The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-20 00:00:00

TH DOERTIDSCHA AND WALL 0..61 THE NEW ORDERS IN COUNCIL.
TRAJAN.

The followino-dcscriptibn-,of the country in which
the AusAians have just chosen to commence opera-
tions, is from Major Moltke's history of thu Three..
Russiall Cainiaigns, of 1828 and 1829

_ . .
The land (he says), is a desert,. such-as could hardly ,be
. expected toexist to Eurone, Inieludingibe inhabitauits
of the towns, we can hardly aSsign mere than 300 net-
s-oils tO,the tleinnan 3m7are in:le. -
.Tlie deiolationiolthe
"e4'?B ..Wms Artainiy produced in a-great measure play. the
'Tartars during their retreat in the last Cathpaigns, but
even in 1828 the great difficulties an army would -have
to
•
in its march across the country could be
foreseen frotn_the_nature of the soil. In the northern
part: of the PobtUdecha 'rises -the .steep nionntain,
chain of. I.Vlatchin.,: the Eashtepe, or Five Ifills here
and there pieteresquely. "Focidecti,- and- the heights
of Babii-dagh, or "- Old Father HMS:" Further to
the south, the whole district forms 1 a lOW Undulat
- in, down, that is only a few . 'hundred feet :above
thee' sea level. The soil. consists -of a fine grey-
Sand; „that absorbs all moisture. Water, when it
falls niacin the surface, meets with a substratuin of porous.
litheatone, and percolates through this. also. ' It is lost
' labour to : search in the valleys for rivulets or Springs.
The little drinking water there is can only be had at the
few villages scattered `here and' there at Wide intervals,
and it has ta,he drawn from wells that are from SO to
100 feat ,deep by means of bast-ropes. On account of
this constant drought and the small pdpulation, agricul-
ture is at .a very low ebb; forage is quite as great a rarity
,
as scorn,. and neither haystaCks nor granaries exist in
these villages, for the grass withers away at the begin-
ning of summer, leaving nothing but a boundless waving
plain of tall dry stalks. The numerous flocks of sheep
and herds,of buffaloes graze generally in the flats of the
Danube and on its islets.- Not a, tree nor a shrub is to
'be seen anYwhere, not even in the villages. Quite as
desolate and barren, equally without water and wood,
nay, still more so is that part of Bulgaria on the other
side of Trajan's Wall, as far as Bazardjik. Should a
column of troops have to traverse this ground, it must
be prepared to laattle for more than a hundred -miles
against privations of every kind, and the want of every
article, requisite for sustaining life. .
On the other hand, the Bulgarian plain between the
Danube and the Balkan is less desolate., Hete everY-
tl4ng is green in the spring and to the end of June ; the
sides of the deep valleys are .fringed with linden trees
and the wild pear,; the :brooks are set in broad mea..-,_.
dovis,— and wherever the land is in tillage there luxu,
riant crops never fail ; even the largest tracts lying in
fallow are covered with the richest grass in profusion.
But the villages are few, and only here are any inhabi-
tants to be found; though far-apart, they are large and
generally well stocked with the necessaries of life.
The soil, which is of loam, is fertile, but the roads are
in consequence quite impassable in the wet season: At
this period the act of descending into the .deep valleys,
where the flowing waters are alinOst everywhere without
bridges, is attended not nnfrequently with the most
imminent danger. ' In winter the snow falls in such
masses that the roads are for the time quite obliterated
inmost places. Vegetation 'dries up towards the end
of summer, acd • there is then a scarcity of water,
notwithstanding this has been attempted to be re-
medied by the piety of MasSelinen, who, where it
has been poesible, have constructed fountains (Tshesh-
mobs.) On this account the 'mine :of cavalry- in par-
ticular, and of all troopsiindeed, is sometimes very slow.
