Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/480

 450 FORESHADOWS OF COMIXG TROUBLES. C 11 A P. XV. Lord Rag- lan's receji- lion of tlic warning. Steps taken by Lord Raglan. His letter to the Home Govern- ment : in ]>rosivr-t of the a]!- ]iroaching winter. interpreter had said. L(jrd Uaglan's reception of the statement was such as to assure nie that lie had seized the full import of INfr Cattley's warning. Then, at all events, if not before, the grievous- ness of the calamity -which awaited his army, if indeed, it should be brought to such straits as to have to winter on the Chersonese, was very present to the mind of Lord Eaglan. He called upon Mr Cattley for a report in writing upon the climate of the Crimea ; and, having obtained it, proceeded to write thus (in private) to the Sec- retaiy of state : ' We have been fortunate in liav- ' ing very fine weather, and ]Ir Cattley encourages ' us to hope that this may last till neaiiy the ' middle of next month. Then we must be pre- ' pared either for wet or extreme cold, and in ' neither case could our troops remain under can- ' vas, even with great and constant fires, and the ' country hardly produces wood enough to cook ' the men's food. I enclose a memorandum on ' the climate of the Crimea which Mr Cattley drew ' at my request two days ago. It shows what ' precautious the inhabitants and the Russian ' troops are obliged to take during the severe ' months of the winter for the preservation of ' their lives.' In the memorandum thus for- warded by Lord Eaglan to the Home Govern- ment, Mr Cattley, after describing the winter of 184:3 in the neighbourhood of Sebastopol, went on to say : ' In such weather, no human creature ' can possibly resist the cold during the night un-