The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-20 00:00:00

THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.

CAMP NEAP. KADIKOI (KADIEKOVA), FEB. 6.
No bombardment yet--no fire opened, and yet the day ge-
nerally assigned by rumour for the re-opening -of our attack
has been past and gone now 24 hours ago. The only great
type of life and motion visible to me is " the navvy's. bar-
row." That potent engine of civilisation is lying in stacks on
the water's edge at Balaklava. The principal depot for the
railway stores is in the horrible squalid place in the "rear of
tl►e post-office. When we first arrived at Balaklava this

hous. was in good order, and was whitewashed and scrupu-
lously clean ; a neat wooden balcony, reached by a flight' of
steps froih the garden,lod to the principal rooms ou the upper
floor, and from this balcony a strong, but light, trelliswork,
extending -far down the garden; scarce sustained the, rich
masses of glowing grapes which burst through the thick

foliage of tho vines. - The garden itself was enclosed by a
white Washed wall, and a gate at the end led out upon the
quay—garden; and walls, and gate, and trelliswork, and bal-
cony, have long since -disappeared, and the soil has boon for
months a liquid abomination, so that it is a glad sight to'lq.e-
hold barroWs and sleepers, and blocks of wood laid over it.
It is-strange that the first use—perhaps the only use—that
the- Crijn-Tartar will.over witness for centuries of the great

invention of-recent days should be to facilitate the operations

of war and to dgstroy.life_ When the railway will be finished'
I know not; already' there is a hitch, for it appearei the sur-
vey bad to be stopped yesterday, inasmuch as the line crossed
the road which the French are so busy and si successful in

making up towards the front from Kadikoi. After the ex pedi-
tion has left the shore's 'of the-Crimea, and has become a tradi-

tion among its people, the works ofourunfinishedrailroad may
serve to exercise the ingenuity of future Cimmerian antiqua-
ries, and nxiy form the only permanent work of ourpresence on
this blood-staiued soil. The pick is at work, and the peculiar
idiom of the navvy strikeg the ear as he salutes " the sojer,"
and asks after " the foitin 'afore Sebastopowl" from his perch
up among the rocks outside Balaklava. The line of railway

is nearly surveyed, lint it has not yet been marked' out be-
yond the mound outside Kadiekoya, over the plain which
leads up to the plateau on which our camp stands. The.en7
trance to Balaklava presents a most extraordinary appearance

