The duties of the Governor are not very onerous, and the population of his district is essentially migratory and nomadic. Five hundred artillerymen were added to the garrison of the town some days ago. Are we to attack the north side or not? If so, when do we begin? We may stay in our present position till the crack of doom and the Russians will remain in theirs, and the war may thus go on for half a century. The great road from Kadikoi to the camp gets on but slowly, but a really fine work is in course of execution. Many men are employed in cutting a kind of canal for the waters of the streamlet which runs through the flat, marshy land close by the railway between Kadikoi and the top of the harbour, and floods it after heavy rains.
This work will tend materially to increase the strength and efficiency of the railway in winter, and will carry off the surface water which turned the whole of this marsh into a lake in that inclement season of the year. The Sardmians are at work on the railway from the WoronzofF road to the main line at Kadikoi; but our engineers declare that by taking unnecessary pains in elaborating, polishing, and finishing off trenches and cuttings they lose valuable time. The French have not yet done anything towards the execution of the line laid down by Mr. Campbell from the Col de Balaklava to Kamiescli. It is creditable to Mr. Beatty and Mv. Campbell's skill tliat the engineers of the Army Works Corps have not been able to devise a better line for their road than that which these gentlemen laid down I'or the tramway, and the new road is to rnn parallel with the tramway the whole of its course.
Balaklava has ceased to exist. There are only some dozen of the original houses left scattered here and there amid iron storehouses, mountainous piles of wood, heaps of coal, of corn, of forage, of shot and shell, and of stores multitudinous. The liarbour is trenched upon by new qxiays and landing-places, and two long wooden jetties project far intp its waters at the shallow head of the harbour, and render good service in taking the jn-essure of the quays at the waterside. And yet, Avith all this huge accumulation of stores, such a ravenous devouring animal is an army that there are some fears that we shall run short of fuel and of flour during the winter. It is astounding to hear that not a sack of flour fit for our purposes can be found in the East, and Sir (xeorge Maclean, the indefatigable CommissaryGeneral, has been obliged to telegraph to England for 4000 bags of that necessary article.
In a few days the issue of bread will probably cease, and the soldiers will be obliged to go back to biscuit till fresh supplies are forthcoming. At the present moment t/ie quantity of cam issued daily for horses, mules, and pordes in the English army is not less than 2SO,O0Olb. The fine weather will enable us to clear the quays in Balaklava, and to collect stores at our divisional depots, but steps must speedily be taken to protect these stores from the efl'ects of rain and storm. There is a sad dearth of news, and very little stirring in the British camp. The I)uke of Newcastle went to Eupatoria on board one of the ships, and has just returned. His Grace intends to leave the camp, and direct his steps homewards in a few days.
It is almost a pity that he cannot remain till the winter sets in, or, at all events, return during the bad weather, for he has had very little experience of the hardships of camp life, and he may still believe that the sketches which were sent home to England when omarmy was pei'ishing in the trenches, or in their miserable muddy tents, were surcharged with gloomy colours. Notwithstanding the cessation of the most arduous duties of the army, and the improvement, or rather the creation of roads, the teachings of experience, and all the efforts of the authorities, I believe there will be much hardship and sufTermg, incidental, and inseparalile, perhaps, from the position of our army during the winter, even if all the men are hutted.
At present not a twentieth part of the soldiers possess huts. It will be hard work to make up lor lost time even should the huts arrive soon, and our officers are taking an exceedingly wise step in sending into Sebastopol for wood for building purposes, whilst it is still to be had. An immense train of carts, waggons, &c., W'Cnt down this morning to the city to get wood out of the ruined and dilapidated houses. A very comfortable double tent can be made for the winter, but single canvas affords but a feeble protection against the blasts which sweep over these dreary steppes, with the thermometer at 10 degrees. Many of the officers are hutted, or have sunk semi-subterranean residences, and the camp is studded all over with the dingy roofs, which at a distance look much like an aggregate of molehills.