Off the Katcha, five English and eight French ships were cast ashore.
At Eupatoria, the Henri IV., a French ship of the line, the French war-steamer, Pluton, seven French and five English transports, and a Turkish line-of-battle ship, were driven on shore.
During the confusion of the storm, an attack was made on the town of Eupatoria by 4,000 Russian cavalry, with 14 pieces of artillery, but was gallantly repulsed by the cannon and rockets of the garrison.
The continuance of unfavorable weather has rendered the camps almost untenable, and the roads impassable. The British government, to obviate the difficulty, have sent out all the materials necessary for the construction of a railroad from Balaklava to Sebastopol heights, with a sufficient number of navvies (or laborers) to complete the same at an early day.
On the 2nd of December, a change took place in the views of the Austrian cabinet, which was interpreted as favorable to the Western Powers.
A treaty was signed at Vienna by the Earl of Westmoreland, the Baron de Bourgueney, and Count Buol, as representatives of their respective governments, of which the following are the principal conditions:—The high contracting parties engage not to enter into any engagement with Russia without deliberating in common. The Emperor of Austria engages to defend the Principalities against any attack by the Russians, and that nothing shall be done by his troops to interfere with the free action of the Allies against the Russian frontier. A commission, to consist of a plenipotentiary from each government, with the addition of a Turkish commissioner, is to sit at Vienna, to decide all questions arising out of the occupation. In case of hostilities arising between Austria and Russia, an offensive and defensive alliance is to be de facto established between the former and the Western Powers, and no suspension of hostilities will be concluded without the agreement of all the three Powers.
The ratifications of this treaty were exchanged on the 14th.
The King of Prussia had played so vacillating a part that the influence of that cabinet had ceased to be felt, and she was neither consulted nor regarded.
Negotiations for peace have been set on foot, with some hope of success, but as a basis for negotiation, Great Britain, France, and Austria, unanimously determined to insist upon, and abide by, the following four points:
1st. The abolition of the Protectorate over the Danubian Principalities, and the privileges of those provinces placed under the collective guarantee of the contracting powers.