If most camps -ia a hostile country are pitched at- the
sides of :valleys with :a: streatai.in .front, in these. hot,
countries, in additien—to _the difficulty of procuring what
is wanted in ,eamp besides- Food- and. striii, thew -is
' another—that of finding
_a secure spot for pitching that:_
eainp; Water,- and a great- deal of it, is here. so prii:i
mount a ricccaSiiky of life _that, in order: mot to over-
fatigue the men, the conirnander generally, much against.
his' Will; is obliged_to encamp for, the night close to
water; and therefore before the proper military position.
• The population of Houmelia is essentially agricultural
-and pastoral. • Althost all the towns are built on the
Danube or at the foot of the mountain range ; in the
first named live the Mussulman, and in the last' the
Christian portion of the population. A Prussian officer,
'who travelled through the Dobrudscha, in the Nov.
of 1837, 'amongst other remarks; has given the follow.
ing one :--' o Man having expelled man from this
region, the country seems to have. become the property
of brute animals. I never saw so many nor such
large eagleS as here ; they were so bold, that we
could.' almost reach them with our riding-whips,
and when so disturbed they were only scared for
-a moment from the old downs on which they
-were settled. -Soaring up with a short flight, they re-
turned to their former station. Large covieg- of par-
tridges rose, but only when the hoofs of our horses were
close to them, from out of the withered grass, generally
not unobserved by a kite wheeling aloft. Droves of
bustards not heavily on the wing as we approached
them, whilst long files. of cranes and wi!cl geese cut the
air. The buffaloes resort to the quagmires near the
Danube, and lie plunged in them, leaving their nostrils
alone u covered, and wild dogs looking like wolves'
roam without a master across the open country. We
rode past'one of the ides on the Danube, on which mares
wore:grazing, : when they saw odr cavalcade coming up
they began to neigh, and some of the colts dashed into
the stream to swim across to us. Ducks were quacking
among time reeds, and a phalanx of wild swans, soaring
with lagging wings, careered in wide circles over the
placid mirror of the water. The whole scene reminded
Me of a landscape by Everding or Ruysdael. Lower down
near the Danube the country becomes in general more
inviting, the islands are there thickly overgrown with wil-
loWs; the forks of the river resemble lakes, and at length
the flat expand's to one huge sea, of reeds and rushes
more than 40' miles in breadth. It is barely possible to
descry the steep white, bank on the Bessarabian side be-
yond. The boundary wall or the double, in some spots
triple, Wall,
,which the Emperor Trojan caused to be
biiilt right across before the Danube as far as the Black
Sea is still evetywhere from 8 to 10 feet high ; on the
outside tuns the moat, and within lay great hewn blocks
of stone, 'which seem to have once formed a mighty
wall; the western part of this fortification has fronting
,it the lakes and the marshy Karassu valley, which of
itself formS a natural moat • but eastwards from the vil-
lige of Belik, the outer wall crosses the valley, and the
iener, southern wall runs behind the former at unequal
distances, varying from 100 to 200 paces. At intervals in
the rear 'we found the traces of the. great Roman square
camps (castra), the side averaging 300 paces ; the form
and the entrances were 'still perfectly distinct. The
middle' part of the Dobrudseha .is inhabited by Tartars,
who, when expelled by the Russians from. the Crimea
. Withdrew to BessatabiaI and after the taking of Ismail
retreated to this spot. Runaway Cossacks .also and
Lippovaners who have stolen away from Russia, form
no -inconsiderable a portion of those human beings, that
still inhabit the desert of the Dobrudse.ha. '

