The Press.
London, England, 1854-05-20 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

are well built., but are said not to be durable, from
haying been constructed of green wood. Their desti-
nation is probably the Circassian forts. The
squadron was accompanied by the Terrible English
steam frigate.
Twenty-two Russian ships had been captured
since the bombardment of Odessa. A letter from
that port of the 30th ult., vid Vienna, mentions
a fact which shows to what extent the Russian
authorities carry duplicity and falsehood. In tae
night after the bombardment General Osten•Sacken
had the dead soldiers, amounting to between 500 and
600, removed and buried seven or eight miles beyond
the town. The next day, in order to make people
believe that the loss had been trilling, he had forty
soldiers, who had been left lying dead on the batte-
ries, buried at Odessa with great pomp. A citizen
who, during the night, had seen what was passing,
and mentioned it, was arrested on a charge of propa-
gating false news, and, being tried by court-martial,
was sentenced to death.

The first promotion for the war has been conferred
upon Commander John Bourruaster Dickson (1M47),
commander in Admiral Dundas's flag-ship Britannia.
He has been promoted to the rank of captain for his
gallant services in command of the rocket-boats at
the bombardment of Odessa.

A White Sea squadron, consisting of three well-
armed ships, is completing its stores at Portsmouth,
and will soon be doubling the North Cape, on its
way to the Czar's northern dockyards. The rivers
do not begin to run into the White Sea till June, and
the ice in its gulfs allows no navigation till the end
of May. The Czar builds ships in the White Sea,
which renders it necessary to set a watch to keep the
British whalers from damage. Fortunately that sea,
like the Black Sea and the Baltic, has a narrow neck,
and is easily guarded.

THE SEAT OF WAR ON THE DANUBE.
There is nothing of importance communicated by
the last news from the Danube. The reports that
the Russian troops had sustained checks on various
points seem to be confirmed, both in direct and cir-
cumstantial evidence. The official Moniteur pub-
lished a despatch from Omer Pacha, dated Shumla,
May 6, stating that Sall Pacha bad, on the 28th of
April, defeated the Russians at Nicopolis, and that
the Russians had lost 1,500 men. On the 2nd of
May Colonel Suleiman Bey had also defeated the
Russians at Radovo, not far from Krajova. The
Patrie says that a fresh engagement took place
before Kara-Sou, on the Danube, on April 21, be-
tween a regiment of Cossacks and a corps of Turkish
troops. The Cossacks retired with great loss. An
other report sta:es that the Turks had obtained
possession of Krajova.
Advices from Constantinople of the sth instant
assert that the general depot of Russian artillery and
ammunition at Fokschani had been set fire to by
the inhabitants, as an act of vengeance. The loss
to the Russians was immense.

The letters from Silistria are to the effect that
10,000 Russians and twelve formidable batteries were
posted on the other bank of the Danube, opposite
the fortress, preparing to attack the waterside, its
weakest point. Prince Paskiewitsch and General
Gortschakoff had arrived at Kalarasch.
The bombardment of Silistria with eighty pieces
of cannon had commenced. The report that the
fortress was invested on the land side is, however,
now contradicted. Shells are thrown from the left
bank of the river at a distance of more than a mile.
General Bosquet, who had returned to Gallip:li
from Shumla, is stated to have given the most
satisfactory account of the state of that fortress, and
of the means that Omer I'acha has of resisting any
effert that the Russians may make against it.
The Russians are, however, suffering worse losses
than those inflicted by the Turkish cannon. In the
Dobrudscha especially the fever season appears to
have set in, and the unhappy serfs whom the Czar
has forced into the army are dying by thousands.
In other respects affairs are little better. Thus a
Vienna medical paper describes the immense train
of waggons and carts that bad to follow the Russian
troops into the Dobrudscha having returned for
fresh supplies :
" They bring back hundreds of wounded, and thousands
of ruined arms and spoiled equipments. More than 400
wounded are expected from harassu. In Braila, Galatz,
and Reni, new wards have been hastily built up for 2,000
additional patients. These, however, are not enough.
The flying hospitals bring such numbers and in such
quick succession from the Dohrudscha, that divisions of the
sick have to be sent twice a day to Hirsova, Matschin, and
thence again across to the left bank. It is difficult to de-
senbe in all their stern reality the hardships and priva-
tions now endured by the Russians in the Dobrudscha. The
Russians have there more than 2,600 wounded, and above
3,000 dead and missing The losses in horses, baggage,
and munition, is equally great. This estimate falls short
of the truth. Not far from hustendjee, upon a marshy bit
of ground that is not 1,000 fathoms in length, there lie now
443 Russians and 71 horse.,, and yet this was one of the
least important spots where an obstinate fight came off,
and where the Russians were defeated. The Turks, far

SOURDAY,

better acquainted with the country and the means of turn
ing it to good account, are accustomed to open tire upon
their enemy at the beginning of each engagement with
their heavy guns, of which they have plenty, and their
effect is great indeed. Their artillery is better served than
the Russian, as all eyewitnesses acknowledge. The mot.•
tality among the Russian wounded was in April last 31
per cent. A great cause of sickness among the troops is
the mouldy biscuit and the want of wholesome water to
drink."

