The General at Perekop was particularly kind, and his Staff were so attentive that our otHcers exchanged swords with them, and, having sent those they got in return to Simpheropol, they completed the greater part of the tour unarmed. To General Wrangel they also were indebted for much kindness and consideration. As the " Calcutta" cleared out of the harbour, the crews of the " Leander" and " Sanspareil" gave the gallant ship and her cargo three cheers spontaneously — an unusual compliment from men-of-wai*'s men. The Hussars returned the cheers, and in a few moments more the shores of the Crimea were fading from the view with the last rays of the setting sun, lighting the frowning clifls of Cape Aya, and burnishing up the coppercoloured rocks which lined the rugged coast.
The men relapsed into silence. " How happy should I be, only I'm thinking of the poor fellows we leave behind," said a soldier, after" a pause. " Yes! but they did their work, and we have no cause to be ashamed of them, thank God!" was the reply of his neighbour; " and so good-bye to the Crime;v!" Camp before Sebastopol. I have now gone twice to the Alma, and have examined the ground of the battle with the ignorance of a civilian and the interest of a Briton. The road from the plateau, on which for one long year the hopes and fears and anxieties of civilized Eui'ope were concenti-ated, leads down from the ridge on which the battle of Inkermann was mainly fought to the deep ravine out of which the materials for the mansions, quays, harbours, docks, and forts of Sebastopol have been hewed.
It presents a wild and desolate aspect. The graves of the slain are numerous. The slabs of oolite tower perpendicularly for several Imndred feet on the right hand and the left to the verge of the elevated plateau, and rise, like great white walls of masonry, aloft from a base of huge blocks and disintegrated masses of the same substance. This ravine, deepening as it descends, falls at right angles to the valley through which the Tchernaya eats its way to the head of the Roads of Sebastopol. At the lower end of the ravine the aqueduct spans it, and then is carried on a light and handsome bridge of masoniy, supported on some ten or twelve arches right across, and disappears in a tunnel through the solid rock on the left hand side.
Passing underneath, through one of the arches, you find yourself by the banks of the sluggish Tchernaya, and a ride of 500 yards or so past the perpendicular cliff's, perforated with caves, which bound the margin of the valley, leads you to the causeway across the marsh towards Inkermami. An excellent wooden bridge, built by our engineers, stretches across the river, and the marsh beyond is crossed by a high causeway. At the near end are our guard tents; and the pass is kept by Russian and English sentries, who seem on very good terms with each other. Arrived to the end of the causeway, the cliffs of northern Inkermann are above you, and the road winds up to a i-avine which leads you to their recesses.
A curious chapel and monkery in the caves are visible in the face of the cliff". Embrasures are above, before, and on each side of you on entering these fastnesses. The black pupils of these dull eyes have been removed, but there is enough of the works left to show how hot and frequent they could have flashed on you in their anger. There ai'e five batteries on various points of this ravine, and the slopes of the plateau aSbrd many fine sites for field artillery or guns of position. The road is good. On the right, about a mile fi-om the entrance of the ravine, are numerous deep shafts in the clay, from which the Russians draw their supply of water. The road winds gradually upwards till it leads you to the level of the north plateau of Inkermann, just as the Quarries road took you down from the south plateau to the level of the valley of the Tchernaya, from which you are now ascending.
Here is the Russian camp, at which we have so often gazed from the heights on the right of our position. It is now very much altered in appearance. The huts have been abandoned, and the men are living in a veiy pretty, clean, and well-kept camp of canvas, but the purlieus are very dirty, and have the usual disagreeable smell of Russian quarters. The tents are square in shape, and at the top, which tapers to a point from the side of the wall, there is a knob, gilt or painted, which gives them an air of fimisli. The paths or streets of the camp are horderod with wild flowers and iir branches. The regiments stationed here belong to the Seventh Division, which forms the First Division of the third corps d'annee, and are as well as I could ascertain, the 13th (Smolensko) and 14th (Politsch), and number about OOOO men.