The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-02 00:00:00

THE CAMP AT DEVNO.

We extract the following from a letter, dated—
Near the Camp at Devno, July 19.—1 t is astonish-
ing that in the sayings and doings of some 25,000
men there should be so little worth recording—at
least, if anything there be, it is confined to the
temple of the official Eleusis, under snap locks,
fastened up with red tape, or pigeon holed in the
ample recesses of our chieftains' portfolios. Surely
our march ought to be sure and ought to be lengthy.
If success depends on secresy, our army ought to be
crowned with profusest laurels, however late in
their coming. Well matured indeed the plans of
our leaders must be ; but Mariana, in the " Moated
Grange," was never more weary of these long delays
than most of the young officers out here, while
time is ripening for the mystic coup. It is actually
a delightful relief for them to plunge into the ex-
citing details of the great beard and moustache
question—that weighty matter, as to which dis-
cussion n',,wer ends, and illustration never tires,
and which agitates alike the Commander-in-Chief
and the meanest. Truth to tell, the orders issued
by Generals of Divisions and Commanders-in-Chief
have had far more to do with dress and undress,
with " neck and crop," and with the capillary li-
centiousness of the soldiery, than with aught else,
and their souls must burn within them at the un•
dutiful conduct of Bashi-Bazouk subalterns, who
will persist in getting out of uniform whenever they
can, and getting into the wildest plaids, the most
- haring checks, an' the most vivid shirting that Do-
sign, assisted by Colour, can invent. Why do these
Bashi-Bazouks vex their chieftains so ? Simply be-
cause their uniforms are uncomfortable and mean,
and mufti is loose and easy. What stout man of
taste. would wear a red shell jacket, with dingy green
or yellow collar and cutiS, even ough no eye but
that of a rude Bulgarian peasant or wooden-faced
peasantess gazed on his fair proportions, if he could
wander forth in a frock or other garment more
suited to the development of his figure ? Would any
man take out his sword to give it an airing in a
rural walk if he could leave it behind and take a
stick ? and who, with the thermometer indicating
110 degrees, would wear a neckerchief and stand-up
collar if he could go without them? If a stranger
approached our camp he would meet. figures which
it would puzzle him much to make out, and to define
whether they were grooms or gentlemen, so strange
their attire, so battered and contused their " wide-
awakes," so curious their jackets and trouserings
And leggings. Very, very har,l set indeed are we
to kill time while waiting for the harvest of laurels
to burl. For the last week there has been a de-
lightful change in the weather—it rains, thun-
:hers, lightens, and blows for a great portion of each
lay—anything is better than being baked alive.
The rain falls down from the he tveus in splashing

streams, the thunder is ear-splitting, and rattles

for hours through the mountains, the lightvingiis
forked, fierce, and vivid, and the wind is strong
ti iluoh to shake tent poles. to their foundation,
and sometimes to overturn the saturated canvas on
its unhappy occupant. It is in such times as these
that ennui comes on a man like a demon, aided
very often by diarrhoea, or a gentle dysentery. It
is then that azure diabolicals flutter down in shoals

apon him, and make him think of horrible things,
which be announces to his dismal friends, such; as
''sendig in my papers, and cutting the whole

kneed thing altogether," and then it is that co-
lonels are consigned to distant and unpleasant
daces, and generals are denounced as " confounded

ild humbuis." Books there are few indeed ; I
know of one copy of the " Trois Mousquetaires,"
and " Vingt Ans Apres," which is at this present
writing going through a regiment in detachments,
the main body being bound up iu an elastic band,
and the bits being distributed in order, a few pfiges
at a time, to the various readers. A cargo of cheap
novels would make a famous investment. Not
many games can be played, for there are
cricket, at which the sun stumpec
pletneuts, but there have been spae
men, and nearly realised the fearful picture of the
" Bat in blisters," drawnby r
Dog-hunting wasgmoaodtf-nelwlme4lanannyt.
Alf
red
gle.
time, and, besides, it was not but
in it
favourpaled withafter
terth ae
authorities. Mounted parties of 15 to 20 would
ride about the neighbourhood of some village, and
popular, l
it would not be long ere a fierce, wild-looking,
d shaggy cur •was roused from his lair, and
'' ltnarted across the plains at a rattling pace which
would do no discredit to a Leicestershire or Gal-
w.xy Reynard. He generally made for the hills,
and got off after a good run, but sometimes he' was
fairly run down—killed if he was savage, spared if
properly submissive. There are, however, occa-
sional meets still made for this exciting sport.
There was a grand battue through the woods the
other day by the men and officers of Sir D. L.
Evans's division, about four miles from this. About
:100, men beat through the woods, but the sport
vas meagre, consisting of a few roe deer, wood
pigeons, doves, km. Frequently hares run irough
the camp, and whenever the alarm of such an event

