of Bulgaria in a liquorless cup, vainly thirsting meanwhile, for a pint of mild porter from the adjacent hostelry.  Deep are his retainers in the enjoyment of Warden pies and lusty capons, while their too ofter empty interiors cry dolorously for three penn'worth of cold boiled beef.  Liberal is he also of broad florins, and purses of moidores, accidentally drawing, perchance, at the same time, a Lombardian debenture for his boots from the breast of his doublets.  The meat is a sham, and the wine a sham, and the money a sham; but are there no other shams, oh, brothers and sisters! besides those of the footlights? Have I not dined with my legs under sham mahogany, illuminated by sham wax-lights? Has not a sham hostess helped me to sham boiled turkey?  Has not my sham health been drunk by sham friends?  Do I know no haughty Hospodar of Hungary myself?

ONCE upon a time there lived, in one of the seaport towns of Bulgaria, an Armenian merchant, celebrated for his riches in lands, houses, brilliant stuffs, and precious stones— but more celebrated still for the possession of a beautiful daughter, whose name was Guzla, known among the youths and maidens as the Star of the East. Her fame, from a very early age, spread throughout the whole country, and she had more suitors for her hand than Penelope of old. It is said even, that a Moslem prince offered to abjure his religion for her sake; but, as she is supposed to have lived before the time of Mahommed, we may question the truth of this tradition. Her father, Boukor, often talked of marrying her to some noble person of whom he could approve, and was delighted to count up the number of times he had been able to refuse what the world called advantageous offers; but, as refusal succeeded refusal, the public began to think that he had no mind to settle her after all. However, Guzla at length determined to choose for herself; and one night, when the winds blew and the dogs howled as if there were spirits in. the air, she and Young Severin fled away into the storm.

The province of Bulgaria, which may shortly become the seat of war, is a long slip of country something in the shape of a half- moon, extending to the south of the Danube from the borders of Servia to the Black Sea, It is divided from the plains of Roumelia or Thrace by a narrow range of mountains, the name of which is beginning to become familiar in our mouths. The Balkans extend from near the neighbourhood of the city of Sophia to Cape Emineh, a distance of about two hundred and forty miles. In many places the range is not more than twelve miles across. Their southern slopes descend almost sheer to the plain like a wall; but a series of hills, divided by longitudinal valleys, extends on the northern or Bulgarian side, gradually diminishing in height, to the banks of the Danube.

Routchuk is a considerable town in Bulgaria, of some thirty thousand inhabitants, situated on a promontory advancing into the Danube. From the roofs of its houses a splendid view may be obtained over the vast winding river, which is sufficiently deep to carry merchantmen of large size. An immense number of vessels are constantly anchored along the quays. From a distance the town has a magnificent appearance; but, as usual, the streets are narrow, dirty, and dismal. The lower parts of the houses, as is the case everywhere in Turkey, are without windows. The shops are generally tolerably well supplied with merchandise. Travellers bound for Constantinople hire horses at this place, and put themselves, as we have said, under the guidance of a Tartar. The distance to Schumla is reckoned generally at twenty-two hours. The road is picturesque; and, for some time after starting, the valley of the Danube remains in sight. Between Siniouscha and Tomlak it is descried, however, for the last time from a lofty table-land. The road then enters the valley of the Lom, bordered on both sides by precipices and carpeted with verdure. As you proceed, the ground rises and the path leads across hills and valleys, here and there covered with brushwood. All this country is thinly inhabited. Now and then Bulgarian villages may be seen in the distance; but on the road are only one or two solitary Khans. The neighbourhood of hidden inhabited places is indicated by wells on the road side, from which paths lead up into the mountains. Women with jars upon their heads are sometimes seen coming down for water. The first halt is usually at Razgrad, a town inhabited by about fifteen thousand Moslems and a few Bulgarian families. As a rule, the Christians, whose occupations are almost entirely agricultural, are disseminated in small villages throughout the country. Their number is estimated at between four and five millions. The Turks, infinitely less numerous, are congregated in the great towns; but there are some villages here and there entirely Turkish. As they are generally placed in commanding positions, they are probably inhabited by descendants of old military colonies, established to keep the country in subjection. Beyond Razgrad there still continues a succession of valleys and hills. The latter increase gradually in height until, from the table-land of Buratlare, the heights of Schumla and the long range of the Balkans stretching with the uniformity of a wall behind, come in sight. A little further on the view suddenly opens to the left, and the eye, following the magnificent valley of Paravadis, distinguishes in fine weather the deep bay of Varna on the Black Sea. Crossing a steep range of hills, by a defile commanded by a redoubt —probably at present by many such fortifications —we came at length in sight of the great defensive works of Schumla, to reach which the road makes a considerable curve.

