Paris was as credulous as London; the ministers believed the news, and forwarded it to Boulogne to the emperor, who read it to the troops encamped there. At Vienna, Count Buol communicated what he had heard to the French ambassador, who in his turn transmitted it to Paris: nay more-Baron Hübner, the Austrian ambassador at Paris, was charged by Count Buol to address to M. Drouyn de Lhuys the sincere congratulations of the Austrian cabinet on the brilliant exploit. Indeed the deception was most complete, nearly all parties for a time accepting the news as true. Day after day passed, however, without further details; suspicions arose; and at length the truth flashed upon a disappointed public, that the announced fall of Sebastopol was utterly untrue. Whether the Tatar or the telegraph were the more immediate instrument of deception, there arose and remained an opinion that speculators at one of the European bourses or stock - exchanges had planned the fraud, as a means of making profit by the sudden rising of the funds which always follows such announcements.

The death of Marshal St Arnaud was no mere rumour; it was a stern reality, occurring immediately after the flank-march to which the Allied generals attached so much importance. Born in Paris in the year 1801, St Arnaud was yet in middle life; but he had seen much rough service. He entered the Gardes du Corps at the age of fifteen; and next served as a sub-licutenant in the line. After a few years' absence from the army, he re-entered it in 1831, first as a sub-lieutenant, and then as lieutenant. He was engaged under Marshal Bugeaud in various duties during the early years of Louis-Philippe's reign. The year 1836 took him to Algiers, where his reputation was chiefly established. As a captain, he distinguished himself at the siege of Constantina, for which he was rewarded with the decoration of the Legion of Honour. After engagement in many battles, he was placed, in 1840, in command of the 18th regiment of infantry; which he left some time afterwards to join the Zouaves. He was further raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1842, colonel in 1844, and major-general in 1847, incessantly occupied in military duties of various kinds. In 1850, he attained the position of commandant of the province of Constantina, where he was engaged in a hot contest with the Kabyles. Returning to France in the following year, after fifteen

from Bucharest, under date six P. M., September 30, the following telegraphic dispatch:

"To-day, at noon, a Tatar arrived from Constantinople with dispatches for Omar Pacha; his Highness being at Silistria, the dispatches had to be forwarded to him at that place. The Tatar announces the capture of Sebastopol: 18,000 Russians were killed and wounded, 22,000 made prisoners; Fort Constantine was destroyed, and other forts, mounting 200 guns, taken. Of the Russian fleet, six sail-of-the-line were sunk, and Prince Menchikoff had retired to the bottom of the bay with the remaining vessels, declaring that he would burn them if the attack continued. The Allied commanders had given him six hours to consider, inviting him at the same time to surrender, for the sake of humanity. A French general and three Russian generals, all wounded, have arrived at Constantinople, which city was to be illuminated for ten days. We expect to-morrow the official report of the above intelligence from Omar Pacha.""

years of service in Africa, he was appointed to a command in the army of Paris. Being among the small number of distinguished generals who aided Prince Louis Napoleon to overthrow the French republic, and to become the Emperor Napoleon III., St Arnaud naturally rose in high favour at court; he was made Minister at War, then Marshal of France, then Senator, and then Commander-inchief of the French army in the East.

