Russian magazine exploded, and a fire broke out in the
arsenal. About noon a second magazine exploded; and
at 12.15 a most terrific explosion took place, followed by
a succession of minor ones. The force of this was
so immense that a battery of guns en barbette was
literally blown to pieces by it. At 12.40 more
magazines exploded. At this time the dockyards,
arsenal, barracks, all the government buildings, store-
houses, &c, were burning furiously. The yards and
poops of the line-of-battle ships were crowded with the
excited seamen, who cheered vociferously after every
explosion, as only British sailors know how to cheer.
To add to this frightful din, the liners Cornwallis and
Hastings and steam-frigate Amphion opened their
broadsides at the same moment; and, as if to crown the
whole, the Arrogant, Cossack, and Cruisier chimed in
by commencing a heavy fire, with good effect, on a
large body of troops which they chanced to espy on a
small island to the eastward of the fortress. The
cannonade continued with little abatement up to 8 o'clock
p.m., when the gunboat recall was hoisted. Several of
the mortar-vessels were also found to be injured from
the quick and incessant firing, and had to be brought out
to undergo repairs; those, however, which were not
damaged, still kept up their fire, in conjunction with
the French mortar battery, until 10.30 p.m., at which
hour the rocket-boats from the fleet went in and kept
up their part of the performance until daylight. The
scene during the night was grand beyond description:
the whole of Sweaborg appeared one mass of flame, the
rockets and shells adding not a little to the awful splendour
of the fiery landscape. At 5.30 a.m. on the 10th,
the fire again opened from our whole line, and
continued throughout the day, at the end of which little
appeared left to be done; all the mortars, French and
English, were more or less injured. Some idea, however,
of the services rendered by these vessels may be
gathered from the fact that during the two days'
bombardment not less than 1000 tons of iron were thrown
into a space of about half a mile in diameter, and
upwards of 100 tons of powder were expended. This,
incredible as it may appear, applies to the English
mortar-vessels alone, and does not include the quantity
(which was equally large in proportion) used by our
gallant allies on that occasion. On Friday night, the
10th inst., the rocket-boats again went in and played
with great effect. On Saturday no firing took place, and
Sunday was a day of rest. On that day everything was
quiet and in repose; even the mighty deep bowed in
reverence to a holy influence, and was still. The tolling
of the bells at Helsingfors was distinctly to be heard;
the dull and plaintive sounds, mingled with the strains
of sacred music from our men-of-war, came floating over
the calm waters, and offered a strange but soothing
contrast to the noise, turmoil, and excitement of the two
preceding days. On Monday morning, the 13th instant,
the two fleets got under way, and returned the same
day to Nargen, having performed in an incredibly short
space of time, with comparatively no loss, one of the
most wonderful exploits recorded in modern times."

It is stated that neither the French nor English have
lost a single man, and that a very few men were
wounded, most of them slightly.

Operations of some importance have been performed
by the English squadron in the Sea of Azoff.
Despatches from Commander Osborn, of the Vesuvius,
forwarded by Sir Edmund Lyons, detail the proceedings
of the squadron down to the 25th of July. On
the 13th the squadron, which had been detained by
bad weather, put to sea. On the 15th they destroyed
forage and corn stacked behind Berdiansk, by firing
shells over the town. On the 16th they attacked Fort
Petrovskoi; driving out the garrison, and landing a
party under Lieutenant Campion to complete the
destruction of the works, gun-platforms, stores of
forage and corn. He landed in the face of two battalions
of infantry and two squadrons of cavalry, kept at
a distance by the fire of the ships, and successfully
executed his mission. On the same day, great quantities
of forage and some fisheries were destroyed on the
White House Spit. On the 18th, fisheries were
destroyed on the Crooked Spit and Glofira Spit, in spite
of swarms of cavalry. "I learned from a Russian
fisherman," says Commander Craufurd, "that the fish
caught on Crooked Spit and cured there was
immediately forwarded to Simpferopol for the use of the
Crimean army; and I conclude that a very severe
blow has been inflicted upon the enemy by the amount
of property which was destroyed, including spars,
timber, fish, nets, and boats—apparently the most
extensive fishing establishment in the Sea of Azoff—and,
I am happy to say, without a casualty." Meanwhile,
Lieutenant Hewett of the Beagle had landed at
Berdiansk, and destroyed fish-stores and corn; and
Commander Rowley of the Curlew had burnt the
pontoon connecting Genitchi with the Spit of Arabat.
"That the squadron has not been idle," writes
Commander Osborn to Sir Edmund Lyons, "I trust this
report will show; and, without entering more into
details than I have done, I can assure you, Sir, that
from Genitchi to Taganrog, and thence round to
Kamiskeva, we have kept the coast in a state of
constant alarm, and their troops incessantly moving. The
good service done by the gunboats in this way has
been very great. The total amount of provisions,
corn, fisheries, forage, and boats destroyed, has been
something enormous."

In his last despatch, dated July 25, Commander
Osborn says: "Since my last letter I have fully
succeeded in destroying, by means of submarine
explosions, the four Russian steamers sunk in Berdiansk
Bay; and as the enemy had, from the houses of the
western suburb of Berdiansk, twice fired upon our
people, whilst peaceably and unguardedly employed, I
considered it right that such a dishonourable course,
from a town which had been spared under the plea of
being defenceless, should be severely punished, and the
more so as Berdiansk had been treated with unusual
leniency upon the occasion of our former visits. I
therefore, on the 22nd of July, caused to be destroyed
the western suburb, which had screened their riflemen,
and succeeded in discovering and setting fire to no less
than ten large granaries, filled with wheat, each
averaging about 200 tons in capacity, and several flour
mills, which have been employed night and day in
grinding for the use of the Russians. The church and
major portion of the town I spared, although nearly,
every house we searched contained grain in large
quantities, and the whole place might be considered little
else than a general granary. The dangerous service of
landing in so large a town, with bodies of Cossacks
threatening, was intrusted to Commander Rowley
Lambert, Lieutenant Hubert Campion (senior of this
ship), Lieutenant; Hewett, her majesty's steam-vessel
Beagle, and Lieutenant Marryat, her majesty's steam-
vessel Cracker; and the skill with which it was
executed reflects the highest credit upon their zeal and
judgment. The operations were admirably covered by
the gunboats under Lieutenants Grylls, Commerell,
and Townsend, and her majesty's ships Vesuvius and
Curlew; the latter under charge of her zealous first
lieutenant, C. J. Rowley. On the 24th July I rejoined
Lieutenant Horton, of her majesty's steam-vessel
Ardent. He, I found, had not been idle; and, with
the assistance of the Clinker, Lieutenant Smithett, and
Wrangler, Lieutenant Burgoyne, very much damage
had been done to the enemy from Ghenitch to
Obitotchna Spit, in the destruction of forage, fish,
stores, and launches."

On the receipt of these despatches by the Admiralty,
Commander Sherard Osborn has been promoted to the
rank of Captain, and Lieutenant Horton to that of
Commander.

The latest accounts of the War in Asia are contained
in the following letter from Erzeroum, dated July 31,
published in the Moniteur:—"The last advices received
here from Kars are of July 24. On the 15th the
Russians made a great demonstration against Kars, for
the purpose of covering an enormous convoy of
provisions on its way to their camp from Alexandropol.
From that day to the 24th all has been quiet, only the
town is more closely invested. The enemy's force
consists of 32 battalions of infantry, one of riflemen, a
battalion of the engineer corps, three regiments of