufficient if
only two ammunition ships were here at one time, when
one could be put at the head of the harbour and the other
at the month ; at present they are anchored among the

other transports.
Some drafts of the 34th and 40th landed yesterday. The
14th is not likely to land for some days.
There are rumours that Osten-Saeken, with 40,0(K) men
and 90 guns, is advancing with all speed by Perekop to
Eupatoria. All the garrison and inhabitants of the town
are entirely dependent on the supplies we send by sea, as
the Cossacks have cut off all the cattle which the country
people used to drive in and sell.
DISORGANISATION OF THE ARMY.
The Times Commissioner of the Sick and Wounded
Fund writes as follows from Scutari on the Ist
instant :