The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-03 00:00:00

HELSINGFOE.

is the capital of the Russian government of Finland,
at the mouth of the Warma, in 60° 10 N. latitude,
and 25° 0' 15" E. longitude. It has now about 12,000 in-
habitants, and a considerable export trade in corn, fish,
iron and deals ; and important manufactures of sail-
cloth, sacking, and linen. The town was built by Gus-
tavus I. of, Sweden, and burnt in the Russian war in
1728. The fine harbour is defended by several forts, es-
pecially the strong fortress of Sweaborg, Which is built
on three islands. Finland having been taken by the
RuSsians in 1808, and ceded to them at the peace, in
1809, no pains have been spared by them to render Iles-
lingfors an important naval station. The fortifications
mount 300 cannon, and contain barracks and casements
for a garrison of 12,000 men. Since 1815, a plan for en-
larging the town has been carried into effect. Masses of
rocks have been blown up, and inequalities levelled, in
order to obtain a site for the new.buildings. Among
the public edifices, the most remarkable are the palace
of the Governor, and the barracks, and likewise the mag-
nificent building for assemblies, on the esplanade, which
was finished in 1833. After the destructive fire at Abe,
the university, called Alexander's 'University, was trans-
ferred by a ukase of 21st December, 1827, to nelsinfors.
It is divided into four faculties, with 22 professors, and
has a library of 40,000 volumes, and botanical garden.
There were 491 students in 1851.

REVEL,
the capital of the Russian Government of Esthonia,
is situated on the Gulf of Finland. It is very strongly
fortified, and in 1824 the harbour was made capable of
receiving the Russian Baltic fleet. The best part of the
city is that called the Dom, a distinct portion, on the
west side •f the city, and commanding an extensive view
of the sea. Most of the houses of the nobility are in
this part. There are in all about 1,900 houses and
15,000 inhabitants, a large portion of whore are Ger-
mans. There are numerous public and private schools,
a gymnasium founded by Gustavus Adolphus in 1631, a
naval and military hospital, &c. The manufactures are
cotton goods, hats, stockings, leather, gunpowder, starch,
needles, earthenware, looking glasses, &c. There is
also a cannon and bell foundry. Revel has a very con-
siderable trade, which is chiefly in the hands of opulent
German houses. About 100 merchantmen annually
arrive. in the course of the season, and' leave before the
winter sets in.

CONSTANTINOPLE.— This city, the capital of the
Turkish empire, stands upon seven hills, which gives it
the aspect of the largest city in the world. It is built
in a triangular form at the extremity of the Bosphorus,
where it joins the sea of Marmora. There is a treble
line of walls round the city, of about eight miles in cir-
cumference, flanked by a double row of houses. Con-
stantinople contains 12 imperial mosques, 350 ordinary
mosques, 30 markets, more than 300 fountains; and
100,000 houses. The population is about 600,000. The
imperial residence may be said to form a city within a
city, the walls being three miles in circumference, with
12 gates, and the number of the residents is between
6000 and 7000. The marine arsenal is a fine establish-
ment, built upon the northern bank of the harbour. The
naval arsenal is near the quay, close to which the Turk-
ish men of war are moored. A large and magnificent
barrack for sailors is built near the dockyard, in which
are large basins for the repair of ships. At Tophana is
the barack for the cannoneers, and at Scutari, on the
opposite or Asiatic coast, is an extensive pile of barracks
capable of accommodating 10,000 troops. The harbour,
or Golden Horn, of Constantinople, is a quiet and safe
anchorage of the length of 4,000 fathoms, and the breadth
of 3,000 fathoms. Its depth is.ao great that the largest
ships of the line approaching the two banks can almost
touch the houses. The city is surrounded by a girdle of
natural fortifications, and bet position enables her to
become the first naval and military point in the world.
Two sides of the triangular promontory on which she
stands are washed by deep waters, and she is assailable
on one side only.
THE BoSPHORUS.—This is the narrow canal which
connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmora, and
through which the rapid current continually flows out-
ward thiqugh the Dardanelles ; its average breadth is
froth. half a mile to two miles, and it flows between two
chains of parallel hills. The stream is fifteen to twenty
fathoms (120 feet) deep, without any shallo as, and there
are some excellent harbours on either side of the stream,
particularly at Buyukdere, which would serve as an
anchorage for a large fleet. The canal is defended near
its opening into the Black Sea by two castles, called the
Queens of Europe and Asia ; they are each mounted
with 34 heavy guns, and command the entrance to the
straits, which are aboht 25 miles in length to their
western or Constantinople termination. Where the
oanal begins to narrow itself at a short distance from the
castles we have mentioned, two new castles were con-
structed by the Baron de Sott ; they are only a thousand
yards distance from each other, across a strait, and by
their position they can command any vessel. At nearly
equal distances along either shore are other batteries in-
termixed with the old castles of the canal. Some of
them are en flute, others at an elevation of ten or twelve
yards, and towards the Buyukdere roads.several prin-
cipal batteries have recently been erected to prevent a
hostile squadron anchoring there, provided they could
pass the defensive works of the Black Sea. Most of the
batteries are supplied with mortars for firing red hot
balls and other shot, and some of the guns are of enor-
mous calibre for throwing stone or marble shot. It has
been said that if properly defended, these fortifications
would defy all the fleets in the world. The length of the
Bosphorus is about twenty miles, and its currents are
very remarkable, one running directly contrary to the
other ; one of these is found at some depth below the
other, and on this account the, navigation is extremely
difficult.