at present. After descending into the valley from the plateau
on which the; camp stands, and passing over the plain, all torn
and trodden into mud by incessant traffic of horses, men, and
carts and camels, which extends up to Kadikoi, you suddenly
turn round by a mound on, which stands a battery, sweeping
the plain, and behold a new wooden world that has arisen by
magic in a few days along the hill-side over the road to Bala-
klava. Rows of white huts strew the ground. A little town,
called " Buffalo Town,"- " Log .Town," " Hut ToWn," or
" Sutlers' Town," according to the fancy of the speaker, has
been erected on the right hand side of the path, about three-
quarters of a mile outside Balaklava, for the expelled sutlers;
and, from the din and clamour, one might imagine he was
coming to "soine well-frequented EngliSh fair. A swarm of
men, in all sorts of grotesque uniforms, French, English, and
Turks, throng the narrow lanes between the huts and tents
and carry ou bargains in all the languages of Babel with
Greek, Italian, Algerine, Spaniard, Maltese, Armenian, Jew,
and Egyptian, for all sorts of merchandise. Here I beheld
my runawaynervant—a vagabond Italian— selling small loaves
of bread for 2s. each which ho had purchased from a French
baker in Balaklava for is. 6d , and thus realised 6d. out of it
for a short walk. The guardhouse had had no effect on him, and
as the authorities aonot interfere in such cases, I was left to so-
lace myself with the poor revenge of seeing him break his shins
over a tent-stick as he ran away to escape my horsewhip. Here
you may see all the scoundrels of the Levant who can get
across the Blapk Sea making little fortunes by the sale, at the
most enormous prices, of the vilest articles of consumption,
which necessity alone forces us to use ; and hero you may see
a few honest traders sitting moodily in their stalls and
mourning over their fast departing probity. There is not one
Englishman, so far as I know, among these sutlers of the
British army, though the greatest vein of nuggets that ever
charmed multitudes to a desert was as dross and dirt to the
wealth to be realised in this festering crowd. Cameldrivers,
arabajees, wild-eyed, strange-looking savages from out-of-the-
way corners of Asia Minor, dressed apparently in the spoils of
the chorus of Na,bucco" or "Semiramide," stalk curiously
through the soldiery, much perplexed by the conflicting
emotions of fear:of the:Prevost Marshal and love of plunder.
There are about 150 huts and tents clustered, together on this I
hill-side. Close beside it is the new battery. Then more huts
and tents, occupied by the cavalry. On the other side of the
cleft in the mountain ridge through which the town is ap-
proached aro the huts and tents of the Highlanders, Turks,
French, Marines, and Rifles, guarding the lines towards Ka-
mars, and rising ono above the other till they cover the tre-
mendous crag which frowns down at the sea 1,200 feet below.
Then there is an odd-looking acre or two of ground with a low
wall round it, which looks as if all the moles in the world
lived beneath it,. and were labouring eight and day so co-
vered is it with mounds of earth, through which peer rags
and bones. This is the Turkish burying-ground, and full
well frequented it is. Little hearses may be seen flocking to
it down the hill-sides all day, and returning with the
empty litters gravely drawn back again. They have also
turned one or two vineyards into graveyards, and they have
also selected a quiet nook up among the hills for the
same purpose. Our Pwn more deceat graveyard is situated
outside the town, iu low ground, close to the sea. The huts
and tents of the 14th, and long rows of wooden sheds for the
mules, and the tents of the sailors guarding stores, and the
huts of the landing wharf, are all crowded along the steep and
at the edge of the bay.on the other side of the town, so that
the place altogether would give one the idea that ho was
looking at some great migratory population just settled for a
week, or had fallen across one of the rauSlirooin canvass
cities of Australia. Of course, tlitiso who are nighest get h
served to the huts, and are best able to put them up. If
Birnam-wood were formed of white deal boards, Macbeth
would see his worst suspicious realised could he but witness
the moving forest of timber marching up to the front. He
would behold literally miles of men and of mules and ponies
all struggling through the mud with boards —nothing but
boards. In calm weather they get on well enough, but a puff
of wind puts an end to all progress, and a strong gust lays
men and horses in the mire. However, they are slowly work-
ing up towards the camp, but it cannot be conceived by a
person not on the spot how hard it is to take up even one
hut, and what a great quantity of timber has to be moved ere
the building is complete., The weather is find, but cold. It
is not transport we want, it is a road to put our transport on.
From all I can hear there is no immediate prospect of our
opening fire. I find that in my last letter I omitted, under
the head of " February 1," to insert a slip which the wind
blew into an abstruse corner of the tent in which I was writing
at the time, and I now precede my usual daily return by it,
as the contents may have relation to portions of that letter,
which brought down the narrative of affairs of February 3.
FEBRUARY 1,
Sir Colin Campbell received information from Lord Raglan
this morning that an attack might be expected at any time,
and to be prepared for it. Sir Colin at once wont along the
lines, visited the commanding officers of the 424 Regiment,
