The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-17 00:00:00

CI.RCASSI.I.

SW:THUM KALEII ABASIA, Sept. 24.—A marvellous
change has taken place inahe aspect of this beautifully-
situated Abasian town since the period of my last visit
here a fortnight ago. Then not a solitary vessel lay at
anchor in the capacious harbour, and, with the excep-
tion of a disreputable-looking Turkish guard, not a sol-
dier was to be seen in its almost deserted streets. Now
a dozen ships are busily engaged discharging their mis-
cellaneous cargoes. Of these three are Turkish line-of-
battle ships ; the remainder are steamer& and transports.
The wharf presents a bustling scene as boat after boat
arrives, and their contents convince the astonished
Abasians that an invading army is actually being landed
upon their coasts. Horses and sheep are crawling up the
bank dripping and wretched after their swim ashore ;
slouching Turks are squatted in groups in the main
street, with their arms piled before them, eating black
bread ; Hungarian and Polish refugees, who form the
majority of the officers, are exploring the best-looking
houses for comfortable quarters ; a regimental band,
the best that the Turkish army can boast, is practising
in what formerly was the casino, and crowds of natives
are listening with eager attention to the march
in Norma. Omer Pasha himself is still at Batoum,
and Ferhad Pasha (General Stein) is in com-
mand. At present, however, the number of
troops actually landed amounts only to about
4,000, and the duties of the General consist chiefly in
preparing for those who are shortly expected from
Varna. The Commander-in-Chief will arrive in a few
days with the remainder of the troops, which have been
encamped in the neighbourhood of Batoum. It is mu^
to be regretted that this expedition was not undertaken
earlier in the year. It will be impossible now before the
winter to do more than advance on Kutais. Under the
most favourable circumstances the army cannot com-
mence the march before the beginning of November,
and at that late season of the year the advance of a
large army for more than 100 miles through a difficult
and almost unknown country is, to say the least of it, a
hazardous undertaking. However, it is not the fault of
Omer Pasha that this is so. The Seraskierat in Con.
stantinople is not more prompt in its proceedings than
the War Department in Whitehall-gardens; and, in
spite of the efforts of his Highness to get his army under
way sufficiently early to enable him to operate with
effect this summer, he has been vexatiously detained
until the advance on Teflis has become an impossibility
and the success of the undertaking as a diversion in
General Williams favour highly problematical. The
fate of the garrison at Kars depends rather upon the
weather than upon Omer Pasha, and if the snow is late
in falling this year it is not likely that Mouravieff will
abandon a siege to provide against a danger which
is remote. The Russian troops at present quartered
in Georgia, Mingrelia, and Imeritia would suffice to
hold the pass of Suramin against the Turkish army, and
check their progress until the Russian Commander-in-
Chief found it expedient to conclude the operations in
which he is at present engaged. The pass of Suramin
crosses the range of mountains which divides the plains
of Irneritia from the highlands of Georgia. It has an
altitude of about 3,000 feet above the sea level. The
Russian force at present on the plains is estimated at
only 4,000 men. The army of Mouravieff numbers
213,000 effective soldiers, and the troops in garrisom
throughout the fortresses and frontier posts of theie pro-
vinces amount to about 30,000 more ; from which it
wril appear that the total strength of the Muscovite
army in Transcaucasia somewhat exceeds 00,000 men.
The country thus garrisoned Omer Pacha is about to in-
vade with an army of 30,000 men. If Kars falls, unless
Omer Pacha be strongly reinforced, his efforts in this
direction will be paralysed. The Turkish commander
has a serious ground of complaint against the Allied
Generals, who refuse to spare more from the Turkish
force in the Crimea, which for so many months has been
an encumbrance rather than any assistance to our ope-
rations in that peninsula. It is to be hoped that the im-
portance of affording the Turkish army a prompt and
energetic support will be recognised in England, and
that a Christian force will be sent without delay to ope-
rate with it. Apart from the necessity which exists of
adding to the numerical strength of the present army of
invasion there are the strongest reasons why the rein-
forcements should consist rather of Christians than of
Mahornedans. The antipathy of the Christian popula-
tiaa in Aba.,ia to the Turks has already manifested itself.
They look with suspicion and distrust upon the soldiers
who are now occupying the Russian town, and, so far
Irons desiring to facilitate their progress through the
country, they have destroyed some of the bridges and
otherwise injured the roads upon the line of march.
Prince Michael, the Princess Dadian, and other nobles
through whose properties the army will pass do not
hesitate to confess to Russian sympathies, and if their
subjects do not share in au actual predilection for Russia,
they do not approve the prospect of the substitution of
Ottoman for Muscovite rule—a result which they natu-
rally expect to follow the invasion of their country by
Turkish troops. This distrust would be completely dis-
pelled by the presence of an English or French contin-
gent. In Georgia and Mingrelia, where the feelings
of the people are more decidedly anti-Russian than
in Abasia, they would not hesitate to declare the
sentiments, and, instead of a hostile population,
the allied troops would find the inhabitants well
disposed towards them, if not actually prepared
to rise in their behalf. In fact, the character which
the campaign will assume must depend entirely upon
the nationality of the troops which compose the
invading army. If it consists only of Turks, it will
have all the features of a march through an enemy's
country. The co-operation of the Circassians will pro-
bably be obtained, who desire nothing more than the
wholesale rapine and plunder of the Christian provinces,
with the inhabitants of which they have an hereditary
feud, and success, if it be gained at all, will be obtained
only at the price of the entire alienation of those whom
it is our chief interest to conciliate. If, on the other
hand, Christian troops form part of the invading army,
the assistance of the Circassians (who would be far mors
usefully employed upon the northern slopes of the Caa-
cams) would be dispensed with, and, instead of them,
the natives would offer themselves as allies, and their
aid would insure a much more satisfactory result to a
far smaller army.

It would be well if the allied Governments attached
a little more importance to the religious element in their
operations in the East, and could be reads to understand
that a wiser arrangement might be suggested than that
of sending Christian troops into a Mahomedan country,
and Mahomedan troops into a Christian country.
We are unfortunately too apt to judge of other nations
by ourselves, and because we see no inconsistency as
Christians in fighting for the religion of the Prophet
forget that there are others less enlightened, who find a
difficulty in reconciling themselves to a policy which is
to them somewhat unusual, more particularly in those
cases where they have suffered more severely from Ma-
homedan than from Christian oppression.
Her Majesty's ship Cyclops, Lieutenant Ballard, has
just steamed out of the harbour for Batoum, where she
is to wait for Omer Pasha and his suite, who are to re-
turn in her to this place. Although Souchum Kaleh is
somewhat further from Kutais than Batoum, the roads
are so much better as to render it a more desirable basis
of operation. The absence of any harbour at Redout
Kaleh or the mouth of the Rhion have limited the choice
between Batoum and Souchum. Mr. Longwortb, the
British Commissioner, is here preparing for an expedi-
tion into the interior of Circassia, where he will confer
with the Naib and some of the more influential chiefs
upon matters relating to the present operations. The
French Consul, M. Champoiseau, remains at Souchum.
P, ince Michael has been sent for to meet Omer Pasha,
who will call upon him to declare his sentiments, and,
in the event of his not offering that assistance which will
be expected from him, he will be compelled to leave the
country. There is a good deal of fever still prevalent
among the Turkish troops ; but, - although the sick list
is in consequence large, the malady here is not often at-
tended with fatal results. The approach of winter is
already driving it away, and a few miles from the coast
the country is perfectly healthy.

MARKET NEWS.-(THIS DAY.)

care

ended
%te of