The amicable intercourse between the allies and their late enemy is on the increase. It is stated that the Jews have got up a fund for the deserters of their persuasion from the Russian VOL. II. F F 434 PEACK OXCK MORE IX THE CRniEA. ai'my, and that botli Jews and Greeks have deserted, uud have been sent to Constantinople. Credat Judceus! One man who came into Bahiklava the other day was observed to be very anxious about the walls of a new store. On being asked what he was about, he confessed he was searching for the site of his house, in the cellar of which he had deposited a good deal of plate and valuables. I fear he had but a Flemish account of them.
The Ixussian military band (150 strong) at Mackenzie is a great object of attraction. It plays at four o'clock every afternoon. At the hj-mn of '' God preserve the Czar," or whatever the exact translation of the title may be, to-daj', all the Russians took oft their caps. I could have v.'ished that our officers who were present, and who understood the occasion, had done the same, for immediately afterwards, when the band played " God save the Queen," the Russians uncovered their heads, and paid to our national anthem the same mark of respect as the}^ had paid to their own. A Russian officer — covered with orders, was pointed out to some of the officers as one who had never left the Flagstaff Bastion for eleven montlis.
He had been shot through the body, wounded in the head, in the arm, and in the thigh, on difiercnt occasions, and had insisted on remaining in the bastion, nor would he permit himself to be removed to hospital. Many of the soldiers wore the Cross of St. George and other orders. Vvhat a ])heuomenon would a British private be with the riband of the C.B. ou his breast! The Russians are very anxious to get some of oiu" medals, and there are some stories afloat concerning the cleverness with which some men have sold florins at high prices for Sebastopol vacuals. The thermometer at nine o'clock this morning stood at 70° in tlie shade! It is now blowing freshly, or rather hotly, from the south, and the air is sickly and disagreeable.
The wind has nearly all the characteristics of a sirocco, but the snow still ishines brightly on the distant hill-sides, and covers the summit ledge of Tcliatir Dagh. Many expeditions have been planned. The very top of the mountain I have just named scarcely suffices I'or the ambition of some of our daring tourists, and the heights of the Alma, the Empress's Palace at Orianda, Prince WoronzofF's grand castle near Yalta, Bakshiscrai, and Simpheropol, have been variously combined as points of interest in the excur-.sions which arc coming off almost immediately. There are only two drawbacks to the pleasures we anticipate in these invasions of pleasant valleys and higli mountain passes, hitherto barred to us by the lance-point of the Cossack. The typhus is described to be ragingin the Russian camps, particularly at Bakshiserai and Simpheropol, and we have been warned by the Eussian officers that it is dangerous to travel in small parties, or to be out after dark in the neighbourhood of the Greek districts.
The people of Balaklava, of Karanyi, of Kadikoi, of Kamara, and of Tchorgoun, nearly all of whom are Greeks, are living in great misery at Simpheropol and Bakshiserai, and they naturallj^ regard us as the cause of all their miseries and misfortunes; and so they are likely, it is said, to take pot shots at solitary travellers, and to try and gratify their religious rancour and their sacred love of gold at one discharge. However, this bugbear is not likely to deter many from going inside the Russian lines. Already some officers have penetrated to Bakshiserai, and have returned with alarming accounts of the price of eatables, drinkables, and accommodation, — porter twenty francs a bottle, champagne thirty-five francs a bottle, dinner and bed a small fortune.
There are some very hospitable fellows among the Russian officers, and they give and take invitations to lunch, dinner, and supper very freely. One of our Generals was up at j\Iackenzie yesterday, and was asked to stay to tea by a Eussian of rank, whose hut he was visiting, but it so happened that Madame, who presided at the tea-table, was present, and she darted such a look at her peccant spouse when he gave the invitation, and glared so fiercely at the heretical English, that our General and Staff turned tail and bolted, leaving the Ruski to the enjoyment of the lecture which Madame Caudelski would no doubt inflict upon him. Perhaps the poor lady was short of spoons, or trembled for her stock of sugar.