The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-21 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEAII3'E

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BOMBARDMENT OF SEBASTOPOL.

LAST HOURS OF THE SIEGE.
(Frons the Correspondent of the Daily News)
CAMP BEFORE SEBASTOPOL, SEPT. 8.
After long weeks of comparative idleness the allied
!ibatteries have again opened upon the besieged town, and
for the greater part of three days have kept up an almost
continuous bombardment along nearly the whole of the
attacking line. This time, at ail events, the attention of
;the generals commanding was .kept sufficiently secret ;
Ilfor till the thundering cannonade began at dawn on
!Wednesday morning from the batteries on the French
Illeft, I have been unable to hear of any one, out of the
':narrow circle of confidents at head-quarters, who was
:at all aware of its approach. About four o'clock on
the morning of the sth, however, our allies opened the
ball from the guns of their left attack, and maintained
is most vigorous fire on the enemy's works in that
direction till about an hour and a half after
noon, when our own batteries and those on the
French right opened on the Redan, the Malakhoff, and
its adjacent supports in Careening Bay. From that
hour until shortly before 5 o'clock, a feu d'enfer was
kept up along-the whole line, to which only the Russian
batteries opposed to the French left replied with any-
thing like sustained vigour. The gunners in the Redan
arid Round Tower contented themselves with throwing
occasional shells into our advanced works and the Maine-
lon, and a few hollow shot which came bounding up to
the close neighbourhood Of the tents along the front.
About a quarter 'before 5 o'clook the fire on both sides
blackened, and an hour later it almost ceased, when a
calm—in striking contrast to the stormy thunder which
had filled the air and clouded the sky during the day—
succeeded, and remained almost undisturbed till; he light
Of dawn again came to guide the aim of the combatants.
Some two hours later, however, about 8 o'clock, a
new incident occurred to give picturesqueness and
interest to the scene. A large two-decker, lying
moored off "the dockyard shears, suddenly burst
into flames ; and in cconsiderably less than half-an-hour
her whole hull and rigging were one mass of waving fire.
None but a most graphic pen could describe the grandeur
of the conflagration, as it brightened and extended in
relief against the pitchy_darkness of the night, throwing
up clouds of smoke, which hung in lurid masses over
and around the burning ship, till the whole harbour, from
Fort Paul to the north shore, was covered with the
fleecy volumes, which there was not a breath of wind to
stir. The red glare of the flames threw its reflection
over all the adjacent buildings and shipping, creating a
picture of lights and shadows such as only the pencil
of Rembranit himself could have worthily reproduced ;
whilst above the vapoury canopy that overhung the
vessel, the sky was lighted up with a brilliance which
rendered the outline of the various siege-works before
the town almost as visible as at noonday. The only
sky-scene I ever saw which surpassed, or even
equalled it, was an autumn sunset in Mesopotamia,
when the long even line of the desert horizon was
crowned with a glory of which no combination of artifi-
cial colours could ever afford an adequate resemblance.
About two hours after the first outbreak of the fire there
were two trifling explosions, as if caused by the ignition
of spirits or the firing of a couple of powder casks ; but
beyond these, and the discharge of a single cannon, there
was no report. Shortly before midnight the decks fell
in, after which the side timbers continued to burn for
some couple of hours, when the wreck settled down, and
at daylight no trace of her remained visible above the
water.

