The next stage of the war is difficult to anticipate,
and depends a good deal upon the actual strength of Hobart Pasha's fleet. If the Russian Government is confident that this can be sunk or kept out of the way, it is probable that an army will land at Varna, when Eyoub Pasha must retreat in fear of a Sedan, but it is more likely that Russia will advance by land, and her army may even be called, in the first instance, the Army of Roumania. Of the capacity of Eyoub Pasha's force to resist this new attack it is difficult to form an opinion, in the direct conflict of evidence. According to one account, that army is in high spirits, well provisioned, and only wondering why it is not at once led to Belgrade ; while according to another, it is badly provisioned, suffering from dysentery, and out of heart at the weather, which has become cold and wet. The Arab contingents in particular are said to be suffering. Our impression, gathered from many sources, is that there is disease, and hunger too, in the camp before Alexinatz, but that the Regulars are fairly fed and fairly healthy, they having the power of endurance undoubtedly belonging to hereditary teetotallers. They are, however, far too few to resist a Russian army in addition to the Servian forces, and their retreat, from defective transport, will be most difficult.