We have already described the country that lies between Routchuk and Schumla, and mentioned the ordinary calculations made as to the population of the country. Our present authority considerably reduces the number of the inhabitants of Bulgaria Proper, making them to be no more than two millions; but adds, that the Bulgarian family has pushed vast colonies into Thessaly, Macedonia, and Epirus; which accounts for the common statement—which still seems exaggerated—that they number four millions and a half. About one-third of the population of Bulgaria professes Islamism. The Turks are generally collected in cities and villages occupying important positions; but the other Moslems are disseminated all through the country. They include a colony of Arabs taken prisoners in eighteen hundred and thirty-two, during the war between the Sultan Mahmoud and the Pacha of Egypt, who are settled in the districts of Babadag and Koustengi, and furnished with everything that was necessary to carry on the agricultural operations to which they had been accustomed. This little establishment has prospered well, and the traveller is pleased, as he proceeds along the valley of Dobritza, with the sight of a large village composed of houses nicely built, and called by the people of the neighbourhood Arapkivi, or the Village of the Arabs. On the banks of the Danube, towards Silistria, there is a very small colony of Tartar Cossacks, who occupy themselves almost exclusively in fishing; but it is a mistake to suppose, as many do, that the whole province of Dobritza is inhabited by these wild people. Over its plains and valleys wander, among others, three thousand shepherds, who have come from Transylvania attracted by the richness of the pasturages, and are known under the name of Mokans. They enjoy the right of feeding their flocks without interference, in virtue of a special convention entered into between Turkey and Austria. The latter power protects them, on condition that they shall not only submit to the jurisdiction and surveillance of its consuls, but shall sell all the wool of their flocks to Austrian traders. Every individual, moreover, is obliged to pay annually to the consul a tax of four florins for his written permission to remain. This is a curious instance of the state of things which exists in various forms throughout Turkey; where there are a multitude of tribes and families enjoying a semi- independence, or forming, as it were, adjuncts to distant countries.

In the towns the Bulgarians have adopted the Greek or Servian costumes; but the peasants have a national dress. It consists of a pair of trowsers, somewhat European in aspect, without folds, and of a kind of waistcoat puckered about the waist by a red or white sash, over which is a round jacket without a collar; the whole made of a coarse whity-brown cloth, of home manufacture, called soukno. Those who want to appear a little more elegant wear a kind of jacket with sleeves slit up to the shoulder, and adorned with embroidery. When the rains of winter come on, the inhabitant of the plain has a good hooded cloak to put on, the mountaineers wear a capote made of sheepskin. Add to this, a close woollen cap, brown or black, round which a white handkerchief is sometimes wound so as to form, as it were, a half turban, and mittens made of thick leather, brown or variegated socks, and sandals (something in the form of a boat) fastened on the foot by thirty or forty thongs; and we have a complete idea of the kind of folks who may now be seen bringing provisions to the Turkish army, through the rains that are lashing the great steppes of Bulgaria.

