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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16407-8.txt b/16407-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3ad675c --- /dev/null +++ b/16407-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2945 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Under the Dragon Flag, by James Allan + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Under the Dragon Flag + My Experiences in the Chino-Japanese War + + +Author: James Allan + + + +Release Date: August 1, 2005 [eBook #16407] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE DRAGON FLAG*** + + +E-text prepared by Justin Kerk, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +UNDER THE DRAGON FLAG + +My Experiences in the Chino-Japanese War + +by + +JAMES ALLAN + +New York +Frederick A. Stokes Company +Publishers + +1898 + + + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The following narrative is a record of my experiences during the late +memorable war between China and Japan. Without going into any detailed +account of my earlier life, some few facts concerning myself are +probably necessary for the better understanding of the circumstances +which led up to the events here presented. It will be obvious that I +can make no claim to literary skill; I have simply written down my +exact and unadorned remembrance of incidents which I witnessed and +took part in. Now it is all over I wonder more and more at the +slightness of the hazard which suddenly placed me at such a period in +so strange an experience. + +I am the son of a Lancashire gentleman who accumulated considerable +wealth in the cotton trade. He died when I was still a boy. I found +myself, when I came of age, the possessor of upwards of £80,000. Thus +I started in life as a man of fortune; but it is due to myself to say +that I took prompt and effectual measures to clear myself of that +invidious character. Not to mince matters needlessly, I ran through +that eighty thousand pounds in something short of four years. I was +not in the least "horsey"; my sphere was the gaieties of Paris and the +gaming-tables of Monte Carlo--a sphere which has made short work of +fortunes compared with which mine would be insignificant. The pace was +fast and furious; I threw out my ballast liberally as I went along, +and the harpies, male and female, who surrounded me, picked it up. +Bright and fair enough was the prospect as I started on the road to +ruin; gloomy the clouds that settled round me as I approached that +dismal terminus. Then, when too late, I began to regret my folly. I +seemed to wake as if from a dream, from a state of helpless +infatuation, in which my acts were scarcely the effect of my own +volition. The general out-look became decidedly uninviting. + +About eleven o'clock one spring night of the year 1892, I was standing +close to the railings of the Whitworth Park in my native city of +Manchester, to whose dull provincial shades I had retired at the +enforced close of my creditable career. I remember that I was engaged +in wondering what on earth I could have done with all my money, the +only tangible return for which appeared to be an intimate and peculiar +knowledge of the French language and of certain undesirable phases of +French life. The hour, as I have said, was late, and Moss Lane, the +street in which I stood disconsolate, dark and deserted. Presently +there came along towards me a man whose uncertain gait was strongly +suggestive of the influence of alcohol. He stopped upon reaching me, +and asked if I could direct him to Victoria Park. This is an extensive +semi-private enclosure, where numbers of the plutocracy of +Cottonopolis have their residences. One of its several gates is nearly +opposite the spot where Moss Lane leads into Oxford Street, which fact +I communicated to my questioner. To my surprise he, by way of +acknowledgment, struck his hand into mine and shook it fervently. + +"Shake hands, shake hands," he said; "that's right--you're talking to +a gentleman, though you mightn't think it." + +I certainly should not have thought it. He was a short, thick-set man, +of about five feet and two or three inches, shabbily dressed; and his +unsteady lurch, swollen features, and odorous breath, told plainly of +a heavy debauch. Amused by his manner, I entered into conversation +with him. He was, it appeared, a sailor, a Lancashire man, and, if he +was to be believed, very respectably connected in Manchester. I +gathered that he had ended a boyhood of contumacy by running away to +sea, his people, though they had practically disowned him, allowing +him a pound a week. This allowance had for some time past been +stopped, and he was coming up in person to investigate the why and +wherefore. Having a week or two before come off a voyage at Liverpool, +he had at that port drawn £75 in pay, which he had spent in two days +and nights of revelry, an assertion to which his personal appearance +bore strong corroborative testimony. He appeared, on the whole, to +consider himself an exceedingly ill-used person. "I'm a houtcast," he +repeatedly said. I asked him in what capacity he served on shipboard. +"A.B.," he replied, "always A.B.;" and certainly, in speech and +appearance, he seemed nothing better than a foremast man, although, +shaking hands with me again and again, he each time asseverated that +it was the hand of a gentleman. At length he went on his way, and I +stood watching his receding figure as he reeled down the street. I was +just turning away, when I heard a loud outcry; the "houtcast," about a +hundred yards distant, was hailing me. On what trifles does destiny +depend! My first impulse was to walk off without taking any notice of +his shouts, and on the simple decision to stay and see what he wanted, +turned the whole future. It appeared that whilst talking with me his +obfuscated mind had lost the directions I had given him as to the +locality of Victoria Park. Having nothing in particular to do, I +volunteered to walk along with him, and keep him in the right +direction, and accordingly we entered the park together. With +considerable difficulty, he found out the road and house he was in +search of; I doubt if, without my aid, he would have found it at all +in his then condition. He had not, he informed me, been in Manchester +for years, and those he was looking up had changed their residence. +The exterior of the place, when found, seemed to bear out his +statement as to the social position of his relatives. I asked him what +sort of reception he thought he would get from them. + +"He did not," he replied, "care a d----n what it might be, but he was +going to see why they had stopped his quid, and no mistake about it." + +He extended to me an invitation to come in with him "and have a +drink," a courtesy which, needless to say, I declined. He then left +me, after another vehement handshaking, and proceeded up the drive in +front of the house. A feeling of curiosity to see what kind of +greeting the drunken, wastrel "houtcast" would command from his folk, +all unconscious of his disagreeable proximity to their eminently +respectable residence, induced me to follow him. I paused at a point +where, concealed by some shrubbery, I had a view of the hall door, +which, upon my friend's ringing, was opened by a smart maid-servant. +Swaying up and down on the steps in a most ludicrous manner, the +"houtcast" addressed her, although I was too far off to make out the +words, but to judge by her looks she felt no prepossession in his +favour. After a while she went away, leaving the door open and him +standing on the steps. In about a minute a stout, middle-aged +gentleman appeared from the brightly-lighted hall, his whole aspect +presenting the strongest possible contrast to that of the seedy +mariner. The conference between them was brief and angry, and +terminated with the gentleman's returning within and slamming the door +in the other's face, who, with his hands in his pockets, stood for +some time planted where he was, staring at the _visage de bois_ as if +dumfounded. Then he applied himself vigorously to the bell, and pulled +with might and main. This course of treatment having no effect, he +commenced shouting a series of objurgations much too vigorous to be +here set down. No response, of course, was forthcoming, and at length +the discomfited visitor turned slowly away from the inhospitable +mansion. I rejoined him as he staggered past me. He showed no surprise +at seeing me again, but contented himself with simply asking me where +the ---- I had been. From what he said in answer to my questions, it +appeared that they had had the brutality to tell him to call when he +was sober,--"as if," said he, with a good many curses, "I wasn't sober +enough for them. Wouldn't even give me a night's shelter. But it's +always how they've treated me--a houtcast, that's what I am--a +houtcast." + +Apparently hard hit, the "houtcast," who for the time being certainly +had some grounds for so styling himself, leaned with his back against +the gate, as if the effort to stand upright was too much for him on +the top of his recent disappointment. His plight was undoubtedly +pitiable. He had no money, it was well after midnight, the city was +distant, and moreover the search for a lodging would in his condition +be a matter of time and difficulty. Taking pity on his forlorn state, +I offered him the shelter of my own roof for the night, an offer he +was not slow to accept, remarking that one gentleman should help +another; and that if I had any "tidy brandy" he would be able to get +on well enough until to-morrow. So we set out for my lodgings in Cecil +Street. + +This chance meeting was the beginning of a long and intimate +acquaintance. In the course of conversation I disclosed to Charles +Webster--such was his name--the desperate state of my affairs, with +the gloomy prospect they entailed. The remedy he proposed--and when +sober he spoke well and sensibly--was drastic and by no means +unfeasible. "Cut it all and go to sea," he said. "You've enjoyed +yourself while your money lasted, and what's the good of money but to +spend? You've spent yours--now go to sea and get some more. That's how +I do--have a regular good blow-out when I draw my pay, and then ship +for another voyage." + +"That is all very well for you," I replied, "but how can I, without +either training or experience, get a berth on board ship?" + +"I can do it for you," replied Webster. "Lots of vessels are ordered +to sea in a hurry, and not particular in picking up a crew, or perhaps +a trifle over-loaded or not properly found, and short-handed in +consequence. That's the sort of craft I'd look out for you, and if one +wouldn't take you, another would. I'd tog you out like an A.B., and +swear you knew your duty." + +"And what when they found I didn't?" + +"Wouldn't matter a straw when we were afloat. All they could do would +be to d----n my eyes or yours and make the best of it. It's done +every day. Certificates go for nothing, they're so easily obtained. +When the voyage was over, you'd be up to a thing or two, and the +skipper would rather sign your papers than be at the bother of going +and swearing you weren't a thorough seaman; then you could get another +job without me. It's done constantly, I tell you, and why not? Nobody +can do anything without learning. You take a trip with me, and I'll +make a sailor of you. You've stood by me like a gentleman, and I'll +give you a lift if I can." + +Well, to cut the story short, I resolved, after some cogitation, to +follow his advice, as, in the circumstances to which I had contrived +to reduce myself, I saw nothing better to do. My introduction to a +seafaring life was effected pretty much on the lines indicated in the +foregoing conversation. The change from the existence of a voluptuary, +squandering thousands on the wanton pleasure of the moment, to that of +a common sailor, was at first anything but agreeable, and often and +bitterly did I curse the follies of the past. However, we learn from +experience, and probably I have profited by the unpalatable lesson. +Webster was a firm ally, and showed that despite his dissolute and +reckless mode of living, he really did possess something of the +character which he claimed, that of a gentleman. Under his tuition, +and being moreover, like Cuddie Headrigg, "gleg at the uptak," I made +rapid progress in knowledge. + +We made several voyages together. In the summer of the year 1894 we +were in San Francisco, and rather at a loose end; Webster with a good +deal of money in his possession, and spending it as usual in riotous +living. We were intimate at this time with a man named Francis Chubb, +an Australian by birth, an able seaman, and a very reckless, daring, +and resolute character. To him it is owing that I have this tale to +tell. One night as we were sitting over our potations, he made us a +singular communication and a singular proposition. A shipper and +merchant of the place, by whom he had often been employed, had, he +said, asked him if he was open to run a cargo of warlike stores for +the use of the Chinese soldiers in the struggle which had just broken +out, there being rumours that the Chinamen were ill-prepared for a +contest, and badly in need of supplies. Chubb added that he had +practically closed with the offer, and was looking about for men whom +he could depend upon to join him in the enterprise, which his +employer, foreseeing from the turn events were taking that the Chinese +ports were likely soon to be blockaded, meant as a "feeler" to test +the facilities for, and the profit likely to arise from, the +organization of a system for supplying those munitions of war of +which the Celestials were stated to be in want, some large orders +being alleged to have been lodged with American firms on their behalf. +Chubb was to command the vessel, and he offered to Webster and myself +the posts of first and second hands. The remuneration was very +handsome, and we, not adverse to the prospect of a little adventure, +had little hesitation in closing with the proposal, much to Chubb's +satisfaction, who said we were "just the sort he wanted." His +employer, Mr. H----, I no sooner heard named, than I remembered to +have heard described as a very keen hand, and not over-scrupulous. + +The vessel which he placed at our disposal was a screw steamer of +about 2000 tons, long, low, and sharp; an exceedingly fast boat, +capable of doing her twenty knots an hour even when heavily laden, as, +in a desperate emergency, we were soon to find out. Articles signed, +our cargo was procured and shipped--cannon, rifles, revolvers, +cartridges, fuses, medicines, etc., etc. We cleared without +difficulty, weighed, stood out, and laid our course straight across +the North Pacific. + +Our ship, the _Columbia_, proved a beauty, in every way fit for the +risky business we were engaged upon. Needless to say she had not only +been selected for speed, but was rendered in appearance as +unobtrusive as possible. Besides lying low in the water, she was +painted a dead grey, funnels and all. The sort of coal we used, +anthracite, burned with very little smoke, and even that little was +obviated, as we approached the seat of war, by a hood on the +smoke-stack. She slipped through the water silently and noiselessly as +one of its natural denizens, and on a dark night, with all lights out, +could hardly have been perceived, even at a short distance, from the +deck of another vessel. + +Without the ship's log to refer to, I cannot be certain of dates and +distances, but it was in the latter days of August that we were +steaming up the Yellow Sea, where, by the way, the water is _bluer_ +than I have ever seen it elsewhere. In some places it presents, on a +moonlit night, the appearance of liquefied ultramarine, though it +certainly is muddy enough about the coasts. Our destination was +Tientsin, one of the most northern of the treaty ports, and of course +we kept in with the Chinese mainland as closely as possible to avoid +the Japanese cruisers. All had gone well, and we were fast approaching +the entrance to the Gulf of Pechili, when we encountered one of those +tempests which are only to be met with in the Eastern seas--pitch-black +darkness, rain in one sheeted flood, like a second Deluge, +blinding flashes of forked lightning more terrific than the +gloom, and an almost uninterrupted crash of thunder amidst which the +uproar of a pitched field would be inaudible. With our enormous +steam-power we held our own for a while although unable to make much +headway; but at last a tremendous sea took us right abeam on the port +side; the main hatch had been left open, a small Niagara poured down +it, and doused our fires. No canvas would have stood the hurricane +that was blowing, and for some time we were in a serious way. Before +our engines, which fortunately held firm, were working again, we had +drifted helplessly over to the Corean coast, and it was all we could +do to claw off-shore until the tempest abated, which it did very +suddenly, as it had risen. + +As the wind fell, we ran under the lee of an island, oblong, high, and +thickly wooded, not far from a heavy promontory of the coast. Here we +lay for two or three hours repairing damages. Of course we had no +accurate idea whereabouts we had got to, but we reckoned that we could +not be far from Chemulpo, a very undesirable neighbourhood from our +point of view, as the port was in the hands of the Japanese, who were +engaged in landing troops there, and whose armed ships would of course +be in the vicinity. It was, therefore, necessary for us to spend as +little time thereabout as possible. As soon as things were ship-shape +once more--and luckily for ourselves we had sustained no real +injury--steam was got up to regain our former course. It was already +quite dark as we passed out from beneath the land; two bells in the +first night-watch, or nine o'clock, had just struck. Truly that was a +case of out of the frying-pan into the fire, for no sooner had we +rounded the extremity of the island than we found ourselves in most +unpleasant proximity to a ship of war. I was alone on the bridge at +the time, and at once caused the engines to be reversed, in the hope +of slipping back behind the land from the cover of which we had just +emerged. Too late; we were perceived, and the cruiser's search-light +blazed forth, illuminating the dark waters, sky, and coastline with a +vivid glare. Simultaneously we were hailed loudly, although the +distance was too great to permit of the words being distinguished, +keenly as I strained my ears to catch them. + +Seeing that we were detected, and knowing that the appearance of +flight would increase suspicion, I stopped the steamer, devoutly +hoping that our unwelcome neighbour might be a detached vessel of some +European squadron. That she could be Chinese there was little hope, as +we were aware that the Celestial fleet was in the Gulf of Pechili. +Almost before our engines were stopped, one of the cruiser's boats was +in the water and dancing towards us. Chubb and Webster ran up from +below, and as we awaited the boat, we uneasily speculated as to the +character of the craft that had despatched it, as she lay within a +quarter of a mile of us, the white muzzles of the guns in her tops and +turret seeming, as she rolled with the swell, to dip in the wave. +Formidable indeed she looked, and there was an evident stir of +offensive preparation on board her; yet in spite of our danger, I +could not resist a feeling of surprised and wondering admiration of +the wild picturesqueness of the scene--the majestic warship, the +glittering, rolling expanse of the sea, and the black lines of the +shores, under that intense and vivid radiance, which might fitly have +emanated from one of those phantom-craft with which maritime +superstition peoples the deep. Everything it touched took a ghostly +and unreal look. + +There was rather a heavy sea on, and the boat took some while to reach +us. At length, however, she was alongside, and then came clambering up +a little lieutenant, who displayed to our dismayed vision all the +physical peculiarities of the Japanese. He addressed us in English, a +language better understood than any other amongst the Mikado's +subjects. + +"You are American?" he asked, pointing to the star-spangled banner on +the pole-mast. "What is the name of your vessel?" + +We informed him, and received in return that of the warship, but in +our consternation we paid little heed to it, and none of us could +afterwards remember it. The lieutenant proceeded to question us as to +our business, speaking very creditable English. We had previously +agreed that in such a dilemma we should describe our cargo as +consisting of salt, rice, and cloth stuffs, and we had taken the +precaution to ship a quantity of those commodities, in bales and casks +which were three parts full of cartridges to economize space, besides +having fictitious invoices, etc. These valuable testimonials Chubb, +who was outwardly as cool as ice, readily produced when the officer +demanded to see our papers. He scrutinized everything carefully, and, +still dissatisfied, said he would inspect our cargo. Of course we +could not object, and blank indeed were our looks as the enemy walked +over to the side to call up two or three of his boat's crew to assist +him in the inquisition. + +"Never mind," said Chubb, "it's not all up with us yet, and it won't +be even if he finds out what we have aboard." + +"What shall we do then?" asked Webster and I. + +"Sling them overboard and run for it," said Chubb; and I knew by his +determined air that he meant what he said. + +"What! from under those guns?" said Webster. + +There was no time for more. The Japanese lieutenant, with his men, +rejoined us, and motioned us to lead the way below. We complied, and +introduced them to our "cargo," the barrels lying everywhere three or +four deep above the contraband of war. How consuming was our anxiety +as they poked about! Things went well enough for a while; they never +penetrated into the casks which they caused to be opened deep enough +to find the cartridges, or hoisted out enough of them to come at what +was beneath. Our spirits were beginning to rise, when an unlucky +accident sent them down to zero. The hoops of one of the barrels +handled were insecure, and coming off, the staves fell apart, and +along with a defensive covering of slabs of salt, a neat assortment of +revolver cartridges came tumbling out. The Japanese lieutenant smiled +till his little oblique optics were scarcely perceptible. + +"Very good," said he, picking up one of the packages; "very nice--nice +to eat." + +We were thunderstruck, and had not a word to say. All was up now, of +course; the Japs prosecuted the search with renewed keenness, and the +nature of our lading soon stood revealed. + +"I shall be obliged to detain this ship, gentlemen," said the +lieutenant politely, to Webster and myself. "Where has your captain +gone?" + +I looked round for Chubb; he was not visible. + +"I suppose he must have gone on deck," said I. + +The lieutenant and his men hurried up, Webster and I following. Chubb +was conferring with a group of the sailors. The search-light was still +flaring away, and I was horrified to see that our formidable neighbour +had crept up to within two or three hundred yards. The lieutenant +walked sharply to the side, and shouted some directions to the boat's +crew. The words were scarcely out of his mouth when I heard Chubb say, +"Now." The men with whom he had been speaking rushed upon the +Japanese, seized them, and in the twinkling of an eye hove them +overboard into their boat, or as near it as they could be aimed in the +hurry of the moment. Simultaneously "Full speed ahead" was rung from +the bridge, and the steamer sprang forward as the hare springs from +the jaws of the hound. For a moment there was no sound except the rush +of the water foaming at the bows. Then the warship opened fire on us. +Gun after gun resounded, and we held our breath as the ponderous shot +hurtled past us. The first few were wide of the mark, but we were not +long to go scatheless. One of the terrible projectiles struck the +water by the starboard quarter, rose over the side with a tremendous +ricochet, bowled over one of the men, and smashed the top of the +opposite bulwark. Immediately after another tore transversely across +the decks, playing, as Chubb afterwards said, "all-fired smash" with +everything it encountered, and killing another of the men, who was cut +literally in two, the upper portion of his body being carried +overboard, the lower half remaining on the deck. + +"He's mad," roared Webster, meaning Chubb; "we ain't going to be sunk +to please him," and he rushed on the bridge to put a stop to our +flight. + +Chubb interposed to prevent him; they closed, grappled together, and +finally fell off the bridge, still struggling. + +The cruiser had to stop to pick up her boat, and the delay probably +saved us; we must, moreover, have been a very uncertain mark in the +unnatural light, which doubtless would be no aid to gunnery practice. +On we tore, with the steam-gauge uncomfortably near danger point; the +warship in hot pursuit, looking, wreathed as she was in the smoke and +flame of her fiercely worked guns, and the electric glare of the vivid +shaft which still turned night into day, more like some fabulous +sea-monster than a fabric contrived by man. She plied us with both +shot and shell; one of the latter burst in the air over our bows; two +men were killed and several injured by the fragments. We were struck +nine or ten times in all, but they were glancing blows, which never +fairly hulled us. Chubb held on resolutely; we increased our distance +fast, and at length ran out of range. Never before had I felt so +thankful as when those fearful projectiles began to fall short. From +that point we were safe. We were five knots better than our pursuer, +and the only danger lay in the chance that some other cruiser, +attracted by the firing, might be brought across the line of our +flight. None, however, appeared, and our great speed dropped the enemy +long before daylight. + +The damage to the ship was confined to the upper works, and could soon +be put to rights, but five of the crew had been killed and twice that +number wounded, and unused to such work as I was, I felt strongly +inclined to blame Chubb for incurring this sacrifice of life for what +appeared to me an inadequate object. He laughed it away. + +"They take the risk," said he, "they know it, and they are well paid +for it. We've saved ship and cargo; that's all old H---- will think +about, and all we need care for." + +It was far, however, from being all I cared for as I looked upon the +mangled corpses lately filled with life and vigour. I had embarked on +the enterprise in a spirit of levity and carelessness, reflecting +little on what it might entail, and there was something shocking in +thus suddenly coming face to face with the dread reality of war. But +whatever may have been the source of the feeling, it soon passed away, +and when the dead had been sewed up in their hammocks and laid to +their last rest in the deep--a ceremony we performed the day after our +escape--Richard was himself again, and the old careless buoyancy +swelled up once more. + +Prayer-books had been omitted in our outfit, and we were at a loss for +the burial service. However, we laid our heads, or rather our memories +together, and most of us being able to recollect a scrap of it here +and there, we contrived to patch it up sufficiently to give our +unfortunate shipmates Christian burial. I should mention that another +of the wounded men died after our arrival at Tientsin, and was +interred in the English cemetery. He was the man who was first hit; +his name was Massinger, and he claimed to be a descendant of the +dramatist. He was known on board chiefly as "Hair-oil," from his +addiction to plastering his bushy black hair with some shiny and +odorous compound of that nature. Both his legs were broken by the shot +that struck him. + +As to my friend Webster, adorned with a black eye, he never ceased, +during the remainder of the voyage, to declaim against Chubb's +foolhardiness and uphold his own proceedings on the eventful night. +For his own discomfiture he sought consolation in rum, protesting that +it was a miracle that any of us had survived to taste another drop of +that liquid comforter. + +"But I'm a houtcast," he would wind up invariably, as his potations +overcame him; "that's where it is--who cares what a ---- houtcast +thinks?" + +Chubb took no further notice of him than to laughingly threaten to put +him under arrest for mutiny. It must not be supposed that the +"houtcast's" behaviour on the occasion in question was due to any want +of courage. Escape seemed impossible; the risk of the attempt was +tremendous, and I am convinced that if the matter had been left to my +own judgment, I should not have dared it. But Chubb was one of those +men whom nothing can daunt, and who are never more completely in their +element than when running some desperate hazard. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +We reached Tientsin without further mishap, and turned over our cargo +to Mr. H----'s agent, who disposed of it at a handsome profit, though +hardly sufficient, I thought, to warrant the risking of so valuable a +ship as the _Columbia_. We lay in the port about a week, to effect +the repairs rendered necessary by the Japanese gun practice. + +At Tientsin a war council was sitting, and one morning Mr. Mac----, the +agent, came on board and informed us that he had received a +proposal for the _Columbia_ to be chartered as a transport to convey +troops to the Corea. It was only, he said, for an immediate special +service, and the terms being exceedingly advantageous he had resolved +on his own responsibility to accept the offer, as the work would not +occupy us more than a few days. We were to be one of a convoy of +transports which, sailing at different times from different ports, +were to rendezvous in Talienwan Bay on the east coast of the Liaotung +Peninsula, where the troops were to be embarked under protection of +an armed squadron. There was no time to be lost, and we were to weigh +anchor and make for the bay as soon as possible. + +On the afternoon of the same day two Chinese emissaries came to make a +visit of inspection, and in the evening we steamed out of the port, +flying the American colours, with nothing of course to fear at the +moment. On arriving at Talienwan we found the bay full of shipping. +Four large transports were already engaged in the work of embarkation, +and another arrived after we did. The warships presented a gallant +array, twelve in all, belonging, with two or three exceptions, to the +North Coast Squadron. There were four torpedo-boats in addition. The +most powerful vessels were the _Chen-Yuen_ and the _Ting-Yuen_, +barbette ships, English-built, I think, of 7280 tons. The _King-Yuen_ +and _Lai-Yuen_ were two barbette ships of smaller tonnage--2850. Then +came the _Ping-Yuen_, of 2850 tons, a coast-defence armour-clad; a +turret-ship, the _Tsi-Yuen_, of 2320 tons; the _Chih-Yuen_, +_Ching-Yuen_, _Kwang-Kai_ and _Kwang-Ting_, all of 2300 +tons, deck-protected cruisers; and the _Chao-Yung_ and +_Yang-Wei_, each of 1400 tons, unprotected cruisers. + +I have forgotten to say that we took a Chinese agent on board at +Tientsin for the trip. He was alleged to be able to speak English, +but rarely indeed was his jargon intelligible. I asked him to +translate the names of the Chinese warships, but this was a task far +beyond the linguistic capacity of my friend Lin Wong. I understood him +to say that it would require "too muchee words" to render in our +prosaic tongue the amount of poetic imagery concentrated in the +expressions "Chih-Yuen," or "Kwang-Kai." Of what the names mean I am +in ignorance still. + +We were speedily boarded by a boat from the flagship, to the officer +of which Lin Wong gave an account of his stewardship, and we received +directions to draw up to the landing-stage in turn and receive our +human freight. The troops were still arriving from the roads to Talien +and Kinchou. They seemed for the most part an undisciplined lot, and +came streaming on board in no particular order; here and there a +mounted officer directing with shouts, gestures, and blows too, the +movements of the surging masses that crowded along the water-side. The +number embarked I reckoned at about 18,000. There was also a large +quantity of military stores to be shipped, and busy enough we were. In +the evening I had a glimpse of Admiral Ting, who had been ashore and +was returning to his ship. His barge passed close alongside the +_Columbia_. I saw a young-looking man, very pleasant in expression +and manner; altogether what we should call highly gentlemanly in +appearance. It is well known that he expiated his failures by suicide +after the final ruin of Wei-hai-wei. + +All was complete on the second day after our arrival, and shortly +before noon the flagship signalled us to weigh anchor. I may remark +that the Chinese Navy is English trained, and the duty is carried on +in English, owing to the intractable character of the Chinese +language, the fact that officers and men have thus practically to +learn a foreign tongue in order to work their ships being an obvious +disadvantage. The transports were grouped together and the warships +disposed in sections abreast and ahead, with the active torpedo-boats +in the rear. Our destination was the estuary of the Yalu, the large +river which divides China from the Corea. We left Talienwan on +September 14, and reached the river on the afternoon of the 16th. The +work of disembarkation commenced immediately, although rumours reached +us from Wi-ju of the disastrous defeat of the first Chinese army at +Ping-Yang in the Corea the day before. It illustrates the ridiculous +inefficiency of the Chinese measures from first to last, that troops +should thus have been landed at hap-hazard far from any point of +communication with the interior of the Peninsula, the very day after +an action which extinguished their prospect of maintaining their +ground in the Corea. + +The warships anchored across the mouth of the river, whilst the +transports proceeded some distance up the stream. Wi-ju is the only +settlement of any size in this little-known region, though there are +numerous fishing-hamlets scattered about. The soldiers improvised +their camps along the bank. A wild scene was presented when night fell +on the 16th--the glare of the bivouac, extending far along the +desolate water-side; the concourse of savage figures in the lurid +gloom, with here and there in the distance the gigantic shape of an +illuminated warship. We worked well into the night, and were at it +again when the sun rose--a glorious sunrise, pouring over everything +floods of crimson splendour. + +The first accounts which reached England of the action miscalled the +battle of Yalu, categorically stated that it was fought off the mouth +of the river whilst the work of landing the soldiers was proceeding. +This story I fancy to have been invented by the Chinese as a sort of +excuse for their defeat, by representing themselves as fighting at a +great disadvantage in covering the disembarkation. However this may +be, the fact is that the work was completed by about seven o'clock on +the morning of the 17th, when no enemy was in sight. When the +_Columbia_ weighed and stood out of the river, after breakfast, about +nine o'clock, we found that the main body of the fleet had departed, +though three or four cruisers and the torpedo-boats still remained in +the bay. We and the other transport masters had received an intimation +that we were at liberty to return to our respective ports upon the +conclusion of the work of disembarkation. As to the _Columbia_, Chubb +had had instructions from Mr. H----'s agent to make straight from the +Yalu to San Francisco, report to our owner, and take his further +orders. We had, however, to deal with the Chinese supercargo, if I may +so term him, Lin Wong, who still remained on board, and wanted to be +re-conveyed to the Gulf of Pechili. We proposed to put him on board +one of the warships, but as they were already under weigh when we +steamed down, there was no immediate opportunity of doing so. They +were following in the wake of the main squadron towards Port Arthur, +steering south by west from the mouth of the river. We held on with +them, only one other transport ship doing the same. + +For three hours we steamed on thus, at about twelve knots. Towards +noon we saw dense smoke all along the horizon ahead, and a heavy, +dull, rumbling sound reached us which soon made itself unmistakable +as the roar of artillery. We immediately guessed that the squadron +preceding us had been attacked by the enemy. Our escort, if I may so +term it, drew inshore, and I at first thought from their demeanour +that they were going to shirk entering the engagement. If such was +their intention, however, they changed it, and stood boldly on with +the torpedo-boats. We came to a stop, undecided how to proceed. The +other transport which had accompanied us was already in full retreat, +and Lin Wong, in whom discretion seemed very unduly proportioned to +valour, advised a similar course on our part. Chubb and I, however, +felt a strong desire to see the fight, and as we were not now under +the Chinese flag, there seemed no reason why we should not stay to +witness it, particularly as there was no need to let the _Columbia_ +be seen. + +We therefore, in spite of the unintelligible protests of Lin Wong, +cast anchor, having hoisted American colours, in one of the numerous +bays that indent the rocky coast of the Liaotung. Then Chubb and +myself, leaving Webster in charge, pulled off in a small boat towards +the scene of action. We kept close to the shore, and had about a mile +and a half to pull before we came abreast of the conflict. With its +deepening thunders bellowing in our deafened ears, we landed where the +ground was high, and ascending the most elevated point we could +perceive, had, with the aid of powerful glasses, a good view of the +scene. Terrific indeed it was--a wide, dense pall of smoke, which +there was little wind to carry off; through the haze the huge reeling +shapes of the fighting vessels, looming indistinctly, vomiting flame +like so many angry dragons, and several of them burning in addition, +having been set on fire by shells; and above all the appalling +concussion of the great guns, like the bursting of incessant +thunder-bolts. + +By this time it was half-past two p.m., and the battle had been in +progress nearly three hours. Not having seen the commencement of the +affair, we were for some time unable to make head or tail of it. The +ships were mixed up and scattered, and we could perceive little sign +of plan or combination on either side. The first thing that began to +make itself evident as we watched was that the struggle was nearing +the coast. At first the nearest ships had been fully a league and a +half seaward; before we had occupied our position three-quarters of an +hour, many were well within two miles of the coast. So evident was +this that Chubb remarked that half of them would be ashore before the +fighting was over. This of course enabled us to distinguish the +vessels better, and we began to make out evident signs that John +Chinaman was getting much the worst of it. The Japanese vessels, +working in concert and keeping together, as we began to perceive, +seemed to sail round and round the enemy, pouring on them an incessant +cannonade, and excelling them in rapidity of fire and manoeuvring. +Some of the Chinese vessels appeared to me to present an appearance of +helplessness, and there was no indication of combination as amongst +their opponents. Not but what they blazed away valiantly enough, and +some of them had evidently given as good as they got, for more than +one Japanese vessel was in flames. Of course we could not identify +these ships, but we could make out that in numbers and armament they +were a fair match for the Chinese squadron. They appeared to pay +special attention to the two great Chinese ironclads, the _Chen-Yuen_ +and _Ting-Yuen_, one of which at least had had her big guns, 37-ton +Krupps, silenced, though still contributing to the entertainment with +the quick-firing armament. Shortly after three, the _King-Yuen_, fired +by shells, began to burn fiercely; she showed through the smoke like a +mass of flame, and was evidently sinking, settling down on an even +keel. Three or four of the enemy circled round, plying her with shot +and shell. Finally, with a plunge she disappeared, and the immediate +darkening, as the smoke-clouds rolled in where the fierce blaze of +the burning wreck had been, was like the sudden drawing of a veil +over the spot where hundreds of men had met their simultaneous doom. +The cannonade slackened, but soon broke out again fiercely as ever. +About this time it seemed as if the Japanese flagship, _Matshushima_, +was about to share the same fate. She looked all in a blaze forward. +The fire, however, was got under, and later on she was taken out of +the action. + +Meanwhile the Chinese ships had been forced still nearer to the land, +and the _Chao-Yung_, an absolute ruin, drifted helplessly ashore, +half a league from where we stood. By the aid of our glasses we could +perceive her condition clearly--her upper works knocked to pieces; her +decks, strewn with mutilated bodies, an indiscriminate mass of wreck +and carnage. Her crew were abandoning her, struggling to land as best +they could. Subsequently the _Yang-Wei_ went ashore similarly battered +to pieces and burning. She was much further off, and we made her out +less distinctly. On the Japanese side not one ship had sunk as far as +we had seen, and though the flagship and some of the smaller craft +were in an unenviable state, the attack was kept up with immense +spirit, and prompt obedience was paid to signals, which were frequent, +whereas we looked in vain for any sign of leadership on the part of +the Celestials. Later in the action another of their best ships, the +_Chih-Yuen_, came to grief. She had evidently been for long in +difficulties, labouring heavily, with the steam-pumps constantly in +requisition, as we could tell by the streams of water poured from her +sides. Bravely she fought on unsupported, and her upper deck and top +guns were served until she sank. At length her bows were completely +engulfed; the stern rose high out of water, disclosing the whirling +propellers, and bit by bit she disappeared. We could hear distinctly +the yelling sounds of triumph that rose from the Japanese ships as she +went down. The _Chen-Yuen_ and _Ting-Yuen_, which seemed to +fight together during the action, tried when too late to assist her. + +At five o'clock, as darkness came on, the firing rapidly decreased, +and the opposing squadrons began to separate. Some of the Chinese +vessels were out of sight in the gloom to the southward, and the +Japanese slowly drew off seaward. We thought it now high time to +regain the _Columbia_, and took to our boat, discussing the fight and +speculating on the probable renewal of it. We felt little surprise +that the Chinese should have had the worst of it, for we had had good +reason to suspect that their fleet had greatly fallen off from the +state of unquestionable efficiency to which English tuition had +brought it. Whilst ashore in Talienwan I had a conversation with Mr. +Purvis, an English engineer on board the _Chih-Yuen_. I asked him what +he thought would be the result of an encounter with an equal Japanese +force. He said the Chinese would have a good chance if well handled, +expressing on that head distinct doubts. + +"They are very brave," said he--and I can answer for it that there was +no perceptible flinching on their part during the action--"and I +believe Ting to be a good man, but he is under the thumb of Von +Hannecken"--meaning Captain or Major Von Hannecken, a German _army_ +officer, one of the foreign volunteers in the fleet. The significance +of the remark is apparent when we consider the statements made to the +effect that it was he who was really in command on the day of the +engagement, Admiral Ting deferring to his suggestions. I am in no +position to affirm whether this is really the truth or not, but if it +be indeed the fact, it cannot be held to be astonishing that disaster +should have overtaken a fleet manoeuvred by a _soldier_! I recollect +that Mr. Purvis also informed me that the boilers of two or three of +the vessels (instancing the destroyed _Chao-Yung_) were worn-out and +unfit for service. Laxity of discipline, too, seems to have resulted +in disobedience or disregard of orders. As an instance of this, it is +alleged that instructions telegraphed from the conning-tower of the +flagship were varied or suppressed by the officer at the telegraph, +and that a subsequent comparison of notes with the engineer afforded +proof of this. + +I was forcibly struck by the comparatively unimportant part played in +this action by that "dark horse" of modern naval warfare, the dreaded +and much-discussed torpedo. Both squadrons had several torpedo-boats +present, though, as I have shown, those on the Chinese side did not +enter the action until it had been proceeding more than an hour. The +Japanese allege that they did not use the torpedo at all during the +action, and however this may be, there is nothing to show that the +weapon made on either side a single effective hit. I drew the +impression from what I saw, that it would be apt to be ineffectual as +used by one ship against another, an antagonist in the evolutions of +the combat, as the prospect of hitting, unless the ships were very +close together, would be small. The specially-built boat, running +close in, and making sure of the mark, would of course be dangerous, +although the storm of shot from the quick-firing guns ought even in +that case to be a tolerably adequate protection. The torpedo +undoubtedly was not given a fair chance at the battle of Yalu, but the +result seems to indicate that its terrors have been overrated, that +artillery must still be reckoned the backbone of naval warfare. +Probably the torpedo will turn out to be most effective in surprise +attacks on ships and fleets at anchor. The experience of Wei-hai-wei +seems to point to this. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +It was dark long before we got back to the bay where we had anchored +the _Columbia_, and we might have found it impossible to make out her +whereabouts if Webster had not hoisted lights to guide us. When again +aboard we got up steam and stood out to sea. We should have run for +the Yellow Sea at once but for the presence of the Chinese agent, whom +we had had no opportunity of transferring from the _Columbia_. A +motion to throw him overboard was negatived, and we resolved to hold +on for Port Arthur, where we could get rid of him without going much +out of our way. Besides, we felt curious to see if any further +encounter would take place between the hostile squadrons. Such, +however, was not fated to be the case. The Japanese allege that they +intended to renew the attack in the morning, and tried with that view +to hold a course parallel with that of the retreating Chinese, but +lost them during the night. + +We reached Port Arthur on the 19th, and having obtained a pilot, +entered the harbour. We found there only two of the vessels belonging +to the defeated squadron, the _Ping Yuen_ and the _Kwang Ting_. +The former did not seem much injured, but the latter had evidently +suffered heavily, the port bow being partially stove, the upper works +demolished, and the armouring tremendously battered and dinted. + +Shortly after casting anchor in the West Port, I lowered a boat to +take Lin Wong ashore. In the dockyard he ascertained that a fast steam +launch was to leave for Tientsin with despatches within two days, and +he arranged to take advantage of her departure to regain that port, +from which, it will be remembered, he had come on board the +_Columbia_. As he seemed well acquainted with Port Arthur, I got him +to take me round, and show me as much of the place as could be seen in +the two or three hours of leisure at my disposal, for the _Columbia_ +was to trip her anchor again in the evening. + +The general features of Port Arthur, or, to give it its native name, +Lu-Shun-Kou, must be tolerably familiar to all who have followed the +course of the war. A glance at the map shows its position, at the +southern extremity of the Liaotung Peninsula, commanding, with the +formidable forts of Wei-hai-wei on the opposite tongue of land, near +Chefoo, the entrance to the Gulf of Pechili. Although now the +principal arsenal and naval depôt of the Chinese Empire, it is of +quite recent creation, only having come into note since 1881, in which +year it was decided to establish a naval dockyard. Up to then it had +only been used as a harbour for junks employed in the timber trade and +carrying cargoes from the Yalu to ports in the Pechili Gulf, or from +the south to Niuchang and West Chin-chou. Native contractors having +made an extensive bungle of the job, it was entrusted to a French +company, and by them completed. Since then the place has increased, +from an insignificant village of sixty or seventy mud houses and a few +shops, to a town of over a thousand dwellings, as well as two large +theatres, two temples, and a number of banks and inns. The population +at the time of the Japanese incursion was about 5000 or 6000, in +addition to a garrison of about 7000. The port is very spacious and +commodious, and dredgers have worked assiduously for several years +past to deepen the entrance to it. The bar has been deepened from +twelve feet to about twenty-five feet to enable permanent moorings to +be laid down for men-of-war. The dock basin, called the East Port, +covering an area of thirty-two acres, has been constructed well behind +the signal bluffs to the right of the entrance, the West Port, or +natural harbour, opening just opposite round the long, narrow spit of +land called the Tiger's Tail. The basin has a depth of twenty-five +feet at low water. There are large and numerous wharves and quays, +fitted with steam cranes, and connected by a railway with the +workshops, which contain all the most modern machinery and engines. +The dockyard, and in fact a considerable portion of the town, is +supplied with fresh water conveyed by pipes from a spring about four +miles to the north. There is a smaller dock for torpedo boats, and a +torpedo depôt on shore where those weapons can be tested and +regulated. The entrance to the port is defended by torpedoes and +submarine mines, although, as I noticed, some of the latter had been +so badly constructed and adjusted for depth as to show above water. + +For defensive purposes nature and art have combined to render the +place exceedingly strong. Ranges of hills, varying from 300 feet to +1500 feet, surround the port and town almost completely, offering +scope for fortification of the most formidable character, advantages +which, as far as construction goes, have been well utilized, massive +and lofty stone forts occupying every point of advantage. I believe +they are of German construction. They bristle with heavy Krupp and +Nordenfeldt guns. The elevation on the coast varies from eighty feet +to 410 feet. The land defences, though newer than those seaward, are +less powerful; the heaviest guns, of 21 and 24 centimetre, are in the +latter. Everywhere the forts are supplemented by trenches, rifle-pits, +and open redoubts or walled camps. + +Such is, or was, Port Arthur, and when we remember how the Turks held +Plevna, an open town until the earthworks were hastily thrown up round +it, for months against all the force Russia could bring against it, +one cannot but feel amazement that a place so powerful should so +easily have fallen. Properly defended, it should be unreducible by +anything but famine. The coast defences are impregnable, and those +inland, though more susceptible of attack, should not fall before +anything short of overwhelming superiority of force. I should like to +have seen the 20,000 men whom the Japanese led against it take that +fortress in forty-eight hours from Osman Pacha's army. The Mikado's +generals, however, had formed a perfectly just estimate of their own +powers as against those of the enemy. In fact, a third of their force +could have taken Port Arthur from the ridiculous soldiers who held it. + +The garrison in ordinary times amounts to 7000 men, but before the +Japanese attack it had been increased to nearly 20,000. This is +inadequate; 30,000 men at least should occupy the fortress in time of +war, and 40,000 would not in my opinion be too many. + +The chief man in the place when I was there was the Taotai, or +governor, Kung, a brother, I have heard, of the Ambassador to England. +His office, I believe, is civil; the military chiefs were Generals +Tsung and Ju. The soldiers, who appeared to range about everywhere +pretty much at their own discretion, were an uncouth, rough lot, with +very little of the smartness of dress and bearing which we associate +with the military character. Everywhere was a most portentous display +of banners, as if the sacrilegious foot of a foeman could not be set +on any spot rendered sacred by the dragon flag. The town presented a +very neat and compact aspect, and struck me very favourably as +compared with Tientsin, the only other Chinese town I had been in, and +which seemed to me to be for the most part composed of narrow, dirty, +stinking lanes with one or two good streets in the centre. Port +Arthur, as might be expected of so recent a settlement, constructed to +a large extent under European supervision, is very much better built, +and altogether presents, or did present--for to a melancholy and +deplorable condition was it soon to be reduced--a thriving and busy +aspect. + +At dusk I quitted the streets, with their bazaar-like shops and +strange illuminations, and made my way back to the port under escort +of my Chinese friend, who with Oriental politeness insisted on seeing +me safe back on board. A most unwelcome shock awaited me. No +_Columbia_ was to be found, and Lin Wong's inquiries elicited that +she had left nearly an hour before. We hunted up the pilot who had taken +her out, and learned from him that she had steamed away south-east +immediately; she could not, therefore, be awaiting me outside. What on +earth could be the meaning of it? I could only conjecture that by some +oversight the fact of my not being on board had been forgotten. She +possibly might return on its being discovered that I had been left +ashore, but in the meantime what was I to do? A suggestion by Lin +solved the difficulty. If the _Columbia_ did not put back, I could +obtain a passage to Tientsin on the vessel which was soon to convey +him to that port, where I could arrange my future proceedings +according to circumstances. This seeming the only feasible plan, I, +with many internal maledictions upon the stupid mischance, accompanied +the agent to an hotel or inn where he had already chartered quarters +for his short stay in the place. There are some half-dozen of these +establishments in Port Arthur. Three or four of them are wretched +hovels, which existed in the squalid infancy of the town; the newer +ones are larger and fairly commodious and comfortable. The one we +occupied was near one of the gates of the approaches to the +north-eastern forts. Mine host was a square, thick-set Celestial named +Sen. Port Arthur being well accustomed to "foreign devils," some of +the servants had been engaged for their knowledge of that curious +dialect "pidgin English," which in the far East is pretty much what +Lingua Franca is in the Levant. With a little practice it is easily +comprehended, although, under the chaperonage of Lin, my difficulties +were largely reduced. Fortunately I had a considerable sum of American +money in my pockets, and with Lin's aid was able to negotiate it at +one of the banks, at a pretty smart loss, I may say. Otherwise I was +fairly content and comfortable, and had no human want but whisky. