The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-29 00:00:00

VARNA.

There are unmistakeable signs that the army is
about to move. Ido not speak of the secret con-
ferences of Generals, of the hasty despatches flying
between Rustchuk and Varna, and between Varna
and Constantinople, of the uneasy movements of
Lord Stratford de Radcliffe from Therapia to
Stamboul and back again, or of the activity
of aides-de-catnp, and the fussiness of the
staffs ; but day after day French and English
war steamers and transports arrive here with
large horse boats in tow, fit for landing men,
and horses' and guns. A number of a peculiar
but useful kind of vessel has been constructed at
Constantinople and elsewhere for our use, and sent
up to Varna. Each vessel consists of two of the
large Turkish boats of the Bosphorus, which are
about 50 feet long and about 8 feet broad, fastened
to another and planked over at top, so that there is
a little kind of raft formed, not drawing more than
a foot of water, and capable of landing two heavy
guns and their men, or of carrying 150 or 200 men
with the greatest ease. The quantity of stores com-
ing out is enormous, and all the large steam trans-
ports are ordered to supply themselves with six
weeks' provisions for the number of men which
each is calculated to carry. Each of the transport
ships bears its distinctive flag, so as to prevent
confusion, and each under the command of a
naval officer. Thus, each division of the army
will have a division of transports for its spe-
cial service and carriage, and each division
of transports will be conveyed by a squadron
of ships of war. This grand fleet consists of
steamers of a magnitude, burden, and speed
hitherto unknown in any operation of war—of such
vessels as the Himalaya, the Simla, the Emeu, the
Hydaspes, the Melbourne, the Victoria, the
Orinoco, the Avon, the City of London, the
Emperor, the Colombo, the Tonning—and of
sailing vessels which would constitute a formidable
navy of themselves alone. Our men-of-war
steamers could probably land 20,000 men in their
boats in two hours The artillery which we have
out here at present, under General Cator, consists
of the siege train (30 guns out), commanded by
Captain Gambier (vice Flude, gone home sick) ;
the Royal Horse Artillery, Colonel Strangeways ;
the Artillery of the Light Division, Col. Dacres ;
of the First Division, Col. Lake ; of the Second
Division, Colonel Dupuis; and of the Third
Division, Colonel Fitzmayer. Each division has
12 field guns attached to it, so that there are 48
field guns in all. There are, besides, 12 guns of
the Royal Horse Artillery—the latter are 6 and 9
pounder guns. It is calculated that our boats
will suffice to land these 56 guns at one trip ; but
the facilities for landing the heavy siege guns are
not so evident. The French siege train has not all
arrived at Constantinople, but it is stated seine of
it is lying in the Bosphorus.
Relative to the great fire, a correspondent writes
as follows :
" I have just returned from a visit to the ruins. The
scene would be grand, but that the dense clouds of smoke
from burning wood quite blind and almost suffocate you.
The great mass of fire is got under, though it still burns
and smoulder; or bursting out into a flame as it seizes
upon some abandoned house upon its precincts. About
30 houses have been destroyed in, this manner during
this afternoon and to night. One half of Varna is a heap
of fiery ruins. As I have already said, it broke ont in
the midst of the most thriving and busy parts of the
town • every shop and store, every magazine and canteen,
has been destroyed.

" The damage is estimated at 100,000,000 of piastres,
about 800,0001. sterling. This statement, I should ima-
sgti
stores
re
English,mm u
us must
must make
ac ekhr gsa
ogn
mde reatthei dn
Turkish, te hn oo
armyur
mgho
ut
sh
a. e n tdo t
ca
Halfol
theor
ns sins oas
atf
irtvi thest
g
of the town have been reduced from comfort to beggary.
They have literally lost everything they possessed in the
world.
"Three incendiaries, who, it is said, were taken in the
act are in custody, and according to general report will
be shot to-morrow ; and I have heard from 50 sources
that a French serjeant of engineers captured a Greek to-
night while in the act of setting fire to a lumber-room in
the general hospital here. It is said that he was taken
out by the guard and mattered upon the spot. If the
statement is true, the punis went was almost less than
he deserved. It is complained that an immense number o
robberies were committed during the fire. 4,000 of the
French troops, Sappers, Engineers, Zouaves, and sol-
diers of the line, with a large force of English and
French sailors, are to remain on duty and throw water
on the still blazing ruintruntil all signs of fire are extinct.
They of course have no tents, and, working hard, are
relieved every 24 hours. It will be a fortnight or three
weeks yet before all fire is extinguished, as in some
places the mass of burning materials cover whole acres
to the depth of 20 or 25 feet.
" In consequence of the fire, it is believed that the in-
tended embarkation of the troops is postponed for the
present."

