The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-13 00:00:00

THE RUSSIANS IN THE CRIMEA.

The following is a letter from an officer in one of
the highland Regiments, dated April 18 :
" I have just returned from a pleasant and in-
teresting excursion to Bakshiserai and Sim-
, pheropol. Since the peace officers have been
granted permission and passes to visit the interior.
I started with a party last Saturday, and returned
on Monday night. We rode the first day some 22
miles to Bakshiserai. We went up to the Macken-
zie-farm-road ; visited the position, Russian de-
fences, and camps. The position is naturally a most
formidable one, but its defence has not been much
contributed to by Russian art. The Russians have
done little more than erect lookouts' on the most
commanding points, and place a few heavy guns
pointing in the direction of the most easy al);
preaches. Their troops are encamped in mu"
hovels, much of the same pattern as those of the
Sardinians. I entered several of them, and found
them clean and comfortable. Before the door of
each hut is a porch, in which the inmates keep their
arms. From the porch there is a descent of some
two or three feet by steps to the floor of the hut*
Along the floor a footpath runs from the door to a
fireplace ; opposite and on both sides of the path a
wattle guard bed slopes gradually up to the side'
walls of the hut. Each hut contains about 10 or
12 men. The Russian soldiers are fine, big, stout
men. They have a force of some 10,000 men at
Mackenzie. From the Mackenzie plateau we de;
scended into the valley of the Belbek and found
ourselves in the midst of very peculiar scenery--
unlike any scenery I ever remember before having
witnessed. It was a strange jumble of sea cliffs'
precipices, narrow ravines, and immense, isolated,
flat-topped masses of rock standing out in the plaint
while the horizon was bounded by plateaus rising
one over the other in regular steps. On the Be'l
bek we found another camp, composed chiefly °I
militia—a very riff-raff looking lot ; and further on
we came to another camp on the Ka.tcha ; each
camp, I should think, contained some 10,000 men:
None of their camps are fortified. We arrived at
Bakshiserai at about 4.30 p.m. We found the inns
and houses all very full, and after some trouble
and much gesticulation succeeded in getting one
room for th whole four of us. Having disposed
of our baggage and had our horses fed, we stated
on foot to visit the ruins of Dschufut Kaleh, the
Valley of Jehosaphat, and a certain monastery.
" A Russian officer who spoke French was. our
guide. He was a particularly agreeable person, ,
appeared to be well up, if not in the English fan'
guage, at least in English literature, for he appeared
10 have read every book printed in England, from
Dickens and Thackeray to Milton, Blackstone, and
Jeremy Bentham, all of which, he told me, were
translated into Russian. Dschufut Kaleh is veil,
like the sketch that appeared of it in the IllustratO
London .News some time ago. It is a most extra'
ordinary old place, now nearly in ruins, perched
upon one of these isolated, flat-topped masses 0f
rock I have before mentioned. It is inhabited by
an ancient sect of the Jews, who call themselves
Crim Jews, and who say their forefathers left
Jerusalem and emigrated hither before the birth
of Christ. The Jewish Rabbi lives here, and we
paid our respects to him. I found he spoke Ger'
man, and we had a long talk. He showed me a
parchment copy of the Bible, either 600 or 1,600
years old—l could not clearly make out which:
however, as I cannot understand Hebrew, and
was therefore not able to read it, it was lost upon roe.
The Valley of Jehosaphat is the Jewish burial'
ground, and the monastery is a Greek one, and
cut out of the rock. Coming from the
valley of Jehosaphat, this monastery, cling'
ing to the perpendicular face of the rock,
has a strange effect. We slept at Bakshiserait,
having, however, first visited the ancient Palace of
the Khans, which is now converted into a military
hospital. At dinner I met a German from Odessa,
who spoke Russian. The shopkeepers and inn'
keepers (excepting the Jews) speak nothing but,
Russian and Tartar. Our Odessa friend was of
great service to us as an interpreter. Through hind
we were able to enter into an arrangement with a
Tartar coachman that he should convey our party
in his carriage and four to Simpheropol and back for
5/. This sum is about twice, if not three times, the
proper fare ; but everybody told us that everything,
owing to the war, and transport in particular, was
exorbitantly dear. Accordingly, about 10 a.raq
while at breakfast, we were informed that Captain
Baroft's carriage stopped the way. Baroff is the
Russian translation of my name. We were soon in
our places, and off we rattled, little thinking of the
terrible jolting in store for us. Our coachman, as
said, was a Tartar. His vehicle resembled, or was
rather a cross between an omnibus and a carrier's
cart, certainly not a spring van. It bad no doors, but a
window at each side, through which passengers got
in and out. Two bundles of bay were placed in it,
and on the hay we spread our cloaks and sat down,
two facing the horses and two of us with our backs
towards them. The horses were all four abreast.
In this machine we rattled along to Simpheropol,
our Jehu gesticulating, shouting, and driving all
other travellers off the road to make way for US,
excepting whenever he came near any rattletrap
jingling a little bell ; in the presence of these his
manner was more subdued, as the bell indicates an
official personage, and tingles to warn people out
of the way. A capital post-road has been marked
out between Simpheropol and Mackenzie, which
extends, I am told, as far as Perekop and even
Odessa. However, it is iu a very unfinished state,
and only here and there macadamised. Simphe'
ropol is in communication with Sebastopol and Mos-
cow, by means of electric telegraph. These
improvements are all fruits of the war. I
was told by my Odessa friend that some
weeks ago the electric telegraph posts for
a mile and a-half were all carried away
one night and the wire cut up into little bits.
Rewards have been offered, and everything done
to discover the perpetrators of this piece of busi-
ness, but as yet have been ineffectual. It is sup-
posed that this was done by emissaries in the pal
of the allies, but for what object I cannot con-
ceive, as we were already negotiating about peace
at that time. The most wonderful part of the busi-
ness is where the poles could have been packed
away, as they are some 20 feet long, and heavy in
proportion, and the plain is wide, barren, and far.
from the sea. We crossed the Alma near Almats-
chick. Here we found another large camp, con-
taining, I should think, some 15,000 men, also un-
entrenched. We passed along trains of carts car-
rying forage and provisions all along the road.
The amount of transport a large army requires is
prodigious. In fact, the bustle and activity along
the whole road made our journey very cheerful.
A great number of sick men were also being trans-
ported to irspheropol in carts. About half way
to Simpheropol our Jehu halted before a roadside
inn. A very pretty hostess came to the door, and
tempted us to alight. She was dressed in the na-
tional costume—a light blue silk boddice, with
shoulder straps, much like some of the Swiss cos-
tumes. She doled us out three tumblers of tea, and
asked the 'very modest price of 3f. She was so very
charming that it was impossible to refuse her ; be-
sides which' this little incident furnished our minds
with much mental food to digest for the rest of the
way, to calculate how much a pound of tea would
Cost.

