as tremendous. Issy, Valerien, the guns
of the bastions and those of the cannon-boats were firing as hard as
they could, and the Prussian batteries were returning their fire with a
will. After the sun went down the dark hills opposite were lit up with
the flashes of light which issued every second from the batteries.

The Government has issued a proclamation; in it is announced that we are
to be relieved by the Army of the North. Another proclamation has been
posted, purporting to proceed from the "delegates of the twenty
arrondissements," calling upon the population to turn out Trochu. It has
attracted little notice. Several mayors, too, it is reported, have
threatened to resign unless more energetic counsels prevail in high
places. Frenchmen, however, as one of their statesmen said, cannot grasp
two ideas at a time, and for to-day at least the bombardment is the
all-absorbing idea. Whether Frederick Charles has been really defeated I
do not know, but we are all assured that he has been. Paris journals
state that he has been wounded, and that 45,000 of his army have
surrendered. It is asserted, too, that the prisoners who were taken
yesterday admit that one of their armies has had a very serious reverse.
The bombardment of the forts still continues, and it has extended to the
southern ones. With respect to its effect, I will say nothing, lest I be
accused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. _La Verite_ of yesterday
already calls upon the Government to open and either suppress or
expurgate the letters of English correspondents.

The vin ordinaire is giving out. It has already risen nearly 60 per
cent. in price. This is a very serious thing for the poor, who not only
drink it, but warm it and make with bread a soup out of it. Yesterday, I
had a slice of Pollux for dinner. Pollux and his brother Castor are two
elephants, which have been killed. It was tough, coarse, and oily, and I
do not recommend English families to eat elephant as long as they can
get beef or mutton. Many of the restaurants are closed owing to want of
fuel. They are recommended to use lamps; but although French cooks can
do wonders with very poor materials, when they are called upon to cook
an elephant with a spirit lamp the thing is almost beyond their
ingenuity. Castor and Pollux's trunks sold for 45fr. a lb.; the other
parts of the interesting twins fetched about 10fr. a lb. It is a good
deal warmer to-day, and has been thawing in the sun; if th