is given, men run like .mad through thistle, briar,
tud prickly bush, till poor puss, headed on all sides,
aid turned by hundreds, takes refuge in some
clump of thorn, and is made an easy capture. Last
week a wild boar was led by his. aspirings after the
anknown to take a saunter one moonlight night
within the lines. Ho was seen by a sentry : the men
turned out, and Porous fell, transfixed by many a
bayonet, in a plucxy but unlucky charge to break
the line of his enemy. As yet, the only trophy of
which we can boast is a magnificent young eagle,
belonging to the 33d regiment. His appetite and
his courage are alike gr,fat, and his ferocity is akin
to both. We have had races, both at the Guards'
camp, at Sir D. L. Evans' camp, and at this, and
same of them went off well ; but even these are as
flat as the course, and have now lost the charm of
novelty. There is much talk about "moving soon,"
and the destination varies according to the whim
of the talkers. Sebastopol is a favourite resort, so
is Anapa ; a few talk of Bucharest. Colonel Halik
;las returned. One of the Bth Hussars has died of
fever contracted during the recent cavalry recon-
naissance. Two French engineers,who have just
returned from surveying the passes of the Balkan,
report that there are no impediments of consequence
to the march of an army over any part of these
bugbear mountains. yesterday, an old woman,
said to be Fatima Hanoum, the Ktrakizla (Black
Virgin), Kurdish chieftaines, passed through De v no
on her wa from Varna, attended by a rabble rout
of 30 or 4) Bashi- Bazouks. She stopped at the
rule khan or cafe, t-nd enjoyed her pipe for a time,
so that one had an opportunity of seeing this Turk-
ish Semiramis. She is a lean, withered, angular
woman, of sonic 70 years of age, with a face
seamed and marked in every part of its
,dark ma-
hog Any-coloured surface with rigid wrinkles. Her
nose is hooked and skinny—her mouth toothless
and puckered—her eyes piercing black, restless,
and sinister, with bleary lids, and overhung by
tufty grey brows. Her neck, far too liberally ex-
hibited, resembles nothing so much as the stem
of an ill-conditioned, gnarly, young olive tree.
With most wanton and unjustifiable disregard
pre-
joufaitchees teoafchmingusssuoifmNaluash, =diet: ,snidiowosf tall
her

face, and wears no yashmak. Her attire con-
sisted of a green turban, dirty and wrinkled
as her face ; an antiquated red jacket, with
remnants of embroidery, open in front, and
showing, as far as mortal sight could gaze upon it,
the lady's bosom ; a handsome shawl waist scarf,
filled with weapons,, such as knives, pistols, and
yataghans ; and wide blue breeches. Hanoum is a
spinster, and her followers believe she is a pro-
phetess. The followers were Bashi-Bazouks pur
sang, very wild and very ragged, and stuck all over
with weapons, like porcupines with spines. Their
horses were lean and scraggy, and altogether it was
a comfort to see this interesting Virgin Queen of
the Kurds on her way to Shumla, if, indeed, it
was the Fatima Hanoum or some humble imitator.
The lady refused to visit our camp, and seemed to
hold the Giaour in profound contempt.
To-day there was a much more interesting arrival.
Some five-and-twenty horsemen rode into the
village, attired in the most picturesque excesses of
the Osmanli; fine, handsome, well-kempt men, with
robes and turbans a blaze of gay colours, and with'
arms neat and shining from the care bestowed on
them. They said they came from Peshawur and other
remote portions of the north-western proviices of
the Indian Peninsula, and while the officer who was
conversing with them was wondering if their tale
could be true, the officer in charge of the party
came forward and announced himself an English
man. It turned out to be Mr. Walpole, formerly
an officer in our navy, whose charming book ou the
East is so well known, and it appeared that the
men under his command were Indian Mahomedans,
who had come up on their pilgrimage to Mecca,
and who, hearing of the Turkish crusade against
the Infidels, had rushed to join the standard of the
Sultan. They are to be attached to Colonel Beat-
son's corps of Bashi-Bazouks, and to form a kind
of body-guard to the Colonel, whose name is so
well known in India. Mr. Walpole seems quite
delighted with his command, and, as he has the
power of life and death, he seems to think there
will be no difficulty in repressing the irregularities
of his men. Outrages on the Bulgarians are of
common occurrence in the neighbourhood, and Sir
George Brown has expressed his determination to
punish all Turks found guilty of them, and above
all to suppress the infamous practice of child-steal-
ing and kidnapping.

ADHESION OF THE GERMANIC DIET
TO THE AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN TREATY.

The following is a translation of the document
containing th 3 adhesion of the Germanic Diet to
the (1.- fensive and offensive treaty of Austria and
Prussia of the 20th of April. This adhesion, it may
be observed, was carried by 15 out of 17 votes, in
restricted council. The abstainers were the two
Mecklenburgs, forming the 14th curie, or vote,
and Denmark (for Holstein Luneburg), forming
the 10th. Holland has acceded for Luxemburg,
but not for Lemburg :
"In consideration that his Majesty the Emperor of
Austria and his Majesty the King of Prussia have laid
before the mostserene German Confederation on the offer.
sive and defensive treaty concluded between them on the
20th April ult., with an invitation to adhere to the
same ; in consideration and acknowledgment of the
grounds which have induced both the most- august Go-
vernments of Austria and Prussia to conclude and lay
this treaty before the constitutional organ of the Con-
federation ; in consideration of the exalted mi-sion of
defending with united power the general interests of
Germany, even beyond the federal territory, against all
encroachment ; and guided by a desire to stimulate
German unity. loyalty, and strength, for the welfare of
the common fatherland, by adhering co the said treaty,
the German Diet resolves—

"1. On the grounds of Art. 2 of the acts of the Con•
federation, and Articles 1, 35, and 47 of the Vienna
concluding acts, in the name of the most serene German
Confederation, to adhere authentivally through the
present declaration, and for the duration of the war
that has broken out between Russia on theone side, and
Turkey, England, and France on the other, to the treaty
concluded between Austria and Prussia for the estab-
lishment of a defensive and offensive alliance, which
treaty runs thus (here follows the body of treaty of 20th
April); and also to. the extension to Art. 3, con-
tamed in an additional article, which runs thus, (here
follows the additional article), under the agreement that
his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, and his Majesty
the King of Prussia, hall fulfil the engagements en-
tered into by them, in virtue of Art. 11 of the Federal
acts, by means of their entire German and non-German
force: - -

" 2. The measures requisite for carry;ng out the above
resolution remain reserved for special consideration. For
the purpose of preparing for the same, no special com-
mittee selected in the sitting of the 24th May ult., shall
be charged to place itself in communication with the
military committee."