The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-08 00:00:00

THE COAST OF CIRCASSIA.

The following is from the special correspondent
of the Morning Chronicle :
"On board H.M.S. —, Ghelmiik Bay, May 14.
"After the Niger left us last Monday, we remained
hove to in a fog all day, but went on again slowly in
the night ; and early on Wednesday morning, the
fog suddenly lifting off showed us right ahead the
white cliffs of Anapa. Anapa from the sea seems
a miserable enough place, built on a cliff at
the southernmost point of the bay. The prin-
cipal defences face the sea, and the batteries, from
their advantageous position on high cliffs, might
prove very troublesome to ships. We were fa-
voured by a salute of shot and shell, but as we were
quite out of range we took no notice of it. Towards
the bay the ground gradually slopes down to the sea
level, the cliffs disappearing ; and here we saw a Rus-
sian camp, near which some 7,000 or 8,000 men were
drawn up. With such a garrison, even though our
ships silenced the batteries, they might laugh at us
still,
unless
we had on board troop: to land. After
remaining off Anapa just long enough to reconnoitre
the place, we continued our route, running along
the coast about a mile and a half from the shore.
A t Anapa properly begins the chain of the Cauca-
sian mountains, and from the main chain shoot off to-
wards the sea a series of parallel ridges, gradually in-
creasing in size, and very remarkable for the sharpness
of their angles. These ridges all cut almost perpen-
dicularly when they reach the sea, showing the upheaved
strata of sand which compose them, and give the coast
a most novel and peculiar appearance. We were run-
ning quietly along, when suddenly the look-out at the
mast-head reports, first one, and shortly after two more
strange sail ahead of us ; and immediately the Sampson,
Retribution, and Highfiyer are sent in chase, and
we ourselves prepare to follow them at full speed.
For the next hour or so the poop is coveted by a
crowd of officers, all anxiously trying to make out the
strangers as they draw nearer and grow in the horizon ;
and as the hope of their being Russian increases, the
excitement also becomes greater. The Sampson s
chase turned out to be merely a coasting boat (Russian)
coming from Trebizond and Redout-Kaleh, and which
had just sailed that morning from Soujak, the first
Russian port below Anapa. Although small, she
had a prodigious cargo, and seventeen people on
board—some passengers ; one of these was a deco-
rated Russian soldier, who bad charge of a quantity
of soldiers' great-coats, hospital stores, and red and
grey cloth, which he was conveying to Kertch ; so that
there was no doubt the boat was a good prize. The two
other sail turned out to be Greek brigs, full of Russian
soldiers. They bad been chartered at Kertch, to go to
Soujak•Kaleli, and embark troops for Kertch, and had
on board about 166 soldiers, all (-:reeAs, from the mill-
tart' colony of Balaclava, with some 200 hick and
wounded, women, and children. Besides a great quan-
tity of powder, cartridge, muskets, iSto., each of them

