ch Jack now heard. It
was very important to gain exact information as to the present state of
the harbour of Sebastopol and the forts protecting it, for there was
every reason to believe considerable alterations had of late been made.
As soon as the news of the massacre of Sinope had reached England, the
Government sent out orders to the admirals to enter the Black Sea, to
stop every Russian ship they met, and to prevent by force, if necessary,
any fresh aggression on the Turkish flag, that no repetition of such
atrocity might occur. As war had not yet been formally declared, it was
necessary to inform the Cabinet of Saint Petersburg and the Governor of
Sebastopol of this resolution. Captain Drummond, commanding the
_Retribution_, a steamer of twenty-eight guns, was accordingly ordered
to proceed to Sebastopol, and to deliver the despatches to the governor.
In order to make the necessary survey, he was to remain there as long
as he possibly could without allowing his design to be suspected by the
Russians. It was the middle of winter; the weather, as is generally the
case at that time of the year, was very thick. This was favourable to
the design. As he had a good chart of the coast, he stood boldly on,
keeping the lead going, till he made his way between the two outermost
forts into the mouth of the harbour, when he came to an anchor before he
was discovered by the Russians. Great must have been their astonishment
at seeing an English frigate thus boldly bearding them.

The fires were kept banked up, so that she might, if necessary, make her
way out again, should the Russians venture to fire at her, of which
there was a very great probability; indeed, it was said that the guns in
the forts were actually loaded, ready at a moment to sink the audacious
intruder. The instant the anchor was dropped, the boats were sent out
to take the necessary soundings, while an accurate survey was commenced
of both shores of the harbour and the forts, with the number of their
guns which guarded the entrance. The fortifications were indeed of a
most formidable character. On two sides of the harbour eleven forts and
batteries were counted; one, which appeared to be the key to the entire
works of the place, had its guns concealed from view, but in the other
ten no fewer than 722 guns, mostly thirty-two pounders, were counted,
half of which pointed seaward, and commanded the approach to the
harbour; and the other half commanded the