'The cemeteries also differ considerably in the number of graves and monuments which they relatively contain. Some are large, with hundreds of graves, and many inscribed tablets and crosses; others in isolated spots with only a few. A considerable number contain no monuments whatever. The majority are those to officers; but there are also many to soldiers, and a few to women, nurses, or the wives of soldiers.' 'A small proportion of the monuments have been erected since the termination of the war. Some are of marble, but as a rule they are of the soft stone found upon the spot. They were for the most part hurriedly erected toward the end of the campaign, often by unskilful hands, without sufficient foundations, and with slightly cut inscriptions. Originally there were also a considerable number of wooden crosses. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that, exposed to the vicissitudes of climate, especially to the rigour of Crimean winters, a large number of them have perished, and almost all of those remaining show signs of weather and decay.' 'The walls which enclose the cemeteries were in the first instance roughly built, without mortar or foundations, and of the loose uncut stones in the neighbourhood. Time and weather have led to their rapid decay, and the shepherds have occasionally hastened the destruction by making entrances for their flocks.' 'We endeavoured to visit every cemetery and memorial of which we could find a record; the total number in the neighbourhood of Sebastopol and Balaclava amounting to 130.[101] The farm-house which was so long the head-quarters of the British Army is well cared for, and in good preservation; and in the room in which Lord Raglan died a marble slab has been inserted in the wall, with the following inscription: "In this room died Field-Marshal Lord Raglan, G.C.B., Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Crimea, June 28, 1855."' 'The circumstances of the French Army were very similar to our own, and they had numerous cemeteries widely dispersed from Kamiesch to Baidar. Feeling the inconvenience and difficulty as regards their care and preservation which have so long perplexed ourselves, they determined to disinter the remains of their officers and men, and to remove them to one central spot near the former French head-quarters. This arrangement was carried out in 1863, each cemetery being denuded of its dead, and then abandoned. About 28,000 bodies are said to have been removed; those of the officers having been as far as possible identified.' ...