Talc Br,AcK SEA.—The Euxine measures almost 720
miles in its greatest length from the coast of Roumelia
to the, mouth of the Phasis, and nearly 400 in breadth
from Odessa to Cape Bata. It is generally enveloped in
dense fogs, which cause the navigation to be very dan-
gerous ; and it is singular that althotigh nine large and
thirty small rivers discharge themselves into the Black
Sea, its only known outlet is through the Bosphorus.
It is conjectured that there must be some subterranean
outlet for the vast body of water that feeds the Euxine,
the strait by which it is apparently emptied being only
equal to one of the four mouths of the Danube. After
leaving the Bosphorus, and proceeding westward, the
Sea of Marmora is reached, which is about 120 miles
long, and thirty or forty broad.
THE DARDANELLES. —At the other extremity of the
sea of Marmora, and leading into the Mediterranean, is
the celebrated passage called the Dardanelles. The
strait is about 50 miles in length, and from one to four
miles in breadth. It is, of course, the key of Constan-
tinople and the Bosphorus as regards Western Europe,
and is consequently strongly fortified. It was over this
strait, at Abydos, that the vast armies of Xerxes passed
to invade Europe, on a bridge of boats, and it also
formed the bridge over which the Turkish armies poured
their numerous hordes from Asia into the west. The
story of Hero and Leander has also given an enduring
celebrity to the strait of the Hellespont. The western
entrance, which is nearly five miles broad, is defended
by two castles, built upwards of two centuries ago, one
on the European and the other on the Asiatic side, and
called respectively the old castles of Europe and Asia.
The latter stands, upon flat, ground, near the side of
ancient Troy.... Olis-of-Aksisehoastlea mounts SO and
other 74 guns. The batteries are of enormous strength,
and mounted with immense guns, carrying stone or
marble shot, which, if properly directed, must sink any
vessel attempting to force a passage. In 1807 Sir John
Duckworth, in command of a British naval force, hav-
ing failed in inducing the Porte to come to terms, al-
though he threatened to attack the city of Constanti-
nople, finding the Turks making very extensive prepa-
rations, set sail for the Dardanelles, amidst the shouts
and rejoicings of the Musselmans. They met with a
warm reception from the batteries of the castles, which
fired upon them immense balls of granite and marble.
One of them, weighing 80011)3., cut the mainmast of the
Windsor Castle, first-rate man of war, in two and it was
with great difficulty and exertion that the ship was
saved from destruction. Another struck the Standard,
74 gun ship, penetrated her poop, and carried away
everything before it. The shock was so great against
the mainmast as .to shiver it in pieces—it fired some
powder barrels, which blew up with a tremendous ex-
plosion, destroying pertions of the upper deck and up-
wards of 60 men. All the corvettes were lost. In ad-
dition to the old castles there are also the new castles
of the Dardanelles, and along the whole entrance of the
strait on either side, for a distance of 10 or 12 miles,
there are a series of batteries and forts mounting heavy
guns, mortars, and stone shot, up to the castle of Sul-
tanieh Kalessi, which mounts 100 heavy guns in two
tiers. ' Such are the defences of Constantinople on the
European side.

THE DANIIBE.—This may be called the prince of
European rivers, as, with one exception—the Volga—it
is the largest in Europe. Its length is between 1,500
and 1,700 miles, and carries off the waters of nearly
250,000 square miles of country. At about 100 miles
from its source it begins to be navigable; at Vienna it
flows in a broad channel, and there forms an immense
number of islands. Between Buda and Belgrade the
Danube is so broad and deep that men of war can navi-
gate the stream, and here naval engagements have taken
place between the Christians and the Turks. Between
GiurgevO and Rustchuk on the opposite bank it is two
miles broad. At 'the fortress of New Orsova, near its
entrance into Wallachia, is the Iron Gate, so' called
from the high and precipitous banks within which the
stream is confined. Twenty miles lower down are the
ruins of Trajan's Bridge. This was formerly a most
magnificent structure. It was 60 feet broad, and con.-
tained 20 arches, of 170 feet span- each, at a height of
150 feet above the level of the stream. , It was destroyed
by Adrian, Trajan's successor, lest the barbarians in the
north should, by means of it, facilitate their progress to
the Roman provinces in the south of the stream. About
30 miles above Ismail, near the mouth of the Danube,
was another bridge, over which Hystaspes pursued the
flying Scythians, but all vestiges of this have also dis-
appeared. The whole line of the Danube, from Servia
to its mouth, now bristles with forts and fortresses, all
of which have been recently put into a state of efficiency
while many new ones have been added.