mediately the action commenced. After an action of half an hour one frigate blew up, an hour after two others met the same fate, and in about two hours and a-half all the squadron were put hors de combat. One corvette alone remained at anchor, but in a crippled state, and the Russians endeavoured to tow her off as a prize, but finding that she was making water fast, they set fire to her, and she was soon destroyed. At the commencement of the action a Turkish steamer, which was anchored in shore of the Turkish squadron, got under way on a signal from the Turkish Admiral, and endeavoured, by running along shore, to gain the offing. The frigates, and for a short time one of the line-of-battle ships, made sail after her, and fired broadsides at her, but she effected her escape, and was the only vessel which escaped from the disaster of the day, and brought the news to Constantinople.

The following is the Russian account of the affair, as published in one of the St. Petersburg journals:

"Vice-Admiral Nachimoff, while cruising off the coast of Anatolia, saw in the harbour of Sinope a division of Turkish vessels of war. He would have run in on the following day, but his intention was frustrated by foul weather. He dispatched the war steamer Bessarabia, to Sebastopol, to announce the presence of a Turkish squadron in the harbour of Sinope,

"When this news reached Sebastopol, the Ville de Paris, Grand Duke Constantine, and the Tri Sviatitelia, of 120 guns each, were placed under Rear-Admiral Novosilski, and ordered to proceed

towards Sinope, and effect a junction with Rear-Admiral Nachimoff's squadron. In the meantime a favourable breeze had sprung up, and Admiral Nachimoff went with three men of war and one brig to reconnoitre the harbour of Sinope. He ascertained the exact position of the Turkish squadron, which consisted of seven frigates, one war sloop, two corvettes, two transport ships, and two steamers. These ships lay at their moorings in a semicircle along the coast, but prepared to form in line at any moment, no matter from what quarter it might blow. Five batteries were on the coast; their position corresponded with the distance between the Turkish vessels.

"The junction of our two squadrons, under Admirals Nachimoff and Novosilski, was effected in the course of the night of the 27th of November, and on the 28th Admiral Nachimoff issued an order of the day, in which he declared his intention, as soon as the weather should allow it, to attack the enemy in two columns.

The column on the right was to be under Admiral Nachimoff's command, who hoisted his flag on board the Empress Maria, and who, besides this vessel, had under him the Grand Duke Constantine and the Tchesmé; while the column on the left, under Rear-Admiral Novosilski, was composed of the Ville de Paris, Tri Sviatitelia, and Rostislaff, men-of-war.

"At 9 A.M., on the 30th, a favourable breeze sprang up. It blew from east-north-east, and the Admiral signalled to the fleet to clear for action and run into the harbour of Sinope. The vessels of the two columns, with all their canvas spread to the wind, bore

down upon the Turks, who, owing to a dense fog, saw them only when they had advanced to within half a mile. Vice-Admiral Nachimoff, on finding himself at the distance of near 250 sagénes or toises from the two Turkish frigates, dropped his anchor. The Ville de Paris anchored at the same time, and the rest of the squadron, each vessel in her turn, took the places which had been assigned to them. The Admiral had scarcely dropped his anchor when the Turkish ships and batteries opened upon them; the firing was terrible, and did much execution among our rigging, but our ships returned the compliment with a continued and well-directed fire. In less than five minutes the Grand Duke Constantine had demolished the battery which was next to her guns. The Turkish frigate which lay off that battery, and which she bombarded with the Paixhan guns of her lower battery, was blown up, Shortly after wards the bombs which were thrown by the Ville de Paris, told on the other Turkish frigate, and blew her up. The latter had, however, succeeded in cutting the cables by which the Empress Maria and the Tri-Sviatitelia held on; but these vessels had another set of anchors and cables clear, and anchored again under the fire of the enemy.

"At 2 o'clock P.M. the guns of the Turkish ships were silenced. Three frigates, one of them 74 guns, with the admiral's flag on board, were burning, and of the two transports nothing could be seen but the masts. We had sunk them. The Turkish quarter of Sinope was in flames, and at 2.30 P.M. the admiral stopped the firing, and sent an officer with a

flag of truce to tell the authorities of Sinope that if another gun was fired, either from the town or the strand batteries, he should certainly bombard and utterly destroy the town of Sinope. The officer landed, and stayed above an hour, but he could not find the Turkish authorities. He did not see a single Turk; they had all taken refuge in the neighbouring villages."

When the Emperor received news of this success, he immediately addressed an autograph letter to Prince Menschikoff, in which he said :

"The victory of Sinope proves evidently that our Black Sea fleet has shown itself worth of its destination. With hearty joy I request you to communicate to my brave seamen that I thank them for the success of the Russian flag, on behalf of the glory and honour of Russia. I perceive with satisfaction that Tschesmé has not been forgotten in the Russian navy, and that the grandsons have proved themselves worthy of their grandsires."

The Turks lost in this engagement 4000 men, and the news of the dreadful slaughter excited a profound sensation throughout Europe. It was felt the more keenly, because such an act of aggressive hostility on the part of Russia was unexpected, and because the combined English and French squadrons were at the time lying in the Bosphorus, for the purpose of protecting the Turkish capital and coasts, and the attack looked like an ostentatious defiance of the naval strength of the two Powers.

The Porte immediately applied to the ambassadors for assistance, and they were urged to send the whole of the combined fleet into

the Black Sea; but, for some unexplained reason, this was not done, and only two frigates were dispatched, which sailed for Sinope, but saw no signs of the Russian squadron, which had speedily sailed for Sebastopol.

After the news of this sanguinary action had reached England, Lord Clarendon, on the 27th of December, wrote to the British Minister at St. Petersburg, and said:

"The feelings of horror which this dreadful carnage could not fail to create, have been general throughout all ranks and classes of Her Majesty's subjects in this country.

