fortigu uu tilluniar.

Tax Cancess.—Several despatches of great interest have been received from the military authorities at the seat of war since our last impression; reporting a successful renewal of the Kertch expedition, and the occupa- tion of the line of the Tchernaya. The accounts of the Kertch expedition are very meagre, but satisfac- tory and authentic. The expedition consisted of troops selected from the English, French, and Turkish armies, the whole under Sir George Brown ; accompanied by a naval force under Admiral Bruat, and pro- bably under Admiral Lyons. The troops landed to the South of the town, on the 24th May ; and on their approach the enemy burned up- wards of 600,000 sacks of corn, flour, and oats ; blew up the fortifica- tions on both sides of the straits; destroyed as many vessels (thirty) in the port as they could, and fled. Sir George Brown destroyed a foundry near Kertch, where shot, shell, and Minie balls were manufactured. On the 25th May, the troops marched upon Yenikale; the French forming the right, the English the left wing, and the Turks acting as a reserve. The place offered no resistance ; and on the same evening, as Admiral Bruat reports, "we entered the Sea of Azoff." Up to the 29th, Sir George Brown still remained on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosphorus. The number of guns captured by the Allies exceeded a hundred, and several ships fell an easy prize. Ignorant that the place had fallen, five vessels from the Sea of Azoff, laden with corn, ran into Kertch, and were captured. The troops continued healthy.

The Allies have not been idle on the shores of the Sea of Azoff. Their steam-flotilla appeared before Berdiansk on the 26th; and the Russians set fire to four war-steamers lying there, and the large stores of grain. Next day they 'visited Arabat, and engaged the fort, blowing up the pow- der-magazine. On the whole, the cruisers have destroyed above a hun- dred sail of trading-vessels, and only one Russian steamer, of 30-horse power, was left in the Sea of Azoff. The success of this expedition is regarded as an important operation. Kertch and Yenikale are the Easternmost towns in the Crimea, and are the ports to which all the supplies derived by the .Russian army are brought from the depflts on the Sea of Azoff, 3farianopol, Berdiansk, Taganrog, and the mouths of the Don. They are also the connecting links that bind the Crimea to the Russian possessions on the Reuben and Terek, and the forts of Anapa and Soujak Kale. Therefore the occupa- tion of the straits cuts asunder this link, and secures the supremacy of the Allied flags in the Sea of Azoff. The peninsula of Kertch is joined to the other portion of the Crimea by a neck of land some twelve miles broad, lying between Kaffa and the Bay of Arabat. From Yenikale to Kaffa the length of the peninsula is about seventy miles ; and the breadth, from Cape Tchanda in the Black Sea to Kazantip in the Sea of Azoff, is about thirty-five miles. The soil of Kertch is fertile, and its buck-wheat gained the prize at the Great Exhibition of London in 1851. Arabat lies at the end of the narrow strip of sand and rock that runs between the Putrid Sea and the Sea of Azoff, and thus connects Southern Russia by land with the Crimea. The occupation of the Sea of Azoff blocks up this road : the only mode of getting supplies to the Russian army will hence- forth be by Perekop ; and that may be closed up before long, as the Allied Generals evidently contemplate a regular campaign in the open country. The day after Sir George Brown so successfully occupied Kutch, 35,000 French troops, supposed to be under General Bosquet, occupied the line of the Tchernaya; the Russians offering little resistance, and retreating rapidly to the hills. No opposition had been offered by the enemy up to the 29th May. The portion of the line of the Tchernaya thus occupied is that which lies on both sides of the main road leading to Simpheropol; their right probably resting on Tchargoun, and their left stretching beyond Traktir.

