Had the army been deprived of his services at any other time it would have been most serious j and, even as it is, it would be hard to find a competent successor, for he devoted himself incessantly to the details of his most arduous department, and was gradually getting it into most excellent order, notwithstanding the great difficulties with which he had to contend. The main road has now been completed from Ealaklava (Kadikoi) to the central depot, a. distance of six miles and a half It is a grand military work which will last for centuries. In less than seven weeks the road has been completed, and in that time upwards of 60,000 tons of road metal have been prepared and laid down to prepare it for traffic.
There are yet several branches to be completed; one to Karanyi-valley is nearly ready, and the others are in a fair state of progress. When Mr. Doj^ne began his roads he had only 1500 soldiers to assist him, but by degrees he received increased aid from the Quartermaster-General's department, until he had no less than 8000 men at work, ■which, with his own navvies and native labourers, gave him a force of about 10,000 men. The drainage of the road is excellent, and numerous and capacious culverts have been constructed to carry off the rush of water in the ravines. We shall have at last left a Romanesque work behind us when we abandon the Crimea, and if we bequeath no marks of our existence to posterity in India, we shall at least do so to future generations of Muscovites and Tartars.
There is little more to be said. The duello between the north and south sides is intensely tedious and profitless; it is also without loss — the stones alone suffer. The Times of the 24th of October, ■which has just arrived, contains an inventory of the stores found at Sebastopol by the allies, and as it may be interesting to give some particulars of the proceedings of the Mixed Commission, I have with some little difficulty procured the following information respecting them. On the 10th of July this year a treaty was entered into between France and England with respect to the distribution of booty and trophies, which enabled the French and English Govei'nments to form a mixed commission for the purpose of classifying and arranging such articles.
In compliance with this provision, immediately after the capture of Sebastopol, Marshal Pelissier named the following officers on behalf of the French army: — General of Division Niel, Aide-de-Camp de I'Empereur, President, and commanding the Engineers; General of Division Thiry, commanding Artillery; Admiral Eegault de Genouilly, commanding Marine Artillery; M. Paris, Intendant (Commissary-General); M. Budin, Payeur-General. General Simpson named the following officers for the English army; — Sir G. Dacres, commanding Eoyal Artillery; Captain Drumraond, E.N.; Colonel Chapman, commancling Royal Engineers; Mr. Drake, Assistant Commissary-General. It will be observed that the English officers are not equal in rank or numbers to the French members of the Commission. The Commission met on the 15th of September at the quarters of General Niel.
Its first act was to order an inventory in detail to be made of everything found in Sebastopol. To effect this the city and forts were divided, and the care of exploring each part devolved upon sub-commissions. The first of these, charged with the exploration of the west of the city and of Forts Nicholas and Alexander, of the Quarantine, and of the Central Bastion, and of the Bastion du Mat (Flagstaif), were M. Mazare, General of Artillery, President; M. Cacoze, Captain of Artillery, French; Captain Dickson, R.A.; Comte Feldtrappe, French Engineers; Captain Montagu, R.E.; Lieutenant Laurent, French Navy; Lieutenant BuUer, R.N.; M. Gontier, French Assistant Commissary-General; and Mr. Lundy, Deputy Assistant Commissary -General. The second subcommission, charged to explore the east of the city, the Redan of Careening Bay, the Malakhotf, the Great Redan, and the adjacent works, consisted of — BrigadierGeneral Dupuis.