The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-01 00:00:00

THE AUSTRIAN AND PRUSSIAN

CABINETS.

The Journal des Debats has a very long article on the
negotiations between the Austrianand Prussian Cabinets.
The Debats does not despair entirely of conciliation,
but remarks that the persons who have come forward
as mediators to bring it about are precisely those who
were so active in the Conference of Bamberg, in which
the policy of Austria found little favour. It says :
" Such is the state of things ; Germany is agitated
at it, and not without reason, as a difference be-
tween the two powers in such circumstances may
became a decided danger; and it is certainly a cause
of trouble and embarrassment for all the Cabinets.
Is conciliation possible l All hopes of it have not
yet been given up, and it is to the desire of bringing
about an arrangement that is generally attributed the
almost simultaneous arrival at Berlin of M. Von der
Pfordten, Bavarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and of
M. de Beust, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the King of
ianrk the tha
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osrheo
long
en dg bv,u,
et
shall without doubt know what is to be thought of the
matter. We shall learn also the nature of the new note
which the Minister of Austria at Berlin communicated
on the 25th to M. de Manteuffel, and which is said to
be very conciliatory in form, although very decided in
its meaning."

THE RUSSIAN ACCOUNT OF OPERA-
TIONS IN THE CRIME, .A.

(From the Journal de St. Petersburg.)
The Anglo-French conducted their united forces be-
fore Sebastopol from the north of that own to the south,
thus entirely changing the basis of operations. They
attained this object by a flank march round the town.
The organs of the foreign press cannot find expres-
sions to praise sufficiently the skilfulness of this ma-
noeuvre. Without wishing to detract from the merit
of it, at least it is just t• mention also and to explain
the operations of Prince Menschikoff in reference to the

enemy.
After the battle upon the Alma, the Prince, not find-
ing, a position strong enough upon the Katcha and the
Belbeck to give a fresh battle to the enemy, passed the
Tchernaya, and concentrated his forces in a position to
the east of the town, after having garrisoned the forts
of the north with a sufficient number of troops.

The enemy advanced, passed the Elatelia and the
Belbeck, and reached the heights which surround the
northern forts.
The position of Prince Menschikoff was disadvan-
tageous, inasmuch as it enabled the enemy to occupy
the direct communications with the interior of the
empire. It was therefore necessary to abandon
that position, and the Prince achieved the object
by a luminous idea, carried into effect in the most
daring manner. He marched during the night of
the 24th to the 25th of September towards Bakshi-
Serai, after having crossed the Tchernaya by a
single bridge. He executed this march in flank in the
course of the night, and in the morning of the 25th
found himself in the valley of Bakshi-Serai, placed in the
flank and the rear of the enemy, having his communi-
cation free with the interior of the empire, and with
the reinforcements which he expected. The new posi-
tion of the Prince would have been annoying to the
enemy if the latter had been desirous of attempting
an attack against the forts of the north. For this
reason the enemy did not make the attempt to attack
the forts of the north. On the contrary, he adopted
the resolution of changing the point of attack from the
north to the south of Sebastopol, by turning the town
to the east. Let it be permitted to us here to throw a
light upon some circumstances, which will enable an
impartial judgment to be formed respecting the opera-
tions of the two parties.
Prince Menschikoff had to march across mountains
and by one road, which from the point where Mac-
kenzie's Farm is situate was only at a distance of four
wersts from the advanced posts of the enemy. In-
deed the bivouac fires were seen thence. The Prince
could not attempt to cover his march by the means
which are usually adopted in such cases, for it was
necessary, above all things, flat to attract the atten-
tion of the enemy. In his position it was necessary
to avoid a battle, which would have hindered the
movements of his column. The Prince marched with his
train and park of artillery. All these difficulties were
surmounted, and our troops had, on the morning of the
25th, reached a point where the enemy did not suppose
them to be.
Our adversaries also executed, and almost at the same
time, a flank march, but under much more advantageous
circumstances. From Belbeck, and the plateau which
they occupied on the 24th, they bad only to gain Mac-
kenzie's Farm in order to attain the route leading by a
descent to the Tchernaya.. Tho enemy executed this
movement without being perceived by us, for the point
where Mackenzie's Farm is situated is at a distance of
16 wersts from the spot where our forces were sta-
tioned ; and, besides, it is also covered by woody moun-
tains. •
If Prince Menschikoff had been desirous of at.
tacking the enemy during the march, he could only
have done so by one route, which, for a distance
of 10 wersts, is upon an ascent from the Belbeck
to Mackenzie's Farm. It would only have been ne-
cessary for the enemy to place a few batteries in a
good position upon the heights to enable him to
check our attack for se long a time that the move-
ment of the column could not be completed without
danger. The enemy had the great advantage of march-
ing without guns and artillery, which in the meantime
had been quietly transported by sea to Balaklava.
Whoever has marchid with a troop, whether an army
or a battalion, will appreciate the difference between ad-
vancing with or without a train of artillery.
It was requisite that Prince Menschikoff should avoid
a combat during his movement, because the enemy
was placed in an advantageous position for it. Our
adversaries, on the contrary, marched in such a man-
ner that they would not have been inconvenienced by
an attack upon their flank, an attack which the Prince,
from the nature of the territory, couch h bring
about without engaging in it under unfavourable cir-
cumstances.

