ed at the
appointed rendezvous, but as yet the point at which the troops were to
land had not been selected. Next morning Lord Raglan accompanied Sir
Edmund Lyons, with several English and French engineer officers, on
board the _Caradoc_, which, after passing the mouth of Sebastopol
harbour, steered round Cape Chersonesus and looked into Balaclava,
surveying those heights ere long to become the scene of many a bloody
conflict. Returning northward, she steered close into the shore, the
generals looking eagerly out for a fitting spot on which their legions
might land. A low, sandy beach was at length perceived near Kalametra,
with two lakes beyond it. It was exactly the spot Lord Raglan desired.
Late in the evening the _Caradoc_ returned.

During the two following days the French and Turkish vessels, which
could be seen scattered in the far distance, came slowly in; and now it
became known that the long looked-for enterprise was at once to be
commenced.

Early on the 13th the fleet came off Eupatoria. A small party, with an
interpreter, were sent on shore to summon the town to yield at
discretion. The _Tornado_, with other steamers, being close inshore,
Jack sent Jos Green, with Tom and Archie, to obtain some fresh
provisions. They found the old governor a strict disciplinarian,
protesting against the strangers landing without having performed
quarantine, and he insisted on fumigating the missive sent him before
reading it. They might capture the town, to that he had nothing to
say--he was not there in a military capacity, but what he had to do he
intended to do in strict accordance with his orders. As all the
military authorities had run away, and only a few invalid soldiers
remained, no resistance was made, and Eupatoria became the first place
occupied by the British troops in the Crimea.

Jack, having obtained some Russian coin at Constantinople, was able to
purchase provisions. The Tartar inhabitants, finding that they could
bring their produce to a good market, were perfectly ready to part with
whatever provisions they possessed.

The fleet, now proceeding southward, came to an anchor in a line
parallel with the shore, the English to the north, the French and Turks
to the south, about five or six miles to the north of the Balaclava
River. During the night of the 13th it was arranged that a buoy should
be placed, to divide the English and the French fleets, in the centre of
the bay. When morning dawne