The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-29 00:00:00

THE WEATHER IN THE CRIMEA

The Moniteur de l' Armee publishes the following
letter, dated before Sebastopol, Bth :
"The weather since the last two days has be-
come delightful ' • the heat of the sun already be-
gins to harden the ground, and the roads will soon
be in a better working condition. The -natives of

the country give us hopes that the weather may con-
tinue so for some weeks, which will allow us to carry
on our operations according to our wishes. In a
few days our batteries, which have been considerably
increased, will be completed, and we shall be ready to
open a formidable fire against the place. It is doubtful
whether our allies will be equally forward, as they have
not the same means of transport as we have, and it will
be more difficult for them to get up their heavy guns,
unless the state of the roads is materially improved. They
have not equipage trains militarily organised as we
have ; the resources which they find in the country
are of great assistance to them when the com-
munications are easy, but they are far from
being sufficient in bad weather. In a country
like this it is impossible to get on except with suoh
' an organisation as ours ; an army must be able to
rely on its own means, which must be sufficient for
its wants. Our allies envy us onr trains and our
ambulances, which are so admirably arranged. Our
contact with them will certainly not fail to cause
great and useful modifications in the organisation
of their army. Thanks to the numerous reinforce-
ments, which are constantly arriving, our forces will
suffice to meet all eventualities, and to carry on with
success any operations which circumstances may
call for. The Russian army of the Danube appears to
be on its way toward the Crimea. The third corps, it
is said, quitted the Pruth in the early part of November,
with thousands of arobas. The bad weather will,
doubtless, arrest the progress of this corps, but we may
expect that the Russians will use extraordinary efforts
to bring up their troops, the Crimea being destined to
become the great field of battle on which the present
struggle will be settled. It is perhaps better that it
should be there Ulan elsewhere, for the great naval re-
sources possessed by the two allied nations will enable
them to readily supply their armies with provisions and
stores of every kind, while Russia will have great difficulty
to furnish theirs, distant as they are from their great cen-
tre of supplies. The Russian line-of-battleships, which are
still afloat in the port of Sebastopol, are no longer in a
state to put to sea ; for their crews, who have been em-
ployed in the defence of the place, have suffered such
considerable losses that it is impossible to turn tke ves-
sels to any account. Some deserters have even de-
declared that 2,000 sailors were sent a short time since
to Odessa, where there were no longer any troops, and
where the appearance of some of the Allied fleet had
caused serious fears of an attack. Our sailors are very
anxious for the Russian vessels to come out ; for al-
though many of our vessels have gone to Constanti-
nople to refit, the Allies have still more than enough
left to destroy any Russian fleet that may show itself
outside the port."

Tim BORNEO INQUIRY.--Letters from Singapore state
that the commissioners have, as they think, com-
pleted their task, and the investigation has ceased.
They do not proceed to Labuan or Borneo, but termi-
nate their proceedings at once, and make their report to
her Majesty's Government. That it will be favourable
to Sir James Brooke the commissioners have not con-
cealed.—Shipping Gazette.
Loss OF A FRENCH SCREW STEAMER.—The iron
screw-steamer Mediterran4e, belonging to the Rouen to
Algiers Steam Navirtion Company, foundered on the
120, twelve len,:ips .. thy'• of Fi, ister,. She
sprung a leak in- thy' c,,
consequence of a heavy gale, and all
the efforts of the crew being unavailing to keep it wader,
they were obliged to take to their boats, and on the
24th arriyod at Coucarneau.