With the grey light of early morning on Thursday the
bombardment recommenced, and continued throughout
the day, with some periods of intermittent slackness.
As on the previous day its strength was confined to the
French and our own left—the batteries on the right
doing little more than to keep up a dropping Ere on the
Malakhoff and Little Redan, the former of which did not
answer with a single gun. Soon after sunset, however,
nearly every mortar along the whole line of attack was
brought into play, and till nearly 9 the thunder of their
discharges rolled through the air in almost unbroken
peals ; the sky was literally alive with shells, vomited
forth from their fiery beds at every angle from fifteen de-
grees up to seventy7five, whilst showers of the still
grander and more terrific rockets darted across the dark-
ness like avenging comets. As illustrating the briskness
of the fire about this time I may mention that within
four minutes I counted as many as. thirty-one shells fall-
ing inside the Malakhoff alone, whilst an almost equally
warm practice was being kept up upon its formidable
neighbour the Redan. As throughout the previous day
the Malakhoff scarcely fired a shot in reply, almost its
only discharges being a few cohorns thrown over the pa.
rapet into the French sap, whose occupants generally gave
back two for one. The Mamelon to a great extent also re-
served its fire, leaving its vis-a-vis to be dealt with by our
21-gun and mortar batteries on its left. About half-past
nine o'clock another fire broke out behind the Round
Tower, which, though inferior in extent and brilliance
to that of the previous night, threw up volumes of smoke
and flame that cast a flood of lurid light over a great
part of the harbour, the Arsenal, the Redan, and our
own and the French advanced trenches. After burning
for about an hour, however, it rapidly died out, having
been in all probability one of the buildings on the slope
of the hill leading down from the rear of the Malakhoff
to the harbour. During the hour for which.this had lasted
one of the three-deckers, which had been drawn up dur-
ing the previous night, with their broadsides to the
Round Tower, threw several shells into the trenches near
the Mamelon, as well as into our own advanced mortar
batteries on its flank, but as the French replied with
some discharges of rockets, this fire from the shipping
was not long continued. The glare of a second fire within
the town was visible in the rear of the Redan ; but this
appeared to have been soon got under, and did not
last for more thah half-an-hour. As on Wednesday,
so again during this day's practice, the enemy fired seve-
ral shells at the camp, two of which, that I have heard
of, took effect. The first fell into a canteen-hut in the
Third Division, and demolished the whole concern, at
the same time woending the luckless Maltese to whom
the store belonged ; whilst the second exploded within
a tent of the Fourth Division, and killed the only man
who happened to be inside at the time, besides wound-
ing three others in the neighbourhood.
During Thursday night the firing again slackened,
but was resumed on Friday at daylight, and kept up
vigorously throughout the day—its main force being,
as on the two preceding days, from the left. On
looking at the Malakhoff about noon I was able, with
the aid of a good glass, to perceive the full extent of
the external injury which it had sustained from Wednes-
day's and Thursday's fire, and of the entire number of
its embrasures only two remained open. The rest
bad been literally bunged up, and their gabions
shatteted and knocked about in all directions into
and outside the ditch. The abattis, which had proved
so formidable an obstacle to our Allies on the 18th of
June, was also swept away in various places, and open-
ings, varying from one to ten yards, were visible throngb-
out the greater part of its length from the six.gun battery.
up to the parapet of the French sap. Similarly, though
to a much less degree, the embrasures of the Redan had
been damaged, and its fascines and gabions blown out of
place ; whilst the small flanking party under the wing of
the Malakhoff appeared but little injured. Passing on
to the town itself, on the left, a vast number of houses
which had before escaped uninjured were seen reduced
to ruins, roofs being knocked in, side walls shattered, or
gables blown clean away. From the roofs of several of
the public building', however, the sheet lead appears to
have been purposely stripped ; and I also perceived a
scaffolding at present round the dome of the small tower
that rises out of the Admiralty buildings, leading to the
impression that it is undergoing the same denuding
process. Altogether, a much greater proportion of the
firertehi so time
so
c occasion,
sio
directedn and
the da-
mage against the
town
m nyepviu be commensurately great. Why
this bad not been done long ago has been a standing
age appearsit
inflicted
flel f
et e than tod haveen as beens m
matter for remark and wonder since the earliest months
son
of the siege. One per cent, of the shot and shell thrown
resultlessly into the Redan and Malakhoff would have
laid the town in ruins, and not have left the garrison
as much shelter as would have given cover to a rat.
About 5 p.m. yesterday another ship was discovered
to be on fire near the middle of the harbour, and almost
hidden from our view by the crest of the Malakhoff
From the masts, which were at first all that could be
seen, we judged her to be a frigate ; soon after the first
outbreak of the flames she appeared to be towed out far-
ther from the south shore, for her deck and one tier of
portholes became visible above the brow of the slope,
and the impression as to her size was then confirmed,
Though the evening was windy, and an impetus
therefore given to the flames, she continued to burn
steadily till nearly an hour before midnight, when the
blaze gradually subsided to a smoulder, fanned into