the 79th Regiment, the 93d Regiment, the Marines, and
Lieut.-Colonel Bradford, in command of the men of the 2d
battalion of the Rifle Brigade, and gave them directions to
be in readiness to meet any assault upon their lines. Four
of the 56-cwt. 32-pounders of the Sanspareil have been left
behind, and will be sent up this evening to a hill just outside
Balaklava, in order to strengthen the defences of the place,
and to sweep the approach to it from the valley. The infor-
mation has been received from a Polish officer who deserted
two days ago, and who is now at head-quarters.
The following is my journal since my last letter :-----
SUNDAY, FEB. 4.
The thermometer this morning stood at 22 deg. There
was a sharp frost during the night, but the sun's "rays soft-
ened the ground during the daytime, though they did not
temper the wind, which was very keen and searching. The
enemy fired very little during the day, and chi
g.
fol-
lowed their example, so that we had a day of rest, only that
the riflemen on both sides kept up the usual fusillade from
their pits and covered works. In the afternoon a small party
of Cossacks, with two light field-pieces, were observed cross-
ing the head of the valley towards 'lnkerman, but no consi-
derable movement of the Russians, that I am aware of, was
visible throughout the day. Theirmen muster in force, how-
ever, over the heights of Inkerman, and on the ridges be-
tween the Belbek and the south side of Sebastopol. They
must suffer very severely during these" cold nights, for
they are less able to bear the severity of the climate
than our own soldiers, being accustomed, as I am in-
formed, to spend their winters in hot close barracks,
where they remain as long as the hard weather lasts. The
Cossacks alone are employed in the open country during frost
and snow. The 71st Regiment (the battalion just arrived)
have not yet landed, but they are a most welcome addition
to our force in Balaklava, should the Russians for once attack
us when and where we expect them. It is wonderful to a
civilian that the point which we have now fortified by the
guns sent up the other day should have been so long ne-
glected, as it looked very weak, and an easy gallop down the
slope of the hills would have brought a body of cavalry right
through a gap in our lines upon the very highway between
Kadikoi and Balaklava. The 32-pounders just put in posi-
tion would render such an attempt now all but impossible.
There is a report that the Brigade of Guards, now reduced to
less than 601' men fit for duty, is 'to be moved down to the
port of Balaklava, and that Sir Colin Campbell will move up
with his fresh regiments to the front ; but I trust that Balak-
lava may not be deprived of the vigilance and skill-of such an
able officer until we can afford to dispense with the possession
of the harbour.
The guns of the Wasp and of the Diamond now bear on
the approaches to the town, and the Vesuvius, which was
moved from her old moorings by Admiral BOxer, will pro-
bably be restored to them, in order that she may, in case of
ye in
delays fatiguewhi seem du.
Owing.r,
atto
need, strengthen their fire by her formidable ordnance. The
no d
one ml
of
sot of
se the
unaccountable
men a
14th are encamped in wooden huts at the extremity of the
harbour,
reemplo
attach themselves to all our operations here, the Sir George
Pollock, the ship appointed to sell the stores provided by Go-
vernment at cost price, has not yet opened shop. Some of the
Crimean Army Fund have been opened, and are in the
course of distribution. They will be distributed officially,
and by the instrumentality of the Quartermaster-General's de-
partment in each division, but individual officers may get
stores for their respective regiments by providing carriage for
them. It has been decided by the managers that "it is bet-
ter to sell than give away," and accordingly all articles which
aro not actually gifts to the fund will be sold at such a price
as may defray cost and expenses. Our parcels and boxes and
Christmas presents are turning up very slowly in the chaos
of Balaklava. For the last week the Foyle, laden with
packages from England, has been lying in harbour, and I am
very well acquainted with one person who has received a
polite note from Mr. Hayter and Howell, apprising him that
they shipped for him in the said Foyle a case marked " so and
so," who has sent on board day after day for it, who has gone
-to the Parcels-office for it, and who is still without it, and
cannot hear anything of it. You may multiply that person
and that case by a hundred, if you like, and apply the calcu-
lation to most ships out here. The presents sent by the
Prince to the Guards are in the St. Jeau d'Acre, but have not
yet been delivered. Poor fellows! Those who livo will have
ample comforts if they divide the share of their departed
comrades among them. Lord Rokeby is said to have been
affected to tears when the three regiments of Guards paraded,
on his taking the command. His lordship has communicated
a most gratifying letter from the Queen to the officers, in
which her Majesty expresses her admiration of the conduct of
"her beloved Guards." There was little firing all day, and
uo movement of troops on et *ther side. The Medway arrived
at Balaklava with the Ist battalion of the 71st Regiment.
FEBRUARY 5.
• in
Lord Raglan rode into Balaklava to-day, and remained
the town some time, inspecting the arrangements of the
various departments of the service. A house took fire while
bis lordship was there, but it was soon extinguished.
Curiously enough, it has been remarked, it is said, that on
each of the previous days when his lordship visited the town