English and Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 389, 26 July 1856, Page 7

English and Foreign.

OUR ARMY IN THE CRIMEA.

(Correspondent of the " Daily News.") Ciunp before Sebastopol, March 8The weather has been more trying and se=vere since the last mail lei't than during any week perhaps, since the commencement of the winter. We h.ive had instances of more intense cold, but none of such a rapid series of changes j n temperature, force and direction of wind, and general atmospheric disturbance, as the last four days have presented. We appear to be now paying for the advantages enjoyed at the commencement of this winter season, for, as may be recollected, the cold weather set in nearly three weeks later than in the preceding year. On the other baud, March, 1855, as compared with what has transpired of thepresent mouth, was marked by warm and line weather, and no heavy fall of snow occurred after February.

'.On the night of Monday last, March 3 4, there were heavy squalls of wind, uccompanied by rai;i, the wind blowing from a westerly direction. The following morning the wind changed to the northward, and a very heavy fall of snow followed. The temperature fell greatly, and shortly after sunset the thermome-

ter indicated only II deg. F. Snow storms continued all night, and on Wednesday the sth, the whole surface of the plateau and neighbouring hills was buried in the deep snow. The uniform whiteness, vyhere no trees, no tracks, nothing but the lines of wooden huts offered themselves to break the monotony of colour, was painful to the eyes, more especially when the sun at intervals broke through the low, misty clouds which swept vapidly along, and thievv a dazzling glare over the scene. The unbroken' whiteness was all the more striking by contrast with the usual brown colour of the mud which forms the surface of the soil, and which has seldom so wholly disappeared. Th'j marks of the road were gone, from the ditches having been tilled up by the drift, so that few carts attempted to move out ; and from the deep holes in the ground \vh;nce stone luis been quarried having become filled up in the same way, it was a matter requiring no slight caution to go over the plain on horseback. About a foot and a half of snow seemed to.have fallen, judging from the depth in places protected from the -vind. At 6 a.m. ou the oil), Fahrenheit's thermometer showed only 8 deg. above zero, but the mercury rose as the day advanced. Still the wind, which veered a little to the eastward, remaining very biting and severe. On Thursday, the 6ih, the wind changed suddenly to the south, the temperature rose, and the snow began to melt vapidly. This day was very stormy, the wind amounting at intervals to a gale, and the sky being covered with thick clouds, while occasionally there fell showers of rain mixed with snow. At night the wind grew more violent, and rain fell so heavily that after a few hours , the greater part of the snow on the plateau had disappeared. The ravines leading towards the roadstead of Si.-bastopol became swollen rivers, the waters rushing along with Considerable fVrce and a loud noise. Yesterday, the 7th instant, a

liiinge again occurred; the wind resumed its

old quarter in the north, and some more snow fell. The day continued frosty and cold, but the utmostphere has now assumed a calmer and more settled position. The severe character of the weather put a stop to all hut the mixt necessary duties, and nothing has occurred in the. camps worthy of being chronicled. The line of the aqueduct, as it winds from the opening at Tehorgoun, along the side of the FeiHoukine. heights, and then under the cliffs on the Sebastopol side of the Inkennann valley, has been fixed upon as a boundary beyond which the British troops are not to pass, and strict measures are adopted to enforce this regulation. Before the snow fell the Russian soldiers were taking advantage of the armistice, and employed themselves very busily in collecting the coarse grass which grows on the sheltered part of the Tchernaya and Inkennann valleys near the river, but, as in our camp*, the sharpness of the weather which shortly followed seems to have driven them to seek the shelter of their huts, for very few have been seen near the outposts.

The demolition of the Karabeltiaia barracks was continued on the Ist inst., the explosions being confined chiefly to the spacious vaults or magazines beneath one of the wings, and to a few Modes of masonry which it was necessary to throw down. Nothinir now remains of this magnificent pile of buildings but the outer walls, and some poriion of the partitions which serve as buttresses to support them. The walls which faced the great quadrangle are reduced to irregular heaps of stones, extending in long lines, and mixed with beams and planking of floors, or the timbers and sheet-iron carried down from the roofs. The single upright walls which remain on the north-west and south aspects of the inclosure with the clear sky visible through their long lines of window openings, offer a curious spectacle of ruin. All the detached buildings within the area, used as stores, office, cooking-phices, &c, which were very extensive and numerous, are also now destroyed. The warehouses and extensive wharves of the Karabelnaia creek remain undisturbed, and, as before mentioned, the foundations of the new admiralty buildings have yet to be destroyed, as well as the masonry facing the lofty terrace above.

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel K. Mackenzie, 92nd foot, assistant quartermaster-genera! at Balaklava,is expected to leave to-morrow for England, to convey documents and afford evidence connected with the statements in the report by Sir John M'Neil and Colonel Tulloch, implicating the administration of General Sir Richard Airey while acting as quartermaster-general in the Crimea. Colonel Muektnzie who is generally regarded as a particularly active and zealous officer, was moved from the Light Division to Balaklava towards'the latter partfof the winter of 1854-5, and has continued ever since discharge in<r the duties of the quartevmaster-srenevars department at that port. It is also understood that Col. Wetherall, who was serving formerly in the quartermaster-general's department under Sir Richard Airey, has been telegraphed for to go to London, but that his duties as director general of the Land Transport will prevent him from leaving the Crimea at present.