Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/315

 FOR THE INVASION. 285 carried the Fury * in so close to the shore that chap. the coast could be reconnoitred with great com- '_ pleteness. The officers came to the conclusion (a conclusion afterwards overruled, as we shall see, by Lord Eaglan) that the valley of the Kat- cha was the best spot for a landing. We saw that the Czar's withdrawal from the Rumoured Principalities would deprive the German Powers the ikns oi of their main ground of quarrel with Ptussia, and that our plan of engaging in a great marine ex- pedition against Crim Tartary would cause Aus- tria and Prussia to despair of all effective support from the West, thus driving or tending to drive them into better relations with Nicholas. Before the 28th of July there were signs that this change was beginning to set Russia free from the sti'aits in which she had been placed by the unanimity of the four Great Powers ; and tidings which reached the camp at Varna made it appear (though not with truth) that the Russian com- mander had not only suspended his retreat, but was commencing a fresh movement in advance. To deliberate upon this supposed change in the character of the war, a conference was held at the French headquarters, and was attended by Mar- Lyons simply directed Tathani ' to take the ship in as before,' and that, this direction having been duly complied with, Lyons found upon coming on deck the next morning that the Fury was already ' close in.' Captain Tatham, a few days previously, had carried the Fury in so near to Sebasto])ol as to come to au exchange of shots with a part of the Kussian fleet, and it was on that account that Dundas selected the Fury for this service.
 * It seems that before retiriug to rest at night, Sir Edmund