The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-05-30 00:00:00

be no doubt—

the absolute and pressing necessity of gett

troops away from this' place

he hot

weather Sets in. If we

Id not have fever

decimating our troops as much as the rigours
first winter, our army must be tranferred,
if it be only to the Bondi°
station from which the sun
draws with redoubled force
vapours. We must remember the small space on
which, for nearly two years, this vast armament has

of the

from a
acli successive day
is most pestilential

been encamped ; that, for nem ly the whole of that

imej many regiments have been on, the same

ground, without once changing their position, and

putrefaction: Typhus has already begun to make

its appearance, and, in my o .vn camp, has begun
its ravages with a violence remarkable even for that
terrible plague. As an instance of the state in which
the ground is, the other day an officer of a regi-
ment which had been removed to another camp,
in pitching his tent, found, immediately below the
surface, and, just beneath the spot he had chosen
for his bed, the body of a dead ox in the first
stages of decomposition; he happened to

discover this rather unpleasant circumstance.
in time, but I have no doubt that many
a gallant soldier unconsciously slumbers
over similar emblems of mortality. The sun each
day gains redoubled power, and its searching
rays willisoon find out their
.hidden abominations
and spread the tale through' our thickly peopled
camp. Some regiments are already on their way
to other lands ; those destined for Canada were
the first to go; and the 9th, 39th, 17th, 62nd, and
63rd are already on their way to the land of the
West. The Buffs (3rd) have also left for Corfu.
But there seems now a pause, and a grim report is
current, that before any other regiments leave, the
Sardinians are to be returned to their homes and
the contingents, artillery and cavalry, successively to
be disposed of. The Guards look on at all this with
an expression of dismay, and begin to think their
Royal mistress has forgotten her household troops ;
and much do those gallant warriors chafe at the
delay. In the mean time; touring it into the interior,
and horse fairs, are the order of the day. The latter
have attained an importance they never had before,
in consequence of a general order, which informed
officers of the impossibility of providing transport
home for their chargers. The favourite bagagers
of infantry•mounted officers were immediately at a
discount, and in many instances the stalwart'pony,
that had borne his master over many a dyke and
through all the winter's slush, was transferred to
the canteen-man for a dozen of Guinness's stout.
As a set off against the above ()icier, another gene-
ral order shortly after came out, giving notice of a
great horse fair to be held on the other side of the
Tchernaya, when the Russians would attend to buy
any horses offered for sale. I need hardly say that
that the roads down to the Tchernaya from our
camps, were crowded with horses of every descrip-
tion, from the thorough-bred charger to the broken
kneed bagager ; but alas ! they were all doomed to
return to their stables. The Russians seemed, how-
ever to have a low idea of herseflesh,and for a charger
worth seventy guineas, they seemed to think they
were stretching a point in offering £5, on condition
'the owner threw saddle and bridle into the bargain.
And so, that to British officers wishing to leave in
Russia specimens of the English charger, the sale
proved rather too much of " a sell." The exploring
expeditions into the interior, if not more profitable,
were at least more successful.

On referring to the map of the Crimea, you will
see that a high road leads from Sebastopol through
Backtchi-Serai to Simpheropol, and thence
through Alouchta, along the coast home to Balak-
lava ; this is generally the route taken, and the
journey takes up about six or seven days. I went
it last week, and, certainly, the scenery (especially
along the coast) amply repays the toil and labours
of the journey.
We started early in the morning, three in
number, on horseback, with two servants on
mules, carrying our baggage, and we rode
the first day through Tchorgouna, or the
Korales Pass, to Backtchi-Serai, a distance of
about thirty miles. Tchorgouna is a little village,
or rather what was `a village, on the banks of the
Tchernaya, for the ruins are all that are now left
to mark the spot. From this place the road leads
through the most beautiful orchards to the cele-
brated Korales Pass. It was through this pais
that the Russians expected us to advance into
the interior, and they have therefore, through the
whole length of it,.defended it with batteries and
earthworks. It has, however. in itself .the greatest
natural fortifications; and the precipitous walls of
rock, that run along on each side, almost hide the
light of the sun from the ravine. The rocks have,
as well as in the other portions of the Crimea,
been thrown into the greatest disorder by volcanic
agency, and" heighten the'effect of the scenery by -
their grotesque shapes and singularly formed peaks.
At the end of the pass lies the little village of
Korales, where still dwells with her three daughte'rs
the Tartar princess, Adel Bey, A little to the left
of the village is a fortress inhabitedby Circassians,
and on the rocks above frown the ruins of an
ancient gothic fortress, mixed with the remains .of
a Greek church. In fact, the memorials of the
successive inhabitants of the Crimea jostle each
other in a proximity that is a painful moral on
human vanity. The road from Korales to Balachi-
Serai lies for the whole distance over a barren
steppe; no tree or shrub is to be seen till a turn of
the road suddenly brings you on the valley, in
'Which lies the " Palace of Gardens," or, as the
Tartars call it, " Baktchi-Serai." This is a
primitive Tartar town, and the Russians have
allowed the Tartars to inhabit this and another
town (Kasa-Sa-Barar), unmolested, and to . en-
joy their own customs and laws. It is now
filled, however, with Russian soldiery ; and at
.the time I was there the beautiful Serai.or Palace
of the ancient -Tartar-Khans, was filled with
Russian soldiers dying of typhus. The steppe
still continues to Simpheropol, which is as com-
pletely a Russian town, as Baktchi-Sergi is Tartar.
,From Simpheropol, however, to Balaklava the
whole coast range is one continuation of the most
lovely scenery ; the most beautiful ravines, fertile
valleys filled with oliveyards, vineyards, mountains
covered with verdure to their, very summit, extend
the, whole way, while villas and mansions raise
their glittering domes at every available spot.
Prince Woronzoff has a beautiful palace at
Aloopka,- and the Emperor another one
' at Orianda, • on which have been lavished
all the taste and luxury which unbounded
wealth could command. Along the whole coast
the Russians have telegraphs and signals, and have
fortified every Mountain pass and accessible point.
' The Tartars (on whose hospitality in theee
,jour-
neys you are often entirely thrown) are a fine race;
they are particularly handsome and well formed,
and you rarely see a deformed- or ugly person
among them ; they are leaving the Crimea in num-
bers, dreading the anger of the Russians: It was
mournful, indeed, as you rode along, to see their
deserted villages ; and as you bivouacked for the
'night in the deserted waggon of some Tartar'
squire, you were too well remindeot that war has
another side to .the picture besides the glittering
one of glory.
May 15th.—The 48th and 68th regiments leave
I to day for Corfu.