and others in a very precarious state. A most fearful
night we passed. Every now and then a sea struck the
ship with such violence that she staggered from end to
end, so that it seemed impossible for iron or hemp to
hold her. About half-past two a.m. a rattle was heard,
and we all fancied a cable had parted; fortunately,
however, it was a false alarm—all three still held on." The
writer goes on to relate that next morning the wind
abated; but daylight showed a pitiable sight. Ten
transports were ashore; two were riding out the gale
with their masts cut away; the only Turkish ship off the
Katcha, a two-decker with the Admiral's flag flying,
had nothing but her mainmast and bowsprit left; the
French war-ships Ville de Paris, Bayard, and Friedland,
and the British war-ship London, had lost their rudder;
and the Britannia, the only ship that took a good offing
on the 13th, had four or five feet of water in her hold.

The Ganges and the Pyrenees were fired, by some
mischance, and destroyed.

At Balaklava the scene was equally terrible; aggravated
by the loss of the Prince, which contained the
winter clothing for the troops, a vast mass of
ammunition, and 300 lives. The correspondent of the
Times at Constantinople gives the following details—
"The tempest commenced at Balaklava about seven
o'clock in the morning; and in two hours eleven
transports had been wrecked and six dismasted and
rendered unfit for service. The most terrible disaster is
the total loss of the new magnificent steam-ship Prince;
which arrived here a few days since with the Forty-sixth
regiment, and a cargo valued at £500,000 and indispensably
necessary for the prosecution of the siege and the
comfort of the army. The loss of the Prince seems to
have been partly owing to the negligence of her officers.
When she arrived at Balaklava she let go one of her
anchors in thirty fathoms water. It appears that the
cable had never been clinched, and the whole of it ran
out; anchor and cable were lost together. She then
steamed out to sea until she could get up another cable
from the hold; and at last let go a small anchor, with
which she rode until the tempest broke upon her on
Tuesday morning. An eye-witness saw her carried
from her moorings on to the rocks with such force that
in ten minutes there was hardly a piece a yard long
remaining. She might almost be said to go to powder.
Of a crew of 150 only six were saved. This splendid
vessel of 2700 tons was purchased by government some
time since, and sent out full of most valuable stores and
munitions of war. Everything is lost. With the
exception of the troops, everything remained in her at
the time she was dashed on the rocks. The whole of
the winter clothing for the men has gone down,—10,000
suits of clothes, with under garments, socks, gloves, and
a multitude of other articles of the kind, vast quantities
of shot and shell, and not least in consequence, the
medical stores sent out in consequence of the deficiencies
which formerly existed. The latter were, with not
uncommon negligence, stowed away under the shot and
shell, and could not be landed at Scutari. They are
now lost, at a time when the demand for them is likely
to be more urgent than ever, and when the commissariat
is fully occupied in ministering to the wants of those
who still remain unhurt. The other British vessels lost
at Balaklava are—the Resolute, [with 700 tons of
gunpowder for the siege,] all hands lost; the Rip Van
Winkle, all lost; the Wild Wave, one or two saved;
the Kenilworth, all lost; the Progress, some saved;
the Wanderer, all lost; the Marquis, all lost; the
Mary Ann, all lost; the Pultowa, all saved; the Caduceus,
dismasted and abandoned. The following are
dismasted and unfit for service—the Pride of the
Ocean; the Medura; the Melbourne, screw-steamer,
fiag of Captain Christie; the Sir R. Sale, the Minchee,
and the Lady Valiant. The loss of men at Balaklava is
about 340."

At Eupatoria the disasters were equally great. "A
first glance at Eupatoria" says the Correspondent of the
Morning Chronicle, "after the storm showed that it
had suffered even more than the Katcha. True, the
Bellerophon and Leander rode it out; but the total
wreck of an Egyptian line-of-battle ship, and near the
beach the tricolor floating mournfully over the Henri
Quatre, strong and erect as ever, but we fear never
again to carry the flag of France to victory, as well as
the stranded transports in front and to the Southward
of the town, told a dreary story. In front lie the
stranded remains of five French merchant vessels; just
beyond it, along the sandy isthmus, between the sea and
Lake Sasik, lie what three days ago were strong and
well-found ships, in the following order commencing
from the town—No. 81, Georgina; No. 61, Harbinger;
French Government screw-steamer Pluto; No. 3, Her
Majesty; No. 55, Glendalough; small French steamer;
No. 53, Asia.; an Egyptian two-decker; Henri Quatre,
100 guns, Captain Jahn. All these ships with the exception
of the two line-of-battle ships, stranded during the
day. Henri Quatre parted after the force of the gale
was spent; but when the sea was at its heaviest, shortly
after six in the evening, she went on shore without any
damage, and no doubt might have been recovered in
better times. The Egyptian is a perfect wreck; she also
stranded during the night. The Sea Nymph foundered
during a heavy squall in the day. Besides this, we
have heard of but two lives lost in all. The enemy took
advantage of the gale by advancing;on Eupatoria with
about 6000 cavalry and twelve field-pieces: they were,
however, warmly received with such a heavy fire, both
of guns and rockets, that they retired with a loss of
about a hundred killed and wounded; our loss amounted
to only two men wounded. Lieutenant Hood, of her
Majesty's ship Arethusa, was in command of the battery
which repulsed this formidable assault," The Russians
behaved infamously to the shipwrecked people. As
soon as the vessels were driven on shore, the Cossacks
quickly discovered the disaster, and prepared to turn it
to the best account. Information was speedily sent to
Sebastopol, and in a few hours a carriage drawn by four
grays was seen coming over the downs, and containing
evidently an officer of high rank. The Russian officers
came to the top of the cliffs and lifted their hats,
beckoning to the sufferers to come on shore—an offer
which, for the most part, was respectfully declined.
About forty or fifty men and two soldiers' wives
belonging to the 95th regiment were rescued on the
evening of the 15th, and taken on board the Queen.
The Cossacks on the beach, seeing a portion of their
expected booty slipping through their fingers, fired on
the retreating boats, and a bullet, passing through the
bonnet of one of the women, killed a seaman of the
Queen. The enemy closed the day by firing a smart
volley upon a bark round whose yawning sides twenty
or thirty men were despeiately clinging, and whose
sufferings and suspense were thus summarily put an
end to.

Contributions by private individuals of all kinds of
necessaries and comforts for our soldiers in the East, are
pouring in from all parts of the country. The aggregate
amount will be immense, and most beneficial; but their
number renders it impossible to specify them individually.
In France similar contributions are being made to a
great amount; but the Emperor has declined a subscription
for the benefit of the wounded soldiers; stating
that he regards it as his own exclusive duty and privilege
to provide for the wants and recompense the services of
the wounded soldiers.

The Secretary at War has issued a requisition to the
Colonels of the Militia regiments, for "as many
volunteers as possible to the regiments of Guards and
Line, and to the Royal Marines." Mr. Sydney Herbert
states that the Government is aware that the efficiency
of the Militia regiments will be impaired by this step;
but the maintenance of that efficiency, "important as it
is, must yield to the necessity of strengthening her
Majesty's forces engaged in the operations of war abroad."
The demand for volunteers is limited to 25 per cent, on
the strength of the regiment. Priority will be given to
recruiting parties from regiments having county
connections; the Guards and Marines will send recruiting
parties to regiments generally. The bounty offered is
£7 or £1 above the ordinary bounty; and although the
limit of 25 per cent, is placed on the number of men
the recruiting parties are empowered to raise, yet any
larger number will be accepted, provided their colonel
will consent to their discharge. Mr. Herbert makes this