The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-12 00:00:00

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FILLING UP THE TRENCHES.

A letter from Sebastopol of the 27th ult., in the
Semaphore of Marseilles, says :
" One of the orders which has been executed by the
troops with the greatest pleasure, and which they per-
form amidst jokes and laughter, is that of filling up the
trenches. Never was a work more popular in the camp,
and every labourer, in burying these terrible parallels,
in which so many brave men have met their death, bury
the cares of the past winter. The bad weather has
commenced without causing any alarm to the troops.
The sufferings experienced in the trenches last winter
will not be again undergone. In Sebastopol the
miners and the engineers are also busy. Very few
houses in the town are in a state to be made any use
of ; it would require too much trouble and expense
to repair such ruins, and it is now pretty clear that
the low part of Sebastopol is about to be destroyed.
This last operation is being carried on with great ac-
tivity, and no doubt in two or three days we shall see a
good part of the town blown up. French, English,
Piedmontese, and Turke are busily occupied in making
roads round Sebastopol, and in the plain of
while other are engaged in building wooden huts in
the faubourgs of Sebastopol. These buildings, which
are placed between the fortifications and the town, ap-
pear to indicate that the troops will take up their winter
quarters there. This perspective, without offering to the
army, the classic hope of the delight of Capua, has been
so well received that a great number of the soldiers of
the class of 1847, who may now quit the service, do
not wish to avail themselves of it. The fact is the
best proof of the excellent feeling that exists in the
army. Fort Constantine, which persists in firing on
the town in the hope of doing injury to those who
may be attracted thither by a too confident curiosity,
has during the last two days bad its fire warmly
returned, for the French have established a mortar
battery, and the English have done the same near
Fort St. Paul. The injury iiifteted on either side is but
trifling, but it serves to keep the hand in. The Allies,
by the aid of other batteries, have just gained a more
positive advantage; some congreve rockets have been
thrown to au enormous distance over the fort and as far
as the camp of the Russian army. This attack, for
which the enemy were not at all prepared, has produced
a considerable effect, and as far as it is possible to judge
by the aid of glasses, the Russian army has been thrown
into considerable confusion by it. If this fire is con-
tinued for a short time, there are strong doubts whether
the Russians will persist i❑ holding their positions. The
order which interdicts all entrance into Sebastopol is
more severe than ever. This severity even extends to
leaving the place, for in order to pass the fortifications,
either in going in or coining out, a special pass is re-
quired. Numerous pickets of troops fill the town, and
they take particular care to prevent curious visitors
from exposing themselves on points open to the fire of
the enemy. The strictness of the above order is caused
by the division of the booty, which some too greedy
speculators are eager to turn to account beforehand."

Another letter of the same date, in the Gazette
du, Midi, says :
" The allies appear to be quite decided on destroying
the 1
Russian military establishments which remain stand-
ing in Sebastopol ; nevertheless in the councils of war
which have been held opinions were divided on the sub-
ject. It was proposed to make use of the docks and of
the naval establishments for the allied fleets, but the
admirals were opposed to that course, and their opinions
prevailed. The engineers are therefore employed in the
destruction of the docks, and they carry onthe work
with the greatest activity. In closely examining these
ingeniously
constructed, it is seen that they are most
constructed. The docks are seven in number, and are
supplied with water by the Tch ernaya. A weir which
i
bars the river turns the water ntoTeahelranrgay. The e basin, from
whence it flows into the seven docks by canals, so that
a vessel requiring repair enters into the docks with salt
a
water and leaves with that of the
offi-
cial valuation of
,the spoils taken from the enemy is
almost complet ed .

AN INCIDENT AT THE FALL OF SEBASTOFOL.—The fol-
lowing improbable story is from the letter of a soldier to
his friends in Glasgow, published in the North Britis
:—" I could tell you many laughable and interest-
ing anecdotes, but I just write this to assure you that
my head remains whole. I would not have been in hos-
pital upon any account. The storming going on, I am
now as proud as if a person was to say, here is five pounds
for you, Jack. The French and English have carried
away a good deal of booty out of the town. lam now
writing on a Russian four•legged stool, which was brought
by a man to my tent. If the envelope was large enough
I should most assuredly send it home to you ! I might
as well tell a little incident that occurred in the town.
A party of men, belonging to different regiments, were
patrolling from house to house in search of plunder. In
one of the houses they came across a beautiful young fe-
male, about 17 or 18 years of age. Of course some ig-
norance way shown amongst the party, who commenced
to drag her about, and would certainly have used vio-
lence to her, had not a young man, belonging to the
18th, taken a musket and threatened to blow the first
man's brains out that laid a finger on her, whereupon the
young woman flew to this man and clung to him for
protection. She followed him all. the way back to the
camp, when,
coming in sight of his camp, he beckoned
for her to return ; bnt no, she would not leave him.
Whether she had fallen in love at first sight I don't
know, but she came to camp with him. As soon as he
got there he was instantly confined for being absent wh€
the regiment was under army. She followed him to the
guard tent and cried after him. The colonel of his regi-
ment, seeing the affection that she bore him, released
him, and sent them both to General Harris, where an in.
terpreter was got, and she related the whole affair to
them. It turned out that she is a general's daughter,
with some thousands. She was beautifully attired, and
carried a gold watch, and wore a set of bracelets of im-
mense value. The young man is now about to be mar-
ried to her. She will not leave him upon any account
whatever, and if he is not a lucky dog I don't know
who is.'