them that by the same post papers are despatched to their address, which never arrive. In short, complaint is general, and I am convinced it is well founded, and that a great number of papers, duly posted in England, do not come to hand in the Crimea — at least, not to the hands of the persons for whom they are destined. The ratio of loss is various; some persons get on an average two out of three of their papers, others one out of two, others scarcely anj^ and I know cases in which officers are writing to England to discontinue theiisubscription to newspapers because they never receive them at all. The grievance is a vexatious one. We are now on the verge of winter.
Days grow short, evenings long; the rains are doubtless at hand; and parades and out-of-door exercise and occupation are hardly to be thought of when the gromid becomes a morass. One of the greatest pleasures of a man out here is the receipt of newspapers from England; and so you would say, could you behold how the fortunate receivers of them are beset. It is a cruel privation and disappointment when, by mismanagement in some quarter or other, they do not arrive. The matter ought to be seen to by all concerned. CHAPTEE XXVin. OFF ODESSA. The fleets at the first rendezvous — The departure from Kamiesch — A Black Sea fog — Orders and counter-orders — Danger of delay — Contrary winds and frowning skies — Odessa garrison on the qui vive — Probable results of an attack upon that town — Anticipations of future triumphs — Object of the expedition to occupy the forts at the mouth of the Dneiper — The forts Oczakoff and Kinburn described — The defences recently erected by the enemy — Road between Kinburn and Cberson — Journal of eventsImposing appearance of the expedition as it lay off Kazatch and Kamiesch — French floating batteries — English portion of the expedition — Line-of-battle ships — Steam frigates, sloops, &c. — Medical officers on board the " Orient" — Odessa signalled as the rendezvous — Progress of the fleets — A collision.
At anchor, five miles off Odessa, October 13. From causes which will be found at length in the diary I append to this brief summary of our proceedings, it will be seen that the admirals have hitherto been unable to leave their rendezvous, and that for the last five or six days the people of Odessa have been feasting their eyes to their hearts' content on this great armament. Possibly even his dread IMajesty the Czar may have had an opportunity of comparing the ships of Sir Edmund Lyons and of Admiral Bruat with those chefs-d'(xuv7'e of his own which he is so solicitous about that he will not allow them to leave Cronstadt. Should the present weather hold, we shall leave in the course of the afternoon for our second rendezvous and the scene of operations, which is generally known to be Kinburn, or more properly Kinbunm.
The fleet left Kamiesch on Sunday, and anchored off Odessa on Monday afternoon. The object of selecting this bay aa the rendezvous was to fill the minds of the authorities with apprehensions of a descent upon the town after a general bombardment, and to induce them to withdrav/ their troops from the neighbourhood of the place we are going to attack. Tuesdaj' was spent in preparations for the sailing of the expedition, the reconnaissance and sounding of the banks off Kinburn having been effected previously by the " Spitfire;" and on Wednesday the fleet would have got under way, so as to be in a position to attack the forts at daybreak on Thursday morning, but unfortunately one of the dense fogs so common in the Black Sea set in, and precluded any attempt to move for the day.