The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-10 00:00:00

THE BLACK SEA.

Letters from Odessa, of the 18th ult., state that
the Russian fleet was still at anchor at Sebastopol,
but that from time to time, when the weather per •
mated, a few ships quitted the port to cruise off
the Russian coast. The admirals had given orders
that if they should fall in with English and French
ships of war they were not to attack, but if at-
tacked to resist with energy.

An extraordinary supplement of the Journal de
St. Petersbourg of the 3d contains au exposition of
the progress of the Oriental dispute, and the con-
duct of the Western Powers. This document ex-
tends to the length of three folio pages, and is a
clever piece of special pleading. It contains also
the Russian answers to the circulars of the French
Cabinet. 4

It is stated by the Cologne Gazette that, during
the last fortnight, considerable quantities of gold,
to the amount of from six to seven millions of
thalers, have been sent from St. Petersburgh to
bankers at Hamburgh and Berlin, and still larger
sums are to follow. "We are not aware," says
the Cologne Gazette, " of the object of these remit-
tances, but 'we think that the Russian Government
wishes by purchases to raise the rate of Russian
and Polish paper."
Travellers from the Danubian Principalities have
brought to Berlin some proclamations of the Rus•
sians, in the Servian and Bulgarian languages,
which are still being printed in Bucharest, and
doubtless are intended for distribution, so soon as
the Russians shall have crossed the Danube. As
the languages are not understood, their contents
remained a secret at Berlin.
It is said that Prince Paskiewitch will assume the
command of the Danubian army, and General Ru-
diger will be at the head of the administration in
Poland.

The Vestitor, a, Wallachian journal, which has
been made a semi-official organ of Russia, publishes
the names of 21 boyards who have received deco-
rations and rewards for their services in the Russian
interest.

The Lloyd of Vienna states from Montenegro :
" On the 10th ult., a fresh Turkish expedition at-
tacked the inhabitants of the village of Vasoeva to
punish them for having taken up arms against the
Sultan. The Vice-President of the Senate, George
Petrovich, sent 2,000 men to the assistance of the
inhabitants. On the morning of the 11th, a des-
perate combat took place, which continued until
the afternoon, when the Turks retired. The Mon-
tenegrins had 60 men killed and 20 wounded. The
loss of the Turks is estimated at 300 men."

According to a letter from Constantinople, the
Ottoman Porte has proposed to England and France
that a private company should advance the tribute
for several years of the Principalities of Moldavia
and Wallachia, under the form of a loan, and that
the tribute shall go to pay the interest, and serve
as a sinking fund.
The Vienna Medical Newspaper contains a letter
from a Russian army surgeon in Wallachia, giving
some interesting details. At the date of his letter,
the 27th ult., he had just returned from Bucharest
having during his visit inspected the hospitals at
Vancovan, golza, Pantilemon, Michai Woda, and
other places, and also the field hospitals round
about the capital. They were all crowded to
excess, and not a bed was unoccupied, the per-
petual attack of the Turks supplying candidates
for admission faster than the wounded became
convalescent. The camp was tolerably free
from _ epidemic and endemic disorders, thanks
to the severe cold, but most gloomy dread was
felt on prospect of the approaching spring, at
all times dangerous to new corners, but this time,
coupled with famine, equivalent to the doom of
plague and pestilence. All the diseases likely to
spring from hardships of every conceivable kind
which the men have endured during their lona-
marches and bivouacs in a wretched country, with-
out roads, shelter, fire or wood, are rife. The very
water which they are compelled to drink is brackish
and unwholesome. The clothes in a wretched condi-
tion, and there was no possibility, even when quar-
ters could be obtained, of replacing or mending them.
In short, the medical gentleman in question de-
scribes the country as marshy and ungenial, as a
land of poverty and destitution, of filth and
abomination. The Russian commissariat, he says,
has done its best for the troops, but the soil
and the very elements contend against them,
and take part with their enemies. The pic-
ture that he draws is one of desolation itself,
added to which is his poignant regret, that
hardly any patient leaves the hospital alive,
since gangrene or mortification soon put an end to
his sufferings. Besides all this, he concludes, we
are nowhere welcome, because we cumber the
people's houses, seize their cattle for transport,
and lay hands on all the little fresh provision which
they possess.