The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-23 00:00:00

TILE SERTC.FI EXPEDITION.

KERTCH, MAY 2S.

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Before I proceed to narrate the evcuts which have occurred
since my last letter was despatched, I must be permitted to
express the sentiments of abhorrence which every civilised
being must experience on surveying the scene of destruction

and barbarous violence presented by this unfortunate town,

and to protest against any imputation on account of the
sacking of Kertch being attached to Englishmen or to any
British subject, with the exception of the Lieutenant-General,
whose apathy or neglect permitted the perpetration of dis-
graceful excesses. Whenthe Russian army, numbering some
2,500 men, abandoned Kertch on the afternoon of our landing at
Ambalaki, a large caravan of the inhabitants, with such pro-
perty as they could collect in their trepidation, moved out
after the soldiery, and proceeded to Mekschelki, in the Bay
of Kasantip, leaving behind them their houses full of furni-
ture and such cumbrous articles as they were unable to move.

The Tartars, the Jews, and a few of the poorer Russians re-
mained behind, but the nobles and Government employes,
with few exceptions, fled precipitately. When the allies en-
tered Kertch the following morning the population made their
submission, and ordered bread and salt to the conquerors, in
accordance with the Russian custom, and they were assured
that they would be protected, and that their lives and property
should be spared. The troops marched on to Yenikale, leav-
ing behind them a few sailors and soldiers to guard Kertch,
and to destroy the Government manufactories and a private
establishment,for making Minie balls and cartridges. In the
afternoon of the day on which we occupied Yenikale the
crews of some merchant ships from Ambalaki landed and
began to break into three or four horses which had been
closed and fastened up, and to pillage the contents. As they
could not remove the heavy furniture they smashed it to
atoms. Towards evening Turkish stragglers from the camp
and others who had fallen out of the line of march flocked

into thp town, and perpetrated the most atrocious crimes
To pillage and wanton devastation they added violation and
murder. The Tartars who were in the town hailed the arrival
of the Osmanli with delight, and received them as liberators,
and as brethren to whom they were bound by the ties of
religion, of language, and of hatred to the Russians. They
led the few Turks from house to house, pointed
out, as victims to their cupidity and lust, those who
had made themselves obnoxious to their ignorance or
fanaticism, and gratified their ancient grudges to the Russian
tradespeople and merchants. The French patrols endeavoured
to preserve order, and succeeded to some extent, but not till
they had killed and wounded several Turks and T; stars. One
miscreant was shot as he came down the street in triumph
waving a sword with the blood of a poor child whom ho had
had hacked to pieces. Others were slain in the act of com-
mitting horrible outrages. Some were borne off wounded
to the prison or the hospital, and at last respect for life
was established by its destruction. There was not, to be
sure, a general massacre. Even savages would have re-
frained from slaughtering the inhabitants of a town
which had submitted, and thrown itself upon their
mercy. It was with difficulty, however, that the
French controlled the excesses of the Turks, and of
some of their own countrymen. Some English merchant
sailors next day aided in the work of pillage and destruction.
On a remarkable conical hill at the back of the town are two
buildings, one of which is 'said to mark the resting-plaee
Mithridates—the other, 6f modern date, but incorporating
some of the pillars of an ancient temple, which were found on
the site. is built after the model of the 'Parthenon. It has
been used, if not originally intended, as a museum, and was
full of cinerary urns and of antique relics collected amid the
ruins of the ancient Bosphor, of statuary, and of the contents
of tumuli which were opened in the neighbourhood. A series
of terraces and steps of fine dark granite leads from the market-
place to the hill on which the temple stands. Let us
ascend them, passing through the groups of Tartars
and Russians, who rise as we approach, and bow
obsequiously with uncovered heads. On coming close
to the building, it is observed that the doors have been
forced open, and that some of the ancient Greek marbles and
tablets which stood against the walls outside have been over-
turned. On the white panel of the door some indignant
Frenchman or. Russian has written in pencil the following
admonition, which was only too much needed, whoever were
the perpetrators of the ruin within
En entrant dans cette temple, oil reposent les (souve-
nirs ?) d'un siecle passe, j'ai reconnu les traces d'une invasion
des Vandales. Helas Francais ou Anglais, faites la guerre
ala (posterit6 ?), mais ne la faites pas a l'histoire. Si vous
avez la pretention d'être nations civilisees, no faites pas la
guerre des barbares 1"
It is imposible to convey an idea of the scene within this
place. The museum, or whatever it was, consisted of a single
large room, with glass cases along the walls and niches for
statuary, and rows of stands parallel to them, which once
held the smaller antiquities. At the end opposite the door a
large ledge, about 30 feet from the ground, ran from side
to side, and supported a great number of cinerary urns,
most probably dug out of the tumuli which abound in the
neighbourhood. It was reached by a winding staircase through
one of the pillars at the end of the room. One might well
wonder how the fury pf a few men could effect such a prodigi-
ous amount of ruin in so short a time. The floor of the museum
is covered for several inches in depth with the debris of
broken glass, of vases, urns, statuary, the precious
dust of their contents, and charred bits of wood and bone,
mingled with the fresh splinters of the shelves, desks, and
cases in which they had been preserved. • Not a single bit of
anything that, could be broken or burnt any smaller had been
exempt from reduction by hammer or fire. The cases and
shelves had been torn from the walls ; the glass was smashed
to atoms, the statues pounded to pieces; it was not possible
to do more than guess at what they had once contained. On
ascending to the ledge on which the cinerary urns had been
placed the ruin was nearly as complete. A large dog lay
crouching in fear among the remnants of the vases, and
howled dismally at the footsteps of a stranger. The
burnt bones which the vases contained were scattered
about, mixed with, dust and ashes, on the floor, and
thero was scarcely an urn or earthen vessel of any
kind unbroken. Here and there a slice of marble., on
which were traced one or two Greek letters, could be disco-
vered, and the slabs and pieces of statuary outside the build-
ing were generally too large and too massive to admit of their
being readily broken; but, on the' whole, the work of de-
struction was complete, and its only parallel could be found
within some of the finest houses in the town, such as that of
the Governor, where the ruin was equally indiscriminate and
universal. One sentry placed at the door would have pre-
vented all this discreditable outrage, which will no doubt be
attributed by the enemy to our Generals and our troops.
For all I know, the Tartars may have joined in the destruc-
tion of the museum, or the Turks may have been
its sole authors, but the blame will no doubt be attached
to the civilised States whose officers and soldiers took the
most active part in the operations against the enemy.
The Governor's house, • a large and fine :building in
the French style, on the Quay, has suffered severely, and not
a single article of furniture in' it remains intact. The floors
of the saloons are covered with fine fragments of costly mir-
rors. The locks, of solid brass, the hinges, and the window
fastenings of the same material, are broken off or destroyed
—not a single window is left entire in the whole mansion.
Legs of sofas, chairs, tables, bits of bureaux, of library shelves,
cushions of ottomans and fauteuils ripped up, and the gilt
leather and damask coverings torn into shreds, lie in litter,
mixed with the flocks and feathers of beds and pillows over the
house, and State papers, documents connected with the go-
vernment of the province, passports, &c., are scattered about
for an inch deep in some parts of the building. Empty
bottles in all the rooms show that, the rioters discovered the
wine cellar early enough, and the discovery no doubt contri-
buted to their fury and destructiveness.