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Nothing of interest occurred during the day and a half that elapsed +before the departure of the despatch-boat. Punctual enough as to time +she steamed out of the harbour under cover of night, with the Chinese +agent and myself on board. Misfortunes are well known never to come +singly, and so it was in my case. The morning after our departure was +very foggy, and towards noon we had to slow down to less than half +speed. Suddenly, without a moment's warning, a Japanese gunboat loomed +through the dun vapour close on the port bow. With their ridiculous +fondness for showing it on all occasions, in season and out, the +Celestials had their flag flaunting on a staff in the stern. The +Japanese on the gunboat perceived it, for without troubling to hail +she opened on us with the machine-guns in her tops. A storm of balls +swept the deck, and half of those upon it fell dead or wounded. One of +the bullets cut off the peak of my cap with mechanical neatness, +leaving the rest of the article on my head, though turned quite +round, back to front. Before anything could be done to increase our +speed, a quick-firing gun plumped several heavy shot through us. The +machinery was damaged, we swung round helplessly, and were evidently +fast sinking. We had two boats of no great size; one of them was +knocked to splinters by the shot; the other we lowered as fast as we +could. As many as it would hold got into it, the others jumped into +the water, and within half a minute afterwards our vessel went down, +and the woe-begone survivors of the sudden catastrophe found +themselves prisoners on the deck of her destroyer. + +She was the _Itsuku_ gunboat of about five hundred tons, on a cruise +of observation in the Gulf, along with two or three consorts, whom she +had lost in the fog. There was not a soul on board who could speak a +word of English, but by a few Chinese was sufficiently understood, and +a gunnery officer could speak tolerable French, a knowledge of which +tongue I shall probably be recollected to have mentioned as being the +major portion of the inadequate exchange for my eighty thousand +pounds. They informed us that they had taken us for a torpedo boat, +and seeing the Chinese flag had no hesitation in opening fire on so +dangerous a neighbour, as they deemed us. They seemed very scantily +pleased when told our real character, and learnt that their +precipitancy had perhaps lost them a little promotion, or at least +honourable mention, as capturers of important despatches, as I +understand them to have been. + +I remained on board this vessel for more than a month. The Chinese, of +course, were prisoners of war, but there was no ground for detaining +me as such. I related how I had been left behind by the _Columbia_ at +Port Arthur, without, of course, giving any hint that she had been +engaged in supplying China with war material. I thought this would +satisfy my captors, but I was not long in finding out that they +entertained their own ideas as to my character, for one day I was +plainly asked whether I was not a military or naval instructor of the +Chinese. I was able to conscientiously deny that I was any such thing, +but the query took me very much aback, as the naturalness of the +suspicion was obvious, and I foresaw no end of trouble in clearing +myself of it. The commander of the gunboat, a consequential and rather +surly personage, shook his head, and said he would have to take time +to consider the matter. + +Time he certainly did take, and plenty of it. We were, however, well +treated, chiefly through the kindness of the French-speaking officer, +Lieutenant Hishidi, with whom I struck up an acquaintance, he being +in fact the only one of the gunboat's crew with whom I could converse. +He caused a small separate cabin to be extemporized for myself and Lin +Wong, and looked to our comfort in other ways. My friend Lin, I should +say, had received a nasty graze on the ribs of the right side from one +of the machine-gun bullets, but otherwise was all right, though in a +very chop-fallen condition at being made prisoner. He and I were +allowed more liberty than the other captives, and apart from the +detention had little to complain of. + +I was naturally much interested at first in looking round me and +taking stock of the Japanese sailors and their vessel. She was in +superb fighting trim, beautifully clean and well found in every part, +and the duty was carried on with thorough man-of-war smartness. It was +impossible to watch these little active, clever, determined sailors +without feeling that the men of the finest navy in the world, which I +take to be that of her Britannic Majesty, would find in them foemen +worthy of their steel. I remember that they were daily exercised at +the guns, and the promptitude and precision with which they sank the +_Kowtung_--such was the unlucky despatch-boat's name--was a handsome +testimonial to the accuracy of their aim. + +Lieutenant Hishidi and I had many conversations, chiefly during his +watches, and our talk generally turned on the war and nautical +matters. Of the Chinese he spoke with unmeasured contempt, certainly +not undeserved, and said that the Japanese fleets and armies had no +misgiving as to the result of the struggle; they felt able, against +such opponents, to do anything and go anywhere--"aussi loin que mer et +terre puissent nous mener," was his emphatic expression. + +"We have been making this war for a long time," said he, "and we feel +sure of what we can do." + +I remarked on the extraordinary rapidity with which a nation, closed +like the Japanese, up to within thirty years since, to European trade +and European ideas, had adopted and assimilated the system of Western +civilization. + +"Yes," he replied, "we can learn, and we have learnt, because we saw +that the knowledge would give us a great advantage in our own part of +the world." + +He had been in France, and expressed great admiration of French +ship-building and French seamanship, and seemed doubtful when I +maintained that British seamen would in case of war assert their +superiority over the French ones just as decisively now as they ever +had done in the past--and of naval history in general Hishidi had a +good idea. + +"You might," he said, "as your navy is so much larger than theirs." + +But I pointed out that our naval triumphs had seldom been gained by +superior force--"although," I admitted, "we certainly have now double +the force of any other European power, on which account none of them +dare attack us singly, as they know that if they did, the majority of +their knocked-out tubs would be towing up the Downs in a very brief +space of time. But numbers apart, the British sailor of to-day can +still do more with a ship than a Frenchman. The conditions are +certainly completely changed, but the best seaman will make the most +of the new order." + +He shook his head dubiously, and said he should like to see a war +between England and France. + +"Well," said I, "you may live to see that and not be an old man. You +may live to see a war between England and half the rest of the world, +and see England get the best of it. It has happened once or twice +before." + +On another occasion we were talking about Russia, when Hishidi +remarked-- + +"Russia wants China." + +"Russia wants everything," said I. + +"Ah, that is what they say of you," replied he. + +I once asked him what he thought of the torpedo. + +"Well," said he, "the torpedo is as yet far from being thoroughly +understood. It is very uncertain in use, though when it takes effect +invariably deadly. Gun-fire should be able to neutralize it, that is, +to keep it at a distance, for once struck, no sort of construction +could resist the explosion of two hundred pounds of gun-cotton against +the hull under the water line; water-tight compartments would be of no +avail against such devastation. Vessels of the cruiser type, fast, and +with a heavy quick-firing armament, are best suited to cope with +torpedo-boats, which would find it difficult to get to close quarters +with such craft. Warships have lately been built with a considerable +increase of length, which of course increases a torpedo's chance of +striking by giving it a larger target. Moderate size, no overloading +with armour, speed, good coal supply, and as many quick-firing guns as +can be mounted--that is my idea of the best type of warship at +present. The policy of building monstrous ships is doubtful, when they +can be sunk by a torpedo-boat. Under such conditions, it seems to me +that ease and rapidity of manoeuvring is of more advantage than +gigantic weight of ordnance and armour, because after all the +torpedo's attack is directed against a part which nothing can render +invulnerable." + +Such is the substance of my conversation with the lieutenant, but +despite the charms of intellectual intercourse, I soon began to get +desperately weary of my detention. Day after day the _Itsuku_ cruised +about, sometimes in company with other craft, sometimes alone. The +enemy kept well out of sight, and few events occurred to chequer the +monotony. Once we sighted two Chinese gunboats not far from Chefoo, +and the Japanese varied the day's drill and gun exercise by shelling +them into Wei-hai-wei. They ran ignominiously and never made the least +show of fight. Had the _Itsuku_ been a faster vessel, she would +undoubtedly have captured or destroyed one of them. Her maximum speed +was under sixteen knots. On another occasion, off the western coast of +the Liaotung, we came upon a fleet of junks, craft engaged in coast +trade, I presume. Their crews ran them ashore and escaped, whilst the +Japanese fired the stranded junks with shells, the officers amusing +themselves by sighting the guns and betting on the shots. When a +satisfactory bonfire had been created we steamed away. + +This sort of thing, I have said, went on for more than a month. The +gunboat's cruising-ground was chiefly about the mouth of the Pechili +Gulf, now under the frowning forts of Wei-hai-wei, and now opposite +Port Arthur on the other side. There did not seem to be any regular +blockade of the Gulf, though Japanese warships were constantly +hovering about. The Chinese fleet, I believe, confined itself to the +modest seclusion of Wei-hai-wei harbour, and was not to be tempted +outside. Once I asked Hishidi when they meant to assail Wei-hai-wei +and Port Arthur? + +"Oh," said he, "we are waiting our time; it has not come yet." + +British war-vessels were frequently in sight, but to my requests to be +put on board one of them, or at least to be brought before a Japanese +admiral, the commander of the _Itsuku_--I have completely forgotten +his name--turned a deaf ear. October wore away, and any termination of +my captivity seemed as distant as ever. I was obliged to put an end to +it on my own initiative. One evening--the fourth or fifth of November +it would be--we were outside Port Arthur. At dusk the gunboat +anchored, and a boat was despatched on some errand of reconnaissance. +A point of the coast was less than a mile distant, and as I leant over +the bulwark in the fore-part of the vessel, it struck me that I might +easily swim off to it, if I could get into the water unobserved. Under +Webster's tuition I had become an excellent swimmer. I looked round; I +was apparently not under notice, and there was no light near where I +was. My mind was made up at once. I stole as far forward as I could, +and watching my opportunity, and steadying myself by the cathead, I +made a leap for the cable, intending to climb down it to the water. A +leap in the dark is proverbially a dangerous thing; the vessel +perversely veered away as I sprang, and instead of catching the cable +I soused into the water with a loud splash. The sentry on the gangway +heard it, ran forward, and emptied the magazine of his rifle at me as +I swam away, but by diving and swimming under water out of the direct +line of advance, I managed to evade the bullets. A boat was soon down +and in hot pursuit, but I had had a good start, and they were at a +loss for my true direction at first. I struck out vigorously and made +good headway, but had the disadvantage of swimming in my clothes; +moreover, the water was frightfully cold, and began to chill me to the +bone. I could tell, however, that the tide was strongly in my favour, +and I believe I should have escaped the boat's notice, but that the +people on shore, hearing, I suppose, the rifle-shots, turned on an +electric search-light to see what was going forward. I was still a +good quarter of a mile from the shore, and the boat was nearly as +close in--almost parallel with me, though several hundred yards away. +There was no fort near, but I could see the dark mass of one on a +towering height far to the left. The bright glare soon showed me to my +pursuers, who turned the boat's head towards me and gave way with +might and main. They closed fast, and I gave myself up for lost. A +heavy rifle-fire began crackling along the shore, and the balls +frequently skimmed along the water disagreeably near me. I struggled +on, but would inevitably have been retaken if the event had depended +on my own efforts. There was a small coast battery near containing two +or three mortars, and a shell was thrown at the boat as it held its +daring course for the shore. It was not a hundred yards from me at the +moment. I heard the scream of the projectile, saw it describing its +flaring parabola in my direction, and with my last energies dived to +avoid it. The sound of its explosion rang in my ears as I went under. +When I came up again, the boat was putting back in a hurry with three +or four oars disabled. How near to them the bomb had pitched I cannot +say, but they had evidently got a good allowance of the splinters, +though chance probably had more to do with the matter than +marksmanship. The gunboat was under steam and standing in, returning +the fire. I strained every nerve, and struggled ashore at last in such +a numbed and exhausted state that I could not stand upright without +assistance. I found myself surrounded by Chinese soldiers, who plied +me with questions, which I could not have answered even if I had +understood Chinese. Perceiving my condition, they took me off to a +small building like a guard-house, some way to the rear of a line of +trenches. They made a blazing wood fire in the middle of the stone +floor, and when I had stripped off my wet clothes and was partially +thawed, they renewed their interrogatories. I absolutely knew not a +word of Chinese, and could only endeavour by gestures to give them an +idea of what had happened. This was not very satisfactory, but they at +least could make out that I was no friend to the Japanese. They +jabbered away for a while amongst themselves, apparently discussing +me. At length one of them brought me some food in a large wooden +bowl--a strange mess of I know not what mysterious compounds, amongst +which, however, I could distinguish rice. It was palatable and I ate +it gladly, and asked, too, for a supplementary supply, which was not +denied. Overcome by exhaustion and the fierce heat of the fire, a +drowsy stupor came upon me, and I made signs that I wished to sleep. +They did not seem to have any clothing to offer me for my own which +was drying in the blaze, but they brought in several long, coarse +cloaks or mantles, and one of them enveloping himself in these, +stretched himself before the fire on the ground, to intimate to me +that in such a manner I must pass the night. Another offered me a pipe +of opium, which I knew it would be a great discourtesy, according to +their ideas, to decline, although I was quite unaccustomed to the +drug. I therefore took it and affected to smoke, and as I lay down, +they left the little room in which they had placed me, and I heard +them barricade the door outside. + +I immediately fell into a profound slumber. The few whiffs of opium +which, despite of myself, I had inhaled, had their effect, and +produced a series of those magical dreams with which the drug tempts +and deceives the novice. Through all of them the idea of flight and +pursuit ran bewilderingly. I will give one as a specimen. I dreamt +that I was on the shore of the sea; the waters suddenly began to rise, +and threatened to overwhelm me. I turned and ran, but nearer and +nearer the flood came after. Then there yawned across my path a +precipice of which I could not see the bottom. Down I plunged. I +seemed to fly like a bird, and once more stood on firm ground. The +precipice seemed to reach to the sky behind me. I resumed my flight, +and looking back, beheld the flood leaping down the gulf in a mighty +volume, with the sun rising above it, and bathing the illimitable +cataract with golden light. It would be impossible to describe or +imagine the gorgeousness of the spectacle. With such visions as these +does the treacherous narcotic lure its victims. I believe its use is +forbidden by the Chinese military authorities, but the undisciplined +soldiers seemed to use it extensively when they could get it, like +tobacco. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +I slept till the middle of the following day, and would in all +probability have slept longer but that I was awakened by my hosts, if +so I may term them. My clothes were quite dry; I got into them, and +was escorted outside at once. The first thing I saw was a detachment +of cavalry, mounted on little shaggy Tartar ponies. One of these I was +invited to bestride, and a moment afterwards, without the possibility +of explanations being either asked or given, we were _en route_. + +I may as well say at once that the spot where I had come ashore was +the land below the West Port, and I was being conveyed to the +Man-tse-ying fort, one of the principal seaward fortifications. It has +an elevation of 266 feet above the sea level, and the latter part of +the ascent had to be made on foot. I was at once taken before the +commandant, who with a few other officers and a secretary sat prepared +to investigate the peculiar circumstances which had brought a Fan +Quei, or foreign devil, amongst them. The secretary knew English very +indifferently--so indifferently that I am doubtful if he understood my +story rightly. He asked me if I was acquainted with German, and gave +me to understand that he knew more of that language than of English; +however, I did not know ten words of it. The examination was long, +and, from the difficulty of understanding one another, confused +enough. I gathered that I was, or had been, under suspicion of being a +Japanese spy in the minds of those before whom I had been brought, and +they rigorously questioned the men whom I had first seen as to the +circumstances attending my landing. These, I consoled myself by +reflecting, could not be deemed consistent with the supposition that I +was an agent of the enemy. I was asked if there was any one in the +town who could witness to my having been there previously under the +circumstances I alleged. I replied that probably the people at the inn +would remember me. + +Finally the Chinamen held a lengthened consultation amongst +themselves, at the end of which I was told that I would be taken +forthwith before the higher authorities on the other side of the port. +I hinted to the secretary that I had had nothing to eat that day and +felt decidedly hungry. I was accordingly served before my departure +with a meal of fish and boiled bread, with a cup of rice wine, a +decoction which tasted like thin, sour claret. This done, I was placed +in charge of my former escort, who struck across country from the rear +of the Man-tse-ying, passed two or three other forts and numerous +entrenchments and redoubts, and finally reached the water on the inner +side of the long arm of land enclosing the West Port. Here, close by a +torpedo store, I was put on board a sampan, a long, narrow boat, sharp +at both extremities, with an awning. In this I was conveyed to the +East Port and taken through the dockyards to the military +head-quarters near the great drill and parade ground at the entrance +to the town. It was late in the evening when we arrived there, and I +was not brought up for examination until the next day. Here, to my +great satisfaction, I found I had to deal with somebody who knew +English well--a military aide-de-camp, who spoke the language with +both fluency and correctness. To him I told my story plainly and +straightforwardly, and by the testimony of my former landlord, Sen, +and an official at the bank where I had changed my money, established +my identity as the person who had passed two days in the town with +Wong, and accompanied him on board the despatch-boat. This was +sufficient to procure my release. Everything I said was very carefully +noted down. My interrogation was conducted before a couple of +mandarins. The Taotai I believe to have been absent from the place at +this time. He is alleged to have deserted his position and to have +been ordered back again. This may or may not be so, but it is +undoubtedly the fact that he fled from Port Arthur the night before +the Japanese attacked it. He does not appear to have been open to the +accusation of heroism. + +I was informed by the aide-de-camp that the port had been visited only +a day or two before by the British warship _Crescent_, the officers +of which had landed for a short while. Fate seemed resolved that I should +have no chance of leaving the place without seeing in it something +worth remembering, as I had no sooner returned to Sen's inn, which I +did on my release, than I was seized with a kind of aguish fever, the +effect, no doubt, of the exposure I had recently undergone. It was +nothing serious, but caused a feeling of great lassitude and +depression, and confined me indoors for some ten or twelve days. I had +the place almost to myself, as the approach of the Japanese armies had +not been favourable to custom, and the usual course of travel to and +from the north had been suspended. Sen was anxious to learn from me +whether I considered it advisable for residents and townspeople to +leave the port. I replied, as I sincerely thought, that the Japanese, +if they succeeded in taking the place, would do no harm to +non-combatants. I was, however, fatally mistaken. + +The inn was a place of two storeys--few Chinese habitations have more. +Most of the rooms opened round a partially covered courtyard. I had a +good one in the upper storey, or the "top-side," as it is expressed in +"pidgin." There were no fireplaces; the apartments were chiefly warmed +by charcoal in braziers. Along one side of that which I occupied was a +long low hollow bench, filled with hot air from a furnace. This +contrivance usually served me for a bed, for although they use +bedsteads, there is nothing on them but an immense wadded quilt, in +which you roll yourself up. I transferred it to the hot-air holder, +which made a far warmer and more comfortable couch. I was waited on +mostly by a lad named Chung, one of the professors of "pidgin." He was +a native of Canton, had been in Hong Kong, and was well accustomed to +Englishmen and their ways. The fare was very tolerable--poultry, pork, +and various kinds of fish, but no beef, as the Chinaman deems it wrong +to kill the animal that helps to till the ground. Chung told me that +in the south cats and dogs are fattened for food, which it occurred to +me would be a distinct advantage in Port Arthur at that time, with a +siege imminent, and a great abundance of those animals observable. For +drink I naturally had plenty of tea, though it is very washy stuff as +made by the Chinese, who usually content themselves with putting the +leaves in a cup and pouring hot water over them, flavouring the +infusion with tiny bits of lemon. + +As soon as I was sufficiently recovered to go out, I made an effort to +find out whether there was any prospect of getting away from the place +by sea, but soon found that this was hopeless to expect. No foreign +vessels were in the port, and the native ones were chiefly junks, the +proprietors of which, as interpreted by Chung, whom I took with me, +refused to venture out unless for such a sum as I could by no +possibility procure. There were no Chinese war-vessels in the harbour, +and indeed they would have been of no use there. + +Knowing that the fortress was a very strong one, I made up my mind +that there would be a protracted siege, and my spirits fell as I +surveyed the prospect, for my pecuniary resources were limited, and it +seemed very unlikely that I would again see the _Columbia_ in the +port. However, my fears were groundless. Little did I think that +within three days the place would be in the hands of the Japanese. + +It was on November 18 that I made the fruitless attempt to negotiate +for a passage. The appearance of the place had considerably changed +since first I was in it. The numbers of the soldiery had obviously +been largely increased. Industry was completely suspended in the +dockyard, the whole of which had been converted into barracks. In +returning from the wharves with Chung, I witnessed a specimen of +military punishment. Passing the open gate of an enclosure near the +clearing-house, I perceived a group which at once riveted my +attention. A number of soldiers were standing round one who, stripped +to the waist, was kneeling with his forehead stooped almost to the +ground, and his hands tied behind, the thongs that bound them being +held by a man standing close in his rear. Thus disposed, he received a +tremendous flogging from a whip with a fearful heavy leathern lash, +which made me think of the Russian knout. The blows fell with a thud +that made my nerves shiver, and the back of the sufferer was covered +with blood, which was thrown here and there by the ensanguined +instrument of torture as it whistled through the air. He took his +punishment, however, to use the language of the P.R., like a man, and +though his body seemed to bend like a reed with each stroke, he never +uttered a sound that I could hear. I did not count the lashes, but +there was no stint in the allowance. Minute after minute the +castigator laboured away in his vocation, until finally the victim +collapsed, and rolling over, lay like a log in a pool of blood, and +was then carried off. I was rather surprised to see a whip used, as I +had always supposed the bastinado to be the favourite method of +flagellation in China. I asked Chung for an explanation, but he did +not seem to understand my question, and replied that the "one piecee +ting (soldier) no hab muchee hurtee," and that they might if they had +liked have cut off his "one piecee head." True it is that decapitation +is a very common punishment in the Chinese army. + +Strongly as the massacre by the Japanese troops in Port Arthur is to +be condemned, there is not the slightest doubt in the world that the +Chinese brought it on themselves by their own vindictive savagery +towards their enemies. The attacking armies, advancing down the +Peninsula in touch with the fleet, were now within a day or two's +march of the inland forts. Bodies of Chinese troops harassed and +resisted them, and brushes between the opposing forces frequently took +place. The Chinese took some prisoners, whom they slew mercilessly, +and one of the first things I saw on the morning of the 19th was a +pair of corpses suspended by the feet from the branches of a huge +camphor tree near the parade-ground. They were hideously mutilated. +They had been disembowelled; the eyes were gouged out, the throat cut, +and the right hand severed. They were perfectly naked, and groups of +children were pelting them with mud and stones. + +Similar ghastly spectacles were to be seen in other parts, both inside +the town and beyond it. Nor was this the worst; the walls exhibited +placards, in the sacred imperial yellow, inciting to these atrocities. +This I know by means of Chung, whom I usually took out with me. The +tenor, as he translated, was this:--"To the soldiers and subjects of +the Celestial Lord of the Dragon Throne. So much for every Japanese +dog alive. So much for his head or hand. In the name of the Sacred Son +of Heaven," etc. Then came the date and the signature of the Taotai. +The exact amount of the rewards I forget. I think it was fifty taels +for a live prisoner, and a less amount for heads or hands. The bodies +of the Japanese soldiers killed in encounters with the enemy as they +closed on the place, were often found minus the head or right hand, +sometimes both, besides being ferociously gashed and slashed. Corpses +were still hanging on the trees when the fortress fell, and it is not +surprising that their former comrades should have been maddened by the +sight, though of course the officers are greatly to blame for +permitting the fearful retaliation which ensued to be carried to such +lengths. The massacre seems to have been allowed to continue +unchecked until no more victims could be found. + +This, however, is to anticipate. On the 19th the enemy were close upon +the forts, and everything was bustle and commotion. Business was +suspended nearly everywhere, and the movements of the troops were the +chief attraction. Great crowds gathered in the vicinity of the +general's pavilion overlooking the parade-ground, where a council was +held in the afternoon. A strong armed force held back the mob. All the +principal military officers arrived from their posts at the head of +their staffs one by one. The Taotai was brought from his residence in +a magnificent sedan-chair, carried by ten or twelve bearers. The +pavilion itself is a splendid structure, adorned with the most gaudy +and brilliant colours, and covered with Chinese characters beautifully +worked in gold. The consultation lasted for at least three hours. I +had only a distant view of Kung over the heads of the soldiers. The +fighting outside continued, and on the next day more Japanese corpses +had been brought in by the vengeful soldiery, and left for the rabble +to amuse themselves with. I do not think that any Japanese was brought +into the town alive. + +Towards noon the next day (20th) the first guns were heard. Cannon +rumbled away in the distance all the afternoon, ceasing as night came +on. A wild and anxious night it was. There was no certain news of the +fighting, and the most contradictory rumours were prevalent. Excited +crowds filled the streets, which blazed with great coloured paper +lanterns, of which nearly every individual carried one; indeed, the +person who is seen outside without a lantern after dark becomes an +object of suspicion to the police watch. + +I determined to see, if possible, something of the fighting next day. +All the ground around Port Arthur is, as I have before remarked, very +hilly. Outside the town, and between it and the north-western forts, +is a lofty elevation named White Boulders, for an obvious reason--the +ground is full of chalk. This spot I determined upon as my point of +observation. Most of the front face had been covered with trenches, +but the rear was easy of attainment, and I was struggling up the steep +ascent at day-break. The summit is very uneven, covered with huge +crags and deep indentations, and there were any number of secure +enough nooks to pick and choose from. + +The field of action seen from White Boulders is very simple and may be +described in a few words. Behind me was the West Port; on my left the +north-western fortifications, called the Table Mountain forts; on my +right the East Port and the sea, and in front the greater part of the +town, with the north-eastern forts beyond. Of these latter there are, +I think, eight, all connected by a wall. I had only a partial view of +them. Between the elevations on which stand the north-eastern and +north-western forts, the ground sinks deeply, and there is a wide +space comparatively level, part of it occupied by a village. This +tract is defended by redoubts and earthworks, and can be swept by the +fire of the higher fortifications, particularly by those of the +north-east, but still it is a weak point in the defence, though +capable, it seemed to me, of being greatly strengthened. + +The day broke with a frosty clearness, and though I had no glass, it +was possible to see for miles on every hand. The dragon flag waved +everywhere on the Chinese forts, but I could see at first no sign of +the Japanese, and it was not until they began to fire that their +positions were indicated. It was about half-past seven when, far to +the north-west, their guns began to boom. All their preparations had +apparently been made over-night, and they were only waiting for +daylight to begin. The Chinese opened fire in reply on both sides; +battery after battery joined in, and soon there was a thundering roar +of artillery, and a dense volume of white smoke, through which glanced +the flash of the cannon, all round the great semi-circle. The scream +of shells, and the blaze and detonation with which they burst, were +incessant. Away on the right the sea was covered with warships, which +seemed to have nothing to do, and certainly were not assailing the +coast defences. Some of the seaward forts were able to get their guns +to bear on the positions of the Japanese armies, and were blazing +away, though I don't think they could do much damage. + +Some minor outlying fortifications had been captured the previous +afternoon, and the Japanese had divided into two bodies for the main +assaults on the north-west and north-east. The Chinese in these two +sections appeared to have no combination, and by a feint at the +north-east the Japanese kept that part diverted until the west forts +had been carried. It is a fact that they fell about an hour and a half +after the cannonade commenced. The Japanese infantry advanced against +them, and the valiant troops holding them ran away at the sight. The +Chinese forts on the other side now began to fire away across the +intervening valley, as if that could remedy the disaster. Upon them +then became concentrated the whole Japanese fire. The Chinamen here +made a far better show, and the fire was vigorous and sustained. About +eleven o'clock, with a terrific blast of flame and thunder, which +seemed to shake the ground far and near to the shores of the sea, +their largest fort, the Shoju, or Pine Tree Hill, blew up; a shell +must have alighted in the magazine. At noon the whole Japanese line +advanced to the charge, and here, too, the Celestials never waited for +the assault, but fled precipitately. There was no fighting at all at +close quarters; not a solitary Chinaman stood for a bayonet thrust. +Thus pusillanimously were abandoned these two great masses of +fortifications, placed in the most commanding situations, on steep +mountain heights where attacking forces could keep no sort of regular +formation, and could have been mowed down in thousands by competent +gunners as they struggled up the impregnable inclines. It was with a +feeling of bewilderment that I beheld such powerful defences lost in +such a manner, and realized that after three or four hours' +bombardment on one side, without a shot fired against the tremendous +coast defences, it was all up with Port Arthur. + +The victors next turned their attention to the redoubts and walled +camps on the lower ground, with the calm method which distinguished +all their operations. From the valleys between the hills began to +emerge dark columns of infantry, which closed steadily upon the +devoted town, rolling to their positions with the mechanical +regularity of parade, the sheen of their bayonets glancing here and +there through the volumes of smoke which had settled thickly in the +hollows. Nearer, spread over the ground to which the forts their +cowardice had lost should have afforded ample protection, were the +disorganized masses of Chinese, preparing for their last scattered and +fruitless efforts. Only one of the inland forts, that nearest to the +town, and called, I think, Golden Hill, was still in their possession. +The trenches below me on White Boulders' front face, which had been +unoccupied during the early portion of the day, now began to swarm +with riflemen, whose weapons kept up a continuous roll, swelled from +many a rifle-pit and redoubt away forward from the base of the +elevation. Steadily the enemy advanced, working their way round on +both wings within the captured fortresses. They took skilful advantage +of every protection the ground afforded, and the resistance in their +front rapidly diminished as they pressed on irresistibly from position +to position. + +It was now high time for me to evacuate my post, where I had had a +solitary and secure vantage-place amidst the rugged inequalities of +its summit, which probably I should not have been permitted to attain +if I had not set about it so early. Past its front runs a shallow but +broad stream, which coming through the Suishiyeh valley, rounds the +parade-ground on the south towards White Boulders, whence it flows +into a large and deep creek farther west. This stream the Japanese +had to cross before they could attack the trenches below me. Two or +three times they were beaten back by the hail of bullets poured on +them at very close range, but covered by a heavy fire on their own +side they were at length over, and then their opponents took to flight +round the right-hand side of the hill. I stayed only to see this, and +plunged down the rear. It was growing dusk, and I had numerous narrow +escapes of breaking my neck in the deep and rugged hollows, some of +them almost ravines, which seam that side of the elevation. + +The town was now at the mercy of the conquerors. The Chinese were +running from the Golden Hill fort as I descended, without an effort at +defending it, and the water beyond was covered with boats and small +craft filled with fugitives, mostly the dastardly troops, who threw +away arms and uniforms as they ran. For incompetence and cowardice +commend me for the future to Chinese soldiers. The twenty thousand of +them who occupied Port Arthur contrived to kill about sixty of their +antagonists on November 21, with all the best modern weapons at their +disposal. And these are the men who, according to Lord Wolseley and +other critics, are some day to start out to conquer the earth! Let, +says Lord Wolseley, a Napoleon arise amidst this vast people, and we +shall see. But is an essentially unwarlike nation at all likely to +breed a Napoleon, or to supply him with openings for a career? Who +ever heard of a Chinese conqueror? Have they ever appeared otherwise +than as the most self-centred and unenterprising people in the world, +displaying the least possible aptitude for the career of arms? And +from what source, after thousands of years of such characteristics, +are they to bring forth the material for this sudden burst of +conquering militarism? + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +I directed my retreat towards the dockyards, with a view to getting +round to the south part of the town, as far as possible from the +quarter by which the Japanese were entering it. The idea of a general +massacre never entered my mind, and I only thought of getting back to +my inn, there to stay until things quieted down. My prevailing feeling +was one of satisfaction that I should not after all have to face a +long residence in a beleaguered town. I therefore paid little +attention at first to the fact that people were flying on every hand, +and I did not suppose that there could be any good reason for flight, +beyond the desirability of getting out of the way of the conquering +troops until the ardour of victory had cooled down. I was not long to +be left undeceived. A deadly work of vengeance and slaughter had +commenced Down the panic-crowded streets, louder and louder as I +advanced, came ringing the volleys of the rifle-fire, the shouts of +the infuriated soldiers, and the death-shrieks of their victims. I +knew that all armed resistance had been broken, and as these sounds of +terror increased, an idea of what might be imminent crossed my mind. I +recollected what so often follows the fall of a place carried by +storm; I remembered the atrocities committed on the Japanese +prisoners; and I remembered, too, the general character of all +Oriental soldiers. I paused to consider my situation. I had passed +round by the water-side until outside the dock basin, and then turned +into the streets, striking across in the direction of the inn, with +the route from which to the East Port I was well enough acquainted. +There was a rush and hurry of fugitives all around me, and now for the +first time I saw the Japanese soldiers in pursuit, pressing on the +fleeing throng, and using rifle and bayonet furiously on all and +sundry, stabbing and hacking fiendishly at those who fell. I was +knocked down in the rush and trampled upon, and it was some time +before I could rise. A Japanese soldier was near me as I staggered to +my feet, and took aim at me with his rifle. The barrel was within a +foot of me, and I struck it aside just in time to escape getting a +bullet through my body. I had no weapon but those of nature, but in +their use I was, like most of the Anglo-Saxon breed, something of an +artist, and before the Jap could recover his piece I gave him a good, +straight, British right-hander between the eyes, which sent him down +like a nine-pin. In all human probability it was the first sample of +the article that had ever come under his notice; he was clearly unused +to the method of attack, and lay quite flat as if to think it over, +whilst I retreated as fast as my legs could carry me. I resolved to +hold on for the inn, thinking that if I succeeded in reaching it, I +should be comparatively safe, as perhaps the outbreak of fury might +confine itself to the streets. I knew, too, that I had not much +farther to go. I made little progress, nevertheless, being frequently +turned out of the road by the necessity of avoiding the soldiers, who +were spreading fast across the town, shooting down all whom they +encountered. One began to stumble over corpses in nearly every street, +and the risk of encountering parties of the murderers increased, every +minute. Again and again I came into the midst of the work of butchery, +and every now and then ran the gauntlet of a flight of bullets fired +down the narrow avenues. At length I lost my way completely, and +wandered about through the pandemonium around, thinking that each +minute would be my last. At length, in emerging from a dark lane +leading up an ascent, I came upon a sheet of water. I immediately +recognized it as a large shallow fresh-water lake in the rear of the +dock basin, and it thus appeared that I had strayed back nearly to the +point where I had re-entered the town on descending from White +Boulders. + +A frightful scene was before me. I have said that the land by which I +had come out on the lake inclined steeply upwards, and the water was +about fifteen feet below me when I arrived in sight of it. It was +surrounded by crowds of Japanese soldiers, who had driven large +numbers of the fugitives into the water, and were firing on them from +every side, and driving back with the bayonet those who attempted to +struggle out. The dead floated on the water, which was reddened with +blood. The soldiers, yelling and laughing with vengeful glee, seemed +to gloat over the agonies of their victims. It was fearful to see +those gory forms struggling in the agitated water, those who still +lived endeavouring to extricate themselves from the mass of corpses, +falling fast, but often rising again with their last energies, +streaming with water and blood, and uttering piteous cries and appeals +for mercy, which were mocked by the fiends around them. Many women +were amongst them; one I noticed carrying a little child, which, +struggling forward, she held up to the soldiers as if in appeal. As +she reached the bank, one of the wretches struck her through with his +bayonet, and with a second stroke as she fell transfixed the child, +which might have been two years old, and held its little body aloft. +The woman rose and made a wild effort to regain the child, but +evidently exhausted and dying, fell back again into the water. Her +body--and in fact it was done with everybody that came within +reach--was hacked in pieces. Fresh batches of victims were being +driven in, until there threatened soon to be no room in the water for +any more. I could bear the spectacle no longer, but turned and fled +from the ghastly spot. + +I now knew my whereabouts, and once more set out for the inn, along +the line from which I had strayed. Heaps of dead and spectacles of +murder were continually presenting themselves. In one place I saw some +ten or twelve soldiers with a number of unfortunates whom they had +tied back to back in a batch. With volley after volley they despatched +them, and proceeded to mutilate their bodies in the usual horrible +fashion. Nobody was spared, man, woman, or child, that I could see. +The Chinese appeared to offer no resistance. Many of them prostrated +themselves on the ground before the butchers with abject submission, +and were shot or stabbed in that posture. + +I was now to have a close shave. I came suddenly and unawares upon a +party engaged in slaughtering some shrieking wretches--women and +children amongst them--and being perceived was shot at by one of the +soldiers. I rapidly retreated, but he detached himself in pursuit. I +entered a house; he followed, but I had the start of him, and for a +while evaded him. I got into what looked like a kitchen or scullery, +and amongst some other utensils I came upon a curiously shaped +hatchet, very heavy and sharp. I waited for about a quarter of an +hour, and then, judging that the Jap must have left when unable to +find me, I prepared to sally forth again, as it was rather more +dangerous to be in the houses than in the streets, the soldiers +entering and pillaging them one by one, and of course slaughtering +anybody they found within. No sooner, however, had I got to the front, +than I unexpectedly encountered the very man who had driven me in, +retiring laden with booty. He dropped his plunder at once upon seeing +me, and handled his bayonet to run me through. We were in a little low +room, with a door in a corner opening on the street. He made a furious +thrust at me; by a quick movement I evaded it. The steel grazed my +left side, and crashed through the wall behind me, to which I was +pinned by the clothes, and as he tried to withdraw his weapon, I had a +fair stroke at him in return. The axe was very sharp; rage and +despair seemed to have doubled my strength, and I split his skull +half-way down to the jaw. Brains and blood were scattered over me, as +he sank dead at my feet. + +I felt no inclination to stay any longer, and was about to take my +departure, when it struck me that I might as well arm myself with my +defunct antagonist's rifle and cartridge-pouch. This led immediately +to a better idea. The Jap was a man of nearly my own stature; why not +put on his clothes? It was fast darkening, and aided in the deception +by the obscurity, my chance of escape would be greatly increased, +though I began to have an uneasy feeling that it would be a miracle if +I escaped destruction anyhow. I immediately acted on the inspiration. +The soldier, I have said, was nearly of my own height (5 ft. 6 in.), +but I was a good deal broader across the shoulders, and I made an +extensive split up the back of his tunic in struggling into it. That, +however, was no great matter, and I was soon equipped in all his outer +casement, except his cap, which had been bisected along with his head. +There was a little keen dagger in his belt, and with it I cut off my +moustache as close as I could, as the Japanese seldom have much hair +on their faces. Then, not forgetting his rifle, a beautiful +Lee-Metford, I sallied forth, carrying my discarded clothes over my +arm, a circumstance not at all likely to attract attention, as they +were all loading themselves with booty. + +I was undecided enough how to proceed. I might pass out into the open +country north of the town, but if I did so I should probably either +die of starvation or get killed as a Japanese straggler. I began to +think my best course would be to return to the port, and take my +chance of getting away in some small vessel. First of all, however, I +resolved to complete my intention of seeing what was going on at the +inn, to which I was now quite close. I kept boldly on, and my disguise +answered admirably, not one of the soldiers seeming to suspect that I +was anything but a comrade. Now and then I would be greeted by wild +cries in their high, shrill voices, or one, waving his rifle, would +shout something as he passed. I returned the greetings in dumb show, +and hurried on. I do not know how it would have fared with me in broad +daylight; probably not nearly so well; but it was now nearly dark. +Most of the soldiers had provided themselves, to light the work of +slaughter and pillage, with one of those coloured lanterns which are +to be found in such profusion in Chinese towns, and their demoniac +aspect was greatly heightened by the illuminations they carried as +they flitted to and fro. The butchery was proceeding without the +least sign of abatement; shots, shouts, shrieks, and groans resounded +on every side; the streets presented a fearful spectacle; the ground +was saturated with blood, and everywhere strewn with horribly +mutilated corpses; some of the narrower avenues were positively choked +with carnage. The dead were mostly the townspeople; their valiant +defenders seemed to have been able to make themselves scarce; where +they all got to is a mystery to me; perhaps owing to the fact that +they got rid of their uniforms early in the proceedings in order not +to be identified as combatants, a dodge that must have served them +very little, as the conquerors killed everyone they came across. + +At length I reached Sen's house, only to find that the destroyer had +been there. The place was in darkness; I took down the lantern from +over the outer gate, with the name of the inn and its proprietor's +written on it in the Chinese character, lit it, and began an +inspection. The first thing I saw was the corpse of my landlord +himself, lying in the covered court. His head was almost severed, and +he had been disembowelled. Most of the lower storey rooms had doors +opening into this court; across the threshold of one lay the corpse of +a female servant, mutilated in an unspeakable manner. The household +establishment consisted in all of some ten or twelve persons, and +eight of them I found lying murdered in different parts of the +premises. There was no sign of living presence anywhere. The place had +been thoroughly ransacked, and everything worth having carried off. My +blood boiled as I surveyed the scene of desolation and massacre, where +lately I had witnessed happiness and cheerful industry, and I felt +that I could willingly have died myself on the spot to obtain +vengeance on the murderers. + +In one of the upper rooms there was a bamboo ladder and trap leading +on the roof, which was flat, and it occurred to me to ascend and look +round. It was quite dark, and there was little to be seen beyond the +limits of the street. Distant illuminations marked the positions of +the forts on the surrounding heights. The seaward ones were still in +possession of the Chinese. They fell easily on the following day, and +had been practically abandoned. I noticed that the sounds of violence +in the town were rapidly decreasing. As I walked slowly round, the dim +light of my lantern fell on two figures skulking in the shadow. They +retreated as I advanced, until they could back no further, and then +one of them fell on his knees before me, bowing his forehead on the +roof with abject cries. I held the lantern towards him, and to my +astonishment recognized Chung. He evidently did not know me, and no +wonder, considering the manner in which I had rigged myself out. He +seemed half out of his wits with fear, and I had some difficulty in +forcing the fact of my identity upon his conviction. Then