defend their commander; so they are cowardly as well
as ferocious. There are now two sad proofs of the
savage and brutal ferocity of these wretches on board of
her Majesty's ship Firebrand in Varna—proofs, too, of
the humanity and noble feeling of the ever-to-be-
lamented Hyde Parker. When the Greeks were
flitting from Kostendje, the Bashi-Bazouks came down
and attacked them. One family fled in a boat. The
wretches fired into it as they left the beach. There
were father, mother, and two young children, one about
four years old. and the other a little more than a year
old, in the frail bark along with some other people. The
children were soon orphans, and when Captain Parker
searched the boat he found the two children bathed in
blood beneath the lifeless bodies of their parents, and
the gore trickling down their clothes from wounds in
their puny limbs. The Bashis had deliberately shot
them—their arms were pierced with balls, and burnt
with powder, and it was only through the constant and
unvarying kindness, care and attention of the officers
and men of the ship that they ever recovered. When
Captain Parker fell, the poor children were again left
orphans indeed, but it is understood Her Majesty has
made inquiries after them with a view to providing for
them. At present, every Jack in the Firebrand is a
nurse, to them. The eldest, dressed in a miniature
sailor's dress, with a gigantesque straw hat on his head,
considers himself one of the ship's company. He speaks
English very well, but has not quite forgot his Bulgarian
and Greek. They come into mess with dessert every
day, and are as clean and well kempt as if they were
turned out from the trimmest nursery in Belgravia."
The following description of Sebastopol and its
military defences, is given in Mr. Scott's newly-
published work, "The Baltic, the Black Sea, and the
Crimea:" "The town of Sebastopol is situated on the
point of land between the commercial and military
harbours, which rises gradually from the water's edge
to an elevation of two hundred feet. It is more than a
mile in length, and its greatest width is about three-
quarters of a mile, the streets entering the open steppe
on the south. It was partly defended on the west,
towards the land, by a loop-holed wall, which had been
pronounced by one of the first engineers of Russia as
perfectly useless, and plans for completely fortifying the
place in that direction were said to have been made;
but whether the work has since been carried out we
know not, though we have a deep conviction that strong
defences will be found to exist there by the time a
besieging army arrives. These, however, being hurriedly
raised, can neither be of sufficient magnitude nor
strength to offer a serious resistance to a long-continued
fire of heavy artillery; and unless these fortifications
are on a most extensive scale, and embrace a very wide
circuit, they may be commanded from so many points,
that, attacked with heavy guns of long range, their
speedy reduction becomes a matter of certainty. None
of the sea batteries or forts are of the slightest service
for defence on the land side. Indeed, the great fort,
St. Nicholas, has not a gun pointed in that direction;
and such an armament would be perfectly useless if it
existed, as that part of the hill on which the town
stands rises behind it to a height of two hundred feet.
In fact, all the fortresses and batteries, both to the
north and south of the great bay, are commanded by
higher ground in the rear. The first and all-important
consideration, in reference to an attack on Sebastopol
by land, is to ascertain where an army would find the
most desirable place for disembarkation. Theodosia
has been named amongst other localities, and it has
certainly a beautiful harbour and many other
conveniences, but the distance from the scene of action is
a serious drawback. The troops would have to march
over about one hundred and thirty miles of steppe, as it
would be necessary to keep to the north of the
mountains, where their progress could be easily arrested.
Should wet weather set in, this steppe would become in
a very short time quite impracticable for heavy artillery
and baggage, as there are no roads whatever, and our
little experience of rain showed us how rapidly the
country became converted into a state closely resembling
an Irish bog. Yalta is another port where men and
material might be safely landed, and where but little
opposition could be offered, but although united to
Sebastopol by a good road, this is in many places cut
out of the face of the perpendicular rock, and could not
only be defended by the enemy with facility, but a few
hours' work would render it quite impassable. Between
Yalta and Balaclava, on the southern coast, there is no
available point; but if the latter port could be
taken, and the surrounding heights secured, every requisite
for advantageously carrying on operations against
Sebastopol would be at once obtained. Distant only
about ten miles from that town, and connected with it
by an excellent road, Balaclava so infinitely surpasses
all other places for the attainment of the object in view,
that there cannot be two opinions on the importance
of possessing it, and its admirable harbour would be
of incalculable value to the fleets. Nature has,
however, made it so strong that if the Russians have
fully availed themselves of the facilities for defence,
it might become a work of some difficulty to dislodge
them; but it is very doubtful whether they have had
sufficient time to erect batteries which could hold out
long against the force that could be brought to bear on
them. Supposing the whole of the batteries defending
the harbour to be destroyed, no ships could enter with
safety until all the positions on the heights which
surround and overhang it had been carried. The coast
between Balaclava and Cape Chersonesus being abrupt
and precipitous, furnishes no suitable localities for the
required purpose, but some of the bays on the northern
boundary of the Chersonesean peninsula may possibly
be found available. Were the allied armies in possession
of the Chersonesus, they would find plenty of water,
for there are two good sources towards Balaclava, though
independent of it. One of these has been carried by an
aqueduct to Sebastopol, and supplies the reservoir near
the public gardens of that place. Destroying this
aqueduct would be of no service towards reducing the
town, as that from Inkerman would still remain, and
the great fitting basin contains an immense quantity.
Besides which there are wells and some small streams
at the head of the military harbour, whence the place
formerly drew its only, though not very plentiful supply.
Another plan for attacking Sebastopol might be adopted
by landing to the north of the bay of Inkerman, destroying
or taking fort Constantine, and the other batteries
from the rear, and thence bombarding the naval arsenal,
the town, and ships; and, indeed, this is the only
alternative, if a footing cannot be effected in the Chersonesus.
As Sebastopol is held exclusively as a military and naval
position, commerce does not exist: the only articles
imported by sea being those required for material of
war, or as provisions for the inhabitants and garrison.
The streets of Sebastopol, as may be expected, teem
with soldiers and sailors. Indeed, no one unconnected
with the services lives there, and all but Russians are
discouraged or forbidden to do so."
A letter from a resident at Odessa, dated the 7th of
September, published in the Vienna Lloyd, gives some
interesting details as to the state of things there, and
also respecting the Russian defences of the Crimea. "I
entrust this letter to a friend of mine who is flying to
Tirasopol with many more residents of this place,
alarmed at the threatening position taken up by the
ships of the enemy near our harbour. The half of the
inhabitants have already fled into the interior of Russia in
order to escape the frightful cannonading that has already
thundered several times in our ears. Ships after ships
have been collecting since yesterday in sight of our
menaced city. Several of them have to-day drawn up in
battle array and commenced ball practice. At first our
commandant, General Annenkoff, thought the enemy was
going to attack us, and so kept our garrison under arms.
But after a brief reconnaissance the true state of the
case was seen. The enemy has not yet attacked us, but
we hourly expect that he will do so. A large number
of ships is steering to the west. The enemy will, it is
certain, menace every point of the Russian Euxine coast
simultaneously, so as to keep our army everywhere on
the alert. Akjermann, Odessa, Oczakov, Kinborn,
Perekop, Eupatoria, Sebastopol, and other places as far
as Anapa will have to prove the wrath of the hostile
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