1855.

brightness by the breeze, and the charred ribs were all
that remained visible to the teleseepe from.the Picket
,Huuse hill. 'Long before this cOnsiminiation, however,
two ether:fire's broke out Within the itselfthe
first, and smaller of the two; amongst tome houses near
the cemetery, and the larger, in the part of.-the town
lying in the rear of the Redan. The locale of the former
had been severely shelled by the Greenhill battery dur-
ing the afternoon and evening, and to this it is said the
fire in that quarter is*to be: attributed. .After sunset a
'French battery on the left coml.-permed throwing rockets
'over the Redan into the t • • • d to this, I be-
ow e ;'
lieve, the second burning in that directiriU is to be
traced. , This last' raged with . peculiar fury over
a very ; considerable space, and when I turned
`away from looking long after midnight,
was extending. the fleines • to
,eeveral other
buildingsf adjacent .to that :in
fwhieli, it first broke out.
To `kid the breeze, Our own 'Quarry batte:ry threw a large
fruit: bier bf shells 'into the spot; whilst the French at the
save filen Continued to contribute rickets for a' similar
Ipurpatee. shell from one of our ewn mortar batteries,•
however, accomplished a still more valuable result,' by
blowing up*a Russian magazine in, the small' six-gun
work on the proper right 'of the Malakhoff. This oc-
curred betieeen 9 and 10 p.m., and from the terrific force
of the explosion the quantity of.pnveder ignited mnst
have been great. At a distance of more than a mile and
a half from the spot the earth shook again, whilst the
noise resembled a thunder peal. The full
,extent of the
i'amage cannot be known till deserters reveal it ; but
that it quite balances the loss suipiined by the French,
through the late accident n the hlamelon, there can
be little room to doubt. ThcoughOut last night the fire
continued to be delivered with unabated• energy—the
enemy, as before, giving scarcely a 'shot or shell in re-
turn. This silence on their part, however, is far from
proving that their batteries are therefore effectually shut
up-4he delusion into Which we fell and suffered from so
calamitously on the 18th of Jime. We have reason
rather to suppose that their gnus have been withdrawn
into shelter, ready, if necessary, as before, to vomit forth
grape and canister when we least expect either. But
that they have suffered most heavily during the'past
three days, in men and materiel, is certain; whilst our
own loss has been much less than during any' previous
bombardment. During- the whole 'of Thursday after-
noon an almest unbroken string of, stretcher-bearers,
carrying away the dead and. wounded, could be seen
from our advanced trenches winding out of the Re-
dan ; and 'several times as they crossed 'a point within
the town where. four streets meet, and which our
guns in the Quarry Battery, command, two of these last
gave them discharges which added considerably to
the casualties of the' day. , The humanity of firing on
men so employed may be questioned ; but it should be
remembered that in war the first . principle of action
should be that which will inflict the greatest loss on the
enemy at the smallest cost to ourselves ; and to carry
out this refined considerations of humanity must often
or always be set aside.'
Thus the last three days have been full of action and
incident. Even while I write ,every one is on the qui
vivc of expectation as to the next nerve on the part of
the generals. Camp rumour declares that the assault,
which in the usual course of things should follow all this
bombarding, will be made to-day ; but beyond this gene-
ral impression I can as yet state nothing,. To bring
down my account of the firing and its consequences to
the latest hour T. have delayed writing till the last mo-
ment in time for post, but even before I close it is not
improbable that something decisive may occur.

