The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-18 00:00:00

THE MEDIUM" OF SALUTATION.

Between the three all:ed armies the mystic word
" Bono" appears to he the great medium of salutation.
An English soldier and a French soldier meet; perhaps
the former commences with " Bono Francis," and the
answer is " Bono Anglis." Witk a Turk it is " Bono
Johnny." Each seems to think it to be the language of
the other. Au hour or two ago I was standing in a
redoubt with a lot of officers, looking at Sebastopol,
when a Turkish colonel rode up, followed by an orderly.
None of us could sneak Turkish, the only language he
knew ; so he said " Bono," and we repeated it.

THE SORTIE-DIENSCHIEOFF "FINISHING" THIS
INFANTRY.
I happened to he with the Second Division on the
26th when the order was given for them to turn
out and stand to their arms. On our side it was
a sudden and unexpected attack until A few minutes
beforehand. A lot of officers were standing on an emi-
nence, looking down upon the skirmishers on both sides,
having no idea that a powerful sortie was about to be
made, when they saw some guns on an opposite ridge, to
the right, about 1,000 yards distant. No one had the
least suspicion as to what they were, when some one.
leaking throegh a glass, said, " Green guns, by Jove ! "
and all bolted. (The Russian gun-carriages are painted
pea green.) In two minutes more the round shot began
to sing overhead, and the sharp sound of musketry from
the pickets showed that some sharp fighting was going
on. The pickets were under the command of Major
Champion, of the 95th. They behaved admirably, and,
although compelled to retire, did so in excellent order,
and kept the Russians in check until our artillery got to
work. I saw three immense Russian columns cross the
ridge I have just spoken of. As soon as our gunners
got the range they sent a storm of rockets, shot, and
shell into them, and the columns literally melted away.
Our infantry then advanced, firing ; and the Russians
retreated, and were followed by some of our skirmishers
nearly down to the walla of Sebastopol. The Second
Division, under Sir De Lacy Evans, was the only one
engaged. The Duke of Cambridge, with the Guards,
was in reserve, Other divisions were coming up, and,
had the action lasted lenger, would have come in fcr it.
Two officers were taken prisoners. From what they
said it appears that in the morning Mensohikoff assem-
bled the troops in Sebastopol, told them of the great
victory obtained over the English the day before
at Balaklava, that the English cavalry was de-
stroyed, and that the infantry only required finishing ;
whereupon they demanded to be led against the English.
As I was on the ground from first to last, and had
nothing to do except look about me, you may depend
upon my account being correct. It is very much the
fashion to say that the Russians must have lost so many,
and, I am afraid, in general, rather to overrate their
losses, so I will give the losses of both sides as far as can
be correctly ascertained:—
Tien KILLED AND WOUNDED.

Our loss was 12 killed, and 71, including five officers,
wounded, all of the Second Division. We took 100 pri-
soners ; 112 bodies were buried by as, and we know of
many mere lying beyond our position, so far away that
the burying parties would be under the fire of the guns
of Sebastopol. The usual proportion of men wounded
to the killed is about 5 to 1, which will make their loss
upwards of 600 ; of course, they oarriad a great quantity
of both back with them to the fortress.
THE EFFECTS OF TIE MINIS RIFLE.

It is remarkable that the wounded Russians brought
in had nearly all received their wounds from the Minie
rifles. Oar conical balls caase frightful wounds ; when-
ever they touch a limb they smash the bone.
THE DRESS OF THE RUSSIAN OFFICERS.

Officers and men were dressed alike, in long grey
greatcoats and high cloth caps. They are very difficult
to see in the thick brushwood which grows all about ;
incised, singly, they are as invisible as a rabbit in dried
fern. I examined many of the dead ; some were lying
in pools of blood, their faces looking like wax. Every
man bad a large piece of bread with him—black, sour,
and half-baked ; one had a Russian Prayer-book, which I
have appropriated as a memento. Their fireloOia areve
of a very inferior sort ; thry are dated 1834, and have
been converted from flint to percussion.

Slit Z. LYONS.
I hear that after the melancholy affair of the 25th it
was in contemplation to abandon the place, bet Sir E.
Lyons would not hear of it, and declared that he would
hold the place with the blvejackets rather than it
should be given up. In his linee i
she
the life an
off d soul
of the expedition. The
Agamemnon novr
aillaalar:
klava, and the Sansparcil is moored in the harbour, and
smaller steamers are inconstant communication between
it and the fleet. All the transports which formerly
crowded the little harbour have been cleared out,
now anchored outside.
A HASTY mut,.
I must now relate a little incident which occurred on I
the 26th, and which I forgot to mention in its proper
place. When the Russians made their sortie a number
of their skirmishers advanced towards our sight battery,
in which are two of the Lancaster guns, arid a number of
them got into a small cave not far off, where our men
were in the habit of cooking their provisions,Tnr it not being
n sbaaftetetroyel, oi
ns c
commandin the
o f battery.th e Sireo covering
was in the
some of the enemy near (but noetr*
king party, and, seeing
knowing they
the cave), sent Mr. Markham with a partythoefythweerßeifline
the cave out bolted a lotof RAs soon as they passed by
Brigade to dislodge them.
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