The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-05 00:00:00

SEBAS7 OPOL.

The following are extracts from a letter received
from Colonel Gowen at Sebastopol. The subscribers
to the valuable testimonial recently presented to
him, and referred to in his letter, will doubtless be
glad to read his reply :

" Sebastopol, July 12.

" I am getting on very slowly with the ships.
They are so rotten there is no part of them strong
enough to ' bear their own weights' We tear out
their ports, cut holes through the sides below the
orlop, through the plank, timbers, and ceiling, and
then pass chains through. They cut up at once.
After tedious labour, we manage to mine under the
ships (which are in 60 feet of water, and away
below at that depth they are submerged in 24 feet
of mud), and pass chains under the keels. They cut
through. We then pass chains around the stem
through the hawse pipes and two forward ports ;
we then tear the upper portion of the stem ; hawse
pipes, portions of two decks, top, &c., are broken off
and brought to the surface by the aid of my power-
ful caissons, which have a lifting capacity of, in
round numbers, 5,000 tons. There is sufficient lift-
ing capacity, but no place to apply it that is capable
of sufficient resistance to raise the unwieldy bodies
below.
" I have raised and removed some 50 vessels, a
large majority vessels of war, of which there were
nine war steamers, several 60-gun frigates, and in
fact such variety of vessels as form a fleet fur a first
class Power.

" The harbour of Sebastopol is as practically clear
this day as it was before the sinking the fleet.
Ti3ere is not a vestige of any portion of a vessel
east of a line drawn from Fort Michael to Fort
Nicholas, with the exception of two vessels away
on the north side of the harbour, which lay so far
in that nothing ever approaches so near the shore,
Then there are five other vessels that lay between
the line before mentioned and the sea, but they
have been blasted, so that they are no virtual ob-
struction other than to the anchorage over the
spot where they lay, and their position is too much
exposed for any 'vessel to anchor where they
are. All the other harbours, bays, and creeks are
entirely free and clear of any obstruction „caused by
the sinking of the fleet.
'‘ I had a magnificent piece of plate presented me
the other day by Captain Clipperton, her Britannic
Majesty's Vice-Consul at Theodesia, on the part of
the 'officers of the British army and the friends of
those who fell during the Crimean war, as a testi-
mony of their grateful sense of the generous care
he has bestowed on the restoration and preservation
of the graves before Sebastopol,' as the inscription
upon it says. It is a most beautiful and magnificent
piece of plate, and is a superb testimonial. I as-
sure you I feel greatly delighted and proud of such
distinguished honour."

" COLONEL GOWEN'S REPLY TO CAPTAIN CLIPPERTON

"Sebastopol, May 12 (24), 1861.
" Sir,—lt is with feelings of the deepest respect
and truly heartfelt thanks that I have listened to
the highly flattering remarks von have made
touching the slight service it has been in my power
to render, in endeavouring to preserve from oblivion
some traces of those monuments and memorials that
were placed over the remains of your devoted
countrymen in this foreign land.
" It would be needless for me to recount the
severe privations under which your brave country-
men struggled during the early part of the Crimean
campaign, or with what heroic fortitude they up-
held the honour of their country during that san-
guinary and momentous struggle.
"Five years have now passed away since those