The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-29 00:00:00

acape of foliage-covered hill, bread downs, and lake and Cabinet of St. Petersburg has executed its recent
frier with its it.is scarcely possible for one feel ,retrograde' movement on a distinct and friendly
he is far fiom England. At the other side of the lake, understanding with Prussia and Austria, and that
Which laves the meadows beneath the hill on which the Austria is as firm in her intentisn not to make war
camp is placed, there is a ranse of high ground, so finely ,against Russia as ever. The Messager de Transyl-
Wooded, with such verdant sheets of short crisp grass
vania goes so far as to enforce on the Russians the
between the clumps of forest timber, that every one who necessity, which the Czar feels to be pre-eminent, of
sees it at onto says, Surely there must be a fine man- ;
reinforcing his position in the Crimea against an
Sion somewhere among those trees Once the traveller
apprehended attack upon that province by the
leaves the sandy plain and flit meadow lands which •
sweep westward for two or three miles from Varna, he English and French armies conjointly. If this be
Passes through a succession of fine landscapes, with a the case, it shows that the occupation of the Prin-
, Waving outline of hills, which he can see on all sides cipalities by Austria is considered by the Czar as
above the thick mass of scrub or cover, pierced by the road a defence to himself from any further attack on
Or rather the track made by horsemen and araba drivers. that frontier ; for if he entertained apprehensions
The open country is finely diversified, and abundance of of an attack from the Austrians, or even of the
Wood and water lies all around, within easy distance of the advance of the Turkish army into: Moldavia, he
route. Long lines of storks fly over head or hold solemn would never venture to withdra .s any portion of his
reviews among the frogs in the meadows. As for the army from the line of-the Pruth. Should the news
latter they are innumerable, and their concerts by day
and -night would delight the classical scholar who re- given -by the Transylvanian paper turn out to be
correct,- it will
members his Aristophanes, and who can test the be clear that, Whether rightly or
wronl
occu-
accuracy of the chorus. Eagles soar overhead lookingy, Russia at all events reckons on thelookingout for dead horses (the noble bird is not above eatin; ration of the Principalities by Austria as a stoppage
carrion), and vultures, kites, and huge buzzards scour to the advance of the Turkish or Anglo-French
the plains in quest of vermin, hares, or partridges. armies. But it is :,$) be hoped that his Russian
Beautiful orioles, a blaze of green and yellow, gaudy Majesty will be disappointed in his expectations.
woodpeckers, jays, and grosbeaks, shriek and chatter At all events, the French Government evidently
among the bushes, while the bulbul (the nightingale) does not like the view of the matter. The semi-
Pours forth a flood of plaintive melody from the brake, official Pays contends that, so far from its being
aided by a lovely little warbler in a black cap, and red true that the Austrian occupation was concocted
waistcoat, with blueish facings, who darts about after between that Power and Russia, the order for the
the flies, and who, when he has caught and eaten one,
lights upon a twig and expresses his satisfaction in a retreat was despatched from St. Petersburg before
the arrival of the demand of Austria for the eva-
gush of exquisite music. Blackbirds and thrushes join
cuation of the provinces ; and the object of the
In the chorus, and birds of all sorts, many of them un-
known to me, flit around in multitudes. The commonest measure was not to please Austria, but to escape
bird of all is the dove, and I regret to say that he is found defeat from the Turks, aided by their Anglo-French
so good to eat that his cooing is often abruptly termi- allies.
slated by a dose of No. 6.
"Going forward towards the camp, and encountering
many a team or groups of Bashi-Bazouks, or regular
(but very irregular) cavalry, on their march, and now
and then English travellers going to pester Omer Pasha
at Shumla, or returning proudly from doing so,- we at
last draw towards the camp. The report of the gun
rings through the woods and covers, and an hone,t Eng-
lish shout of ' What have you hit, Jack ? or By
Jove, he's off,' from among the bushes, shows that
Ensign Brown or Captain Johnson is busy in the pur-
suit of the sports of the field. Private- Smith, of the
Rifle Brigade, with a goose in each hand, is stalking
homewards rom the hamlet by the lake side. Mr.
Flynn, of the Connaught Rangers, a little worse for
raki, is carrying a lam') on his shoulders, which he is
soothing with sentimentalities ; and Sergeant Macgre-
gor, of the 7th, and Sergeant Aprice, of the 23d Welsh
Fusiliers, are gravely discussing a difficult point of theo-
logy on a knoll in front of you. Men m fatigue frocks,
laden with bundles of sticks or corn or swathes of
fresh grass, are met at every step ; and by the
stream side, half-hidden by the Lushes, there is a
rural laundry, whence come snatches of song, mingled
With the familiar sounds of washing and lines of
fluttering linen, attesting the energies of the British
laundress under the most unfavourable circumstances.
In a short time the stranger arrives at a-mass of araba
carts drawn up along the road, through which lie treads
his way with difficulty, and just as he tops the last hill
the tents of the Light Division, stretching their snowy
canvass in regular lines up the slope of the opposite side,
come into view. The camp is pitched on a dry, sandy,
table land. On the right hand side the artillery (Capt.
