The Russians had profited by the change in the plans of the Allies. Prince Menschikoff had moved his army upon Batchiserai on the 24th and 25th, in order to regain his communications with Perekop and the eastern part of the Crimea, whence, as he knew, large reserves were approaching to succour the cherished city of the Czar. He hoped to place himself in rear of the Allied armies, which, he supposed, would attack the northern works of Sebastopol, and preserve his position there until he was strong enough to fight a battle for the relief of the place. When the attack of the Allies on his rear-guard, and intelligence from Sebastopol of the capture of Balaclava, revealed to him the change of plan, he was persuaded by Korniloff's remonstrances to move at once from Batchiserai and take up a position on the Katcha, whence, on the 1st of October, he marched his army through the village of Belbek, and rested for the night on the left bank of the stream. The next morning the army was moved up to the northern works, and thence transported across the harbour to aid in throwing up the defences; so that, two days after the Allies had planted their camps on the southern plateau, 20,000 men of Prince Menschikoff's beaten army had re-entered Sebastopol. During the fortnight that had elapsed since the battle of the Alma a striking change had been made in the landward defences of Sebastopol. When the Allies landed the defensive works were few and disconnected. On the eastern face--that is, from the Careening Bay to the great ravine--there were but three works, the centre of which was the Malakoff tower on its commanding hillock. On the western face there was a long loop-holed wall, running from the sea in front of Artillery Bay to a stone tower, called the Central Bastion, opposite a cemetery, and a second work made of earth, called the Flagstaff Bastion, crowning a hill at the southern apex of the town, and on the western side of the great ravine. Not more than fifty guns were mounted on these works at that time. In the interval, the genius of Todleben had converted the place into a strongly entrenched camp. The sailors and soldiers, the civilians, and even women, were employed, without stint, in throwing up earthworks and in mounting guns. Inspired by the energy of Korniloff, a tough Russian, directed by the skill of Todleben, supplied by the vast resources of an arsenal crammed with means and appliances of all kinds, the workers, in a few days, surrounded the city with powerful defences. Batteries, connected by entrenchments, arose on all sides; so that when the Allies sat down before the place, and looked out over the waste towards the goal of their efforts, instead of finding an open town, they found an entrenched camp, which grew stronger under the gazer's eye. They had shrunk from the northern works, because they were too strong; they marched up to the southern works, and discovered that these were stronger. They had come