Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/60

 34 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. CHAP, together, inclining towards tlieir left. No one ^' was with them. They rode on till they came to one of those mounds or tumuli, of which there were many on the steppe. From that spot they scrutinised the enemy's position with their field- glasses. At this interview no change was made in that portion of the plan which determined that the French should turn the enemy's left ; but the part to be taken by the English was still in question, and St Arnaud threw out or revived the idea of a flank movement by the English on the enemy's right.* Lord Kaglan, however, now gazed upon the real ground which the French counsellors of the night before had striven to scan in their im- aginations, and, having an eye for country, he must have begun to see the truth. He must have begun to see that the French, hugging the sea- shore, and pouring two-fifths of their whole force against the undefended part of the opposite heights, would not only fail to confront the whole Russian army in the way promised by the sketch, but would in reality confront only a small portion of it, leaving to the English the duty of facing the enemy along two-thirds of their whole front. Of a certainty he did not entertain for a moment the idea of making a flank attack, but it was not according to his nature to explain to men their errors, and it seems he spoke so little that St Arnaud did not yet know what the English General would do;* but presently, Sir George • fnferreil from what follows.