his delight +was as great as his previous terror. His companion was a stranger to +him--a man of exceedingly gentlemanly and prepossessing appearance, +and clearly a person of condition, being, in fact, as I afterwards +found, a mandarin. His own residence had been sacked and his family +murdered. He and a brother had escaped into the street, were pursued, +and his relative shot in running away. Though with his left arm broken +by a bullet, he had run into the inn. When the soldiers entered it he +and Chung got on to the roof, where none of the Japanese thought of +looking for victims. His broken arm was causing him considerable +suffering, and having acquired during my knock-about life some rude +knowledge of surgery, I put the fracture together, and made a sling +with my neck-tie. + +I explained my situation to Chung as well as I was able; he translated +to his countryman, who knew no English, and we held a council as to +future proceedings. The work of slaughter had apparently been +suspended; either the soldiers were tired of it or had been recalled. +The Japanese forces exceeded 20,000, and of these I do not think that +more than one half, perhaps not one third, were engaged in this first +evening's work, which was only the opening scene of the massacre. +Masses of the troops had been placed to occupy the forts, and +otherwise secure the conquest. We thought it likely, as indeed was the +case, that they would all withdraw to the camps outside as the night +advanced, and we resolved to attempt to gain the water-side, and seek +a last chance of escape, under cover of darkness. We searched the +place for food, but all we could find was a little bread, and a few +prepared sweetmeat cakes. + +An awful stillness, broken at times by ominous sounds, came over the +town. Lights flitted at times through its dark labyrinths, by whom +borne it was impossible to perceive. The presence of death, in its +most fearful shapes, seemed palpable to the senses, and we, crouching +in the gloom on the roof, to which as the safest place we had +returned, had before our mental vision the mutilated bodies in the +rooms close below us, with the ghastly probability, almost the +certainty, that another hour or two would join us in their horrid +fate. To myself, the reckless, wasted past presented itself, in that +situation of appalling terrors, in all its enormity. There was I, +after throwing away the high advantages of fortune and prosperity, a +ruined and degraded man, about to meet an appropriate ending to such +a career by a bloody death at the hands of some brutal soldier, in an +unknown land, at the ends of the earth, where scarcely a human being +knew a word of my native tongue. If these pages should be read by any +young man embarking without a thought of the future, in the flush of +high spirits and inexperience, upon courses similar to mine, I hope he +will take warning, and stop in time. + +It was, I should judge, about ten o'clock when at last we descended to +the street. There had been no firing for about two hours. The lantern +was re-lit, and Chung, who knew the way best, took it and went ahead. +I still wore the soldier's dress; if met and challenged, I proposed to +make it appear, as best I could, that I was making the Chinamen +conduct me to one of the camps, or if I failed in this to sell my life +dearly with the rifle. + +Our path lay right across the town, and the dead lay thickly in nearly +every street in the quarters we traversed, where, of every age, sex, +and condition, they had been promiscuously butchered by the hundred. +Here and there the miserable survivors--survivors only for the +present--were searching, with low wailings and lamentations, for those +they had lost, with the aid of their coloured lanterns, which gave a +look of indescribable ghastliness to the mutilated forms they bent +over to examine. To my last day I shall remember, with unfading +horror, the aspect of those remnants of mortality, in all the +hideousness stamped upon them by the unnamable atrocities practised +during that diabolical orgy of murder and mutilation, rape, lust, and +rapine. This is war! Away, in the splendid pavilion of the vanquished, +the conquering marshal, surrounded by his generals and officers, was +installed in triumph, secure of his country's applause and his +emperor's favour; but here, amid these desolated homes, these +mutilated heaps of death, was the night side, the shadow, of their +glory. And this was but the first day of _four_! It must be admitted +that the Chinese drew it upon themselves, that everywhere else the +Japanese behaved with admirable clemency and moderation; but after +making every allowance, their conduct in this instance, and +particularly that of the high commanding chiefs in never seeking to +put a stop to the devilish excesses perpetrated before their eyes on +unoffending non-combatants, is richly deserving of everlasting infamy. + +Many of the poor wretches thus cowering about ran away upon +perceiving, as they thought, an armed Japanese soldier, but in one +instance I had reason to be thankful that I was not alone. A +middle-aged man and two younger ones were carrying away, in one of the +streets we traversed, the half-naked body of a woman, which had been +split open from the abdomen to the chest. The elder man glared upon +me, in the dim light, with the expression of a tiger, and drawing a +long curved knife from his breast, and pointing at me, shouted +something to his companions, who perhaps were his sons. Chung at once +interposed, and talked with them rapidly for a few moments, and +naturally his explanation sufficed and we proceeded. I asked Chung +what the man had said:--"There is one of the Japanese devils; let us +rip him up." + +But it would only be needlessly harrowing to dwell on the sights of +horror we encountered at every turn. We pressed on, rapidly yet +cautiously, our feet dabbling in blood wherever we trod. As we +proceeded down a street about ten feet broad, we heard in front sounds +as of voices shouting and singing. The avenue we were in took a turn +about fifteen yards in advance of us, and as we hesitated and finally +stopped, there appeared round it a body of men in whom we at once +recognized the Japanese soldiers. There was a low but wide doorway on +our right, and into it we at once slipped with no trifling celerity. +It was intensely dark and offered a good concealment. We could not +afford to extinguish our lantern, and I placed it behind an angle of +the inner wall where it was impossible that its glimmer could be seen +from the street. Crouching in the deep shadow, we anxiously awaited +the passing of the soldiers, whose voices we heard momentarily +approaching, shouting at their full pitch a discordant song, +accompanied by a loud ringing sound which at first I mistook for that +of some instrument. They were soon abreast of us, some twenty or +thirty in number. I scarcely breathed as the ferocious band went +trooping past. Their appearance was ghastly and terrible beyond +conception. They were literally reeking from the shambles of inhuman +butchery; their clothes and weapons were smeared and clotted with +blood; some held human heads aloft on their bayonets; the lanterns +which most of them carried, and swung to and fro as they marched, +threw on their repulsive figures and savage Oriental faces, their +white teeth, oblique eyes, and sallow countenances, a weird, wavering +light, appropriate to their infernal aspect; they looked more like +demons than like men. The foremost, who appeared to be dismounted +dragoons, were clashing their sabres together in a kind of +accompaniment to the yelling chant in which they all joined. On they +went, trampling the dead with whom their bestial ferocity had strewn +the devoted town, the sound of their high shrill voices and the ring +of the clashing steel being audible for some time after they had +passed out of sight. At length it died away and all was still again, +so silent that I seemed to hear the quick and heavy throbbing of my +heart. + +After waiting two or three minutes I told Chung to take the lantern so +that we might set out again. He did so, but as he was about to step +from the doorway he tripped over some object concealed by the darkness +and fell: it was a dead body. I examined it by the lantern-light. +There were several deep bayonet wounds and a terrific sabre-slash +across the face which had completely destroyed the left eye. The +abdomen was abominably mutilated. A knife was clenched in the right +hand of the victim, showing that he had not died without an effort to +defend himself. I swung the lantern about the recess, and perceived +further back three or four steps, ascending to a door slightly open. +These steps were covered with blood which seemed to flow from behind +the door. I pushed it open, and entered the place to which it gave +access. It seemed to be a kind of public office--a wide, low, bare +apartment, divided on one side by a massive wooden counter, surmounted +by a partition pierced at intervals with pigeon-holes, as if for +communication between persons on opposite sides of the division. It +may have been a bank or money-changer's office. It is not, however, on +account of the place itself, but of its contents, that I describe it. +The floor was covered with the corpses of men, women, and children, +mingled indiscriminately together, fugitives who had there taken +refuge and been relentlessly butchered. The bodies had been +decapitated, and the bloody heads stuck up on a long row of spikes +which surmounted the wooden partition over the counter. Both Chung and +the mandarin uttered a cry of terror as we caught sight of those +distorted countenances, grinning upon us with the livid stare of +violent death through the dim medium of the coloured lamplight. My +blood seemed to freeze as my eyes encountered that ghastly gaze of the +dead, to which the upright position of the heads gave a sort of +semblance or mockery of life. An infant a few months old was pinned to +the counter below by a sharp piece of iron run through its little +body. The floor was two or three inches deep in thickening blood and +the entrails of the mutilated bodies. The arms and legs as well as +heads had been hacked off some of them and flung about the place. +Altogether a more hideous and revolting spectacle than this chamber of +horrors can never have been presented to mortal gaze. Such a scene, +and the sickening smell of blood, drove us out again almost +immediately. At that moment another party of the Japanese passed our +hiding-place. An infantry soldier in advance carried a large uncovered +flambeau, which threw a broad, red, steady glare over all surrounding +objects. I at once saw that these were all officers, excepting two or +three; smart, well-got-up, gentlemanly-looking little men in the +extreme; returning, perhaps, from calling off the last of their bloody +war-dogs, or making sure that all resistance had ceased. They were +laughing and chatting gaily, as if the massacre were rather a pleasant +affair than otherwise. When they had gone by, we issued into the +street, but had proceeded only a few paces when we saw a man carrying +a lantern appear round the abrupt bend before mentioned. He looked +like another Japanese hurrying after his companions who had just +passed. We returned with all haste to the doorway; and as we judged +that he had probably seen us, we re-entered the inner slaughter-house +and closed the door. We were right in thinking we had been seen, and +in about a minute we heard steps outside the door, which was presently +thrust violently open and the soldier entered, a low, sinister figure, +holding a drawn sword in what seemed to me a curiously white hand. He +peered into the obscurity, perceived me, and doubtless taking me, in +the uncertain light, for a Japanese, from the clothes I wore, lowered +his weapon and addressed me in a harsh authoritative tone. The sound +of the language was singularly like that of Italian. He pointed to the +Chinamen, probably asking what they were. I took advantage of his +unguarded pause to plunge my bayonet in his body, with a thrust so +rapid that he had not time to make the least movement to avoid it. He +fell at once where he stood, but attempted to rise again, when I gave +him another prick which settled his business. He fell back heavily +against the counter with a groan. One of the heads above was shaken +off its spike by the concussion and struck him on the shoulder as he +lay. His eyes, opening and shutting convulsively, seemed to gaze upon +the ghastly object. He groaned again, and in a few moments was dead. I +bent over him with the lantern, and soon perceived from the richness +of his uniform and accoutrements, as well as from the look of caste +about the head and face, that I had killed an officer of high rank. He +wore white gloves, which accounted for the odd look of his hands when +he appeared on the threshold. I felt sorry when I realized that he was +a man of consequence and authority, for had I perceived it at first I +would certainly have endeavoured to obtain his protection for myself +and my companions; but Chung had slunk behind me with the lantern, the +officer's own was a very dim one, so that in the obscurity I could +only make out that he was a Japanese soldier, and expecting to be +attacked judged it prudent to get my blow in first. Having given him +what his countrymen called the "happy despatch," he could be of no +further use to us. Before again leaving the place, I took possession +of his sword, which was a very beautiful and valuable weapon, the hilt +ornamented by a quantity of massive and richly-chased gold, and a +great number of tiny diamonds and rubies,--infinitesimal gems, set in +pretty, quaint devices, with a larger stone here and there. This +trophy I brought away with me from Port Arthur, but when in Liverpool +at the beginning of the year of grace 1896, the pressure of financial +exigency compelled me to entrust it to the temporary care of the +universal uncle of mankind, who said it was worth £600 or £700. I +could by no means persuade him to believe my account of how it came +into my possession. He laughed and said I was making fun of him. His +obstinate incredulity was amusing. "You're a sailor, sir, I see," he +said, "and we know what sailors' yarns are in this town. I've heard a +few of them." + +Again stealing outside, we resumed our perilous way through this city +of dreadful night. We lost no time in turning out of the street where +had occurred the incidents just described, and which seemed in the +track of stragglers moving towards the adjacent Golden Hill fort. We +left it by a very narrow lane abutting at right angles. The other end +of this was blocked by a heap of corpses which we had to climb over. +As I was doing so a hideous groan struck my ear, and the body under my +foot seemed to heave. I started back, and simultaneously the apparent +corpse rose up, a tall, blood-besmeared figure, which stared horribly +upon me for a moment and then, with another loud and horrid groan, +fell prone on his back, his arms widely extended. I lost no time in +scrambling past him after my companions, who had run away, and small +blame to them, for it was like the rising of a corpse suddenly endowed +with volition. Both were by this time in what has been forcibly and +picturesquely described as a "blue funk"; they trembled ceaselessly; +their teeth chattered, and their eyes roved here and there with a +wild, hunted look; every now and then they stopped convulsively, +imagining that they saw or heard something to indicate the proximity +of the ferocious murderers. As for myself, if my outward man were less +open to reproach, my inward condition was nothing much to boast of, +and truly the horrors which continually presented themselves, joined +to the oppressive midnight shadow and stillness which hung over the +place of doom, would have damaged the nerve of a football referee. + +We reached the basin through a series of open brick-works, used as +timber stores, on its north side. Everything was darkness and +desertion. The moon was rising far beyond the West Port away in our +front, but it was in the last quarter and afforded little light. There +were very few stars visible. The night had turned piercingly cold, but +so great was my mental anxiety and excitement that I seemed unaffected +in body by the severity of the weather. With the lantern we began to +search about for a boat, at first without success. In a square-shaped +inlet or creek a little above the dockyard we presently came upon +another horrifying spectacle. A junk lay stranded in the shallows. It +was literally full of dead bodies, and many lay on the adjacent shore. +The unfortunates had evidently been pursued down to where the junk +lay, and slaughtered before they could get it off. It struck me that +what we were looking for, a boat, might in all probability be found on +board the fatal vessel. It lay heeled over broadside to the beach, and +I waded out to it through the shallow water. I gained the upper deck +with some difficulty and stood amidst the mass of carnage. Rifle-balls +had done the work of death. Many of the bodies were in army uniforms. +I could find only two boats. One, a mere cockle-shell, had been +perforated by bullets and rendered useless. Another lay inboard on the +quarter-deck, but it was so filled and covered with corpses that at +first I did not notice it. It seemed in fair condition, but the task +of ridding it of its horrible freight was so repugnant that I +returned on shore to resume the search for one elsewhere. It was in +vain, however; all we could find in the vicinity was an old sampan, +which besides being very leaky, was more than three men could manage, +only one of them, moreover, having any knowledge of sailoring. There +was nothing for it but to return to the death-ship. We all went on +board this time, and applied ourselves to the work. The pile of dead +were dragged away, and with considerable labour, and aided by the +careened condition of the junk, we managed to launch the boat, which +had been secured inside the bulwark. It was in a horrid state with +blood, but we were not in a situation to be particular. We found a +quantity of provisions and fresh water--or rather water which had once +been fresh--in the cook-house of the junk. + +It must have been after midnight when we shoved off and got afloat. +Neither of my companions were experts with an oar, and could render me +very little aid; moreover, Chinese oars, like Chinese belongings +altogether, are very unlike anything else in the world and need some +practice to use. We were, however, close to the entrance of the port, +which being defended by torpedoes and mines, we ran little risk of +encountering Japanese vessels, although the submarine dangers +threatened us as well, if we strayed from the deep-water channel in +the dark. We got on in safety, though very slowly, and another two +hours had been consumed before we were through. + +What to do next I had no fixed idea. One thing, however, was assured, +that it was certain death to stay in Port Arthur, and that our only +chance, slender as it seemed at best, consisted in getting as far away +as possible. I resolved, after some consideration, to hold on south +round the extremity of the Peninsula. + +In the seaward forts above us we could discern no signs of activity, +and only a light here and there, far out on the misty expanse of +waters, showed the position of the Japanese war-vessels, which had an +easy job of it as far as Port Arthur was concerned. The weather, +though so bitterly cold, was far from stormy, yet the difficulty of +rowing was increased naturally when we got out into the heavier waters +of the sea. So unpromising in fact did our situation look, that I +began to reflect whether it would not be better to stay about the +mouth of the harbour, and allow ourselves to be taken by some Japanese +ship, than wander off I knew not where, probably in the end to perish +of starvation. Luck decided the point. We had painfully made a couple +of miles from the estuary of the harbour, when we came upon a large +junk stranded on a sand-bank. There were no lights showing on board +her; in the obscurity we could see nobody; yet she did not look like a +wreck, and at first we did not know what to make of it. After a +consultation, it was decided to fire a shot from the rifle and see +what it would lead to. No sooner had the report rung out, than there +was a bustle and stir on the vessel's decks, which appeared suddenly +to swarm with men, and became illuminated by lanterns. I told Chung to +hail. He did so, and a voice replied in Chinese. We drew close +abreast, and my companions held a parley with those on board. Our +situation explained we were permitted to ascend. The junk was full of +men. She had got into her present predicament in escaping, and they +were waiting for the morning flood tide to float her off. Two or three +junks, we were told, had struck torpedoes in leaving the harbour and +been blown in pieces, and many others had fallen into the clutches of +the enemy. Those on board, besides her usual crew, were chiefly +soldiers. With the profound deference paid to rank by the Orientals, +the chief cabin was at once given up to the mandarin, who insisted on +my sharing it with him. He and Chung gave a most glowing account of me +to those on board, to whom, in my remarkable accoutrement, I was an +object of legitimate curiosity. + +Exhausted by exertion and anxiety, I was fast asleep within +half-an-hour after stepping up the junk's side. I slept far into the +day, and when I emerged found that she had been successfully floated +off the bank, and got out to sea without so far attracting the notice +of the Japanese ships. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +A very queer craft is a Chinese junk. Few Europeans have any defined +idea what they are like. They are of different sizes, most of them +suited to the numerous rivers and canals which intersect the country +in every part. The largest are of about one thousand tons burden. The +whole mode of building is most peculiar. Instead of the timbers being +first raised as with us, they are the last in their places, and the +vessel is put together with immense spiked nails. The next process is +doubling and clamping above and below decks. Two immense beams or +string pieces are then ranged below, fore and aft, and keep the other +beams in their places. The deck-frames are an arch, and a platform +erected on it protects it from the sun, and from other injuries +otherwise inevitable. The seams are caulked either with old +fishing-net or bamboo shavings, and then paid with a cement called +chinam, consisting of oyster-shells burnt to lime, with a mixture of +fine bamboo shavings, pounded together with a vegetable oil extracted +from a ground nut. When dried it becomes excessively hard; it never +starts, and the seams thus secured are perfectly safe and water-tight. +All the work about her is of the roughest kind. The trees when found +of a suitable size are cut down, stripped of their bark, and sawn into +convenient lengths; the sides are not squared, but left just as they +grew. No artificial means are resorted to for any bends; a tree or +branch of a tree is found with the requisite natural curvature. There +is not in the building, rigging, or fitting-up of a Chinese junk one +single thing which is similar to what we see on board a European +vessel. Everything is different; the mode of construction; the absence +of keel, bowsprit, and shrouds; the materials employed; the mast, the +sails, the yard, the rudder, the compass, the anchor--all are +dissimilar. + +The vessel in which I now found myself, the _King-Shing_, was of +about seven hundred tons. She was built entirely of teak, and her skipper, +or Ty Kong, as he is called, alleged that she was more than a hundred +years old, and said that one of her crew who had recently died, had +served in her for fifty years. Her extreme length was one hundred and +sixty feet; breadth of beam, twenty-five feet and a half; depth of +hold, twelve feet; height of poop from the water, thirty-eight feet; +height of bow, thirty feet. Her most attractive portion was the +saloon, or state cabin, the beauty of whose furniture and decorations +formed a curious contrast to the rude and rough workmanship of the +cabin itself. Its carved and gilded entrance was protected by a sort +of skylight, the sides of which were formed of the prepared +oyster-shells so commonly used in China instead of glass, the latter +being too expensive for general purposes. The enclosure was thirty +feet long, twenty-five broad, and eleven in height. From the beams +overhead were suspended numbers of the different kinds of lanterns +used in China. They were of every imaginable form, size, and variety +of material. The sides and deck-roof were of a yellow ground, and +covered with paintings of flowers, leaves, fruit, insects, birds, +monkeys, dogs, and cats; some of those latter animals were what in +heraldic language would be called _queue-fourchée_. The place was +filled with a vast assortment of curious and beautiful articles, +gathered together during the long existence of the vessel. To give a +list of them would require pages; brought to Europe they would have +made the reputations of a dozen museums. + +At the end of the saloon was the Joss-house, or idol-house, containing +the idol Chin-Tee, having eighteen arms, with her attendants, Tung-Sam +and Tung-See. The richly-gilt idol was made of one solid piece of +camphor-wood, and had a red scarf thrown round it. An altar-table, +also of camphor-wood, and painted red, stood in front of the +Joss-house, with an incense burner placed upon it. The red ground of +the table had gilt carvings of flowers and insects, and the imperial +dragons with the ball of flame between them. On each side of the front +was a square place painted green, with words in Chinese inviting +worshippers to bring gold and agate stones as offerings. + +The sleeping berths of the crew were all _aft_, on a lower deck. +Close by these was the most astonishing part of the vessel, the colossal +rudder, not hung with pintles and gudgeons, the vessel having no +stern-post, but suspended to two windlasses by three large ropes made +of cane and hemp; one round a windlass on the next deck, and two round +a windlass on the upper deck of all, so that it could be raised or +lowered according to the depth of water. When lowered to its full +extent it drew about twenty-four feet, being twelve feet more than the +draught of the vessel. It was steered on this berth-deck when fully +lowered. It was also drawn close into the stern, into a kind of +socket, by means of two immense bamboo ropes attached to the bottom of +the rudder, passing beneath the bottom of the vessel, and coming over +the bow on the upper deck, and there hove in taut and fastened. When +let down to its greatest depth it required occasionally the strength +of fifteen men to move the large tiller. + +On ascending to the next deck, one passed under a covering made of +oyster-shells, similar to that over the entrance to the saloon; under +this hung a flag which had been borne before the Emperor on one of the +most solemn religious processions. On a piece of wood near one of the +windlasses was inscribed--"May the sea never wash over this junk." +Close by was the sailors' Joss-house, containing the deity of the sea +with her two attendants, each with a red scarf. Near the principal +goddess was a piece of the wood from the first timber of the junk that +was laid; this was taken to one of their principal temples, there +consecrated, and then brought on board, and placed as symbolic of the +whole vessel's being under the protection of the deity. A small +earthen pot, containing sacred earth and rice, stood in front, in +which Joss-sticks and other incense was burnt. A lighted lamp, too, +was here always kept burning; if it had gone out during a voyage it +would have been considered an omen of bad luck. On the right and left, +before coming to this Joss-house, were paintings. One panel +represented the Mandarin Ducks; another, a Chinese lady at her +toilette; a third, a globe of gold-fish. On this deck were cabins for +passengers and supercargoes, the doors painted with different devices. +Above was the lofty poop-deck, with one of the rudder-windlasses on +it, and the mizzen-mast, fifty feet long, and placed on one side, in +order to allow the tiller to work when in shallow water. The main-mast +was ninety-five feet in length, and ten feet in circumference at the +bottom. It was one spar of teak, and just as the tree grew with merely +the bark taken off. It was not perfectly straight--a defect with us, +but not so considered by the Chinese, who prefer a mast with a bend in +it to one without, thinking it adds to the strength, and is conclusive +evidence of the goodness of the spar. This mast was hooped round, in +consequence of being cracked while undergoing the process of +hardening. The mode adopted for this purpose by the Chinese is to bury +the timber for a considerable time in marshy ground; thus treated, +they say teak becomes hard as iron. The mast did not go within four +feet of the bottom--the ship having no kelson--but, to use the +technical term, was "toggled" to two large pieces of wood which +answered as partners. To these were added two other heavy pieces as +chocks, which were intended to keep the huge spars in their places. +Neither stays nor shrouds were used. The main yards were made of teak +quite rough; the upper one was seventy-five feet long, and the lower +sixty. + +The sails were made of closely-woven matting, a substance much lighter +than canvas. It holds the wind better, and rarely splits, because it +never shakes in the wind. So large and heavy was the mainsail of the +_King-Shing_, that it required forty men with the aid of the capstan +to raise it. Without the capstan eighty men would have been needed. It +had eighteen reefs. The sails were reefed by being lowered, which +precluded any necessity for going aloft. + +The vane was in the shape of a fish, the body formed of rattan work, +the head and gills of painted matting, with two projections like the +antennæ of a butterfly. The tail was furnished with long streamers, +and little flags were stuck in the body for additional ornament. There +were also Chinese characters painted on the body signifying "Good luck +to the Junk." Between the main-mast and fore-mast were two large rough +windlasses stretching across the deck, and used for getting up the +anchor. By the entrance to the forecastle were two water-tanks, +capable of holding one thousand five hundred gallons each. The +fore-mast was seventy-five feet from the deck. It raked forward, and +was supported by a large piece of wood on the after part, and secured +similarly to the main-mast. The anchors were of wood, the flukes shod +with iron, and attached to the shank by strong lashings of bamboo. The +stock was composed of three separate pieces of wood lashed together by +rattan ropes, and was fixed to the crown. As the Chinese drag their +anchors on board instead of catting and fishing as other seamen do, +this position of the stock offers no impediment. The flukes were of +the same dimensions as those of similar sized anchors with us; they +were straight and not rounded, and there were no palms. There was also +a kedge, with only one fluke. The cables were of rattan. The junk had +no bitts, but to supply their place the strong beams across the deck +had large holes for stoppers. The "wales" formed another singular +feature of the vessel--airtight boxes, projecting three feet from the +side; their object was to make the vessel more buoyant, to enable her +to carry more cargo, and prevent her rolling, but this last, in my +opinion, was chiefly prevented by the size and position of the rudder. + +The cook-house was placed differently from the galleys of European +vessels, being aft of the main-mast. The lower part was built of +brick, with two square holes in front for the fires. Troughs of water +were placed in front of these holes, so that any ignited fuel that +might drop out would be at once extinguished. Wood was the fuel used. +For cooking they used iron pans surrounded by red tiles. One was +covered by a kind of half cask; this was used for boiling the rice, +the cover being to preserve the steam after the water was boiled away, +which causes the rice to be beautifully done and not soddened, as is +often the case in our cooking. It also prevents it from being thrown +out when the vessel rolls. The quantity of rice for each man was about +three pounds daily. All washing of dishes, etc., was performed on a +stage outside the galley so that it might be kept perfectly clean. The +proper allowance for each mess was delivered in front. Close to the +cook-house was a water-tank of wood, painted in imitation of bricks, +and capable of holding three thousand gallons. + +Such was the _King-Shing_ junk, and such are most of the craft of the +Celestials. They would appear to be gradually coming round to Western +ideas in the matter of ships, and in fact have done so entirely for +war purposes, but the fashions of their ancestors are still good +enough for most of them, and the junk is to be seen everywhere. Not a +mere thing of yesterday is the junk. Vessels essentially similar to +the one I have described were navigating the Chinese seas and rivers +when the fleets of Rome and Carthage were contesting the supremacy of +the Mediterranean, and long before. Rome and Carthage, and many +another mighty maritime power, have risen and passed away utterly, +like bubbles, or dreams, but the Chinaman and his everlasting junk are +still here. + +The vessel belonged to some mandarins at Shanghai, who used it for +trading to Cochin-China. It had recently, however, been despatched +with a cargo to Cheefoo, had been blown away north by a gale, and +forced to run into the harbour at Port Arthur to escape the Japanese. +There it had lain until the place fell. The crew numbered fifty-four, +all told. + +After floating off the sand-bank, and getting an offing, we were +within the Gulf of Pechili, and determined to make for one or other of +its ports, but on the first day we encountered a very heavy +nor'-wester, which blew us far out of the Gulf. When, after lasting a +day and a night, the gale abated, we were well down the Yellow Sea, +and the skipper, or Ty Kong, whose name was Sam-Sing, determined to +hold on for the port where the junk's owners dwelt. I had no objection +to make to this, nor had the mandarin, who possessed friends and +relatives in the south. The soldiers on board, however, were very +discontented and mutinous, and as they considerably outnumbered the +crew I began to fear trouble. They were all from northern provinces +and had no desire to go south. Their language was scarcely +intelligible even to their nominal countrymen. The immense diversity +of dialects in China is, in fact, a great hindrance to progress by +preventing the unification of the people. After some excited +discussion they were prevailed upon to acquiesce by the solemn promise +of the mandarin to make arrangements with the authorities for their +return to their own parts, or failing that to send them back at his +own expense; besides, the representation that to turn north again +would most likely end in capture by the Japanese vessels, through +whose present cruising-ground the gale had luckily blown us, had great +weight. + +I was vastly amused, during my voyage in the _King-Shing_, by the +superstitions of her crew. Their devotion to their idols was indeed +truly edifying. A religious man, according to his lights, was +Sam-Sing, and rigidly punctual in the daily observance of +incense-burning, gong-banging, and other rites supposed to be +propitiatory of the deity. He was also, however, greatly addicted to +opium-smoking, and when under the influence of the drug, of which, as +an old stager, he could consume great quantities without being +stupefied, the idea of the occult power of the goddess, never absent +from his mind, was turned completely upside down. When free from the +fumes of opium nobody could have been more respectful to the Josses, +but when intoxicated, and with the weather threatening, he openly +poured upon them abuse, reviling, and suspicion. He usually started a +pipe of opium about noon, and the change in his demeanour came round +gradually during the afternoon. In the morning he was sober and pious, +in the evening intoxicated and blasphemous, particularly, as I have +said, when the weather was bad. "As for that infernal Chin-Tee," he +would say in effect, shaking his fist in the direction of the idol, +"it's all her fault we're in this mess. What's the use of her--lazy +harridan! Much she cares what becomes of us"--and so on till +overpowered by excess. When by the next morning he had slept off his +debauch, and came round to recollection of his enormities, his +penitence knew no bounds; he would prostrate himself in the +Joss-house, and in the most abject terms implore forgiveness for his +intemperate language over-night. Then he would generally abstain for +two or three days, but at the first sign of bad weather, he took to +his pipe, and Chin-Tee came in for another blast of abuse. The rest of +the crew were always horrified by the shocking impiety of the Ty Kong, +and on more than one occasion I really feared that they were about to +proceed to Jonahize him. They were by no means all opium-smokers; some +of them smoked tobacco, of a vile quality, in metal pipes, with an +under-hanging curved portion containing water, through which the +smoke passed. The opium-pipe is a quite different thing. It is a reed +of about an inch in diameter, and the aperture in the bowl for the +admission of the opium is not larger than a pin's head. The drug is +prepared by boiling and evaporation to the consistence of treacle. +Very few whiffs can be taken from a single pipe, but one is enough to +have an effect on a beginner, as I have already described in my own +case, but an old hand, like the Ty Kong, can smoke for hours. + +The incense burned before the idols consisted mostly of pieces of +aromatic wood, called Joss-sticks, silvered paper, and tin-foil. One +of their most revered objects was the mariner's compass, and before it +they would place tea, sweet cake, and pork, in order to keep it +faithful and true! It is well known that the Chinese were acquainted +with the phenomenon of the magnetized needle centuries before it was +known in Europe, and their compass differs materially from ours; +instead of consisting of a movable card attached to the needle, theirs +is simply a needle of little more than an inch in length balanced in a +glazed hole in the centre of a solid wooden dish, finely varnished. It +has only twenty-four points, and with its use they combine some of +their most ancient astrological ideas. The broad circumference of the +dish is marked off into concentric circles, inscribed with mystical +figures. We say the needle points to the north; they hold that the +attraction is to the south, and therefore colour that end of the +needle red, a hue that appears to have a mysterious efficacy in their +eyes. I have already told how the Josses were wrapped in red scarves, +and bits of red cloth were tied on the rudder, cable, mast, and other +principal parts of the vessel, as safeguards against danger. There was +also a large painted eye on either side of the bow, to enable the junk +to see her way! At first I could not understand the meaning of this, +and told Chung to ask the Ty Kong for an explanation. "Have eye," +translated Chung, "can see; no have eye, no can see." On occasions of +special religious demonstration these optics were decorated with +strips of red cloth. On one occasion when a steamer suspiciously like +a Japanese cruiser hove in sight, they tied red rags to their antique +guns, or gin-galls, and with this consecration on their defensive +arrangements, seemed to feel perfectly secure. I suppose the +English-trained crews of their navy must have been persuaded out of +these amazing notions, and taught the European compass, but the ideas +of Sam-Sing and his merry men were as old as their vessel. + +I have not yet described my mandarin friend. His name was Ki-Chang; he +was a mandarin of the fifth class, his distinctive mark being a +crystal button on the top of his cap. He was forty-six years old, +intelligent, amiable, and gentlemanly. He and I had much intercourse +during the voyage, with Chung for an interpreter. I taught him a +little English, and how to write his name in English, an +accomplishment of which he seemed extremely proud. Like most of the +educated Chinese, he wrote his own language very beautifully. He was a +wealthy and influential man. + +The _King-Shing_ showed herself a remarkably good sea-boat, but +desperately slow. No device could get more than eight knots out of +her, and this was much above her average. We encountered one or two +violent storms, in which she behaved wonderfully. One night the wind, +after veering all round the compass with vivid lightning and thunder, +settled in the south-west and blew a perfect hurricane. All sails were +lowered, except half the fore-sail, and twenty-five men were required +at the mammoth rudder. We were obliged to start some eight tons of +water out of the deck tanks, and everything on deck, fore and aft, was +secured. The junk laboured heavily, but shipped no water. At day-break +the weather moderated, and we were able to set more sail; but in two +or three hours the wind chopped round to the north-west, and blew more +fiercely than ever, attended by squalls of hailstones as big as +marbles, the knocks of which made my countenance look as if I had +come off second-best in a middle-weight "scrap." We lowered the +main-sail again, and set four reefs of fore-sail to scud under. At +three o'clock the vessel took a tremendous lurch, and washed away our +lee-quarter boat. It was dark, and the sea barely discernible at a +distance of thirty yards, being blown into a thick mist. At six the +hurricane continued with unabated fury with terrific squalls; a +fearful sea struck the ship and nearly broached her to. The sea was a +mass of foam, and running very high, but kept down to some extent by +the violence of the wind. Later we were running under bare poles. +Again the gale went down, and again we got up sail, but without +warning a tremendous squall struck us and laid us on our beam ends. A +boat was blown away, the fore-sail split, and through the carelessness +of the men at the rudder they jibed the main-sail; it came over with +terrific force, but fortunately did no harm. Luckily the sails could +be very easily and rapidly lowered. One only had to let go or cut the +halyards and down they came. Throughout all this the junk behaved in a +manner which astounded me. She actually never shipped any water, that +which came aboard being tops of seas blown off. But the very qualities +which made her so steady-going militated against her speed. She was a +safe boat at all points. One night we had to anchor off a dead +lee-shore; the crew decorated their cables with some extra red rags, +and with death grinning under our lee, went to supper with a serenity +which I should have been glad to be able to imitate. But their +confidence was as well grounded as their anchors, which held with an +unshakable tenacity. + +Though so long acquainted with the compass, the Chinese have always +been as unenterprising in sailoring as in everything else, and seldom +lose sight of the land, if they can help it. Their fondness for +hugging the coast was very noticeable to me, and, unused to the +constant vigilance and care which a long sea voyage demands, their +system of duty was very lax and careless. There were no proper +watches; at nightfall the Ty Kong used quietly to lower about three +reefs of the main-sail and the whole of the mizzen. All the crew would +then go to their cabin, leaving the helmsmen alone on deck. At +midnight a supper was prepared, and the sleepers awakened. The meal +ended, the helm would be relieved and the men retired to their berths +again. + +At this rate it may be supposed that we made slow progress, and more +than one incipient mutiny had to be dealt with, some of the crew +refusing to work, and the soldiers complaining on the far from +unreasonable ground that they had not enough to eat. We spoke several +northward-bound vessels, both native and foreign, to whom we wished to +entrust the discontented warriors, but these ships one and all +gratefully but firmly declined the compliment. By dint of necessity, +aided by the mandarin's promises, we struggled along, and as +everything must come to an end some time or other, we reached our port +at the beginning of January. + +I have little more to add. Ki-Chang showed himself grateful, and not +only entertained me royally, but gave me substantial pecuniary aid, a +thing I was in very pressing need of. Of course I have long since +repaid his loan. + +I obtained a passage in a French steamer to Callao, whence I made my +way overland to San Francisco. I called on Mr. H----, who informed me +that the _Columbia_ (not then in port) had made another successful +trip, but with results so diminished in the pecuniary sense that he +had determined not to risk her again for inadequate profits. +_Columbia_, I may say, was not the steamer's real name. + +I next met Webster at Sydney. The explanation of my being left behind +at Port Arthur was simple enough. The "houtcast" had taken so many +"caulkers" of rum during the day that he became oblivious to the fact +of my being ashore, and Chubb took it for granted that I had returned +on board, especially as I had sent back the boat in which I landed +with the Chinese agent. My absence was not noted until the small hours +of the ensuing morning, when the swift steamer was far enough away. +Webster wanted to put back for me, but Chubb, whose regards were +strictly confined to number one, decided against it, coolly saying +that they could pick me up next trip, and that as it was Webster's +fault I had been left, he, Webster, might if he liked swim back for +me. This unmessmate-like conduct, when recounted to me, so excited my +ire, that if the worthy Chubb had been within kicking distance at the +time, he should have known something further about it. I have not, +however, seen him since. + +Such were the things I saw and did where the Dragon Flag waves in +splendid impotence. I took no notes of anything, excepting as to the +build and fittings of the junk, and that merely for my own +information, and it was not until long after that the idea of writing +an account of these occurrences entered my mind; but I can trust my +memory for the main events. If my little narrative should for only a +few furnish not merely entertainment but admonition, I shall not have +gone through quite uselessly my varied and painful experience of life. + + +THE END + + +Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE DRAGON FLAG*** + + +******* This file should be named 16407-8.txt or 16407-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/4/0/16407 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Under the Dragon Flag</p> +<p> My Experiences in the Chino-Japanese War</p> +<p>Author: James Allan</p> +<p>Release Date: August 1, 2005 [eBook #16407]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE DRAGON FLAG***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Justin Kerk, Sankar Viswanathan,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (https://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + + +<h1> UNDER<br /> + THE DRAGON FLAG</h1> + + <h3>My Experiences in the Chino-Japanese War</h3> + + + +<p class="center"> </p> +<p class="center"> </p> +<p class="center"><b>BY</b></p> +<h2>JAMES ALLAN</h2> + + + + + + + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h4>NEW YORK</h4> +<h3>FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY</h3> + +<h4>PUBLISHERS</h4> +<h4>1898</h4> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> +<ul class="TOC"> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I</b></a><br /></li> + <li><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II</b></a><br /></li> + <li><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III</b></a><br /></li> + <li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV</b></a><br /></li> + <li><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V</b></a><br /></li> + <li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI</b></a><br /></li> + <li><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII</b></a><br /></li> +</ul> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span> </p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + + +<p>The following narrative is a record of my experiences during the late +memorable war between China and Japan. Without going into any detailed +account of my earlier life, some few facts concerning myself are +probably necessary for the better understanding of the circumstances +which led up to the events here presented. It will be obvious that I +can make no claim to literary skill; I have simply written down my +exact and unadorned remembrance of incidents which I witnessed and +took part in. Now it is all over I wonder more and more at the +slightness of the hazard which suddenly placed me at such a period in +so strange an experience.</p> + +<p>I am the son of a Lancashire gentleman who accumulated considerable +wealth in the cotton trade. He died when I was still a boy. I found +myself, when I came of age, the possessor of upwards of £80,000. Thus <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span> +I started in life as a man of fortune; but it is due to myself to say +that I took prompt and effectual measures to clear myself of that +invidious character. Not to mince matters needlessly, I ran through +that eighty thousand pounds in something short of four years. I was +not in the least "horsey"; my sphere was the gaieties of Paris and the +gaming-tables of Monte Carlo—a sphere which has made short work of +fortunes compared with which mine would be insignificant. The pace was +fast and furious; I threw out my ballast liberally as I went along, +and the harpies, male and female, who surrounded me, picked it up. +Bright and fair enough was the prospect as I started on the road to +ruin; gloomy the clouds that settled round me as I approached that +dismal terminus. Then, when too late, I began to regret my folly. I +seemed to wake as if from a dream, from a state of helpless +infatuation, in which my acts were scarcely the effect of my own +volition. The general out-look became decidedly uninviting.</p> + +<p>About eleven o'clock one spring night of the year 1892, I was standing +close to the railings of the Whitworth Park in my native city of +Manchester, to whose dull provincial shades I had retired at the +enforced close of my creditable career. I remember that I was engaged <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span> +in wondering what on earth I could have done with all my money, the +only tangible return for which appeared to be an intimate and peculiar +knowledge of the French language and of certain undesirable phases of +French life. The hour, as I have said, was late, and Moss Lane, the +street in which I stood disconsolate, dark and deserted. Presently +there came along towards me a man whose uncertain gait was strongly +suggestive of the influence of alcohol. He stopped upon reaching me, +and asked if I could direct him to Victoria Park. This is an extensive +semi-private enclosure, where numbers of the plutocracy of +Cottonopolis have their residences. One of its several gates is nearly +opposite the spot where Moss Lane leads into Oxford Street, which fact +I communicated to my questioner. To my surprise he, by way of +acknowledgment, struck his hand into mine and shook it fervently.</p> + +<p>"Shake hands, shake hands," he said; "that's right—you're talking to +a gentleman, though you mightn't think it."</p> + +<p>I certainly should not have thought it. He was a short, thick-set man, +of about five feet and two or three inches, shabbily dressed; and his +unsteady lurch, swollen features, and odorous breath, told plainly of +a heavy debauch. Amused by his manner, I entered into conversation <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span> +with him. He was, it appeared, a sailor, a Lancashire man, and, if he +was to be believed, very respectably connected in Manchester. I +gathered that he had ended a boyhood of contumacy by running away to +sea, his people, though they had practically disowned him, allowing +him a pound a week. This allowance had for some time past been +stopped, and he was coming up in person to investigate the why and +wherefore. Having a week or two before come off a voyage at Liverpool, +he had at that port drawn £75 in pay, which he had spent in two days +and nights of revelry, an assertion to which his personal appearance +bore strong corroborative testimony. He appeared, on the whole, to +consider himself an exceedingly ill-used person. "I'm a houtcast," he +repeatedly said. I asked him in what capacity he served on shipboard. +"A.B.," he replied, "always A.B.;" and certainly, in speech and +appearance, he seemed nothing better than a foremast man, although, +shaking hands with me again and again, he each time asseverated that +it was the hand of a gentleman. At length he went on his way, and I +stood watching his receding figure as he reeled down the street. I was +just turning away, when I heard a loud outcry; the "houtcast," about a +hundred yards distant, was hailing me. On what trifles does destiny +depend! <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span> My first impulse was to walk off without taking any notice of +his shouts, and on the simple decision to stay and see what he wanted, +turned the whole future. It appeared that whilst talking with me his +obfuscated mind had lost the directions I had given him as to the +locality of Victoria Park. Having nothing in particular to do, I +volunteered to walk along with him, and keep him in the right +direction, and accordingly we entered the park together. With +considerable difficulty, he found out the road and house he was in +search of; I doubt if, without my aid, he would have found it at all +in his then condition. He had not, he informed me, been in Manchester +for years, and those he was looking up had changed their residence. +The exterior of the place, when found, seemed to bear out his +statement as to the social position of his relatives. I asked him what +sort of reception he thought he would get from them.