The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-02 00:00:00

.~ ..

TM ALMA REVISITED.

(Prom the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
have now gone twice to the Aline, and have exa-
mined the ground of the battle with the ignorance of a
civilian and the interest of a Great Briton. The road
from the plateau on which for one long year the hopes ,
and fears and anxieties of civilised Europa were concen-
trated leads down from the ridge on which the battle of
Inkerman was mainly fought to the deep ravine out of
which the materials for the mansions, quays, harbours,
docks, and forts of Sebastopol have been hewed. It pre-
sents a wild and desolate aspect. The slabs of oolite
tower perpendicularly for several hundred feet on the
right hand and left to the verge of the elevated plateau,
and rise, like great white walls of masonry, aloft from a
base of huge blocks and disintegrated masses of the same
substance. This ravine, deepening as it descends, falls at
right angles to the valley through which the Tcher-
naya eats its way to the head of the Roads of Sebas-
topol. At the lower end of the ravine the aqueduct
spans it, and then i 3 carried on a light and handsome
bridge of masonry, supported on some 10 or 12 arches
right across, and disappears in a tunnel through the
solid rock on the left hand side. Passing underneath
through oneofthe arches, you find yourself by the banks
of the sluggish Tchernaya, and a ride of 500 yards or so
past the perpendicular cliffs, perforated with caves, which
bound the margin of the valley, leads you to the cause-
way across the marsh towards Inkerman. An excellent
wooden bridge built by our engineers stretches across
the river ; and the marsh beyond is crossed by a high
causeway. Arrived at the end of the causeway, the
cliffs of northern Inkerman are above you, and the
road winds up to a ravine which leads you to their
recesses. A curious chapel and monkery in the
caves is visible in the face of the cliff. Embrasures
are above, before, and on each side of you on
entering these fastnesses. The black pupils of
these dull eyes have been removed, but there is
enough of the works left to show bow hot and fre-
quent they could have flashed on you in their anger.
There are five batteries on various points of this ravine,
and the slopes of the plateau afford many fine sites for
field artillery or guns of position. The road is good. On
the right, about a mile from the entrance of the ravine,
are numerous deep shafts in the clay, from which the
Russians draw their supply of water. The road winds
gradually upwards till it leads you to the level of the
north plateau of Inkerman, just as the Quarries road took
you down from the south plateau to the level of the val-
ley of the Tchernaya, from which you are now ascending.
Here is the Russian camp, at which we have so often gazed
from the heights on the right of our position. It is now
very much altered in appearance. The huts have been
abandoned, and the men are living in a very pretty, clean,
and well-kept camp of canvas, but the purlieus are very
dirty, and have the usual disagreeable smell of Russian
quarters. The tents are square in shape, and at
the top, which tapers to a point from the side of the
wall, there is a knob, gilt or painted, which gives
them an air of finish. The paths or streets cf the camp
are bordered with wild flowers and fir branches. The
regiments stationed here belong to the Seventh Division,
which forms the First Division of the third corps d'armee,
and are as well as I could ascertain the 13th (Sinolendso)
and 14th (Politsch), and number about 6,000 men.
There is a brigade of field artillery—two batteries—
close to this camp, and the pieces are very well kept and
in excellent condition. The cantonments extend as far
as the heights over the valley of the Belbek on the left
hand side, and could have contained about 18,000 men,
which considerably exceeds the strength of the whole of
the Seventh Division. A steep road descending from the
verge of the plateau at the point where the Russian ba-
zaar is established leads to the Belbek, which is crossed
by two bridges. One of these is a fine, well-built new
structure of wood ; the other is that by which the army
crossed in the flank march, and the post-house near
which Sir George Cathcart took up his quarters still
remains intact. The Fourth Division bivouacked here
the night before we entered Balaklava, when Lord Rag-
lan slept at Traktir, on the Tchernaya, and Sir George
was very uneasy on account of his isolated position,
separated, as he was, from the rest of the army, and
believing that a body of Russians intervened between
them. It was from this that General Windham rode with
despatches to the Katcha, anticipating Commander
Maxse's arrival from the Tchernaya by more than half
an hour, and from this neighbourhood the army turned
towards Mackenzie. Lord Raglan- reconnoitred Sebas-
topol from a hillock close to the road on the right, a
short time before we fell in with the rear guard and bag-
gage of the enemy. Duvarkoi, or Belbek, ie greatly
changed since then,—the trees have been cut down, and
the valley, once so beautiful, blooms no more. The