The epidemic has, it is said, already put 18,000
men hors de combat from the Dobrudscha army
alone.
CIRCASSIA.
The famous Circassian chiefs, Seffer and Bechchet
Pachas, have received orders to join the fleet and
proceed to their country. They are accompanied
from Constantinople by a numerous staff of European
officers. The celebrated warrior, Halm Pacha, will
follow them immediately. Steamers belonging to
the Turkish fleet have received on board a very
large quantity of ammunition, and about 25,000 flint
muskets and 20 fine brass field-pieces. These arms
will be distributed to the Circassians along the coast,
who, once armed and properly equipped, will be
drilled by the European officers, and then marched
to the south or to the north, according to circum-
stances. Bethchet Pacha is bearer of a sword of
honour sent by the Sultan to the Daghestan chief, -
Schamyl. He has instructions to open direct com-
munications between the countries bordering on the
Caspian Sea and Batoum. The Sultan has presented
the Circassians with two standards beautifully em-
broidered in gold on green satin. The first station
of the fleet is Batoum, where it will receive a landing
corps of 2,500 guards ; from thence s proceeds to
Redout Kaleh, which it is supposed vblockaded by
British and French men-of-war.
Forts Noworossijsk and Gelendshik, on the Circas-
sian coast, have been evacuated by the Russians.
Suchum Kaleh is almost entirely deserted.
The capture of the Russian forts on the eastern
shores of the Black Sea will he an important gain
for the allies, and may reduce the hostile army in
Asia to great straits. Some blow in this direction,
indeed, seems to afford the only hope of saving the
Asiatic provinces of Turkey from invasion and dis-
memberment. The English public have beard from
many sources of the miserable state of the Ottoman
army in those parts. A few months ago it was the
fashion to represent the Turkish arms as everywhere
successful, but now the neceesity for a more exact
inquiry is recognised. The Russians are within a
few days' march of Kars, and before them is a rabble.
In every way the Government have been deceived as
to the conduct of this part of the war. The co rn-
menders have been incapable, and worse ; the com-
missariat, a knavery; and the despatches, a falsehood.
The manner in which affairs have been managed
may be judged of horn the following incident :—A
contract was made by Government for medicines
and surgical instruments to be sent to Erzeroum.
As is usual in Turkey, the contract was let and sub..
let till its actual execution fell into the bands of a
Jew. When the cases were opened, the medicines
were found to be wholly worthless, and among the
implements of surgery were several hundred instru-
ments for extracting milk from women's breasts; no
doubt part of the stock of some bankrupt speculator.

Experiments have been made at Revel of firing
mines at a distance of 8,000 feet by means of an electric
batters and wire. The method is the same as that adopted
by the Emperor of Russia, at the suggestion of Professor
Jacobi. it is affirmed that metal caissons have been
prepared fur the roads of Sveaborg and Revel, as well as
of Cronstadt. They are kept ready charged with powder,
and will only be lowered into the channel when an attack
seems certain. The wires inserted in these caibsous will
be brought into connection with batteries on land, and two
telescopes will be so adjusted in the fortress as that the
bisection of their two lines of sight will correspond with
the spot where the mine is sunk. The moment when a
ship becomes visible to both observers will correspond
with the moment when the vessel is just over the cowling.
tible caissons.

The British Government has ordered a stock of medical
comforts, consisting of wine, spirits, and preserved meats,
to be put on board the transport-steamers for the use of the
soldiers on board.
The authorities at the Horse Guards have had under
their consideration a newly-invented meat cake, which
seems admirably adapted for soldiers engaged in a cam-
paign. Each cake affords three good meals, weighs 71
ounces, divided into three rations of 21 ounces each, which
can be eaten dry, or, when broken up and mixed with
warm or cold water, affords a nutritious soup. These
meat cakes are easily stowed away, and a soldier might,
with ease, carry a dozen in his haversack, to be used as re-
served rations whenever the supply of other provisions
failed, thereby being independent of the commissariat for
twelve days. The inventor, Mr. Pouteau, declares that he
can furnish these cakes at the rate of one penny per
meal.
The Leeds Times believes that a Government order for
cannon balls of a new shape is being executed by a local
foundry. They are long, three-sided, and terminate in
three-comered point. It is conjectured that they are ID'
tended to be used against fortresses, but the plan has been
kept as secret as possible.

'

MAY 20, 1854.

CAUCASUS.