In the meantime I may add to this rapid sketch of
our operations since the outgoing of the last mail a
few further particulars of some of the • occurrences
shortly referred to in my letter of the 4th. When I then
mentioned the affair in which the 97th Regiment had
one officer killed and two wounded in the trenches a
night or two before, and added that the matter had since
been made the subject of an official investiga'ion, I was
not aware of the extent and direction of the blame at-
taching to those concerned. Since then I have learned the
facts more accurately, and they are briefly these :—On
the night in question, when the party of the enemy who
surprised and drove in our sentries before the advanced
approach leading from the fifth parallel, dashed into the
sap, the officers of the covering party rushed forward to
meet them ; but the men first hesitated, andthen turned;
only some 8 or 10 of them remaining with their officers.
The immediate result was the death of one of the latter,
and severe wounds to two of the remainder. • These run-
aways were mostly fresh drafts belonging to the 97th and
(I believe) the 17th Regiments. Fortunately, Major
Turner, of the 7th, who was field officer of the attack
for the night, succeeded in mustering a strong party
from other regiments close at hand, and with these
promptly attacked and drove out the Russians. On the
fallowing morning Major Turner reported the conduct
of the runaways, and having made good his charge before
the committee of officers appointed to investigate it, a
most severe and well-deserved rebuke was administered
to the peccant regiments in a general order of last even-
ing. On the night after this disgraceful behaviour,
another excellent officer, Captain Ross, of the 3d Buffs,
was shot down in repelling another sallying party from
the Roden, who carried him off as they retreated. It
is since reported that he has died within the town.
Forty-eight hours later still, on Monday night, Cap-
tain Pechell, of the 77th, was killed on the same
ground, in a most injudiciously ordered attempt
(with only eight men) on a Russian rifle-pit some
thirty yards in advance of the further extremity of
the sap. They had scarcely emerged from the shel-
ter of the parapet before a volley knocked over five
men and the captain, whose body was dragged back

into the trench by one of the three survivors. Again,
on Wednesday night, Capt. Anderson, of the 31st, who
has for several mouths been doing duty with the Engi.
neer, was shot dead by a rifle bullet inside the same
work ; and on Thursday night, Capt. Buckley, of the
Grenadier Guards, met with a similar fatO almost on the
same spot. 'Thus within the short period of a week, this
trumpery approach has cost us the lives of five most
valuable officers and many men. These have constituted
the main weight of our fatal casualties since this day
week, but in all sad earnest the list is heavy enough.
I have more than once had occasion to refer to the dis-
graceful behaviour of very many of the young soldiers
who are being continually sent out hither from the
home depots, and this conduct of the 97th awl 17th
furnishes another painful illustration of the truth of
my remarks. With such multiplied examples of the
great inferiority of these raw levies before their eyes,
it may be worth while for the home authorities to con-
sider whether or not some plan be practicable by which
none but old troops should be sent out hither—at least
till all such now on home service have been drafted to
this army. As it is, I have heard more than one com-
manding officer declare that he would prefer short num-
bers of the latter any day to a full complement made up
for the most part— as is the case with many regiments
now in the front—of these green youths, who are sol-
diers only in appearance and name.,
9 a.m.—As was to be expected, the assault is to be
made in the course of this forenoon. Since early dawn this
morning a terrific fire along the whole line, left and right,
has been kept up on the enemy's works from every gun
and mortar that could be brouht to bear on any part of
them. In addition to the Russian batteries on the pro.
per right of the town, the Redan and its mischievous
six-gun neighbour have replied vigorously, as have also
a couple of batteries from the north side. Only one gun
has played from the Malakhoff, and for its rare shots
folly fifty for one have been returned. All through the
night the allies kept up a murderous cannonade, and at
this moment while I write the combined discharges re-
bemble one long unbroken peal of thunder. This is to be
continued till the signal for the assault is given, when the
enemy will have barely time to greet the advancing
columns with one discharge of grape. This time the ar-
rangement is, that our attack on the Redan shall not`be
made till the Malakhoff is actuallroccapiecl by the Fiench
—then, and not till then, our stormers shall dash on to
the Redan, the French supporting them by a simultaneous
rush upon the small flanking battery which worked us eo
much mischief on the 18th June. Our assaulting force is
to be composed of the whole of the Second Division, and
the second brigade of the Light Division, with the
first brigade as a reserve. As a punishment for
its recent conduct in the trenches the 97th has been
told off to lead. General Markham, of the Second
Division, commands the whole. Such, briefly, is to be
the order .of this final attack, and the strength of our
own force to be employed in it. With the lesson of the
fatal 18th fresh in all minds we have little of the un-
duly sanguine confidence of success whiCh then ani-
mated everybody ; but with our advances pushed so
much nearer the points to be attacked, and with ar-
rangements free from the tomplications which bore such
disastrous fruit then, the general disappointment will
still be great if before sunset to-day the Tricolour and
Union Jack do not float in triumph over the Malakhoff
and Redan. This accomplished, the south side of Sebas-
topol is our own. •

1•• ' •

I •..)fi:
L-RICE 4D.