AN INFERNAL MACHINE.
The dockyard magazines at Kertch contained-quantities of
military and naval stores—boiler plates, 'lathes, engineers'
tools, paint, canvass, hemp and chain cables, bales pf great-
coats, uniform jackets, trousers and caps, knapsacks,
belts, bayonets, swords, scabbards, anchors, copper nails
and bolts, implements of foundry, brass, rudder-pintles,
lead, &c. The French have been busy for the last few days in
taking the clothing, &c., out of the storehouses and destroy-
ing it. The valuable stores have been divided between the
allies, according to their good fortune and energy in appro-
priation. Numbers of old boats, of large rudders, covered
with copper and hung on brass, of small guns, of shot, shell,
grape, and canister, -were lying in the dockyard. An infernal
machine of curious construction attracted a great deal of at-
tention. Like most devices of the kind it had failed to be of
the slightest service. It consisted of six vessels of wood
shaped like two cones, placed base to base, each about 2A
feet long by lA feet in diameter at the base, and of several
similar vessels of a conical form, and of equal dimen-
sions, loaded to float with the apex downwards, the
base being provided with a cover, to fall on a prepared
fuse and ignite the charge upon contact with any floating
object. These vessels were attached to each other by wires,
and when placed in the water would look like a line of buoys ;
but the wires were carried to the poles of a galvanic battery
within the Russian magazine on shore, and there is no doubt
but that, had there been no failure, had we given the enemy
proper knightly warning of our approach, and had we gone
in shore in proper order, sent our ships exactly against the
line of the machines, and had the battery not missed fire,
there is no doubt that then the machine might have occasioned
some inconvenience and damage to our vessels. In the
centre of the Dockyard-square there is a funnel of a steamer
riddled with cannon shot in all directions. I counted twenty-
three holes in it. This has been set up like a triumphal
pillar, and has been stayed upright by the funnel chains in
the midst of an ornamental enclosure of stonework. There
was an inscription giving the history of this funnel, but it had
been destroyed or removed, and I can only record the two
stories I heard of it—one, that it is the funnel of a Turkish
steamer destroyed at Sinope (was there any such steamer 1)
the other, that it is the funnel of a Russian steamer which
bear those marks of a desperate engagement with Turk or
Circassian.

DESTRUCTION OF THE RUSSIAN STORES.

On Friday night the work of destroying Russian stores be-
gan, and the French hurled over several guns into the sea,
tore up the platforms, and exploded the shells found in the
magazines. The corn which the enemy intended to destroy
by pouring lime-water over it is still fit for use. Parties of
boats have been sent in all directions to secure and burn
prizes, and to fire the Russian storehouses and hag on the
sandbanks, and by day the sky is streaked with lines of
smoke, and by night the air is illuminated by the blaze of
forts, houses, magazines, and vessels aground on all the flats
for miles around us. The magazines of Kertch are still blaz-
ing, the Englishman's manufactory is in ruins, and the other
Government stores will soon follow. It is intended to remove
as many guns as possible, laud to destroy the remainder.
Thero is nothing doing at Yeuikale except throwing up
earthworks and demolishing parts of the old fortification in
order to strengthen them.