Such was Marshal St Arnaud, who, on the 29th of September, sank under accumulated bodily sufferings, just at the moment when the Allies began to perceive that a formal siege of Sebastopol would be necessary. The declining state of his health had long been known; indeed, when he left Paris to join the army in the East his strength was already broken; and during the autumnal months his life was one continued struggle against fate. His determination and calmness were a matter of astonishment to those who, being near him, were aware of his sufferings. No doubt exists, however, that he was fully aware of his own condition; for on the 12th of September, when on board the Ville de Paris, making the voyage from Varna to Eupatoria, he wrote a dispatch to the French Minister of War, in which he said: 'My situation in regard to my health has become grave. Up to this time I have combated the malady with which I am affected with all the energy of which I was capable, and for a long time I had hoped that I was sufficiently habituated to suffering to be able to exercise the command without making known to all the violence of the attacks which I am condemned to suffer. But this struggle has exhausted my strength. I have had the pain of discovering lately, and particularly on the passage, during which I was upon the point of succumbing, that the moment was approaching when my courage would not suffice to enable me to support the heavy burden of a command which requires a vigour that I have lost, and which I hardly hope to recover. My conscience makes me consider it a duty to explain to you this position. I should hope that Providence will permit me to complete the task which I have undertaken, and that I may be able to lead as far as Sebastopol the army with which I shall land to-morrow on the coast of the Crimea; but that will be, I feel, a last effort, and I beg you to ask the emperor to allow me to appoint a successor.' Immediately after the battle of the Alma he wrote: My health is still the same. It continues between suffering, crises, and duty. All this did not prevent my remaining twelve hours on horseback on the day of battle. But will not my strength betray me?' When bivouacking on the Tchernaya on the 26th, during the flank-march, the last hour of command His last official dispatch contained these words: My health is deplorable. An attack of cholera has just been added to the evils from which I have suffered so long, and I am become so weak, that to continue the command is, I feel, impossible. In this position, and, however painful it may be to

came.

me, I feel it a duty of honour and conscience to place it in the hands of General Canrobert, whom the special orders of His Majesty indicate as my successor.' On the 29th he died, near Balaklava. His body was sent on board the Berthollet to Constantinople, where it was embalmed at the residence of the French embassy; and on the 11th of October, the Berthollet ended her melancholy duty by landing the remains of the deceased marshal at Marseille. Madame St Arnaud, who had resided at Constantinople during the expedition to Varna and the Crimea, returned to France in the same ship that contained the dead body of her husband. After a solemn service had been performed in the cathedral of Marseille, the body was transmitted to Paris, where, on the 16th, a military funeral on an imposing scale was performed the body being interred in a vault in the Chapel of the Invalides. Thus terminated the career of one who, a roving actor and wild adventurer in his youth, afterwards shewed many of the qualities of an energetic military commander.

General Canrobert, on whom the command of the French before Sebastopol devolved, was a favourite in the army. Born in 1809, and entering the army early, he embarked for Africa in 1835, with the rank of lieutenant. He was speedily engaged against Abd-el-Kader; then in the expedition to Mascara; and then in various other services, which gained for him the rank of captain in 1837. He joined the Duc de Nemours and General Damrémont in an expedition to Constantina in that year, during which he was wounded. Returning to France in 1839, he received the decoration of the Legion of Honour, and an accession of rank. Another period of service in Africa then awaited him; from 1840 to 1850, he was engaged in an incessant scene of warfare in every part of Algeria, serving under Cavaignac and other generals, and executing many achievements requiring courage and address. In 1850, he came once again to France, receiving decorative honours, the rank of general of brigade, and various duties connected with the armies of France. In 1853, he became general of division; and in 1854, he was appointed one of the generals under St Arnaud in the war in the East. Raised to an onerous command at the age of forty-six, Canrobert briefly addressed his soldiers at the period of St Arnaud's death, and then set himself earnestly to the study of the arduous work before him.

SEBASTOPOL, AND ITS VICINITY.

Never was there battle-ground more requiring attention on the part of those who would read and understand the struggles which there occurred. The struggles were so numerous, so varied, so interrupted by hills and ravines, so dependent on surprises, that every little valley or eminence has

acquired an historical interest. A district little less than a hundred square miles in area became, during the war, virtually one fortified town, post, or position, all the principal points in which were occupied by one or other of two hostile forces.