STAMPED 5p-

'THE RUSSIAN. SETTfiEMENTS (I.N
. • • 4VORT-11.-P4.011Mk..) .11/1

• • -ky "L..%
The follovri•n-g- Mttefs (Aigned. "V. -. • S.")
hgve been ad.diemed Cc* the 'editor. the Tics

--~1

T

Sir:77-IPlwelrgriur..JY9lJrl7olPrt-rkellAY:lxtfittthAllegli.
Igence °lour commanders in „the race to .Petrepauleyski,
!of -Which-yen 'spoke in -yCouraitiere belili!e' yes-
lterday, both parties had mot an 0 • equal: chance.: t .
Petropaulmiski may. be in' direct distnrit from .St.
Petersburg' MOO,- frbei London 4,64'0 tut while
the distance to be travelled (would .not, ip ,one case,
he more than 7,500 miles, or about HO 47e,ii,n,the other
:the distance would 1) ncrease'd to-17,500, and'the time,
• . • • •l"
though,not in proportion, yet very consideritgly--=-•-eay 130
345. Moreover, steipners de net make, long ;voyages
with much Pdvanfage, over sailing clippers, as trials
from Australia. sufficiently; Orove. But why as
that
!Great Brita4,ll.itl, 19 station ; for .naval -rpoclerrous on
;the north-west coast of America? ~As Sir George
'Simpson bolkits7Great Britain and' Russia .gird' the
'globe, why
,should the ..orders .of our Governinent
have to travel, four times the .direct distance,
while -we have facilities for direct transit which
they have uet,:nature, having : given .ua a ready-made
road by water for all hut 1,g60 miles ? Nqr bad they a
priority in point of time.— The English flag had traced
the north-west,coaetiof Anierica, and an English colony
been projected there—n,ayi og)ish trade established
there before the Russians tad Set ibot on the coast.
Our first. establishment on Hudson's ltay dated front the
time of Charles 11. Russia. was struggling fer the pos-
session of Western Siberia at the beginning of the.l7th
century. We bavehad no opponents ; tbey have bad to
contest, the ground with the Tqtars, Chinese, 'and even
thelraketski. yet Russia has established large towns,
fisheriest, and internal communication throughout the
whole of. North Asia, baa her steamers on Lake Baikal,
and at Okhotsk, Petropaulovski, the Amoor, and Sitka.
We have not one' steamer on Lake Superior, nor any
material establishment from Lake thiren to the Pacific ;
yet from Lake Superior to the Pacific is .ely 1,260
miles,' with abater communication, to the base of the
Rocky Mountains from Lake Winnipeg. while from To-
bolsk •to Okhotsk is 2,210, Lake. Baikal only intervening.
. A. century ago the importance of a naval station, and,
indeed, of a colony, on the north-west coast of Atiteriel
was admitted. What has been done since ? Nothing.
Our vessels rendezvous at the Sandwich Islands or San
Francisco. Our Pacific, Admiral's wife has her tempo-
rary home in South America, some 8,000 miles from the
scene of action; which therefore have to be 'traversed by
the flag-ship, as yoni correspondent informs us; whose
action has been prevented by the more business-like
arrangements of our enemy ; yet on, that coast the. finest
spars and wood of all kinds may be had for cutting, coal
for digging, .and there are hundreds of harbours, any one
of which is Made to land for naval uses, Our ships,
whether sailing or steam; if they want repair, must re-

turn home, or at best go to some distant foreign port.
The Russian'can be repaired or refitted in their own
ports by their own workmen. The magnitude of these
operations-and the,insignificanee or, in this case,%nullity
of ours may be estimated by the fact that they have four
naval stations—Sitka, Petropaulovski, Okhotsk, and the
mouth of the. Amoor, distant respectively, say, 2,000,
700, and 500 miles, dominating over the North Pacific
—while the greatest maritime'nation in the world has
not one.

