The Press.
London, England, 1854-05-27 00:00:00

THE WAR ON THE DANUBE.

The chief interest at the actual seat of war centres
round Silistria. Very conflicting accounts still arrive
respecting the progress of this siege. A Vienna
despatch of Thursday stated that the fortress had
fallen, but this followed close upon the heels of
other accounts, stating that it was not even invested,
heavy floods in the Danube and its affluents having
compelled the Russians to suspend their operations.
The latest intelligence is conveyed in a telegraphic
message from Bucharest, dated May 21st, stating
that Prince Paskiewitsch had crossed the Danube
near Kalorasch, and established his head-quarters
before Silistria, which had been very closely invested
within the last three days.
A Constantinople letter of the 15th gives some
account of the war proceedings on other points.
According to this authority the Russians wore ad-
vancing from the Dobrudscha. They have cut off
all communication between Silistria and Varna, as
well as the seacoast, and also between Varna and
Shumla.
Accounts were received at Constantinople on the
15th that the Russians, unable, on account of the
blockade, to defend the seaboard of Circassia, had
evacuated all their positions from Batoum to Anapa,
an extent of 200 leagues. They burned all their own
forts, and retired to Kutais, in the interior. The
Circassians came down from the mountains and took
possession of all the posts which the Russians had
occupied, making prisoners 1,500 men, whom they
surprised at Sukkum Kaleh. The Circassians had
proclaimed a provisional Government, under the
presidency of a brother in-law of Schamyl.
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It has been stated that at Nicopoli the Russians
were defeated by the Turks, and lost 1,500 of their
number. The Invalide Rusu of St. Petersburg, of
the 12th, alludes to the affair, but turns the defeat
into a victory. It states that the Turks lost 800
men, in drowned, killed, or wounded ; and that 123
Turks were made prisoners. The loss of the Rus-
sians, it adds, was only 18 killed and 58 wounded.

POERIO AND HIS PRISON.
THE prison of Montefuaco is a middle•age building, sixty
miles south of Naples, restored expressly to receive the
political offenders of NO. You enter by a covered court,
which receives light anti air only by the doorway. At the
extreme end of this court, and in complete darkness, occurs
a flight of steps, which lead to the upper prison rooms.
You first come upon five small chambers, wherein are
about sixty persons in chains, crowded together. They
are chiefly the condemned of the State trials, and consist
of members of the learned professions and gentlemen of
fortune. Here is confined the ex• Minister Poerlo. The
particular room in which Poerio is placed is guarded by a
soldier from without, who opens a window every quarter of
an hour, night and day, to report his prisoner to the guard
below. A second window is kept constantly open, by
which means the prisoners are perpetually exposed to cold,
which, from the elevated situation of the building, is very
severe. The floor above is used by soldiers, and here also
is the hospital. The prisoners are permitted to spend a
small amount of money on fond (paying double its worth),
which is carefully examined and broken into fragments be-
fore the condemned receive it. The prison bread is made
from lupins, badly ground. The prisoners are allowed to
see their friends through the bars periodically, in the pre-
sence of official witnesses, who on more than one occasion
have punished the visitors for weeping in the presence of
their parents. European events have probably caused the
following newly-imposed severities which took place a
few weeks since :—A soldier declared a paper had been
thrown out of the prison window ; and, indeed, something
of the sort was pretended to have been found, in which
the soldiers were ordered to be poisoned, and other foolish
suggestions. No doubt the whole affair was got up de-
signedly, since an order arrived that the prisoners should
be chained to the wall.—Morning Post.

TRY. ROYAL SURREY ZOOT.OOTCAL GARDYNS opened
for the season on Monday last with a fete in aid of
the St.. Georges Charitable Society. A capital band;
Misses Poole and Ransford and Mr. Miniver, as vo •
calists ; fireworks at night and the menagerie by day,
form the attractions of this popular place of outdoor
amusement. The pyrotechnic display is founded
upon the Chusan picture, which proved so successful
last year, and has been retouched and improved for
the present season.