Having carried them on board, Murray returned for the purpose of destroying the transport, that her stores might not fall into the hands of the enemy. He had for this purpose to pull round inshore. It was not without some difficulty that he, Higson, and Needham made their way on board. Such combustible materials as could be found were soon collected, and lighted in the hold of the transport; the boat then at once pulled away for the _Tornado_. She had got to some little distance from the ship, when the Cossacks were again seen coming down towards the shore, this time accompanied by a couple of field-pieces, which quickly opened fire. The first shot, however, fell short, and the party were soon safe on board the _Tornado_. As the _Tornado_ steamed off, the Cossacks were seen again coming forward, in the hopes possibly of still being able to plunder the wreck. Just then, however, the flames burst furiously forth from every part of the wreck, and in another minute a loud roar was heard, and a portion of her deck rose high in the air, while her sides, rent and shattered, flew out in every direction; and as the smoke from the explosion cleared away, a few burnt timbers of the wreck alone remained, while the Cossacks, disappointed of their booty, were seen galloping off in the distance. The scanty remnant of another shipwrecked crew having been saved by the _Tornado_, she steamed back to Balaclava. During that fearful storm no less than forty vessels, with upwards of four hundred men, had been lost; one Turkish line-of-battle ship, and several transports, had gone down with all hands. The French lost one of their finest line-of-battle ships and a corvette, with nearly twenty smaller craft. The most severe loss was that of the _Prince_, with a crew of a hundred and fifty men; she had arrived two days before with troops, who had providentially landed--but the army was doomed to suffer terribly from the loss of her cargo, consisting of warm clothing, ammunition, medicine, and supplies of all kinds. A few ships being left to watch Sebastopol, the remainder of the fleet and all the transports were sent back to the Bosphorus; and soon afterwards, Admiral Dundas having struck his flag, Sir Edmund Lyons became commander-in-chief. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE BEGINNING OF 1855--MURRAY IN COMMAND OF THE GIAOUR--SHELLING SEBASTOPOL BY NIGHT--TOM FINDS MATTER FOR SERIOUS THOUGHT--THE TORNADO CHASES A RUSSIAN STEAMER--ATTACK ON A FORT--ANOTHER STEAMER SIGHTED--FRIEND OR FOE?--PROVES TO BE THE GIAOUR--THE FLASH APPEARS--THE FORT STORMED.