NEWS OF THE WEEK.
ARMENIA has become for the week the point which attracts at- tention, by the signal defeat of the Russians at Kars. We have
as yet only the most incomplete accounts, with statistics of the loss on either side that perplex more than they enlighten. The Turks appear to reckon a loss in killed and wounded for themselves of between 700 and 800, and a gross loss for the Russians of about ten times that amount! The statement that 4000 muskets were left on the field looks specific, but it does not really enlighten us
much. The most tangible fact is, that the Turks had proved bet- fthters than the Russians. It is true that they were Awed by .1-ozlishmen ; but if as yet the Turk is not sufficiently in- structed to know the business of an officer, or the capacity of his own materials—if the officer trusts to Allah and reposes on his hookah—there is at least still the good stuff of the soldier in the men ; and when they have guidance and government they are capable of self-defence. This victory confirms accounts which we have had through private channels of the excellent morale pre- vailing amongst the besieged. One letter mentioned that they had been reduced to quarter-rations, with salads culled from the mis- cellaneous herbage of the fields ; but they retained their hopeful- ness of spirit, and we see their efficiency in action. We must not, however,jump to the conclusion that Kars ha been already " re- lieved." On the contrary, General Adourav ff boasts to the authorities at St. Petersburg that he has reeatablis,d a stria blockade. The new facts from the Crimea are, the retrogrUaemovement of .the Allies from the valley of the upper Belbek, and the bombard- ment of Mobutu. We learn from General Simpson that general De Sallee intended to make strong reconnoissances in the direetiOn of -the- Katcha. That these movements were subsequently made, vie know from the messages of Prince Gortsohakoff, who met them by reinforcing the Russian post at Albat ; and that the Allies afterwards resumed their position above the Baidar valley, we learn from the same authority. The real intentions of the Gene- rals are still well concealed ; and the " gentlemen of the press" in the camp, accustomed to report and speculate upon them, are evidently " at fault." But on one point the veil has been lifted np. On the 7th instant, Brigadier Spencer's brigade of the Fourth Division, 3500 strong, and probably three times as many French troops, embarked—for Odessa as it was reported at the time, but really, as events have shown, for Kinburn. After remaining at sea for several days, they were disembarked near Kinburn, a fori situated on a point of land forming the South shore of the estuary of the Dnieper. At the same time, the Allied steamers and gun- boats bombarded the fcirt- itself; with what success, perhaps the war authorities at Nicolaieff will shortly communicate. Kinburn on one side, and Oezakoff on the other, guard the narrow entrance to the estuary of the Dnieper. The water is shallow, but deep enough for gun-boats. This estuary forms the high water-way to Nicolaieff, situate at the confluence of the BOug antl the Ingoul, and to lihersen, -which itands at the mouth of the Dnieper, its front oovered by a maze of islands—in fact, an inci- pient delta. The operations in this direction may be regarded as aimed at the main communications of Russia with the Crimea : but the obstacles in the way of the Allies are formidable, 'and at this season of the year insuperable. Nevertheless; it is something to display a menacing force so close to the enemy's great Southern road.
