The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-14 00:00:00

THE REPORTED FALL OF KARS,

VIENNA, THURSDAY, DEC. 13, 11 A.M.
Nothing is known here in official circles of the
fall of Kars.

At Trebizonde, says a despatch just received
from Frankfort, it was rumoured on the 21st of
November that Omer Pacha had attacked Kutais.

The reinfurcements he had received were not
very considerable. The Shah Bender of Trebi
zonde has placed between 400 and 500 beasts o
burden at the disposal of the Porte.

A letter from Redout Kale, in the Post Gazette
of Frankfort, says :—" The Circassians have not
fulfilled the expectations of Omer Pacha by co-
operating with him, and the relations between
him and Schamyl are not friendly ; indeed he
fears that if he were to march on the capital of
Georgia, Schamyl would attack him in the rear."

THE BRITISH EXPEDITION.
(Prom the Times Correspondent.)
CAMP BEFORE SEBASTOPOL, Nov. 24.
The statements which you copied from a contem-
porary respecting the strength of the British army
next year we all received with satisfaction, not
altogether free from apprehension that the writer
may be mistaken. On one point he certainly has
miscalculated, and that is the strength of the regi-
ments out here. He has assumed an average
which is considerably too high. For example,
the 30th has received very few draughts, and we
all know how it suffered at the Alma, at Inker-
man, in the trenches, and at the two assaults on the
Roden. Its present effective strength would tell on
an average very materially. There are several
regiments in the same category, while others are
very strong in men, though not perhaps containing
so many old soldiers as could be desired. There are
four months, however, before us, and the drill-
serjeant is busy all day. Every camp resounds to
his voice and to the tramp of the awkward squad.
Recruits have little time to spend in idleness and
drinking, and steps are taken to provide soldiers
with the means of reading, which they will so much
need and enjoy in the long winter nights before us.
But cannot Government be a little more liberal in
the matter of candles ? The issue of light is one
ration to every 12 men—that is, one ration for
tw-..1 tent or serjeant's guard. Now, good public,
do you know what one ration consists of ? It is
just two-thirds of an ounce of sperm candle or
two ounces of tallow candle—that is, of a bit
very like what economic housewives are familiar
with uuder the name of "save-alls." No one need
ever say "Put out the light" in a British camp,
for the candle is not lit very long before it dies of
its own accord. An officer receives the same ration
as is given to 12 men, but he can afford to buy
candles, and if be is a field officer his rations are
increased, on the principle, I suppose, that there
i 3 more necessity for his keeping wide awake than
exists in the case of a subaltern. The libraries are
well filled with books, but there is little time to
use them by day, and it falls dark before 6 o'clock;
but 12 men are not likely to make much way in a
novel, a tract, or an entertaining miscellany by the
aid of two-thirds of an ounce of candle. They club
their little pieces of candle together, and resort to
many ingenious devices for keeping the lights in.
Some of them, like the Russian or Dutch sailors at
Spitzbergen, f whose very uncomfortable residence
we all have read, use the extra fat of mutton iu lamps,
but in general they are obliged to purchase what
extra candles they like. And all this time there
are the canteens alight till an hour or more after
" refreat." We have had "balls" at Kamiesh lately,
which were, I hear, distinguished by remarkably
good conduct on the part of all present. Of the
progress of the libraries and of the lectures you will
hear from other persons. There are hotels esta-
blished at Kamiesh, and restaurants, at which
excellent fare is to be had at high but not extrava-
gant prices.
The lines at Kamiesh are nearly completed.
Eight heavy redoubts and a splendid profile of
parapet and trench enclosing the place will remain
as-Lusting monuments of French military skill, and
will enable them to retain the ports of Kamiesh
and Kazatch when the bulk of the army has
retired.
Colonel Wetherall will, it is understood, succeed
Colonel M'Murdo, till the latter can return to his
command.