</p> + +<p>"He did not," he replied, "care a d——n what it might be, but he was +going to see why they had stopped his quid, and no mistake about it."</p> + +<p>He extended to me an invitation to come in with him "and have a +drink," a courtesy which, needless to say, I declined. He then left +me, after another vehement handshaking, and proceeded up the drive in +front of the house. A feeling of curiosity to see <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span> what kind of +greeting the drunken, wastrel "houtcast" would command from his folk, +all unconscious of his disagreeable proximity to their eminently +respectable residence, induced me to follow him. I paused at a point +where, concealed by some shrubbery, I had a view of the hall door, +which, upon my friend's ringing, was opened by a smart maid-servant. +Swaying up and down on the steps in a most ludicrous manner, the +"houtcast" addressed her, although I was too far off to make out the +words, but to judge by her looks she felt no prepossession in his +favour. After a while she went away, leaving the door open and him +standing on the steps. In about a minute a stout, middle-aged +gentleman appeared from the brightly-lighted hall, his whole aspect +presenting the strongest possible contrast to that of the seedy +mariner. The conference between them was brief and angry, and +terminated with the gentleman's returning within and slamming the door +in the other's face, who, with his hands in his pockets, stood for +some time planted where he was, staring at the <i>visage de bois</i> as if +dumfounded. Then he applied himself vigorously to the bell, and pulled +with might and main. This course of treatment having no effect, he +commenced shouting a series of objurgations much too vigorous to be +here set down. No response, of course, was forthcoming, and at <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span> length +the discomfited visitor turned slowly away from the inhospitable +mansion. I rejoined him as he staggered past me. He showed no surprise +at seeing me again, but contented himself with simply asking me where +the —— I had been. From what he said in answer to my questions, it +appeared that they had had the brutality to tell him to call when he +was sober,—"as if," said he, with a good many curses, "I wasn't sober +enough for them. Wouldn't even give me a night's shelter. But it's +always how they've treated me—a houtcast, that's what I am—a +houtcast."</p> + +<p>Apparently hard hit, the "houtcast," who for the time being certainly +had some grounds for so styling himself, leaned with his back against +the gate, as if the effort to stand upright was too much for him on +the top of his recent disappointment. His plight was undoubtedly +pitiable. He had no money, it was well after midnight, the city was +distant, and moreover the search for a lodging would in his condition +be a matter of time and difficulty. Taking pity on his forlorn state, +I offered him the shelter of my own roof for the night, an offer he +was not slow to accept, remarking that one gentleman should help +another; and that if I had any "tidy brandy" he would be able to get +on well enough until to-morrow. So we set out for my lodgings in Cecil +Street.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span> </p> + +<p>This chance meeting was the beginning of a long and intimate +acquaintance. In the course of conversation I disclosed to Charles +Webster—such was his name—the desperate state of my affairs, with +the gloomy prospect they entailed. The remedy he proposed—and when +sober he spoke well and sensibly—was drastic and by no means +unfeasible. "Cut it all and go to sea," he said. "You've enjoyed +yourself while your money lasted, and what's the good of money but to +spend? You've spent yours—now go to sea and get some more. That's how +I do—have a regular good blow-out when I draw my pay, and then ship +for another voyage."</p> + +<p>"That is all very well for you," I replied, "but how can I, without +either training or experience, get a berth on board ship?"</p> + +<p>"I can do it for you," replied Webster. "Lots of vessels are ordered +to sea in a hurry, and not particular in picking up a crew, or perhaps +a trifle over-loaded or not properly found, and short-handed in +consequence. That's the sort of craft I'd look out for you, and if one +wouldn't take you, another would. I'd tog you out like an A.B., and +swear you knew your duty."</p> + +<p>"And what when they found I didn't?"</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't matter a straw when we were afloat. All they could do would +be to d——n my eyes or <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> yours and make the best of it. It's done +every day. Certificates go for nothing, they're so easily obtained. +When the voyage was over, you'd be up to a thing or two, and the +skipper would rather sign your papers than be at the bother of going +and swearing you weren't a thorough seaman; then you could get another +job without me. It's done constantly, I tell you, and why not? Nobody +can do anything without learning. You take a trip with me, and I'll +make a sailor of you. You've stood by me like a gentleman, and I'll +give you a lift if I can."</p> + +<p>Well, to cut the story short, I resolved, after some cogitation, to +follow his advice, as, in the circumstances to which I had contrived +to reduce myself, I saw nothing better to do. My introduction to a +seafaring life was effected pretty much on the lines indicated in the +foregoing conversation. The change from the existence of a voluptuary, +squandering thousands on the wanton pleasure of the moment, to that of +a common sailor, was at first anything but agreeable, and often and +bitterly did I curse the follies of the past. However, we learn from +experience, and probably I have profited by the unpalatable lesson. +Webster was a firm ally, and showed that despite his dissolute and +reckless mode of living, he really did possess something of the +character which he claimed, that of a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> gentleman. Under his tuition, +and being moreover, like Cuddie Headrigg, "gleg at the uptak," I made +rapid progress in knowledge.</p> + +<p>We made several voyages together. In the summer of the year 1894 we +were in San Francisco, and rather at a loose end; Webster with a good +deal of money in his possession, and spending it as usual in riotous +living. We were intimate at this time with a man named Francis Chubb, +an Australian by birth, an able seaman, and a very reckless, daring, +and resolute character. To him it is owing that I have this tale to +tell. One night as we were sitting over our potations, he made us a +singular communication and a singular proposition. A shipper and +merchant of the place, by whom he had often been employed, had, he +said, asked him if he was open to run a cargo of warlike stores for +the use of the Chinese soldiers in the struggle which had just broken +out, there being rumours that the Chinamen were ill-prepared for a +contest, and badly in need of supplies. Chubb added that he had +practically closed with the offer, and was looking about for men whom +he could depend upon to join him in the enterprise, which his +employer, foreseeing from the turn events were taking that the Chinese +ports were likely soon to be blockaded, meant as a "feeler" to test +the facilities for, and the profit likely to arise from, the +organization of a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> system for supplying those munitions of war of +which the Celestials were stated to be in want, some large orders +being alleged to have been lodged with American firms on their behalf. +Chubb was to command the vessel, and he offered to Webster and myself +the posts of first and second hands. The remuneration was very +handsome, and we, not adverse to the prospect of a little adventure, +had little hesitation in closing with the proposal, much to Chubb's +satisfaction, who said we were "just the sort he wanted." His +employer, Mr. H——, I no sooner heard named, than I remembered to +have heard described as a very keen hand, and not over-scrupulous.</p> + +<p>The vessel which he placed at our disposal was a screw steamer of +about 2000 tons, long, low, and sharp; an exceedingly fast boat, +capable of doing her twenty knots an hour even when heavily laden, as, +in a desperate emergency, we were soon to find out. Articles signed, +our cargo was procured and shipped—cannon, rifles, revolvers, +cartridges, fuses, medicines, etc., etc. We cleared without +difficulty, weighed, stood out, and laid our course straight across +the North Pacific.</p> + +<p>Our ship, the <i>Columbia</i>, proved a beauty, in every way fit for the +risky business we were engaged upon. Needless to say she had not only +been selected for speed, but was rendered in appearance <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> as +unobtrusive as possible. Besides lying low in the water, she was +painted a dead grey, funnels and all. The sort of coal we used, +anthracite, burned with very little smoke, and even that little was +obviated, as we approached the seat of war, by a hood on the +smoke-stack. She slipped through the water silently and noiselessly as +one of its natural denizens, and on a dark night, with all lights out, +could hardly have been perceived, even at a short distance, from the +deck of another vessel.</p> + +<p>Without the ship's log to refer to, I cannot be certain of dates and +distances, but it was in the latter days of August that we were +steaming up the Yellow Sea, where, by the way, the water is <i>bluer</i> +than I have ever seen it elsewhere. In some places it presents, on a +moonlit night, the appearance of liquefied ultramarine, though it +certainly is muddy enough about the coasts. Our destination was +Tientsin, one of the most northern of the treaty ports, and of course +we kept in with the Chinese mainland as closely as possible to avoid +the Japanese cruisers. All had gone well, and we were fast approaching +the entrance to the Gulf of Pechili, when we encountered one of those +tempests which are only to be met with in the Eastern seas—pitch-black +darkness, rain in one sheeted flood, like a second Deluge, +blinding flashes of forked lightning more terrific than the +gloom, and an almost <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span> uninterrupted crash of thunder amidst which the +uproar of a pitched field would be inaudible. With our enormous +steam-power we held our own for a while although unable to make much +headway; but at last a tremendous sea took us right abeam on the port +side; the main hatch had been left open, a small Niagara poured down +it, and doused our fires. No canvas would have stood the hurricane +that was blowing, and for some time we were in a serious way. Before +our engines, which fortunately held firm, were working again, we had +drifted helplessly over to the Corean coast, and it was all we could +do to claw off-shore until the tempest abated, which it did very +suddenly, as it had risen.</p> + +<p>As the wind fell, we ran under the lee of an island, oblong, high, and +thickly wooded, not far from a heavy promontory of the coast. Here we +lay for two or three hours repairing damages. Of course we had no +accurate idea whereabouts we had got to, but we reckoned that we could +not be far from Chemulpo, a very undesirable neighbourhood from our +point of view, as the port was in the hands of the Japanese, who were +engaged in landing troops there, and whose armed ships would of course +be in the vicinity. It was, therefore, necessary for us to spend as +little time thereabout as possible. As soon as things were ship-shape + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span> once more—and luckily for ourselves we had sustained no real +injury—steam was got up to regain our former course. It was already +quite dark as we passed out from beneath the land; two bells in the +first night-watch, or nine o'clock, had just struck. Truly that was a +case of out of the frying-pan into the fire, for no sooner had we +rounded the extremity of the island than we found ourselves in most +unpleasant proximity to a ship of war. I was alone on the bridge at +the time, and at once caused the engines to be reversed, in the hope +of slipping back behind the land from the cover of which we had just +emerged. Too late; we were perceived, and the cruiser's search-light +blazed forth, illuminating the dark waters, sky, and coastline with a +vivid glare. Simultaneously we were hailed loudly, although the +distance was too great to permit of the words being distinguished, +keenly as I strained my ears to catch them.</p> + +<p>Seeing that we were detected, and knowing that the appearance of +flight would increase suspicion, I stopped the steamer, devoutly +hoping that our unwelcome neighbour might be a detached vessel of some +European squadron. That she could be Chinese there was little hope, as +we were aware that the Celestial fleet was in the Gulf of Pechili. +Almost before our engines were stopped, one of the cruiser's boats was +in the water and dancing <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span> towards us. Chubb and Webster ran up from +below, and as we awaited the boat, we uneasily speculated as to the +character of the craft that had despatched it, as she lay within a +quarter of a mile of us, the white muzzles of the guns in her tops and +turret seeming, as she rolled with the swell, to dip in the wave. +Formidable indeed she looked, and there was an evident stir of +offensive preparation on board her; yet in spite of our danger, I +could not resist a feeling of surprised and wondering admiration of +the wild picturesqueness of the scene—the majestic warship, the +glittering, rolling expanse of the sea, and the black lines of the +shores, under that intense and vivid radiance, which might fitly have +emanated from one of those phantom-craft with which maritime +superstition peoples the deep. Everything it touched took a ghostly +and unreal look.</p> + +<p>There was rather a heavy sea on, and the boat took some while to reach +us. At length, however, she was alongside, and then came clambering up +a little lieutenant, who displayed to our dismayed vision all the +physical peculiarities of the Japanese. He addressed us in English, a +language better understood than any other amongst the Mikado's +subjects.</p> + +<p>"You are American?" he asked, pointing to the star-spangled banner on +the pole-mast. "What is the name of your vessel?"</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span> </p> + +<p>We informed him, and received in return that of the warship, but in +our consternation we paid little heed to it, and none of us could +afterwards remember it. The lieutenant proceeded to question us as to +our business, speaking very creditable English. We had previously +agreed that in such a dilemma we should describe our cargo as +consisting of salt, rice, and cloth stuffs, and we had taken the +precaution to ship a quantity of those commodities, in bales and casks +which were three parts full of cartridges to economize space, besides +having fictitious invoices, etc. These valuable testimonials Chubb, +who was outwardly as cool as ice, readily produced when the officer +demanded to see our papers. He scrutinized everything carefully, and, +still dissatisfied, said he would inspect our cargo. Of course we +could not object, and blank indeed were our looks as the enemy walked +over to the side to call up two or three of his boat's crew to assist +him in the inquisition.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Chubb, "it's not all up with us yet, and it won't +be even if he finds out what we have aboard."</p> + +<p>"What shall we do then?" asked Webster and I.</p> + +<p>"Sling them overboard and run for it," said Chubb; and I knew by his +determined air that he meant what he said.</p> + +<p>"What! from under those guns?" said Webster.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> </p> + +<p>There was no time for more. The Japanese lieutenant, with his men, +rejoined us, and motioned us to lead the way below. We complied, and +introduced them to our "cargo," the barrels lying everywhere three or +four deep above the contraband of war. How consuming was our anxiety +as they poked about! Things went well enough for a while; they never +penetrated into the casks which they caused to be opened deep enough +to find the cartridges, or hoisted out enough of them to come at what +was beneath. Our spirits were beginning to rise, when an unlucky +accident sent them down to zero. The hoops of one of the barrels +handled were insecure, and coming off, the staves fell apart, and +along with a defensive covering of slabs of salt, a neat assortment of +revolver cartridges came tumbling out. The Japanese lieutenant smiled +till his little oblique optics were scarcely perceptible.</p> + +<p>"Very good," said he, picking up one of the packages; "very nice—nice +to eat."</p> + +<p>We were thunderstruck, and had not a word to say. All was up now, of +course; the Japs prosecuted the search with renewed keenness, and the +nature of our lading soon stood revealed.</p> + +<p>"I shall be obliged to detain this ship, gentlemen," said the +lieutenant politely, to Webster and myself. "Where has your captain +gone?"</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> </p> + +<p>I looked round for Chubb; he was not visible.</p> + +<p>"I suppose he must have gone on deck," said I.</p> + +<p>The lieutenant and his men hurried up, Webster and I following. Chubb +was conferring with a group of the sailors. The search-light was still +flaring away, and I was horrified to see that our formidable neighbour +had crept up to within two or three hundred yards. The lieutenant +walked sharply to the side, and shouted some directions to the boat's +crew. The words were scarcely out of his mouth when I heard Chubb say, +"Now." The men with whom he had been speaking rushed upon the +Japanese, seized them, and in the twinkling of an eye hove them +overboard into their boat, or as near it as they could be aimed in the +hurry of the moment. Simultaneously "Full speed ahead" was rung from +the bridge, and the steamer sprang forward as the hare springs from +the jaws of the hound. For a moment there was no sound except the rush +of the water foaming at the bows. Then the warship opened fire on us. +Gun after gun resounded, and we held our breath as the ponderous shot +hurtled past us. The first few were wide of the mark, but we were not +long to go scatheless. One of the terrible projectiles struck the +water by the starboard quarter, rose over the side with a tremendous +ricochet, bowled over one of the men, and smashed the top of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> opposite bulwark. Immediately after another tore transversely across +the decks, playing, as Chubb afterwards said, "all-fired smash" with +everything it encountered, and killing another of the men, who was cut +literally in two, the upper portion of his body being carried +overboard, the lower half remaining on the deck.</p> + +<p>"He's mad," roared Webster, meaning Chubb; "we ain't going to be sunk +to please him," and he rushed on the bridge to put a stop to our +flight.</p> + +<p>Chubb interposed to prevent him; they closed, grappled together, and +finally fell off the bridge, still struggling.</p> + +<p>The cruiser had to stop to pick up her boat, and the delay probably +saved us; we must, moreover, have been a very uncertain mark in the +unnatural light, which doubtless would be no aid to gunnery practice. +On we tore, with the steam-gauge uncomfortably near danger point; the +warship in hot pursuit, looking, wreathed as she was in the smoke and +flame of her fiercely worked guns, and the electric glare of the vivid +shaft which still turned night into day, more like some fabulous +sea-monster than a fabric contrived by man. She plied us with both +shot and shell; one of the latter burst in the air over our bows; two +men were killed and several injured by the fragments. We were struck +nine or ten times in all, but they were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> glancing blows, which never +fairly hulled us. Chubb held on resolutely; we increased our distance +fast, and at length ran out of range. Never before had I felt so +thankful as when those fearful projectiles began to fall short. From +that point we were safe. We were five knots better than our pursuer, +and the only danger lay in the chance that some other cruiser, +attracted by the firing, might be brought across the line of our +flight. None, however, appeared, and our great speed dropped the enemy +long before daylight.</p> + +<p>The damage to the ship was confined to the upper works, and could soon +be put to rights, but five of the crew had been killed and twice that +number wounded, and unused to such work as I was, I felt strongly +inclined to blame Chubb for incurring this sacrifice of life for what +appeared to me an inadequate object. He laughed it away.</p> + +<p>"They take the risk," said he, "they know it, and they are well paid +for it. We've saved ship and cargo; that's all old H—— will think +about, and all we need care for."</p> + +<p>It was far, however, from being all I cared for as I looked upon the +mangled corpses lately filled with life and vigour. I had embarked on +the enterprise in a spirit of levity and carelessness, reflecting +little on what it might entail, and there was something shocking in +thus suddenly coming <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> face to face with the dread reality of war. But +whatever may have been the source of the feeling, it soon passed away, +and when the dead had been sewed up in their hammocks and laid to +their last rest in the deep—a ceremony we performed the day after our +escape—Richard was himself again, and the old careless buoyancy +swelled up once more.</p> + +<p>Prayer-books had been omitted in our outfit, and we were at a loss for +the burial service. However, we laid our heads, or rather our memories +together, and most of us being able to recollect a scrap of it here +and there, we contrived to patch it up sufficiently to give our +unfortunate shipmates Christian burial. I should mention that another +of the wounded men died after our arrival at Tientsin, and was +interred in the English cemetery. He was the man who was first hit; +his name was Massinger, and he claimed to be a descendant of the +dramatist. He was known on board chiefly as "Hair-oil," from his +addiction to plastering his bushy black hair with some shiny and +odorous compound of that nature. Both his legs were broken by the shot +that struck him.</p> + +<p>As to my friend Webster, adorned with a black eye, he never ceased, +during the remainder of the voyage, to declaim against Chubb's +foolhardiness and uphold his own proceedings on the eventful <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> night. +For his own discomfiture he sought consolation in rum, protesting that +it was a miracle that any of us had survived to taste another drop of +that liquid comforter.</p> + +<p>"But I'm a houtcast," he would wind up invariably, as his potations +overcame him; "that's where it is—who cares what a —— houtcast +thinks?"</p> + +<p>Chubb took no further notice of him than to laughingly threaten to put +him under arrest for mutiny. It must not be supposed that the +"houtcast's" behaviour on the occasion in question was due to any want +of courage. Escape seemed impossible; the risk of the attempt was +tremendous, and I am convinced that if the matter had been left to my +own judgment, I should not have dared it. But Chubb was one of those +men whom nothing can daunt, and who are never more completely in their +element than when running some desperate hazard.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> </p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + + +<p>We reached Tientsin without further mishap, and turned over our cargo +to Mr. H——'s agent, who disposed of it at a handsome profit, though +hardly sufficient, I thought, to warrant the risking of so valuable a +ship as the <i>Columbia</i>. We lay in the port about a week, to effect +the repairs rendered necessary by the Japanese gun practice.</p> + +<p>At Tientsin a war council was sitting, and one morning Mr. Mac——, +the agent, came on board and informed us that he had received a +proposal for the <i>Columbia</i> to be chartered as a transport to convey +troops to the Corea. It was only, he said, for an immediate special +service, and the terms being exceedingly advantageous he had resolved +on his own responsibility to accept the offer, as the work would not +occupy us more than a few days. We were to be one of a convoy of +transports which, sailing at different times from different ports, +were to rendezvous in Talienwan Bay on the east coast of the Liaotung +Peninsula, where the troops <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span> were to be embarked under protection of +an armed squadron. There was no time to be lost, and we were to weigh +anchor and make for the bay as soon as possible.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of the same day two Chinese emissaries came to make a +visit of inspection, and in the evening we steamed out of the port, +flying the American colours, with nothing of course to fear at the +moment. On arriving at Talienwan we found the bay full of shipping. +Four large transports were already engaged in the work of embarkation, +and another arrived after we did. The warships presented a gallant +array, twelve in all, belonging, with two or three exceptions, to the +North Coast Squadron. There were four torpedo-boats in addition. The +most powerful vessels were the <i>Chen-Yuen</i> and the <i>Ting-Yuen</i>, +barbette ships, English-built, I think, of 7280 tons. The <i>King-Yuen</i> +and <i>Lai-Yuen</i> were two barbette ships of smaller tonnage—2850. Then +came the <i>Ping-Yuen</i>, of 2850 tons, a coast-defence armour-clad; a +turret-ship, the <i>Tsi-Yuen</i>, of 2320 tons; the <i>Chih-Yuen</i>, +<i>Ching-Yuen</i>, <i>Kwang-Kai</i> and <i>Kwang-Ting</i>, all of 2300 +tons, deck-protected cruisers; and the <i>Chao-Yung</i> and +<i>Yang-Wei</i>, each of 1400 tons, unprotected cruisers.</p> + +<p>I have forgotten to say that we took a Chinese agent on board at +Tientsin for the trip. He was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span> alleged to be able to speak English, +but rarely indeed was his jargon intelligible. I asked him to +translate the names of the Chinese warships, but this was a task far +beyond the linguistic capacity of my friend Lin Wong. I understood him +to say that it would require "too muchee words" to render in our +prosaic tongue the amount of poetic imagery concentrated in the +expressions "Chih-Yuen," or "Kwang-Kai." Of what the names mean I am +in ignorance still.</p> + +<p>We were speedily boarded by a boat from the flagship, to the officer +of which Lin Wong gave an account of his stewardship, and we received +directions to draw up to the landing-stage in turn and receive our +human freight. The troops were still arriving from the roads to Talien +and Kinchou. They seemed for the most part an undisciplined lot, and +came streaming on board in no particular order; here and there a +mounted officer directing with shouts, gestures, and blows too, the +movements of the surging masses that crowded along the water-side. The +number embarked I reckoned at about 18,000. There was also a large +quantity of military stores to be shipped, and busy enough we were. In +the evening I had a glimpse of Admiral Ting, who had been ashore and +was returning to his ship. His barge passed close alongside the +<i>Columbia</i>. I saw a young-looking <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> man, very pleasant in expression +and manner; altogether what we should call highly gentlemanly in +appearance. It is well known that he expiated his failures by suicide +after the final ruin of Wei-hai-wei.</p> + +<p>All was complete on the second day after our arrival, and shortly +before noon the flagship signalled us to weigh anchor. I may remark +that the Chinese Navy is English trained, and the duty is carried on +in English, owing to the intractable character of the Chinese +language, the fact that officers and men have thus practically to +learn a foreign tongue in order to work their ships being an obvious +disadvantage. The transports were grouped together and the warships +disposed in sections abreast and ahead, with the active torpedo-boats +in the rear. Our destination was the estuary of the Yalu, the large +river which divides China from the Corea. We left Talienwan on +September 14, and reached the river on the afternoon of the 16th. The +work of disembarkation commenced immediately, although rumours reached +us from Wi-ju of the disastrous defeat of the first Chinese army at +Ping-Yang in the Corea the day before. It illustrates the ridiculous +inefficiency of the Chinese measures from first to last, that troops +should thus have been landed at hap-hazard far from any point of +communication with the interior of the Peninsula, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span> the very day after +an action which extinguished their prospect of maintaining their +ground in the Corea.</p> + +<p>The warships anchored across the mouth of the river, whilst the +transports proceeded some distance up the stream. Wi-ju is the only +settlement of any size in this little-known region, though there are +numerous fishing-hamlets scattered about. The soldiers improvised +their camps along the bank. A wild scene was presented when night fell +on the 16th—the glare of the bivouac, extending far along the +desolate water-side; the concourse of savage figures in the lurid +gloom, with here and there in the distance the gigantic shape of an +illuminated warship. We worked well into the night, and were at it +again when the sun rose—a glorious sunrise, pouring over everything +floods of crimson splendour.</p> + +<p>The first accounts which reached England of the action miscalled the +battle of Yalu, categorically stated that it was fought off the mouth +of the river whilst the work of landing the soldiers was proceeding. +This story I fancy to have been invented by the Chinese as a sort of +excuse for their defeat, by representing themselves as fighting at a +great disadvantage in covering the disembarkation. However this may +be, the fact is that the work was completed by about seven o'clock on +the morning <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> of the 17th, when no enemy was in sight. When the +<i>Columbia</i> weighed and stood out of the river, after breakfast, about +nine o'clock, we found that the main body of the fleet had departed, +though three or four cruisers and the torpedo-boats still remained in +the bay. We and the other transport masters had received an intimation +that we were at liberty to return to our respective ports upon the +conclusion of the work of disembarkation. As to the <i>Columbia</i>, Chubb +had had instructions from Mr. H——'s agent to make straight from the +Yalu to San Francisco, report to our owner, and take his further +orders. We had, however, to deal with the Chinese supercargo, if I may +so term him, Lin Wong, who still remained on board, and wanted to be +re-conveyed to the Gulf of Pechili. We proposed to put him on board +one of the warships, but as they were already under weigh when we +steamed down, there was no immediate opportunity of doing so. They +were following in the wake of the main squadron towards Port Arthur, +steering south by west from the mouth of the river. We held on with +them, only one other transport ship doing the same.</p> + +<p>For three hours we steamed on thus, at about twelve knots. Towards +noon we saw dense smoke all along the horizon ahead, and a heavy, +dull, rumbling sound reached us which soon made itself <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span> unmistakable +as the roar of artillery. We immediately guessed that the squadron +preceding us had been attacked by the enemy. Our escort, if I may so +term it, drew inshore, and I at first thought from their demeanour +that they were going to shirk entering the engagement. If such was +their intention, however, they changed it, and stood boldly on with +the torpedo-boats. We came to a stop, undecided how to proceed. The +other transport which had accompanied us was already in full retreat, +and Lin Wong, in whom discretion seemed very unduly proportioned to +valour, advised a similar course on our part. Chubb and I, however, +felt a strong desire to see the fight, and as we were not now under +the Chinese flag, there seemed no reason why we should not stay to +witness it, particularly as there was no need to let the <i>Columbia</i> +be seen.</p> + +<p>We therefore, in spite of the unintelligible protests of Lin Wong, +cast anchor, having hoisted American colours, in one of the numerous +bays that indent the rocky coast of the Liaotung. Then Chubb and +myself, leaving Webster in charge, pulled off in a small boat towards +the scene of action. We kept close to the shore, and had about a mile +and a half to pull before we came abreast of the conflict. With its +deepening thunders bellowing in our deafened ears, we landed where the +ground <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span> was high, and ascending the most elevated point we could +perceive, had, with the aid of powerful glasses, a good view of the +scene. Terrific indeed it was—a wide, dense pall of smoke, which +there was little wind to carry off; through the haze the huge reeling +shapes of the fighting vessels, looming indistinctly, vomiting flame +like so many angry dragons, and several of them burning in addition, +having been set on fire by shells; and above all the appalling +concussion of the great guns, like the bursting of incessant +thunder-bolts.</p> + +<p>By this time it was half-past two p.m., and the battle had been in +progress nearly three hours. Not having seen the commencement of the +affair, we were for some time unable to make head or tail of it. The +ships were mixed up and scattered, and we could perceive little sign +of plan or combination on either side. The first thing that began to +make itself evident as we watched was that the struggle was nearing +the coast. At first the nearest ships had been fully a league and a +half seaward; before we had occupied our position three-quarters of an +hour, many were well within two miles of the coast. So evident was +this that Chubb remarked that half of them would be ashore before the +fighting was over. This of course enabled us to distinguish the +vessels better, and we began to make out evident signs that John +Chinaman was getting <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> much the worst of it. The Japanese vessels, +working in concert and keeping together, as we began to perceive, +seemed to sail round and round the enemy, pouring on them an incessant +cannonade, and excelling them in rapidity of fire and manoeuvring. +Some of the Chinese vessels appeared to me to present an appearance of +helplessness, and there was no indication of combination as amongst +their opponents. Not but what they blazed away valiantly enough, and +some of them had evidently given as good as they got, for more than +one Japanese vessel was in flames. Of course we could not identify +these ships, but we could make out that in numbers and armament they +were a fair match for the Chinese squadron. They appeared to pay +special attention to the two great Chinese ironclads, the <i>Chen-Yuen</i> +and <i>Ting-Yuen</i>, one of which at least had had her big guns, 37-ton +Krupps, silenced, though still contributing to the entertainment with +the quick-firing armament. Shortly after three, the <i>King-Yuen</i>, fired +by shells, began to burn fiercely; she showed through the smoke like a +mass of flame, and was evidently sinking, settling down on an even +keel. Three or four of the enemy circled round, plying her with shot +and shell. Finally, with a plunge she disappeared, and the immediate +darkening, as the smoke-clouds rolled in where the fierce blaze of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> the burning wreck had been, was like the sudden drawing of a veil +over the spot where hundreds of men had met their simultaneous doom. +The cannonade slackened, but soon broke out again fiercely as ever. +About this time it seemed as if the Japanese flagship, <i>Matshushima</i>, +was about to share the same fate. She looked all in a blaze forward. +The fire, however, was got under, and later on she was taken out of +the action.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Chinese ships had been forced still nearer to the land, +and the <i>Chao-Yung</i>, an absolute ruin, drifted helplessly ashore, +half a league from where we stood. By the aid of our glasses we could +perceive her condition clearly—her upper works knocked to pieces; her +decks, strewn with mutilated bodies, an indiscriminate mass of wreck +and carnage. Her crew were abandoning her, struggling to land as best +they could. Subsequently the <i>Yang-Wei</i> went ashore similarly battered +to pieces and burning. She was much further off, and we made her out +less distinctly. On the Japanese side not one ship had sunk as far as +we had seen, and though the flagship and some of the smaller craft +were in an unenviable state, the attack was kept up with immense +spirit, and prompt obedience was paid to signals, which were frequent, +whereas we looked in vain for any sign of leadership on the part of +the Celestials. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> Later in the action another of their best ships, the +<i>Chih-Yuen</i>, came to grief. She had evidently been for long in +difficulties, labouring heavily, with the steam-pumps constantly in +requisition, as we could tell by the streams of water poured from her +sides. Bravely she fought on unsupported, and her upper deck and top +guns were served until she sank. At length her bows were completely +engulfed; the stern rose high out of water, disclosing the whirling +propellers, and bit by bit she disappeared. We could hear distinctly +the yelling sounds of triumph that rose from the Japanese ships as she +went down. The <i>Chen-Yuen</i> and <i>Ting-Yuen</i>, which seemed to +fight together during the action, tried when too late to assist her.</p> + +<p>At five o'clock, as darkness came on, the firing rapidly decreased, +and the opposing squadrons began to separate. Some of the Chinese +vessels were out of sight in the gloom to the southward, and the +Japanese slowly drew off seaward. We thought it now high time to +regain the <i>Columbia</i>, and took to our boat, discussing the fight and +speculating on the probable renewal of it. We felt little surprise +that the Chinese should have had the worst of it, for we had had good +reason to suspect that their fleet had greatly fallen off from the +state of unquestionable efficiency to which English tuition had +brought it. Whilst ashore in Talienwan <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> I had a conversation with Mr. +Purvis, an English engineer on board the <i>Chih-Yuen</i>. I asked him what +he thought would be the result of an encounter with an equal Japanese +force. He said the Chinese would have a good chance if well handled, +expressing on that head distinct doubts.</p> + +<p>"They are very brave," said he—and I can answer for it that there was +no perceptible flinching on their part during the action—"and I +believe Ting to be a good man, but he is under the thumb of Von +Hannecken"—meaning Captain or Major Von Hannecken, a German <i>army</i> +officer, one of the foreign volunteers in the fleet. The significance +of the remark is apparent when we consider the statements made to the +effect that it was he who was really in command on the day of the +engagement, Admiral Ting deferring to his suggestions. I am in no +position to affirm whether this is really the truth or not, but if it +be indeed the fact, it cannot be held to be astonishing that disaster +should have overtaken a fleet manoeuvred by a <i>soldier</i>! I recollect +that Mr. Purvis also informed me that the boilers of two or three of +the vessels (instancing the destroyed <i>Chao-Yung</i>) were worn-out and +unfit for service. Laxity of discipline, too, seems to have resulted +in disobedience or disregard of orders. As an instance of this, it is +alleged that instructions telegraphed from the conning-tower of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> the +flagship were varied or suppressed by the officer at the telegraph, +and that a subsequent comparison of notes with the engineer afforded +proof of this.</p> + +<p>I was forcibly struck by the comparatively unimportant part played in +this action by that "dark horse" of modern naval warfare, the dreaded +and much-discussed torpedo. Both squadrons had several torpedo-boats +present, though, as I have shown, those on the Chinese side did not +enter the action until it had been proceeding more than an hour. The +Japanese allege that they did not use the torpedo at all during the +action, and however this may be, there is nothing to show that the +weapon made on either side a single effective hit. I drew the +impression from what I saw, that it would be apt to be ineffectual as +used by one ship against another, an antagonist in the evolutions of +the combat, as the prospect of hitting, unless the ships were very +close together, would be small. The specially-built boat, running +close in, and making sure of the mark, would of course be dangerous, +although the storm of shot from the quick-firing guns ought even in +that case to be a tolerably adequate protection. The torpedo +undoubtedly was not given a fair chance at the battle of Yalu, but the +result seems to indicate that its terrors have been overrated, that +artillery must still be <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> reckoned the backbone of naval warfare. +Probably the torpedo will turn out to be most effective in surprise +attacks on ships and fleets at anchor. The experience of Wei-hai-wei +seems to point to this.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + + +<p>It was dark long before we got back to the bay where we had anchored +the <i>Columbia</i>, and we might have found it impossible to make out her +whereabouts if Webster had not hoisted lights to guide us. When again +aboard we got up steam and stood out to sea. We should have run for +the Yellow Sea at once but for the presence of the Chinese agent, whom +we had had no opportunity of transferring from the <i>Columbia</i>. A +motion to throw him overboard was negatived, and we resolved to hold +on for Port Arthur, where we could get rid of him without going much +out of our way. Besides, we felt curious to see if any further +encounter would take place between the hostile squadrons. Such, +however, was not fated to be the case. The Japanese allege that they +intended to renew the attack in the morning, and tried with that view +to hold a course parallel with that of the retreating Chinese, but +lost them during the night.</p> + +<p>We reached Port Arthur on the 19th, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span> having obtained a pilot, +entered the harbour. We found there only two of the vessels belonging +to the defeated squadron, the <i>Ping Yuen</i> and the <i>Kwang Ting</i>. +The former did not seem much injured, but the latter had evidently +suffered heavily, the port bow being partially stove, the upper works +demolished, and the armouring tremendously battered and dinted.</p> + +<p>Shortly after casting anchor in the West Port, I lowered a boat to +take Lin Wong ashore. In the dockyard he ascertained that a fast steam +launch was to leave for Tientsin with despatches within two days, and +he arranged to take advantage of her departure to regain that port, +from which, it will be remembered, he had come on board the +<i>Columbia</i>. As he seemed well acquainted with Port Arthur, I got him +to take me round, and show me as much of the place as could be seen in +the two or three hours of leisure at my disposal, for the <i>Columbia</i> +was to trip her anchor again in the evening.</p> + +<p>The general features of Port Arthur, or, to give it its native name, +Lu-Shun-Kou, must be tolerably familiar to all who have followed the +course of the war. A glance at the map shows its position, at the +southern extremity of the Liaotung Peninsula, commanding, with the +formidable forts of Wei-hai-wei on the opposite tongue of land, near +Chefoo, the entrance to the Gulf of Pechili. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> Although now the +principal arsenal and naval depôt of the Chinese Empire, it is of +quite recent creation, only having come into note since 1881, in which +year it was decided to establish a naval dockyard. Up to then it had +only been used as a harbour for junks employed in the timber trade and +carrying cargoes from the Yalu to ports in the Pechili Gulf, or from +the south to Niuchang and West Chin-chou. Native contractors having +made an extensive bungle of the job, it was entrusted to a French +company, and by them completed. Since then the place has increased, +from an insignificant village of sixty or seventy mud houses and a few +shops, to a town of over a thousand dwellings, as well as two large +theatres, two temples, and a number of banks and inns. The population +at the time of the Japanese incursion was about 5000 or 6000, in +addition to a garrison of about 7000. The port is very spacious and +commodious, and dredgers have worked assiduously for several years +past to deepen the entrance to it. The bar has been deepened from +twelve feet to about twenty-five feet to enable permanent moorings to +be laid down for men-of-war. The dock basin, called the East Port, +covering an area of thirty-two acres, has been constructed well behind +the signal bluffs to the right of the entrance, the West Port, or +natural harbour, opening just <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> opposite round the long, narrow spit of +land called the Tiger's Tail. The basin has a depth of twenty-five +feet at low water. There are large and numerous wharves and quays, +fitted with steam cranes, and connected by a railway with the +workshops, which contain all the most modern machinery and engines. +The dockyard, and in fact a considerable portion of the town, is +supplied with fresh water conveyed by pipes from a spring about four +miles to the north. There is a smaller dock for torpedo boats, and a +torpedo depôt on shore where those weapons can be tested and +regulated. The entrance to the port is defended by torpedoes and +submarine mines, although, as I noticed, some of the latter had been +so badly constructed and adjusted for depth as to show above water.</p> + +<p>For defensive purposes nature and art have combined to render the +place exceedingly strong. Ranges of hills, varying from 300 feet to +1500 feet, surround the port and town almost completely, offering +scope for fortification of the most formidable character, advantages +which, as far as construction goes, have been well utilized, massive +and lofty stone forts occupying every point of advantage. I believe +they are of German construction. They bristle with heavy Krupp and +Nordenfeldt guns. The elevation on the coast varies from eighty feet +to 410 feet. The land defences, though newer <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span> than those seaward, are +less powerful; the heaviest guns, of 21 and 24 centimetre, are in the +latter. Everywhere the forts are supplemented by trenches, rifle-pits, +and open redoubts or walled camps.</p> + +<p>Such is, or was, Port Arthur, and when we remember how the Turks held +Plevna, an open town until the earthworks were hastily thrown up round +it, for months against all the force Russia could bring against it, +one cannot but feel amazement that a place so powerful should so +easily have fallen. Properly defended, it should be unreducible by +anything but famine. The coast defences are impregnable, and those +inland, though more susceptible of attack, should not fall before +anything short of overwhelming superiority of force. I should like to +have seen the 20,000 men whom the Japanese led against it take that +fortress in forty-eight hours from Osman Pacha's army. The Mikado's +generals, however, had formed a perfectly just estimate of their own +powers as against those of the enemy. In fact, a third of their force +could have taken Port Arthur from the ridiculous soldiers who held it.</p> + +<p>The garrison in ordinary times amounts to 7000 men, but before the +Japanese attack it had been increased to nearly 20,000. This is +inadequate; 30,000 men at least should occupy the fortress in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> time of +war, and 40,000 would not in my opinion be too many.</p> + +<p>The chief man in the place when I was there was the Taotai, or +governor, Kung, a brother, I have heard, of the Ambassador to England. +His office, I believe, is civil; the military chiefs were Generals +Tsung and Ju. The soldiers, who appeared to range about everywhere +pretty much at their own discretion, were an uncouth, rough lot, with +very little of the smartness of dress and bearing which we associate +with the military character. Everywhere was a most portentous display +of banners, as if the sacrilegious foot of a foeman could not be set +on any spot rendered sacred by the dragon flag. The town presented a +very neat and compact aspect, and struck me very favourably as +compared with Tientsin, the only other Chinese town I had been in, and +which seemed to me to be for the most part composed of narrow, dirty, +stinking lanes with one or two good streets in the centre. Port +Arthur, as might be expected of so recent a settlement, constructed to +a large extent under European supervision, is very much better built, +and altogether presents, or did present—for to a melancholy and +deplorable condition was it soon to be reduced—a thriving and busy +aspect.</p> + +<p>At dusk I quitted the streets, with their bazaar-like shops and +strange illuminations, and made my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> way back to the port under escort +of my Chinese friend, who with Oriental politeness insisted on seeing +me safe back on board. A most unwelcome shock awaited me. No +<i>Columbia</i> was to be found, and Lin Wong's inquiries elicited that +she had left nearly an hour before. We hunted up the pilot who had taken +her out, and learned from him that she had steamed away south-east +immediately; she could not, therefore, be awaiting me outside. What on +earth could be the meaning of it? I could only conjecture that by some +oversight the fact of my not being on board had been forgotten. She +possibly might return on its being discovered that I had been left +ashore, but in the meantime what was I to do? A suggestion by Lin +solved the difficulty. If the <i>Columbia</i> did not put back, I could +obtain a passage to Tientsin on the vessel which was soon to convey +him to that port, where I could arrange my future proceedings +according to circumstances. This seeming the only feasible plan, I, +with many internal maledictions upon the stupid mischance, accompanied +the agent to an hotel or inn where he had already chartered quarters +for his short stay in the place. There are some half-dozen of these +establishments in Port Arthur. Three or four of them are wretched +hovels, which existed in the squalid infancy of the town; the newer +ones are larger and fairly <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> commodious and comfortable. The one we +occupied was near one of the gates of the approaches to the +north-eastern forts. Mine host was a square, thick-set Celestial named +Sen. Port Arthur being well accustomed to "foreign devils," some of +the servants had been engaged for their knowledge of that curious +dialect "pidgin English," which in the far East is pretty much what +Lingua Franca is in the Levant. With a little practice it is easily +comprehended, although, under the chaperonage of Lin, my difficulties +were largely reduced. Fortunately I had a considerable sum of American +money in my pockets, and with Lin's aid was able to negotiate it at +one of the banks, at a pretty smart loss, I may say. Otherwise I was +fairly content and comfortable, and had no human want but whisky.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span> </p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + + +<p>Nothing of interest occurred during the day and a half that elapsed +before the departure of the despatch-boat. Punctual enough as to time +she steamed out of the harbour under cover of night, with the Chinese +agent and myself on board. Misfortunes are well known never to come +singly, and so it was in my case. The morning after our departure was +very foggy, and towards noon we had to slow down to less than half +speed. Suddenly, without a moment's warning, a Japanese gunboat loomed +through the dun vapour close on the port bow. With their ridiculous +fondness for showing it on all occasions, in season and out, the +Celestials had their flag flaunting on a staff in the stern. The +Japanese on the gunboat perceived it, for without troubling to hail +she opened on us with the machine-guns in her tops. A storm of balls +swept the deck, and half of those upon it fell dead or wounded. One of +the bullets cut off the peak of my cap with mechanical neatness, +leaving the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span> rest of the article on my head, though turned quite +round, back to front. Before anything could be done to increase our +speed, a quick-firing gun plumped several heavy shot through us. The +machinery was damaged, we swung round helplessly, and were evidently +fast sinking. We had two boats of no great size; one of them was +knocked to splinters by the shot; the other we lowered as fast as we +could. As many as it would hold got into it, the others jumped into +the water, and within half a minute afterwards our vessel went down, +and the woe-begone survivors of the sudden catastrophe found +themselves prisoners on the deck of her destroyer.