DEATH OF A CHILD BY FIRE.—Yesterday afternoon
Mr. Wakley, the coroner for Middlesex, held an inquest
in the Theatre of the Royal Free Hospital, Gray's-inn-
road, upon the body of Charles Whitehead, aged four
years, who was burnt to death on Sunday last. The
coroner having summed up, the jury returned a verdict
of " Accidental death."
FIRE.—Yesterday morning, shortly before one o'clock,
a fire broke out on the premises of Mr. J. Bendel', con-
tractor and carman, of Wells-street, Wellclose-square,
Whitechapel. The engines from Wellclose-square were
speedily on the spot, and a large body of police arrived
from the Leman-street station, under the joint direction
of Superintendent Steed and Inspector Geruon, but the
flames had progressed to such an extent that the greatest
difficulty arose iu the removal of the horses from the
burning building. Most of the animals were extricated,
but three perished by fire, as it was quite impossible to
save them. The whole of the premises were destroyed,
and the houses adjoining suffered considerable injury by
fire and water. Mr. Bendel' was insured iu the Sun
Fire-office for building and contents. The origin of the
fire is unknown.
Four thousand three hundred and eighty-nine mar-
riages were celebrated in various parts of England in
the quarter ending Juie 30th. The number only ex-
ceeds by 54 the marriages in the corresponding quarter
of 1853 ; still, after allowing for increase of population,
the marriages have exceeded the average of the ten pre-
vious years. The marriages decreased in some of the
south midland counties, and increased in Essex, Suffolk,
Norfolk, Wilts, Cornwall, Staffordshire, Worcester-
shire, in the North Riding of York, in Durham, and' in
Northumberland,—Quarterly .Report of the Regi4trar
General.

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

TO THE EDITOR, OF THE TIMES.

Ste,—Oa looking over your paper this morning I
was deeply pained, and net a little surprised, at some
remarks in a letter purporting to come from a brother of
one of the officers of her Majesty's ship Terror, one of
the vessels of the unfortunate expedition under Sir John
Franklin.
The writer, in the first place, says, " that Dr. Rae
has been deeply reprehensible for not verifying the re-
port of the Esquimanx, and for publishing his report
without verification ; that he should have kept silence
altogether, and not have excited such painful feelings in
many persons on such insufficient grounds."
To have verified the report which I brought home
would, T believe, have been no difficult matter, but
it could not possibly be done by my party in any
other way than by passing another winter at
Repulse Bay, and making another journey over
the ice and snow in the spring of 1855. This
I could have easily done, without exposure
to more privations than persons accustomed to the Hud-
son's Bay Company's service are in the habit of enduring,
but I had a deeper motive in returning to England with
the information I had obtained than the mere selfish
feeling of regard for my own comfort, which is a point I
have never much studied. My reason for returning
from Repulse Bay without having effected the survey I
had contemplated was to prevent the risk of more valu-
able lives being sacrificed in a useless search in portions
of the Arctic seas hundreds of miles distant from the
sad scene where the lives of so many of the long-lost
party terminated ; and I am happy to say that my con-
duct has been approved by all those whose opinion I
value, and with whom I have conversed on the subject.
It is stated by your correspondent, " that where Es-
quimaux can live, where Dr. Rae's party could find
abundant means, what should prevent Sir John Franklin
and his party from subsisting too 1"
No man but one perfectly unacquainted with the sub-
ject could ask such a question.
At the season when Sir John Franklin's party was
seen travelling over the ice the seal-holes are covered
by snow, and can only be discovered by the acute sense
of smell of the native dogs ; and, after the seal-hole is
discovered, much patience, experience, and care are re-
quisite to kill the seal. As soon as the snow thaws (say
in June) the seals show themselves on the ice, but they
are then so difficult of approach that not one of my
men (Ouligbuck, the interpreter, excepted), although
they often made the attempt, could approach near
enough to shoot any of these animals,
I wintered at a part of the Arctic coast remark-
able by its geographical formation for the abundance
of deer during the autumn migrations, but only
then ; and it was at that time that we laid up our
winter stock of food, but it was hard work even for
us (all practised sportsmen, picked men, and in full
strength and training) to collect a sufficiency.
That portion of the country near to and on which a
portion of Sir John Franklin s party was seen is in the
spring notoriously the most barren of animal life of any
of the Arctic shores, and the few deer that may be seen
are generally very shy, from having been hunted
during the winter by Indians on the borders of the
woodlands.
To prove this scarcity of game, I may add that during
my spring journey of 56 days' duration one deer only
and a few partridges were shot by us.
It is asked by your correspondent why " the unfortu-
nate men should have encumbered themselves with silver
forks and spoons and silver plates, &c.”
The total weight of the silver forks and spoons
could not be more than 41b. or 51b, at the utmost;
and would not appear much when divided among
forty persons ; and any officer who has ever had the
misfortune to abandon his ship or boat anywhere, but
more particularly in the Arctic sea, knows well how apt
men are to encumber themselves with articles far mere
useless and bulky than a few forks and spoons.
I suppose by " silver plates" your correspondent al-
ludes to the silver plate with Sir John Franklin's name
engraved thereon, and which may possibly weigh half
an ounce—no great addition to a man's load.

