Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/104

74 Council of wau at skbastopol. C H A P. IV. llie cneni}.s ileet dining the landing and off Cape Loukoul — the carelessness of their cruisers, which have not yet captured even one of our steamers on the Black Sea during the whole summer — the carelessness of the Allied admii'als, who have allowed our squadrons to cruise freely ill sight of Sebastopol, and missed an (opportu- nity of attacking the Three Holy Fathers, which lay aground on the *.Uh of June for above twenty-f(iur hours out of rearh of our batteries — wdio have even allowed the steamer Tainan to leave Sebastopol and to cruise, caring little for the countless steamers of the enemy, on the lines by which the Allies communicate with the Turkish poits, — all this plainly proves that against such an enemy success is nut impossible.' From the tenor of what the speaker next said, it is to l)e inferred that he was interrupted at this ])oint by an expressed or aiiticijiated sugges- tion, importing that the time tor a bold iri'uptiou into the midst of the enemy's great armada was surely on the moi'ning of the Mth, when the ships were still encumbered with troops, and the crews engaged iii the business of the landing ; for the rest of Korniloffs address seems meant to answer an objection of that kind; but the speaker, as I judge from his words, became con- fused by his endeavour to go on recommending a desperate entei'prise, when lu; found himself forced to acknowledge that the right time far a venture of the kind had been suffered to pass.