To define the region thus indicated, let the reader suppose a straight line to be drawn from the village of Inkermann to the village of Balaklava. This line, about eight miles in length, would run almost due north and south, and would cut off a peninsula from the rest of the Crimea. Inkermann, or the bridge near it, may be regarded as the head or upper end of the harbour of Sebastopol, while Balaklava stands on one side of the small landlocked harbour of the same name; so that the sea washes every part of this peninsula, except on the landward line above marked out. The westernmost extremity of the peninsula is a point or headland called Cape Chersonese, which forms the third angle of the triangle. The east side of this triangle is a rugged bare line of country, descending steeply to the Valley of the Tchernaya; while the other two sides are formed of coast-line, indented with many inlets or small harbours. Taking the inner end of Sebastopol harbour as a starting-point, where the river Tchernaya enters it near the bridge of Inkermann, we find the harbour to extend east and west, with a length of about four miles, and a breadth varying from half a mile to a mile. On the north side are several creeks, named Golandaya, Pianota, Soukhaya, &c. ; while on the south shore are creeks or inlets which run somewhat further into the land, and which are familiarly known as the Careening Bay, the South Bay or Inner Harbour, and the Artillery Bay. Emerging from the harbour, and following the line of coast a little to the south of west, the coast is seen to be deeply indented with inlets, imparting a broken appearance to this side of the peninsula. First is an inlet called Quarantine Bay; then Chersonese Bay; next, Streletska or Arrow Bay, much deeper than the other two; and to this succeed, in order, Pestchanaya or Peschana Bay, Kamiesch or Cossack Bay, and Kazatch Bay, besides intervening bays of smaller magnitude and importance. The jutting promontory of Cape Chersonese being passed, the coast-line bends suddenly to the southeast, presenting a cliff so bold, rugged, and close to the shore, that no inlets worthy of notice are found until Balaklava is reached.

Now, the triangle thus delineated, the sides of which may be roughly taken at about eight, ten, and twelve miles in straight lines, corresponds nearly with the peninsula called by the ancients the Heracleotic Chersonese, or the Peninsula of the Heracleans. The Allies during the war, in forming their several trenches, earthworks, headquarters, and other military works, came frequently in contact with mementos of those Heracleans of early days.

It must be numbered among the many remarkable features, historical and topographical,

presented by the Crimea, that the Heracleotic Peninsula was the home of a flourishing colony during no less than twelve centuries. Of the Bosphoric kingdom at the eastern extremity of the Crimea, a little has already been said; and it is now necessary to bear in mind that the southwestern extremity was likewise the territory of a community of Greek origin, wholly distinct from the former. At the commencement of the sixth century B. C., a body of Heracleans, from the Greek colonial town of that name in Asia Minor, on the southern shores of the Black Sea, set sail across the sea to the Crimea, and established a sub or branch colony in the peninsula now under notice. They built a wall, remains of which still exist, between the two points now known as Inkermann and Balaklava, to mark the boundary between their colony and the regions inhabited by the Tauric semi-barbarians further east, and to defend themselves from inroads. The classical myths relating to Iphigenia and Orestes are connected with this portion of the Crimea. It was no myth, however, but an historical fact, that the Heracleans built a city on the westernmost part of the peninsula, the promontory washed on one side by Kazatch Bay, and sometimes called the Peninsula of Phanari. So ancient was this city, called Cherson or Chersonesus, that it was in ruins at the time Strabo wrote, about the commencement of the Christian era. Nothing now remains of this old city but scattered stones and the foundations of walls; yet has it been interesting to mark that the French, in forming their offensive and defensive works against the Russians, frequently made use of stones which had belonged to walls and houses on the same spot 2300 years earlier. Whether natural or political causes brought about the decay of old Cherson, there appears to have been another city built, having the same name, and situated a little to the west of the present Quarantine Harbour of Sebastopol, the distance between the new and old Chersons being five or six miles in a straight line. This second city became large, beautiful, and powerful. The Heracleans commanded most of the trade on the north shores of the Black Sea, and were enabled to resist many political storms which engulfed their neighbours. The Bosphoric kings, jealous of the Heracleans, or, as we may perhaps term them, the Chersonians, frequently attempted to crush their power; but unsuccessfully. Even when the Romans had subdued the Bosphorians, and had themselves yielded to barbarous tribes in the countries north of the Black Sea, the Chersonians still remained a united and trading people.

