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our own cor

WE cannot afford to be out of fashion, and therefore, taking the hint from our diurnai associates in the work of catering for the tastes of the reading public, we also shall engage respondent," to fill an humble part in the task of enlightening the world on the proceedings in the East, to which attention is, very naturally, so anxiously turned at the present period.

Although we are following, by the act of publication, the course in which others have led the way, the matter afforded by our correspondent will precede their efforts, and will commence with observations of two months back, which circumstances have hitherto caused to be withheld, but which it is hoped have not entirely lost their interest.

If our readers expect a counterpart of the brilliant scenes and remarks that shine through the letters of "our own correspondent in the daily papers, they will be disappointed; but en revanche, our correspondence will have certain peculiarities and advantages of its own. While it will be able to glean facts from the camp, it will also have the power of penetrating into the recesses of the harem: and from this no scandal need be inferred, for " our own correspondent," like the finale of a pretty charade on the word "justice," written by an esteemed friend, "may be of either sex."

This variety of information will, it is hoped, compensate also for any deficiency in those flights of fancy in which divers correspondents "whom none can call their own," have been indulging lately in the interesting columns of the morning papers. Our correspondent cannot pretend to point out to us any extraordinary anomalies, such as struck our eyes in a recent letter, which gave us the intelligence that there were abundance of eggs in the country near Gallipoli, but no fowls! This statement bewildered us, and we look in vain for an explanation. Nor is our correspondent inclined to draw invidious comparisons in favour of French management in so cunningly enforcing a very low tariff on every article of consumption, since, to an unenlightend mind, it does not appear that such measures will tend to cause the markets to be very abundantly supplied. Neither can he commiserate in pathetic terms the dreadful hardships sustained by our gallant troops, or rather officers, (for the poor corporal writes like a man,) in the want of fresh butter for their breakfasts, or the temporary scarcity of tea. Nor is he surprised, as others seem to have been, that there was no Regent Street to be found in all Gallipoli, where their moderate wants can be supplied.

But, without further preface, let us proceed to offer some extracts from the letters we have received up to the present time; hoping hereafter to lay others before our readers.

In the month of February, 1854, we left England for Constantinople. As time was an object, and as we had no faith in the pacific moods of the Bay of Biscay, (for although many of our friends assure us that that sea occasionally resembles a mill-pond in placidity, we have never, in any of our frequent visits to it, chanced to behold it in that happy state of quietude,) we resolved to make the best of our way to Marseilles, and there to embark for Malta and Constantinople.

At a later period this course was proposed for a certain portion, if not for the whole, of our cavalry and field artillery; and, although prudential motives occasioned an alteration in that intention, our observations would lead us fully to believe that the undertaking would have been in a great degree successful; that the poor horses would have been spared some suffering; that our men would in general, with their usual good feeling, have listened to the injunctions to refrain from misconduct, and particularly from excess in drink; and that the French soldiers and people were quite prepared to have received them with friendly courtesy.

Paris is too well known to require comment; but we would, en passant, record our admiration of the Empress of the French, with her gentle and affable manners, her sweet smile, and graceful appearance. She is very pleasing and amiable in her reception of strangers; particularly so, as every Englishman is inclined to think, to his own especial countrymen. She speaks English perfectly, with the exception of the occasional want of recollection of the proper word to express some particular meaning. The engraved portraits of the Empress, although very like, do not do her justice. Although tall, and with a very intelligent countenance, nothing can be more feminine and gentle than her delicate features and complexion: finally it is undeniable that she is exceedingly pretty.

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The smooth gliding monotony of a railway journey, so wanting in materials for the pocket-book of the publishing tourist, is broken, at present, in proceeding to Marseilles from Paris, by the large between Châlons on the Saone and Avignon, in which itself there is a formal division at Lyons. The luxurious traveller may post through this interval in some six-and-thirty hours; the mass have the perplexities of the choice between boat and diligence, each, or a combination of the two, requiring various removals of luggage and troublesome endeavours by nice calculations to make the hours of arrival and departure conveniently coincide; for unhappily for those who may be in a hurry, the boat or diligence, as the case may be, is invariably despatched an hour, or perhaps par comble de malheur, only half an hour, before the arrival of the other conveyance. These arrangements are made with such ingenuity that it becomes very difficult to elude them in any way; there is a promise that all this chicanery will be put an end to, or will at least be greatly diminished, by the completion of the lines of railway that are in progress along the route.

The troubles, delays, and difficulties, however, of the land journey through France, enable the traveller to appreciate more fully the ease and comfort of the voyage from Marseilles to Malta

in a fine vessel, on the most beautiful of seas,-had we not been in haste to reach our destination, we should almost have experienced a feeling of regret when the white buildings of Valetta first shone on our sight, and warned us that one part of our voyage was

over.

While there is little of incident or anecdote to be found at Malta, it is a place full of interest to the soldier, the political economist, or the statesman. With a magnificent harbour, most judiciously made a free port, and in the centre of the Mediterranean, it is admirably circumstanced for a great entrepôt for trade, and for a coaling depôt for steamers; the natural energies of the inhabitants are well adapted to the position, and there are few places in the Mediterranean that exhibit the bustling activity and prosperity of Malta. It is pleasing to see the vast number of superb houses of which the city of Valetta is composed, occupied by families who, to all appearance, have means appropriate to such residences. The imperial government of Great Britain exerts no oppressive act of rule over the island; which, while it enjoys the benefit of being a part of a great commercial power, suffers no deprivation in not being absolutely independent. The Maltese ought to be, and probably are, sensible that they would have much to lose and nothing to gain by any radical change in their lot; one only cloud hangs over and threatens Malta, in the shape of religious feuds. The population is ultra Roman Catholic, the mass unenlightened, and the priests exercising unbounded control over them; the British residents are Protestants. Reason would say that the state religion of this island should be considered Roman Catholic, the Protestants requiring only perfect freedom and right for the exercise of their own forms of worship; but the more zealous of the latter demand a power of interfering with the feelings (or prejudices, if you choose to call them so) of the Maltese. With the greatest respect for the cause, we cannot but deprecate this violent and injudicious mode of enforcing its tenets, as likely to create turmoils and ill-will among a community that in every other respect has all the elements of harmony and prosperity.

To the military man (especially if he be an engineer) a visit to Malta will be very instructive-there work has been added to work for the last three hundred years, with all the art of succeeding periods. The fortifications have been carried to the enormous extent in which they are now found, not so much from the effect of caprice, as on account of the character of the warfare for which they were originally designed; that is, to afford the protection to the greatest number of the inhabitants against being carried into slavery by any sudden incursion of their Mahometan enemies. Their immense extent gave rise to the retort of Napoleon when the Commandant complained of his taking away so many of the guns: "With such a quantity of fortifications, what can you want with guns?" The efforts of the British engineers have been to reduce them to some moderate amount of development, so as to secure the essential points in a more compact and substantial manner than before, and abandon the rest; by this means, the defence will be

come practicable by a garrison of moderate force. By good armaments, and well-considered arrangements, this fortress is become one of very great strength, and if the thorough good-will and hearty co-operation of the population be retained, may be considered almost impregnable.

In passing Malta at the present bustling period, it is impossible not to be struck with the merits of the great triumvirate there; the Lieutenant-Governor, the General, and the Admiral, are really patterns in their respective stations, and have the additional merit of working together in the most perfect harmony.

At the Dardanelles we first come into contact with the Turkish authorities, and from the commencement have reason to calculate upon their hearty good will. Suleiman, the military, and Djemail, the civil, Pacha of the Dardanelles, are courteous, and most desirous of forwarding every arrangement for the common cause, while the British find an invaluable support in the zeal, intelligence, and influence of their Consul, Mr. Calvert.

