Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/506

500 out many places of interest. With considerable animation he told how for twenty years after the war the ruins of the city remained pretty nearly as they were when the Allies evacuated the Crimea; whole squares of what had once been fine buildings were nothing but heaps of stones. But now Sebastopol is being restored to her former beauty, and every year large areas of the ruins are making way for new structures.

"Sebastopol will be a greater city than it ever was before," said Doctor Bronson, as they stood on the Malakoff. "It was a naval port before, and not a commercial one; now it is both naval and commercial, and by glancing at the map of the Black Sea you can perceive the advantages of its position."

Then the guide pointed out the new dock-yards and barracks, the warehouses and docks of "The Russian Company of Navigation and Commerce," the railway-station close to the shore of the harbor, and the blocks of new buildings which were under construction.

Then he showed the positions of Inkermann, the Tchernaya, and the Redan, and indicated the lines of the French and English attack. When the scene had been sufficiently studied, the party returned to the carriage and continued their ride. The driver was instructed to go to Balaklava, stopping on the way to show them the spot which history has made famous for the charge of the Light Brigade.

As they passed along the level plateau or plain of Sebastopol, they saw everywhere traces of the camps of the armies that besieged the city. The guide showed the route of the railway which connected the harbor of Balaklava with the camp, the wagon-roads built by the Allies, the redoubts that served as defences against attacks in the rear, and the ridges of earth which marked the positions of the huts where officers and soldiers had their quarters during the terrible winter of 1854-55.

Naturally the conversation turned upon the charge of the Light Brigade. One of the youths asked the Doctor what he thought of it.

"There has been a great deal of controversy about the matter," was the reply. "It is difficult to arrive at the exact facts, as Captain Nolan, who brought the order for the cavalry to advance, was killed in the charge. Comparing the statements of all concerned in issuing, receiving, and executing the order, it is evident that the order was 'blundered' somewhere. This was the understanding immediately after the controversy; Tennyson's poem on the affair originally contained the following: