The cessation of commerce would permit the grass to grow in the public ways, and it may readily be imagined that the inhabitants of a besieged city could find but little time to preserve the gai'dens and places of recreation neat and kempt. Grass does, indeed, grow in the streets of Sebastopol, the gardens are overrun with weeds, and the vineyards at the back of the Redan bear grape of a very different nature from that for which they once were famous. The walks are full of rank grass, and the borders of the paths are trodden down by the soldiery. Tv'ednesday, September 19. There has not been any further indication of an advance towards the Belbek — on the contrary, the French are Avithdi'awing a portion of their force, and there is apparently a change of councils and of plans among the allied leaders.
The enemy persist in casting up formidable earthworks on the north side, and we look on as we did from September 27 till October 17, 1854, and see them preparing their defences, with the sure conviction that we shall be able to carry them, or sap up to them, or take them in some way or other in a year or two. jMeantime, the weather comes in with a word of its own, and says to our deliberating Generals, " Stop! as you have waited so long, I wont let you move now." It began to rain to-day soon after twelve o'clock, and the camp speedily looked as 192 FIRST FRUITS Of VICTOKY. gloomy, black, and wretched as it usually does during the winter.
The wind, with rare exceptions, accompanies these heavy falls of rain in the Crimea, and it blew to-day iuriously. The ground was rapidly turned into the well-known Sebastopol paste, famous for its adhesive properties, never to be shaken or rubbed off by any amount of scrubbing; washing is the only operation to which it succumbs. Every one who is obliged to walk forth is hobbling about on two lumps of earth, with large lateral extensions, which form under his feet, fasten to his shoes, and increase in bulli at every step. Now, it is quite impossible for field-pieces to be moved under these circumstances, nor, indeed, would it be an easy matter to marshal cavalry, nor could infantry make any great progress in marching.
A light cart, drawn by a stout horse, which had only to carry two empty portmanteaus and a cask of beer, could not get up to the front from Balaklava to-day — a distance of sixand-a-half miles. This fact shows the necessity of making new roads, as well as the imperfections of those which ab-eady exist, or are believed to exist, till a heavy shower destroys all traces of them, and metamorphoses them into something like a sewer-com-se in the Thames at low water. The French militarj' road, made for us by Vinoy's Brigade from Kadikoi, past the Cavaby Camp up to the Col, is in tolerably good order, and has been repaired by the Croats, Eupatorians. &c., but it still requires to be enlarged and much improved before it can meet the exigencies of our winter traffic.
A large number of soldiers, not less, I should think, than 1500 in all, has been detached to make new roads and repair* old ones in conjunction with the Ai-my Works Corps. A hitch occurs now and then, which proves that army departments are not readily managed by most people. For example, a strong party of the Guards was marched down one day this week to work on the roads, but when they came to the appointed place there were no tools, no spades, shovels, pickaxes, or barrow^s, and so, after waiting some hours, the men marched bade again. The railway is the object of sedulous attention, and will, no doubt, be.soon secured against the effects of winter, but it must not be expected to do too much.
There is a very considerable accunmlation of stores at the depot by the Col; there are also large quantities of forage and of ibod stored up at some of the divisional depots, and the commanding officers of a few regiments have stacked the surplus wood, issued for rations of fuel, and have got up a tolerable good private stock for the winter, to meet anjr deiiciencies in the rations during the cold weather. During the dog-days the men had each about as much wood or coal issued to them as they would get at Christmas. One or two active Quartermasters-General of Division have laid or are laying down roads from their divisional commissariat depot up to the centre and front of their respective camps.