Both Djemail and Suleiman Pacha may be looked upon as favourable specimens of the liberal and enlightened Turk; the former is a poet of some celebrity in his own country, and even his common conversation is remarkable for the prettily-turned compliments and poetic images with which it is adorned. A lady of our party, on being asked her opinion of Turkey, replied that all she had seen was beautiful and agreeable; on this being interpreted, Djemail Pacha remarked, "The lady sees everything, then, as if in a mirror."

Suleiman Pacha gave us a great dinner during our stay at Sultanich (the principal town of the Dardanelles), and it proved to be a most civilised and magnificent entertainment. The only difference perceptible between the Turkish dinner-party and those of the French and English, consisted in the vast number of dishes, and in the singular order, or rather disorder, in which they were brought to the table; there is, however, as much difference between the French and English, in the order of precedence which they assign to the various dishes, and, doubtless, our arrangement would appear as strange to the Turks as theirs does to us, each nation having its own particular opinion as to whether fish should be eaten before meat or after sweetmeats, and other minor points of taste of the same description.

The crowning dish of every Turkish feast is the pillauf; when forty or fifty dishes have passed round in quick succession, and when the once hungry guests have gone through the different degrees of repletion, until they literally can eat no more, the master of the house calls for the pillauf, and this is the signal of the conclusion of the feast. On the occasion to which I allude, however, a sumptuous dessert was placed on the table, wine was handed round, and toasts were given, and speeches were made, with all the solemnity and ceremony of a Lord Mayor's banquet in Guildhall.

Here, also, a pretty compliment was paid to one of our party, a distinguished General, who, in returning thanks for the honour

done him by drinking his health, concluded his speech by saying that now old, he had begun his military career by fighting in the cause of the Turks, and that his most earnest desire was to end it by another campaign with them against Russia, the common enemy of all Europe. Djemail Pacha immediately rose, and said that he could assure the General on his own part, and on that of all the other Turks who surrounded him, that there was not one present who would not gladly give five years of his own life, could they be added on to that of the distinguished officer who addressed them, and for whom they felt such affection. This "sentiment" was loudly applauded, and responded to by cries from all sides of "Peki! peki!" (very good).

The most impressive applause, however, was that which followed any good wish expressed for the success of the Turkish cause. "Inshallah!" (please God) was the exclamation which issued from the lips of every individual present, and was repeated and echoed until the whole room rang with the sonorous cry, and the English caught the enthusiasm, and shouted "Inshallah!" with the same hearty good-will as their Moslem allies. I must allow that the Turks fully returned the compliment by the energetic manner in which they joined in the "Hip! hip hip! hurra!" which followed any particularly popular toast, and which they probably looked upon as the expression of some moral sentiment equivalent to their "Inshallah!" without which they believe no wish can be fulfilled.

At the conclusion of the toasts, we returned to the drawing-room, and ended a very pleasant evening by the never-failing chibouque and coffee, without which no ceremony, convivial or solemn, of business or of pleasure, can take place in Turkey. Suleiman Pacha has a very good military band, which played a variety of national airs while the dinner was going on; it is directed by the principal Aide-de-camp of the Pacha, a young man of the name of Kadiré (which name signifies in English, I am told, " merciful sir"). Kadiré is an excellent musician, and has composed some very pretty airs.

The two Pachas of the Dardanelles, like most other public functionaries in Turkey, take great interest in the state of public opinion and affairs in England, particularly when connected with those of their own country. Mr. Calvert, our excellent Consul, takes the English papers regularly to them, and interprets, for their benefit, the debates in both Houses of Parliament. They are especially delighted with Lord Palmerston's oratory, and numerous exclamations of " Peki, Palmerston!" burst from them, after hearing one of his speeches. They enjoy also the clever caricatures in Punch, in the greatest degree, and readily appreciate the wit of the allusions.

On leaving the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles, we proceeded to Gallipoli, now so well known through its occupation by the allied troops.

Gallipoli, a town said to contain 10,000 or 12,000 inhabitants, is at the northern end of the Straits of the Dardanelles, and at the