The dance performed on this occasion at Coporani is general throughout Bulgaria, and is called Kolo. Our waggoner informed us that the chorus so often repeated meant, "Come hither, come hither, good girl." The Kolo is danced both by men and women on various occasions. When complete, both sexes join and form a circle, holding hands and moving round with the monotonous stamp common to the commencement of the war-dances of most tribes much further removed from civilization than the Bulgarians; or the Greeks, the Zigans, and the Albanians, who habitually perform the same dance. In many places it is the custom to interrupt the song by jests and merry sayings. The Bulgarian women—who are stout and short, but very pretty and jovial-looking—give life and animation to the dance more by their smiles than by their activity; for they are not nearly so light and graceful as the Greek women. However, we shall long remember our charming visitors at Coporani.

Their ignorance is the less pardonable because it is not unlikely that the roll they ate for breakfast was made from corn exported from Varna. Varna, the port of Bulgaria— the present seat of war—like many other towns along the shores of the Black Sea and of the inner basin of the Mediterranean, was, fifty years ago, a mere collection of huts. It is now important enough to be governed by a Turkish Mirmidar, or Pasha of three tails. The population consisted, even as long ago as eighteen hundred and twenty-eight, when it was captured by the Russians, of about sixteen thousand souls, of which eight thousand two hundred are Moslems; the rest being Greeks, Armenians, lonians, and a few Jews. The city contains more than three thousand houses, a good many of which are new or in course of construction. There are four mosques, three Greek churches (one of which, that of St. Athanasius, is the metropolitan), and one Armenian church. The principal Greek place of worship was rebuilt in one thousand eight hundred and thirty- eight. It contains three naves, and space enough for a congregation of above two thousand. At Christmas and on Easter day the other churches are shut up, and all the Greeks collect in or around their cathedral; the gyneceum or women's gallery of which is completely filled, and yet more than half of the fairer portion of the congregation are compelled to remain in the court-yard.

The corn trade is destined to make the fortune of Varna. It is only recently that the Bulgarians have obtained permission to export corn direct to foreign countries. Within a dozen years, a great many fortunes have been made by Greeks and lonians sent there as agents for commercial houses at Constantinople. M. Vréto, the last Greek consul at Varna, informs us that the greater number have made fortunes by taking advantage of the ignorance of the poor Bulgarian peasantry, who come down with their caravans to Varna to sell wheat. His

Then these poor Bulgarians knowing, perhaps, that there is no great demand in the market, or not being able, on account of the lateness of the hour, to go in search of another customer, in their simplicity accept whatever is offered. But this is not the end of their losses, for almost invariably a false measure is used. This measure, called sinik, is of wood, and made of thick planks. It is first submitted to be examined and stamped by the authorities, and then planed away inside so as to contain two, or three okes additional. Not content with this deception, it is rare that, whilst the measuring is going on, a quarrel does not arise between the merchant and the Bulgarian; the latter maintaining, for example, that nine siniks, and not eight, have been emptied out; but the measurer always takes part with the merchant, and fiercely tells the Bulgarian to be silent. There is no means of ascertaining the truth, because the newly brought wheat is emptied directly into the store upon piles already commenced. After all this, the poor fellows may consider themselves fortunate if they are not paid in old Turkish gold pieces, which are no longer current, or have been worn almost to nothing, and which are passed at a nominal value above that which they would bear if new. It often happens that these peasants are afterwards informed that the money they have received is of no value, and return to the merchants to have it changed, but they are always repulsed with contumely. "We have often," says M. Vréto, "observed these unhappy men complaining with tears in their eyes of the fraud that has been practised on them. In their despair they sometimes go and lay their case before the Pacha governor, who begins by making them pay five per cent, as a tax, called, in Turkish, Res-imo, exacted upon every sum claimed through the medium of the Pacha or the Kadi. It is the fear of being obliged to make this outlay with no certainty of redress that in general makes the timid Bulgarian put up in silence with all the oppression of the corn-agents." Many attempts have been made to remedy this state of things, but without success.

