and orders were immediately issued for the French
Infantry, and the British troops encamped at Scutari, to
proceed to Varna. The number of troops sent to Varna
is stated at 30,000 French and 15,000 British. Marshal
St. Arnaud, being senior in rank, has taken the command
of the allied forces.

Many accounts of the condition of the English and
French troops, during their stay at Gallipoli and
Scutari, are contained in letters from officers and from
the correspondents of our newspapers. The health and
behaviour of the soldiers are spoken of in the highest
terms. Never, it appears, were soldiers in better condition.
Never did a small army commence a campaign
under better auspices, as far as the physical powers and
the morale of the men go. Hardly any sickness has
prevailed in the camp; and whatever cases there were,
were slight. The Fusilier Guards, for instance, about
1,000 men, had never, at any one time, more than
sixteen men off duty on account of sickness. The troops
had been well-conducted, sober, and scrupulously
attentive to their duty. Such is the assertion of all the
officers, and of all those who had dealings with the
camp.

A graphic description of the scene is given by the
correspondent of the Daily News:—"The encampment of
the various regiments on the summits and sides of the
hills overlooking Stamboul, and the calm brilliant sea
between the two continents, the Prince's Island, distinct
and yet mysterious in its veil of sunny haze, the blue
mountains of Asia, and the high peaks rising above them,
snow-capped, with their summits lost in the clouds—
shady trees on the shore, where the bands play and the
soldiers congregate when off duty, to lie on the grass full
length and look out on the dreamy waves at their feet,
or, joining the Turks and Greeks at the cafes close by,
sit on little stools, intent upon mastering the difficulties
of the chibook or the more recondite mysteries of the
nargileh—then the streets of tents, with their crowds of
soldiers in the most picturesque variety of undress,
while the sentinels, walking to and fro, with coat and
shako, musket, bayonet, and knapsack, show that this
wild and seemingly irregular life, is leave, not license,
and that a few notes are but wanted from the bugle,
a few rolls of the drum, to convert this tumultuous mass
into companies, battalions, and regiments of the neatest,
cleanest, and best-disciplined troops in Christendom.
But while the bugleman waits and the drums are silent,
camp-leave is the law of the camp, and the ease and
carelessness of the soldiers' household in barracks is
transplanted on the greensward and into the open air.
Camp furniture, clothes, and blankets are piled up in
front of the tents amidst the stands of arms, where the
hot sun keeps them dry and the fresh sea-breeze airing
them keeps them sweet and clean. Tables near the
officers' tents, loaded with eatables, show that breakfasting
and dining al fresco, is the order of the day. Gentlemen
holding commissions in her Majesty's Guards walk about
in flannel shirts and loose trousers—a costume which
would somewhat astonish their fair partners of the
ballroom and their grim partners of the écarté table. Soldiers'
wives stand on the beach washing clothes in the waters
of the Bosphorus, or congregate in the cypress groves of
Scutari, where they fix their lines to the monumental
trees, and hang up the clothes to dry, while half the
shirts and white trousers of the camp lie spread out on
the grass, bleaching. There is music and merriment
everywhere; shouts of laughter and cheers burst out
from one encampment after another; the band on the
beach is answered by the distant strains of a march
played by a band in the cypress grove; there are bugle
calls from Selimieh, and the deep booming of guns from
over the water, where the forts salute some vessel come
in from the fleet. A small fleet of steamers and
transports—twenty sail—lies off Selimieh, warning all
beholders that this scene of life and merriment is
but a passing vision, and that the day is at hand when
the city of tents will be swept away—not leaving a trace
behind."

On the 24th of May there was a grand parade
in honour of the Queen's birthday. "Shortly before
eleven o'clock," says the writer already quoted, "the
various regiments marched out. I witnessed the
scene from the height, on which the Fusiliers, Grenadiers,
and Coldstreams are encamped. The Guards,
marching out, formed in companies at the foot of the
hill. Two batteries of flying artillery, which had been
brought from Kulalu, left their encampment, and took
up a position near the cypress groves. The hill in
front was covered with a sea of bayonets, as the various
regiments marched up. The whole of the troops formed
on the hill-side, under the camp of the regiments of the
line. The Guards, Fusiliers, Coldstreams, and Grenadiers,
with the artillery on their right, formed the right
wing. The 93rd Highlanders and the regiments of the
line were in the centre; the Rifles were on the left
wing. When that mass of fine gallant men stood drawn
up, a thrill of delight ran through the mass of spectators.
They were almost all of them English, for this was an
English festival. Of the inhabitants of Pera none had
come out but those whose politics and sympathies are in
favour of the Western Powers. There are not many of
them. The Greeks and the friends of Russia had
remained at home. The troops had scarcely formed in
line, when Lord Raglan, the Duke of Cambridge, and a
brilliant staff of general officers, rode up from Hayder
Pasha Kiosk. When proceeding along the line from
right to left, the commander-in-chief had reached the
centre; the troops presented arms, and the bands struck
up "God save the Queen." The solemn strains filled
all hearts with an indescribable feeling of pride and
sadness. And when cheers, hearty, loud, and deafening,
burst from the mass, even the stoutest of those that were
to remain behind felt moved almost to tears. Many
ladies wept and sobbed outright. This cheering the
Queen on foreign soil on the eve of a long and hazardous
campaign, suggested, nay, forced upon the by-standers
the thought of the danger and hardships which
are in store for these gallant men, near twenty thousand,
and yet a mere handful to the myriads that are under
arms to oppose them. When the last strains of the
National Anthem had died away, the various regiments,
commencing with the Artillery and the Guards on the
right, marched past the commander-in-chief, who saluted
each regiment as it passed. Again the sound of the
national melodies filled the air, and the 'British
Grenadiers,' 'The Roast Beef of Old England,' and 'Cheer,
Boys, Cheer,' recalled to the mind visions of that mighty
island in the western seas, the mother of many nations,
who has now entered into the great war for her own
existence and the rights and liberties of the European
nations. When the regiments had returned to their
various quarters, the commander-in-chief's orders
were read, which break up the camp on Hayder Pasha.
The light division—seven regiments, 6,000 men—
will, from to-morrow morning, commence leaving for
Varna. The rest of the troops are to follow as soon as
possible. It is now anticipated that in less than a
fortnight our out-posts will be in sight of the Russian
lines."

The accounts from the encampment at Scutari,
contain reiterated complaints of the inferior condition of
our soldiers to that of the French in respect to dress,—
the costume of the French being light, easy, and adapted
to the climate, while ours is both uncomfortable
and unhealthy. These complaints have attracted
attention, and remedies have been provided. On the
occasion of the Queen's birth-day, the Guards were
agreeably surprised by an order to parade "without
stocks," and marched on to the ground with additional
spirits.

A description of the disembarkation of the French
and English troops at Varna, is given by the
correspondent of a morning paper, who had arrived there
before them. On Monday the 29th of May, a large
portion of them arrived. "Soon after daybreak the
harbour was crowded with shipping, and still every
half-hour up to ten o'clock a fresh steamer hove in
sight, trailing after it a huge transport, and while still
far in the offing, one could distinguish through a telescope
the red-coats swarming like bees on the decks of
both. At ten o'clock a heavy fog fell, covering land and
sea, and still all that were expected had not arrived.
The men-of-war in the bay instantly commenced firing
signal guns to convey to those outside a knowledge of
their position; the population of Varna turned out
almost to a man, and lined the streets or filled the quay;