Sir,—The allusions which of late have been made to
that part of the Russian ierritory, and the anomalous
reports on some agreement made between the so-called
Russian Fur Company and the Hudson's Bay Company
—the important question, in fine, whether Sitka be
" merely a trading port" or a Government establish-
ment, induce ine to address you the following observa-
tions. They are communicated to me by a professional
Gentleman, who performed a voyage on board one of
the Russian men-of-war which annually go between
Cronstadt, Sitka, Petropaulovski, and back. The Rus-
sian establishments on the north-west coast of America
were founded in 1797, and it was State-Councillor Bara-
noff who, being a man of great penetration and enter-
prise, laid thegerm of their future greatness. The Rus-
sian-American Company may in some way be compared
to the English East India Company ; and it is well
known that even -the latter is under the complete con-
trol of the English Government. It is obvious that this
must be still more the case with an absolute Govern-
ment like Russia, where everything of a public character
is centralised within the pale of autocratic power. The
Governor of Sitka and all its various employes are;Rus-
sian officials, &e.
The organisation and system of the north-west Ame-
rican colony is curious and interesting. It is in Sitka
and Petropaulovski where all the cosily furs obtained in
that vast territory are collected. The communication
between Sitka and Cronstadt (or rather St. Petersburg)
can, as a matter of course, only be kept up by sea ; but
even Petropaulovski could not communicate with the
latter.places but by an expensive and lengthy land tran-
sport. For the sake of obviating this, and also for re-
taining the management of such costly goods within
their own grasp, the RRssian-American Company de-
spatch every year, or. thereabouts, a man-of-war, which
performs the following tour :—FroM Cronstadt it goes
first to Rio de Janeiro, the only port on the east coast
of America where a Russian] Ambassador of higlr rank
resides. Thence it proCeeds to Sydney, partly for
taking in fresh supplies as well as for espying the •con-
4ition of this important colony. .From Sydney U,
Russian man-of-war performs the difficult passage
through the South Sea Islands to Sitka. The npproaob
of this place is so difficult at certain seasons of
the year that no accurate astronomical observations
can be made, but When the ship has arrived within
the approximate latitude it cruises, firing guns
at short intervals, which, when they are heard at Sitka,
are responded to and a pilot sent, &c, At Sitka a part
of the cargo of the vessel (being generally a frigate of
1,000 tons burden) is discharged, It consists of mili-
tary and naval stores, ammunition, accoutrements,
medicines, &c. The space of the vessels thus emptied
is filled with the cases containing the costly furs collected
since the last vessel sailed. From Sitka the Russian
man-of-war proceeds to Petropaulovski, where the same
process of unloading and loading is gone through.
Having thus filled her bold with a cargo which is gene-
rally valued at 1,000,000 silver roubles, the vessel begins
her homeward passage, and, rounding Cape Horn, pro-
ceeds direct to Rio de Janeiro. As the natural sciences
are much esteemed in RUssia, vast botanical collections
of living plants, &c., are taken in at that Brazilian port.
Returning to Cronstadt, the furs are shipped for St.
Petersburg, and it is with these American and Asiatic
furs that great part of the commerce of Kiachta with
the Chinese is carried on.

Although the Russian-American Company possesses a
small naval establishment, the vessels alluded to are offi-
cered and manned by the Imperial navy and carry the
Imperial flag. It is worthy of a passing notice that
Captain Khromshenko, commander of one of these ves-
sels, during a stay at Sitka learned from the natives (the
Kaloshes) that the adjacent territory of California was
rich in gold, and it was in his journal, published at St.
Petersburg about 1832, that these riches were first men-
tioned. Returning:, however, to our main subject, it is
clear that Sitka, the chief place of such a vast territory,
the seat of a Russian governor, a place well defended by
fortifications, and possessing an arsenal and a garrison,
can, indeed, not be called a mere trading port, any more
than Calcutta, Madras, or Bombay, and that there must
be something which does " not meet the eye, " which
underlays the late diplomatic transactions—an affair the
elucidation of which I leave to other hands.