The forests of Bulgaria are not without dangers. Wolves and bears, and wild-boars are frequently met with. On the other hand, those who have arms procure roebucks, and hares, which they send to the towns for sale. Many kinds of winged game are also found either among the trees or on the borders of the lakelets that here and there occur. In the neighbourhood of the villages the traveller is apprised of the presence of habitations by the sight of immense numbers of poultry. The pasturage of the country is excellent for buffaloes, oxen, goats, sheep and horses. Mules, asses, and pigs are rare. The commonest kind of cattle is the buffalo, which is the most useful as a beast of burthen, gives most milk, and costs least to feed. It is estimated that there are two millions of buffaloes and one million of oxen in Bulgaria. Many thousands are annually exported to Hungary.

The social condition of the Bulgarian people has undergone a considerable change of late, in consequence of the removal of certain obstacles that existed to their progress. History will have a very interesting task, when it undertakes to describe the steps by which nations whose existence had almost been forgotten began to re-appear upon the scene. Since the Tanzimat education has begun to spread its blessings throughout all the provinces of the Turkish empire, in which were to be found races capable of receiving it. Some rich Bulgarians have recently established at Constantinople a college and a printing-office, from which issues a political and literary journal, the object of which is to introduce ideas of civilization into Bulgaria. The towns of Hellenic origin have received an impulse from other quarters, so that there is a general development which cannot but produce its fruit at no distant period.

The people of Bulgaria cannot be said to be heavily taxed, and seldom offer any kind of resistance to regular demands. The imposts are direct and indirect. Each canton pays a tax, the total amount of which is fixed by the government; whilst the primates, in the case at least of the Christians, determine how much each family must contribute. The same system is pursued in most of the European provinces of the Ottoman empire. Each district is assessed in a lump, and the people divide the responsibihty as they choose. In Bulgaria the quota of each family varies from twelve shillings to four pounds per annum. It is probable that the division is made fairly; for the primates are chosen by universal suffrage. The Cogia-bashi is also chosen amongst the Rayahs; and he, with the two primates, is responsible for the whole of the tribute. He acts, also, as a sort of justice of the peace, or rather arbitrator, among the Christians, whose disputes are never carried before the Turkish authorities, unless it has been found impossible to come to an understanding in this primary court.

