The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-10 00:00:00

ARMY =OAR SEBASTOPOL COM-
.III7'TE E.

(Contidetl from, our first edition, of yesterday.) •
The Rev. E. G. Parker, chaplain of the let Division
of the Army, was next called. He stated that he arrived
in the Crimea at the beginning of December. A great
deal of sickness prevailed when he got there. The
medical attendance was good, as far as the professional
gentlemen were concerned ; but there was a great defi-
ciency of medicines. In the hospitals the men had
fresh meat every day. He often heard the medical men
say they wished to administer opium and other medicines,
but that they could not obtain them, The medical men
attended assiduously to their duties until they became
invalided themselves. If he had not been for some time
in South America, where he had been a great deal
amongst yellow fever, he questioned whether he should
have been able to withstand the effluvia in the hospi-
tal tents. He often had to retire from them, and one
of his brother clergymen had to be carried out. When
a man died he was wrapped up in his blanket and carried
to the grave, and sometimes the body was buried • but
this was net always observed, as a practice prevailed of
digging up the bodies to steal the blankets. There were
many wild dogs about the camp, but it was more pro-
bable that they fed upon the dead horses, and did not
scratch up the bodies of the dead. The exertions made
by the officers of the Guards were such as to make these
regiments More comf ,rtable than other portions of the
army. There were 8 other chaplains besides himself, but
he was the only one who could bear the duty they had
to perform. He had only done so with much difficulty,
and was at length obliged himself to yield. He had a
horse for his use and an allowance for forage, but he
could scarcely get any hay. They had a tent to them-
selves. He thought the hospital tents were not at all
adapted for the purpose. He went into the Turkish
tents and found them very much better than the Eng-
lish. Scurvy, dysentery, and diarrhoea were the diseases
of the camp—brought about by cold, salt meat, and
exposure to the weather. The men complained that the
unroasted coffee aggravated their maladies, and some of
the officers bought chests of tea for their use. Lime
juice was also supplied to them to prevent scurvy. When
he was in the Crimea a medical commission had arrived
there, and were taking evidence. The hospital at Bala-
klava was very much crowded. There was a depot of
medicines at Balaklava when he arrived. What it
contained he could not tell. He thought he was there
during the very worst part of the bad weather.
The troops were, generally speaking, very badly off for
fuel, but were never entirely without it. The snow on
the ground of course increased the difficulty of finding
roots and brushwood for fuel. He thought the sickness
and mortality which prevailed was in a great degree
attributable to the want of a good supply of fuel. The
warm clothing was not supplied to the Ist Division
until within a day or two of the time he left, and then
it was not complete. The commissariat department
of the Ist Division was very fairly administered.
There was never a deficiency of rations. The hospital
marquees were lined, but the tents were not. He was
well attended himself by the medical staff, and was
treated with the greatest kindness by them and the offi-
cers generally. Never saw Lord Raglan or any member
of his staff in the hospital tents. He had made repre-
sentations as to the crowded state of the hospitals to the
Adjutant-General and Quartermaster-General, but they
were not attended to. Some huts were being raised
when he left. It was his opinion that when the hot
weather came on Balaklava would be a most unhealthy
place, and a plague would be very likely to break out.
The only remedy ho could for the present suggest was
the burning with lime all those bodies which were un-
buried. He should think Balaklava, at the best of
times, was not a very healthy place in summer. Nothing
in the shape of waterproof was used in the hospital
tents. The men lay in their blankets in the tents, and
the water might have penetrated to them had he not
taken precautions to see that the ditches round the mar-
quees were cleared nut by the orderlies. He came away
on the 16th January. The officers of battalions and
particular regiments were very attentive in visiting the
hospitals, and paid for comforts for the invalids at their
own expense.
Captain Bellacott, of the Harbinger, was next called.
He stated that he arrived at the harbour of Balaklava
on the Bth November in the Harbinger. He at first lay
outside the harbour, and on going in there were about
GO vessels lying in the harbour. The harbour could have
contained many more. They had a cargo of vegetables.
Two days after they got an order to move, in consequence
of an advance of the Russians on the town. The Earl of
Shaftesbury, laden with gunpowder, was lying within the
harbour ; but, another filled with the same combustible
was outside. Saw the captain of the Resolute the day
before the hurricane. His vessel had then been ordered

outside the harbour. The captain (Capt. Lewis) said if
the gale increased, he should either put out to sea or go
into the harbour, for it was dangerous where he was an
chored. Knew nothing of where Captain Christie was
at that time. The barometer was low, but gave no
apparent indications of the approach of a storm.
After the gale the harbour was encumbered with
the wrecks and portions of the cargoes of ♦essels
that had suffered. The Harbinger remained about six
weeks in the harbour after the storm. Capt. Christie
and the transport staff came on board the Harbinger
after the storm, in consequence of his own vessel haring
been damaged. When discharged, the cargo, especially
the potatles, was quite rotten. Some of the bags of

potatoes when taken in at Constantinople were going

bad. He did not think there wai room in the harbour
fur the whole of the vessels off Balaklava during the
storm. At the same time the anchorage he knew was
vary dangerous.
The committee adjourned at a quarter to four until
twelve o'clock on Monday.