dently the vessels that left Sevastopol in the morning were flying before the allied squadron. In the Invalide' and other 6 papers there were continually articles stating that the Allies were preparing to make a descent in the Crimea for the purpose of destroying Sevastopol, which, it was said, presented too many difficulties to attack it from the sea. In this case I cannot understand why Menschikoff occupied himself so little with fortifications of the south side. The tower on the Malakhoff hill was finished on the 18th of August. It was built of stone, and of two stories; on the upper story were five guns, two twenty-four pounders and three sixteen pounders, while on the lower story were only loopholes for musketry. Besides this tower to the south of Oushakoff ravine (Plan II., 21), an earthen battery of twelve guns (Plan II., 22) had been constructed, as well as another of eight guns (Plan II., 23) behind the sailors' barracks. These works were not connected in any way. The batteries marked on the Plan 5 and 6 were connected by a dry wall 14 foot thick and 3 feet high, without any ditch and with earth thrown up on the outside; the former of these batteries (5) was a stone tower mounting three guns, and the other mounted about fifteen. On the north side had been added a masked battery (Plan II., 24) between Fort Constantine and the tower of Volkhoff (Plan II., 10 and 15). These were the only additions made to the fortifications before the 13th of September, and these were done by the gangs of convicts of the town. On the 30th of August the 16th division arrived from Odessa with three field batteries of twelve guns each; the strength of this division of 16 battalions was about 14,000 men and 540 artillerymen. About the same time four regiments of Cossacks arrived, each about 800 men strong. About the end of August Totleben arrived at Sevastopol for the purpose of defending the town. On his arrival Menschikoff invited him to examine the existing defences and give his opinion on them. Totleben afterwards told the Prince that he would take the town in three hours with two divisions of infantry and field artillery. This answer is said not to have pleased the old diplomatist. On During the five months I had now spent in the Crimea I had only twice seen Prince Menschikoff while under arms, and both these occasions were attended with accidents of a serious nature. one occasion he inspected our brigade with the 4th and 5th light batteries, the 6th battalion of sappers, and the 12th battery of horse artillery. He rode up to us with a frown on his brow, which was not encouraging to the soldier. We marched past in files of companies at a quick march, and then in columns, after which the battery of horse artillery was ordered to advance at a gallop, then halt, and unlimber! but as the ground was on the incline, the horses could not stop the guns; two drivers fell and were crushed under the wheels. There was a large assemblage of spectators on the ground, as so large a body of troops had never before been seen near Sevastopol, and at the sight of the corpses of these two unfortunate men cries of pity were heard from all sides of the crowd, which appeared greatly to affect Menschikoff. Thus ended our first inspection. Another time we were led by the Prince to the mouth of the river Belbek, where he placed us in a position to oppose a descent of the Allies, which proves that the descent was fully expected, and in this place. The horse of one of his aides-de-camp stumbled and fell, and as the aide-de-camp had a drawn sword in his hand, he fell upon it, and died of the wound in about four hours. These events do not appear very significant compared with those grand events that were to follow; but the Russian soldier is very superstitious, and on seeing these two accidents all exclaimed, "This man will never do to command us, for he has nothing but ill-luck." It was evident that the soldiers did not like Menschikoff, as was shown after the battle of Alma. He never interfered in anything, but left every arrangement to the men under his command, who were consequently able to fill their pockets with impunity. In the mean time the General of Division frequently inspected us, and drilled the men in marching without ever taking the trouble to ascertain whether the men knew how to load or fire their pieces, or anything about skirmishing, which are absolutely necessary for every man to know, in order to be of use in war-time. But the Russian generals, or at least a large portion of them, seem to think that if their men can march well, with their toes pointed and their bodies inflexible, the main object is gained. But it has been of late repeatedly proved by experience that this is not enough. During the summer we had a gay time of it in the town-balls, theatre, promenades on Sundays and holidays, when the band played on the boulevards (Plan II., 6), though I must say that the naval officers enjoyed more of these pleasures than we did, as they were better known and more considered than we were as officers of the line. CHAPTER II. TO THE BATTLE OF ALMA. -- Approach of the enemy-Spirit of the troops Menschikoff's arrangements-March to the Alma Achievement of a naval captain - Expedition to the village of Ulukul, and its resultsGeneral Kiriakoff's bad memory - Evacuation of Eupatoria Easy mode of capturing guns Position on the Alma- Condition of Russian soldiers - Modes of treating them - Position of the Allies — The night before the battle. ON the 13th of September there was a rumour among the officers that an enormous fleet of the enemy's vessels had appeared off Cape Lucula, and that on board the ships a large body of troops had been remarked. Many of the younger officers expressed extravagant joy at the idea that God had given our enemies over into our hands; the soldiers were also rejoiced at the news; they were burning with impatience to meet the enemy face to face, as well as for a change in their monotonous lives. Some few of the officers became sick, and required to be sent to the hospital, but the number of these was small. I must say that I looked forward to fleshing my maiden sword with pleasure, and |