the Sultan that if his assistance was required for resisting the menaces of the French, it was entirely at the service of the Sultan! In a word, the Emperor went on to observe—'As I before told you, all I want is a good understanding with England, and this not as to what shall but as to what shall not be done: this point arrived at, the English government and I, I and the English government, having entire confidence in one another's views, I care nothing about the rest.' The Emperor went on to say, that in the event of the dissolution of the Ottoman empire, he thought it might be less difficult to arrive at a satisfactory territorial arrangement than was commonly believed. 'The principalities are,' he said, 'in fact, an independent state under my protection; this might so continue. Servia might receive the same form of government. So again with Bulgaria. There seems to be no reason why this province should not form an independent state. As to Egypt, I quite understand the importance to England of that territory. I can then only say, that if, in the event of a distribution of the Ottoman succession upon the fall of the empire, you should take possession of Egypt, I shall have no objections to offer. I would say the same thing of Candia: that island might suit you, and I do not know why it should not become an English possession.' As I did not wish that the Emperor should imagine that an English public servant was caught by this sort of overture I simply answered, that I had always understood that the English views upon Egypt did not go beyond the point of securing a safe and ready communication between British India and the mother-country." The views entertained by the British ambassador and by his government, may be distinctly understood from two brief extracts. Sir Hamilton Seymour, after reporting one of his conversations with the Czar, writes to Lord John Russell: "It is hardly necessary that I should observe to your Lordship that this short conversation, briefly but correctly reported, offers matter for most anxious reflection. It can hardly be otherwise but that the Sovereign who insists with such pertinacity upon the impending fall of a neighbouring state, must have settled in his own mind that the hour, if not of its dissolution, at all events for its dissolution must be at hand. Then, as now, I reflected that this assumption would hardly be ventured upon unless some, perhaps general, but at all events intimate understanding, existed between Russia and Austria. Supposing my suspicion to be well founded, the Emperor's object is to engage her Majesty's government, in conjunction with his own cabinet and that of Vienna, in some scheme for the ultimate partition of Turkey, and for the exclusion of France from the arrangement." Lord Clarendon, in a letter to Sir H. Seymour, on the 23rd of March, writes thus:—"The main object of her Majesty's government —that to which their efforts have been and always will be directed—is the preservation of peace; and they desire to uphold the Turkish empire, from their conviction that no great question can be agitated in the East without becoming a source of discord in the West, and that every great question in the West will assume a revolutionary character, and embrace a revision of the entire social system, for which the Continental governments are certainly in no state of preparation. The Emperor is fully cognisant of the materials that are in constant fermentation beneath the surface of society, and their readiness to burst forth even in times of peace, and his Imperial Majesty will probably, therefore, not dissent from the opinion that the first cannon-shot may be the signal for a state of things more disastrous even than those calamities which war inevitably brings in its train. But such a war would be the result of the dissolution and dismemberment of the Turkish empire; and hence the anxiety of her Majesty's government to avert the catastrophe. Nor can they admit that the signs of Turkish decay are now either more evident or more rapid than of late years. There is still great energy and great wealth in Turkey; a disposition to improve the system of government is not wanting; corruption, though unfortunately great, is still not of a character, nor carried to an extent, that threatens the existence of the state; the treatment of Christians is not harsh, and the toleration exhibited by the Porte towards this portion of its subjects might serve as an example to some governments who look with contempt upon Turkey as a barbarous power. Her Majesty's government believe that Turkey only requires forbearance on the part of its allies, and a determination not to press their claims in a manner humiliating to the dignity and independence of the Sultan—that friendly support, in short, that with states, as with individuals, the weak are entitled to expect from the strong—in order not only to prolong its existence, but to remove all cause of alarm respecting its dissolution."