The country in their front is hilly, 'gradually rising sip to a high ridge surmounted by steep cliffs, like a wall, and running far to the East, a lower portion of the great South eaast range. Up this high ground runs the military road to Simpheropal, having on its left the high table-land which terminates in the cliffs whereon stand the ruins of Inkerman, within a long shot of the right of our position before SebastopoL As the road reaches the summit, it turns sharply round the corner of the ridge, and winds away in a North-easterly direction to Batchi Semi. At this corner the Russians have constructed batteries commanding the deffie ; and behind the ridge, concealed from the view of our army, lie a portion of the Russian forces. Except the military road, thus defended, there are only two steep goat-paths up the cliff to the right, debouching on the table-land opposite the Russian encampment, mid apparently easily de- fended by a few men. It will be seen, therefore, that nothing short of a second Alma could result from any attempt to carry the ridge; but if it were carried, the Russian position above the valley of Inkerman would be turned. There is only one other direct way of reaching the country above the Belbek,—namely, by crossing the Tchernaya near the head of the harbour of Sebastopol; but the road through the valleys is completely under the fire of batteries established on the cliffs to the North of the roadstead, and on the heights near Inkerman ruins; and on the maps it looks quite impracticable. The bloody action, reported last week, between the French and Rus- sians on the nights of the 22d and 23d, was an important success. As the reader is aware, the Russian defences opposite the main French attack upon the South and West faces of Sebastopol begin at the Flag- staff Battery, and are continued to the Quarantine Fort upon the sea. From the Flagstaff to what is called the Central Bastion, they face the South ; but there they make a wide angle, and, running off in a Northerly direction, face the West. Between the Central Bastion and the Quaran- tine Fort there is a piece of high ground, menacing the left of the French trenches. Upon this spot the Russians were constructing works, intended as a place of arms, with the view of assembling there the men engaged in the nightly sorties. General Pelissier, seeing the importance of the place, determined to carry it. This he accomplished in two encounters with the enemy; eventually driving them within their main defences, with the loss, as he estimates, of 6000 killed and wounded, but as General Gort- schakoff reports, of 2500. The possession of this high.ground, in which the French are firmly established, will enable them to maintain a flank- ing fire upon the Central Bastion and the Flagstaff Battery, and compel the Russians to evacuate the Quarantine Fort.

Two despatches from Lord Raglan have been published ; but the chief fact they announce is the reappearance of cholera. Up to the 15th May, 20 men had died of this scourge and 52 then lay sick. From subsequent information we learn that the Cholera was decreasing. Dr. Hill reports that there was a good deal of fever in some of the divisions, but that on the whole the troops were healthy. This has been confirmed by subse- quent advices per telegraph.

A large portion of the Sardinian contingent had arrived. . Our men were much struck by their soldierlike appearance; the semi-bandit:dress of the Rifles attracting great attention. French and English vied with each other in welcoming these new allies.

Kamiesch has been fortified ; another indication of an intention to take the open field. General Canrobert, on quitting his command, issued the following address to the army, announcing his successor. "Soldiers—General Pelissier, Commander of the First Corps, Resumes from this day's date the chief command of the army in the East. The Em- peror, by placing at your head a general accustomed to great commands, grown old in war and in the camp, has wished to give you an additional proof of his solicitude, and to prepare still more the successes which, believe me, shortly await your energetic perseverance. In leaving the exalted posi- tion where circumstances and the will of the Sovereign had placed me, and where you maintained me in the midst of severe trials by your warlike virtues and that confiding devotion with which you never ceased to honour me, I do not separate myself from you : the happiness of taking a closer share in your glorious fatigues and your noble labours has beeii granted to me ; and it is together, under the skilful and firm guidance of the new Com- mander-in-chief, that we will continue to fight for France and for the Em-

peror. CANROBBRT. "Head-quarters before Sebastopol, May 19."

Lieutenant-General Sir Colin Campbell has, at his own request, been relieved from the duties of Commandant of Balaklava. The military ar- rangements for the defence of the position will, however, be retained by him, while Colonel Hardinge will exercise all the general duties con- nected with the town and neighbouring bazaar of Kadikoi.

Omar Pasha was in the camp of the Allies before the expedition started for Kertch, and in frequent communication with Lord Raglan.

The electric telegraph has been carried down to Kamiesch Bay, and thence under the Black Sea to Eupatoria. The Russians, it is said, have carried a telegraph as far as Simpheropol ; but we cannot ascertain whe- ther it be electric or not.

Miss Nightingale has been seriously ill of fever at Balaklava ; but she is now, happily, beyond danger.

A capital story is told of a stratagem by which the soundings of the straits leading to Kertch were taken,—an operation so essential to the success of the expedition. "A British naval officer captured a vessel having on board a private car- riage belonging to the Russian Governor of Kertch. With this material pledge' in his possession, he sent in a polite message to the Governor, stating that the English cruiser was unwilling to deprive him of his private pro- perty, and would have great pleasure in restoring the carriage to its former owner. The offer was accepted, and the ship's boats entered the Bay of Hertel), with the vehicle on board, sounding as they went. By this means it was ascertained that Were was a passage for the small steamers to within a short distance of the coast, and the Governor's carriage made a track for the British fleet."

According to a statement of sensi-offieial character, 182,000 French troops have been sent out to the Crimea and Turkey since the com- mencement of the war. Of these, 120,000 are now available • the re- maining number represents, besides the casualties and the deaths; by ordi- nary mortality, the sick and wounded now in hospital. The Queen's birthday was brilliantly celebrated in the Crimea. "Today," said General Pelissier, in recounting the concluding combat for the Russian outworks on the night of the 23d, "today ,silste Allied armies cordially celebrated together the birthday of her Mapitty." While

they were, thusdoing honour to Queen Victoria, Sir George Brown was landing at Kertch, also on "the Queen's birthday."

