The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-11 00:00:00

THE BALTIC.

A letter from Dantzic, to the 3d, states that in-
telligence had been received there that the Rurik
tender, belonging to one of the most influential
members of the Yacht Club of St. Petersburg,
and armed for war, had been taken by an English
frigate, not far from Cronstadt.

SOUNDING IN THE BALTIC.
We extract the following from a letter dated
Dantzic, July 1 :
"No landsman who has net once in his life lost his
way in a snow-storm, upon a wide common, where" he
knew that there were several gravel-pits, of whose ex-
act situation he was ignorant, can picture to himself
the difficult duty the various vessels of the Baltic fleet
which have been employed in sounding and surveying
have had to perform. In this needful and arduous
duty, which is but little recognised by the public, her
Majesty's steamer Gorgon, Commandcr Cracroft, has
taken a patient and laborious part. The Gorgon has,
indeed, found 'no opportunity for the exercise of the
fiery energy of the combatant ; no scene in which the
gladiatorial virtues of the fighting man could be,
tested ; no field for conquest, and but little hope of
fame ; and while every letter and every newspaper has
beep reminding her, day by day, that she is part of that
fleet from which England expects naval victory, she
has been chained to the inglorious tantalism of heav-
ing the lead and bnoying rocks, with the vexing cer-
tainty that all that could mark her labours would be
presently destroyed by skulking foes, whO hid them-
Belies behind rocks she could not reach and navigated
channels she could not enter.

"In this duty the Gorgon has not been alone: She
is not the only man of war that, constrained by the peen-
liar warfare that Russia wages, has been forced to hold
her guns harmless, and to keep her armament silent.
- The Driver Desßerate, Basilisk, and many others, have
been compelled to put on the dress of a Trinity yacht,
lumber the decks with buoys, and content themselves
with the labours of a surveying ship.
"In this particular service the want of means for
effectual performance is painfully felt. A channel of
thirteen feet deep is the only sea-road to St. Peters-
burgh, and the Earl of Aberdeen has sent vessels draw-
ing seven-and-twenty. If Cronstadt were totally de-
stroyed, if every Russian gun were silenced, and every
Russian soldier killed, the Duke of Wellington could
get scarcely five miles nearer St. Petersbnrgh than she
is to-day ; and if every buoy with which the Baltic fleet
is supplied were laid upon the sunken rocks off the coast
of Finland to-morrow, by next week there would not be
one remaining.
"The Gorgon affords an instance of the sort of labohr-
in-vain work in which the steamers have been engaged.
After several days' unremitting work she was successful
in discovering three rocks of which she was sent in
search--one of them she bumped against. She laid down
the three buoys—two near the coast and the other out
in the gulf and she then accompanied the fleet to Cron-
stadt. Three days afterwards she returned to the' same
Places, and not a vestige of the buoys was to be seen.
"The Bulldog and Driver ;have -been engaged in the
same sort of employment, but with more excitement and
with more success. On the 28th June they went close
into Cronstadt and surveyed and sounded the mouth of
the harbour."

