nials and formalities which they might have escaped if they had been civilians and private citizens and gone direct from Constantinople to Sebastopol, as so many idlers and amateurs had done; but, having presented themselves in an official capacity, they could do no less than bear its burdens and encumbrances; and so they went on to St. Petersburg, where they arrived June 19. A few extracts from a letter written by Captain McClellan to his younger brother-now Captain Arthur McClellan the day after his arrival in the Russian capital, give some of his first impressions of the country and people:

"We left Warsaw at six P.M. on the evening of the 13th, and reached here at about the same hour last evening, having travelled constantly day and night, merely stopping a few minutes for meals.

"In Poland the country is either flat or slightly rolling, the soil improving as you approach the Niemen, but in many places very poor. There are no towns of any consequence on the road, which, you will observe, passes near the Prussian frontier, but many villages, which are generally of wood and presenting a dirty, squalid appearance. The villages are mostly inhabited by Jews, -as dirty and wretched a race as you ever saw,-worse than any you ever saw. The appearance of the Poles is any thing but favorable; they look like a stupid, degraded race,are dirty and ugly. It is difficult to imagine how they ever fought as they have done in the past. Ostrolinha was the site of a great battle in the revolution of 1831. It is a small wooden town on the Narew (Nareff), which is here a rapid stream some fifty yards wide. A large monument commemorates the victory gained by the Russians. Kouno is a town of good size, mostly built of plastered brick. A portion of it is very old, while the new suburbs

are handsome and well built. It presents the appearance of a flourishing place, there being many small vessels in the Niemen, and immense trains of carts constantly arviving here from the interior of Russia. They bring down tallow, hemp, &c., and carry back cotton, groceries, &c. As the Niemen empties in Prussian territory, a glance at the map will show you the importance of this place whilst the Russian ports are blockaded. The Niemen is here two hundred and twenty yards wide,—a bold and rapid stream, crossed by a raft-bridge. It was near and at this place that the great mass of the French army crossed the Niemen in June, 1812; and it was at the gate of this same town that in the retreat Marshal Ney fought so desperately, forming in his own person the rear-guard of the Grand Army. Of course I went to the spot during the short time we remained here. You now enter the great forests of Russia. As far as Vilkomir there is but little cultivation, the country being mostly covered by pine and beech forests. I should have mentioned that in the public square of Kouno there is a huge iron monument, bearing in Russian an inscription to the effect that out of seven hundred thousand French who crossed the Niemen in June, 1812, but seventy thousand recrossed in December. As far as Dunaburg (on the river Duna, or, as some of the maps have it, Dwina) the country is quite rolling,—almost broken; very different from the idea I had formed of it. You pass through a number of small towns and villages. 'Dunaburg appears to be a small town, presenting nothing of peculiar interest. There are some defensive works here.

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"Before reaching Dunaburg, we passed through one town (a small one, perhaps hardly deserving the name of more than a village), called Novo Alexandrowsky, which is remarkably pretty. It is situated on the high banks of a large and handsome lake broken by little green islets. The houses and people were remarkably good-looking.

Rigitza is also a pretty little place: there is here a ruined castle of long, long ago. Country now not so much rolling as near Dunaburg, but still by no means flat: it is fertile and well cultivated. Ostroff is another handsome little place: the road here crosses the river on a very fine suspension-bridge; and on an island in the river is a very extensive ruined castle, perhaps of some of the Teutonic knights. Pscov, near which we passed, seems to be especially blessed with churches, the gilded domes of which shone from afar. The country near here, and, in fact, from here to St. Petersburg, is low and level, the soil generally good, sometimes poor, and sometimes very fertile.

"Pscov is the capital of a province, and at the head of a large lake. Near Ploosa is a swampy district of considerable extent, and many large lakes. Nothing of very great interest until one reaches Gatchina, where is the huntingpalace of the Emperor: it seems to be a very grand establishment. From there to this city the country is very flat, the soil not very good, but settlements increasing as you draw near.

"The general appearance of the portion of Russia I have seen is much superior to that of Poland; and I like the appearance of the people very much.

“This is truly a most magnificent city,-wide streets, fine private houses, magnificent public buildings. Thus far I have, of course, merely had a glance at the exterior of things, and will not pretend to describe any thing, more than to say that it fully equals my expectations. We are very comfortably fixed at the Hotel de Russie,-good rooms, good meals, plenty of ice, &c.

"The road from Warsaw here is truly a magnificent one, -especially the portion of it in Poland. It is all macadamized; and they are now hard at work improving the Russian part, so that in a couple of months it will be throughout as fine a road as any in the world. Think of

the immense length,-one thousand and seventy-four versts, or seven hundred and sixteen miles!

"So great is the traffic upon it at present that it is literally covered from one end to the other with trains of wagons passing in both directions. The trade which formerly passed down the Baltic now seeks its outlet into Prussia by this route.

"So great is this now that it seems hardly possible that Russia can feel the effect of the blockade very sensibly. New channels are opened, and immense additional numbers of men, animals, and capital are now employed in the land-transportation.

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"June 20 and 21, Midnight.—I write this paragraph in my room by the natural light,—no candle or any thing whatever: you may imagine the darkness of the night here."

During their residence at St. Petersburg, the officers of the commission were treated with much courtesy by the civil and military authorities, and all possible facilities were afforded to them for examining the various military establishments in the vicinity. They were presented to the Emperor, at his request, and graciously received by him. But they did not succeed in obtaining permission to go to Sebastopol, because the officers in command there had requested that no strangers should be permitted to come there, as such visits occasioned them a great deal of embarrassment; and though the Emperor, of course, might overrule such objections, yet he felt bound to defer to the strongly-expressed wishes of officers placed in such responsible positions. Nothing could be urged in reply to this; and, disappointed as they were, they could not, as

military men, fail to respect the Emperor's deference to the views of his subordinates.

On the 19th of July the commission proceeded to Moscow, and examined whatever was of interest in a military point of view there. Hastening back to St Petersburg, they left that city on the 2d of August, and arrived at Berlin on the 25th, having in the interval observed the fortifications and defences at Königsberg, Dantzig, Posen, and Schwedt. At Berlin the various military establishments in that city and at Spandau were carefully inspected.

From Berlin they determined to go to the Crimea by the way of Dresden, Laybach, Trieste, and Smyrna, and found themselves at last on the line of operations of the allied army at Constantinople, on the 16th of September. To the courtesy of the English naval authorities they were indebted for a passage in the first steamer that sailed for Balaklava, where they arrived on the morning of October 8. Here every possible facility and kindness, official and personal, was extended to them by the officers of the English army, including Sir George Simpson, the commander. It was hoped that the French Government would relax the rule they had laid down in the spring; but the new authorization to visit their camps and army, received at Balaklava, contained substantially the same condition as had been before exacted, and the commission could not avail themselves of the permission to which such terms were attached. The result was that they confined their examination to the camps, depots, parks, workshops, &c. of the English, Sar