In the large shells there is sometimes a variation of 31b. or 41b. in Aveight and some Avhich Avere lent to us Avere found to be almost useless on that accomit. Their battery behind the Malakhoff" is principally du'ected against the roads near Fort Constantine and Fort Catherine. Three or fom* times in the day Fort Constantine gives a sullen reply to the allies, and the 12-gun battery at Inkcrmann throws an odd shot at the Frencth battery of the 31alakhott'. The Eussians, however, look as if thej^ intended to woi'k steadily at their eartluvorlvs, and some fine day, no doubt, they Avill open Avith a roar of cannon in their old style, all along the Avaterside from Fort Constantine to Inkermann. Large convoy's passed in and out of the Ibrts to-day, but Avith Avhat they Avere laden could not be ascertained.
Their coal deput is untouched and undiminished. It was amusinsr to Avatch the coolness of the fellows at work inside the larjjje magazine to-day. Some of them stood in the doorway by the waterside to look out for the mortars. " Bom" ^^oes one, and the thick white smoke ilies upwards in a circling pillar, marked here and there with whirling rings. " T-M'it! twit! twit!" the bomb whistles aloft, the sound becoming fainter and fainter as it leaves us, till it begins to grow on the ear of the gentleman in grey, who is ou the watch at the other side; he pops in his head, and at his summons, like rabbits scuttling from a ferret-haunted warren, a swarm of his comrades appear just as the bomb, with a prodigious crash, and knocking up a cloud of tiles, timber, stones, and dirt, rushes through the roof, and bursts inside; the fellows are down on their faces in a moment, and the bits flyover them, and strike the earth ftir inland, or dash the water of the harbour into foam.
Then the " Eooskies" get up, and return placidly to their work inside till the next bomb comes dangerously near. If it does not fall inside the building, or is not likely to slip down on them through the roof, they never stir. When the French discovered the column of men near the telegraph this morning they opened upon it with romid shot, and I saw the earth torn up close to the men, but the Russians never turned round from their camp fires. They are assuredly a stolid infantry, and, if thej' had elan and dash with their other undeniably good qualities as soldiers, they would not be second to the warriors of any nation in the world; and here I may observe that we might with much profit take a lesson li'om our enemies in a matter which has a great influence on the mind of the private soldier.
No man likes to fall into the power of his enemies, or would willingly leave his sepulture in their hands, rude though he knows it must be when performed by his comrades. The Muscovite Generals cannot be accused of an}' great regard for their killed and wounded, but they have certainly much respect for the prejudices and feelings of thensoldiers. We have over and over again been astonished at the wonderful way in which the dead and wounded disappeared after the repulse of a sortie in which there were probably 2U0 of the enemy put kors de combat. Except the dead and Avounded left in omtrenches, none were ever to be seen after such contests when day broke. A soldier of the 68th (M'Geevor), who was taken prisoner in a sortie some months ago, and who has since returned to his regiment after a long and (to others) interesting march in Russia, explains the mystery, such as it was.
On the night alluded to it could not be ascertained -what the Russian loss was, but it was certain that the fii'ing had been very heavy, and the work very warm while it lasted. As this man was being carried to the rear after a stout resistance, he observed that there were hundreds of soldiers without weapons between the reserves and the column of sortie, and that these men were employed exclusively in removing the dead and wounded, who would otherwise have been left in the hands of the British. The most extensive provision we make in such cases is sending one, or at most two, litters to a regiment, except when the ambulances go out for a pitched battle. Perhaps Ave do not calculate on leaving our ground, but the best general is always prepared for retreat as well as for victory, and if ever we should be placed in the same circumstances as the Eussians have been, it wo\ild be advisable to follow their example.