The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-17 00:00:00

THE BALTIC.

COPENHAGEN, August 11.—Great alarm pre-
vails in Norwegian Finmark. The reason is this :
The English and French Cabinets had agreed to
allow the mutual barter of rye-meal by the Rus-
sians on the White Sea Coasts against the fish of
the Norwegian Finmarkers, their reason for this
generous exception being that thousands of poor
families would otherwise die of starvation. This
trade the Russians carry on principally in large
boats, of a certain build, and easy to dis-
tinguish, called lodjes and ransika. Accord-
ingly, these two kinds of vessels were expressly
excepted by the allies from the operation of the
blockade. But it soon appeared that the Nor-
wegian Government—which was at this time en-
gaged in its famous four-ships intrigue and its
foolish coast armaments—was ignorant of the de-
tails of the case, and was not aware that a good
part of the Russian meal trade is carried on in
schooners. The English commanders, therefore,
of course, refused their passage. On this the Nor-
wegian commissioner. Captain Krogh, earnestly
begged them to depart from their instructions, and
they were generous enough to do so to a certain
extent, allowing schooners to trade if not ex-
ceeding 88 tons in burden—for some limit there
must of course be. For some time all went
well, and the conditions were respected. But at
last the Russians tried to pass in a vessel bound
from Archangel to Tromso, of more than 100
tons. They even refused to show their flag, al-
though warned by three loose shots. On this a
sharp shot was sent close under their bow. They
now gave way. The ship was stopped, found
much to exceed the size allowed, and was made
a prize, fifteen Englishmen being put on board
her. She contained 10,000 Russian puds of rye-
meal (each pud being 32 Norwegian lbs.), worth
12,000 silver roubles. This event has caused
quite a panic. The schooners in the Norwegian
harbours are afraid to return home ; those in the
Russian ports will not go down to Finmark. - Even
small lodjes and ransiks have given up their trade.
Captain Krogh is trying to persuade the blockaders
to give up their prize, which is a most unreasonable
demand. Meantime, everything is at a standstill,
and the poorer classes will suffer considerable hard-
ship, especially as the great fish season has just
set in. The merchants, however, have filled their
stores, and the difficulty is not so great as it would
have otherwise been. As the French squadron has
now arrived, the blockade will probably be severer
than before. So much have the Russians gained
by the basest deceit.
The Moniteur has the following, dated London,
14th :—" The English Government has received
from Admiral Napier despatches, dated the 7th
and Bth, which state that the French troops had
landed to the south of Bomarsund, and the French
and English marines to the northward, without a
single man getting his feet wet. Sir Charles, in
praising the facility and rapidity with which this
operation was effected, equally divides his commen-
dations between the captains of the French and
English steamers who executed it. The troops
were advancing from both sides on the fortress,
which would be invested on the 9th. All the
French siege materiel had arrived, and• was about
to be placed in position. The Russians had de-
stroyed their outer works, which indicated an in-
tention to make a vigorous resistance. Sir C.
Napier mentions the perfectly good understanding
which constantly exists between him, General
Baraguay D'Hilliers, and Admiral Parseval."