The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-20 00:00:00

TURKEY.

SCUTARI, Oct. B.—Miss Nightingale leaves to-
day for Balaklava, and all, the nuns or sisters of
mercy now at Kululee Hospital are also going to the
" front."

General Beatson, who is now at the Hotel
d'Angleterre, Therapia, with his two aides-de-camp,
has been relieved of his command pro tem. by Gen.
Smith, who proceeded from Buyukdere by order
of General Vivian. This decides the question as to
whether General Beatson is under General Vivian's
orders or command.

Sir Harry Jones, Royal Engineers, with his
aide-de-camp, is at the Palace Hospital, the former
far from well. Although one can see that General
Jones is holding out to the last, still the general
opinion is that he will have eventually to go home.
Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd, R.E., is next senior to Gen.
Jones, but Lieut.-Colonel Chapman, C. 8., at
present is commanding in the Crimea.
The depot at Scutari, which fluctuates greatly as
to numbers, has been lately increased by the offi-
cers' stores, and a few men and horses, for Beat-
son's Horse Artillery, together with the Driver
Company, as it is oddly called, of Sappers and
Miners.
Only one brigade, under General Neil, o f the
Turkish contingent infantry, is left behind in camp
at Buyukdere, with 1,100 Turkish cavalry under
Goneral Shirley ; the latter, which ought to be
4,000 strong, are badly mounted, the horses vary-
ing from 13 to 14 hands high, and yet from 301. to
431. have been paid for each. All the other brigades
of the Turkish contingent, numbering about 8,000,
are at Kertch. General Vivian has not yet re-
turned from the Crimea. When will the English
Government learn experience, and cease to pay in
such a most extravagant manner this useless con-
tingent force.
We have received letters from Constantinople
to the Bth inst., brought by the Cheliff. There
was no longer any idea of modifications in the per-
sonnel of the Cabinet, notwithstanding the ill-will
attributed to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe against
the majority of its members, and particularly
against Mehemet Ali Pacha. It was said at Con-
stantinople that the English Ambassador is not
supported in his hostility by his Government, but
that he has been requested to imitate the prudent
reserve of his colleague of France, who had de-
clared that he would not interfere in any way with
the internal affairs of Turkey, so long as the inte-
rests of his own country and those of the alliance
did not suffer.

The Madrid journals of the 14th hare arrived in
due course. Upwards of 160 deputies had reached
the capital. The responsible editor of the Estrella
bad been condemned to six years' imprisonment
for seditious libel ; and had been sent off to
Zamora to undergo his punishment. The Espana
says that General San Miguel, in order to lose his
seat in the Cortes, has refused to accept the post of
Commander-General of the Halberdiers, or the
rank of Grandee of Spain. A war steamer, the
Santa Isabel, was about to be sent from Barcelona
to Genoa, to convey the Duke and Duchess do
Montpensier back to Spain. The 14th being Sun-
day, the Stock Exchange was not open.

The Federal Council of Switzerland has just de-
cided that the Cantons shall bear the expense of
the shooting-grounds and ammunition required for
the instruction of the carabineers prescribed by
Federal law. Every other expense is to be de-
frayed by the Federal Treasury...

THE LATE ATTACK ON TAMAN.

A letter from ICertch, of the 2d inst., in the
Constitutionnel, gives some further particulars of
the successful attack on Taman

" You will not be much astonished at hearing of the
complete destruction of Taman, Fanagoria, and some
of the surrounding villages, but a few words of expla-
nation as to the position of those places, and their
valuable resources, will suffice to demonstrate the ne-
cessity of the late expedition. Taman and Fanagoria,
which are situated at only a short distance from each
other, are built on the slopes of hills forming part of the
uninterrupted chain which closes the horizon on the
eastern side of the strait of Kertch. The distance which
separates the two shores is about nine or ten miles ; from
one to the other, the passage of heavy waggons on the
ice is perfectly practicable in the depth of winter, and it
is well known that last winter the Russian army in the
Crimea received the greater part of its supplies by
that road from the coast of Asia. The existence of
Taman and of its vast buildings, which this winter
might again shelter a considerable body of troops,
was a perpetual danger for our possessions at Kerte)),
and more particularly at Yenikale, which could not
be protected by the flotilla. Taman was a free town,
and independent of the empire, and was admitted to
certain privileges of neutrality. Only a few days ago it
was a depot of corn, of provisions of all kinds, of timber,
and of clothing. There 'were also there a large num,
ber of wooden huts for barracks, and the refusal of the
town to deliver them up to us, to meet the pressing
wants of our troops, led to the expedition, and the re-
sult is, that we have now in our possession a large
quantity of corn and timber, all the wooden huts which
we require, as well as storehouses full and camp equi-
page and clothing. These last-named articles you may
imagine are not the least valuable to us, and we shall this
winter see our soldiers wrapping themselbes up in the
large Russian great coats, or, as one of them expressed
himself—' We shall have comfortable dressing-gowns.
Our vessels are now engaged in taking on board all that
the enemy has left us, and it is probable that they will
have to make several trips with their cargoes. The
troops are well established on shore ; they have taken
up a position where, in the event of an attack, which
is not very probable, they can be well protected by
the guns of the vessels. In two or three days we
shall have completed our work, and nothing will
remain of Taman but the name and the place. The
laws of war are hard, and the consequences of them
are terrible ; but they are necessary, particularly
as we are situated. A great part of the town has
been set fire to by our shells, and a fresh breeze from
the northward tended to spread the flames. Every
night we witness grand illuminations, the glare of which
is reflected across the strait. In the anticipation that
there might have been a considerable number of troops
concentrated at Taman, an order had been given to
five large English gun-boats to quit the Spit of Ara-
hat on a given day, and effect a diversion in the
Gulf of Temruk, situated at the eastern entrance of
the Sea of Azoff. This diversion was effected, and

produced the best results. It had the effect of
bringing to . that point numerous detachments of in-
fantry, who, on hearing the cannon at Taman, hastened
to the assistance of that place. Temruk has, however,
shared the same fate as Taman, for the English have
annihilated it."
Taman is an island of Russia in Europe, situ-
ated between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff
at the entrance to the Strait of Yenikale. Its length
is 40 kilometres (25 miles), and its breadth about
the same. The inhabitants are almost all Cossacks.
It possesses springs of Petrole, which is a kind of
dark brown or black naptha, that throw out a
considerable amount of odour and smoke when set
fire to. On the island may be seen the fort of
Fanagoria, and the ruins of Tmoutarakan, which
place was built on the site of the principal town of
Taman. The princes who resided in this latter
town, from the 10th to the 12th century, often
played a very important part in the revolts which
took place against Russia. In addition to the fort
of Fanagoria, there is also a town of that name,
situated on the island, and mentioned by Admiral
Bruat. A great number of villages are to be seen
all round the coast.