OPERATIONS BEFORE CRONSTADT.
The following is from a letter dated the British
feet 'off Cronstadt, June 30 :
," Vessels are now occasionally chased 'which are
found to contain floating villages—men, women, and
children, with all their goods and chattels, deserting
their farms and homes on some little islands, where, had
they remained, they imagined death by shooting or im-
prisonment from the ruthless English awaited them.
Those poor creatures become regularly terror-stricken
When boarded, caused in some measure by the usual
Preamble of firing a shot, often more across their bows
to oblige them to heave to. The poor women, like so
'zany trembling gazelles, are found huddled together in
some little hiding hole. However, the poor things are
soon reassured by kindness, and see that we are not
the brutes they were led to suppose we were. We
Part—no longer enemies, but now real friends ;
Much to their surprise they are again set free, and
continue their route without further molestation. On
'Me occasion we had much ado With the women to
reassure them of our kind intentions. We fired off
our muskets as guarantees, but alas! good intentions
are often mistaken. It was- most decidedly the case in
this instance, for it made them ten times worse—this
Very firing. So much for our rode way of inspiring con-
Pence. After having stayed a Couple of days off Les-
Jiar, the squadron moved on for Cronstadt. The gulf
narrowed as we approached its scud de sac. The land on
either side is covered with a sea of ridfi waving woods of
Pine-trees, especially on the Finnish shore, which is the
higher ; occasional oases appear in this moving mass of
green, revealing snug hamlets and cultivated fields
which often slope down to the dark, nasty water of this
great brackish gulf. As we closed with Cronstadt,
and as goon as the tall masts •of the Russian ships in
harbour (19 ships of the line and 5 steamers) were de-
scried from our topmast heads, great excitement prevailed
through the fleet. A rumour is set afloat that the,Russian
not expecting us up so high, are at anchor out-
side the forts. Not a breath of wind prevails to
carry them inside under protection of their batteries ;
such be the case, visions of immediate action, certain
sictory, and captured ships, seize upon our imaginations.
;'hips are in advance of the squadron, looking out for the
infernal machines.' All the ships have watches posted
flotheir tops, repbrting every floating log of wood that
ats near us, bearing any resemblance to a buoy—an
appendage said to be attached to all those submarine
traps., We draw closer and closer. A mirage now begins
40 tantalise us ; it clears, and a lighthouse 'of tolboukin
belluvr stands out in white relief. The rigging of the ships
comes more distinct, and, alas, so do the prodigious
rt.% The men-of-war are skulking under their guns
Within the harbour. The admirals consult. The combined
squadron come to an anchor ; on our approach there was
evidently a great stir amongst the Russian ships. The
steamers in harbour immediately got steam up, and all
seemed on the alert. Our squadron made a sweep, and
retraeing its steps a little, dropped anchOr about-eight or
ten miles off Cronstadt. Seven or eight ships, amongst
Which are the Imperieuse, Arrogant, Desperate, Pene-
. Magicienne, Lightning, Driver, &c., have been
Placed 4 in a position off the mouth .of the harbour, about
Tree miles. Some boats belonging to one of those
suiPs was sounding, a few evenings age, off the Wand
ef Cronstadt, when a Russian -steamer, with steam up,
Was observed coming out of h,arbour to cut them off. The
Desperate quickly got steam up and made a dash to catch
the Russian, who immediately rushed back again into
Port as if the devil was after her. Vessels are constantly
going reconnoitring the place and sketching the fortifica-
fi?hey which appear to be of amazing strength, and not a
.4tr Match for wooden walls. The lighthouse bf Tolboukin
le abandoned. Several officers have landed, and have
tietuated the tower, from which point there is a-splendid
rd's-eye view of the whole place. Just fancy our audacity
Lo doing all those things under the very eyes of the Czar,
MWith whose name invincibility has hitherto been coupled.
ost likely the steamer which came out, or attempted'
,L. come out, the other, evening, had an admiral on board,
,o_l6 the vessel carried a flag at the fore. Could it have
Zell the Grand Duke who was thus forced 'to an igno-
o,ltiuhs flight Before Desperate ? Oh,. how the
17,,1ntY are fallen.' The Driver went up towards the
:-"thouse yesterday, with Admiral Chads and party
1.11 board. He went to visit the tower which the Rus-
"tiho seem to have relinquished in our favour. It is
saold -there is some intention to endeavour, to get at
pr,138 cif the submarine torpedos. It is currently re-
sits ed that there are small buoys placed to mark their
at iberiVlV,hat fun it will be if we can manage to _get
he ‘`
We have got cholera in the fleet. Mr. Graham, a
4:ltetiant of the St. George, has committed suicide,
ofd his vacancy has been given to Mr. Clarke, mate
th.'ue Duke of Wellington. It is a most-unfortunate
Ing. lie shot himself with a revolver pistol."

GREECE.
Gefieral Kalergy, the Greek Minister of War,
Zfa'c'e a banquet to the. French and English officers
othe army of occupation, and also to the naval
4sera of the two powers, and to those of the Aug-
-40 navy, on the 22d. A hundred officers of the
Itreek-anny, or the ancient Philhellenic. atmy,
user° remarked,there. The banquet was given in
Aeropolis, at the Parthenon, and thuaborroed
441 gyred
al locality a grandeur which forcibly struck
ttt the foreioners present. In order that the enter-
4111Inent stiould have a character exclusively,mili-
heY) it was agreed before hand that no toasts -44%14 be
given. The cordiality of seutiments

A letter from Copenhagen, of the 30th, states
that the Danish squadron hall just put out to sea
for an experimental trip on the Baltic. It was to
visit the isles of Bornholm, Faalster, Laaha,ml, and
Langeland, and the ports of Tonningen and Apen-
rade, and then return to Kiel. " The departure
of the squadron," says the Patric, "had produced
a great effect on the population, which wag mani-
festing more and more each day its sympathy for
the Western Powers, and detestation of the ambi-
tious conduct of Russia."