RIISSIA.—As may have been anticipated, the Russians have been far from idle during the last six months, but have endeavoured to make as secure as possible all points liable to be attacked. At Riga, for instance, they have sunk huge masses of rock and immense stones in the channel, so as to render the approach to that place very difficult., if not impossible.

The entrance to Revel is also defended by a quantity of large iron spiked piles, driven firmly into the' ground, and so arranged that no gun-boat

whatever, not even one of the smallest, can pass between any two piles without striking. Another not unimportant fact is, that the Russians have succeeded in removing the greater part of their fleet, which was during the whole of lad summer shut up in Sweaborg, from that place to Cronstadt : the few ships left behind are completely dismantled. It is supposed that this movement was effected after our fleet left the Baltic last year, and before the communication between Sweaborg and Cronstadt was completely cut off by the ice. There are also some very strong earth- works erected at Sweaborg. The Emperor and his brother Constantine recently paid a visit to Cronstadt, and carefully examined all the defences. Before he departed, the Emperor gave each soldier a rouble, and, assembling the officers, spoke to this effect—

"The eyes of the whole world are again directed towards Cronstadt, that impregnable key to St. Petersburg ; that advanced post of the fortress of Peter and Paul ; that other Sebastopol, which would in its turn know how to brave all the attacks of the enemy."

In order, it is supposed, to save expense at this critical period in the fortunes of Russia, the Emperor has suppressed the court of the heir-ap- parent, and has ordered that it shall be blended with that of the Empress. That he might root out the habits of corruption existing amongst the public functionaries, the Emperor Nicholas, a little before his death, had ordered that every judgment should be made public, with the names of the offenders. This order was carried into execution on the 4th of May, for the first time. By order of his Majesty, the President of the Tribunal of Arrondissements of Nobles, Goloschtschapoff, Captain Wasffi Dolgoff, Councillor Skopinski, and the Secretary Von Nordenstern, are cashiered and excluded for ever from serving his Majesty, for sundry offences, de- ficits, and irregularities in their accounts.

THE BALTIC.—Nothing new has been heard from the British fleet; at the latest dates it still lay off Nargen. The French squadron' under Arlmiral Penaud, started from Kiel on the 21st May, to join the British at Nargen. Important operations are hinted at, but great secrecy is, of course, maintained. It is anticipated that before any attack is made upon the Russian forts, the fleet will steam up to Cronstadt, and take at least a look at the fortifications, and endeavour to ascertain what new obstacles have been placed in the way of an attack.

In order to obviate some of the inconveniences arising from the blockade, the Russians are about to connect Finland with Sweden by a road round the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, touching at Tomes. Sweden would then become a Prussia in a small way, and a new outlet would be gained for Russian commerce.

GEBBIANIL—It is now generally understood that negotiations have been finally broken off at Vienna ; but there is.such a degree of obscurity in the statements on the subject that it is impossible to feel certain of the fact. However' the meeting of the Conference without the representa- tives of Russia did not take place on Saturday last, nor has any meeting been held since.

Neither does it appear that any understanding has been come to in the Diet. On the 25th May, Count Nesselrode's circular to M. de Glinka, the Russian agent at Frankfort, was presented to that body, read by the President, and deposited on the table, without a word of comment from any side. Meanwhile, the demand for the mobilization of the contingent is suspended.

The Austrian Government, moved thereto by the act of the British Go- vernment; has distributed the protocols of the Conference at Vienna to its representatives at the German Courts. Count Buol has accompanied the documents by a circular, in which he dwells upon the fact that the pro- tocols were made public before the negotiations not then closed, had pro- duced any positive result. He states that Austria had "decided on re- commending confidentially to the attentive examination of the Courts of Faris and London new propositions, in which she saw a complete realiza- tion of the third point of guarantee, and which the Emperor our august Sovereign considered fit to be submitted to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg by way of ultimatum." This was on the 14th May. Count Bud, it is said, has also issued a circular to counteract Nesselrode's despatch to M. de Glinka.

Some opposition has been raised to the recruitment of the Foreign Legion in the Hanse towns ; and twenty-one men, about to proceed to He 'galena, have been arrested at Altona. But the case has been met by stationing one or more British men-of-war in the Elbe for the reception of recruits. A considerable supply is anticipated from Schleswig-.Hol- stein.

FEANCE.—The French Government has transmitted to its representa- tives in foreign courts a circular note which bears the signature of Count Waleveski, the new Foreign Minister, and forms a reply to Count Nesselrode's circular of the 10th May. It has been stated that this note is by the same pen with those which used to bear the signature of M: Drouyn de Lhuys ; but whether that is so or not, it has not nearly the same closeness of argument, richness in facts, facility of language, or point. It does very ably restore to accord- :lace with the truth, and with the protocols signed by all the Plenipoten- tiaries at Vienna that account of the Conferences which had been so ex- cessively perverted by the Russian Chancellor. One argument is put with great force : it is, that if the freedom of the Danube, like that of the Principalities, has at last been secured, it is by war that Russia has bee.n induced to give up the magnificent outlet which before the war she had rendered useless. "If Germany obtain this immense advan- tage for her commerce, -she will owe it to the blood shed by France and England."