Levinge's troop), the small arm and ammunition train
(Capt. Anderson), and the rocket carriages, caissons,
artillery horses, &c., have fixed their quarters. The
valley between them and the table land on which the
camp is situate is unoccupied. On the left hand side, on
a beautiful spot overlooking the lake, at a considerable
elevation, is the little camp of the Commissariat sur-
rounded by carts and araba drivers, flocks of sheep and
goats, and cattle and vast piles of bread and corn. Here
are pitched the tents of Mr. Darling (the Commissariat
officer of the whole division), of Mr. Thompson, and
of Mr. Barlee. Mr. Clarke and another gentleman of
this department are stationed with the artillery. The
Rifle camp is placed at the distance of three hun-
dred yards from the Commissariat's camp. on the slope
of the table land, and commande.a beautiful view of the
lakes and of the surrounding country ; and the 7th, 19th,
23d, 77th, 88th, and the 331 Regiments are encamped
close together, so that the lines of canvass are almost
unbroken from one extremity to the other. Brigadier-
General Airey and staff, and Drs. Alexander, Rice, and
Jameson have have pitched their tents in a meadow
close by some trees, at the upper end of the encampment.
The engineers under Captain Gordon, the Rev. Mr.
Egan, and Captain Hallewell, have formed a little en-
campment of their own in a valley a little further on,
which is formed by two spurs of land, covered with the
thickest foliage and brushwood, hazels, clematis, wild
vines, birch, and creeper. The cavalry are stationed
about nine miles further on, close to the village of Devna.
In front of the rifle camp is a rural burial-gr And, now
long abandoned, probably because there are not many
People left to die in this district. It is of the rudest
kind. No sculptured stone, nut even a scratch of a
Chisel disti,,guishes one resting-place from another, but
a block of unhewn granite is placed at each grave,
and the Sappers and Miners, who are a most
utilitarian corps, have selected some of the largest
and best of them to serve ii) the construction of
their bridge over one of the narrow channels
which join lake to lake. By the by, these same
Sappers have had hard work of it in building this
bridge. The 10th company, who laboured at it, worked
entirely naked, and up to their breasts in water for a
whole day. It is no wonder that a few of them have
Suffered from slight fever in consequence. The heat in
the day is great, but perhaps it does not much exceed
the average temperature of a fine runny day in England
about the same time of year. The nights are colder, and
heavy dews are frequent. When recall is sounded, and
all the bands have ceased playing, the silence which
reigns over the canvass would be profound, but that the
'vigorous breathings of the sleepers frequently attain the
dimensions of snoring, and that the challenges of the
sentry to the stragglers for half an hour or so are fre-
quent. Ere dusk outlying piquets are appointed, and
reliefs are sent out about half past 2 o'clock in the morn-
' log. These piquets are posted around the camp at the
distance of two or three miles.
"On Tuesday last we had .a great day 'at the camp.
General Airey wished to do something to break the mo-
notony of the men's existence, and suggested that the
officers should get up some sports. The result was most
successful. *A
whip of a dollar a head went round,
and at 2 o'clock leave was given to all the men who
liked it to go to the races.' With the innate love of
Sport and sporting which possesses our countrymen
wherever they were placed, about 2,000 of them assem-
bled in a fine meadow at the extremity of the camp, a
course was cleared, hurdles erected, and leaps thrown
up, and the races commenced at half-past 2 o'clock. The
sports began by the Grand Allandeen Hurdle-race, 15
entries, 1 dollar each, won by Wardlaw, 19th Regiment.
In this race Mr. Markham, of the Rifle Brigae, re-
ceived a fall, which shook him at the time, but he is now
quite well except from stiffness of the arm and shoulder.
His horse (a fine charger belonging to Major Norcott,
and which had borne Dembinsky through the Hun-
garian war) fell on its head, and was killed on the
spot. The Light Division Cup, 18 entries, one dol-
lar each, was won by Captain Levinge, riding a horse
belonging to Mr. Mitchell, R.H.A. The Devna
Scurry Stakes were won by Mr. Lempriere's (77th)
horse Atargul. The Varna Stakes, for donkeys
and m&es, were won by Colonel Blake's (33d) mule
in gallant style. Next came athletic sports and games,
under the direction of Serjeant-Major Haywood, of the
Rifle Brigade A foot race of one mile was won by
Hayle, Rifle Brigade ; Harrison (same corps) second.
The quarter-mile race was won by Lewis, Rifle Brigade;
Hickey (33d) second. Hurdle race, won by Kirwan, 19th
regiment. Jumping, won by Morrissy, 77th regiment ;
running high jump, won by Morrissy, 77th ; second,
Macdonald of 7th Fusiliers, &c. The Brigadier was on
the ground, which was crowded with officers, and not an
accident or incident of any kind except the one already
mentioned occurred to mar the go humour which pre-
vailed throughout the day.
" We have not the smallest idea of what is going to be
done, or where and when the next move will be. A num-
, ber of Turkish Cossacks, savage-looking ragamuffins,
have just passed towards Varna. It appears the outly-
ing piquet took them for the enemy, and signalled ac-
cordingly.
" The lines which were to have been made at Bojuk
Tchekemedge have been abandoned, and the engineer
officers are withdrawn."

AUSTRIA.
The Moniteur of this (Thursday) morning pub-
lishes letters from Vienna of the 24th, stating that
General Hess will be named Commander-in-Chief
of the Austnan armies, saving the corps on the
frontiers of Bukowina and of Dalmatia. The num-
ber of men under his command will be 300,000.
The movements of the Russians are of no doubt-
ful character ; they are clearly retreating ; but
Austria will delay her occupation of the Principali-
ties (to which she is entitled by her convention
with Turkey) until after her reception of the Rus-
sian answer to her summons, and to the Prussian
note which is every day expected.