• . •
The Otders in Council-Which we yesterday published, _
although pasSed on Saturday, were first publifihed in the.
Ga..;ette _of Ttiesday.. They -introduce modifications of
very great importance, intended as supplements to, and,
in some degree-as corrections of, those issued at the close
of :last-montli, and we will concisely state their effect,
reserving or 3 future 'odeasioit such- comments' as !nay
appear necelsary..-
The pars ,graph immediately following the with.
whicht the first Order commences provides that it- shall
hereafter be laAkful for_vessels sailing under a neutral or
friendly flag, and being neutral or friendly property, to
import into any port or place within her Majesty's do
minions any merchandise whatsoever, "to whomsoever
the' same may belong," and a Corresptinding permission
for exportation is granted under two coriditions,, Which,
are, firSt, that the port be not ;under "blockade ; and,
secondly, that the merchandise be not contraband of war,
or such as requires a special permission' for its export?..-

pravides that, under the
,
I- The second portion of the Order relates to British sui;-
neutral or friendly
Irceserrvaastiwoenlls just- mi°ernetigionneertis, a'
n`
adll subjects of her Majesty
i
the present hos;
asfitadtethine -asyti,bj4crtsiti,gorancdit:izneontswioofsadnyding
tilities with RiuiEda, freely trade With all ports and places,
wheresoever- situate, which shall not be in a state of
blockade." A.,:most important exception, however fol-
lows, and 'it is this :—.“ That no British vessel shall, un-
der any circumstances whatsoever, either under or by
virtue of this order or otherwi4e; be permitted or ern-
powered to
,enterior communicate with- any port or place
which shall belong to or be in the possession or occiipa:
~
tion of her Majesty'S enemies. : ,
The blockade of the Baltic Ports renders the conces-
sions ofleis immediate 'importance than thilr might other.
wise be; for it-will be observed that the right of mind- ,
ing even neutral vessels under such circumstances is ex-
pressly reserved ; but taking 'Archangel as an instance.
it would appear that direct trade with that port may be
carried on without any risk i dr-Molestation, provided
only-that no British vessel be:employed.
Obvious reasons justify the continuvice of the restric-
t ion just mentioned. It would hardly be possible for a
British trade r, under 'any circumstances, to enter with
security a port 'belonging to the enemy • and even a
superior force-out-ide would :not prevent the capture of
the ship, Which might very probably be destroyed, as'
well as of the crew, 'who would be made prisoners of
war, or might, perhaps, be impressed and forced to
serve against their country. All, however,'which it is
possible to do in favour of our own shipping interest has
been effected by the recent orders. We cannot give
them the power of entering Archangel, but we enable
them to go.to Hamburg or to Dantiic; and to return
with hostile property. - It would previously , have been
open •to them to bring the. very same cargoes, pro-
vided that neutrals were at the times of purchase'
the owners; and,- as might be, expected ficti-
tious transfers have been, in fernier times, encou-
raged to an. enormous extent by the maintenance
of this distinction. The carrying trade wilt now no
longer be, left in the exclusive' possession of neutrals,
and indirect commerce with the hostile state will afford
employment to English capital, us well as to English
seamen. It is also to be observed that, -as the rights
of blockade will be maintained, and as it is probable
that the ports in the Black Sea will speedily be placed
in this condition, 'while those 'in the Baltic already
are so, the traffic must be almost entirely indirect ;
and, therefore, the,privilege which neutrals must pos-
sess,- of being able to enter hoitile ports, will give them
Ink little advantage over our ()Vil tradeis. The former
• orders; justifiable as they were on grounds of the soundest
policy, no doubt pressed somewhat hardly upon particu-
lar_classes of our population ; and we trust that advan-
tage to the nation at- large,. as well as . to those who
will: reap the most immediate , benefit, may result
from the present .rnedifications. ' It will be remem-
bered that in the case of outward-bound cargoes, eon
traband of war is excluded.from the general permission,
and sufficient reasons exist for maintaining the prohibi-
tion. The general effect of the Orders appear to be that,
subject to the two -reservations just mentioned, direct
trade with the enemy may be carried by means of neu-
tral vessels, and. indirect trade by our own -or by those
of any neutral nation. We wait with curiosity to see
whether-'our adversary will meet us by corresponding
-concessions ; but nothing which has yet happened leads'
us to suppose that a policy so liberal will find favour at
the Russian Court. However this may be, we ,have
adopted a course unprecedented perhaps, but at least
deserving of a fair trial, and not unlikely to produce
desirable results; whether considered in its commercial
bearing or its political, .whielt is at least equally im-
portant. ' .