The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-22 00:00:00

7/./71
y

(7-1,,c1
giving it the proper elevation, up went a Lancaitet,:q
shell right into the middle of them, and must, it.-X
should think, have done some damage ; they then
retired, leaving only a sentry here and there to look"--'
at us. Last night and the night before we were not .;
turned out, which I wonder at, as one Cossack
riding down and firing his piece has the power of
turning us all out and annoying us a good deal. As
to attacking the place, to be successful, or to have
a chance of it, they would require about 2,500 or
3,000 men, whereas there are only a few Cossacks
and about 1,000 men between this place and Tern-
rouk (20 miles off), which place the Sea of Azoff
squadron bombarded the day we landed here, and
tried to set fire to, but found there were some
trooi s there, so they could not. Fancy, we heard
the firing here quite plain ! We have got a good
many houses down, and the wood collected on the
beach, and have sent over our Minna full of wood,
but are not getting on so quickly as wo expected,
andinstead of leaving to-morrow, shall, I dare say,
have to remain till Tuesday or Wednesday (this is
Friday). On Wednesday morning some French
officers going down to the village too early by them-
selves found the Cossacks and some few foot (about
a dozen), who had been spending the night there,
had not left, and got fired at ; one was slightly
wounded in the foot, the other had his cap knocked
on ono side; also the. first day some of our navy of-
ficers got hemmed into the Church, and had to dodge
the Cossacks. We have sent armed parties out in
different directions the last few days to burn some
houses a distance off, &c. One that started yesterday
went to a splendid vineyard, but all the best grapes
had been shaken down by the Russians to prevent
our getting them. The vineyard is a long way off,
and here even—far as it is—one unfortunate
Frenchman had strayed with that insatiable thirst
for plunder and was found murdered (not shot) ;
he was lying nearly naked, and stuck in the side
and neck with a lance or sword. I suppose there
were Cossacks in the place, and that they first
fired at and wounded him, and then murdered and
robbed him. This is the first man we have had
killed here.

"A great treat here are the mushrooms, of which
there is a large quantity. When several of us were
out picking them the day before yesterday we found
the place the Cossacks fired from, and a little fur-
ther on I found one of their cartouch-boxes, which
they had dropped the other night, with 48 rounds
in it of Minie ammunition. It is made of sheep-
skin, and I mean to keep it as a tobacco-pouch.
They aro to send us down huts, I believe, from
Balaklaep ' 25, which will not be nearly
enough, _ iall have to build some, and
shall not ue tep all the wood we. gee here
for firewood ; so I dare say, some of that will
have to be sent down to us from Balaklava. While
they are about it they might as well make us com-
fortable, but fully expect that the officers will have
to pass the winter in double tents, which is by no
means a pleasant look-out, though I almost ques-
tion if a double tent to oneself would not be better
than a hut with four in it, as digging down very
deep, putting a fireplace in the side, double one
tent over the other, digging one ditch close round,
and another further out, banking up clay to keep
the wind out, boarding the bottom, &c., one can
make oneself pretty comfortable after all !
SUNDAY, SEPT. 30.
" Well, my letter has not gone yet, and I believe
one mail has left the other side, but ono has had
such a lot to do here between perpetual working
I parties, foraging, &c., that it could not be helped.
However, I pe to be able to get it across
to Yenikale to-day by the Minna. We have
not been turned out the last two nights, but
nearly all of us sleep with our clothes on, boots
and all ; not a very comfortable way of resting,
which reminds me of a passage you used to laugh at
in Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel about the 40
warders, tall and strong, or something of that kind,
who did everything with their armour on, and even
drank the red wine through the helmet bars, for
such was the custom of Branksome-hall'—do you
remember it ? We have been able to got some
fowls, &c., here, and so have been able to live
pretty well, but they are nearly all finished, so that
the sooner we go the better, but I fear we shall not
get away before Friday or so. I told you the day
before yesterday about the Frenchman who was
found killed. Well, I believe he had two comrades
with him, one of whom was found also murdered,
and the other is still missing.
" We now have a guard and sentries out in the
village, and we are, with armed working parties,
carrying away the best of the wood from there for
firing, &c. ; the rest of the place has been set fire
to, so that when the Cossacks come back they will
not find much of their town ! I was hard at work
down there yesterday, from daylight till sunset,
coming back for one hour for dinner and breakfast
at 9 and 1,"