Circassia (Russia) -- Social life and customs; Crimea (Ukraine) -- Social life and customs; Harems
Pushing aside the grass and rank weeds, we found the names of many
friends, and with the aid of parasols and sticks, cleared some
graves from the tangled growth of years, and planted upon them
tufts of sweet-scented thyme and a little blue flower very like
the forget-me-not. From some we gathered a few coarse wild-flowers,
and even blades of grass, to bear home to mothers whose hearts are
still aching for the brave young dead who have but a soldier's grave
so far from home and from those who loved them. Many we had known
well, in the brightest hours of their youth and happiness, were
sleeping here in bloody graves. No words can adequately express the
depression of spirits which must come after passing hours in going
from burial-ground to burial-ground, only to see where those, once
so loved in life, so honoured in their death, now lie--uncared for,
unthought of--in cemeteries that, instead of being evidences of a
nation's gratitude and reverence, are now untended and forgotten,
a tangled mass of weeds, and but fit homes for the jackal and the fox.
Leaving the Woronzoff road on the right, we came to a knoll, or patch
of rising ground, from whence an excellent view of the town can be
had. It was here that the non-fighting visitors usually took up their
position, for not only could a good general view of the camps and
town be obtained, but, with glasses, it was easy to see the people
walking in the streets.
The road passes by a small village, where, standing in the midst of
some neat enclosures, with a well-filled farmyard at its rear, is a
low one-storied house. This unpretending little building was once
the head-quarters of the English staff, and here poor Lord Raglan
breathed his last.
Notwithstanding the severe losses and sufferings that were caused
to its owners by their home and property being seized by the enemy,
Monsieur and Madame B---- receive with kindness and hospitality any
English who may wander here. We are, however, at present the only
foreigners who have visited Sevastopol this year.
In a small sitting-room a marble slab has been let into the wall, over
the place where the bed stood on which Lord Raglan died. In the wood
of the folding doors are cut the names of Field-Marshal Lord Raglan,
General Simpson, and Sir William Codrington. The temporary grave in
which the body of the noble old soldier was placed previous to its
removal to England, has also been well cared for. Willows hang over
the spot, and it is surrounded by a border of rose-bushes and flowers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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