" We arrived at Simpheropol at about 1.30 p.m.
This is a European town. The houses aro nearly
all taken up as hospitals, and troops are quartered
upon all the inhabitants. The Russian Imperial
Guard form the garrison. They are very fine
animalOoologically considered ; but we did not
see them to the greatest advantage, as they all had
on the long grey coat, which, made of the very
coarse cloth the privates wear, doesnot look smart.
We visited the hospitals, and were shown over
them by the Sisters of Charity, many of whom
wore the Sebastopol medal. They appear to be
very kind and attentive to their patients, and the
hospitals are in capital order. Icould not discover the
number of sick, but they must be many thousands.
In the afternoon we took a stroll on the fashion-
able promenade—a sort of Kensington-gardens. A
band was playing, and the Simpheropol beau monde
was sunning itself. Some Russian officers had
already fraternised with us, and at this promenade
we were introduced to their lady friends, and by
their lady friends asked out to tea ! The ladies
spoke French and German, and to us, who have
scarcely seen any for two years, they appeared
most charming and delightful. After tea we went
to a concert, and after the concert some Russian
officers, who had fought against us at Alma, Bala-
klava, and during the siege, insisted upon enter-
taining us at a champagne supper, over which we
fought our battles over again, and fraternised in a
most fraternal manner. The comparing our diffe-
rent accounts of the incidents of the campaign was
most interesting ; but it would take me some three
sheets more to describe. We slept at Simpheropol,
and next morning returned in our four-in-hand to
Bakshiserai. Here we remounted our horses, and
reached Kamari about nine p.m. Yesterday we
had a grand review of French and British troops
by General Luders, the Russian Commander-in-
Chief." -

The Government, we (Athenceum) understand, is busy
with the plan of a National Portrait Gallery.
DEATH or THE EARL or DIGBY.—This venerable
nobleman died yesterday, at the age of 83 years. He
was son vf the first earl, and succeeded his father as long
back as 1793. By his demise the lord-lieutenancy of
-Dorset, And the colonelcy of the militia of that county,
become vacant. His lordship is succeeded in the barony
only by his c4usin, Mr. Edward St. Vincent Digby, son
of the late Admiral Sir Henry Digby, G.C.B. The ull-
entailed estates are bequeathed by the deceased to his
nephew, Mr. Wingfield.