Lord John Russell, who had vacated his seat for London by accepting the office of President of the Council, was again Returned on the 14th inst., without opposition, Mr. Urquhart, who had intimated his intention to stand, not having done so. Lord John's speech, on being declared duly elected, related almost exclusively to the great topic of the day, the war with Russia. After having reviewed the circumstances which led to this war, he proceeded to the manner in which it is to he carried on, on which subject he made the following important remarks, which formed the conclusion of his speech:—"Let me remark, in the first place, that it was observed by a member of the House of Commons, and most truly, when we were embarking in this war, that it was not a war in which we could expect those advantages which had attended other wars; that the conquests of islands, such islands, for instance, as Jamaica and Trinidad, could not he achieved over a power like Russia. Indeed, there are none of the possessions of Russia which, if they were offered to us, I should be disposed to accept; there are none which I am disposed to covet. But, more than this, we have all venerated the glories of Nelson, of St. Vincent, and of Camperdown; but the victories which they gained were victories achieved over an enemy who came out into the open sea to meet them, and who in fair fight were encountered by the valour and the prowess of our admirals and our sailors. We have now to deal with an enemy who encloses his ships in walls of granite; who places them behind stone walls and batteries of guns, and who has never ventured to meet Dundas or Napier in the open sea. If he did, no doubt those gallant admirals would be able, in the nautical phrase, to give a good account of the Russian fleets. What they will be able to accomplish as matters stand it is not for me, it is not for any of us, to decide. All I know is, that we have given the commands to gallant and skilful admirals; that all that gallantry and skill can do they will accomplish; that they are worthy sons of England, and that we ought to rest satisfied that that which can be accomplished they will accomplish; that that which they will leave undone could not be done by human courage and human skill. But, gentlemen, we have done that which has not been done in some former wars—we have at the very commencement of the war sent a land army for the defence of our allies. You all know that our military means are far inferior to those of the great continental monarchs; that we do not pour out our eighty or hundred thousand men by conscription to swell the ranks of our army; that our army is raised solely from volunteers, and by voluntary enrolment, and therefore we never do send armies—and I do not know that the lovers of the constitution would wish that we should send armies of one hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand men into the field. But even the army that we have sent has already been the means of sending troops to a Turkish fortress which surrendered in the last war to the arms of Russia—I mean the fortress of Varna, and has thus enabled the brave and able commander of the Turkish troops to add a considerable reinforcement to his army; and, I trust, will enable him to cope with the Russians in the enterprises which they are about to undertake. Well, now, gentlemen, I have said to you that I think it should be our endeavour to obtain a desirable, a solid, and an honourable peace. Now, I should be guilty of the greatest presumption—I should be guilty of a breach of the most solemn duty, if I were to say what are the terms which, in the opinion of her Majesty's government, would make peace honourable, solid, and durable. That is a question not merely for her Majesty's government; it is to be decided along with the ally of 'her Majesty, the Emperor of the French; we may have to consult other powers, if other powers should, as I hope they will, stand by our side in this conflict for the independence of Europe. But, more than this, the exact terms of that peace must depend upon the fortune of war, must depend upon the success with which we encounter the embattled legions of Russia. My hope is, that the war will meet with the success which from its object and its motive it deserves. But this I will say, that no insufficient peace ought to be made; that we ought not to lay down our arms until we have obtained security that, having made the great exertions that we have done, that having our eyes open to the designs of Russia, and that the other nations of Europe having their eyes open likewise, we should he the most silly of mortals if we were to sign an insecure peace, which would leave it to our present enemy to bide his time until, by the dissensions of the other powers—until, by the weakness of some of those powers, he should find a better opportunity of accomplishing his design. Let us consider for a moment what that design is. I believe that, from no unfair interpretation of that which has been said by the Emperor of Russia himself, it is, that the Principalities which he now occupies, and Bulgaria, should be severed altogether from Turkey, and be held under his protection—it is, that Constantinople itself should not be occupied by the present government, or by any free government which should harbour those who might be considered his enemies—it is, that Constantinople should be, like St. Petersburg and Warsaw, subject to Russian protection and to Russian influence. I say to you at once, that such a consummation would be fatal to the liberties of England, and I ask you to aid us in opposing such a consummation. I believe that British hearts, and British courage, and British means are equal to obtain for us, in conjunction with our allies, in conjunction with the sympathies of Europe, and not of Europe only, but of the world, complete success; and I earnestly pray that God may give victory to her Majesty's arms."

Transcaucasia, the translation of a series of sketches of the nations and races between the Black Sea and the Caspian, which appears in this country before it is published in its original German, is by far the cleverest and most interesting of the productions of its writer, the Baron Von Haxthausen, Another translation from the German, the Baron Von Moltke's Russians in Bulgaria and Rumelia in 1828 and 1829, has made the English public acquainted with the most remarkable account ever written of those campaigns on the Danube which ended in the "unfortunate" treaty of Adrianople. Mr. George Finlay has published another section of his history under the title of The Byzantine and Greek Empires from 1057 to 1453. M. Van de Velde's very elaborate Narrative of a Journey through Syria and Palestine in 1851 and '52 has been translated under his own superintendence. With the title of England and Russia Dr. Hamel has compiled a history of the commercial intercourse between the two nations. The Russian of Lermontoff has supplied a sketch of A Hero of Our own Times, who has been anything but a hero to the Emperor Nicholas. And Mrs. Austin has collected a number of her most attractive sketches of German life, which she entitles Germany from 1760 to 1814.

