The "Falcon" spent another week in examining the Crimean coast, and then ran across again to Varna.

Here everything was being pushed forward for the start.

Over six hundred vessels were assembled, with a tonnage vastly exceeding that of any fleet that had ever sailed the seas.

Twenty-seven thousand English and twenty-three thousand French were to be carried in this huge flotilla; for although the French army was considerably larger than the English, the means of sea-transport of the latter were vastly superior, and they were able to take across the whole of their army in a single trip; whereas, the French could convey but half of their force.

Unfortunately, between Lord Raglan, the English Commander-in-Chief, and Marshal Saint Arnaud, the French commander, there was little concert or agreement.