The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-16 00:00:00

THE DESTINATION OF THE ALLIED

FLEETS.

VIENNA, OCT. 9.—lntelligence has been received
here that the secret expedition of the allied fleets
is destined for the Liman of the Dnieper, a bay or
estuary of which but little is known. The entrance
is guarded by the towns of Otschakow on the north-
ern side andltinburu on the south, audit is not much
more than a mile wide. The former is known in
history, for it was here that the Turkish garri-
son defended themselves in the campaign of 1788
with great bravery and success against the Rus-
sians, an I it was only after a siege of several months
that Potemkin, the eccentric favourite of Cathe-
rine, was enabled to take it. There are, it is
true, Russian charts of the Liman of the Duieper,
but much reliance cannot be placed on their correct-
ness, partly from the annual alterations in the tide-
way formed by the fitful discharge of its waters, and
partly from the surveys not having been confided to
very accurate and conscientious persons. It is, how-
ever, expected that this is a difficulty which the
science and intelligence of the naval officers of the
allies will soon find means to overcome, and if the
shallowness of the water precludes the entrance of
the line-of-battle ships, it must, on the other hand,
prevent the coming out of the Russian larger ves-
sels, while there is nothing to hinder the gun-boats
and other small craft of the allies from entering, and
making a sweep of the coast, as they did in the Sea
of Azoff. At the extreme eastern end of the gulf
and on the north bank of the Dnieper is situated
Cherson, the principal town and seat of government
of the province, celebrated for the famous vaunt of
the Empress Catherine, who wrote on the gate of the
city "Road to Constantinople." Thisprovince, which
was torn from Turkey and incorporated with Russia
ten years later than the Crimea (1792), is a much
More extensive territory than Tauris.
Nicolaieff appears at present to be the especial ob-
ject of the Emperor's paternal affection, and the
most gigantic efforts are being made to render it a
second Sebastopol, as it is now the principal naval
establishment in the south. Five-and-twenty years
ago it had never been heard of out of Russia, and
owes its sudden rise to the genius and energy of Ad-
miral Lazareff. It is situated at the confluence of
the Bug and the Ingul, and surrounded by a barren
and flat steppe. There is no bridge here across the
rivers, and the communication between the two shores
is kept up by means of flat-bottomed boats orferries.
The population at present amounts to 38,067 persons
inhabiting 4,998 houses. The town contains six
Russo-Greek churches, besides a Catholic and a Lu-
theran one, and two synagogues (one for the Jews
and the other for the Karaites). Amongst the more
important and striking buildings are the Admiralty
and several magnificent barracks of three stories
each, capable of accommodating 25,000 men.
Within the last few years an immense quantity of
guns and ammunition had been accumulated at
Nicolaieff, but a great part of them were sent to
Sebastopol, and are now lost to the Russians. On
the banks of the Ingul an esplanade has been
planted, which leads to an oasis in the desert called
Suhoi Foutan, a picturesquespot, three miles from
Nicolaieff, where there is the public garlen of
Spassk, and a sprit)°, of pure water, which is con-
ducted by an aqueduct into the town, and supplies
the inhabitants exclusively, as there are no wells,
and the water of the rivers is turbid and unwhole-
some. The distance of Nicolaieff from. Odessa is
121 wersts ; from Simpheropol, 340 ; and from
Sebastopol, 401.
Immediately on the arrival of. the Emperor at
Nicolaieff, the principal officer of the engineers at
Odessa, Captain Volokoff, was sent for by a tele-
graphic message, and orders were given him for the
immediate construction of five large redoubts,
capable of mounting 400 pieces of artillery. At the
same time the building of five hundred gun-boats
was commenced in the dockyards, under the per-
sonal inspection of the Grand Duke Admiral Con-
stantine, who has brought with him from Cron-
stadt a large body of working shipwrights and me-
chanics. These gun-boats are to be each armed with
two and four guns of heavy calibre, which have
already arrived from the great cannon foundry at
Kiew. The guns for the armament of the two new
frigates, Vitjas and Tiger, have also arrived from
Kiew.

The Grand Duke Constantine left Nicolaieff on
the 27th ult. for Sebastopol=or as near as he can
approach to it, and. will return with Prince G-ort-
schakorT, when the great council of war will be held)
in which the future military operations will be
definitively settled. As far as is known here, the
prince wishes to evacuate his present position on the
north side of Sebastopol as perfectly untenable
during the winter, and proposes to take up a strong
defensive position between Bakshi-Sorai and Eu-
patoria.
_ _

Whilst the Emperor was inspecting the naval
hospital at Nicolaieff, containing the few remains
of those sailors that formerly manned his Black Sea
fleet, Lieutenant Dorschinsky, of the 45th naval
equipage, was presented to him. This officer was
severely injured at Sebastopol by the explosion of
the Bastion No. 2. Ou observing that the first
attempt to fire the mine proved a failure, he seized
the bu.ning fuse from the serjeant who held it,
and deliberately thrust it into an open powder
barrel, which immediately bad the desired effect,
but the gallant fellow was severely burnt in the face
and arms by the explosion, which also set his uni-
form on fire. The Emperor expressed his thanks
for this proof of his devotion, and to reward him
for his noble conduct took off his own decoration
of the Order of St. George, and handed it himself
to the lieutenant.

HOPS IN IRELAND.—The experiment of growing hops
in Ireland has been successfully tr ied this season by Mr.
J. Stafford, of Ballyteague, in Westmeath.

,
SAXE COBURG dOTHA.—It has been already stated
that the Duke of Saxe Coburg Gotha recently declared
in the Germanic Diet that heiwould oppose the demand
of the nobles of his duchy for the restoration of their
ancient privileges, abolished in 1848. In consequence
21 villages of the duchy have just voted an address to
his Royal Highness, expressing their gratitude for this
liberal policy, and it was presented to him a few days
ago, after his return from Paris, by a special, deputation.
THE COST OF THE WAR.—TO those who doubt the
ability of the country to carry on the war -at a cost of
80,000,000/. or 90,000,00 C/. a-year, as long as shad be
necessary, we would observe that if England could bear
taxation to the extent of 72,000,0001. in 1815 it would
not be too much to say that we could with equal ease
bear taxation now to the extent of 100,000,000/, when
we bear in mind the increased .population, wealth, and
trade of the country. In 1815 the income assessed to
the property tax was 170,000,0001., a-year ; now, com-
puting it upon the same basis, it cannot be less than
250,000000/. Again, with regard to the extent to which
it is possible to abstract from the capital of the country
we have had experience in the
during the last 10 years. When,.tis we speak of
contshterruecf ti.ro eof railway s
n
our ability to conduct the warobvious that, whether
we look to doing so by means of taxation or by loans, it
• is ample.—Economist.