The Mokans are wandering shepherds from Transylvania, who come down to the plains of Bulgaria and Wallachia, on permission, to pasture their flocks and herds. They are not necessarily of one tribe, or race, and are indeed joined by many free spirits, from the surrounding unsettled countries, who see in that vagabond kind of life a means of escaping the tyranny to which all stationary citizens are liable. Michal the Mokan, as he was generally called after he became famous, was a native of Bulgaria, and was born ia the environs of Sophia. Some tyrannical Pasha, when he was very young, endeavoured to seize and make a servant of him, but he escaped, and, after wandering as a beggar through Servia, at length crossed the Danube, and proceeding still northward, met a company of Mokans on their way, with herds of cattle, to the lower plains of Wallachia. He at once enlisted himself amongst them, and having been used to the care of cattle, soon was regarded as a valuable acquisition. In process of time he became a chief herdsman, and prosperously continued his annual voyages in search of pasture, sometimes as far as the levels of Dobritza.

An officer of the Light Division (whose letters have appeared in the Daily News), writing on the 2nd of September, gives interesting particulars of the embarkation: —"In spite of the adverse circumstances which have surrounded us lately, the men marched in excellent spirits, fought against debility or fatigue, sang on the road, and on Varna coming in sight gave lusty cheers, interrupted only by good-humoured sallies and laughter. 'Look down there,' cries out one fellow, 'I'm blowed if there arn't the Guards a-drinking of our share of the porter.'   'Faix,' says another, 'they say there's lots of it in that Blastherpoll we're going to take, and we won't let them have more than their share of that, any how.' 'Bono, Johnny,' says half-a-dozen to some Turk as he passes. 'Bono, Johnny,' he gravely replies; then follows a general laugh and a shout, and the Turk smiles too, as he sees there is some sort of a joke in the salutation, though what it is he evidently don't comprehend. Then tents after tents come into sight, and ships after ships in the bay below;—then the 2nd brigade comes alongside of the 1st brigade of the Light Division;—then there are more cheers;—then the regiments fall into their places, and in a few minutes more nothing is heard but the sharp hammering of hundreds of tent-pegs, and very little is seen, for the sun has set long ago, and clouds have gathered, and it is night. Keep away rain, till our cooks have made us a brew of coffee, and then, safely housed under our canvass, 'Good night to all.' The whole of the 30th, as had been the case for many days, was occupied in embarking troops of all arms, and munitions of war. The Light Division was, by the 31st, all on board. Every available space in each transport is occupied. Officers making shake-downs on tables or any vacant place, men lying wherever their neighbours will leave a bit of room, and all bearing the crowding cheerfully. Of course such crowding could not be endured for many days—disease would inevitably break out. They are all glad to leave Bulgaria, and eager for an opportunity of showing that if they have not been occupied with the enemy before this, it has not been from any want of desire on their parts. You would be surprised if you were here to witness how little anxiety —or change in every day-manners and life—is shown by the men or officers who are on the eve of such a tremendous struggle, as every one expects the attack on Sebastopol to be. The chances are calculated as quietly as if it were an approaching game at chess. It has appeared strange that, closely packed as the troops necessarily are, an addition should be made to the numbers on board by sending the women of the different regiments with them. Yet an order was issued that they should embark with their husbands in the transports —I presume, because government has made no arrangements for their being taken care of on shore. Throughout, the provision made for these wretched creatures has been lamentable. Two tents per regiment have been allowed, but as no blankets could be obtained for them they appealed for a share of their husbands' blankets and great coat. Hence ensued the practice of a number of married men and women sleeping together round the pole of a small tent—literally according to the common simile, 'like herrings in a barrel.' When regiments were encamped for any lengthened period, the officers commanding caused huts to be constructed, to remedy the evil as much as possible. No provision was made for the women when they became sick. The clothes which they brought with them have become threadbare. In every way, the condition of the women, physically and morally, has been pitiable. How much wiser and kinder it would have been to have forbidden them from taking the field at all! All the weakly men have been embarked with their regiments. The sea air will soon recruit their strength, and every one who can carry a Minié will be of service. One regiment left only twenty sick behind, and in several the numbers left have been very limited; each man, with very few exceptions, making every exertion to accompany his regiment."