The Express.
London, England, 1855-03-08 00:00:00

Mew to the Crowawork, and at every yard along
itbelaside of the inner entrenchment found traces
et So conflict, in the chaps of battered house,
*sir burs" and here and there wounded or
islal sea. These were, however, the natural cones
Imam of four hours' fierce cannonading, and I
pima them without bestowing much attention on
then, till I was stopped in a narrow passage between
the parapet and a ruined wall, by two soldiers
immeshing abreast, with a very excited triumphant air,
sod each carrying in his hand, what at first I took
to be a pig's head, but which on nearer approach
I found to my infinite disgust to be the heads of two
unfortunate Russians who had fallen in the grave-
yard ; one, from the long hair. evidently that of a
Greek volunteer ; the other the oloselycropped skull of
a soldier of the line—both gory and disfigured, and
leaving bloody traces on the ground over which they
passed. I had scarce recovered from my surprise and
horror, when I met two other savages bearing aloft
on the points of their bayonets two other trophies of
a similar nature. They had hardly passed me, how-
ever, when they were stopped by the news that their
two confreres who had preceded them on laying their
hideous voila at the feet of Omar Puha, instead, as
they expected. of being patted on the back, and re-
ceiving a good baksheesh, were instantly arrested,
and marched off to prison. The two last instantly
lost their enthusiasm, drooped their bayonets, and
went back, with a very downcast air. all the way
looking as if they wished to rid themselves of their bur-
den without exhibiting their fears or their weakness to
their comrades. The scene in theinterior of the outwork

was terrific. Men lay on every side gashed and torn
by those frightful wounds which round-shot inva-
riably inflict. Here a gory trunk, looking as if the
head had been wrenched from the shoulders by the
hand of a giant ; there an artilleryman, lying across
a splinter of his own gun-carriage—the splintered
bones of his thighs protruding from the flesh ;
another cut in two as if by a knife, and his body
doubled up like a strip of brown paper. The
artillery horses and their drivers were stationed
amongst the windmills which stand in thick clusters
between the outwork and the fortifications of the
interior, and as the whole of this space was swept for
' nearly two hours by the fire of the battery which was
last brought up, the havoc was dreadful. Nearly eighty
artillery horses were killed on a small p►tch of ground,
some by the shot, others by the splinters of wood and
stone, which flew in showers from the mills at every
discharge, and the soil was strewed with their
blood and entrails. I saw all the horses of one
gun knocked together into one indiscriminate mass,
as if some mighty force had squeezed them up
like so much butter. The mills presented a
most ludicrous spectacle ; some had one arm left ;
'others two ; and some were tumbled into a mess of
ruins, from which a wheel or a wing stuck up in the
air as if protesting against the outrage. None of all
these things, however, attracted much attention from
the defenders of the position. All were talking loudly,
some few laughing; artillerymen, taking the harness
off the dead horses, and making repairs on the
damaged guns; some throwing up fresh clay where
the works had suffered ; others carrying off the
wounded in blankets, many of the latter groaning
loudly ; others reverently covering the faces of the
dead with the skirts of their coats, and all this amidst
• hum and buzz of voices which rose as merrily and
cheerfully upon the morning air, towards the sunny
sky, as if it were the close of a fete, and no grim,
evidences of • bloody struggle lay on every yard of
the soil. Omer Pacha rode round soon after, with a
large staff and most of the European officers who
were in the place, tad in his train I went down to
the graveyard. The firing had certainly not ceased
twenty minutes, and yet at least 2,000 Tartars had
rushed out of the town, and stripped and plundered
the dead Russians. When Omer Pacha reached the
spot he drove them all away, but not before every
one orthe bodies was stark naked. The greater num-
ber seemed very young men, some mere boys ; all
wore an expression of perfect repose ; no straining or
distortion wasvisible either in the featuresor the limbs;
they lay like men who were weary and slept. Many
were half buried and crushed under the tomb-stones. i
which the round-shot and the rockets had hurled from
their places, and sent flying in pieces in all directions.
Many of the Russians had still a shred of a shirt or
an old pair of drawers clinging to their mangled
remains, and it would have required no great
stretch of imagination to have supposed them
the peaceable tenants of the tombs around, who had
risen to ask the cause of the wild tumult which
ranged above their abodes. In all 200 bodies were
collected and buried by the Turks. As the artillery
must have carried off a large portion of theirs, as is
usually the case, think the Russian loss May
be fairly estimated at 300 killed and 700
wounded. The Turks have lost 80 killed and,
900 wounded. These accounts both exceed my rough
guess given in a telegraphic despatch immediately
after the action. The damage done to the fortifica-
tions was very trifling, and was repaired in three
or four hours. The troops are now working night
and day in strengthening the position, and I think no
fears whatever, considering the large force which
garrisons it, and notwithstanding the enor-
mous muses of artillery with which the
Russians threaten it, need be entertained
as to its safety. The whole of Liprandi's di, i-
eion is supposed to be here. They have an
'overwhelming force of cavalry all round the town,
and they are right, for no finer cavalry ground, I
suppose, exists in the world. The whole country
from this to Perekop is one immense plain, smooth
as • bowling green.

Fss. 19.

Another attack was expected to-day and yesterday,
but both have passed off without any occurrence
worthy of note. The disembarkation of troops and
stores goes on, notwithstanding the stormy weather
which renders all operations of this kind very diffi-
cult. The Tribune and Curlew arrived from the fleet
yesterday. The Russians have retired nearly two
leagues hence. The mainguard of their cavalry le,
however, still in the plain below the town. The
videttes are less numerous than before the attack.
It is considered not improbable that their next
attempt will be made in the night. I omitted to
mention that seven of the inhabitants of the town
were killed and twenty wounded in the affair of the
17th. The want of surgeons was greatly felt. The
Tartars have eaten or salted all the dead horses
of both parties. For the last two days they have
been feasting and making merry. This need excite
neither pity nor surprise, as horse-flesh, more majorum,
is their usual food, even is their villages.

RUSSIAN ACCOUNT.
The Invalid. Ruse hes the following amount

the affair of the 17th, at Etipatoria :
" We knew by the report of Prince Mentehikoffis
aide-de-eamp of the 12th, that on the 3rd the Turkish
troops disembarked at Enpatoria had made as
offensive movement upon the village of Saki, in
numbers of more than 10,000.
"In order to assure himmit of the exact amouut
of the enemy's forces in occupation of Papaw* and
to ascertain if there was not a possibility of
them. Prince Mentohikoff ordered Lientaglenet
g.teouleit to execute u the 17th a 110911 g reco+
naisance apoo..that town.witia a party of troops BUL-
L timed in the vicinity.