</p> + +<p>She was the <i>Itsuku</i> gunboat of about five hundred tons, on a cruise +of observation in the Gulf, along with two or three consorts, whom she +had lost in the fog. There was not a soul on board who could speak a +word of English, but by a few Chinese was sufficiently understood, and +a gunnery officer could speak tolerable French, a knowledge of which +tongue I shall probably be recollected to have mentioned as being the +major portion of the inadequate exchange for my eighty thousand +pounds. They informed us that they had taken us for a torpedo boat, +and seeing the Chinese flag had no hesitation in opening fire on so +dangerous a neighbour, as they deemed us. They seemed very <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span> scantily +pleased when told our real character, and learnt that their +precipitancy had perhaps lost them a little promotion, or at least +honourable mention, as capturers of important despatches, as I +understand them to have been.</p> + +<p>I remained on board this vessel for more than a month. The Chinese, of +course, were prisoners of war, but there was no ground for detaining +me as such. I related how I had been left behind by the <i>Columbia</i> at +Port Arthur, without, of course, giving any hint that she had been +engaged in supplying China with war material. I thought this would +satisfy my captors, but I was not long in finding out that they +entertained their own ideas as to my character, for one day I was +plainly asked whether I was not a military or naval instructor of the +Chinese. I was able to conscientiously deny that I was any such thing, +but the query took me very much aback, as the naturalness of the +suspicion was obvious, and I foresaw no end of trouble in clearing +myself of it. The commander of the gunboat, a consequential and rather +surly personage, shook his head, and said he would have to take time +to consider the matter.</p> + +<p>Time he certainly did take, and plenty of it. We were, however, well +treated, chiefly through the kindness of the French-speaking officer, +Lieutenant Hishidi, with whom I struck up an acquaintance, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> he being +in fact the only one of the gunboat's crew with whom I could converse. +He caused a small separate cabin to be extemporized for myself and Lin +Wong, and looked to our comfort in other ways. My friend Lin, I should +say, had received a nasty graze on the ribs of the right side from one +of the machine-gun bullets, but otherwise was all right, though in a +very chop-fallen condition at being made prisoner. He and I were +allowed more liberty than the other captives, and apart from the +detention had little to complain of.</p> + +<p>I was naturally much interested at first in looking round me and +taking stock of the Japanese sailors and their vessel. She was in +superb fighting trim, beautifully clean and well found in every part, +and the duty was carried on with thorough man-of-war smartness. It was +impossible to watch these little active, clever, determined sailors +without feeling that the men of the finest navy in the world, which I +take to be that of her Britannic Majesty, would find in them foemen +worthy of their steel. I remember that they were daily exercised at +the guns, and the promptitude and precision with which they sank the +<i>Kowtung</i>—such was the unlucky despatch-boat's name—was a handsome +testimonial to the accuracy of their aim.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Hishidi and I had many conversations, chiefly during his +watches, and our talk <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> generally turned on the war and nautical +matters. Of the Chinese he spoke with unmeasured contempt, certainly +not undeserved, and said that the Japanese fleets and armies had no +misgiving as to the result of the struggle; they felt able, against +such opponents, to do anything and go anywhere—"aussi loin que mer et +terre puissent nous mener," was his emphatic expression.</p> + +<p>"We have been making this war for a long time," said he, "and we feel +sure of what we can do."</p> + +<p>I remarked on the extraordinary rapidity with which a nation, closed +like the Japanese, up to within thirty years since, to European trade +and European ideas, had adopted and assimilated the system of Western +civilization.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he replied, "we can learn, and we have learnt, because we saw +that the knowledge would give us a great advantage in our own part of +the world."</p> + +<p>He had been in France, and expressed great admiration of French +ship-building and French seamanship, and seemed doubtful when I +maintained that British seamen would in case of war assert their +superiority over the French ones just as decisively now as they ever +had done in the past—and of naval history in general Hishidi had a +good idea.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> </p> + +<p>"You might," he said, "as your navy is so much larger than theirs."</p> + +<p>But I pointed out that our naval triumphs had seldom been gained by +superior force—"although," I admitted, "we certainly have now double +the force of any other European power, on which account none of them +dare attack us singly, as they know that if they did, the majority of +their knocked-out tubs would be towing up the Downs in a very brief +space of time. But numbers apart, the British sailor of to-day can +still do more with a ship than a Frenchman. The conditions are +certainly completely changed, but the best seaman will make the most +of the new order."</p> + +<p>He shook his head dubiously, and said he should like to see a war +between England and France.</p> + +<p>"Well," said I, "you may live to see that and not be an old man. You +may live to see a war between England and half the rest of the world, +and see England get the best of it. It has happened once or twice +before."</p> + +<p>On another occasion we were talking about Russia, when Hishidi +remarked—</p> + +<p>"Russia wants China."</p> + +<p>"Russia wants everything," said I.</p> + +<p>"Ah, that is what they say of you," replied he.</p> + +<p>I once asked him what he thought of the torpedo.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span> </p> + +<p>"Well," said he, "the torpedo is as yet far from being thoroughly +understood. It is very uncertain in use, though when it takes effect +invariably deadly. Gun-fire should be able to neutralize it, that is, +to keep it at a distance, for once struck, no sort of construction +could resist the explosion of two hundred pounds of gun-cotton against +the hull under the water line; water-tight compartments would be of no +avail against such devastation. Vessels of the cruiser type, fast, and +with a heavy quick-firing armament, are best suited to cope with +torpedo-boats, which would find it difficult to get to close quarters +with such craft. Warships have lately been built with a considerable +increase of length, which of course increases a torpedo's chance of +striking by giving it a larger target. Moderate size, no overloading +with armour, speed, good coal supply, and as many quick-firing guns as +can be mounted—that is my idea of the best type of warship at +present. The policy of building monstrous ships is doubtful, when they +can be sunk by a torpedo-boat. Under such conditions, it seems to me +that ease and rapidity of manoeuvring is of more advantage than +gigantic weight of ordnance and armour, because after all the +torpedo's attack is directed against a part which nothing can render +invulnerable."</p> + +<p>Such is the substance of my conversation with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> the lieutenant, but +despite the charms of intellectual intercourse, I soon began to get +desperately weary of my detention. Day after day the <i>Itsuku</i> cruised +about, sometimes in company with other craft, sometimes alone. The +enemy kept well out of sight, and few events occurred to chequer the +monotony. Once we sighted two Chinese gunboats not far from Chefoo, +and the Japanese varied the day's drill and gun exercise by shelling +them into Wei-hai-wei. They ran ignominiously and never made the least +show of fight. Had the <i>Itsuku</i> been a faster vessel, she would +undoubtedly have captured or destroyed one of them. Her maximum speed +was under sixteen knots. On another occasion, off the western coast of +the Liaotung, we came upon a fleet of junks, craft engaged in coast +trade, I presume. Their crews ran them ashore and escaped, whilst the +Japanese fired the stranded junks with shells, the officers amusing +themselves by sighting the guns and betting on the shots. When a +satisfactory bonfire had been created we steamed away.</p> + +<p>This sort of thing, I have said, went on for more than a month. The +gunboat's cruising-ground was chiefly about the mouth of the Pechili +Gulf, now under the frowning forts of Wei-hai-wei, and now opposite +Port Arthur on the other side. There did not seem to be any regular +blockade of the Gulf, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span> though Japanese warships were constantly +hovering about. The Chinese fleet, I believe, confined itself to the +modest seclusion of Wei-hai-wei harbour, and was not to be tempted +outside. Once I asked Hishidi when they meant to assail Wei-hai-wei +and Port Arthur?</p> + +<p>"Oh," said he, "we are waiting our time; it has not come yet."</p> + +<p>British war-vessels were frequently in sight, but to my requests to be +put on board one of them, or at least to be brought before a Japanese +admiral, the commander of the <i>Itsuku</i>—I have completely forgotten +his name—turned a deaf ear. October wore away, and any termination of +my captivity seemed as distant as ever. I was obliged to put an end to +it on my own initiative. One evening—the fourth or fifth of November +it would be—we were outside Port Arthur. At dusk the gunboat +anchored, and a boat was despatched on some errand of reconnaissance. +A point of the coast was less than a mile distant, and as I leant over +the bulwark in the fore-part of the vessel, it struck me that I might +easily swim off to it, if I could get into the water unobserved. Under +Webster's tuition I had become an excellent swimmer. I looked round; I +was apparently not under notice, and there was no light near where I +was. My mind was made up at once. I stole as far forward as I could, +and watching <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span> my opportunity, and steadying myself by the cathead, I +made a leap for the cable, intending to climb down it to the water. A +leap in the dark is proverbially a dangerous thing; the vessel +perversely veered away as I sprang, and instead of catching the cable +I soused into the water with a loud splash. The sentry on the gangway +heard it, ran forward, and emptied the magazine of his rifle at me as +I swam away, but by diving and swimming under water out of the direct +line of advance, I managed to evade the bullets. A boat was soon down +and in hot pursuit, but I had had a good start, and they were at a +loss for my true direction at first. I struck out vigorously and made +good headway, but had the disadvantage of swimming in my clothes; +moreover, the water was frightfully cold, and began to chill me to the +bone. I could tell, however, that the tide was strongly in my favour, +and I believe I should have escaped the boat's notice, but that the +people on shore, hearing, I suppose, the rifle-shots, turned on an +electric search-light to see what was going forward. I was still a +good quarter of a mile from the shore, and the boat was nearly as +close in—almost parallel with me, though several hundred yards away. +There was no fort near, but I could see the dark mass of one on a +towering height far to the left. The bright glare soon showed me to my +pursuers, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span> who turned the boat's head towards me and gave way with +might and main. They closed fast, and I gave myself up for lost. A +heavy rifle-fire began crackling along the shore, and the balls +frequently skimmed along the water disagreeably near me. I struggled +on, but would inevitably have been retaken if the event had depended +on my own efforts. There was a small coast battery near containing two +or three mortars, and a shell was thrown at the boat as it held its +daring course for the shore. It was not a hundred yards from me at the +moment. I heard the scream of the projectile, saw it describing its +flaring parabola in my direction, and with my last energies dived to +avoid it. The sound of its explosion rang in my ears as I went under. +When I came up again, the boat was putting back in a hurry with three +or four oars disabled. How near to them the bomb had pitched I cannot +say, but they had evidently got a good allowance of the splinters, +though chance probably had more to do with the matter than +marksmanship. The gunboat was under steam and standing in, returning +the fire. I strained every nerve, and struggled ashore at last in such +a numbed and exhausted state that I could not stand upright without +assistance. I found myself surrounded by Chinese soldiers, who plied +me with questions, which I could not have answered even if I had +understood <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> Chinese. Perceiving my condition, they took me off to a +small building like a guard-house, some way to the rear of a line of +trenches. They made a blazing wood fire in the middle of the stone +floor, and when I had stripped off my wet clothes and was partially +thawed, they renewed their interrogatories. I absolutely knew not a +word of Chinese, and could only endeavour by gestures to give them an +idea of what had happened. This was not very satisfactory, but they at +least could make out that I was no friend to the Japanese. They +jabbered away for a while amongst themselves, apparently discussing +me. At length one of them brought me some food in a large wooden +bowl—a strange mess of I know not what mysterious compounds, amongst +which, however, I could distinguish rice. It was palatable and I ate +it gladly, and asked, too, for a supplementary supply, which was not +denied. Overcome by exhaustion and the fierce heat of the fire, a +drowsy stupor came upon me, and I made signs that I wished to sleep. +They did not seem to have any clothing to offer me for my own which +was drying in the blaze, but they brought in several long, coarse +cloaks or mantles, and one of them enveloping himself in these, +stretched himself before the fire on the ground, to intimate to me +that in such a manner I must pass the night. Another offered me a pipe +of opium, which I knew it would <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span> be a great discourtesy, according to +their ideas, to decline, although I was quite unaccustomed to the +drug. I therefore took it and affected to smoke, and as I lay down, +they left the little room in which they had placed me, and I heard +them barricade the door outside.</p> + +<p>I immediately fell into a profound slumber. The few whiffs of opium +which, despite of myself, I had inhaled, had their effect, and +produced a series of those magical dreams with which the drug tempts +and deceives the novice. Through all of them the idea of flight and +pursuit ran bewilderingly. I will give one as a specimen. I dreamt +that I was on the shore of the sea; the waters suddenly began to rise, +and threatened to overwhelm me. I turned and ran, but nearer and +nearer the flood came after. Then there yawned across my path a +precipice of which I could not see the bottom. Down I plunged. I +seemed to fly like a bird, and once more stood on firm ground. The +precipice seemed to reach to the sky behind me. I resumed my flight, +and looking back, beheld the flood leaping down the gulf in a mighty +volume, with the sun rising above it, and bathing the illimitable +cataract with golden light. It would be impossible to describe or +imagine the gorgeousness of the spectacle. With <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span> such visions as these +does the treacherous narcotic lure its victims. I believe its use is +forbidden by the Chinese military authorities, but the undisciplined +soldiers seemed to use it extensively when they could get it, like +tobacco.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + + +<p>I slept till the middle of the following day, and would in all +probability have slept longer but that I was awakened by my hosts, if +so I may term them. My clothes were quite dry; I got into them, and +was escorted outside at once. The first thing I saw was a detachment +of cavalry, mounted on little shaggy Tartar ponies. One of these I was +invited to bestride, and a moment afterwards, without the possibility +of explanations being either asked or given, we were <i>en route</i>.</p> + +<p>I may as well say at once that the spot where I had come ashore was +the land below the West Port, and I was being conveyed to the +Man-tse-ying fort, one of the principal seaward fortifications. It has +an elevation of 266 feet above the sea level, and the latter part of +the ascent had to be made on foot. I was at once taken before the +commandant, who with a few other officers and a secretary sat prepared +to investigate the peculiar circumstances which had brought a Fan +Quei, or foreign devil, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span> amongst them. The secretary knew English very +indifferently—so indifferently that I am doubtful if he understood my +story rightly. He asked me if I was acquainted with German, and gave +me to understand that he knew more of that language than of English; +however, I did not know ten words of it. The examination was long, +and, from the difficulty of understanding one another, confused +enough. I gathered that I was, or had been, under suspicion of being a +Japanese spy in the minds of those before whom I had been brought, and +they rigorously questioned the men whom I had first seen as to the +circumstances attending my landing. These, I consoled myself by +reflecting, could not be deemed consistent with the supposition that I +was an agent of the enemy. I was asked if there was any one in the +town who could witness to my having been there previously under the +circumstances I alleged. I replied that probably the people at the inn +would remember me.</p> + +<p>Finally the Chinamen held a lengthened consultation amongst +themselves, at the end of which I was told that I would be taken +forthwith before the higher authorities on the other side of the port. +I hinted to the secretary that I had had nothing to eat that day and +felt decidedly hungry. I was accordingly served before my departure +with a meal of fish and boiled bread, with a cup of rice <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span> wine, a +decoction which tasted like thin, sour claret. This done, I was placed +in charge of my former escort, who struck across country from the rear +of the Man-tse-ying, passed two or three other forts and numerous +entrenchments and redoubts, and finally reached the water on the inner +side of the long arm of land enclosing the West Port. Here, close by a +torpedo store, I was put on board a sampan, a long, narrow boat, sharp +at both extremities, with an awning. In this I was conveyed to the +East Port and taken through the dockyards to the military +head-quarters near the great drill and parade ground at the entrance +to the town. It was late in the evening when we arrived there, and I +was not brought up for examination until the next day. Here, to my +great satisfaction, I found I had to deal with somebody who knew +English well—a military aide-de-camp, who spoke the language with +both fluency and correctness. To him I told my story plainly and +straightforwardly, and by the testimony of my former landlord, Sen, +and an official at the bank where I had changed my money, established +my identity as the person who had passed two days in the town with +Wong, and accompanied him on board the despatch-boat. This was +sufficient to procure my release. Everything I said was very carefully +noted down. My interrogation was conducted before a couple of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span> mandarins. The Taotai I believe to have been absent from the place at +this time. He is alleged to have deserted his position and to have +been ordered back again. This may or may not be so, but it is +undoubtedly the fact that he fled from Port Arthur the night before +the Japanese attacked it. He does not appear to have been open to the +accusation of heroism.</p> + +<p>I was informed by the aide-de-camp that the port had been visited only +a day or two before by the British warship <i>Crescent</i>, the officers +of which had landed for a short while. Fate seemed resolved that I should +have no chance of leaving the place without seeing in it something +worth remembering, as I had no sooner returned to Sen's inn, which I +did on my release, than I was seized with a kind of aguish fever, the +effect, no doubt, of the exposure I had recently undergone. It was +nothing serious, but caused a feeling of great lassitude and +depression, and confined me indoors for some ten or twelve days. I had +the place almost to myself, as the approach of the Japanese armies had +not been favourable to custom, and the usual course of travel to and +from the north had been suspended. Sen was anxious to learn from me +whether I considered it advisable for residents and townspeople to +leave the port. I replied, as I sincerely thought, that the Japanese, +if they succeeded in taking the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span> place, would do no harm to +non-combatants. I was, however, fatally mistaken.</p> + +<p>The inn was a place of two storeys—few Chinese habitations have more. +Most of the rooms opened round a partially covered courtyard. I had a +good one in the upper storey, or the "top-side," as it is expressed in +"pidgin." There were no fireplaces; the apartments were chiefly warmed +by charcoal in braziers. Along one side of that which I occupied was a +long low hollow bench, filled with hot air from a furnace. This +contrivance usually served me for a bed, for although they use +bedsteads, there is nothing on them but an immense wadded quilt, in +which you roll yourself up. I transferred it to the hot-air holder, +which made a far warmer and more comfortable couch. I was waited on +mostly by a lad named Chung, one of the professors of "pidgin." He was +a native of Canton, had been in Hong Kong, and was well accustomed to +Englishmen and their ways. The fare was very tolerable—poultry, pork, +and various kinds of fish, but no beef, as the Chinaman deems it wrong +to kill the animal that helps to till the ground. Chung told me that +in the south cats and dogs are fattened for food, which it occurred to +me would be a distinct advantage in Port Arthur at that time, with a +siege imminent, and a great abundance of those animals observable. For +drink I naturally had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span> plenty of tea, though it is very washy stuff as +made by the Chinese, who usually content themselves with putting the +leaves in a cup and pouring hot water over them, flavouring the +infusion with tiny bits of lemon.</p> + +<p>As soon as I was sufficiently recovered to go out, I made an effort to +find out whether there was any prospect of getting away from the place +by sea, but soon found that this was hopeless to expect. No foreign +vessels were in the port, and the native ones were chiefly junks, the +proprietors of which, as interpreted by Chung, whom I took with me, +refused to venture out unless for such a sum as I could by no +possibility procure. There were no Chinese war-vessels in the harbour, +and indeed they would have been of no use there.</p> + +<p>Knowing that the fortress was a very strong one, I made up my mind +that there would be a protracted siege, and my spirits fell as I +surveyed the prospect, for my pecuniary resources were limited, and it +seemed very unlikely that I would again see the <i>Columbia</i> in the +port. However, my fears were groundless. Little did I think that +within three days the place would be in the hands of the Japanese.</p> + +<p>It was on November 18 that I made the fruitless attempt to negotiate +for a passage. The appearance of the place had considerably changed + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span> since first I was in it. The numbers of the soldiery had obviously +been largely increased. Industry was completely suspended in the +dockyard, the whole of which had been converted into barracks. In +returning from the wharves with Chung, I witnessed a specimen of +military punishment. Passing the open gate of an enclosure near the +clearing-house, I perceived a group which at once riveted my +attention. A number of soldiers were standing round one who, stripped +to the waist, was kneeling with his forehead stooped almost to the +ground, and his hands tied behind, the thongs that bound them being +held by a man standing close in his rear. Thus disposed, he received a +tremendous flogging from a whip with a fearful heavy leathern lash, +which made me think of the Russian knout. The blows fell with a thud +that made my nerves shiver, and the back of the sufferer was covered +with blood, which was thrown here and there by the ensanguined +instrument of torture as it whistled through the air. He took his +punishment, however, to use the language of the P.R., like a man, and +though his body seemed to bend like a reed with each stroke, he never +uttered a sound that I could hear. I did not count the lashes, but +there was no stint in the allowance. Minute after minute the +castigator laboured away in his vocation, until finally the victim +collapsed, and rolling over, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> lay like a log in a pool of blood, and +was then carried off. I was rather surprised to see a whip used, as I +had always supposed the bastinado to be the favourite method of +flagellation in China. I asked Chung for an explanation, but he did +not seem to understand my question, and replied that the "one piecee +ting (soldier) no hab muchee hurtee," and that they might if they had +liked have cut off his "one piecee head." True it is that decapitation +is a very common punishment in the Chinese army.</p> + +<p>Strongly as the massacre by the Japanese troops in Port Arthur is to +be condemned, there is not the slightest doubt in the world that the +Chinese brought it on themselves by their own vindictive savagery +towards their enemies. The attacking armies, advancing down the +Peninsula in touch with the fleet, were now within a day or two's +march of the inland forts. Bodies of Chinese troops harassed and +resisted them, and brushes between the opposing forces frequently took +place. The Chinese took some prisoners, whom they slew mercilessly, +and one of the first things I saw on the morning of the 19th was a +pair of corpses suspended by the feet from the branches of a huge +camphor tree near the parade-ground. They were hideously mutilated. +They had been disembowelled; the eyes were gouged out, the throat cut, +and the right <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> hand severed. They were perfectly naked, and groups of +children were pelting them with mud and stones.</p> + +<p>Similar ghastly spectacles were to be seen in other parts, both inside +the town and beyond it. Nor was this the worst; the walls exhibited +placards, in the sacred imperial yellow, inciting to these atrocities. +This I know by means of Chung, whom I usually took out with me. The +tenor, as he translated, was this:—"To the soldiers and subjects of +the Celestial Lord of the Dragon Throne. So much for every Japanese +dog alive. So much for his head or hand. In the name of the Sacred Son +of Heaven," etc. Then came the date and the signature of the Taotai. +The exact amount of the rewards I forget. I think it was fifty taels +for a live prisoner, and a less amount for heads or hands. The bodies +of the Japanese soldiers killed in encounters with the enemy as they +closed on the place, were often found minus the head or right hand, +sometimes both, besides being ferociously gashed and slashed. Corpses +were still hanging on the trees when the fortress fell, and it is not +surprising that their former comrades should have been maddened by the +sight, though of course the officers are greatly to blame for +permitting the fearful retaliation which ensued to be carried to such +lengths. The massacre seems to have been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span> allowed to continue +unchecked until no more victims could be found.</p> + +<p>This, however, is to anticipate. On the 19th the enemy were close upon +the forts, and everything was bustle and commotion. Business was +suspended nearly everywhere, and the movements of the troops were the +chief attraction. Great crowds gathered in the vicinity of the +general's pavilion overlooking the parade-ground, where a council was +held in the afternoon. A strong armed force held back the mob. All the +principal military officers arrived from their posts at the head of +their staffs one by one. The Taotai was brought from his residence in +a magnificent sedan-chair, carried by ten or twelve bearers. The +pavilion itself is a splendid structure, adorned with the most gaudy +and brilliant colours, and covered with Chinese characters beautifully +worked in gold. The consultation lasted for at least three hours. I +had only a distant view of Kung over the heads of the soldiers. The +fighting outside continued, and on the next day more Japanese corpses +had been brought in by the vengeful soldiery, and left for the rabble +to amuse themselves with. I do not think that any Japanese was brought +into the town alive.</p> + +<p>Towards noon the next day (20th) the first guns were heard. Cannon +rumbled away in the distance <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> all the afternoon, ceasing as night came +on. A wild and anxious night it was. There was no certain news of the +fighting, and the most contradictory rumours were prevalent. Excited +crowds filled the streets, which blazed with great coloured paper +lanterns, of which nearly every individual carried one; indeed, the +person who is seen outside without a lantern after dark becomes an +object of suspicion to the police watch.</p> + +<p>I determined to see, if possible, something of the fighting next day. +All the ground around Port Arthur is, as I have before remarked, very +hilly. Outside the town, and between it and the north-western forts, +is a lofty elevation named White Boulders, for an obvious reason—the +ground is full of chalk. This spot I determined upon as my point of +observation. Most of the front face had been covered with trenches, +but the rear was easy of attainment, and I was struggling up the steep +ascent at day-break. The summit is very uneven, covered with huge +crags and deep indentations, and there were any number of secure +enough nooks to pick and choose from.</p> + +<p>The field of action seen from White Boulders is very simple and may be +described in a few words. Behind me was the West Port; on my left the +north-western fortifications, called the Table Mountain forts; on my +right the East Port and the sea, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> and in front the greater part of the +town, with the north-eastern forts beyond. Of these latter there are, +I think, eight, all connected by a wall. I had only a partial view of +them. Between the elevations on which stand the north-eastern and +north-western forts, the ground sinks deeply, and there is a wide +space comparatively level, part of it occupied by a village. This +tract is defended by redoubts and earthworks, and can be swept by the +fire of the higher fortifications, particularly by those of the +north-east, but still it is a weak point in the defence, though +capable, it seemed to me, of being greatly strengthened.</p> + +<p>The day broke with a frosty clearness, and though I had no glass, it +was possible to see for miles on every hand. The dragon flag waved +everywhere on the Chinese forts, but I could see at first no sign of +the Japanese, and it was not until they began to fire that their +positions were indicated. It was about half-past seven when, far to +the north-west, their guns began to boom. All their preparations had +apparently been made over-night, and they were only waiting for +daylight to begin. The Chinese opened fire in reply on both sides; +battery after battery joined in, and soon there was a thundering roar +of artillery, and a dense volume of white smoke, through which glanced +the flash of the cannon, all round the great semi-circle. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span> scream +of shells, and the blaze and detonation with which they burst, were +incessant. Away on the right the sea was covered with warships, which +seemed to have nothing to do, and certainly were not assailing the +coast defences. Some of the seaward forts were able to get their guns +to bear on the positions of the Japanese armies, and were blazing +away, though I don't think they could do much damage.</p> + +<p>Some minor outlying fortifications had been captured the previous +afternoon, and the Japanese had divided into two bodies for the main +assaults on the north-west and north-east. The Chinese in these two +sections appeared to have no combination, and by a feint at the +north-east the Japanese kept that part diverted until the west forts +had been carried. It is a fact that they fell about an hour and a half +after the cannonade commenced. The Japanese infantry advanced against +them, and the valiant troops holding them ran away at the sight. The +Chinese forts on the other side now began to fire away across the +intervening valley, as if that could remedy the disaster. Upon them +then became concentrated the whole Japanese fire. The Chinamen here +made a far better show, and the fire was vigorous and sustained. About +eleven o'clock, with a terrific blast of flame and thunder, which +seemed to shake the ground far and near to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> shores of the sea, +their largest fort, the Shoju, or Pine Tree Hill, blew up; a shell +must have alighted in the magazine. At noon the whole Japanese line +advanced to the charge, and here, too, the Celestials never waited for +the assault, but fled precipitately. There was no fighting at all at +close quarters; not a solitary Chinaman stood for a bayonet thrust. +Thus pusillanimously were abandoned these two great masses of +fortifications, placed in the most commanding situations, on steep +mountain heights where attacking forces could keep no sort of regular +formation, and could have been mowed down in thousands by competent +gunners as they struggled up the impregnable inclines. It was with a +feeling of bewilderment that I beheld such powerful defences lost in +such a manner, and realized that after three or four hours' +bombardment on one side, without a shot fired against the tremendous +coast defences, it was all up with Port Arthur.</p> + +<p>The victors next turned their attention to the redoubts and walled +camps on the lower ground, with the calm method which distinguished +all their operations. From the valleys between the hills began to +emerge dark columns of infantry, which closed steadily upon the +devoted town, rolling to their positions with the mechanical +regularity of parade, the sheen of their bayonets glancing here and +there through the volumes of smoke which had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> settled thickly in the +hollows. Nearer, spread over the ground to which the forts their +cowardice had lost should have afforded ample protection, were the +disorganized masses of Chinese, preparing for their last scattered and +fruitless efforts. Only one of the inland forts, that nearest to the +town, and called, I think, Golden Hill, was still in their possession. +The trenches below me on White Boulders' front face, which had been +unoccupied during the early portion of the day, now began to swarm +with riflemen, whose weapons kept up a continuous roll, swelled from +many a rifle-pit and redoubt away forward from the base of the +elevation. Steadily the enemy advanced, working their way round on +both wings within the captured fortresses. They took skilful advantage +of every protection the ground afforded, and the resistance in their +front rapidly diminished as they pressed on irresistibly from position +to position.</p> + +<p>It was now high time for me to evacuate my post, where I had had a +solitary and secure vantage-place amidst the rugged inequalities of +its summit, which probably I should not have been permitted to attain +if I had not set about it so early. Past its front runs a shallow but +broad stream, which coming through the Suishiyeh valley, rounds the +parade-ground on the south towards White Boulders, whence it flows +into a large and deep creek farther <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> west. This stream the Japanese +had to cross before they could attack the trenches below me. Two or +three times they were beaten back by the hail of bullets poured on +them at very close range, but covered by a heavy fire on their own +side they were at length over, and then their opponents took to flight +round the right-hand side of the hill. I stayed only to see this, and +plunged down the rear. It was growing dusk, and I had numerous narrow +escapes of breaking my neck in the deep and rugged hollows, some of +them almost ravines, which seam that side of the elevation.</p> + +<p>The town was now at the mercy of the conquerors. The Chinese were +running from the Golden Hill fort as I descended, without an effort at +defending it, and the water beyond was covered with boats and small +craft filled with fugitives, mostly the dastardly troops, who threw +away arms and uniforms as they ran. For incompetence and cowardice +commend me for the future to Chinese soldiers. The twenty thousand of +them who occupied Port Arthur contrived to kill about sixty of their +antagonists on November 21, with all the best modern weapons at their +disposal. And these are the men who, according to Lord Wolseley and +other critics, are some day to start out to conquer the earth! Let, +says Lord Wolseley, a Napoleon arise amidst this vast people, and we +shall see. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span> But is an essentially unwarlike nation at all likely to +breed a Napoleon, or to supply him with openings for a career? Who +ever heard of a Chinese conqueror? Have they ever appeared otherwise +than as the most self-centred and unenterprising people in the world, +displaying the least possible aptitude for the career of arms? And +from what source, after thousands of years of such characteristics, +are they to bring forth the material for this sudden burst of +conquering militarism?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + + +<p>I directed my retreat towards the dockyards, with a view to getting +round to the south part of the town, as far as possible from the +quarter by which the Japanese were entering it. The idea of a general +massacre never entered my mind, and I only thought of getting back to +my inn, there to stay until things quieted down. My prevailing feeling +was one of satisfaction that I should not after all have to face a +long residence in a beleaguered town. I therefore paid little +attention at first to the fact that people were flying on every hand, +and I did not suppose that there could be any good reason for flight, +beyond the desirability of getting out of the way of the conquering +troops until the ardour of victory had cooled down. I was not long to +be left undeceived. A deadly work of vengeance and slaughter had +commenced Down the panic-crowded streets, louder and louder as I +advanced, came ringing the volleys of the rifle-fire, the shouts of +the infuriated soldiers, and the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span> death-shrieks of their victims. I +knew that all armed resistance had been broken, and as these sounds of +terror increased, an idea of what might be imminent crossed my mind. I +recollected what so often follows the fall of a place carried by +storm; I remembered the atrocities committed on the Japanese +prisoners; and I remembered, too, the general character of all +Oriental soldiers. I paused to consider my situation. I had passed +round by the water-side until outside the dock basin, and then turned +into the streets, striking across in the direction of the inn, with +the route from which to the East Port I was well enough acquainted. +There was a rush and hurry of fugitives all around me, and now for the +first time I saw the Japanese soldiers in pursuit, pressing on the +fleeing throng, and using rifle and bayonet furiously on all and +sundry, stabbing and hacking fiendishly at those who fell. I was +knocked down in the rush and trampled upon, and it was some time +before I could rise. A Japanese soldier was near me as I staggered to +my feet, and took aim at me with his rifle. The barrel was within a +foot of me, and I struck it aside just in time to escape getting a +bullet through my body. I had no weapon but those of nature, but in +their use I was, like most of the Anglo-Saxon breed, something of an +artist, and before <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> the Jap could recover his piece I gave him a good, +straight, British right-hander between the eyes, which sent him down +like a nine-pin. In all human probability it was the first sample of +the article that had ever come under his notice; he was clearly unused +to the method of attack, and lay quite flat as if to think it over, +whilst I retreated as fast as my legs could carry me. I resolved to +hold on for the inn, thinking that if I succeeded in reaching it, I +should be comparatively safe, as perhaps the outbreak of fury might +confine itself to the streets. I knew, too, that I had not much +farther to go. I made little progress, nevertheless, being frequently +turned out of the road by the necessity of avoiding the soldiers, who +were spreading fast across the town, shooting down all whom they +encountered. One began to stumble over corpses in nearly every street, +and the risk of encountering parties of the murderers increased, every +minute. Again and again I came into the midst of the work of butchery, +and every now and then ran the gauntlet of a flight of bullets fired +down the narrow avenues. At length I lost my way completely, and +wandered about through the pandemonium around, thinking that each +minute would be my last. At length, in emerging from a dark lane +leading up an ascent, I came upon a sheet of water. I immediately +recognized it as a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> large shallow fresh-water lake in the rear of the +dock basin, and it thus appeared that I had strayed back nearly to the +point where I had re-entered the town on descending from White +Boulders.</p> + +<p>A frightful scene was before me. I have said that the land by which I +had come out on the lake inclined steeply upwards, and the water was +about fifteen feet below me when I arrived in sight of it. It was +surrounded by crowds of Japanese soldiers, who had driven large +numbers of the fugitives into the water, and were firing on them from +every side, and driving back with the bayonet those who attempted to +struggle out. The dead floated on the water, which was reddened with +blood. The soldiers, yelling and laughing with vengeful glee, seemed +to gloat over the agonies of their victims. It was fearful to see +those gory forms struggling in the agitated water, those who still +lived endeavouring to extricate themselves from the mass of corpses, +falling fast, but often rising again with their last energies, +streaming with water and blood, and uttering piteous cries and appeals +for mercy, which were mocked by the fiends around them. Many women +were amongst them; one I noticed carrying a little child, which, +struggling forward, she held up to the soldiers as if in appeal. As +she reached the bank, one of the wretches struck her through with his +bayonet, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span> with a second stroke as she fell transfixed the child, +which might have been two years old, and held its little body aloft. +The woman rose and made a wild effort to regain the child, but +evidently exhausted and dying, fell back again into the water. Her +body—and in fact it was done with every body that came within +reach—was hacked in pieces. Fresh batches of victims were being +driven in, until there threatened soon to be no room in the water for +any more. I could bear the spectacle no longer, but turned and fled +from the ghastly spot.</p> + +<p>I now knew my whereabouts, and once more set out for the inn, along +the line from which I had strayed. Heaps of dead and spectacles of +murder were continually presenting themselves. In one place I saw some +ten or twelve soldiers with a number of unfortunates whom they had +tied back to back in a batch. With volley after volley they despatched +them, and proceeded to mutilate their bodies in the usual horrible +fashion. Nobody was spared, man, woman, or child, that I could see. +The Chinese appeared to offer no resistance. Many of them prostrated +themselves on the ground before the butchers with abject submission, +and were shot or stabbed in that posture.</p> + +<p>I was now to have a close shave. I came suddenly and unawares upon a +party engaged in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span> slaughtering some shrieking wretches—women and +children amongst them—and being perceived was shot at by one of the +soldiers. I rapidly retreated, but he detached himself in pursuit. I +entered a house; he followed, but I had the start of him, and for a +while evaded him. I got into what looked like a kitchen or scullery, +and amongst some other utensils I came upon a curiously shaped +hatchet, very heavy and sharp. I waited for about a quarter of an +hour, and then, judging that the Jap must have left when unable to +find me, I prepared to sally forth again, as it was rather more +dangerous to be in the houses than in the streets, the soldiers +entering and pillaging them one by one, and of course slaughtering +anybody they found within. No sooner, however, had I got to the front, +than I unexpectedly encountered the very man who had driven me in, +retiring laden with booty. He dropped his plunder at once upon seeing +me, and handled his bayonet to run me through. We were in a little low +room, with a door in a corner opening on the street. He made a furious +thrust at me; by a quick movement I evaded it. The steel grazed my +left side, and crashed through the wall behind me, to which I was +pinned by the clothes, and as he tried to withdraw his weapon, I had a +fair stroke at him in return. The axe was very sharp; rage and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span> despair seemed to have doubled my strength, and I split his skull +half-way down to the jaw. Brains and blood were scattered over me, as +he sank dead at my feet.</p> + +<p>I felt no inclination to stay any longer, and was about to take my +departure, when it struck me that I might as well arm myself with my +defunct antagonist's rifle and cartridge-pouch. This led immediately +to a better idea. The Jap was a man of nearly my own stature; why not +put on his clothes? It was fast darkening, and aided in the deception +by the obscurity, my chance of escape would be greatly increased, +though I began to have an uneasy feeling that it would be a miracle if +I escaped destruction anyhow. I immediately acted on the inspiration. +The soldier, I have said, was nearly of my own height (5 ft. 6 in.), +but I was a good deal broader across the shoulders, and I made an +extensive split up the back of his tunic in struggling into it. That, +however, was no great matter, and I was soon equipped in all his outer +casement, except his cap, which had been bisected along with his head. +There was a little keen dagger in his belt, and with it I cut off my +moustache as close as I could, as the Japanese seldom have much hair +on their faces. Then, not forgetting his rifle, a beautiful +Lee-Metford, I sallied forth, carrying my discarded <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span> clothes over my +arm, a circumstance not at all likely to attract attention, as they +were all loading themselves with booty.</p> + +<p>I was undecided enough how to proceed. I might pass out into the open +country north of the town, but if I did so I should probably either +die of starvation or get killed as a Japanese straggler. I began to +think my best course would be to return to the port, and take my +chance of getting away in some small vessel. First of all, however, I +resolved to complete my intention of seeing what was going on at the +inn, to which I was now quite close. I kept boldly on, and my disguise +answered admirably, not one of the soldiers seeming to suspect that I +was anything but a comrade. Now and then I would be greeted by wild +cries in their high, shrill voices, or one, waving his rifle, would +shout something as he passed. I returned the greetings in dumb show, +and hurried on. I do not know how it would have fared with me in broad +daylight; probably not nearly so well; but it was now nearly dark. +Most of the soldiers had provided themselves, to light the work of +slaughter and pillage, with one of those coloured lanterns which are +to be found in such profusion in Chinese towns, and their demoniac +aspect was greatly heightened by the illuminations they carried as +they flitted to and fro. The butchery was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span> proceeding without the +least sign of abatement; shots, shouts, shrieks, and groans resounded +on every side; the streets presented a fearful spectacle; the ground +was saturated with blood, and everywhere strewn with horribly +mutilated corpses; some of the narrower avenues were positively choked +with carnage. The dead were mostly the townspeople; their valiant +defenders seemed to have been able to make themselves scarce; where +they all got to is a mystery to me; perhaps owing to the fact that +they got rid of their uniforms early in the proceedings in order not +to be identified as combatants, a dodge that must have served them +very little, as the conquerors killed every one they came across.</p> + +<p>At length I reached Sen's house, only to find that the destroyer had +been there. The place was in darkness; I took down the lantern from +over the outer gate, with the name of the inn and its proprietor's +written on it in the Chinese character, lit it, and began an +inspection. The first thing I saw was the corpse of my landlord +himself, lying in the covered court. His head was almost severed, and +he had been disembowelled. Most of the lower storey rooms had doors +opening into this court; across the threshold of one lay the corpse of +a female servant, mutilated in an unspeakable manner. The household +establishment consisted <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span> in all of some ten or twelve persons, and +eight of them I found lying murdered in different parts of the +premises. There was no sign of living presence anywhere. The place had +been thoroughly ransacked, and everything worth having carried off. My +blood boiled as I surveyed the scene of desolation and massacre, where +lately I had witnessed happiness and cheerful industry, and I felt +that I could willingly have died myself on the spot to obtain +vengeance on the murderers.</p> + +<p>In one of the upper rooms there was a bamboo ladder and trap leading +on the roof, which was flat, and it occurred to me to ascend and look +round. It was quite dark, and there was little to be seen beyond the +limits of the street. Distant illuminations marked the positions of +the forts on the surrounding heights. The seaward ones were still in +possession of the Chinese. They fell easily on the following day, and +had been practically abandoned. I noticed that the sounds of violence +in the town were rapidly decreasing. As I walked slowly round, the dim +light of my lantern fell on two figures skulking in the shadow. They +retreated as I advanced, until they could back no further, and then +one of them fell on his knees before me, bowing his forehead on the +roof with abject cries. I held the lantern towards him, and to my +astonishment recognized Chung. He evidently did not <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> know me, and no +wonder, considering the manner in which I had rigged myself out. He +seemed half out of his wits with fear, and I had some difficulty in +forcing the fact of my identity upon his conviction. Then his delight +was as great as his previous terror. His companion was a stranger to +him—a man of exceedingly gentlemanly and prepossessing appearance, +and clearly a person of condition, being, in fact, as I afterwards +found, a mandarin. His own residence had been sacked and his family +murdered. He and a brother had escaped into the street, were pursued, +and his relative shot in running away. Though with his left arm broken +by a bullet, he had run into the inn. When the soldiers entered it he +and Chung got on to the roof, where none of the Japanese thought of +looking for victims. His broken arm was causing him considerable +suffering, and having acquired during my knock-about life some rude +knowledge of surgery, I put the fracture together, and made a sling +with my neck-tie.