villas have been used as hospitals, and there are many
Russian graves, marked with black wooden crosses,
in the neighbouring ravines. From this valley you
ascend another steep bill to the top of the plateau
which lies between it and the valley of the Katcha.
The ground is covered with dwarf braes and Click brush-
wood, full of lizards and small birds, which are perse-
cuted by numerous falcons and hawks. There are
patches of naked ground and ashes scattered over the
plateau, which show where parties ofthe enemy were
encamped ; but the country is not suited for large bodies
of men, as water is not to be had, except at the rivers.
The plateau is intersected by numerous woody ravines,
and the tracks followed by the allied armies are plainly
visible. They have been much used by the Russians.
A ride of three-quarters of an hour takes us to the
valley of the Katcha, still beautiful and Pich with
verdure, for this part of it is too far from the imme-
diate operations of war, and too much out of the
track from Bakshi-Sergi, to have suffertd The
p lace which we 'approach was once the village of
Eskel ; it is now in ruins. The Tartar houses are
pulled down or unroofed, the population have fled,
and the Russian houses are just as they were left by
the Cossacks on our approach after the Alma. The
church gleams brightly through the dense branches of the
fruit trees, which are covered with blossoms, but the
large-tracts of vineyards which welcomed us nearly three
years ago are now uncultivated. The Doctor's house is
in a sad plight, one of the first we entered after the
Alma, and is still the picture of neglect and ruin. Lord
Raglan's comfortable residence is in the custody of an
old Tartar, who shows the broken furniture, the sofas
ripped open, the chairs smashed, and the beds cut up,
with great pride, and leads one to infer pretty plainly
that Ruskie did all the mischief. It was at this village
that the Russians halted to reclver breath after their
headlong flight from the Alma, and from it they fled the
same night in panic on the cry being raised that the
lliss were coming. The Katcha is a deep narrow
stream with rotten banks, and some people think it
would have afforded a better position than the Alma ;
but, in feet, it is too near Sebastopol. We found a
few Russian soldiers in the houses; and on the first
occasion it happened to be the. Greek Easter Sunday,
and we ware most hospitably entertained by a poor Rus-
sian family who insisted on our partaking of painted
eggs, of salt pork steeped in vinegar, and cabbage, of
brown bread, butter, vodka, or white home-made brandy
and Crina tobacco, and then on embracing us lecause we
were Christians--a severe punishment, which, if often
repeated, might lead to recantation. Crossing the
Ketch by the bridge over which our army filed into
Eckel, we find ourselves on the steppe--the dry barren
plain studded with tumuli, which extends in wavy folds
right away to Perekop. At this season of the year it is
glorious, with large beds of wild flowers, sweet pea, roses,
mignionette, thyme, orchids of all kinds, sweet william,
and many other varieties, whoa() tame and developed
species are the ornaments of our gardens at home ; it is
musical, too, with the song of birds singing to their
mates in the nest ; but in September it is an arid
seorched waste, covered with coarse hay, and, as it
is devoid of water, it is unfit for pasturage. The
ride to the Alma from the Katcha is not more than
eight miles, but it seems twice the distance. The white
telegraph station, over the river, wilicti stood on the
Russian left, can be seen for many miles on a clear day,
but on the steppe mirage is very common, and the hon.
2on is rarely well defined. It is often lost in a fantastic
margin resembling the sea line of an agitated ocean.
Bustard, on the qui wive about their young ones,
soar slowly before us, and eagles, vultures, and many
species of falcons are visibly in pursuit of their prey,
which must consist for the most part of hares, which
are very large and numerous. Some of these bares have
bean found to weigh 101 b. or 121 b., and I have heard of a
monster who turned the scale at 141 b. In one of the
hollows in the steppe, about three miliss from the Alma,
there is a small hamlet, but, with this exception, not
a habitation is visible over the whole of this vast ex-
panse of land sea. It is famous ground for a lone
canter, or as much of a gallop as your horse
will
stand ; so with the help of an occtsional scurry afterta
bare the distance melts away, and as we go crushing
through the sweet flowers the telegraph rises higher and
clearer till we pull up at the foot of the mound on which
it stands. This was the scene of a fierce struggle, and it
was here the French had some very hard fighting before
they forced the enemy to fly. The telegraph is a quadri-
lateral figure of white stone, and it has never been
finished. It is covered with names, and on one side is
engraved "La Bataille d'Alma, 8 Septembre." The
French had put the right date, the 20th, but the Rus-
sians obliterated it and altered it to their own style.
Where are 15 large sepulchral mounds around the tele