The number of men employed is very considerable. To-morrow 8600 soldiers go on work, besides 1000 Croats and the Army Works Corps, which, notwithstanding its losses from sickness, still nmnbers 1000 or 1100 men, and expects to be reinforced from England to the extent of some himdred more. The want of proper system and organization which has been so often and deplorably exposed during this war and in this army, is here again visible. With diflerent ai'rangements half the men, perhaps a quarter of them, could do the work of the whole 10,000, and probably do it better, because they would be less crowded. The men employed to work should be camped near their work till it is completed, instead of having to march long distances to and fro.
Thus, for instance, a regiment of the Third Division, at the furthest extremity of the camp, marches down daily to work at Balaklava, retiu-ning, at night, daily performing a distance of nearly fifteen, miles. Of com-se, this is just so much power of work taken out of the men, and the army is now fvill of boys, whose immature s2 2G0 PREPARATIONS FOR AN EXPEDITION. strength is not equal to a good hard day's work. It cannot, m fact, be got out of them, even though they had not to walk long distances to it. The only reason I can imagine for keeping the men, as many of them are kept, so far from their work, is, that if men go officers must go too, and we have all been making ourselves too comfortable up here, willingly to shift our quarters, even for a time.
However, there is now no time to fight the battle of better organization; the most must be made of what fine weather remains, and, in spite of all obstacles and difficulties, the work, by dint of numbers, progresses briskly. I hear that Mr. Doyne is desirous of having the roads divided into miles, and at every mile to have a station-hut and a lamp, with a corporal and two men to act as police. This is an excellent plan, which may be carried out with very little trouble and expense, and will facilitate the portioning out of repairs and work upon the roads. Truly, with all these civilized innovations this nook of the Crimea will hardly know itself this winter. We hear nothing but the clatter of the spade and the thud of the pick, varied by frequent explosions of small mines, with which builders and road-makers get rid of the blocks of rock that impede their work, and on all sides one sees showers of fragments driven into the air, sometimes to the height of 500 or 600 feet, by the force of the powder.
Besides working at the roads, parties are busy at various small jobs, clearing wells, &c. Water is again getting scarce, and, in the prevision of a possible continuance of the present dry weather, no large quantities are allowed to be taken from the tanks, except by order from the Quartermaster-General's department. As regards military operations there is literally nothing worth recording since my last letter. The Russians remain very quiet, and so do we. There is not much firing from the north side; now and then some artillery officer, as if suddenly exasperated, jumps up in a fury, and fires half-a-dozen mortars at once; but, as far as I can see, the French are not much annoyed by this, and scarcely take the trouble to reply.
In the cavalry plain on Saturday afternoon our allies treated the Russians to a fine view of the Imperial Guard. General M'Mahon, having assumed command of the corps d'armee of resen^e, passed it in review. I rode down there after sending off my despatch, and the sight was certainly very fine, and highly creditable in every way to the French army. Grenadiers, Chasseurs, Zouaves, Engineers, and Artillery of the Guard, wereBURIAL OF A SISTER OF CUARITY. 2GI clrawn up across tho plain In a long lino, tlirouj^li wliicli tlie general rode, followed by a numerous stall', to which Sir Coliu Campbell and a large number of English officers had temporarily attached themselves. The Grenadiers looked martial and imposing in their long blue coats and lofty bearskins, the Chasseurs smart and active in their most excellent and service-like costume; the Zouaves, as usual, picturesque and effective.