gone with troops on board, but their destination is not known. The unfortunate Russian fleet is totally destroyed. It is very dangerous work in any part of the town. A few days ago a mine was sprung under a working party, and upwards of 40 men were killed and wounded, six of them being our own. A woman also who had gone down to see the town was wounded in the face and blown into the harbour. There is little firing and no real fighting at present. I received your newspaper on the 8th, which was a treat; many thanks for it. I forgot to tell you that I have kept a bit of a journal for you of what has been going on since I first landed. I am employing any spare time in writing it out afresh in a Russian book which I got in Sebastopol; it will be a curiosity. The rainy weather will soon come on, but there will be none of the severe trench duty to be done. Fuel I can get in abundance from the town; the ruins are also furnishing materials for the hut. Hoping I may have a letter from you ere long,
I remain your affectionate brother,
Alfred Bryant.”
Another Letter.
The following interesting letter is to his father, at Hastings, from G. Quaife, purser on board H.M.S. Queen of the South, and dated at sea Nov. 23rd, 1855. – “My dear Father. You no doubt will be surprised to hear that, if all is well, I shall be at Southampton a few days after you receive this letter, we having been sent home with invalids, &c. I have seen a great deal since I have been out, as I made up my mind to do from the commencement. On Monday evening, Oct. 29th we entered in Kazatch Bay. As it was nearly dark I could not distinguish what sort of a place we were in, but ascertained that we were about six miles from Sebastopol. On looking in that direction I saw the flash of a cannon on the north side, and shortly after heard the report. I experienced a strange mixture of feelings at being so near to a place which has caused so much excitement during the last year. We soon after heard a puffing noise and saw a number of lights approaching us, which turned out to be a part of the fleet returning from Kinburn. In the morning I was up early to have a look about. I found we were in a bay, with the land low, but rising in the distance to mountains of great height. The French have the harbour at Kazatch, and we have a small bay outside, near Kamesk, which nearly joins. To the left we could see the forts of Sebastopol quite plain. They fired very heavily at times, and at night the shells bursting in the air looked very grand. The day following being very fine, our chief officer made up his mind to have a sail-round to the mouth of the harbour. I having gained permission to go, took my seat with two ship’s officers and one of the army, but as the-
