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

RUSSIAN PRECAUTIONS IN SEBtSTOPOL.

With our glasses we can see that the doors and
window-frames of most of the houses have been re-
moved ; and it is not improbable that the wooden
floor 4 and othtr parts of the buildings which could have
been set on fire have been taken away also. The
silence of the Russians to-day is accounted for by the
fact that they are throwing up new works in the town.
There is a rumour to-day that Osten-Sacken has arrived,
and that the army of Gortschakoff received considerable
reinforcements. They sung Te Deum on the night of
the 25th " for their victory," and the troops were so
excited that they demanded to be led against us the fol-
lowing morning. The 2d Division soon satisfied them
in full.

THE TURKISH CONTINGENT.
Nov. 2.—The Turkish contingent is now broken up
and distributed throughout the whole camp, both Eng-
lish and French, and they have since been placed to
do what they are most fitted for, viz., digging in the
trenches, which gives relief to our own men, who are
greatly over•werked. John Turk is by ne means an in-
dustrious labourer in the trenches ; ke digs a few
minutes, gives a grunt, an 4 then sits down. A very
vehement and zealons commanding officer of a distin-
guished Fusilier corps was the other night in the trenches
when the Tullis were digging ; and, seeing one rather
more idle than the rest, gesticulated violently at him,
and induced him to work a little. Johnny, however,.
soon gave in, and on the pantomimic action being re-
peated very politely handed his spade to the colonel.
THE MEDIUM OF SALUTATION.
Between the three allied armies the mystic word
" Bono" appears to be the great medium of salutation.
An English soldier and a French soldier meet; perhaps
the former commences with " Bono Francis," and the
answer is " Bone Anglin." With a Turk it is " Bono
Johnny." Each seems to think it to be the language of
the other. An 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 speak Turkish, the only language he
know ; so he said " Bone," and we repeated it.

TYE SORTIE-3IENSCHIKOFF "FINISHING" nig
INFANTRY.
I happened to be with the Second Division on the
2Gth 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 suwiciou as to what they were, when some cue,
'Asking through a glass, said, "Green gunq, 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 xs 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 walls of Sebastopol. The Second
Division, under Sir De Lacy Evans, was the only one
engaged. Tho Duke of Cambridge, with the Guards,
was in reserve. Other divisions were coming up, and,
had the action lasted longer, would have come in for it.
Two officers were taken prisoners. From what they
said it appears that in the morning, Mensehikotf assem-
bled the troops in Sebastopol, told then 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, yon 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 :--