The Press.
London, England, 1854-11-11 00:00:00

Unfortunately the wind Was Prom the land, and the
smoke so dense that very few vessels succeeded in getting
into the position which was assigned to them. 1 suppose
it must be attributed to this, that the French and Turkish
vessels went so far to the left as to prevent several of the
English vessels from approaching. So it happened, for
instance, to the Queen, which led the English squadron,
and had consequently to occupy the extreme right of the
English position, but which was obliged to get up her
anchor and change her place because the Napoleon
and the Turkish Admiral's ship, Mahntudieh, went right
in her way.
The order was to keep 1,200 yards off the forts, but the
disengaged steamers, and at their head the splendid Aga-
memnon, approached much nearer, and poured in their
shot and shell with unceasing activity. This example was
followed by the Queen, which was obliged, as 1 mentioned
before, to leave het* place because two steamers came into
her way, but ran down along the line and joined the detached
steamers—a movement which the Agamemnon answered by
a " Well done, Queen !" Soon after her the Rodney made
the same movement, and ran down towards the fort on
Cape Constantine, keeping up a brave fire until dark.
Several of the vessels have been badly damaged ; the
Arelhwra suffered very much, and it is said must go into
dock ; the Retribution lost her mainmast., the Firebrand her
jibboom, &c.
The sight of the approaching squadrons was one of the
most imposing which one could possibly witness. Some
of the liners, observed from the starboard side, hid their
tiny propellers so completely that the huge masses seemed
to move by themselves. If this was the most imposing
sight, the most exciting was that when the first shot was
fired from the fort. It was as if au electric spark was
running through the crews. There was a perfect fury for
firing, and the greatest difficulty was to make the men
cease, as was at times necessary when one or another of
the vessels was in the way. A great inconvenience in
working the guns was experienced from the absence of so
many men at the naval brigade, especially in the ships from
which some of the superior officers had gone to the camp.
Several of the liners could not work their upper-deck guns
in consequence.
The lashing of the steamers alongside the line-of-battle
ships did very well; they answer the helm far better than
if towed, and the steamers are exposed to less danger,
being comparatively protected by their huge companions.
Of course, they could not escape entirely, but, with the
exception of the Firebrand, which lost her jibboom and
suffered severely besides, none of the steamers were dis-
abled, and every one was capable of taking her charge back

again.
Later news from the fleet is conveyed by a brief
letter, dated from " off the liatscha, Oct. 23," in which
we read :
The fleet have been busily employed during the last few
days repairing the damage incurred in the action. Cer-
tainly, in the late encounter between wooden walls and
stone ones, stone had not the worst of it, as far as ap-
pearances go. The Sampson went off Sebastopol on the
morning of the frith, but could see no further harm done
than a few guns dismounted, and the whole face of Fort
Constantine was as it were pock-marked with the impres-
sion of cannon-balls. It is the general opinion that no
further attempt will be made by sea for the present. The
only chance which ships have against batteries is, running
in within 000 yards; and even then their loss must bs
very great. The fire of the batteries fell chiefly on the
ships which went in within 700 yards. Wherever the fire
was heaviest and the smoke densest there one might be
sure would be seen the rear-admiral's " red at lumen."
The deductions from the Edinburgh's experiment at 500
yards, at the walls of Bomarsund, remind one of the story
of the gentleman who did not much relish the idea of
fighting a duel ; and on being reminded that he was able
to break a wine-glass with a bullet tit twenty yards, replied
—" Yes, that's true ; but the wine-glans litulu't a pistol in
its hand." 'The Albion and Arethusa left on the afternoon
of the 21st for Constantinople and Malta, to repair damage
—the former in tow. the frigate under sail. We do not
expect to see them again among the Black Sea fleet.
A letter of Oct. IN, in the Patrie, says :
The Alger did wonders. Its 36. pounders, of which it
has the monopoly, occasionedtremendous devastation. At
one moment the Russians, seeing what most hurt them,
scarcely fired a shot against this vessel. The Alger was
the last to retire from the post it had so well chosen, and
it was not till nightfall that it raised its anchor. The
Jupiter and Alger were the luckiest of all our vessels.
Neither of them had a man wounded. The Charlemagne
suffered considerable damage to her engine. The poop of
the Ville de Paris blew up. The Montebello suffered. The
Russians fire very badly: all their shells and balls
pass through and over our sails. The Alger at one time
was exposed alone to the tire of two forts and the citadel,
and yet she only received three projectiles on her deck and
four or five in her rudder.

STATE OF SEBASTOPOL.
Deserters from the beleaguered town, of whom
seventy or eighty are stated to have already found
refuge in the allied camp, describe the preparations
making for defence in case of an assault as being
most desperate and extensive. The streets, they say
are strongly defended with chains, infantry pits, heavy
artillery, and stone barricades. On the fiat roofs of
all the houses which any assailants might pass have
been placed large piles of stones to be hurled upon
troops beneath. Several places are believed to be
mined, though of their locale or strength they could
give no information. The garrison were very short
of water. Communications between the southern
and northern shores of the bay were still open, but
it remained to be seen whether the Russians would