</p> + +<p>I explained my situation to Chung as well as I was able; he translated +to his countryman, who knew no English, and we held a council as to +future proceedings. The work of slaughter had apparently been +suspended; either the soldiers were tired of it or had been recalled. +The Japanese forces exceeded 20,000, and of these I do not think <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> that +more than one half, perhaps not one third, were engaged in this first +evening's work, which was only the opening scene of the massacre. +Masses of the troops had been placed to occupy the forts, and +otherwise secure the conquest. We thought it likely, as indeed was the +case, that they would all withdraw to the camps outside as the night +advanced, and we resolved to attempt to gain the water-side, and seek +a last chance of escape, under cover of darkness. We searched the +place for food, but all we could find was a little bread, and a few +prepared sweetmeat cakes.</p> + +<p>An awful stillness, broken at times by ominous sounds, came over the +town. Lights flitted at times through its dark labyrinths, by whom +borne it was impossible to perceive. The presence of death, in its +most fearful shapes, seemed palpable to the senses, and we, crouching +in the gloom on the roof, to which as the safest place we had +returned, had before our mental vision the mutilated bodies in the +rooms close below us, with the ghastly probability, almost the +certainty, that another hour or two would join us in their horrid +fate. To myself, the reckless, wasted past presented itself, in that +situation of appalling terrors, in all its enormity. There was I, +after throwing away the high advantages of fortune and prosperity, a +ruined and degraded man, about to meet an appropriate ending <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span> to such +a career by a bloody death at the hands of some brutal soldier, in an +unknown land, at the ends of the earth, where scarcely a human being +knew a word of my native tongue. If these pages should be read by any +young man embarking without a thought of the future, in the flush of +high spirits and inexperience, upon courses similar to mine, I hope he +will take warning, and stop in time.</p> + +<p>It was, I should judge, about ten o'clock when at last we descended to +the street. There had been no firing for about two hours. The lantern +was re-lit, and Chung, who knew the way best, took it and went ahead. +I still wore the soldier's dress; if met and challenged, I proposed to +make it appear, as best I could, that I was making the Chinamen +conduct me to one of the camps, or if I failed in this to sell my life +dearly with the rifle.</p> + +<p>Our path lay right across the town, and the dead lay thickly in nearly +every street in the quarters we traversed, where, of every age, sex, +and condition, they had been promiscuously butchered by the hundred. +Here and there the miserable survivors—survivors only for the +present—were searching, with low wailings and lamentations, for those +they had lost, with the aid of their coloured lanterns, which gave a +look of indescribable ghastliness to the mutilated forms they bent +over to examine. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span> To my last day I shall remember, with unfading +horror, the aspect of those remnants of mortality, in all the +hideousness stamped upon them by the unnamable atrocities practised +during that diabolical orgy of murder and mutilation, rape, lust, and +rapine. This is war! Away, in the splendid pavilion of the vanquished, +the conquering marshal, surrounded by his generals and officers, was +installed in triumph, secure of his country's applause and his +emperor's favour; but here, amid these desolated homes, these +mutilated heaps of death, was the night side, the shadow, of their +glory. And this was but the first day of <i>four</i>! It must be admitted +that the Chinese drew it upon themselves, that everywhere else the +Japanese behaved with admirable clemency and moderation; but after +making every allowance, their conduct in this instance, and +particularly that of the high commanding chiefs in never seeking to +put a stop to the devilish excesses perpetrated before their eyes on +unoffending non-combatants, is richly deserving of everlasting infamy.</p> + +<p>Many of the poor wretches thus cowering about ran away upon +perceiving, as they thought, an armed Japanese soldier, but in one +instance I had reason to be thankful that I was not alone. A +middle-aged man and two younger ones were carrying away, in one of the +streets we traversed, the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span> half-naked body of a woman, which had been +split open from the abdomen to the chest. The elder man glared upon +me, in the dim light, with the expression of a tiger, and drawing a +long curved knife from his breast, and pointing at me, shouted +something to his companions, who perhaps were his sons. Chung at once +interposed, and talked with them rapidly for a few moments, and +naturally his explanation sufficed and we proceeded. I asked Chung +what the man had said:—"There is one of the Japanese devils; let us +rip him up."</p> + +<p>But it would only be needlessly harrowing to dwell on the sights of +horror we encountered at every turn. We pressed on, rapidly yet +cautiously, our feet dabbling in blood wherever we trod. As we +proceeded down a street about ten feet broad, we heard in front sounds +as of voices shouting and singing. The avenue we were in took a turn +about fifteen yards in advance of us, and as we hesitated and finally +stopped, there appeared round it a body of men in whom we at once +recognized the Japanese soldiers. There was a low but wide doorway on +our right, and into it we at once slipped with no trifling celerity. +It was intensely dark and offered a good concealment. We could not +afford to extinguish our lantern, and I placed it behind an angle of +the inner wall where it was impossible that its glimmer could be seen +from the street. Crouching <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> in the deep shadow, we anxiously awaited +the passing of the soldiers, whose voices we heard momentarily +approaching, shouting at their full pitch a discordant song, +accompanied by a loud ringing sound which at first I mistook for that +of some instrument. They were soon abreast of us, some twenty or +thirty in number. I scarcely breathed as the ferocious band went +trooping past. Their appearance was ghastly and terrible beyond +conception. They were literally reeking from the shambles of inhuman +butchery; their clothes and weapons were smeared and clotted with +blood; some held human heads aloft on their bayonets; the lanterns +which most of them carried, and swung to and fro as they marched, +threw on their repulsive figures and savage Oriental faces, their +white teeth, oblique eyes, and sallow countenances, a weird, wavering +light, appropriate to their infernal aspect; they looked more like +demons than like men. The foremost, who appeared to be dismounted +dragoons, were clashing their sabres together in a kind of +accompaniment to the yelling chant in which they all joined. On they +went, trampling the dead with whom their bestial ferocity had strewn +the devoted town, the sound of their high shrill voices and the ring +of the clashing steel being audible for some time after they had +passed out of sight. At length it died away and all was still again, +so silent that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span> I seemed to hear the quick and heavy throbbing of my +heart.</p> + +<p>After waiting two or three minutes I told Chung to take the lantern so +that we might set out again. He did so, but as he was about to step +from the doorway he tripped over some object concealed by the darkness +and fell: it was a dead body. I examined it by the lantern-light. +There were several deep bayonet wounds and a terrific sabre-slash +across the face which had completely destroyed the left eye. The +abdomen was abominably mutilated. A knife was clenched in the right +hand of the victim, showing that he had not died without an effort to +defend himself. I swung the lantern about the recess, and perceived +further back three or four steps, ascending to a door slightly open. +These steps were covered with blood which seemed to flow from behind +the door. I pushed it open, and entered the place to which it gave +access. It seemed to be a kind of public office—a wide, low, bare +apartment, divided on one side by a massive wooden counter, surmounted +by a partition pierced at intervals with pigeon-holes, as if for +communication between persons on opposite sides of the division. It +may have been a bank or money-changer's office. It is not, however, on +account of the place itself, but of its contents, that I describe it. +The floor was covered with the corpses of men, women, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> and children, +mingled indiscriminately together, fugitives who had there taken +refuge and been relentlessly butchered. The bodies had been +decapitated, and the bloody heads stuck up on a long row of spikes +which surmounted the wooden partition over the counter. Both Chung and +the mandarin uttered a cry of terror as we caught sight of those +distorted countenances, grinning upon us with the livid stare of +violent death through the dim medium of the coloured lamplight. My +blood seemed to freeze as my eyes encountered that ghastly gaze of the +dead, to which the upright position of the heads gave a sort of +semblance or mockery of life. An infant a few months old was pinned to +the counter below by a sharp piece of iron run through its little +body. The floor was two or three inches deep in thickening blood and +the entrails of the mutilated bodies. The arms and legs as well as +heads had been hacked off some of them and flung about the place. +Altogether a more hideous and revolting spectacle than this chamber of +horrors can never have been presented to mortal gaze. Such a scene, +and the sickening smell of blood, drove us out again almost +immediately. At that moment another party of the Japanese passed our +hiding-place. An infantry soldier in advance carried a large uncovered +flambeau, which threw a broad, red, steady glare over <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span> all surrounding +objects. I at once saw that these were all officers, excepting two or +three; smart, well-got-up, gentlemanly-looking little men in the +extreme; returning, perhaps, from calling off the last of their bloody +war-dogs, or making sure that all resistance had ceased. They were +laughing and chatting gaily, as if the massacre were rather a pleasant +affair than otherwise. When they had gone by, we issued into the +street, but had proceeded only a few paces when we saw a man carrying +a lantern appear round the abrupt bend before mentioned. He looked +like another Japanese hurrying after his companions who had just +passed. We returned with all haste to the doorway; and as we judged +that he had probably seen us, we re-entered the inner slaughter-house +and closed the door. We were right in thinking we had been seen, and +in about a minute we heard steps outside the door, which was presently +thrust violently open and the soldier entered, a low, sinister figure, +holding a drawn sword in what seemed to me a curiously white hand. He +peered into the obscurity, perceived me, and doubtless taking me, in +the uncertain light, for a Japanese, from the clothes I wore, lowered +his weapon and addressed me in a harsh authoritative tone. The sound +of the language was singularly like that of Italian. He pointed to the +Chinamen, probably asking what they were. I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> took advantage of his +unguarded pause to plunge my bayonet in his body, with a thrust so +rapid that he had not time to make the least movement to avoid it. He +fell at once where he stood, but attempted to rise again, when I gave +him another prick which settled his business. He fell back heavily +against the counter with a groan. One of the heads above was shaken +off its spike by the concussion and struck him on the shoulder as he +lay. His eyes, opening and shutting convulsively, seemed to gaze upon +the ghastly object. He groaned again, and in a few moments was dead. I +bent over him with the lantern, and soon perceived from the richness +of his uniform and accoutrements, as well as from the look of caste +about the head and face, that I had killed an officer of high rank. He +wore white gloves, which accounted for the odd look of his hands when +he appeared on the threshold. I felt sorry when I realized that he was +a man of consequence and authority, for had I perceived it at first I +would certainly have endeavoured to obtain his protection for myself +and my companions; but Chung had slunk behind me with the lantern, the +officer's own was a very dim one, so that in the obscurity I could +only make out that he was a Japanese soldier, and expecting to be +attacked judged it prudent to get my blow in first. Having given him +what his countrymen called the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span> "happy despatch," he could be of no +further use to us. Before again leaving the place, I took possession +of his sword, which was a very beautiful and valuable weapon, the hilt +ornamented by a quantity of massive and richly-chased gold, and a +great number of tiny diamonds and rubies,—infinitesimal gems, set in +pretty, quaint devices, with a larger stone here and there. This +trophy I brought away with me from Port Arthur, but when in Liverpool +at the beginning of the year of grace 1896, the pressure of financial +exigency compelled me to entrust it to the temporary care of the +universal uncle of mankind, who said it was worth £600 or £700. I +could by no means persuade him to believe my account of how it came +into my possession. He laughed and said I was making fun of him. His +obstinate incredulity was amusing. "You're a sailor, sir, I see," he +said, "and we know what sailors' yarns are in this town. I've heard a +few of them."</p> + +<p>Again stealing outside, we resumed our perilous way through this city +of dreadful night. We lost no time in turning out of the street where +had occurred the incidents just described, and which seemed in the +track of stragglers moving towards the adjacent Golden Hill fort. We +left it by a very narrow lane abutting at right angles. The other end +of this was blocked by a heap of corpses <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span> which we had to climb over. +As I was doing so a hideous groan struck my ear, and the body under my +foot seemed to heave. I started back, and simultaneously the apparent +corpse rose up, a tall, blood-besmeared figure, which stared horribly +upon me for a moment and then, with another loud and horrid groan, +fell prone on his back, his arms widely extended. I lost no time in +scrambling past him after my companions, who had run away, and small +blame to them, for it was like the rising of a corpse suddenly endowed +with volition. Both were by this time in what has been forcibly and +picturesquely described as a "blue funk"; they trembled ceaselessly; +their teeth chattered, and their eyes roved here and there with a +wild, hunted look; every now and then they stopped convulsively, +imagining that they saw or heard something to indicate the proximity +of the ferocious murderers. As for myself, if my outward man were less +open to reproach, my inward condition was nothing much to boast of, +and truly the horrors which continually presented themselves, joined +to the oppressive midnight shadow and stillness which hung over the +place of doom, would have damaged the nerve of a football referee.</p> + +<p>We reached the basin through a series of open brick-works, used as +timber stores, on its north side. Everything was darkness and +desertion. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span> The moon was rising far beyond the West Port away in our +front, but it was in the last quarter and afforded little light. There +were very few stars visible. The night had turned piercingly cold, but +so great was my mental anxiety and excitement that I seemed unaffected +in body by the severity of the weather. With the lantern we began to +search about for a boat, at first without success. In a square-shaped +inlet or creek a little above the dockyard we presently came upon +another horrifying spectacle. A junk lay stranded in the shallows. It +was literally full of dead bodies, and many lay on the adjacent shore. +The unfortunates had evidently been pursued down to where the junk +lay, and slaughtered before they could get it off. It struck me that +what we were looking for, a boat, might in all probability be found on +board the fatal vessel. It lay heeled over broadside to the beach, and +I waded out to it through the shallow water. I gained the upper deck +with some difficulty and stood amidst the mass of carnage. Rifle-balls +had done the work of death. Many of the bodies were in army uniforms. +I could find only two boats. One, a mere cockle-shell, had been +perforated by bullets and rendered useless. Another lay inboard on the +quarter-deck, but it was so filled and covered with corpses that at +first I did not notice it. It seemed in fair condition, but the task +of ridding it <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span> of its horrible freight was so repugnant that I +returned on shore to resume the search for one elsewhere. It was in +vain, however; all we could find in the vicinity was an old sampan, +which besides being very leaky, was more than three men could manage, +only one of them, moreover, having any knowledge of sailoring. There +was nothing for it but to return to the death-ship. We all went on +board this time, and applied ourselves to the work. The pile of dead +were dragged away, and with considerable labour, and aided by the +careened condition of the junk, we managed to launch the boat, which +had been secured inside the bulwark. It was in a horrid state with +blood, but we were not in a situation to be particular. We found a +quantity of provisions and fresh water—or rather water which had once +been fresh—in the cook-house of the junk.</p> + +<p>It must have been after midnight when we shoved off and got afloat. +Neither of my companions were experts with an oar, and could render me +very little aid; moreover, Chinese oars, like Chinese belongings +altogether, are very unlike anything else in the world and need some +practice to use. We were, however, close to the entrance of the port, +which being defended by torpedoes and mines, we ran little risk of +encountering Japanese vessels, although the submarine dangers +threatened <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> us as well, if we strayed from the deep-water channel in +the dark. We got on in safety, though very slowly, and another two +hours had been consumed before we were through.</p> + +<p>What to do next I had no fixed idea. One thing, however, was assured, +that it was certain death to stay in Port Arthur, and that our only +chance, slender as it seemed at best, consisted in getting as far away +as possible. I resolved, after some consideration, to hold on south +round the extremity of the Peninsula.</p> + +<p>In the seaward forts above us we could discern no signs of activity, +and only a light here and there, far out on the misty expanse of +waters, showed the position of the Japanese war-vessels, which had an +easy job of it as far as Port Arthur was concerned. The weather, +though so bitterly cold, was far from stormy, yet the difficulty of +rowing was increased naturally when we got out into the heavier waters +of the sea. So unpromising in fact did our situation look, that I +began to reflect whether it would not be better to stay about the +mouth of the harbour, and allow ourselves to be taken by some Japanese +ship, than wander off I knew not where, probably in the end to perish +of starvation. Luck decided the point. We had painfully made a couple +of miles from the estuary of the harbour, when we came upon a large +junk stranded on a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span> sand-bank. There were no lights showing on board +her; in the obscurity we could see nobody; yet she did not look like a +wreck, and at first we did not know what to make of it. After a +consultation, it was decided to fire a shot from the rifle and see +what it would lead to. No sooner had the report rung out, than there +was a bustle and stir on the vessel's decks, which appeared suddenly +to swarm with men, and became illuminated by lanterns. I told Chung to +hail. He did so, and a voice replied in Chinese. We drew close +abreast, and my companions held a parley with those on board. Our +situation explained we were permitted to ascend. The junk was full of +men. She had got into her present predicament in escaping, and they +were waiting for the morning flood tide to float her off. Two or three +junks, we were told, had struck torpedoes in leaving the harbour and +been blown in pieces, and many others had fallen into the clutches of +the enemy. Those on board, besides her usual crew, were chiefly +soldiers. With the profound deference paid to rank by the Orientals, +the chief cabin was at once given up to the mandarin, who insisted on +my sharing it with him. He and Chung gave a most glowing account of me +to those on board, to whom, in my remarkable accoutrement, I was an +object of legitimate curiosity.</p> + +<p>Exhausted by exertion and anxiety, I was fast <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span> asleep within +half-an-hour after stepping up the junk's side. I slept far into the +day, and when I emerged found that she had been successfully floated +off the bank, and got out to sea without so far attracting the notice +of the Japanese ships.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span> </p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + + +<p>A very queer craft is a Chinese junk. Few Europeans have any defined +idea what they are like. They are of different sizes, most of them +suited to the numerous rivers and canals which intersect the country +in every part. The largest are of about one thousand tons burden. The +whole mode of building is most peculiar. Instead of the timbers being +first raised as with us, they are the last in their places, and the +vessel is put together with immense spiked nails. The next process is +doubling and clamping above and below decks. Two immense beams or +string pieces are then ranged below, fore and aft, and keep the other +beams in their places. The deck-frames are an arch, and a platform +erected on it protects it from the sun, and from other injuries +otherwise inevitable. The seams are caulked either with old +fishing-net or bamboo shavings, and then paid with a cement called +chinam, consisting of oyster-shells burnt to lime, with a mixture of +fine bamboo <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span> shavings, pounded together with a vegetable oil extracted +from a ground nut. When dried it becomes excessively hard; it never +starts, and the seams thus secured are perfectly safe and water-tight. +All the work about her is of the roughest kind. The trees when found +of a suitable size are cut down, stripped of their bark, and sawn into +convenient lengths; the sides are not squared, but left just as they +grew. No artificial means are resorted to for any bends; a tree or +branch of a tree is found with the requisite natural curvature. There +is not in the building, rigging, or fitting-up of a Chinese junk one +single thing which is similar to what we see on board a European +vessel. Everything is different; the mode of construction; the absence +of keel, bowsprit, and shrouds; the materials employed; the mast, the +sails, the yard, the rudder, the compass, the anchor—all are +dissimilar.</p> + +<p>The vessel in which I now found myself, the <i>King-Shing</i>, was of +about seven hundred tons. She was built entirely of teak, and her skipper, +or Ty Kong, as he is called, alleged that she was more than a hundred +years old, and said that one of her crew who had recently died, had +served in her for fifty years. Her extreme length was one hundred and +sixty feet; breadth of beam, twenty-five feet and a half; depth of +hold, twelve feet; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span> height of poop from the water, thirty-eight feet; +height of bow, thirty feet. Her most attractive portion was the +saloon, or state cabin, the beauty of whose furniture and decorations +formed a curious contrast to the rude and rough workmanship of the +cabin itself. Its carved and gilded entrance was protected by a sort +of skylight, the sides of which were formed of the prepared +oyster-shells so commonly used in China instead of glass, the latter +being too expensive for general purposes. The enclosure was thirty +feet long, twenty-five broad, and eleven in height. From the beams +overhead were suspended numbers of the different kinds of lanterns +used in China. They were of every imaginable form, size, and variety +of material. The sides and deck-roof were of a yellow ground, and +covered with paintings of flowers, leaves, fruit, insects, birds, +monkeys, dogs, and cats; some of those latter animals were what in +heraldic language would be called <i>queue-fourchée</i>. The place was +filled with a vast assortment of curious and beautiful articles, +gathered together during the long existence of the vessel. To give a +list of them would require pages; brought to Europe they would have +made the reputations of a dozen museums.</p> + +<p>At the end of the saloon was the Joss-house, or idol-house, containing +the idol Chin-Tee, having eighteen arms, with her attendants, Tung-Sam +and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span> Tung-See. The richly-gilt idol was made of one solid piece of +camphor-wood, and had a red scarf thrown round it. An altar-table, +also of camphor-wood, and painted red, stood in front of the +Joss-house, with an incense burner placed upon it. The red ground of +the table had gilt carvings of flowers and insects, and the imperial +dragons with the ball of flame between them. On each side of the front +was a square place painted green, with words in Chinese inviting +worshippers to bring gold and agate stones as offerings.</p> + +<p>The sleeping berths of the crew were all <i>aft</i>, on a lower deck. +Close by these was the most astonishing part of the vessel, the colossal +rudder, not hung with pintles and gudgeons, the vessel having no +stern-post, but suspended to two windlasses by three large ropes made +of cane and hemp; one round a windlass on the next deck, and two round +a windlass on the upper deck of all, so that it could be raised or +lowered according to the depth of water. When lowered to its full +extent it drew about twenty-four feet, being twelve feet more than the +draught of the vessel. It was steered on this berth-deck when fully +lowered. It was also drawn close into the stern, into a kind of +socket, by means of two immense bamboo ropes attached to the bottom of +the rudder, passing beneath the bottom of the vessel, and coming over + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> the bow on the upper deck, and there hove in taut and fastened. When +let down to its greatest depth it required occasionally the strength +of fifteen men to move the large tiller.</p> + +<p>On ascending to the next deck, one passed under a covering made of +oyster-shells, similar to that over the entrance to the saloon; under +this hung a flag which had been borne before the Emperor on one of the +most solemn religious processions. On a piece of wood near one of the +windlasses was inscribed—"May the sea never wash over this junk." +Close by was the sailors' Joss-house, containing the deity of the sea +with her two attendants, each with a red scarf. Near the principal +goddess was a piece of the wood from the first timber of the junk that +was laid; this was taken to one of their principal temples, there +consecrated, and then brought on board, and placed as symbolic of the +whole vessel's being under the protection of the deity. A small +earthen pot, containing sacred earth and rice, stood in front, in +which Joss-sticks and other incense was burnt. A lighted lamp, too, +was here always kept burning; if it had gone out during a voyage it +would have been considered an omen of bad luck. On the right and left, +before coming to this Joss-house, were paintings. One panel +represented the Mandarin Ducks; another, a Chinese lady at her + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span> toilette; a third, a globe of gold-fish. On this deck were cabins for +passengers and supercargoes, the doors painted with different devices. +Above was the lofty poop-deck, with one of the rudder-windlasses on +it, and the mizzen-mast, fifty feet long, and placed on one side, in +order to allow the tiller to work when in shallow water. The main-mast +was ninety-five feet in length, and ten feet in circumference at the +bottom. It was one spar of teak, and just as the tree grew with merely +the bark taken off. It was not perfectly straight—a defect with us, +but not so considered by the Chinese, who prefer a mast with a bend in +it to one without, thinking it adds to the strength, and is conclusive +evidence of the goodness of the spar. This mast was hooped round, in +consequence of being cracked while undergoing the process of +hardening. The mode adopted for this purpose by the Chinese is to bury +the timber for a considerable time in marshy ground; thus treated, +they say teak becomes hard as iron. The mast did not go within four +feet of the bottom—the ship having no kelson—but, to use the +technical term, was "toggled" to two large pieces of wood which +answered as partners. To these were added two other heavy pieces as +chocks, which were intended to keep the huge spars in their places. +Neither stays nor shrouds were used. The main yards <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> were made of teak +quite rough; the upper one was seventy-five feet long, and the lower +sixty.</p> + +<p>The sails were made of closely-woven matting, a substance much lighter +than canvas. It holds the wind better, and rarely splits, because it +never shakes in the wind. So large and heavy was the mainsail of the +<i>King-Shing</i>, that it required forty men with the aid of the capstan +to raise it. Without the capstan eighty men would have been needed. It +had eighteen reefs. The sails were reefed by being lowered, which +precluded any necessity for going aloft.</p> + +<p>The vane was in the shape of a fish, the body formed of rattan work, +the head and gills of painted matting, with two projections like the +antennæ of a butterfly. The tail was furnished with long streamers, +and little flags were stuck in the body for additional ornament. There +were also Chinese characters painted on the body signifying "Good luck +to the Junk." Between the main-mast and fore-mast were two large rough +windlasses stretching across the deck, and used for getting up the +anchor. By the entrance to the forecastle were two water-tanks, +capable of holding one thousand five hundred gallons each. The +fore-mast was seventy-five feet from the deck. It raked forward, and +was supported by a large piece of wood on the after part, and secured +similarly to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> main-mast. The anchors were of wood, the flukes shod +with iron, and attached to the shank by strong lashings of bamboo. The +stock was composed of three separate pieces of wood lashed together by +rattan ropes, and was fixed to the crown. As the Chinese drag their +anchors on board instead of catting and fishing as other seamen do, +this position of the stock offers no impediment. The flukes were of +the same dimensions as those of similar sized anchors with us; they +were straight and not rounded, and there were no palms. There was also +a kedge, with only one fluke. The cables were of rattan. The junk had +no bitts, but to supply their place the strong beams across the deck +had large holes for stoppers. The "wales" formed another singular +feature of the vessel—airtight boxes, projecting three feet from the +side; their object was to make the vessel more buoyant, to enable her +to carry more cargo, and prevent her rolling, but this last, in my +opinion, was chiefly prevented by the size and position of the rudder.</p> + +<p>The cook-house was placed differently from the galleys of European +vessels, being aft of the main-mast. The lower part was built of +brick, with two square holes in front for the fires. Troughs of water +were placed in front of these holes, so that any ignited fuel that +might drop out would be at once extinguished. Wood was the fuel used. +For <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span> cooking they used iron pans surrounded by red tiles. One was +covered by a kind of half cask; this was used for boiling the rice, +the cover being to preserve the steam after the water was boiled away, +which causes the rice to be beautifully done and not soddened, as is +often the case in our cooking. It also prevents it from being thrown +out when the vessel rolls. The quantity of rice for each man was about +three pounds daily. All washing of dishes, etc., was performed on a +stage outside the galley so that it might be kept perfectly clean. The +proper allowance for each mess was delivered in front. Close to the +cook-house was a water-tank of wood, painted in imitation of bricks, +and capable of holding three thousand gallons.</p> + +<p>Such was the <i>King-Shing</i> junk, and such are most of the craft of the +Celestials. They would appear to be gradually coming round to Western +ideas in the matter of ships, and in fact have done so entirely for +war purposes, but the fashions of their ancestors are still good +enough for most of them, and the junk is to be seen everywhere. Not a +mere thing of yesterday is the junk. Vessels essentially similar to +the one I have described were navigating the Chinese seas and rivers +when the fleets of Rome and Carthage were contesting the supremacy of +the Mediterranean, and long before. Rome and Carthage, and many +another mighty <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span> maritime power, have risen and passed away utterly, +like bubbles, or dreams, but the Chinaman and his everlasting junk are +still here.</p> + +<p>The vessel belonged to some mandarins at Shanghai, who used it for +trading to Cochin-China. It had recently, however, been despatched +with a cargo to Cheefoo, had been blown away north by a gale, and +forced to run into the harbour at Port Arthur to escape the Japanese. +There it had lain until the place fell. The crew numbered fifty-four, +all told.</p> + +<p>After floating off the sand-bank, and getting an offing, we were +within the Gulf of Pechili, and determined to make for one or other of +its ports, but on the first day we encountered a very heavy +nor'-wester, which blew us far out of the Gulf. When, after lasting a +day and a night, the gale abated, we were well down the Yellow Sea, +and the skipper, or Ty Kong, whose name was Sam-Sing, determined to +hold on for the port where the junk's owners dwelt. I had no objection +to make to this, nor had the mandarin, who possessed friends and +relatives in the south. The soldiers on board, however, were very +discontented and mutinous, and as they considerably outnumbered the +crew I began to fear trouble. They were all from northern provinces +and had no desire to go south. Their language was scarcely +intelligible even to their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span> nominal countrymen. The immense diversity +of dialects in China is, in fact, a great hindrance to progress by +preventing the unification of the people. After some excited +discussion they were prevailed upon to acquiesce by the solemn promise +of the mandarin to make arrangements with the authorities for their +return to their own parts, or failing that to send them back at his +own expense; besides, the representation that to turn north again +would most likely end in capture by the Japanese vessels, through +whose present cruising-ground the gale had luckily blown us, had great +weight.</p> + +<p>I was vastly amused, during my voyage in the <i>King-Shing</i>, by the +superstitions of her crew. Their devotion to their idols was indeed +truly edifying. A religious man, according to his lights, was +Sam-Sing, and rigidly punctual in the daily observance of +incense-burning, gong-banging, and other rites supposed to be +propitiatory of the deity. He was also, however, greatly addicted to +opium-smoking, and when under the influence of the drug, of which, as +an old stager, he could consume great quantities without being +stupefied, the idea of the occult power of the goddess, never absent +from his mind, was turned completely upside down. When free from the +fumes of opium nobody could have been more respectful to the Josses, +but when intoxicated, and with the weather threatening, he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> openly +poured upon them abuse, reviling, and suspicion. He usually started a +pipe of opium about noon, and the change in his demeanour came round +gradually during the afternoon. In the morning he was sober and pious, +in the evening intoxicated and blasphemous, particularly, as I have +said, when the weather was bad. "As for that infernal Chin-Tee," he +would say in effect, shaking his fist in the direction of the idol, +"it's all her fault we're in this mess. What's the use of her—lazy +harridan! Much she cares what becomes of us"—and so on till +overpowered by excess. When by the next morning he had slept off his +debauch, and came round to recollection of his enormities, his +penitence knew no bounds; he would prostrate himself in the +Joss-house, and in the most abject terms implore forgiveness for his +intemperate language over-night. Then he would generally abstain for +two or three days, but at the first sign of bad weather, he took to +his pipe, and Chin-Tee came in for another blast of abuse. The rest of +the crew were always horrified by the shocking impiety of the Ty Kong, +and on more than one occasion I really feared that they were about to +proceed to Jonahize him. They were by no means all opium-smokers; some +of them smoked tobacco, of a vile quality, in metal pipes, with an +under-hanging curved portion containing water, through <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> which the +smoke passed. The opium-pipe is a quite different thing. It is a reed +of about an inch in diameter, and the aperture in the bowl for the +admission of the opium is not larger than a pin's head. The drug is +prepared by boiling and evaporation to the consistence of treacle. +Very few whiffs can be taken from a single pipe, but one is enough to +have an effect on a beginner, as I have already described in my own +case, but an old hand, like the Ty Kong, can smoke for hours.</p> + +<p>The incense burned before the idols consisted mostly of pieces of +aromatic wood, called Joss-sticks, silvered paper, and tin-foil. One +of their most revered objects was the mariner's compass, and before it +they would place tea, sweet cake, and pork, in order to keep it +faithful and true! It is well known that the Chinese were acquainted +with the phenomenon of the magnetized needle centuries before it was +known in Europe, and their compass differs materially from ours; +instead of consisting of a movable card attached to the needle, theirs +is simply a needle of little more than an inch in length balanced in a +glazed hole in the centre of a solid wooden dish, finely varnished. It +has only twenty-four points, and with its use they combine some of +their most ancient astrological ideas. The broad circumference of the +dish is marked off into concentric circles, inscribed with mystical +figures. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> We say the needle points to the north; they hold that the +attraction is to the south, and therefore colour that end of the +needle red, a hue that appears to have a mysterious efficacy in their +eyes. I have already told how the Josses were wrapped in red scarves, +and bits of red cloth were tied on the rudder, cable, mast, and other +principal parts of the vessel, as safeguards against danger. There was +also a large painted eye on either side of the bow, to enable the junk +to see her way! At first I could not understand the meaning of this, +and told Chung to ask the Ty Kong for an explanation. "Have eye," +translated Chung, "can see; no have eye, no can see." On occasions of +special religious demonstration these optics were decorated with +strips of red cloth. On one occasion when a steamer suspiciously like +a Japanese cruiser hove in sight, they tied red rags to their antique +guns, or gin-galls, and with this consecration on their defensive +arrangements, seemed to feel perfectly secure. I suppose the +English-trained crews of their navy must have been persuaded out of +these amazing notions, and taught the European compass, but the ideas +of Sam-Sing and his merry men were as old as their vessel.</p> + +<p>I have not yet described my mandarin friend. His name was Ki-Chang; he +was a mandarin of the fifth class, his distinctive mark being a +crystal <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span> button on the top of his cap. He was forty-six years old, +intelligent, amiable, and gentlemanly. He and I had much intercourse +during the voyage, with Chung for an interpreter. I taught him a +little English, and how to write his name in English, an +accomplishment of which he seemed extremely proud. Like most of the +educated Chinese, he wrote his own language very beautifully. He was a +wealthy and influential man.</p> + +<p>The <i>King-Shing</i> showed herself a remarkably good sea-boat, but +desperately slow. No device could get more than eight knots out of +her, and this was much above her average. We encountered one or two +violent storms, in which she behaved wonderfully. One night the wind, +after veering all round the compass with vivid lightning and thunder, +settled in the south-west and blew a perfect hurricane. All sails were +lowered, except half the fore-sail, and twenty-five men were required +at the mammoth rudder. We were obliged to start some eight tons of +water out of the deck tanks, and everything on deck, fore and aft, was +secured. The junk laboured heavily, but shipped no water. At day-break +the weather moderated, and we were able to set more sail; but in two +or three hours the wind chopped round to the north-west, and blew more +fiercely than ever, attended by squalls of hailstones as big as +marbles, the knocks of which <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span> made my countenance look as if I had +come off second-best in a middle-weight "scrap." We lowered the +main-sail again, and set four reefs of fore-sail to scud under. At +three o'clock the vessel took a tremendous lurch, and washed away our +lee-quarter boat. It was dark, and the sea barely discernible at a +distance of thirty yards, being blown into a thick mist. At six the +hurricane continued with unabated fury with terrific squalls; a +fearful sea struck the ship and nearly broached her to. The sea was a +mass of foam, and running very high, but kept down to some extent by +the violence of the wind. Later we were running under bare poles. +Again the gale went down, and again we got up sail, but without +warning a tremendous squall struck us and laid us on our beam ends. A +boat was blown away, the fore-sail split, and through the carelessness +of the men at the rudder they jibed the main-sail; it came over with +terrific force, but fortunately did no harm. Luckily the sails could +be very easily and rapidly lowered. One only had to let go or cut the +halyards and down they came. Throughout all this the junk behaved in a +manner which astounded me. She actually never shipped any water, that +which came aboard being tops of seas blown off. But the very qualities +which made her so steady-going militated against her speed. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span> She was a +safe boat at all points. One night we had to anchor off a dead +lee-shore; the crew decorated their cables with some extra red rags, +and with death grinning under our lee, went to supper with a serenity +which I should have been glad to be able to imitate. But their +confidence was as well grounded as their anchors, which held with an +unshakable tenacity.</p> + +<p>Though so long acquainted with the compass, the Chinese have always +been as unenterprising in sailoring as in everything else, and seldom +lose sight of the land, if they can help it. Their fondness for +hugging the coast was very noticeable to me, and, unused to the +constant vigilance and care which a long sea voyage demands, their +system of duty was very lax and careless. There were no proper +watches; at nightfall the Ty Kong used quietly to lower about three +reefs of the main-sail and the whole of the mizzen. All the crew would +then go to their cabin, leaving the helmsmen alone on deck. At +midnight a supper was prepared, and the sleepers awakened. The meal +ended, the helm would be relieved and the men retired to their berths +again.</p> + +<p>At this rate it may be supposed that we made slow progress, and more +than one incipient mutiny had to be dealt with, some of the crew +refusing <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span> to work, and the soldiers complaining on the far from +unreasonable ground that they had not enough to eat. We spoke several +northward-bound vessels, both native and foreign, to whom we wished to +entrust the discontented warriors, but these ships one and all +gratefully but firmly declined the compliment. By dint of necessity, +aided by the mandarin's promises, we struggled along, and as +everything must come to an end some time or other, we reached our port +at the beginning of January.</p> + +<p>I have little more to add. Ki-Chang showed himself grateful, and not +only entertained me royally, but gave me substantial pecuniary aid, a +thing I was in very pressing need of. Of course I have long since +repaid his loan.</p> + +<p>I obtained a passage in a French steamer to Callao, whence I made my +way overland to San Francisco. I called on Mr. H——, who informed me +that the <i>Columbia</i> (not then in port) had made another successful +trip, but with results so diminished in the pecuniary sense that he +had determined not to risk her again for inadequate profits. +<i>Columbia</i>, I may say, was not the steamer's real name.</p> + +<p>I next met Webster at Sydney. The explanation of my being left behind +at Port Arthur was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span> simple enough. The "houtcast" had taken so many +"caulkers" of rum during the day that he became oblivious to the fact +of my being ashore, and Chubb took it for granted that I had returned +on board, especially as I had sent back the boat in which I landed +with the Chinese agent. My absence was not noted until the small hours +of the ensuing morning, when the swift steamer was far enough away. +Webster wanted to put back for me, but Chubb, whose regards were +strictly confined to number one, decided against it, coolly saying +that they could pick me up next trip, and that as it was Webster's +fault I had been left, he, Webster, might if he liked swim back for +me. This unmessmate-like conduct, when recounted to me, so excited my +ire, that if the worthy Chubb had been within kicking distance at the +time, he should have known something further about it. I have not, +however, seen him since.</p> + +<p>Such were the things I saw and did where the Dragon Flag waves in +splendid impotence. I took no notes of anything, excepting as to the +build and fittings of the junk, and that merely for my own +information, and it was not until long after that the idea of writing +an account of these occurrences entered my mind; but I can trust my + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span> memory for the main events. If my little narrative should for only a +few furnish not merely entertainment but admonition, I shall not have +gone through quite uselessly my varied and painful experience of life.</p> + + +<h3>THE END</h3> + +<hr style="width: 95%;" /> + +<p class="center"><i>Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay.</i></p> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE DRAGON FLAG***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 16407-h.txt or 16407-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/4/0/16407">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/4/0/16407</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Under the Dragon Flag + My Experiences in the Chino-Japanese War + + +Author: James Allan + + + +Release Date: August 1, 2005 [eBook #16407] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE DRAGON FLAG*** + + +E-text prepared by Justin Kerk, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +UNDER THE DRAGON FLAG + +My Experiences in the Chino-Japanese War + +by + +JAMES ALLAN + +New York +Frederick A. Stokes Company +Publishers + +1898 + + + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The following narrative is a record of my experiences during the late +memorable war between China and Japan. Without going into any detailed +account of my earlier life, some few facts concerning myself are +probably necessary for the better understanding of the circumstances +which led up to the events here presented. It will be obvious that I +can make no claim to literary skill; I have simply written down my +exact and unadorned remembrance of incidents which I witnessed and +took part in. Now it is all over I wonder more and more at the +slightness of the hazard which suddenly placed me at such a period in +so strange an experience. + +I am the son of a Lancashire gentleman who accumulated considerable +wealth in the cotton trade. He died when I was still a boy. I found +myself, when I came of age, the possessor of upwards of L80,000. Thus +I started in life as a man of fortune; but it is due to myself to say +that I took prompt and effectual measures to clear myself of that +invidious character. Not to mince matters needlessly, I ran through +that eighty thousand pounds in something short of four years. I was +not in the least "horsey"; my sphere was the gaieties of Paris and the +gaming-tables of Monte Carlo--a sphere which has made short work of +fortunes compared with which mine would be insignificant. The pace was +fast and furious; I threw out my ballast liberally as I went along, +and the harpies, male and female, who surrounded me, picked it up. +Bright and fair enough was the prospect as I started on the road to +ruin; gloomy the clouds that settled round me as I approached that +dismal terminus. Then, when too late, I began to regret my folly. I +seemed to wake as if from a dream, from a state of helpless +infatuation, in which my acts were scarcely the effect of my own +volition. The general out-look became decidedly uninviting. + +About eleven o'clock one spring night of the year 1892, I was standing +close to the railings of the Whitworth Park in my native city of +Manchester, to whose dull provincial shades I had retired at the +enforced close of my creditable career. I remember that I was engaged +in wondering what on earth I could have done with all my money, the +only tangible return for which appeared to be an intimate and peculiar +knowledge of the French language and of certain undesirable phases of +French life. The hour, as I have said, was late, and Moss Lane, the +street in which I stood disconsolate, dark and deserted. Presently +there came along towards me a man whose uncertain gait was strongly +suggestive of the influence of alcohol. He stopped upon reaching me, +and asked if I could direct him to Victoria Park. This is an extensive +semi-private enclosure, where numbers of the plutocracy of +Cottonopolis have their residences. One of its several gates is nearly +opposite the spot where Moss Lane leads into Oxford Street, which fact +I communicated to my questioner. To my surprise he, by way of +acknowledgment, struck his hand into mine and shook it fervently. + +"Shake hands, shake hands," he said; "that's right--you're talking to +a gentleman, though you mightn't think it." + +I certainly should not have thought it. He was a short, thick-set man, +of about five feet and two or three inches, shabbily dressed; and his +unsteady lurch, swollen features, and odorous breath, told plainly of +a heavy debauch. Amused by his manner, I entered into conversation +with him. He was, it appeared, a sailor, a Lancashire man, and, if he +was to be believed, very respectably connected in Manchester. I +gathered that he had ended a boyhood of contumacy by running away to +sea, his people, though they had practically disowned him, allowing +him a pound a week. This allowance had for some time past been +stopped, and he was coming up in person to investigate the why and +wherefore. Having a week or two before come off a voyage at Liverpool, +he had at that port drawn L75 in pay, which he had spent in two days +and nights of revelry, an assertion to which his personal appearance +bore strong corroborative testimony. He appeared, on the whole, to +consider himself an exceedingly ill-used person. "I'm a houtcast," he +repeatedly said. I asked him in what capacity he served on shipboard. +"A.B.," he replied, "always A.B.;" and certainly, in speech and +appearance, he seemed nothing better than a foremast man, although, +shaking hands with me again and again, he each time asseverated that +it was the hand of a gentleman. At length he went on his way, and I +stood watching his receding figure as he reeled down the street. I was +just turning away, when I heard a loud outcry; the "houtcast," about a +hundred yards distant, was hailing me. On what trifles does destiny +depend! My first impulse was to walk off without taking any notice of +his shouts, and on the simple decision to stay and see what he wanted, +turned the whole future. It appeared that whilst talking with me his +obfuscated mind had lost the directions I had given him as to the +locality of Victoria Park. Having nothing in particular to do, I +volunteered to walk along with him, and keep him in the right +direction, and accordingly we entered the park together. With +considerable difficulty, he found out the road and house he was in +search of; I doubt if, without my aid, he would have found it at all +in his then condition. He had not, he informed me, been in Manchester +for years, and those he was looking up had changed their residence. +The exterior of the place, when found, seemed to bear out his +statement as to the social position of his relatives. I asked him what +sort of reception he thought he would get from them. + +"He did not," he replied, "care a d----n what it might be, but he was +going to see why they had stopped his quid, and no mistake about it." + +He extended to me an invitation to come in with him "and have a +drink," a courtesy which, needless to say, I declined. He then left +me, after another vehement handshaking, and proceeded up the drive in +front of the house. A feeling of curiosity to see what kind of +greeting the drunken, wastrel "houtcast" would command from his folk, +all unconscious of his disagreeable proximity to their eminently +respectable residence, induced me to follow him. I paused at a point +where, concealed by some shrubbery, I had a view of the hall door, +which, upon my friend's ringing, was opened by a smart maid-servant. +Swaying up and down on the steps in a most ludicrous manner, the +"houtcast" addressed her, although I was too far off to make out the +words, but to judge by her looks she felt no prepossession in his +favour. After a while she went away, leaving the door open and him +standing on the steps. In about a minute a stout, middle-aged +gentleman appeared from the brightly-lighted hall, his whole aspect +presenting the strongest possible contrast to that of the seedy +mariner. The conference between them was brief and angry, and +terminated with the gentleman's returning within and slamming the door +in the other's face, who, with his hands in his pockets, stood for +some time planted where he was, staring at the _visage de bois_ as if +dumfounded. Then he applied himself vigorously to the bell, and pulled +with might and main. This course of treatment having no effect, he +commenced shouting a series of objurgations much too vigorous to be +here set down. No response, of course, was forthcoming, and at length +the discomfited visitor turned slowly away from the inhospitable +mansion. I rejoined him as he staggered past me. He showed no surprise +at seeing me again, but contented himself with simply asking me where +the ---- I had been. From what he said in answer to my questions, it +appeared that they had had the brutality to tell him to call when he +was sober,--"as if," said he, with a good many curses, "I wasn't sober +enough for them. Wouldn't even give me a night's shelter. But it's +always how they've treated me--a houtcast, that's what I am--a +houtcast." + +Apparently hard hit, the "houtcast," who for the time being certainly +had some grounds for so styling himself, leaned with his back against +the gate, as if the effort to stand upright was too much for him on +the top of his recent disappointment. His plight was undoubtedly +pitiable. He had no money, it was well after midnight, the city was +distant, and moreover the search for a lodging would in his condition +be a matter of time and difficulty. Taking pity on his forlorn state, +I offered him the shelter of my own roof for the night, an offer he +was not slow to accept, remarking that one gentleman should help +another; and that if I had any "tidy brandy" he would be able to get +on well enough until to-morrow. So we set out for my lodgings in Cecil +Street. + +This chance meeting was the beginning of a long and intimate +acquaintance. In the course of conversation I disclosed to Charles +Webster--such was his name--the desperate state of my affairs, with +the gloomy prospect they entailed. The remedy he proposed--and when +sober he spoke well and sensibly--was drastic and by no means +unfeasible. "Cut it all and go to sea," he said. "You've enjoyed +yourself while your money lasted, and what's the good of money but to +spend? You've spent yours--now go to sea and get some more. That's how +I do--have a regular good blow-out when I draw my pay, and then ship +for another voyage." + +"That is all very well for you," I replied, "but how can I, without +either training or experience, get a berth on board ship?" + +"I can do it for you," replied Webster. "Lots of vessels are ordered +to sea in a hurry, and not particular in picking up a crew, or perhaps +a trifle over-loaded or not properly found, and short-handed in +consequence. That's the sort of craft I'd look out for you, and if one +wouldn't take you, another would. I'd tog you out like an A.B., and +swear you knew your duty." + +"And what when they found I didn't?" + +"Wouldn't matter a straw when we were afloat. All they could do would +be to d----n my eyes or yours and make the best of it. It's done +every day. Certificates go for nothing, they're so easily obtained. +When the voyage was over, you'd be up to a thing or two, and the +skipper would rather sign your papers than be at the bother of going +and swearing you weren't a thorough seaman; then you could get another +job without me. It's done constantly, I tell you, and why not? Nobody +can do anything without learning. You take a trip with me, and I'll +make a sailor of you. You've stood by me like a gentleman, and I'll +give you a lift if I can." + +Well, to cut the story short, I resolved, after some cogitation, to +follow his advice, as, in the circumstances to which I had contrived +to reduce myself, I saw nothing better to do. My introduction to a +seafaring life was effected pretty much on the lines indicated in the +foregoing conversation. The change from the existence of a voluptuary, +squandering thousands on the wanton pleasure of the moment, to that of +a common sailor, was at first anything but agreeable, and often and +bitterly did I curse the follies of the past. However, we learn from +experience, and probably I have profited by the unpalatable lesson. +Webster was a firm ally, and showed that despite his dissolute and +reckless mode of living, he really did possess something of the +character which he claimed, that of a gentleman. Under his tuition, +and being moreover, like Cuddie Headrigg, "gleg at the uptak," I made +rapid progress in knowledge. + +We made several voyages together. In the summer of the year 1894 we +were in San Francisco, and rather at a loose end; Webster with a good +deal of money in his possession, and spending it as usual in riotous +living. We were intimate at this time with a man named Francis Chubb, +an Australian by birth, an able seaman, and a very reckless, daring, +and resolute character. To him it is owing that I have this tale to +tell. One night as we were sitting over our potations, he made us a +singular communication and a singular proposition. A shipper and +merchant of the place, by whom he had often been employed, had, he +said, asked him if he was open to run a cargo of warlike stores for +the use of the Chinese soldiers in the struggle which had just broken +out, there being rumours that the Chinamen were ill-prepared for a +contest, and badly in need of supplies. Chubb added that he had +practically closed with the offer, and was looking about for men whom +he could depend upon to join him in the enterprise, which his +employer, foreseeing from the turn events were taking that the Chinese +ports were likely soon to be blockaded, meant as a "feeler" to test +the facilities for, and the profit likely to arise from, the +organization of a system for supplying those munitions of war of +which the Celestials were stated to be in want, some large orders +being alleged to have been lodged with American firms on their behalf. +Chubb was to command the vessel, and he offered to Webster and myself +the posts of first and second hands. The remuneration was very +handsome, and we, not adverse to the prospect of a little adventure, +had little hesitation in closing with the proposal, much to Chubb's +satisfaction, who said we were "just the sort he wanted." His +employer, Mr. H----, I no sooner heard named, than I remembered to +have heard described as a very keen hand, and not over-scrupulous. + +The vessel which he placed at our disposal was a screw steamer of +about 2000 tons, long, low, and sharp; an exceedingly fast boat, +capable of doing her twenty knots an hour even when heavily laden, as, +in a desperate emergency, we were soon to find out. Articles signed, +our cargo was procured and shipped--cannon, rifles, revolvers, +cartridges, fuses, medicines, etc., etc. We cleared without +difficulty, weighed, stood out, and laid our course straight across +the North Pacific. + +Our ship, the _Columbia_, proved a beauty, in every way fit for the +risky business we were engaged upon. Needless to say she had not only +been selected for speed, but was rendered in appearance as +unobtrusive as possible. Besides lying low in the water, she was +painted a dead grey, funnels and all. The sort of coal we used, +anthracite, burned with very little smoke, and even that little was +obviated, as we approached the seat of war, by a hood on the +smoke-stack. She slipped through the water silently and noiselessly as +one of its natural denizens, and on a dark night, with all lights out, +could hardly have been perceived, even at a short distance, from the +deck of another vessel. + +Without the ship's log to refer to, I cannot be certain of dates and +distances, but it was in the latter days of August that we were +steaming up the Yellow Sea, where, by the way, the water is _bluer_ +than I have ever seen it elsewhere. In some places it presents, on a +moonlit night, the appearance of liquefied ultramarine, though it +certainly is muddy enough about the coasts. Our destination was +Tientsin, one of the most northern of the treaty ports, and of course +we kept in with the Chinese mainland as closely as possible to avoid +the Japanese cruisers. All had gone well, and we were fast approaching +the entrance to the Gulf of Pechili, when we encountered one of those +tempests which are only to be met with in the Eastern seas--pitch-black +darkness, rain in one sheeted flood, like a second Deluge, +blinding flashes of forked lightning more terrific than the +gloom, and an almost uninterrupted crash of thunder amidst which the +uproar of a pitched field would be inaudible. With our enormous +steam-power we held our own for a while although unable to make much +headway; but at last a tremendous sea took us right abeam on the port +side; the main hatch had been left open, a small Niagara poured down +it, and doused our fires. No canvas would have stood the hurricane +that was blowing, and for some time we were in a serious way. Before +our engines, which fortunately held firm, were working again, we had +drifted helplessly over to the Corean coast, and it was all we could +do to claw off-shore until the tempest abated, which it did very +suddenly, as it had risen. + +As the wind fell, we ran under the lee of an island, oblong, high, and +thickly wooded, not far from a heavy promontory of the coast. Here we +lay for two or three hours repairing damages. Of course we had no +accurate idea whereabouts we had got to, but we reckoned that we could +not be far from Chemulpo, a very undesirable neighbourhood from our +point of view, as the port was in the hands of the Japanese, who were +engaged in landing troops there, and whose armed ships would of course +be in the vicinity. It was, therefore, necessary for us to spend as +little time thereabout as possible. As soon as things were ship-shape +once more--and luckily for ourselves we had sustained no real +injury--steam was got up to regain our former course. It was already +quite dark as we passed out from beneath the land; two bells in the +first night-watch, or nine o'clock, had just struck. Truly that was a +case of out of the frying-pan into the fire, for no sooner had we +rounded the extremity of the island than we found ourselves in most +unpleasant proximity to a ship of war. I was alone on the bridge at +the time, and at once caused the engines to be reversed, in the hope +of slipping back behind the land from the cover of which we had just +emerged. Too late; we were perceived, and the cruiser's search-light +blazed forth, illuminating the dark waters, sky, and coastline with a +vivid glare. Simultaneously we were hailed loudly, although the +distance was too great to permit of the words being distinguished, +keenly as I strained my ears to catch them. + +Seeing that we were detected, and knowing that the appearance of +flight would increase suspicion, I stopped the steamer, devoutly +hoping that our unwelcome neighbour might be a detached vessel of some +European squadron. That she could be Chinese there was little hope, as +we were aware that the Celestial fleet was in the Gulf of Pechili. +Almost before our engines were stopped, one of the cruiser's boats was +in the water and dancing towards us. Chubb and Webster ran up from +below, and as we awaited the boat, we uneasily speculated as to the +character of the craft that had despatched it, as she lay within a +quarter of a mile of us, the white muzzles of the guns in her tops and +turret seeming, as she rolled with the swell, to dip in the wave. +Formidable indeed she looked, and there was an evident stir of +offensive preparation on board her; yet in spite of our danger, I +could not resist a feeling of surprised and wondering admiration of +the wild picturesqueness of the scene--the majestic warship, the +glittering, rolling expanse of the sea, and the black lines of the +shores, under that intense and vivid radiance, which might fitly have +emanated from one of those phantom-craft with which maritime +superstition peoples the deep. Everything it touched took a ghostly +and unreal look. + +There was rather a heavy sea on, and the boat took some while to reach +us. At length, however, she was alongside, and then came clambering up +a little lieutenant, who displayed to our dismayed vision all the +physical peculiarities of the Japanese. He addressed us in English, a +language better understood than any other amongst the Mikado's +subjects. + +"You are American?" he asked, pointing to the star-spangled banner on +the pole-mast. "What is the name of your vessel?" + +We informed him, and received in return that of the warship, but in +our consternation we paid little heed to it, and none of us could +afterwards remember it. The lieutenant proceeded to question us as to +our business, speaking very creditable English. We had previously +agreed that in such a dilemma we should describe our cargo as +consisting of salt, rice, and cloth stuffs, and we had taken the +precaution to ship a quantity of those commodities, in bales and casks +which were three parts full of cartridges to economize space, besides +having fictitious invoices, etc. These valuable testimonials Chubb, +who was outwardly as cool as ice, readily produced when the officer +demanded to see our papers. He scrutinized everything carefully, and, +still dissatisfied, said he would inspect our cargo. Of course we +could not object, and blank indeed were our looks as the enemy walked +over to the side to call up two or three of his boat's crew to assist +him in the inquisition. + +"Never mind," said Chubb, "it's not all up with us yet, and it won't +be even if he finds out what we have aboard." + +"What shall we do then?" asked Webster and I. + +"Sling them overboard and run for it," said Chubb; and I knew by his +determined air that he meant what he said. + +"What! from under those guns?" said Webster. + +There was no time for more. The Japanese lieutenant, with his men, +rejoined us, and motioned us to lead the way below. We complied, and +introduced them to our "cargo," the barrels lying everywhere three or +four deep above the contraband of war. How consuming was our anxiety +as they poked about! Things went well enough for a while; they never +penetrated into the casks which they caused to be opened deep enough +to find the cartridges, or hoisted out enough of them to come at what +was beneath. Our spirits were beginning to rise, when an unlucky +accident sent them down to zero. The hoops of one of the barrels +handled were insecure, and coming off, the staves fell apart, and +along with a defensive covering of slabs of salt, a neat assortment of +revolver cartridges came tumbling out. The Japanese lieutenant smiled +till his little oblique optics were scarcely perceptible. + +"Very good," said he, picking up one of the packages; "very nice--nice +to eat." + +We were thunderstruck, and had not a word to say. All was up now, of +course; the Japs prosecuted the search with renewed keenness, and the +nature of our lading soon stood revealed. + +"I shall be obliged to detain this ship, gentlemen," said the +lieutenant politely, to Webster and myself. "Where has your captain +gone?" + +I looked round for Chubb; he was not visible. + +"I suppose he must have gone on deck," said I. + +The lieutenant and his men hurried up, Webster and I following. Chubb +was conferring with a group of the sailors. The search-light was still +flaring away, and I was horrified to see that our formidable neighbour +had crept up to within two or three hundred yards. The lieutenant +walked sharply to the side, and shouted some directions to the boat's +crew. The words were scarcely out of his mouth when I heard Chubb say, +"Now." The men with whom he had been speaking rushed upon the +Japanese, seized them, and in the twinkling of an eye hove them +overboard into their boat, or as near it as they could be aimed in the +hurry of the moment. Simultaneously "Full speed ahead" was rung from +the bridge, and the steamer sprang forward as the hare springs from +the jaws of the hound. For a moment there was no sound except the rush +of the water foaming at the bows. Then the warship opened fire on us. +Gun after gun resounded, and we held our breath as the ponderous shot +hurtled past us. The first few were wide of the mark, but we were not +long to go scatheless. One of the terrible projectiles struck the +water by the starboard quarter, rose over the side with a tremendous +ricochet, bowled over one of the men, and smashed the top of the +opposite bulwark. Immediately after another tore transversely across +the decks, playing, as Chubb afterwards said, "all-fired smash" with +everything it encountered, and killing another of the men, who was cut +literally in two, the upper portion of his body being carried +overboard, the lower half remaining on the deck. + +"He's mad," roared Webster, meaning Chubb; "we ain't going to be sunk +to please him," and he rushed on the bridge to put a stop to our +flight. + +Chubb interposed to prevent him; they closed, grappled together, and +finally fell off the bridge, still struggling. + +The cruiser had to stop to pick up her boat, and the delay probably +saved us; we must, moreover, have been a very uncertain mark in the +unnatural light, which doubtless would be no aid to gunnery practice. +On we tore, with the steam-gauge uncomfortably near danger point; the +warship in hot pursuit, looking, wreathed as she was in the smoke and +flame of her fiercely worked guns, and the electric glare of the vivid +shaft which still turned night into day, more like some fabulous +sea-monster than a fabric contrived by man. She plied us with both +shot and shell; one of the latter burst in the air over our bows; two +men were killed and several injured by the fragments. We were struck +nine or ten times in all, but they were glancing blows, which never +fairly hulled us. Chubb held on resolutely; we increased our distance +fast, and at length ran out of range. Never before had I felt so +thankful as when those fearful projectiles began to fall short. From +that point we were safe. We were five knots better than our pursuer, +and the only danger lay in the chance that some other cruiser, +attracted by the firing, might be brought across the line of our +flight. None, however, appeared, and our great speed dropped the enemy +long before daylight. + +The damage to the ship was confined to the upper works, and could soon +be put to rights, but five of the crew had been killed and twice that +number wounded, and unused to such work as I was, I felt strongly +inclined to blame Chubb for incurring this sacrifice of life for what +appeared to me an inadequate object. He laughed it away. + +"They take the risk," said he, "they know it, and they are well paid +for it. We've saved ship and cargo; that's all old H---- will think +about, and all we need care for." + +It was far, however, from being all I cared for as I looked upon the +mangled corpses lately filled with life and vigour. I had embarked on +the enterprise in a spirit of levity and carelessness, reflecting +little on what it might entail, and there was something shocking in +thus suddenly coming face to face with the dread reality of war. But +whatever may have been the source of the feeling, it soon passed away, +and when the dead had been sewed up in their hammocks and laid to +their last rest in the deep--a ceremony we performed the day after our +escape--Richard was himself again, and the old careless buoyancy +swelled up once more. + +Prayer-books had been omitted in our outfit, and we were at a loss for +the burial service. However, we laid our heads, or rather our memories +together, and most of us being able to recollect a scrap of it here +and there, we contrived to patch it up sufficiently to give our +unfortunate shipmates Christian burial. I should mention that another +of the wounded men died after our arrival at Tientsin, and was +interred in the English cemetery. He was the man who was first hit; +his name was Massinger, and he claimed to be a descendant of the +dramatist. He was known on board chiefly as "Hair-oil," from his +addiction to plastering his bushy black hair with some shiny and +odorous compound of that nature. Both his legs were broken by the shot +that struck him. + +As to my friend Webster, adorned with a black eye, he never ceased, +during the remainder of the voyage, to declaim against Chubb's +foolhardiness and uphold his own proceedings on the eventful night. +For his own discomfiture he sought consolation in rum, protesting that +it was a miracle that any of us had survived to taste another drop of +that liquid comforter. + +"But I'm a houtcast," he would wind up invariably, as his potations +overcame him; "that's where it is--who cares what a ---- houtcast +thinks?" + +Chubb took no further notice of him than to laughingly threaten to put +him under arrest for mutiny. It must not be supposed that the +"houtcast's" behaviour on the occasion in question was due to any want +of courage. Escape seemed impossible; the risk of the attempt was +tremendous, and I am convinced that if the matter had been left to my +own judgment, I should not have dared it. But Chubb was one of those +men whom nothing can daunt, and who are never more completely in their +element than when running some desperate hazard. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +We reached Tientsin without further mishap, and turned over our cargo +to Mr. H----'s agent, who disposed of it at a handsome profit, though +hardly sufficient, I thought, to warrant the risking of so valuable a +ship as the _Columbia_. We lay in the port about a week, to effect +the repairs rendered necessary by the Japanese gun practice. + +At Tientsin a war council was sitting, and one morning Mr. Mac----, the +agent, came on board and informed us that he had received a +proposal for the _Columbia_ to be chartered as a transport to convey +troops to the Corea. It was only, he said, for an immediate special +service, and the terms being exceedingly advantageous he had resolved +on his own responsibility to accept the offer, as the work would not +occupy us more than a few days. We were to be one of a convoy of +transports which, sailing at different times from different ports, +were to rendezvous in Talienwan Bay on the east coast of the Liaotung +Peninsula, where the troops were to be embarked under protection of +an armed squadron. There was no time to be lost, and we were to weigh +anchor and make for the bay as soon as possible. + +On the afternoon of the same day two Chinese emissaries came to make a +visit of inspection, and in the evening we steamed out of the port, +flying the American colours, with nothing of course to fear at the +moment. On arriving at Talienwan we found the bay full of shipping. +Four large transports were already engaged in the work of embarkation, +and another arrived after we did. The warships presented a gallant +array, twelve in all, belonging, with two or three exceptions, to the +North Coast Squadron. There were four torpedo-boats in addition. The +most powerful vessels were the _Chen-Yuen_ and the _Ting-Yuen_, +barbette ships, English-built, I think, of 7280 tons. The _King-Yuen_ +and _Lai-Yuen_ were two barbette ships of smaller tonnage--2850. Then +came the _Ping-Yuen_, of 2850 tons, a coast-defence armour-clad; a +turret-ship, the _Tsi-Yuen_, of 2320 tons; the _Chih-Yuen_, +_Ching-Yuen_, _Kwang-Kai_ and _Kwang-Ting_, all of 2300 +tons, deck-protected cruisers; and the _Chao-Yung_ and +_Yang-Wei_, each of 1400 tons, unprotected cruisers. + +I have forgotten to say that we took a Chinese agent on board at +Tientsin for the trip. He was alleged to be able to speak English, +but rarely indeed was his jargon intelligible. I asked him to +translate the names of the Chinese warships, but this was a task far +beyond the linguistic capacity of my friend Lin Wong. I understood him +to say that it would require "too muchee words" to render in our +prosaic tongue the amount of poetic imagery concentrated in the +expressions "Chih-Yuen," or "Kwang-Kai." Of what the names mean I am +in ignorance still. + +We were speedily boarded by a boat from the flagship, to the officer +of which Lin Wong gave an account of his stewardship, and we received +directions to draw up to the landing-stage in turn and receive our +human freight. The troops were still arriving from the roads to Talien +and Kinchou. They seemed for the most part an undisciplined lot, and +came streaming on board in no particular order; here and there a +mounted officer directing with shouts, gestures, and blows too, the +movements of the surging masses that crowded along the water-side. The +number embarked I reckoned at about 18,000. There was also a large +quantity of military stores to be shipped, and busy enough we were. In +the evening I had a glimpse of Admiral Ting, who had been ashore and +was returning to his ship. His barge passed close alongside the +_Columbia_. I saw a young-looking man, very pleasant in expression +and manner; altogether what we should call highly gentlemanly in +appearance. It is well known that he expiated his failures by suicide +after the final ruin of Wei-hai-wei. + +All was complete on the second day after our arrival, and shortly +before noon the flagship signalled us to weigh anchor. I may remark +that the Chinese Navy is English trained, and the duty is carried on +in English, owing to the intractable character of the Chinese +language, the fact that officers and men have thus practically to +learn a foreign tongue in order to work their ships being an obvious +disadvantage. The transports were grouped together and the warships +disposed in sections abreast and ahead, with the active torpedo-boats +in the rear. Our destination was the estuary of the Yalu, the large +river which divides China from the Corea. We left Talienwan on +September 14, and reached the river on the afternoon of the 16th. The +work of disembarkation commenced immediately, although rumours reached +us from Wi-ju of the disastrous defeat of the first Chinese army at +Ping-Yang in the Corea the day before. It illustrates the ridiculous +inefficiency of the Chinese measures from first to last, that troops +should thus have been landed at hap-hazard far from any point of +communication with the interior of the Peninsula, the very day after +an action which extinguished their prospect of maintaining their +ground in the Corea. + +The warships anchored across the mouth of the river, whilst the +transports proceeded some distance up the stream. Wi-ju is the only +settlement of any size in this little-known region, though there are +numerous fishing-hamlets scattered about. The soldiers improvised +their camps along the bank. A wild scene was presented when night fell +on the 16th--the glare of the bivouac, extending far along the +desolate water-side; the concourse of savage figures in the lurid +gloom, with here and there in the distance the gigantic shape of an +illuminated warship. We worked well into the night, and were at it +again when the sun rose--a glorious sunrise, pouring over everything +floods of crimson splendour. + +The first accounts which reached England of the action miscalled the +battle of Yalu, categorically stated that it was fought off the mouth +of the river whilst the work of landing the soldiers was proceeding. +This story I fancy to have been invented by the Chinese as a sort of +excuse for their defeat, by representing themselves as fighting at a +great disadvantage in covering the disembarkation. However this may +be, the fact is that the work was completed by about seven o'clock on +the morning of the 17th, when no enemy was in sight. When the +_Columbia_ weighed and stood out of the river, after breakfast, about +nine o'clock, we found that the main body of the fleet had departed, +though three or four cruisers and the torpedo-boats still remained in +the bay. We and the other transport masters had received an intimation +that we were at liberty to return to our respective ports upon the +conclusion of the work of disembarkation. As to the _Columbia_, Chubb +had had instructions from Mr. H----'s agent to make straight from the +Yalu to San Francisco, report to our owner, and take his further +orders. We had, however, to deal with the Chinese supercargo, if I may +so term him, Lin Wong, who still remained on board, and wanted to be +re-conveyed to the Gulf of Pechili. We proposed to put him on board +one of the warships, but as they were already under weigh when we +steamed down, there was no immediate opportunity of doing so. They +were following in the wake of the main squadron towards Port Arthur, +steering south by west from the mouth of the river. We held on with +them, only one other transport ship doing the same. + +For three hours we steamed on thus, at about twelve knots. Towards +noon we saw dense smoke all along the horizon ahead, and a heavy, +dull, rumbling sound reached us which soon made itself unmistakable +as the roar of artillery. We immediately guessed that the squadron +preceding us had been attacked by the enemy. Our escort, if I may so +term it, drew inshore, and I at first thought from their demeanour +that they were going to shirk entering the engagement. If such was +their intention, however, they changed it, and stood boldly on with +the torpedo-boats. We came to a stop, undecided how to proceed. The +other transport which had accompanied us was already in full retreat, +and Lin Wong, in whom discretion seemed very unduly proportioned to +valour, advised a similar course on our part. Chubb and I, however, +felt a strong desire to see the fight, and as we were not now under +the Chinese flag, there seemed no reason why we should not stay to +witness it, particularly as there was no need to let the _Columbia_ +be seen. + +We therefore, in spite of the unintelligible protests of Lin Wong, +cast anchor, having hoisted American colours, in one of the numerous +bays that indent the rocky coast of the Liaotung. Then Chubb and +myself, leaving Webster in charge, pulled off in a small boat towards +the scene of action. We kept close to the shore, and had about a mile +and a half to pull before we came abreast of the conflict. With its +deepening thunders bellowing in our deafened ears, we landed where the +ground was high, and ascending the most elevated point we could +perceive, had, with the aid of powerful glasses, a good view of the +scene. Terrific indeed it was--a wide, dense pall of smoke, which +there was little wind to carry off; through the haze the huge reeling +shapes of the fighting vessels, looming indistinctly, vomiting flame +like so many angry dragons, and several of them burning in addition, +having been set on fire by shells; and above all the appalling +concussion of the great guns, like the bursting of incessant +thunder-bolts. + +By this time it was half-past two p.m., and the battle had been in +progress nearly three hours. Not having seen the commencement of the +affair, we were for some time unable to make head or tail of it. The +ships were mixed up and scattered, and we could perceive little sign +of plan or combination on either side. The first thing that began to +make itself evident as we watched was that the struggle was nearing +the coast. At first the nearest ships had been fully a league and a +half seaward; before we had occupied our position three-quarters of an +hour, many were well within two miles of the coast. So evident was +this that Chubb remarked that half of them would be ashore before the +fighting was over. This of course enabled us to distinguish the +vessels better, and we began to make out evident signs that John +Chinaman was getting much the worst of it. The Japanese vessels, +working in concert and keeping together, as we began to perceive, +seemed to sail round and round the enemy, pouring on them an incessant +cannonade, and excelling them in rapidity of fire and manoeuvring. +Some of the Chinese vessels appeared to me to present an appearance of +helplessness, and there was no indication of combination as amongst +their opponents. Not but what they blazed away valiantly enough, and +some of them had evidently given as good as they got, for more than +one Japanese vessel was in flames. Of course we could not identify +these ships, but we could make out that in numbers and armament they +were a fair match for the Chinese squadron. They appeared to pay +special attention to the two great Chinese ironclads, the _Chen-Yuen_ +and _Ting-Yuen_, one of which at least had had her big guns, 37-ton +Krupps, silenced, though still contributing to the entertainment with +the quick-firing armament. Shortly after three, the _King-Yuen_, fired +by shells, began to burn fiercely; she showed through the smoke like a +mass of flame, and was evidently sinking, settling down on an even +keel. Three or four of the enemy circled round, plying her with shot +and shell. Finally, with a plunge she disappeared, and the immediate +darkening, as the smoke-clouds rolled in where the fierce blaze of +the burning wreck had been, was like the sudden drawing of a veil +over the spot where hundreds of men had met their simultaneous doom. +The cannonade slackened, but soon broke out again fiercely as ever. +About this time it seemed as if the Japanese flagship, _Matshushima_, +was about to share the same fate. She looked all in a blaze forward. +The fire, however, was got under, and later on she was taken out of +the action. + +Meanwhile the Chinese ships had been forced still nearer to the land, +and the _Chao-Yung_, an absolute ruin, drifted helplessly ashore, +half a league from where we stood. By the aid of our glasses we could +perceive her condition clearly--her upper works knocked to pieces; her +decks, strewn with mutilated bodies, an indiscriminate mass of wreck +and carnage. Her crew were abandoning her, struggling to land as best +they could. Subsequently the _Yang-Wei_ went ashore similarly battered +to pieces and burning. She was much further off, and we made her out +less distinctly. On the Japanese side not one ship had sunk as far as +we had seen, and though the flagship and some of the smaller craft +were in an unenviable state, the attack was kept up with immense +spirit, and prompt obedience was paid to signals, which were frequent, +whereas we looked in vain for any sign of leadership on the part of +the Celestials. Later in the action another of their best ships, the +_Chih-Yuen_, came to grief. She had evidently been for long in +difficulties, labouring heavily, with the steam-pumps constantly in +requisition, as we could tell by the streams of water poured from her +sides. Bravely she fought on unsupported, and her upper deck and top +guns were served until she sank. At length her bows were completely +engulfed; the stern rose high out of water, disclosing the whirling +propellers, and bit by bit she disappeared. We could hear distinctly +the yelling sounds of triumph that rose from the Japanese ships as she +went down. The _Chen-Yuen_ and _Ting-Yuen_, which seemed to +fight together during the action, tried when too late to assist her. + +At five o'clock, as darkness came on, the firing rapidly decreased, +and the opposing squadrons began to separate. Some of the Chinese +vessels were out of sight in the gloom to the southward, and the +Japanese slowly drew off seaward. We thought it now high time to +regain the _Columbia_, and took to our boat, discussing the fight and +speculating on the probable renewal of it. We felt little surprise +that the Chinese should have had the worst of it, for we had had good +reason to suspect that their fleet had greatly fallen off from the +state of unquestionable efficiency to which English tuition had +brought it. Whilst ashore in Talienwan I had a conversation with Mr. +Purvis, an English engineer on board the _Chih-Yuen_. I asked him what +he thought would be the result of an encounter with an equal Japanese +force. He said the Chinese would have a good chance if well handled, +expressing on that head distinct doubts. + +"They are very brave," said he--and I can answer for it that there was +no perceptible flinching on their part during the action--"and I +believe Ting to be a good man, but he is under the thumb of Von +Hannecken"--meaning Captain or Major Von Hannecken, a German _army_ +officer, one of the foreign volunteers in the fleet. The significance +of the remark is apparent when we consider the statements made to the +effect that it was he who was really in command on the day of the +engagement, Admiral Ting deferring to his suggestions. I am in no +position to affirm whether this is really the truth or not, but if it +be indeed the fact, it cannot be held to be astonishing that disaster +should have overtaken a fleet manoeuvred by a _soldier_! I recollect +that Mr. Purvis also informed me that the boilers of two or three of +the vessels (instancing the destroyed _Chao-Yung_) were worn-out and +unfit for service. Laxity of discipline, too, seems to have resulted +in disobedience or disregard of orders. As an instance of this, it is +alleged that instructions telegraphed from the conning-tower of the +flagship were varied or suppressed by the officer at the telegraph, +and that a subsequent comparison of notes with the engineer afforded +proof of this. + +I was forcibly struck by the comparatively unimportant part played in +this action by that "dark horse" of modern naval warfare, the dreaded +and much-discussed torpedo. Both squadrons had several torpedo-boats +present, though, as I have shown, those on the Chinese side did not +enter the action until it had been proceeding more than an hour. The +Japanese allege that they did not use the torpedo at all during the +action, and however this may be, there is nothing to show that the +weapon made on either side a single effective hit. I drew the +impression from what I saw, that it would be apt to be ineffectual as +used by one ship against another, an antagonist in the evolutions of +the combat, as the prospect of hitting, unless the ships were very +close together, would be small. The specially-built boat, running +close in, and making sure of the mark, would of course be dangerous, +although the storm of shot from the quick-firing guns ought even in +that case to be a tolerably adequate protection. The torpedo +undoubtedly was not given a fair chance at the battle of Yalu, but the +result seems to indicate that its terrors have been overrated, that +artillery must still be reckoned the backbone of naval warfare. +Probably the torpedo will turn out to be most effective in surprise +attacks on ships and fleets at anchor. The experience of Wei-hai-wei +seems to point to this. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +It was dark long before we got back to the bay where we had anchored +the _Columbia_, and we might have found it impossible to make out her +whereabouts if Webster had not hoisted lights to guide us. When again +aboard we got up steam and stood out to sea. We should have run for +the Yellow Sea at once but for the presence of the Chinese agent, whom +we had had no opportunity of transferring from the _Columbia_. A +motion to throw him overboard was negatived, and we resolved to hold +on for Port Arthur, where we could get rid of him without going much +out of our way. Besides, we felt curious to see if any further +encounter would take place between the hostile squadrons. Such, +however, was not fated to be the case. The Japanese allege that they +intended to renew the attack in the morning, and tried with that view +to hold a course parallel with that of the retreating Chinese, but +lost them during the night. + +We reached Port Arthur on the 19th, and having obtained a pilot, +entered the harbour. We found there only two of the vessels belonging +to the defeated squadron, the _Ping Yuen_ and the _Kwang Ting_. +The former did not seem much injured, but the latter had evidently +suffered heavily, the port bow being partially stove, the upper works +demolished, and the armouring tremendously battered and dinted. + +Shortly after casting anchor in the West Port, I lowered a boat to +take Lin Wong ashore. In the dockyard he ascertained that a fast steam +launch was to leave for Tientsin with despatches within two days, and +he arranged to take advantage of her departure to regain that port, +from which, it will be remembered, he had come on board the +_Columbia_. As he seemed well acquainted with Port Arthur, I got him +to take me round, and show me as much of the place as could be seen in +the two or three hours of leisure at my disposal, for the _Columbia_ +was to trip her anchor again in the evening. + +The general features of Port Arthur, or, to give it its native name, +Lu-Shun-Kou, must be tolerably familiar to all who have followed the +course of the war. A glance at the map shows its position, at the +southern extremity of the Liaotung Peninsula, commanding, with the +formidable forts of Wei-hai-wei on the opposite tongue of land, near +Chefoo, the entrance to the Gulf of Pechili. Although now the +principal arsenal and naval depot of the Chinese Empire, it is of +quite recent creation, only having come into note since 1881, in which +year it was decided to establish a naval dockyard. Up to then it had +only been used as a harbour for junks employed in the timber trade and +carrying cargoes from the Yalu to ports in the Pechili Gulf, or from +the south to Niuchang and West Chin-chou. Native contractors having +made an extensive bungle of the job, it was entrusted to a French +company, and by them completed. Since then the place has increased, +from an insignificant village of sixty or seventy mud houses and a few +shops, to a town of over a thousand dwellings, as well as two large +theatres, two temples, and a number of banks and inns. The population +at the time of the Japanese incursion was about 5000 or 6000, in +addition to a garrison of about 7000. The port is very spacious and +commodious, and dredgers have worked assiduously for several years +past to deepen the entrance to it. The bar has been deepened from +twelve feet to about twenty-five feet to enable permanent moorings to +be laid down for men-of-war. The dock basin, called the East Port, +covering an area of thirty-two acres, has been constructed well behind +the signal bluffs to the right of the entrance, the West Port, or +natural harbour, opening just opposite round the long, narrow spit of +land called the Tiger's Tail. The basin has a depth of twenty-five +feet at low water. There are large and numerous wharves and quays, +fitted with steam cranes, and connected by a railway with the +workshops, which contain all the most modern machinery and engines. +The dockyard, and in fact a considerable portion of the town, is +supplied with fresh water conveyed by pipes from a spring about four +miles to the north. There is a smaller dock for torpedo boats, and a +torpedo depot on shore where those weapons can be tested and +regulated. The entrance to the port is defended by torpedoes and +submarine mines, although, as I noticed, some of the latter had been +so badly constructed and adjusted for depth as to show above water. + +For defensive purposes nature and art have combined to render the +place exceedingly strong. Ranges of hills, varying from 300 feet to +1500 feet, surround the port and town almost completely, offering +scope for fortification of the most formidable character, advantages +which, as far as construction goes, have been well utilized, massive +and lofty stone forts occupying every point of advantage. I believe +they are of German construction. They bristle with heavy Krupp and +Nordenfeldt guns. The elevation on the coast varies from eighty feet +to 410 feet. The land defences, though newer than those seaward, are +less powerful; the heaviest guns, of 21 and 24 centimetre, are in the +latter. Everywhere the forts are supplemented by trenches, rifle-pits, +and open redoubts or walled camps. + +Such is, or was, Port Arthur, and when we remember how the Turks held +Plevna, an open town until the earthworks were hastily thrown up round +it, for months against all the force Russia could bring against it, +one cannot but feel amazement that a place so powerful should so +easily have fallen. Properly defended, it should be unreducible by +anything but famine. The coast defences are impregnable, and those +inland, though more susceptible of attack, should not fall before +anything short of overwhelming superiority of force. I should like to +have seen the 20,000 men whom the Japanese led against it take that +fortress in forty-eight hours from Osman Pacha's army. The Mikado's +generals, however, had formed a perfectly just estimate of their own +powers as against those of the enemy. In fact, a third of their force +could have taken Port Arthur from the ridiculous soldiers who held it. + +The garrison in ordinary times amounts to 7000 men, but before the +Japanese attack it had been increased to nearly 20,000. This is +inadequate; 30,000 men at least should occupy the fortress in time of +war, and 40,000 would not in my opinion be too many. + +The chief man in the place when I was there was the Taotai, or +governor, Kung, a brother, I have heard, of the Ambassador to England. +His office, I believe, is civil; the military chiefs were Generals +Tsung and Ju. The soldiers, who appeared to range about everywhere +pretty much at their own discretion, were an uncouth, rough lot, with +very little of the smartness of dress and bearing which we associate +with the military character. Everywhere was a most portentous display +of banners, as if the sacrilegious foot of a foeman could not be set +on any spot rendered sacred by the dragon flag. The town presented a +very neat and compact aspect, and struck me very favourably as +compared with Tientsin, the only other Chinese town I had been in, and +which seemed to me to be for the most part composed of narrow, dirty, +stinking lanes with one or two good streets in the centre. Port +Arthur, as might be expected of so recent a settlement, constructed to +a large extent under European supervision, is very much better built, +and altogether presents, or did present--for to a melancholy and +deplorable condition was it soon to be reduced--a thriving and busy +aspect. + +At dusk I quitted the streets, with their bazaar-like shops and +strange illuminations, and made my way back to the port under escort +of my Chinese friend, who with Oriental politeness insisted on seeing +me safe back on board. A most unwelcome shock awaited me. No +_Columbia_ was to be found, and Lin Wong's inquiries elicited that +she had left nearly an hour before. We hunted up the pilot who had taken +her out, and learned from him that she had steamed away south-east +immediately; she could not, therefore, be awaiting me outside. What on +earth could be the meaning of it? I could only conjecture that by some +oversight the fact of my not being on board had been forgotten. She +possibly might return on its being discovered that I had been left +ashore, but in the meantime what was I to do? A suggestion by Lin +solved the difficulty. If the _Columbia_ did not put back, I could +obtain a passage to Tientsin on the vessel which was soon to convey +him to that port, where I could arrange my future proceedings +according to circumstances. This seeming the only feasible plan, I, +with many internal maledictions upon the stupid mischance, accompanied +the agent to an hotel or inn where he had already chartered quarters +for his short stay in the place. There are some half-dozen of these +establishments in Port Arthur. Three or four of them are wretched +hovels, which existed in the squalid infancy of the town; the newer +ones are larger and fairly commodious and comfortable. The one we +occupied was near one of the gates of the approaches to the +north-eastern forts. Mine host was a square, thick-set Celestial named +Sen. Port Arthur being well accustomed to "foreign devils," some of +the servants had been engaged for their knowledge of that curious +dialect "pidgin English," which in the far East is pretty much what +Lingua Franca is in the Levant. With a little practice it is easily +comprehended, although, under the chaperonage of Lin, my difficulties +were largely reduced. Fortunately I had a considerable sum of American +money in my pockets, and with Lin's aid was able to negotiate it at +one of the banks, at a pretty smart loss, I may say. Otherwise I was +fairly content and comfortable, and had no human want but whisky. