The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-09 00:00:00

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in stifling the miners in the gallery. Other mining work
will probably be executed with better success.
"The great ravine leading to the port divides the lire
of fortifications, and also the besieging worke, in two
sections. The right division, which extends rom this
ravine to Careening Bay, was at first occupied by the
English. The left attack, executed by the French, coati
manded the town, and faced several strongly-developed
works and fortifications of the enemy. This attack wsij
however, enfiladed by the cannon of the besieged. The
obstacles were therefore very considerable os this point.
It was to have been desired that the right or English
attack had been conducted with greater vigour, for it is
there, on the side of the arsenal, that the most decisive
progress can be made. The Russians at this moment are
improving their fortifications, or constructing new ones.
" The English General Burgoyne, who served in Spain
under the Duke of Wellington, and who enjoysthe repnta•
tion of a talented engineer, must have comprehended in the
commencement the importance of the attack with which he
was charged. He could not have overlooked that by pene-
trating into the sailors' quarter, Sebastopol, of the town so
called, would bare been exposed in full to the ravages
of shells and round shot, and that the military port, in
ail its length, would have been at the mercy of the be-
siegers.
c is to be regretted that the pitiful condition of the
British army, weakened as it is by sickness, combined
with the dislike of the British soldier to trench-duty, has
not allowed this attack, which should be the principal
one to be conducted with the desired vigour. At this
Moment the French divisions are charged with the work,
tied are progressing actively. This fact has aroused the
attention of the Russians, who are now at work on this
point. Tney have now demolished the remainder of the
.Nralakhoff Tower (a casemated work, which was almost
destroyed by the English batteries on the first opening
of their fire), and with the material of that tower they
meditate the construction of a kind of fort or bastion.

" The works of attack and defence are alike being
pushed with activity. The allies must resign themselves,
notwithstanding the impatience of the soldiers, to a long
and methodic siege, in accordance with the rules laid
down by Vauban, which consists in gaining ground inch
by inch, in destroying the defensive works by cannon or
mines, until the day arrives when an assault can be
undertaken with chances of success.
" Our batteries suffered extremely from the superior
calibre of the enemy's guns, and we were forced to dis-
continue the unequal contest of artillery to give exten-
sion to our parallels and communications. New bat-
teries have been constructed, it is known, armed with
heavier metal, and mounting from 200 to 300 pieces of
artillery. ..k.ll these batteries are masked, and will re-
main so until the day when the preparations are termi-
nated, and each piece provided with several hundred
rounds of ammunition. They will thus be enabled to
thunder together, with the view of producing a terrible
effect, which will be followed by an immediate assault.
This is all we can say on the subject without departing
from a discreet reserve."

.3/ KE T NEWS-(THIS DAY.)