Abeady the skies look unsettled and lowering — dark fog banks rest occasionally on the Euxine, SIGNS OF A MOVE. and masters of sailing transports anchored outside Balaklava, in thirty or forty fatlioms of water, (!ast suspicious glances to windward as they think of the storm of November 14, 1S54. The following is the distribution of the forces of the expedition to be embarked under Brigadier-General the Hon. A. Spencer: — Keisriment. 17tli Regiment 20th Regiment. 21st Regiment. 67tli Regiment. 63id Regiment. Royal Marines. Cavalry... Royal Engineers Staff.... Medical Staff. Regimental Staff Commls. Staff Royal Artillery Royal Artillery Royal Artillery Ship. H.M.S. Royal Albert.. H.M.S. Algiers.... H.M.S Hannibal...
H.M.S. Leopard and Sidon H.M.S. Trince.ss Royal.. H.M S. St. Jean d'Acre. Screw transport Indian. Officers. Sailing ship Arabia Sailing ship Prince Alfred Screw steamer Charity;} Men. 6-.>4 Horses. 4* loot f Land transport 1 \ cacets, litters, &c. ^ CO 120t The sailing ship Orient, with medical comforts, blankets, &c. The screw-steamer Lady A. Lambton, with one month's provisions, and forage, and the St. Jean d'Acre also carries tents and officers' baggage. In this distribution some alterations and deviations will no doubt be made — some additions to the ships, some few mistakes, perhaps. But at present the men are all embarked, and everything is ready for the departure of the troops. I hope to let you have some details of interest, in spite of the lateness of the season, and of the arid and wretched place to which we are bound.
We know there is no water to be found there. Hence the small number of horses taken. The " Leander" and "Triton" will be obliged to supply the " Indian" and " Charity" with water. This is a serious matter. It is vmderstood that the men will remain out for the winter. The Mixed Commission which has been sitting in Sebastopol for the purpose of dividmg and valuing the warlike stores and provisions abandoned by the enemy in their retreat from the j)lace, has combined the functions of the three infernal judges with gi-eat skill, and has been by turns Minos, iEacus, and Ehadamanthus — for, although it certainly has condemned no one to death, it has consigned many worthless bodies of materiel * 1 D tons of stores, &c. t C guns, e waggons. t 15 carts. to destruction.
Its deliberations have at times been perturbed, if' they have not been suspended, by the attentions of the enemy's cannoneers, for tlie street in which the house of the commissioners is situate has been, it appears, selected with a view to remind them of the value of guns, balls, and gunpowder, as it is completely enfiladed by the fire of one of the batteries. Sometimes a shot has bumped against the walls of the mansion, and shaken the bodies corporate, though it might not have disturbed the nerves of the members. Sometimes a shell has blurted into the rooms, and routed outlying artists as they sketched the ruins of Sebastopol. But the commissioners have pursued and now almost terminated their labours, and their report will be an exceedingly interesting index to the actual remaining resources of the Russians in Sebastopol, after a siege and active operations of eleven months' duration.
The following is a list of the members of the commission: — Feench. Mazure, General d'Artillerie. Feldstraffe, Capitaine du Genie. Laurent, Lieutenant de Vaisseau. Cicoza, Capitaine d'Artillerie. Goutier, Adjoint a I'lntendance. De Calac, Capitaine d'Artillerie. Cadurst, Chef de Bataillon du Genie. Genoux de la Coche, Capitaine de Fregate. La Cabriniere, Sous-intendant. English. Captain Drummond, R.N. Brigadier-General Dupuis, E.A. Major Staunton, R.E. Commander F. Martin, R.N. Assistant-Commissary-General Crookshanlc Captain Shaw, R.A. A. Rumble. Lieutenant BuUer, R.N. Captain Montagu, R.E. Assistant-Commissary-General Lundy. Captain Dickson, R.A. A. W. Johnson, Secretary to the Commission. It is generally known tliat Englishmen like to grumble. Is it true that England gives them reason for indulging in their notorious tendencies? Now, for instance, the doctors (in common with nearly every class of officers) are highly indignant at the alleged neglect and indifference of the authorities to their claims.