"The circumstances which have attended this disastrous affair are of the greatest importance, and with respect to them, it is necessary that there should be no misunderstanding between Her Majesty's Government and the Cabinet of St. Petersburg.

"The object with which the combined fleets were sent to Constantinople was, not to attack Russia, but to defend Turkey; and the English and French Ambassadors and Admirals were informed, that the fleets were not to assume an aggressive position, but that they were to protect the Turkish territory from attack.

"On the 27th of October you informed Count Nesselrode of the nature of these instructions, and the service upon which Her Majesty's fleet would be employed; and Her Majesty's Government hoped that that communication, made in no unfriendly spirit to Russia, would have sufficed to prevent an attack upon a Turkish harbour, which is Turkish territory.

"Had the Turkish squadron

been about to make a descent upon Secoum-Kalé, as is stated in a despatch from Prince Menschikoff to Prince Gortschakoff, which there is every reason to consider authentic; if it had been fallen in with and destroyed by the Russian fleet on the Russian coasts in Asia, Her Majesty's Government, however much they might have lamented such a disastrous loss of life, would have regarded it as an ordinary, though unfortunate, casualty of war. But the Sultan's squadron was destroyed while at anchor in a Turkish harbour, and where, consequently, the English and French fleets, if they had been present, would have protected it, and would have repelled the attack.

"The Russian Admiral, however, must have acted upon the orders of his Government, which Government was well aware of the instructions which were to guide the British and French Admirals; and Her Majesty's Government are compelled, therefore, to consider that it was not the Turkish squadron alone that was deliberately attacked in the harbour of Sinope.

'Her Majesty's Government have not abandoned the hope that peace may be re-established, for they are unwilling to believe, that any insurmountable obstacle can exist to carrying out the declared objects of Russia, in a manner compatible with the dignity and the independence of the Porte; and it would, therefore, have been a matter of sincere satisfaction to Her Majesty's Government that the combined fleets should have remained at anchor in the Bosphorus while negotiations were pending. But this has been rendered impossible by the attack on the Turkish squadron at Sinope. The intentions of the English and French Governments, which were long since announced to the Porte, must be firmly and faithfully executed. For this purpose, although with no hostile design against Russia, it is essential that the combined fleets should have the command of the Black Sea; and the necessary instructions have accordingly been addressed to the Ambassadors and Admirals of England and France. "In making known to Count Nesselrode that such instructions have been sent, you will govern yourself by the language of this despatch, and you will inform His Excellency that, in order to prevent the recurrence of disasters such as that at Sinope, the combined fleets will require, and, if necessary, compel Russian shipsof-war to return to Sebastopol, or the nearest port; and it is considered that the Turkish fleet should undertake no aggressive operations by sea, so long as matters remain in their present state."

The result, therefore, was, that so far from the Black Sea continuing to be what it was often called, "a Russian lake," not a

single Russian man of-war was to be allowed to navigate it, and the fleets of England and France kept undisturbed possession of its wa

ters.

Before quitting the subject of the Russo-Turkish war, we must briefly advert to the military operations which took place this year, on the Asiatic frontier of the two Empires, where the contest was maintained with doubtful success on both sides.

The mountainous range of the Caucasus runs in a south-easterly direction across the provinces which lie between the Euxine and Caspian Seas. To the north of this range lies the mighty empire of Russia; but she possesses on the south the province of Georgia, which she acquired in 1798. The intermediate region of Circassia and Daghestan is inhabited by brave and hardy mountaineers, whom Russia has in vain attempted to subdue, and who, under the command of a native chief, named Schamyl, have carried on for twenty years a war of independence, with marvellous success against the whole power of Russia. The conduct of the war had for some time past been entrusted to Prince Woronzow, who occupied Georgia with an army of about 25,000

men.

Three roads connect the Transcaucasian provinces of Russia with the rest of the empire; the first winds along the coast of the Black Sea by Anapa, Ghelendjik, and Souchoum Kaleh, till it enters Imeritia and reaches the valley of the Kour, in which Teflis lies. The second follows the shore of the Caspian to Derbend, known as the Iron Gates, an extensive fortified position on the coast,

which was captured by Peter the Great when he first turned his arms against Persia. The third road passes from Mosdok to Teflis by the valley of the Terek and the fortress of Duriel, through one of the most formidable passes in the world.

When war between Russia and Turkey this year was declared, the Ottoman Porte transported large military stores from Constantinople to Trebizond, on the south eastern coast of the Black Sea, and troops were pushed on to the river Phasis, where they captured the Russian fort of St. Nicholas, near Batoum, on the south-east coast of the Black Sea. The left wing of the Turkish army, which was under the command of Selem Bey, occupied the district of Bajazid to the south of Mount Ararat. Prince Woronzow intended, at the commencement of hostilities, to cross the Turkish frontier, and march against Erzeroum, which is the capital of a Pachalic of the same name, and also of Armenia, but an attack of illness prevented him from

directing the movements of the Russian army, which seems, however, to have advanced in the direction he proposed. A partial success was achieved by the Turks, near Bajazid, where their irregular troops engaged a Russian regiment, and remained masters of the field.

On the north and east of that position the Turks were also victorious in several engagements, and their great object was, if possible, to capture the strong fortress of Akhalsikh, which was ceded to the Russians at the close of the war of 1828-9, by the treaty of Adrianople, and which defends the line of the river Kour, and is the key of the Russian frontier at the extreme south-east of that empire. At one time intelligence reached the west of Europe, that this important fortress had fallen, but the rumour proved to be unfounded, and up to the close of the year it was still in the hands of the Russians, whose loss in Asia was limited to that of the fort of St. Nicholas, a small and insignificant outpost.