the fragile vessels in which the Goths, after tlieir conquest of the Crimea, traversed these very waters, in their piratical quest of fresh countries to plunder and lay waste. They were called camane, and were, says Gibbon, " slight, flat-bottomed barks, framed of timber only, without the least mixture of iron, and occasionally covered with a shelving roof on the appearance of a tempest." In these "floating-houses" the daring barbarians of those days trusted themselves to the dangers of an unknown sea, braved the fleets of the Emperor of the world, and, after ravaging the fairest cities of his empire, returned laden with plunder to their remote starting-place. But the modern Goths, though possessed of a fleet constructed with all the aids and appliances of western science, counting many ships of the first class, armed with metal of the heaviest calibre, have constantly declined the contest, and, shrinking behind the granite shelter of their fortifications, have permitted the tricolor of France and the immemorial flag of England to menace and insult with impunity every inch of their sea-board, and every maritime position of their empire. The heroes of Sinope have avoided every engagement under less advantageous circumstances than those which enabled them to crush by mere force of numbers a defenceless and unsuspecting foe, and the destruction of the Tiger illustrates the conditions on which alone they will take up the gauntlet thrown down to them by the Allies. No attempt was made by the Russian Admirals to interfere with the progress of the expedition. The huge fleet of transports, crowded with soldiers, and so widely dispersed over the sea that when they reached the rendezvous three days elapsed before the latest stragglers took up their position, was not only unmolested but unmenaced. A few cruisers, guided by able and enterprising commanders, and under the cover of night, might have compromised the success of the undertaking, and must have caused incalculable mischief, damage, and confusion; and the fact that no such attempt was made, while it demonstrates the prestige of the Allied Navies, will ever remain an inexplicable and ineffaceable blot in the history of the Russian Marine.
On the morning of Thursday, the 14th September, after making a demonstration towards Eupatoria on the preceding day, and leaving a small garrison in the town, which had surrendered at once on our appearance, the disembarkation of the French and British troops commenced simultaneously — a boat's-crew of the former nation having been the first to leap on shore, and plant their flag on the soil of the Crimea. The infantry was nearly all landed before the evening, but the disembarkation of the Artillery and Cavalry did not take place until the following day. The French force amounted to nearly 24,000 men, while our own mustered 27,000, distributed among the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Light, and Cavalry Divisions.
The First Division was commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke
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of Cambridge, with Major-General Bentinck and Sir Colin Campbell as his Brigadiers.
Sir De Lacy Evans had charge of the Second Division, one Brigade of which was intrusted to Brigadier-General Pennefather, and the other to the late Brigadier-General Adams.
Sir Eichard England commanded the Third Division, supported by Brigadiers Sir John Cami^bell and Eyre.
The Fourth Division was under the orders of Sir George Cathcart, the Brigadiers being Generals Goldie and Torrens.
The Light Division, under Sir George Brown, had as Brigadiers, Major- General Codrington, who now commands it, and Brigadier-General BuUer.
The Light Cavalry Brigade was commanded hj the Earl of Cardigan, and the Heavy Brigade by Brigadier-General Scarlett, the whole Division being under the orders of the Earl of Lucan.
Sir John Burgoyne had the chief command of the Engineers.
These details derive a melancholy interest from the changes which time, sickness, and death, have worked in the relative position of the gallant men to whom England, in her hour of need, looked for their services, and did not look in vain. The last of the original Generals of Division returned home the other day. The protracted struggle he had waged, with hardship, exposure, and mental harass, at length overcame him as it had done his colleagues, and compelled him to seek rest and re-invigoration from his native air. The graves on Cathcart's Hill tell a sadder tale, and render a bitterer account of many of the names just enumerated; and it fearfully realises the terrible nature of the War, to reflect how short an interval of time has sufficed to transfer those names from the muster-rolls of the Army to the eternal scroll of Fame.