reply came from Prince Menchikoff, late last night, to the letter of the allied Generals of the 8th instant, in which he states that he thinks that our Generals are misinformed about the Russian soldiers stabbing and maltreating the English wounded when on the ground. He says that it is contrary to the character of a Russian soldier, and that, although unfortunately there are in all armies men who will commit any atrocity, still it is quite the exception to the rule, and that he should doubt many instances being found of it amongst his troops. After speaking much more upon the horrors of war, and of the probability of there being men who, in the excitement of battle, allow themselves to commit acts of which, in their cooler moments, they repent, he concludes by complaining that the French have committed a great sacrilege in burning a church, at the head of Chersonese Bay, on the 5th instant, which has made the Russian troops very indignant, as it was a spot that was held especially sacred by them. Thus it would appear from the general purport of Prince Menchikoff's letter, that although he does not admit of the acts of barbarity complained of, yet he makes the burning of a church a sort of set-off against it. As regards this deed of the French, I need only

state that it was purely accidental, and, indeed, it is hardly likely that they would go and burn a building which might serve them for many useful purposes. The Court of Inquiry, which had been ordered to ascertain the truth of the accusations made against the enemy's troops, concluded its labours to-day. The charge was clearly established by the evidence of 52 witnesses, officers and soldiers; some of whom died from the wounds they had received when lying helpless on the ground, and whose evidence was taken on their death-beds. No less than 6 officers, and twice as many sergeants and privates, it was proved, had been murdered by these inhuman cruelties on the part of the Russian troops. The officers' names were as follows:-Colonel Carpenter, 41st Regiment; Captains Sir R. Newman and Neville, Grenadier Guards; Captain Mackinnon and Lieutenant Greville, Coldstream Guards; and Captain Nicholson, 77th Regiment. The 46th Regiment, about 700 strong, besides 500 men, drafts of different regiments, arrived at Balaklava, and joined their respective corps to-day. This is a very acceptable reinforcement. The French are daily expecting two divisions of infantry, equal to about 15,000 men. One of their dragoon regiments has just arrived

here, in one of our large transport steamers, from Burgas, in Turkey.

November 11th.-Rained again all last night, and up to 11 A.M. this day. I rode into Balaklava in the afternoon on duty. A great many shops had been established there, chiefly provision stores. They are mostly held by Maltese, who ask the most exorbitant prices for everything. The 62nd regiment arrived there to-day from Malta, quite unexpectedly; it musters over 700 men. A wing of the 97th regiment also arrived, and the rest are shortly expected. In all, to-day we have received upwards of 1100 men. The roads between the plateau and Balaklava are shockingly bad; at places knee-deep in mud, and almost impassable for wheeled conveyances; consequently, all the provisions and stores for the army have to be brought up to the front on baggageanimals, and of these we have not too many. cult, indeed, will be the task for the CommissaryGeneral to provide the army with its requirements during the forthcoming winter, when he has entirely to depend on animal transport. Last night, a trench for musketry was commenced; it runs about 300 yards in front of both our attacks, and is nearly 900 yards in length: in this trench are to be placed

Diffi

numbers of our best marksmen, and it is to be hoped that by this means we shall keep under the fire with which the enemy now annoy us from their rifle-pits. These they have established in considerable numbers along the front of the whole line of their works. Several deserters came in to-day; they were brought up to head-quarters, and were examined, as usual, separately. On being asked about their losses on the 5th, they all agreed that General Soimonoff and two other general officers had been killed, and from 225 to 240 other officers killed and wounded. As to their losses in men, they varied much in their statements. One said they had buried nearly 3000 men, and had 6000 wounded, but 7000 more were missing. Another told us that they had 5000 killed and 8000 wounded, but more missing. A third quietly informed us that they had lost 20,000 men. Altogether, it was difficult to come to any accurate conclusion from their statements; but, considering the numbers that we have buried and the small proportion of wounded that fell into our hands, I think their loss may be safely estimated at 15,000

men.

November 12th.---This morning, at daylight, a report reached head-quarters, that the Russians were

VOL. I.

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advancing on Balaklava in great force. Accordingly, we all turned out, but it proved to be a false alarm. It appears that the enemy, encamped near the Tchernaya, got under arms in a great hurry, with much trumpeting and drumming, and after being out about an hour, turned in again. Several more deserters came in to-day, one of them from Liprandi's corps. He was asked, what they had intended doing this morning when their troops were turned out? to which he replied, that it was thought the English were coming, but that they were very glad to find that such was not the case. It would therefore appear, if this man's statement is correct, that we and the enemy were mutually alarmed at one another. This same man informed us that the Emperor of Russia had arrived in Sevastopol! At this we all laughed, which made the Ruskie very indignant; and to convince us of the fact, he said that a comrade of his had seen him! so there appear to be as wonderful "shaves" in the Russian, as in the English, camp.

Some of the other deserters who came in from the camp on the North side, by Inkermann, said that since the battle, they had been daily employed, with other soldiers, in parties of 50, in digging pits for