The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-25 00:00:00

THE BLACK SEA.

MALTA, APRIL 13.—The Golden Fleece from
Gallipoli, which conveyed the Rifles thither, re-
turned hero yesterday, and brings intelligence
from the British and French fleets to the 4th
instant, under which date they continued at
Baldchik, a place of anything but prepossessing
appearance, with usually much swell and surf on
the beach. From Cape Calazriah to the town
there are chalky-looking cliffs, close to the sea ;
above them a confusion of hollows and mounds,
sprinkled with dark thorn-bushes, reaching back
a short distance, till an abrupt white-faced cliff
rises to the edge of the plain at a height of about
400 or 500 feet from the water. From the ships
there seem but few breaks in the long flat outline ;
but on landing, deep wild gulleys are here and there
found, and Baldchik is on the western side of a
valley which is connected with several such—a
miserable place, beginning in detached houses
near the beach, owning some pieces of streets,
going first to the right, and then extending up to
the left in a promiscuous manner along the edge of
a cliff, until near the plain. Its population is
about 5,000. In the table-land there are vine-
yards, and cherry-trees, and brushwood ; and out-
side this begins the great grazing-ground for
the cattle whose folds surround the farm-houses.
From Baldchik towards Varna there is a greater
variety of outline, more wood is to be seen,
and the country is evidently much more in-
teresting. Enterprise and commercial specu-
lation have taken Englishmen into strange
places, but there is not much chance of any
of our British naval officers being allured to make
a half-way home at such a place as Baldchik, even
were the tenure ofland in Turkey guaranteed by the
best of laws. Who could get on under such au
executive as governs in Turkey—in a place where
there is at all times a prospect, as in the present
day, of a cry, " The Russians are coming ?" The
inhabitants of Baldchik are all ready to leave for
Varna, or some place on the other side of the
Balkan range. There are neither defences nor
soldiers, and the bey or pacha has applied to the
admirals to land the marines for the protection of
the town, which has not been granted ; for it
would be wrong to lead him to rely on such aid at
a moment when the stay or the movements of the
fleets must of necessity be very uncertain ; and
accordingly, he has been advised to apply to the
Pacha of Varna for Ottoman troops ; but prudent
measures have been nevertheless taken to secure
the safety of British and French watering parties,
should it be threatened. Poultry and eggs are
procurable, but oxen have to be brought from
Varna. The Sidon, Firebrand, and Magellan were
despatched on the 27th of March, to prevent any
supplies being landed for the Russian force which
crossed the Danube on the 23d. They went along
the Turkish coast, seeing nothing until they
reached the Sulina mouth of the river, where they
found that an 18-gun battery had been erected by
the Russians, who have a schooner of war lying
outside the bar, the masters of which were coun-
selled to leave. Severel consultations were held by
the captains of the four allied war steamers, and at
one time they were on the point of coming to the
determination of doing their best to destroy the
battery, and to cut out the schooner ; but on a
more careful examination of their instructions,
and maturer deliberation, these were not consi-
dered a sufficient warrant for the rejected under-
taking, and the same was for the momen., reluc-
tantly abandoned • not, however, without a hope
that their instructions might before long be remo-
delled and extended. Returning to Kosteudje, the
town was found deserted ; but, falling in
.with a
boat putting back through strew of weather, it was