The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-04 00:00:00

SOUTH SIDE OF HARBOUR.

Fort Panl ,. .. 80
Fort St. Nicholas
Battery between Fort St. Nicholas and Fort

Alexander
Circular Fort at end of Loopholed Wall 5O
Fort Alexander 64
Quarantine Battery

. --- -
Total (known) 722
There were at the same time is harbour two

three-deckers, one of 130 and one of 120 guns; three
two-dockers of 84 guns each ; three frigates, two
] corvettes, three brigs, two war steamers, and two
] ships of the line not fitted. The number of ships
has since been increased.
The guns of Fort St. Nicholas are of sufficient
calibre to throw shells or 68-pound solid shot.
] The National Gazette of Berlin says :—,t
] have received through St. Petersburg news of
] Odessa to the 14th September. The day before
there had been celebrated the annual fete in com-
memoration of the foundation of the town. On
the occasion, General Annenkoff, the governor,
harangued the artillerymen of Odessa, conclud-
ing his address with these words My chil-
dren, pray with fervour, serve faithfully, resist
with courage, and, above all, take good aim.'
] Salvoes of cannon accompanied these words. The
St. Petersburg journals turn into ridicule the idea
of the expedition to the Crimea, but private letters
state that when the landing became known in the
Russian capital, it produced an extraordinary
feeling of depression in all the circles into which
the news had penetrated. The following are the
names of the Russian generals in the Crimea :
commander-in-chief, General Prince Menschikoff ;
commander of the fleet and of the ports of the
Black Sea, Admiral Borysowicz Beg ; head of the
staff and adjutant-general, Admiral Kornileff ; and
military governor of Sebastopol, Admiral Michael
Nikolajewitz Stanktkowicz.”

THE BALTIC.
FIRING UPON SIR CHARLES NAPIER AT

HELSINGFORS.

NARGEN, OFF REVEL, SEPT. 26.
On the 23d, Sir Charles and General Jones again
started off in the Driver, accompanied by theßa-
silisk, but this time it was for Helsingfors. On
returning in the evening we found the forts had
fired two guns at them, and that the enemy have
not been idle since we were last there, but have
erected small batteries on the islands near the en-
trance, and one large battery of about 50 guns on
the island on which the main work is built, at
which place we considered it before to he weak.
We have heard nothing yet about the Vulture's
men, whom we expected to find here in exchange'
for the prisoners we sent to Abo. It being a bright
sunshiny day, upwards of 100 officers from the
fleet assembled at the village of Nargen, close
to which was a fine grass field, where wickets
were soon pitched, and the people of Revel might
have seen the fine old English game of cricket
played to their heart's content, or otherwise, for
the distance is less than between the Isle of Wight
and Portsmouth ; and I fancy the people of that
loyal town would not be pleased to see an enemy
enjoying himself in their favourite island. Besides
cricket there were foot-races and quoits, and pri-
vate little pic-nics among old friends. The people
of the village were very civil to us ; and the rela-
tives of the brave fellows who died here in 1809
will thank them when they learn that, instead of
allowing the headboards from the graves to lie
down where the decay at the bottom has caused
them to fall, they have been carefully collected,
and stand reared up against the walls of the little
churchyard, with the names still legible.
We are all looking forward to news from the
East, for we feel as much interested in the doings
of our brave fellows out there as we do in our own
in the Baltic. We envy them, for we know we shall
be eclipsed by them; but there is not a British heart
in theßaltic which would not beat ten times quicker
with enthusiasm to perform as daring doings as they
have before them. There is no denying that an
incalculable amount of injury has been done to
Russian interests by the fleets up here, but there is
also no denying that a great deal more might
have been done, which has been left undone. We
hope a short time will prove with whom the
fault lies—our Commanders, or their orders from
home. Bomarsund was no doubt a gr.:llant little
affair, but unworthy the prowess of such a fleet, in
which all have wished for a more noble enemy to
encounter, and which Sir C. Napier, in his " de-
claration of war," led us so sanguinely to expect ;
but it is too late now to meet with one this year,
we must retrace our steps out of these waters al-
most directly. Revel, with its minarets, steeples,
domes, and fortifications, lies stretching itself along
the shore in smiling security not more than six
miles from us. I say in security, because they
well know we shall do them no harm, though they
are completely at our mercy, for we could set the
whole city in flames in a couple of hours. General
Jones and Lieutenant Cowell, R.E., return home
to-day, via Dantzic. We are glad to find that the
latter officer's wounds ate nearly healed. It is
blowing hard to-day.
Another communication from the fleet is as
follows :

REVEL, Sept. 26.—The principal portion of the
Baltic fleet, comprising nine English and two
French sail of the line (five of them having steam
power), have been at anchor off the south-east
coast of the island of Nargen for a period of two
months. The steam-frigates Itnperieuse, 50,
Euryalus, 50, Arrogant, 50, Magicienne, 16, toge-
ther with the Rosamond, 6, steam-sloop, have been
employed in the meanwhile cruising of Sweahorg,
watching the movements of the enemy, and effec-
tively blockading their ports in the Gulf of Finland.
From the circumstance of this squadron being
detached from the main body of the fleet, the
officers and seamen belonging to it have been de-
prived of the usual facilities of communicating with
their friends in England. Only two opportunities
have been afforded them of forwarding letters
by the overland route. Even on these occa-
sions great delay in their transmission has oc-
curred, as they were forwarded to Ledsund,
where they failed to reach until after the de-
parture of the steamer from Dantzic, and were
consequently detained on board the flag-ship for an
entire week. With respect to the rec€ipt of letters
from England a similar inconvenience has arisen.
In both instances had a proper consideration been
shown towards the officers and crews serving on
board the ships off Nargen, what is generally and
very naturally felt as a hardship might, by proper
arrangements being adopted, have been easily.
avoided, at least as regards the regular transmission
via Dantzic of letters to England, simply by the
steamer despatched on the Tuesday of each week
from the Aland Isles being ordered to touch at
Nargen, on her way to Dantsic, to receive the mails
from Rear-Admiral Plumridge's squadron. It is true
that some delay would thus be caused in the mails
arriving at Dantzic, amounting however only to a few
hours. But since all despatches of an urgent nature
from the Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-French
fleet area
ns ednt
by to
specialEn gl England
ebnyg
et hr
nnoe ai
nr ecsotnovve enri leanncde
routes,
to the service could possibly arise by according to
the ships (16 in number) engaged on a most im-
portant service in the Gulf of Finland the same
regular opportunities with respect to the transmis-
sion of their letters to England, or elsewhere, as
allowed to those who happen to be constantly in
company with the Commander-in-Chief.