SAN FRANCISCO MAIL NEWS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3935, 18 June 1877, Page 2

SAN FRANCISCO MAIL NEWS.

The Russian attacking force which captured Ardahan, numbered 8000, besides several thousand in front of the town. During the Turkish flight the Russian cavalry inflicted a loss of 700 on the enemy. A force of 15,000 Bashi Bazouks and Kurds have moved northwards from Lake Van to join the Turkish forces at Korakalisa. The Russians advance in Asia is delayed by the difficulty of procuring provisions in Armenia. In the attack on Batoum, where the Turks defeated the Russians with a loss of 4000 men, the Turks were entrenched on the heights defending the town, with a fleet outside. As the Russians advanced to the attack, the Turks mowed them down by hundreds by a well-directed fire of cannon and musketry. A sortie by the Turks under cover of a thick forest outflanked the Russians, and inflicted a serious defeat. The courage of the Bashi Bazouks was highly extolled. The Russians did not withdraw till midnight. They lost several cannon. A Russian war steamer, which had run the gauntlet from Sebastopol, endeavored to place a torpedo under a Turkish frigate off Batoum. The torpedo failed to explode, and the vessel was driven off. Admiral Haasan Pasha, with six ironclads, bombarded Sukhum Kale, and landed a body of troops. The natives of Abassia fraternised with them, and drove the Russians out. Ten thousand of the population of Abassia have united with the Turks. The defeat of the Russians below Reni was of a reconnoitering force in boats. The Turks waited till they came within easy range, and then opened a destructive fire. The Russians have sunk torpedoes opposite Matchin and Galatz to harass the Turkish gunboats. They have constructed a battery of heavy guns at Shiatic (?) at the mouth of the Danube. The Turks have massed a large body of cavalry opposite Galatz. General Kokeleff's Circassian Cossacks are intended to leave the advance of the invading army on the Danube. They passed through Bucharest. The Turks made three attempts to cross the Danube, and constructed a battery at Islatz. They were repulsed by the Roumanians. The Porte has notified to the European Powers that he has blockaded all the ports of the Black Sea. The Servians are making offensive preparations. It is said that the Servian Government has received a proof that a convention exists between Russia and Austria. Kossuth has written urging an alliance between Hungary and Turkey to protect its independence from its common enemy, Russia. All Hungarian papers urge action by Austria and Hungary. Large troop ships are ready in Portsmouth, and thousands of barrels of powder have been sent to Malta. It is rumored that Turkey will cede the sovereignty of Egypt to England for payment of a capitalised amount of tribute. All the Mussulmans in Herzegovina and Bosnia between sixteen and sixty years, have been ordered to join the army. The iitttise reports that an English steamer in endeavoring to enter Kerteh without the necessary precautions was totally destroyed by a torpedo. The centre of the Russian army is forty thousand strong. Prince Melikoff attacked Mnkhtar Pasha five miles outside of Kars. The Turks fought desperately. The Russians were supported by a powerful artillery and dislodged them. Mukhtar Pasha called out the reserves, and attempted on the 30th to recover the lost ground with sixty thousand men. He was defeated and driven back under tho guns of Kars. The Russian losses were considerable, and the Turks enormous. The Bulgarian refugees in Roumania are being armed. On tho bombardment by the Turkish Monitors, tho inhabitants of Reni, Ibrail, and Oltenitza fled. Lieut-General Sir John Simmons will be Commancler-in. Chief of the English army if sent to the seat of war. The Turkish force sent to Sukhum Kale to aid the Circassians numbered ten thousand men. Tho Russian forces in Roumania arc estimated at 240,000. Tho Turkish force north of the Balkans is 250,000. The Turkish needle gun is said to have caused the strengthening of the Russian army. Twenty-five thousand Northumberland colliers are on strike. Great forest fires have occurred in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Newfoundland. Several frontier towns were destroyed, and many lives lost. A revolt has occurred in Paraguay. President Bontesa and his brother were assassinated. France has informed the Porte that she will not send an ambassador to Constantinople.