A naval rendezvous has been opened at Waterford. Able
seamen are in great demand, but the supply is decidedly
limited.
The Royal Albert, 131, was towed down the river on
Sunday to be fitted fur sea at Sheerness, her great draught
of water being likely to prove a source of delay had she been
taken into the basin at Woolwich.
The second of the two screw•frigates built for the Rus-
sian Government in Pitcher's dockyard, Northfleet, and,
after being seized by the Customs, purchased by our Go-
vernment, was launched on Tuesday, in the presence of a
Luxe concourse of spectators. The first of these twin ships
intended for the Russian service was named the Cossack.
The one uow launched was named the Tartar.

sad accicent occurred at Malta on the sth. The Royal
Artillery, while practising red•hot shot firing, allowed one
shot to remain in the gun ten minutes ; the iron shot expand
ing burst the gun, killed one man, knocked off the leg of
another, wounded several, and dislodged several other
guns.
A party of the swell mob has arrived in the island, four
in number, with the view of establishing a hell. As they
aro closely watched it is not probable that they will do
much.

The West India Mail Company are, it is stated, getting
15,0001. a month from the Government for conveying troops.
They have another new steamer nearly ready, called the
Tamar.
Advices from Valparaiso of the I 1 th of April mention,
with reference to the force of the Russians in the Pacific,
that they have one 60-gun frigate at that port, and are daily
expecting three more of the same class, as well as an 80-gun
line.of battle ship, each with 20u troops on board. " The
Russian officers," it is added, "say that there are fourteen
vessels of-war at Kamschatka, and boast of their superior
force in these seas, and also of the mischief they will do to
the homeward-bound gold-ships from Australia."
Through San Francisco we learn that Russia has effected
a treaty of commerce with Japan, and that English men-of-
war are in that neighbourhood awaiting the Russian
squadron.

SCHAMYL, THE PROPHET-HERO OF THE

Faont Captain Spencer's work, just issued, on
" Turkey, Russia, the Black Sea, and Circassia,''
we extract some interesting particulars of Schamyl-
Bey, the energetic ruler of Circassia :
Schamyl-Bey is one of those extraordinary men who now
and then appear in the East, and astonish mankind by the
depth of their wisdom and the tact they display in uniting
hostile creeds and races. While the fanatic Turks and
Persians have been massacring each other for centuries,
because they cannot agree whether Ali or Omar was invested
with the mantle of the prophet, in the same manner as the
Latin and Greek Churches have been disputing respecting
the orthodoxy of their respective creeds, our clever chieftain
of I)aghestan has discovered not only the means of recon-
ciling Omar with Ali, but of uniting men of all religions in
one common feeling of brotherhood, and hatred against
the rule of the Moscov. Hence he has succeeded in at-
tracting to his standard thousands of deserters from the
Russian army, and he now sees himself surrounded by a
life guard, the Murids (Murtosigats), who, like Oliver
Cromwell's Ironsides, are at once soldiers and religious
enthusiasts,
In addition to these he has under his command an army
of at least 60,000 men ; all veterans, and for the most part
composed of members of the various tribes of the Caucasus
and strangers from every part of Eastern Europe and Asia.
He has also succeeded in introducing various reforms into
Laghestan ; established a regular Government ; tribunals
of justice ; a posting system ; gene d'armes to protect tra-
vellers, with Kahns for their accommodation; he likewise
levies taxes ; in fact, assimilated everything as much as
possible to the customs and usages of civilised communities.
His troops are regularly paid; and by instituting decorations
and rank among his officers, and by rewarding their bravery
with grants of money and lands, he has excited emulation,
and encouraged strangers to take service in his army. For
this, and many of the novelties of European discipline, and,
indeed, the efficiency of his troops, he has been indebted to
his friend and companions in arms, l)anial Bey, who rose
to the rank of general in the Russian army, and is only
second to Schamyl himself.
If we are to believe the reports current in Russia, this
new creed of which Schamyl is the prophet and expounder
is exceedingly liberal in its tendencies, tolerant to the pro-
fessors of every faith, and, if it can be called Mahometanism,
at all events it is devested of many of the superstitions
and absurdities of that creed. This has no doubt contri-
buted to his success in no inconsiderable degree, and to
the attachment manifested towards him by the members
of so many rival creeds. In fact, the religion of Schamyl
is not altogether new in the East; it originated many
years ago in Arabia ; was first preached in the Caucasus
by Elijah Mansour, and may be considered political in its
tendencies, encouraging freedom and independence, and
condemning the debasing materialism, which in the pre-
sent day degrades the religion of Mahomet.
Scharnyl may be taken as a perfect specimen of his race,
the Lesghian, who are said to be a mixture of the Alani
and the Saracens. There is nothing of that rare beauty
of feature, symmetry of form, and physical force that dis-
tinguishes the Circassian ; but they are active and agile
in the highest degree, able to bear any fatigue, courageous
in the field, persevering, and, we may add, vindictive, above
every other race in the Caucasus. The vendetta of a
Lesghian is a terrible affair ; with him blood can only be
expiated with blood, and until vengeance has been taken
he believes that the spirit of the deceased will never rest in
peace. Hence when a Lesghian falls on the field of battle