Relics of the works constructed by these old Chersonians are strewed over many parts of the peninsula. Portions of an ancient fortress, some old walls, and several beautiful Ionic capitals, were existing near Sebastopol at the time when the Russian war began. Near the remains of the newer or second city are many mounds in which pottery was found; while at another spot,

near the head of the present Quarantine Harbour, are tombs excavated in the rocks. On the south coast between Balaklava and Cape Chersonese, on a rugged precipitous cliff overhanging the sea, was once the Temple of Diana, the temple in which Agamemnon's daughter officiated as priestess; the site is now occupied by the modern Greek monastery of St George. The wall of the second city, about two miles in extent, and built of limestone, was five or six feet in thickness, with three towers, a gate of great magnitude, and a guardhouse; the French found on the ruins of one of these towers, inscriptions denoting that the tower had been restored A.D. 491. Lines of stone and earth still mark the site of the principal street and market-place of the city. There are also remains of houses running along the cliff next the sea, of steps cut in the cliffs from the houses down to the sea, of a landing-place, of an aqueduct, and of a well-all within a mile or two of the since celebrated Sebastopol. The remaining portions of the Heracleotic Peninsula were mostly occupied by gardens and orchards, the boundary-walls of which are yet traceable.

When the Roman, the Bosphoric, and the Chersonian powers declined in the Crimea, the interesting old city of Cherson became a prey to many other nations and tribes. During the Byzantine period, the emperors of Constantinople frequently afforded aid to the Chersonians, to protect them against the inroads of barbarians; but those inroads became at length too formidable to be resisted. The Goths occupied the peninsula during many centuries, but were not likely to leave many relics behind them. Khazars, Tatars, Turks, Russians, all have in turn exercised control over this small but important spot. Perhaps the most remarkable circumstance in the history of Cherson and its vicinity, since the time of the Greeks, is that the Russians held it at two periods nearly 800 years apart. Vladimir, the Grand-duke of Russia, during one of his wars with the Greek emperors of Constantinople, besieged Cherson A.D. 988, cut off the supply of water from a neighbouring spring, and forced the inhabitants to capitulate; in gratitude for this conquest, Vladimir became a Christian, converted Cherson into a Christian city, and built many churches and other handsome structures. The late Emperor Nicholas ordered researches to be made among the ruins of Cherson, regarded as an early Russian city; and as a result of the examination, there were brought to light the foundations and part of the walls of three Christian churches, one of which had evidently been constructed from the remains of a Greek temple, perhaps the Parthenon of ancient Cherson; for there were numerous Ionic columns, capitals, and bases, built into the walls. After this early Russic period in its history, Cherson was destroyed during a war between the Muscovites and their neighbours; and never since has the venerable city been other than a heap of ruins.

Such are the extraordinary associations which

mark the spot where the English and French took up a military position in the month of September 1854. The French, partly by design and partly through inadvertency, carried still further the destruction which the old city had suffered. When the Turks took the Crimea about the year 1475, they found at Cherson empty houses and deserted churches, from which they removed the finest marbles for their buildings at Constantinople; but even a century later, there were vast remains of beautiful palaces, churches, and monasteries, belonging of course to the Christian period of Cherson. The Russian authorities, during the late war, expressed a real or pretended indignation against the French, on account of an explosion among the ruins of one of the churches-probably accidental, but which the Russians chose to attribute to a wilful design of insulting the orthodox faith. English writers, on the other hand, advert indignantly to the manner in which the venerable Cherson has been despoiled by the Russians. Mr Danby Seymour says: What the Turks and the Tatars had spared, was taken by the Russians when they built Sebastopol. Sailors were sent to collect materials, and no ancient remains were respected the walls and fine gateways which still existed were pulled down to build the Quarantine; and when the Emperor Alexander issued orders to stop this vandalism, the ruin of everything precious had been already consummated. The last remains of works of art, which Lieutenant Cruse had collected with persevering industry, disappeared after a detachment of soldiers had been lodged in the ruins for a few years at the time of the plague.'* Of the same tenor are Mr Scott's remarks: One cannot walk among the ruins of Chersonesus free from profound regret and indignation that so many beautiful relics, which even the Tatar had spared, should have been utterly destroyed by the barbarism of the Russian soldiers. Much of this appears to have been done from sheer wantonness, and subsequent to the period at which the government had given orders to preserve what then remained.'†

