All the shot and shell are to be collected, and the French give their soldiers about ^\d. or M. for each 13-inch shell or large shot which they bring up to ceiiain depots indicated for the purpose. I am not aware if any effort of the kind is being made by oui'selves, but I suspect there must be, as the shell and shot between the lines are gradually disappearing. The thousands of tons of iron which cover the terrain for ten or twelve miles in length by five in breadth, are " worthy the attention of the speculative capitalist," or at all events of £2 the Government. There are very few officers who have not got some trophies; arms of various descriptions, great coats, and helmets are the most common, but pictures of saints, often embellished by the finders with grotesque adornments of moustachios, short pipes, and eye-glasses, and portraits of the late Czar, which have not quite escaped the spirit of improvement manifested by our soldiery, are very common.
Although the Forts Alexander and Nicholas are nearly intact — a portion of the curtain of the former was blown in by the explosion, but the rest of it remains entire, and Fort Nicholas is but slightly injured — the Russians are resolved not to spare them, and the efi'ect of their practice upon them proves that the stone of which they are composed would not resist a lengthened and continuous fire at close quarters. In other words, if a line-of-battle ship could get alongside without being sent to the bottom, she would soon rip up Fort Alexander, or any fort, such as Fort Constantine, built of similar material. The enemy suspect that the French are making a very heavy battery behind Fort Alexander, and they shell frequently in that direction; and knowing the position of their mortar-battery behind Fort Nicholas, they direct a pretty constant vertical fire on the guard behind that work.
When their shot hit the stones at the angle of the fort, they generally split and break the outer masonry. The stones are of white freestone, cut in long parallelograms, and if a shot strikes the middle of a block it generally splits it right through, so that a few heavy projectiles at any one point would speedily destroy all cohesion, and crumble the wall into a breach. Still, the forts ftre beautifully built, and are of very great strength, notwithstanding the inferior nature of the building material. They are all i-eared upon capacious vaults of solid masonry, and the casemates, curtains, and parapets are of prodigious thickness, and of very superior finish and workmanship. As the debris of the place is cleared away, it is seen that the ruin and injury of our bombardment were not so great and complete as we imagined.
The Catherine Boulevard enables us to judge of what it once was, and the cathedral, two or three churches, and the theatre could be readily restored to their proper uses; indeed, I have heard that the French have celebrated high mass more than once in the former edifice. A boat from the " St. Jean d'Acre," under the charge of Lieutenant Lewis Reynolds, was sent round from Kamiesch some time ago to the harbour, and is now employed, whenever a flag of truce appears, in communicating with the Russians. It was at tlie request of Prince (Jortschakoff that this was done. The Prince, being pleased to consider that the south side of Sehastopol belongs to the allies, sent to suggest that it would save much time and inconvenience if a boat was kept in the Dockyard harbour, near Fort Paul, so as to be ready to go out with or for communications in cases of armistice, several of which, relating to prisoners' property, exchange of letters, &c., have recently taken place.
The Russians always come across in very well-appointed, handsome boats, manned with picked crews of well-di'essed, clean-looking sailors, and the officers sent on the duty are generally very accomplished linguists and agreeable men. They are, however, very strict and very sharp in their practice as regards flags of truce, being extremely jealous of the smallest informality, and quick in firing the instant the flag of truce is hauled down. They insist that the Malakhoff was taken by a surprise, and that all the garrison, except those who could get into the casemates, had gone oS" to enjoy their meals and midday siesta when the French rushed in; but they admit that the town was getting too hot to hold them, and that our fii'e was too heavy to be much longer withstood.