Sir,—Your other correspondents who have written
about Sitka have, as I hoped would be the case, let in
some light on the north-west coast of America.
I admit the fact stated by the one, that Sitka is not a
Sebastopol ; in my first note I wrote of its ships, not its
fortifications ; but I adhere to the statement confirmed
by the other, that it is an important Government station,
and not merely a trading port.
The former has no doubt authority in nautical mat- I
ters. The latter, to whom for his information I, for
one, am much indebted, has evidently accurate know-
ledge of that respecting which he writes—viz., the tran-
sit of furs by sea to St. Petersburg ; and his account
shows the value of the merchandise which might have
been intercepted but for the " peculiar policy" of the two
companies to which the other alludes.
There are, however, other things—two more especi-
ally—which he does not tell us, but which should be
known. One is that Sitka, may be called the Odessa of
the North Pacific. It is there that stores of provisions,
&c., are collected and transmitted to the other stations,
not, indeed, from Russian America, but from British
America—i. e., the stations of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, California, and the Sandwich Islands. It is on this
account that I wish it not, indeed, destroyed, but occu-
pied. The ships and sailors of the United States in the
Pacific have been and are, no doubt, well employed in
doing what Russians and Russian vessels cannot
now do. The other fact is, that furs are carried
overland from Okhotsk to St. Petersburg ; and this
will not appear strange when the price of a fur cloak
is quoted in Russia at 3001. Sir G. Simpson, who may
be taken as an authority in this matter, notwithstand-
ing the objections made to his evidence, records that be
left Okhotsk with a caravan of 600 horses, carrying mer-
chandise for Mr. Shiloff, a rich merchant of that place,
and met another caravan of 500 coming in from
Yakutsk. There are roads and constant traffic through
Siberia, and rich merchants resident in so dreary a place
as Okhotsk, but we may look in vain for theon:thwinoeisirt
own beautiful and fertile possessions on the n •
coast of America ; nor are there roads from it to Canada.
Yet Canadians first established trading ports on that
coast, and, though the five weeks allowed by year cor-
respondent from St. Petersburg to Okhotsk seem. little,
I think, but for the cold shade of monopoly, that time
might be a fair allowance from Montreal to Vancouver's
Island ; and it should be noted that though the coin-
rades of Cook opened the' fur trade with China, which
111 India, and
then attracted even British merchants. • T
whicli all Europe and the United States strove to
secure, that trade has been in the hands of Russia since
the establishment of Sitka. I should be sorry to think
that our sailors needed the stimulus of prize-money to
induce them to do their duty ; hut I conceive it possible
that duty may be done with more alacrity and despatch
when a rich booty is anticipated than when it is known
, that a " peculiar policy" has already placed it out of

S A' • ~

reaeli. tii
.. think it is hard on our sailor, that the .',,
t
profits of the Russian fur trade should be ke t from them
4.44-do on our merchants that a trade legit ."tely owl
I.%alrvi§bcrald it)e UndPolifiedl) Your cirr eikei 't, in
comparing the Russian FurCoMPany with t + Ist India
Company forgot lat,...the: Utter .hair.-sturibts ' r4i, Orono'
Frly, of ttale. . He might more ju-tly,,with the feoervA,-
tion that the English company is not, like the liiitsiian,- L
under the direction or control of Government, have coin
pared it with the iludnott'n Bay Company, now the only
commercial monopoly remaining in this country. . -

THE FOOD QUESTION IN ERA NCE.