One of the few structures on this remarkable plateau, yet remaining in a tolerably complete state, is the Greek monastery of St George, near which the Russian government erected a telegraph in recent years. This monastery, with its greendomed church, its terraces and gardens, is near the edge of a cliff several hundred feet above the level of the sea, and only to be approached by a zigzag path cut in the face of the cliff.

The inlet now known as the Harbour of Sebastopol, and called by the Tatars Kadi Liman, is by far the most important part of the coast of the Heracleotic Peninsula, in so far as concerns natural advantages. Yet it does not appear to have been occupied by any important town, until the Russians obtained possession of the Crimea in the last century; for we find no record of anything better than

Russia on the Black Sea, p. 161.

+ Baltic, Black Sea, and Crimea, p. 329.

a collection of miserable huts, forming the Tatar village of Akhtiar, at the north-east corner of the harbour. The extraordinary natural advantages of this spot, as a great naval station, attracted the notice of the officers under Catherine II.; insomuch that in 1780, shortly after the Russian conquest, the foundation-stone of the new town of Sebastopol was laid. Having no other than military and naval objects in view at this spot, the government cared not for commercial or manufacturing arrangements; hence Sebastopol became entirely a government town, in which every proceeding had direct relation to imperial projects. In the first year of their occupancy, the Russians built houses for invalid seamen; and in 1794, when Pallas visited the town, and when it was only ten years old, he found that the Admiralty, the Arsenal, two churches, four ports or havens, with a number of defensive forts and batteries, had been constructed, and that a vast and complete plan was being steadily followed. The successors of Catherine worked out this plan year by year.

Sebastopol, or Sevastopolis-the 'august city'was built on a chalky stratum, varying from 30 to 200 feet above the level of the beach. This elevation, with the steep coast on the opposite or north side, defends the harbour in a most complete way. The harbour, the length and breadth of which have been already noticed, varies from three to eleven fathoms in depth, having abundant water in several places for ships of the greatest magnitude. magnitude. It has scarcely a rock or shoal throughout its whole area. At the extreme inner end, where the Tchernaya* and a small rivulet enter it, the depth is insufficient for shipping. The harbour, as well as the small inlets contained within it, is protected from all winds by the chalkhills which surround it; insomuch that it is only during gales from the west that the shipping is exposed to any danger.

In describing the town and fortifications of Sebastopol, this peculiarity presents itself that the description must be in the past tense. The bombardment by the Allies before the capture, the cannonade by the Russians from the northern side when the southern was held by the Allies, and the systematic destruction which followed, almost extinguished Sebastopol from the list of towns; while the Russian defences, enlarged incessantly during the siege, imparted to the fortifications almost a wholly new character. The best way, therefore, to render the details of the siege intelligible, will be first to describe the town and the fortifications as they existed shortly before the war, when additional defences had not yet been commenced. Taking the descriptions by Scott, Oliphant, Koch, Danby Seymour, Russell, and other eye-witnesses, we may be able to form a judgment concerning the arrangement and appearance of Sebastopol in the years 1853-4.

The full name, Tchernaya Retchka, is equivalent to the Turkish Kara-su, Black-water' or Black-river; but the abbreviated name of Tchernaya or Tchernaïa, is generally adopted.