The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-28 00:00:00

was afterwards found. Then the English, being aban
doned to themselves, could not any longer hold their
;mum and after having spiked the cannon and fired
away 1 their ammunition, withdrew. From that mo-
ment was considered useless for the Allies to make
any other efforts—the French flag which waved over
the Malakhoff was the dominating object. The French
remained definitively masters of the strongest of all the
Russian defences. The Russians, having placed sharp-
shooters in all the houses near the Malakhoff, over and
over again endeavoured to retake it, but all in vain.
These attacks lasted three hours, during which time
the engineers were busy, under the fire of the Russians,
in erecting works to protect the French. It was then
so occupied that they discovered the electric wires com-
municating with the Russian mines, admirably disposed
to blow up all the works. These were of course re-
moved, and then the men were more at their ease, as
they feared nothing more than the Russian mines. By
degrees dusk came on, and the thunder of the cannon
ceased. The night was dark, and silence prevailed
everywhere ; when all of a sudden, at about 11 o'clock,
a vast brightness illuminated the heavens, and a fright-
ful explosion shook the earth. It was the Little Re-
dan, which the Russians had blown up, preparatory to
their abandoning the town. For three hours tremen-
dous explosions succeeded each other, and daylight
showed us the whole of the Russian works destroyed,
and the enemy gone."

The Presse d'Orient of to-day gives a long letter I
dated Sebastopol, Sept. 11. The following are ex-
tracts :
" It was a great surprise for us to visit the enemy's
works. The Malakhoff is a work of giants, but in itself
it was a feeble work, fitted to defend the redans, but
unable to defend itself. The traverses established from
end to end in the interior, doubtless to stop the bullets,
and of which we formerly perceived the crest, had made
as believe in a series of batteries that did not exist.
For some time past there had alsb been a great deal said
of works of retreat preparing by the Russians. We found
nothing of all that. I will return in detail to this fine
achievement. As an episode, I may mention the valiant
resistance of 100 Russians, who, stationed in a nook be-
hind a traverse, fired their very last cartridges, and
yielded only when blazing fascines ware thrown among
them. Among the prisoners I met with the officer com-
manding them. Electric wires were found on all sides
and cut. At 3 o'clock General M‘Mahon, wrote to
General Pelissier—` I am in the Malakhoff, and sure to
maintain myself there.'
" The loss of the enemy in materials and munitions of
war is hardly to be imagined. The arsenals of the artil-
lery are crammed with cannon and projectiles • those of
the navy with anchors of all sizes. Considerable stores
of clothing have also been found. In the first moment
of confusion these warehouses were enterd, but to-day a
line of sentinels is stationed to prevent their plunder.
" Our losses were chiefly at the Little Redan and the
Central Bastion. General St. Pol, killed by a bullet in
the heart, in the second attack on the Little Redan ;
General Rivet, killed in the trenches by a grapeshot in
the leg, followed by faintings ; General Breton, struck
down at the head of his troops; General Pontdeves, who
died on the 10th, had his shoulder shattered and his
spine broken."

The following private letter has been received
7roin a Captain of Zouaves

" Sebastopol, Sept. 15.

"Yesterday, after dinner, I mounted on horseback
with the intention of visiting Sebastopol thoroughly. I
entered by the ravine of the English, and leaving on my
right the docks, the barracks, the arsenal, the military
town, all which extends under the Great Redan and
Malakhoff, I bent my way to the city, properly so
called. There may be seen a great number of public
monuments not without elegance, and of citizens'
houses, of very fine appearance, side by side with
the most wretched huts. There are some streets
wide, and with side paths, but all very badly mac-
adamised. Lighting with gas is still unknown in Sebas-
topol ; lamps are the only things—that is to say, fright-
ful-looking lanterns, supported by round posts, orna-
mented with black and white streaks. The theatre is
rather a fine structure, remarkable for its peristyle and a
colonnade which runs round it. Near the theatre is a
library, and a little lower down and in a direction to-
wards the sea, near the fine Fort St. Catherine, which
commands the roadstead, extend vast catacombs. You
reach the upper part of the city, which has a fine pro-
menale planted with trees and forming a terrace, by a
double flight of steps of stone, and on a vast scale. In
the centre of the promenade rises a monument composed
of a vessel in bronze raised on a pedestal of white marble,
the four sides of which are in bronze. This monument
is, no doubt, the emblem of the city, and the wings re-
present, perhaps, the rapidity with which the fleet, now
no more, hoped to reach one day the shores of old By-
zantium. I leave to the learned the task of deciding
this point. The monument will, no doubt, be trans-
ported to France, and placed in some public thorough-
fare or promenade in Paris, to perpetuate the memory
of our great victory, of which it will be an interesting
trophy. A very handsome church stands at the ex-
tremity of the promenade, and commands the entire
city. Do not suppose, however, that all these buildings
are intact. All are burnt, or broken, with the excep-
tion of the ship which the Russians looked upon, doubt-
less, as the palladium, of Sebastopol. All the churches
of the city have been set on fire ; and there only remain
the four walls, and the domes painted in green. The
south part of Sebastopol has Seen completely destroyed
by projectiles. I have visited the Russian lines of de-
fence, which on this side consisted of the fort of the
Quarantine, the Central Bastion, and the' Flagstaff
Bastion. Nothing can be more astonishing than these
gigantic works, and I maintain that we never could
have succeeded in taking possession of the town had we
been obliged to take all these positions by storm. Sebas-
topol presents at this moment a most curious spectacle,
owing to the immense crowd of visitors. I have met
during my visit several handsome young ladies, dressed
in elegant riding habits, traversing streets encumbered
with ruins, and uttering every moment exclamations of
surprise and horror at the sight of so many disasters.
The city is very large, and intersected in various parts by
deep ravines, which render the passage very difficult.
" I write you these few lines in great haste ; I hope
to give you in my next letter some clearer idea of our
new conquests."