CHAPTER XIII.

SCUTARI.

1855, January 2nd. FROM every one coming down from Balaklava, one hears different accounts as to what is going on; but all agree in saying that the army is in as wretched a condition as it can be, and the daily average of sick is fast increasing. At Balaklava there is plenty of warm clothing and some huts; but from wrong management they have not yet got them up to the camp. The French, on the other hand, are partially hutted and snug, with abundance of provisions. A French countess was staying at Misserie's, and

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AVERAGE OF CASUALTIES.

she said the other day-" in England you are very rich, and you buy expensive luxuries and send them out to your troops, but they do not get them-while in France, we are not so rich-we buy common things for our soldiers, and they do get them-and that is what makes the difference."

The deaths at Scutari now average twentyfive daily, and one thousand a week is the average of casualties at the camp. The sick are being brought down here in great numbers, even faster than accommodation can be provided for them. I fully expect that the greater part of the army will pass through hospital, and the number of deaths will be immense. We have nothing but bad weather to look forward to for the next two months, and in what state the army will then be it is painful to think. Where, even now, is that magnificent and unequalled army which was assembled here last summer, the pride of every Englishman, and the admiration of all who saw them? Some are left, a few comparatively have perished by the hand of the enemy, but by far the greater number have perished

from disease, consequent upon neglect and mismanagement. I hear daily-hourly-no end of stories about the mistakes and incapacity of people in office, but I do not choose to record things I do not know to be correct.

In the camp mud is everywhere, and lots of misery. No locomotion practicable except on horseback, and all the horses dying, as they say, from cold and starvation! The Turks, too, are dying in great numbers, from a sort of fever they have among them; not that they are any very great loss to us, but they might be put to a better use.

There can be no place where one spends so much time and money as in Pera, and getting so little return for either. The streets are always dirty, cold, and damp, for they are so narrow that at this time of year the sun never shines upon them, and the wind rushes through them like a tunnel.

5th.-Snowing fast all day, and the ground covered. Should the snow be deep in the camp, and remain for any time, it is quite possible that our army may be very short of provisions, as they will not be able to get them

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OPINION OF THE FRENCH.

up; besides, the extreme cold will knock up an extra number of them, with such weakened frames and constitutions as they have got, and insufficient clothing and shelter. A French officer said to a friend of mine yesterday"Your army is magnificent-officers and soldiers are first-rate-but your staff is good for nothing; and the men are now perishing from their inability and neglect." I myself constantly hear Frenchmen saying that our army is admirable, but they always express a contempt for its management. Of course the junior staff-officers had no more to do with the shortcomings than I had, and are exempt from all blame or censure.

6th. Over to Scutari. The mortality is greatly on the increase, chiefly from diarrhoea and dysentery. There is also typhus fever. The men are much too crowded.

One of the great wants at Constantinople and at Balaklava is an agent, solely to receive, take charge of, and forward parcels for public purposes, and for officers; at present, there is no one to do it, and very many parcels sent from England never arrive at their destina

tion-most of them not until long after their time, when they are frequently too late to be of use. There are now parcels without end lying in the Custom-house at Galata, and any one could steal them by a judicious application of 'backshish' to the douaniers; but the great difficulty is to find the particular package sought for, as the place is so crowded, that it may be buried under vast piles of goods, and be absolutely inaccessible. As there is no proper agent to look after them, there they remain, although their contents may be most urgently required. It is a great mistake for people in England to imagine that all the parcels they dispatch come safely to hand. They are put on board a ship, addressed to the care of some merchant or other, Constantinople. If he chooses to receive them, he does so, and puts them in his store, taking no further trouble; if not, they are sent to the Customhouse. At Balaklava it is as bad, or worse. Parcels and packages, without end, are taken up there in steamers, and never landed, because there is no one to receive them. Wooden huts, huge bales of clothing, &c., are stated

VOL. I.

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