(From, the Moniteur4

The Governmeut 'reg. properly., continues to bestow
its attention on' thequestion of the supply of food, which
is alwiys 'Subject' Of: concern. This is the third
time within these three-yearTthaitthe, high, price of corn
has.inaposed great sitcrifioes- an the cOuntry, In this
diffiCult bmergeney the del/emit:fleet wiltnot fail to do.
its duty.
Let its he the state of the case.
:‘Eance . produces annually, on an average, 82 million.
hectolitres of wheat. Let us suppose) that this year the
harvest t has 'only: 'yielded' 75 ; therA,w(NOU a deficit
of 7 'heetolitres. NOW,' ;,,4,7,10ea, these 7
million hectolitres shall not have hien_xeplaced in
Friati-Ce—tyfiiThijin—p-r—Odnce, there exists no human
means of reducing the price. The great concern,
therefore, is to have this amount of wheat brought
as rapidly and economically as possible from abroad.
Once brought; it is necessary to have it diffused as
easily as possible throughout all parts of the empire, so that
it may not leave them again.. That once accomplished,
prices will go down by; the natural course of things.
What then is the best mode of procuring these seven
million hectolitres ? Is it, as some propose, by reducing
the price artificially ? Is it by compelling the holders
to sell in a certain manner, in-certain places, at a certain
rate ? Is it by giving a bounty on importation ? We
do not think so. If by an active mode government
should be so imprudent as to wish to lower the average
prices of grain by causing wheat to be sold at a low
price ; should the government wish to take inquisitorial
measures against the holders, these resolutions would
occasion a result directly the reverse of what it wishes ;
fear would seize upon all who bold cern ; it would disap-
pear from the inarke s ; people would rather hide it than
sell it, and the rednoed price,, being merely artificial,
could not be long maintained foreign corn obtaining
do'cionger its fair profit in our markets would
cease to enter France, and we, should se inevitably
overtaken by 'scarcity, seeing that it is just as
impossible to impose by force a price upon pro-
visions in general as to prevent water from finding its
level. The famous law of the maximum, of inauspi-
cious memory, was an evident proof of the mischief that
may be done by ignoraa ee in respect of political
economy. Confidence and freedom in all transactions
are the unchangeable bases of prosperity in trade, and
consequently the causes of abundance.
As for giving a bounty on the importation of corn
into France, some persons imagine that the price of corn
would be reduced by the amount' of the :bounty. The
experiment was tried in 1816, and did not succeed. In
fact, were the Government' to declare that it gives a
bounty on the importation of corn, at the end of a very
short time the foreign producers and dealers would raise
the price to the full amount of thiS bounty, and the mea-
sure would merely end : With enriching foreigners to the
detriment. ..of Freoeh_producere and consumers.

What then, is to be done ? It is, according to the
decree of the Bth of Sept. last, to open for more than
anotheryear our frontiers to all the alimentary supplies
of foreign countries ; to prohibit the exportation of
them from France ; to facilitate the conveyance along
railways and canals by rendering it less expensive,
so as to equalise as much 'as possible the prices
of corn over the entire► territory ; to encourage,
excite, and second purchases abroad; to leave the
most perfect freedom to every transaction, vigorously
prepared to put the law in force against any culpable
tricks having for their object the creating of an artificial
rise by means of coalition ; to stimulate public and pri-
vate charity, at the moment When bread is dearest ;
lastly to'give rise by every means to work in the land,
for if we succeed in creating a greater demand for work,
and 'consequently in rendering it dearer, the workmen
will obtain a remunerative price that will to a certain
point be a set-off to the high prides of food. We may
as well say here, that the low price of articles of food is
not always the' proof of prosperity. There are countries
where corn for instance is worth very little, and where
the inhabitants for all that are in the deepest distress,
because from the absence of industrial and trading► ac-
tivity they cannot buy in sufficient quantity food of the
first necessity, even at the trivial price it is offered for
sale.

Besides, it is an incontestable truth that the rise in
the price of corn alone enables the deficit to be made
good, for beyond a doubt foreign producers and mer-
chants will not bring corn to our markets, unless they
find there a reasonable profit and complete security for
their transactions.

This is so true that the rise in corn hag already very
opportunely roused commerce. It has occasioned nume-
rous orders and important purchases abroad ; and not
merely the arrivals that will be the consequence of them
will naturally tend to lower the Prices, 'but the simple
knowledge of this fact will concur to the same end, so
soon as it shall be known by the French producers.
Let the country then be reassured ; the government
watches, and engaged especially about the welfare of
the most numerous class it will know how to take the
most prudent and efficacious measures, at the same time
that it will .resist all unreasonable demands with the
strength that love of the right and the feeling of duty
confer.