Sramr.—The Carlist outbreak has not yet been suppressed. The- Cortes, in reply to a demand for additional powers made by the Govern- ment, have decided to sit in permanence until those powers are granted. Several small affairs have occurred. General Gurrea and General Serrano are in pursuit of the insurgents. The Carlist cry is "Long live the King ! Religion ! Death to heretics !" Their place of union is said to be El Campo de Romance, n the Aragon district The rebels are composed of some revolted cavalry, priests, and members of the secret Carlist societies. The Carlist chiefs are said to be in a great state of irritation on account of the bill which has passed the Cortes restricting Church influence and revenue, as well as the severe rules which the Government of France has imposed on the Spanish frontiers, so long the head-quarters of enlist in- trigue. "The movement," says a letter from Madrid, "is much more extensive than is generally believed in Madrid ; and, no doubt, foreign influence has induced the Carlist party to make the present attempt at revolution on account of England and France being engaged in a great war."

INDIA rain Curies.—The overland mail arrived on Wednesday, with advices from Bombay to the let May, and Hongkong to the 15th April.

There has been, it seems, a new revolution at Ave. The warlike heir- apparent has dethroned the peaceful occupant of the throne, who sent a Burmese ambassador to Calcutta; and he threatens us with a war of posts. Some beginning would seem to have been made already. The plan of the new monarch, instigated by the French adventurer D'Orgoni, is to burn our cantonments in succession. Since the news of the revolution reached Prome, that place has been three times in flames ; and on the last occasion, a shift of the wind alone preserved the soldiers' quarters and the magazines.

The naval force in the Persian Gulf has been strengthened by the Falkland, a war-sloop of ten guns; and there is some talk of an expedi- tion to Bushire.

Jung Bahadoor, the Nepaulese who visited London some years ago, has set out on an expedition against Thibet.

The news from the ports of China indicates considerable naval activity ; and an expedition under Sir James Stirling was about to assemble at Japan, and sail thence against the Russian settlements in the North.

NEW ZEALAND.—An earthquake, nearly as severe as that which hap- pened in 1848, has done considerable damage in New Zealand. On the 22d January, the anniversary of the Wellington Settlement—a calm, bright day—there were no indications of any approaching commotion. On the 23d, rain fell heavily, and checked the celebration ; and it was- resolved to suspend proceedings, and have an extra day. But in the even- ing, about a quarter past nine o'clock, the town was suddenly shaken by an earthquake of considerable violence. Fortunately, most of the houses were built of wood, and they suffered little damage ; but the Bank and Gaol were damaged ; the Council Chamber was destroyed ; and other brick-built edifices were throwsi to the ground. Few if any persons had gone to bed, and they had time to snatch up their children and run out of the houses. Only one life was lost—that of one of the earliest colonists, Berea Alzdorf, who was just recovering from an attack of apoplexy. Vigorous efforts were at once made to clear away the wreck and rebuild ; none deserted the town • and business soon commenced as ursuaL The shock was felt, about the same time, with more or less severity, throughout the island : many chimney-tops were thrown down ; much property was damaged; bridges were broken ; the beds of the rivers rent and ploughed up ; rocks levelled ; roads barred by fallen trees, upturned soil, deep cracks, and displaced boulders. Four natives were killed in a house at Wairarapa. The worst part of the coast-road to Wairarapa, at the Muka Muka rocks, became the best ; for the beach, after the earth- quake, extended beyond them above the level of high-water. At Neleon, only those brick buildings were further damaged which had remained un- repaired since 1848. The shocks at Lyttelton and Christchurch were se- vere, but no damage is reported. "From measurements which have since been made " says the New Zea- land Spectator' "it has been ascertained that the land has been raised to a height of from three feet six inches to four feet All the shell-fish attached to the rocks, that live below low-water-mark, in consequence of elevation of the land are dead ; and the number is considerable enough to cause a strong smell to be perceived by those walking round the East side of the harbour towards Evans's Bay. The Bally Rock off Point Jerningham, which was formerly eighteen inches below low-water (spring tides) is now about two feet above low-water. In the dividing range of hills between the Wei- rarapa and Wellington on the East side of the harbour, there have been several very heavy landslips from their summits, which are plainly visible from Wellington. The earthquake appears to have exerted great force on this range."

The shock was felt a hundred and fifty miles out at sea.