THE BRITISH EXPEDITION.
Were it not for unmistakeable signs that the
army is about to be actively employed in some
quarter or other, we should all be nearly as dis-
contented as the French, for, indeed, officers and
men are weary of this deadly inaction. The num-
bers of the dead diminish every day ; the admis-
sions into the general hospital (English) have fallen
to about five a day, and the deaths to four a day ;
and, taking the average proportion of deaths through
the whole division, we are not losing more than
15 or 16 men a day. The conduct of many of the
men, French and English, seems characterised by
a recklessness which verges on insanity. You
find them lying drunk in the kennels, oar in the
~,..464usit.0

ditches by the road-sides, under the blazing
rays of the sun, covered with swarms of flies.
You see them in stupid sobriety gravely paring
the rind off cucumbers of portentous dimen-
sions, and eating the deadly cylinders one after
another to the number of six or eight, till there
is no room for more—all the while sitting in groups
in the fields or on the flags by the shops in the
open street, and looking as if they thought
they were adopting highly sanitary measures for
their health's sake ; or frequently three or four of
them will make a happy bargain with a Greek for a
large basketful of apricots, " killjohns," scarlet
pumpkins, water melons, wooden pears, and green
"gages " and plums, and then they retire beneath
the shade of a tree, where they divide and eat the
luscious food till nought remains but a he 'p of peel,
rind, and stones. They dilute the mass of fruit
with raki, or peach • brandy, and then straggle
home or go to sleep as best they can. One day I
saw a Zouave and a huge Grenadier staggering up
the street arm in arm, each being literally laden
with enormous pumpkins and cucumbers, and in
the intervals of song—for one was shouting out,
" Cheer, boys, cheer," in irregular spasms, and
the other was chaunting some love ditty of a very
lachrymose character—they were feeding each other
with a cucumber. One took a bite and handed it
to his friend, who did the same, and thus they
were continuing their amphibian banquet till the
Englishman slipped on a stone and went down into
the mud, bringing his friend after him—pumpkins,
cucumbers, and all. The Frenchman disengaged
himself briskly, but the Grenadier at once composed
himself to sleep, notwithstanding the entreaties of
his companion. After dragging at him, head, legs,
arms, shoulders, the Zouave found he could make
uo impression on the inert mass of his friend, and
regarding him in the most tragic manner possible,
he clasped his hands, and exclaimed "Tu es la,
done, mon ami, mou cher Jeeon ! Eh bien, je me
coucherai avec toi ;" and calmly fixing a couple of
cucumbers for a pillow, he lay down, and was soon
snoring in the gutter in unison with his ally. I
was glad to see them taken off to the Corps de
Garde in about five minutes afterwards, as a lucky
patrol happened to come its round through the
street. The Turkish soldiers are equally careless
of their diet and living.

CONSTANTINOPLE.
The expedition against Sebastopol, it is now
said, is fixed for theist of September. By that date
it is supposed that the whole of the allied and
Turkish troops will embark on board the fleet of
transports. The French divisions sent in the
direction of Kustenje had returned to within five
miles from Varna.

The cholera is visibly on the decrease, both
among the troops and on board the fleets. One of
our transports, the Courier, No. 50, is missing since
the 26th of June. It is generally supposed that
she has been captured by the Russian steamer that
so daringly braves the allied cruisers.

The Greek spies employed at Constantinople by
the Russian government, and who have access to
all important secrets both here and elsewhere, have
just chartered an Austrian vessel to convey des-
patches to Odessa or Sebastopol. On the 13th the
above vessel was towed into the Black Sea by an
English tug, the Punch. This is a positive fact
beyond denial.

Au important nomination has taken place here.
Darbokor Rechid Pacha has just been placed at the
head of the army of Constantinople, called the
Dersaadetordon. His only recommendation is his
intrigue and wealth. As already announced, Selim
Pacha, in command of the army at Batoum, has
been replaced by Mustapha Pacha.
It is stated that Omar Pasha has received com-
munications from the Austrian Commander-in-
Chief to the effect that the refusal by Russia of the
ultimatum will be followed by an advance of the
Austrian army. Omar Pasha is requested to pre-
pare to co-operate with the troops of Francis Joseph
in such a manner as to cause the most speedy ex-
pulsion of the Russians.