bad a Cossack gun-boat, with two little guns in it, in
tow. The capture of ail these people was not a bad
day's work ; and, moreover, we obtained from them a
deal of valuable information. I mentioned to you in my
last, the admiral's intention of attacking Ghelengik by
sea, and concerting at the same time a combined attack
on land by the Circassians. We now learned that the
Russians had abandoned and destroyed Ghelengik about
a month ago—so all -our nicely combined plans fell
to the ground. The Russians had given up and
destroyed everything on the Circassian coast, ex-
cept Anapa and Soujak-Kaleh. The garrison and
guns of the other places have been thrown into
these two, and cur prisoners say that for the last three
months they have been working unceasingly to make
these two places as strong as possible, and that they
are determined to defend them to the last drop of their
blood. A good road exists between Anapa and Soujak-
Kaleh ; it has been cleared completely for two miles
and a half on each side • and at only one point
about half-way, where there is a Russian post,
is it at all difficult. They are sometimes bothered by
the Circassians at this point, but even here, they say
that 500 men and one gun can always make their
way good even against 4,000 or 5,000 mountaineers.
There are about 20,000 men of all arms between these
two places. Soujak-Kaleh is situated almost at the top
of a deep bay. opening to the south-west. As soon
as we appeared near the mouth, an alarm post fired
rockets and guns to warn the garrison that an enemy
was near. We stood into the bay to reconnoitre ; we
saw the hills to the south side covered with groups
of Circassians, running to and fro, apparently very
excited at our appearance some near the shore
waved their caps to us. At the top of the bay is a block
house, to protect a watering-place; round this there were
numbers of Circassians ; and now and then the Russians
fired a shell into them, from what we learnt were small
brass mortars. The principal fort, Soujak-Kaleh, or
Novo-Russiski, is near the top of the bay on the 'north
side, round a small bay formed by the projection of a
point of land. On this point is situated the principal
battery, flanking it on both sides. There are two
more batteries besides, higher up, and some mortars.
Many of the works seem quite new. We did not go
very far in the bay, as we were afraid of not finding
enough water, but continued our route for Ghelengik,
where we arrived shortly before sunset. It had been
the admiral's intention to concert with the Circassians
here for an attack upon Ghelengik : but as this was now
unnecessary. the question of attacking Soujak presented
isself ;- and Ismail Bey, a Circassian, deputed to accom-
pany Captain Brock to Circassia, and myself, were
ordered to go on shore, to make arrangements for
communicating with some of their chiefs. The admiral
did not intend going into the bay, so Ismail Bey and
myself went on board the Sampson, which took us into
the bay, and sent us on shore in a boat. The sun was
fast going down as we arrived at the wooden pier left by
the Russians. A signal-gun had been fired to warn the
Circassians of our approach, and here we found some
thirty or forty of them, mostly armed, waiting for our
arrival. They belonged to the poorer class of herds,
were half naked, being but partially covered by a tat-
tered coat of brown flannel, with sheepskin cloaks on
their shoulders. It would be impossible, I fancy, to
fall in with a more savage-lookingrace—their dishevelled
beard, fur caps, and sinewy limbs, seen through their
tatters, all contributing to give them the wildest
appearance. We were handed out of our boat in great
silence, and then an elderly man stepped out, and,
taking Ismail Bey by the hand, bade us follow. We
were totally unarmed, and I must say that at first I
scarcely liked being at the mercy of so many wild-look-
ing beings, but very soon all apprehension vanished.
We were led to what had been a 6-gun earthen bat-
tery ; and here, on one of the merlins, some cloaks
were spread out and we sat down, and the Circassians
stood round us eager to hear what tidings we could
give them. It would have been a picturesque group
for an artist, that which surrounded us ; and the
Russian ruins all round added to the interest of the scene.
The destruction of Ghelengik had been complete. The
governor's house, the hospital, the barracks, had al
been handsome buildings, but not a stone remained
on a stone. It seems that they had been
covered with shell, and straw placed over the shell.
On the moment of leaving the straw was set fire to,
and I assure you it had done its work pretty well.
It must have been a strong determination which made
the Emperor give up at once a work which had cost so
much treasure and men, for every stone almost here was
brought from Kertch. We have now been here since
Tuesday night, but we have not hitherto been able to see
many Circassians of note. Their villages are at some dis-
tance in the interior; and perhaps a doubt exists in
their minds whether we really mean to make any
sacrifice towards securing them their independence,
or simply to use them as tools fur carrying out our
hostilities against Russia, abandoning them again
when it will become inconvenient to support them.
But we have not yet, I believe, had time for form-
ing any correct judgment, as we have not had com-
munication with the principal man on this side of
the Caucasus—Mahommed Emir Bey, the lieutenant
of Schamil Bey. On Wednesday afternoon the ad-
miral and captains, both English and French, went
back to Soujak. The prisoners that were sick, the
women and children, and the non-military were a
great and unnecessary burden. The admiral decided
that he would give themback to the governor of Soujak,
and this would give an opportunity of once m ore recon-
noitring the place. They were consequently all bun-
dled into the Sampson (nearly 200) ; and a most miser-
able sight it was to see these unfortunate wretches ciaw-
liug up the accommodation ladder on the deck—the very
picture of suffering. The women, too, as they sat huddled
together, certainly did not give a very flattering opinion
of the sex—Russian at least—in Circassia. One of these
unfortunate creatures had been delivered, while she was
a prisoner, on board a transport wherethere was scarcely
sitting-room for the people crowded in her. This was
the first time I sawso closely the horrors caused by war,
and surely the reality is worse than the most exag-
gerated description. We went into the bay with a
flag of truce flying, but did not go in much further than
we did the first time. All these creatures, with their
personal baggage, were huddled into the boat taken the
day before by the transport, and into one of the gunboats,
and then they were cast away from the steamer. There
was a light breeze, which took them straight towards
the town ; and the governor, doubtless unable to make
out what was coming in to im, had sent a boat out to
meet them. When he learnt the nature of the present
sent to him, was he grateful ? All the prisoners
were very kindly treated, as you may suppose. The re-
maining 175 or so sound soldiers have been divided
between our ship and the Charlemagne, their officers
messing in the ward-room. The sailors say that
they never got so much to eat before in their lives.
One of their officers dined with us at the admiral's
table yesterday. Although this second visit to
Soujak showed us pretty well what the place was
made of, Mr. Stanton, on Thursday, went with a
party of Circassians to reconnoitre the place by
land, and got within two miles of it. There would be a
probability of silencing the batteries, perhaps even with
the squadron here (Agamemnon, Sampson, Highflyer,
Retribution, Charlemagne, and Mogador) ; but what
object would be gained it the garrison were not cut off
from the rear ? Aud it does not seem likely that any
Circassians will be capable of doing this."
Letters from the Black Sea state that the Rus-
sian garrisons of Tonap and Anakria, on the Abas-
sian coast, having evacuated those forts, and"being
on their march to join the centre of the Russian
army of the Caucasus, were encountered by a body
of Circassians and cut to pieces.