Again, your correspondent says "that the ships
have been abandoned and pillaged by the Esqui•
maux." In this opinion I perfectly agree so far as
regards the abandonment of the ships, but not that
these ships were pillaged by the natives. Had this
been the case wood would have been abundant
among these poor people. It was not so, and they
were reduced to the necessity of making their sledges
of musk-ox skins folded up and frozen together, an alter-
native to which the want of wood alone could have re-
duced them. Another proof that the natives had very
little wood among them may be adduced.
Before leaving Repulse Bay I collected together some
of the most respectable of the old Esquimaux, and distri-
buted among them all the wood we could spare, amount-
ing to two or three oars and some broken poles. When
these things were delivered to them I bade the Esqui-
maux interpreter, who speaks both his own and the
English language fluently, to ask whether they or their
acquaintances near Pelly Bay had now most wood. I
need scarcely add that, had the ships been found by the
Esquiaaux, a stock of wood sufficient for many years for
all the natives within an extent of several hundred miles
would have been obtained.

It may be as well here to state, for the information of
your correspondent and others, that the authorities of
the Hon. Hudson's Bay Company have, in the most kind
manner, permitted me to devote my whole time, as long
as requisite, to satisfy the questions, as far as in my
power, and to reply to communications from the rela-
tives and friends of the long missing party, instead of
to complete ray chart and write up the report of my
expedition for their information.
It may interest your readers to learn that two over-
land expeditions have been decided upon—the one in
boats, to go down the Mackenzie River in search of
Captain Collinson, about the safety of whom there is
now some anxiety ; the other, in canoes, down Back's
Fish River, to make further inquiry into the fate of Sir
J. Franklin's people, and to endeavour to obtain some
more relics ; and, should any of the remains of the
dead be found, to place them decently under ground.
About noon on Friday it was arranged by the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty and Captain Shepherd,
Deputy-Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, that
these expeditions should be left wholly in the hands of
the Hudson's Bay Company, and the same evening the
Deputy-Governor had posted letters to Sir George Simp-
son, territorial Governor, containing full details as to
the objects and mode of carrying into effect these ex-
peditions.
I trust that any of the relatives of the lost navigators
who may in future wish to make severe remarks on the
mode in which I have acted, in the very perplexing
position in which I was placed, will first do me the
favour of communicating with me, and, if I cannot
satisfy their doubts, it will then be quite time enough
to make their opinions public—such would be the more
fair and satisfactory course.
In conclusion, let me observe that I am at a loss

to discover what course of proceeding your corre-
spondent would have desired me to pursue. I have
assigned the reason for my return ; if he can offer an
equally good one or a better why I should have stayed
out another year, I should be most happy to have learnt
it, either by letter to myself or through the medium of
your columns.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
JPEOT RAE.
Tavistock Hotel, Covent-garden, Oct. 3.