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Nothing of interest occurred during the day and a half that elapsed +before the departure of the despatch-boat. Punctual enough as to time +she steamed out of the harbour under cover of night, with the Chinese +agent and myself on board. Misfortunes are well known never to come +singly, and so it was in my case. The morning after our departure was +very foggy, and towards noon we had to slow down to less than half +speed. Suddenly, without a moment's warning, a Japanese gunboat loomed +through the dun vapour close on the port bow. With their ridiculous +fondness for showing it on all occasions, in season and out, the +Celestials had their flag flaunting on a staff in the stern. The +Japanese on the gunboat perceived it, for without troubling to hail +she opened on us with the machine-guns in her tops. A storm of balls +swept the deck, and half of those upon it fell dead or wounded. One of +the bullets cut off the peak of my cap with mechanical neatness, +leaving the rest of the article on my head, though turned quite +round, back to front. Before anything could be done to increase our +speed, a quick-firing gun plumped several heavy shot through us. The +machinery was damaged, we swung round helplessly, and were evidently +fast sinking. We had two boats of no great size; one of them was +knocked to splinters by the shot; the other we lowered as fast as we +could. As many as it would hold got into it, the others jumped into +the water, and within half a minute afterwards our vessel went down, +and the woe-begone survivors of the sudden catastrophe found +themselves prisoners on the deck of her destroyer. + +She was the _Itsuku_ gunboat of about five hundred tons, on a cruise +of observation in the Gulf, along with two or three consorts, whom she +had lost in the fog. There was not a soul on board who could speak a +word of English, but by a few Chinese was sufficiently understood, and +a gunnery officer could speak tolerable French, a knowledge of which +tongue I shall probably be recollected to have mentioned as being the +major portion of the inadequate exchange for my eighty thousand +pounds. They informed us that they had taken us for a torpedo boat, +and seeing the Chinese flag had no hesitation in opening fire on so +dangerous a neighbour, as they deemed us. They seemed very scantily +pleased when told our real character, and learnt that their +precipitancy had perhaps lost them a little promotion, or at least +honourable mention, as capturers of important despatches, as I +understand them to have been. + +I remained on board this vessel for more than a month. The Chinese, of +course, were prisoners of war, but there was no ground for detaining +me as such. I related how I had been left behind by the _Columbia_ at +Port Arthur, without, of course, giving any hint that she had been +engaged in supplying China with war material. I thought this would +satisfy my captors, but I was not long in finding out that they +entertained their own ideas as to my character, for one day I was +plainly asked whether I was not a military or naval instructor of the +Chinese. I was able to conscientiously deny that I was any such thing, +but the query took me very much aback, as the naturalness of the +suspicion was obvious, and I foresaw no end of trouble in clearing +myself of it. The commander of the gunboat, a consequential and rather +surly personage, shook his head, and said he would have to take time +to consider the matter. + +Time he certainly did take, and plenty of it. We were, however, well +treated, chiefly through the kindness of the French-speaking officer, +Lieutenant Hishidi, with whom I struck up an acquaintance, he being +in fact the only one of the gunboat's crew with whom I could converse. +He caused a small separate cabin to be extemporized for myself and Lin +Wong, and looked to our comfort in other ways. My friend Lin, I should +say, had received a nasty graze on the ribs of the right side from one +of the machine-gun bullets, but otherwise was all right, though in a +very chop-fallen condition at being made prisoner. He and I were +allowed more liberty than the other captives, and apart from the +detention had little to complain of. + +I was naturally much interested at first in looking round me and +taking stock of the Japanese sailors and their vessel. She was in +superb fighting trim, beautifully clean and well found in every part, +and the duty was carried on with thorough man-of-war smartness. It was +impossible to watch these little active, clever, determined sailors +without feeling that the men of the finest navy in the world, which I +take to be that of her Britannic Majesty, would find in them foemen +worthy of their steel. I remember that they were daily exercised at +the guns, and the promptitude and precision with which they sank the +_Kowtung_--such was the unlucky despatch-boat's name--was a handsome +testimonial to the accuracy of their aim. + +Lieutenant Hishidi and I had many conversations, chiefly during his +watches, and our talk generally turned on the war and nautical +matters. Of the Chinese he spoke with unmeasured contempt, certainly +not undeserved, and said that the Japanese fleets and armies had no +misgiving as to the result of the struggle; they felt able, against +such opponents, to do anything and go anywhere--"aussi loin que mer et +terre puissent nous mener," was his emphatic expression. + +"We have been making this war for a long time," said he, "and we feel +sure of what we can do." + +I remarked on the extraordinary rapidity with which a nation, closed +like the Japanese, up to within thirty years since, to European trade +and European ideas, had adopted and assimilated the system of Western +civilization. + +"Yes," he replied, "we can learn, and we have learnt, because we saw +that the knowledge would give us a great advantage in our own part of +the world." + +He had been in France, and expressed great admiration of French +ship-building and French seamanship, and seemed doubtful when I +maintained that British seamen would in case of war assert their +superiority over the French ones just as decisively now as they ever +had done in the past--and of naval history in general Hishidi had a +good idea. + +"You might," he said, "as your navy is so much larger than theirs." + +But I pointed out that our naval triumphs had seldom been gained by +superior force--"although," I admitted, "we certainly have now double +the force of any other European power, on which account none of them +dare attack us singly, as they know that if they did, the majority of +their knocked-out tubs would be towing up the Downs in a very brief +space of time. But numbers apart, the British sailor of to-day can +still do more with a ship than a Frenchman. The conditions are +certainly completely changed, but the best seaman will make the most +of the new order." + +He shook his head dubiously, and said he should like to see a war +between England and France. + +"Well," said I, "you may live to see that and not be an old man. You +may live to see a war between England and half the rest of the world, +and see England get the best of it. It has happened once or twice +before." + +On another occasion we were talking about Russia, when Hishidi +remarked-- + +"Russia wants China." + +"Russia wants everything," said I. + +"Ah, that is what they say of you," replied he. + +I once asked him what he thought of the torpedo. + +"Well," said he, "the torpedo is as yet far from being thoroughly +understood. It is very uncertain in use, though when it takes effect +invariably deadly. Gun-fire should be able to neutralize it, that is, +to keep it at a distance, for once struck, no sort of construction +could resist the explosion of two hundred pounds of gun-cotton against +the hull under the water line; water-tight compartments would be of no +avail against such devastation. Vessels of the cruiser type, fast, and +with a heavy quick-firing armament, are best suited to cope with +torpedo-boats, which would find it difficult to get to close quarters +with such craft. Warships have lately been built with a considerable +increase of length, which of course increases a torpedo's chance of +striking by giving it a larger target. Moderate size, no overloading +with armour, speed, good coal supply, and as many quick-firing guns as +can be mounted--that is my idea of the best type of warship at +present. The policy of building monstrous ships is doubtful, when they +can be sunk by a torpedo-boat. Under such conditions, it seems to me +that ease and rapidity of manoeuvring is of more advantage than +gigantic weight of ordnance and armour, because after all the +torpedo's attack is directed against a part which nothing can render +invulnerable." + +Such is the substance of my conversation with the lieutenant, but +despite the charms of intellectual intercourse, I soon began to get +desperately weary of my detention. Day after day the _Itsuku_ cruised +about, sometimes in company with other craft, sometimes alone. The +enemy kept well out of sight, and few events occurred to chequer the +monotony. Once we sighted two Chinese gunboats not far from Chefoo, +and the Japanese varied the day's drill and gun exercise by shelling +them into Wei-hai-wei. They ran ignominiously and never made the least +show of fight. Had the _Itsuku_ been a faster vessel, she would +undoubtedly have captured or destroyed one of them. Her maximum speed +was under sixteen knots. On another occasion, off the western coast of +the Liaotung, we came upon a fleet of junks, craft engaged in coast +trade, I presume. Their crews ran them ashore and escaped, whilst the +Japanese fired the stranded junks with shells, the officers amusing +themselves by sighting the guns and betting on the shots. When a +satisfactory bonfire had been created we steamed away. + +This sort of thing, I have said, went on for more than a month. The +gunboat's cruising-ground was chiefly about the mouth of the Pechili +Gulf, now under the frowning forts of Wei-hai-wei, and now opposite +Port Arthur on the other side. There did not seem to be any regular +blockade of the Gulf, though Japanese warships were constantly +hovering about. The Chinese fleet, I believe, confined itself to the +modest seclusion of Wei-hai-wei harbour, and was not to be tempted +outside. Once I asked Hishidi when they meant to assail Wei-hai-wei +and Port Arthur? + +"Oh," said he, "we are waiting our time; it has not come yet." + +British war-vessels were frequently in sight, but to my requests to be +put on board one of them, or at least to be brought before a Japanese +admiral, the commander of the _Itsuku_--I have completely forgotten +his name--turned a deaf ear. October wore away, and any termination of +my captivity seemed as distant as ever. I was obliged to put an end to +it on my own initiative. One evening--the fourth or fifth of November +it would be--we were outside Port Arthur. At dusk the gunboat +anchored, and a boat was despatched on some errand of reconnaissance. +A point of the coast was less than a mile distant, and as I leant over +the bulwark in the fore-part of the vessel, it struck me that I might +easily swim off to it, if I could get into the water unobserved. Under +Webster's tuition I had become an excellent swimmer. I looked round; I +was apparently not under notice, and there was no light near where I +was. My mind was made up at once. I stole as far forward as I could, +and watching my opportunity, and steadying myself by the cathead, I +made a leap for the cable, intending to climb down it to the water. A +leap in the dark is proverbially a dangerous thing; the vessel +perversely veered away as I sprang, and instead of catching the cable +I soused into the water with a loud splash. The sentry on the gangway +heard it, ran forward, and emptied the magazine of his rifle at me as +I swam away, but by diving and swimming under water out of the direct +line of advance, I managed to evade the bullets. A boat was soon down +and in hot pursuit, but I had had a good start, and they were at a +loss for my true direction at first. I struck out vigorously and made +good headway, but had the disadvantage of swimming in my clothes; +moreover, the water was frightfully cold, and began to chill me to the +bone. I could tell, however, that the tide was strongly in my favour, +and I believe I should have escaped the boat's notice, but that the +people on shore, hearing, I suppose, the rifle-shots, turned on an +electric search-light to see what was going forward. I was still a +good quarter of a mile from the shore, and the boat was nearly as +close in--almost parallel with me, though several hundred yards away. +There was no fort near, but I could see the dark mass of one on a +towering height far to the left. The bright glare soon showed me to my +pursuers, who turned the boat's head towards me and gave way with +might and main. They closed fast, and I gave myself up for lost. A +heavy rifle-fire began crackling along the shore, and the balls +frequently skimmed along the water disagreeably near me. I struggled +on, but would inevitably have been retaken if the event had depended +on my own efforts. There was a small coast battery near containing two +or three mortars, and a shell was thrown at the boat as it held its +daring course for the shore. It was not a hundred yards from me at the +moment. I heard the scream of the projectile, saw it describing its +flaring parabola in my direction, and with my last energies dived to +avoid it. The sound of its explosion rang in my ears as I went under. +When I came up again, the boat was putting back in a hurry with three +or four oars disabled. How near to them the bomb had pitched I cannot +say, but they had evidently got a good allowance of the splinters, +though chance probably had more to do with the matter than +marksmanship. The gunboat was under steam and standing in, returning +the fire. I strained every nerve, and struggled ashore at last in such +a numbed and exhausted state that I could not stand upright without +assistance. I found myself surrounded by Chinese soldiers, who plied +me with questions, which I could not have answered even if I had +understood Chinese. Perceiving my condition, they took me off to a +small building like a guard-house, some way to the rear of a line of +trenches. They made a blazing wood fire in the middle of the stone +floor, and when I had stripped off my wet clothes and was partially +thawed, they renewed their interrogatories. I absolutely knew not a +word of Chinese, and could only endeavour by gestures to give them an +idea of what had happened. This was not very satisfactory, but they at +least could make out that I was no friend to the Japanese. They +jabbered away for a while amongst themselves, apparently discussing +me. At length one of them brought me some food in a large wooden +bowl--a strange mess of I know not what mysterious compounds, amongst +which, however, I could distinguish rice. It was palatable and I ate +it gladly, and asked, too, for a supplementary supply, which was not +denied. Overcome by exhaustion and the fierce heat of the fire, a +drowsy stupor came upon me, and I made signs that I wished to sleep. +They did not seem to have any clothing to offer me for my own which +was drying in the blaze, but they brought in several long, coarse +cloaks or mantles, and one of them enveloping himself in these, +stretched himself before the fire on the ground, to intimate to me +that in such a manner I must pass the night. Another offered me a pipe +of opium, which I knew it would be a great discourtesy, according to +their ideas, to decline, although I was quite unaccustomed to the +drug. I therefore took it and affected to smoke, and as I lay down, +they left the little room in which they had placed me, and I heard +them barricade the door outside. + +I immediately fell into a profound slumber. The few whiffs of opium +which, despite of myself, I had inhaled, had their effect, and +produced a series of those magical dreams with which the drug tempts +and deceives the novice. Through all of them the idea of flight and +pursuit ran bewilderingly. I will give one as a specimen. I dreamt +that I was on the shore of the sea; the waters suddenly began to rise, +and threatened to overwhelm me. I turned and ran, but nearer and +nearer the flood came after. Then there yawned across my path a +precipice of which I could not see the bottom. Down I plunged. I +seemed to fly like a bird, and once more stood on firm ground. The +precipice seemed to reach to the sky behind me. I resumed my flight, +and looking back, beheld the flood leaping down the gulf in a mighty +volume, with the sun rising above it, and bathing the illimitable +cataract with golden light. It would be impossible to describe or +imagine the gorgeousness of the spectacle. With such visions as these +does the treacherous narcotic lure its victims. I believe its use is +forbidden by the Chinese military authorities, but the undisciplined +soldiers seemed to use it extensively when they could get it, like +tobacco. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +I slept till the middle of the following day, and would in all +probability have slept longer but that I was awakened by my hosts, if +so I may term them. My clothes were quite dry; I got into them, and +was escorted outside at once. The first thing I saw was a detachment +of cavalry, mounted on little shaggy Tartar ponies. One of these I was +invited to bestride, and a moment afterwards, without the possibility +of explanations being either asked or given, we were _en route_. + +I may as well say at once that the spot where I had come ashore was +the land below the West Port, and I was being conveyed to the +Man-tse-ying fort, one of the principal seaward fortifications. It has +an elevation of 266 feet above the sea level, and the latter part of +the ascent had to be made on foot. I was at once taken before the +commandant, who with a few other officers and a secretary sat prepared +to investigate the peculiar circumstances which had brought a Fan +Quei, or foreign devil, amongst them. The secretary knew English very +indifferently--so indifferently that I am doubtful if he understood my +story rightly. He asked me if I was acquainted with German, and gave +me to understand that he knew more of that language than of English; +however, I did not know ten words of it. The examination was long, +and, from the difficulty of understanding one another, confused +enough. I gathered that I was, or had been, under suspicion of being a +Japanese spy in the minds of those before whom I had been brought, and +they rigorously questioned the men whom I had first seen as to the +circumstances attending my landing. These, I consoled myself by +reflecting, could not be deemed consistent with the supposition that I +was an agent of the enemy. I was asked if there was any one in the +town who could witness to my having been there previously under the +circumstances I alleged. I replied that probably the people at the inn +would remember me. + +Finally the Chinamen held a lengthened consultation amongst +themselves, at the end of which I was told that I would be taken +forthwith before the higher authorities on the other side of the port. +I hinted to the secretary that I had had nothing to eat that day and +felt decidedly hungry. I was accordingly served before my departure +with a meal of fish and boiled bread, with a cup of rice wine, a +decoction which tasted like thin, sour claret. This done, I was placed +in charge of my former escort, who struck across country from the rear +of the Man-tse-ying, passed two or three other forts and numerous +entrenchments and redoubts, and finally reached the water on the inner +side of the long arm of land enclosing the West Port. Here, close by a +torpedo store, I was put on board a sampan, a long, narrow boat, sharp +at both extremities, with an awning. In this I was conveyed to the +East Port and taken through the dockyards to the military +head-quarters near the great drill and parade ground at the entrance +to the town. It was late in the evening when we arrived there, and I +was not brought up for examination until the next day. Here, to my +great satisfaction, I found I had to deal with somebody who knew +English well--a military aide-de-camp, who spoke the language with +both fluency and correctness. To him I told my story plainly and +straightforwardly, and by the testimony of my former landlord, Sen, +and an official at the bank where I had changed my money, established +my identity as the person who had passed two days in the town with +Wong, and accompanied him on board the despatch-boat. This was +sufficient to procure my release. Everything I said was very carefully +noted down. My interrogation was conducted before a couple of +mandarins. The Taotai I believe to have been absent from the place at +this time. He is alleged to have deserted his position and to have +been ordered back again. This may or may not be so, but it is +undoubtedly the fact that he fled from Port Arthur the night before +the Japanese attacked it. He does not appear to have been open to the +accusation of heroism. + +I was informed by the aide-de-camp that the port had been visited only +a day or two before by the British warship _Crescent_, the officers +of which had landed for a short while. Fate seemed resolved that I should +have no chance of leaving the place without seeing in it something +worth remembering, as I had no sooner returned to Sen's inn, which I +did on my release, than I was seized with a kind of aguish fever, the +effect, no doubt, of the exposure I had recently undergone. It was +nothing serious, but caused a feeling of great lassitude and +depression, and confined me indoors for some ten or twelve days. I had +the place almost to myself, as the approach of the Japanese armies had +not been favourable to custom, and the usual course of travel to and +from the north had been suspended. Sen was anxious to learn from me +whether I considered it advisable for residents and townspeople to +leave the port. I replied, as I sincerely thought, that the Japanese, +if they succeeded in taking the place, would do no harm to +non-combatants. I was, however, fatally mistaken. + +The inn was a place of two storeys--few Chinese habitations have more. +Most of the rooms opened round a partially covered courtyard. I had a +good one in the upper storey, or the "top-side," as it is expressed in +"pidgin." There were no fireplaces; the apartments were chiefly warmed +by charcoal in braziers. Along one side of that which I occupied was a +long low hollow bench, filled with hot air from a furnace. This +contrivance usually served me for a bed, for although they use +bedsteads, there is nothing on them but an immense wadded quilt, in +which you roll yourself up. I transferred it to the hot-air holder, +which made a far warmer and more comfortable couch. I was waited on +mostly by a lad named Chung, one of the professors of "pidgin." He was +a native of Canton, had been in Hong Kong, and was well accustomed to +Englishmen and their ways. The fare was very tolerable--poultry, pork, +and various kinds of fish, but no beef, as the Chinaman deems it wrong +to kill the animal that helps to till the ground. Chung told me that +in the south cats and dogs are fattened for food, which it occurred to +me would be a distinct advantage in Port Arthur at that time, with a +siege imminent, and a great abundance of those animals observable. For +drink I naturally had plenty of tea, though it is very washy stuff as +made by the Chinese, who usually content themselves with putting the +leaves in a cup and pouring hot water over them, flavouring the +infusion with tiny bits of lemon. + +As soon as I was sufficiently recovered to go out, I made an effort to +find out whether there was any prospect of getting away from the place +by sea, but soon found that this was hopeless to expect. No foreign +vessels were in the port, and the native ones were chiefly junks, the +proprietors of which, as interpreted by Chung, whom I took with me, +refused to venture out unless for such a sum as I could by no +possibility procure. There were no Chinese war-vessels in the harbour, +and indeed they would have been of no use there. + +Knowing that the fortress was a very strong one, I made up my mind +that there would be a protracted siege, and my spirits fell as I +surveyed the prospect, for my pecuniary resources were limited, and it +seemed very unlikely that I would again see the _Columbia_ in the +port. However, my fears were groundless. Little did I think that +within three days the place would be in the hands of the Japanese. + +It was on November 18 that I made the fruitless attempt to negotiate +for a passage. The appearance of the place had considerably changed +since first I was in it. The numbers of the soldiery had obviously +been largely increased. Industry was completely suspended in the +dockyard, the whole of which had been converted into barracks. In +returning from the wharves with Chung, I witnessed a specimen of +military punishment. Passing the open gate of an enclosure near the +clearing-house, I perceived a group which at once riveted my +attention. A number of soldiers were standing round one who, stripped +to the waist, was kneeling with his forehead stooped almost to the +ground, and his hands tied behind, the thongs that bound them being +held by a man standing close in his rear. Thus disposed, he received a +tremendous flogging from a whip with a fearful heavy leathern lash, +which made me think of the Russian knout. The blows fell with a thud +that made my nerves shiver, and the back of the sufferer was covered +with blood, which was thrown here and there by the ensanguined +instrument of torture as it whistled through the air. He took his +punishment, however, to use the language of the P.R., like a man, and +though his body seemed to bend like a reed with each stroke, he never +uttered a sound that I could hear. I did not count the lashes, but +there was no stint in the allowance. Minute after minute the +castigator laboured away in his vocation, until finally the victim +collapsed, and rolling over, lay like a log in a pool of blood, and +was then carried off. I was rather surprised to see a whip used, as I +had always supposed the bastinado to be the favourite method of +flagellation in China. I asked Chung for an explanation, but he did +not seem to understand my question, and replied that the "one piecee +ting (soldier) no hab muchee hurtee," and that they might if they had +liked have cut off his "one piecee head." True it is that decapitation +is a very common punishment in the Chinese army. + +Strongly as the massacre by the Japanese troops in Port Arthur is to +be condemned, there is not the slightest doubt in the world that the +Chinese brought it on themselves by their own vindictive savagery +towards their enemies. The attacking armies, advancing down the +Peninsula in touch with the fleet, were now within a day or two's +march of the inland forts. Bodies of Chinese troops harassed and +resisted them, and brushes between the opposing forces frequently took +place. The Chinese took some prisoners, whom they slew mercilessly, +and one of the first things I saw on the morning of the 19th was a +pair of corpses suspended by the feet from the branches of a huge +camphor tree near the parade-ground. They were hideously mutilated. +They had been disembowelled; the eyes were gouged out, the throat cut, +and the right hand severed. They were perfectly naked, and groups of +children were pelting them with mud and stones. + +Similar ghastly spectacles were to be seen in other parts, both inside +the town and beyond it. Nor was this the worst; the walls exhibited +placards, in the sacred imperial yellow, inciting to these atrocities. +This I know by means of Chung, whom I usually took out with me. The +tenor, as he translated, was this:--"To the soldiers and subjects of +the Celestial Lord of the Dragon Throne. So much for every Japanese +dog alive. So much for his head or hand. In the name of the Sacred Son +of Heaven," etc. Then came the date and the signature of the Taotai. +The exact amount of the rewards I forget. I think it was fifty taels +for a live prisoner, and a less amount for heads or hands. The bodies +of the Japanese soldiers killed in encounters with the enemy as they +closed on the place, were often found minus the head or right hand, +sometimes both, besides being ferociously gashed and slashed. Corpses +were still hanging on the trees when the fortress fell, and it is not +surprising that their former comrades should have been maddened by the +sight, though of course the officers are greatly to blame for +permitting the fearful retaliation which ensued to be carried to such +lengths. The massacre seems to have been allowed to continue +unchecked until no more victims could be found. + +This, however, is to anticipate. On the 19th the enemy were close upon +the forts, and everything was bustle and commotion. Business was +suspended nearly everywhere, and the movements of the troops were the +chief attraction. Great crowds gathered in the vicinity of the +general's pavilion overlooking the parade-ground, where a council was +held in the afternoon. A strong armed force held back the mob. All the +principal military officers arrived from their posts at the head of +their staffs one by one. The Taotai was brought from his residence in +a magnificent sedan-chair, carried by ten or twelve bearers. The +pavilion itself is a splendid structure, adorned with the most gaudy +and brilliant colours, and covered with Chinese characters beautifully +worked in gold. The consultation lasted for at least three hours. I +had only a distant view of Kung over the heads of the soldiers. The +fighting outside continued, and on the next day more Japanese corpses +had been brought in by the vengeful soldiery, and left for the rabble +to amuse themselves with. I do not think that any Japanese was brought +into the town alive. + +Towards noon the next day (20th) the first guns were heard. Cannon +rumbled away in the distance all the afternoon, ceasing as night came +on. A wild and anxious night it was. There was no certain news of the +fighting, and the most contradictory rumours were prevalent. Excited +crowds filled the streets, which blazed with great coloured paper +lanterns, of which nearly every individual carried one; indeed, the +person who is seen outside without a lantern after dark becomes an +object of suspicion to the police watch. + +I determined to see, if possible, something of the fighting next day. +All the ground around Port Arthur is, as I have before remarked, very +hilly. Outside the town, and between it and the north-western forts, +is a lofty elevation named White Boulders, for an obvious reason--the +ground is full of chalk. This spot I determined upon as my point of +observation. Most of the front face had been covered with trenches, +but the rear was easy of attainment, and I was struggling up the steep +ascent at day-break. The summit is very uneven, covered with huge +crags and deep indentations, and there were any number of secure +enough nooks to pick and choose from. + +The field of action seen from White Boulders is very simple and may be +described in a few words. Behind me was the West Port; on my left the +north-western fortifications, called the Table Mountain forts; on my +right the East Port and the sea, and in front the greater part of the +town, with the north-eastern forts beyond. Of these latter there are, +I think, eight, all connected by a wall. I had only a partial view of +them. Between the elevations on which stand the north-eastern and +north-western forts, the ground sinks deeply, and there is a wide +space comparatively level, part of it occupied by a village. This +tract is defended by redoubts and earthworks, and can be swept by the +fire of the higher fortifications, particularly by those of the +north-east, but still it is a weak point in the defence, though +capable, it seemed to me, of being greatly strengthened. + +The day broke with a frosty clearness, and though I had no glass, it +was possible to see for miles on every hand. The dragon flag waved +everywhere on the Chinese forts, but I could see at first no sign of +the Japanese, and it was not until they began to fire that their +positions were indicated. It was about half-past seven when, far to +the north-west, their guns began to boom. All their preparations had +apparently been made over-night, and they were only waiting for +daylight to begin. The Chinese opened fire in reply on both sides; +battery after battery joined in, and soon there was a thundering roar +of artillery, and a dense volume of white smoke, through which glanced +the flash of the cannon, all round the great semi-circle. The scream +of shells, and the blaze and detonation with which they burst, were +incessant. Away on the right the sea was covered with warships, which +seemed to have nothing to do, and certainly were not assailing the +coast defences. Some of the seaward forts were able to get their guns +to bear on the positions of the Japanese armies, and were blazing +away, though I don't think they could do much damage. + +Some minor outlying fortifications had been captured the previous +afternoon, and the Japanese had divided into two bodies for the main +assaults on the north-west and north-east. The Chinese in these two +sections appeared to have no combination, and by a feint at the +north-east the Japanese kept that part diverted until the west forts +had been carried. It is a fact that they fell about an hour and a half +after the cannonade commenced. The Japanese infantry advanced against +them, and the valiant troops holding them ran away at the sight. The +Chinese forts on the other side now began to fire away across the +intervening valley, as if that could remedy the disaster. Upon them +then became concentrated the whole Japanese fire. The Chinamen here +made a far better show, and the fire was vigorous and sustained. About +eleven o'clock, with a terrific blast of flame and thunder, which +seemed to shake the ground far and near to the shores of the sea, +their largest fort, the Shoju, or Pine Tree Hill, blew up; a shell +must have alighted in the magazine. At noon the whole Japanese line +advanced to the charge, and here, too, the Celestials never waited for +the assault, but fled precipitately. There was no fighting at all at +close quarters; not a solitary Chinaman stood for a bayonet thrust. +Thus pusillanimously were abandoned these two great masses of +fortifications, placed in the most commanding situations, on steep +mountain heights where attacking forces could keep no sort of regular +formation, and could have been mowed down in thousands by competent +gunners as they struggled up the impregnable inclines. It was with a +feeling of bewilderment that I beheld such powerful defences lost in +such a manner, and realized that after three or four hours' +bombardment on one side, without a shot fired against the tremendous +coast defences, it was all up with Port Arthur. + +The victors next turned their attention to the redoubts and walled +camps on the lower ground, with the calm method which distinguished +all their operations. From the valleys between the hills began to +emerge dark columns of infantry, which closed steadily upon the +devoted town, rolling to their positions with the mechanical +regularity of parade, the sheen of their bayonets glancing here and +there through the volumes of smoke which had settled thickly in the +hollows. Nearer, spread over the ground to which the forts their +cowardice had lost should have afforded ample protection, were the +disorganized masses of Chinese, preparing for their last scattered and +fruitless efforts. Only one of the inland forts, that nearest to the +town, and called, I think, Golden Hill, was still in their possession. +The trenches below me on White Boulders' front face, which had been +unoccupied during the early portion of the day, now began to swarm +with riflemen, whose weapons kept up a continuous roll, swelled from +many a rifle-pit and redoubt away forward from the base of the +elevation. Steadily the enemy advanced, working their way round on +both wings within the captured fortresses. They took skilful advantage +of every protection the ground afforded, and the resistance in their +front rapidly diminished as they pressed on irresistibly from position +to position. + +It was now high time for me to evacuate my post, where I had had a +solitary and secure vantage-place amidst the rugged inequalities of +its summit, which probably I should not have been permitted to attain +if I had not set about it so early. Past its front runs a shallow but +broad stream, which coming through the Suishiyeh valley, rounds the +parade-ground on the south towards White Boulders, whence it flows +into a large and deep creek farther west. This stream the Japanese +had to cross before they could attack the trenches below me. Two or +three times they were beaten back by the hail of bullets poured on +them at very close range, but covered by a heavy fire on their own +side they were at length over, and then their opponents took to flight +round the right-hand side of the hill. I stayed only to see this, and +plunged down the rear. It was growing dusk, and I had numerous narrow +escapes of breaking my neck in the deep and rugged hollows, some of +them almost ravines, which seam that side of the elevation. + +The town was now at the mercy of the conquerors. The Chinese were +running from the Golden Hill fort as I descended, without an effort at +defending it, and the water beyond was covered with boats and small +craft filled with fugitives, mostly the dastardly troops, who threw +away arms and uniforms as they ran. For incompetence and cowardice +commend me for the future to Chinese soldiers. The twenty thousand of +them who occupied Port Arthur contrived to kill about sixty of their +antagonists on November 21, with all the best modern weapons at their +disposal. And these are the men who, according to Lord Wolseley and +other critics, are some day to start out to conquer the earth! Let, +says Lord Wolseley, a Napoleon arise amidst this vast people, and we +shall see. But is an essentially unwarlike nation at all likely to +breed a Napoleon, or to supply him with openings for a career? Who +ever heard of a Chinese conqueror? Have they ever appeared otherwise +than as the most self-centred and unenterprising people in the world, +displaying the least possible aptitude for the career of arms? And +from what source, after thousands of years of such characteristics, +are they to bring forth the material for this sudden burst of +conquering militarism? + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +I directed my retreat towards the dockyards, with a view to getting +round to the south part of the town, as far as possible from the +quarter by which the Japanese were entering it. The idea of a general +massacre never entered my mind, and I only thought of getting back to +my inn, there to stay until things quieted down. My prevailing feeling +was one of satisfaction that I should not after all have to face a +long residence in a beleaguered town. I therefore paid little +attention at first to the fact that people were flying on every hand, +and I did not suppose that there could be any good reason for flight, +beyond the desirability of getting out of the way of the conquering +troops until the ardour of victory had cooled down. I was not long to +be left undeceived. A deadly work of vengeance and slaughter had +commenced Down the panic-crowded streets, louder and louder as I +advanced, came ringing the volleys of the rifle-fire, the shouts of +the infuriated soldiers, and the death-shrieks of their victims. I +knew that all armed resistance had been broken, and as these sounds of +terror increased, an idea of what might be imminent crossed my mind. I +recollected what so often follows the fall of a place carried by +storm; I remembered the atrocities committed on the Japanese +prisoners; and I remembered, too, the general character of all +Oriental soldiers. I paused to consider my situation. I had passed +round by the water-side until outside the dock basin, and then turned +into the streets, striking across in the direction of the inn, with +the route from which to the East Port I was well enough acquainted. +There was a rush and hurry of fugitives all around me, and now for the +first time I saw the Japanese soldiers in pursuit, pressing on the +fleeing throng, and using rifle and bayonet furiously on all and +sundry, stabbing and hacking fiendishly at those who fell. I was +knocked down in the rush and trampled upon, and it was some time +before I could rise. A Japanese soldier was near me as I staggered to +my feet, and took aim at me with his rifle. The barrel was within a +foot of me, and I struck it aside just in time to escape getting a +bullet through my body. I had no weapon but those of nature, but in +their use I was, like most of the Anglo-Saxon breed, something of an +artist, and before the Jap could recover his piece I gave him a good, +straight, British right-hander between the eyes, which sent him down +like a nine-pin. In all human probability it was the first sample of +the article that had ever come under his notice; he was clearly unused +to the method of attack, and lay quite flat as if to think it over, +whilst I retreated as fast as my legs could carry me. I resolved to +hold on for the inn, thinking that if I succeeded in reaching it, I +should be comparatively safe, as perhaps the outbreak of fury might +confine itself to the streets. I knew, too, that I had not much +farther to go. I made little progress, nevertheless, being frequently +turned out of the road by the necessity of avoiding the soldiers, who +were spreading fast across the town, shooting down all whom they +encountered. One began to stumble over corpses in nearly every street, +and the risk of encountering parties of the murderers increased, every +minute. Again and again I came into the midst of the work of butchery, +and every now and then ran the gauntlet of a flight of bullets fired +down the narrow avenues. At length I lost my way completely, and +wandered about through the pandemonium around, thinking that each +minute would be my last. At length, in emerging from a dark lane +leading up an ascent, I came upon a sheet of water. I immediately +recognized it as a large shallow fresh-water lake in the rear of the +dock basin, and it thus appeared that I had strayed back nearly to the +point where I had re-entered the town on descending from White +Boulders. + +A frightful scene was before me. I have said that the land by which I +had come out on the lake inclined steeply upwards, and the water was +about fifteen feet below me when I arrived in sight of it. It was +surrounded by crowds of Japanese soldiers, who had driven large +numbers of the fugitives into the water, and were firing on them from +every side, and driving back with the bayonet those who attempted to +struggle out. The dead floated on the water, which was reddened with +blood. The soldiers, yelling and laughing with vengeful glee, seemed +to gloat over the agonies of their victims. It was fearful to see +those gory forms struggling in the agitated water, those who still +lived endeavouring to extricate themselves from the mass of corpses, +falling fast, but often rising again with their last energies, +streaming with water and blood, and uttering piteous cries and appeals +for mercy, which were mocked by the fiends around them. Many women +were amongst them; one I noticed carrying a little child, which, +struggling forward, she held up to the soldiers as if in appeal. As +she reached the bank, one of the wretches struck her through with his +bayonet, and with a second stroke as she fell transfixed the child, +which might have been two years old, and held its little body aloft. +The woman rose and made a wild effort to regain the child, but +evidently exhausted and dying, fell back again into the water. Her +body--and in fact it was done with everybody that came within +reach--was hacked in pieces. Fresh batches of victims were being +driven in, until there threatened soon to be no room in the water for +any more. I could bear the spectacle no longer, but turned and fled +from the ghastly spot. + +I now knew my whereabouts, and once more set out for the inn, along +the line from which I had strayed. Heaps of dead and spectacles of +murder were continually presenting themselves. In one place I saw some +ten or twelve soldiers with a number of unfortunates whom they had +tied back to back in a batch. With volley after volley they despatched +them, and proceeded to mutilate their bodies in the usual horrible +fashion. Nobody was spared, man, woman, or child, that I could see. +The Chinese appeared to offer no resistance. Many of them prostrated +themselves on the ground before the butchers with abject submission, +and were shot or stabbed in that posture. + +I was now to have a close shave. I came suddenly and unawares upon a +party engaged in slaughtering some shrieking wretches--women and +children amongst them--and being perceived was shot at by one of the +soldiers. I rapidly retreated, but he detached himself in pursuit. I +entered a house; he followed, but I had the start of him, and for a +while evaded him. I got into what looked like a kitchen or scullery, +and amongst some other utensils I came upon a curiously shaped +hatchet, very heavy and sharp. I waited for about a quarter of an +hour, and then, judging that the Jap must have left when unable to +find me, I prepared to sally forth again, as it was rather more +dangerous to be in the houses than in the streets, the soldiers +entering and pillaging them one by one, and of course slaughtering +anybody they found within. No sooner, however, had I got to the front, +than I unexpectedly encountered the very man who had driven me in, +retiring laden with booty. He dropped his plunder at once upon seeing +me, and handled his bayonet to run me through. We were in a little low +room, with a door in a corner opening on the street. He made a furious +thrust at me; by a quick movement I evaded it. The steel grazed my +left side, and crashed through the wall behind me, to which I was +pinned by the clothes, and as he tried to withdraw his weapon, I had a +fair stroke at him in return. The axe was very sharp; rage and +despair seemed to have doubled my strength, and I split his skull +half-way down to the jaw. Brains and blood were scattered over me, as +he sank dead at my feet. + +I felt no inclination to stay any longer, and was about to take my +departure, when it struck me that I might as well arm myself with my +defunct antagonist's rifle and cartridge-pouch. This led immediately +to a better idea. The Jap was a man of nearly my own stature; why not +put on his clothes? It was fast darkening, and aided in the deception +by the obscurity, my chance of escape would be greatly increased, +though I began to have an uneasy feeling that it would be a miracle if +I escaped destruction anyhow. I immediately acted on the inspiration. +The soldier, I have said, was nearly of my own height (5 ft. 6 in.), +but I was a good deal broader across the shoulders, and I made an +extensive split up the back of his tunic in struggling into it. That, +however, was no great matter, and I was soon equipped in all his outer +casement, except his cap, which had been bisected along with his head. +There was a little keen dagger in his belt, and with it I cut off my +moustache as close as I could, as the Japanese seldom have much hair +on their faces. Then, not forgetting his rifle, a beautiful +Lee-Metford, I sallied forth, carrying my discarded clothes over my +arm, a circumstance not at all likely to attract attention, as they +were all loading themselves with booty. + +I was undecided enough how to proceed. I might pass out into the open +country north of the town, but if I did so I should probably either +die of starvation or get killed as a Japanese straggler. I began to +think my best course would be to return to the port, and take my +chance of getting away in some small vessel. First of all, however, I +resolved to complete my intention of seeing what was going on at the +inn, to which I was now quite close. I kept boldly on, and my disguise +answered admirably, not one of the soldiers seeming to suspect that I +was anything but a comrade. Now and then I would be greeted by wild +cries in their high, shrill voices, or one, waving his rifle, would +shout something as he passed. I returned the greetings in dumb show, +and hurried on. I do not know how it would have fared with me in broad +daylight; probably not nearly so well; but it was now nearly dark. +Most of the soldiers had provided themselves, to light the work of +slaughter and pillage, with one of those coloured lanterns which are +to be found in such profusion in Chinese towns, and their demoniac +aspect was greatly heightened by the illuminations they carried as +they flitted to and fro. The butchery was proceeding without the +least sign of abatement; shots, shouts, shrieks, and groans resounded +on every side; the streets presented a fearful spectacle; the ground +was saturated with blood, and everywhere strewn with horribly +mutilated corpses; some of the narrower avenues were positively choked +with carnage. The dead were mostly the townspeople; their valiant +defenders seemed to have been able to make themselves scarce; where +they all got to is a mystery to me; perhaps owing to the fact that +they got rid of their uniforms early in the proceedings in order not +to be identified as combatants, a dodge that must have served them +very little, as the conquerors killed everyone they came across. + +At length I reached Sen's house, only to find that the destroyer had +been there. The place was in darkness; I took down the lantern from +over the outer gate, with the name of the inn and its proprietor's +written on it in the Chinese character, lit it, and began an +inspection. The first thing I saw was the corpse of my landlord +himself, lying in the covered court. His head was almost severed, and +he had been disembowelled. Most of the lower storey rooms had doors +opening into this court; across the threshold of one lay the corpse of +a female servant, mutilated in an unspeakable manner. The household +establishment consisted in all of some ten or twelve persons, and +eight of them I found lying murdered in different parts of the +premises. There was no sign of living presence anywhere. The place had +been thoroughly ransacked, and everything worth having carried off. My +blood boiled as I surveyed the scene of desolation and massacre, where +lately I had witnessed happiness and cheerful industry, and I felt +that I could willingly have died myself on the spot to obtain +vengeance on the murderers. + +In one of the upper rooms there was a bamboo ladder and trap leading +on the roof, which was flat, and it occurred to me to ascend and look +round. It was quite dark, and there was little to be seen beyond the +limits of the street. Distant illuminations marked the positions of +the forts on the surrounding heights. The seaward ones were still in +possession of the Chinese. They fell easily on the following day, and +had been practically abandoned. I noticed that the sounds of violence +in the town were rapidly decreasing. As I walked slowly round, the dim +light of my lantern fell on two figures skulking in the shadow. They +retreated as I advanced, until they could back no further, and then +one of them fell on his knees before me, bowing his forehead on the +roof with abject cries. I held the lantern towards him, and to my +astonishment recognized Chung. He evidently did not know me, and no +wonder, considering the manner in which I had rigged myself out. He +seemed half out of his wits with fear, and I had some difficulty in +forcing the fact of my identity upon his conviction. Then his delight +was as great as his previous terror. His companion was a stranger to +him--a man of exceedingly gentlemanly and prepossessing appearance, +and clearly a person of condition, being, in fact, as I afterwards +found, a mandarin. His own residence had been sacked and his family +murdered. He and a brother had escaped into the street, were pursued, +and his relative shot in running away. Though with his left arm broken +by a bullet, he had run into the inn. When the soldiers entered it he +and Chung got on to the roof, where none of the Japanese thought of +looking for victims. His broken arm was causing him considerable +suffering, and having acquired during my knock-about life some rude +knowledge of surgery, I put the fracture together, and made a sling +with my neck-tie. + +I explained my situation to Chung as well as I was able; he translated +to his countryman, who knew no English, and we held a council as to +future proceedings. The work of slaughter had apparently been +suspended; either the soldiers were tired of it or had been recalled. +The Japanese forces exceeded 20,000, and of these I do not think that +more than one half, perhaps not one third, were engaged in this first +evening's work, which was only the opening scene of the massacre. +Masses of the troops had been placed to occupy the forts, and +otherwise secure the conquest. We thought it likely, as indeed was the +case, that they would all withdraw to the camps outside as the night +advanced, and we resolved to attempt to gain the water-side, and seek +a last chance of escape, under cover of darkness. We searched the +place for food, but all we could find was a little bread, and a few +prepared sweetmeat cakes. + +An awful stillness, broken at times by ominous sounds, came over the +town. Lights flitted at times through its dark labyrinths, by whom +borne it was impossible to perceive. The presence of death, in its +most fearful shapes, seemed palpable to the senses, and we, crouching +in the gloom on the roof, to which as the safest place we had +returned, had before our mental vision the mutilated bodies in the +rooms close below us, with the ghastly probability, almost the +certainty, that another hour or two would join us in their horrid +fate. To myself, the reckless, wasted past presented itself, in that +situation of appalling terrors, in all its enormity. There was I, +after throwing away the high advantages of fortune and prosperity, a +ruined and degraded man, about to meet an appropriate ending to such +a career by a bloody death at the hands of some brutal soldier, in an +unknown land, at the ends of the earth, where scarcely a human being +knew a word of my native tongue. If these pages should be read by any +young man embarking without a thought of the future, in the flush of +high spirits and inexperience, upon courses similar to mine, I hope he +will take warning, and stop in time. + +It was, I should judge, about ten o'clock when at last we descended to +the street. There had been no firing for about two hours. The lantern +was re-lit, and Chung, who knew the way best, took it and went ahead. +I still wore the soldier's dress; if met and challenged, I proposed to +make it appear, as best I could, that I was making the Chinamen +conduct me to one of the camps, or if I failed in this to sell my life +dearly with the rifle. + +Our path lay right across the town, and the dead lay thickly in nearly +every street in the quarters we traversed, where, of every age, sex, +and condition, they had been promiscuously butchered by the hundred. +Here and there the miserable survivors--survivors only for the +present--were searching, with low wailings and lamentations, for those +they had lost, with the aid of their coloured lanterns, which gave a +look of indescribable ghastliness to the mutilated forms they bent +over to examine. To my last day I shall remember, with unfading +horror, the aspect of those remnants of mortality, in all the +hideousness stamped upon them by the unnamable atrocities practised +during that diabolical orgy of murder and mutilation, rape, lust, and +rapine. This is war! Away, in the splendid pavilion of the vanquished, +the conquering marshal, surrounded by his generals and officers, was +installed in triumph, secure of his country's applause and his +emperor's favour; but here, amid these desolated homes, these +mutilated heaps of death, was the night side, the shadow, of their +glory. And this was but the first day of _four_! It must be admitted +that the Chinese drew it upon themselves, that everywhere else the +Japanese behaved with admirable clemency and moderation; but after +making every allowance, their conduct in this instance, and +particularly that of the high commanding chiefs in never seeking to +put a stop to the devilish excesses perpetrated before their eyes on +unoffending non-combatants, is richly deserving of everlasting infamy. + +Many of the poor wretches thus cowering about ran away upon +perceiving, as they thought, an armed Japanese soldier, but in one +instance I had reason to be thankful that I was not alone. A +middle-aged man and two younger ones were carrying away, in one of the +streets we traversed, the half-naked body of a woman, which had been +split open from the abdomen to the chest. The elder man glared upon +me, in the dim light, with the expression of a tiger, and drawing a +long curved knife from his breast, and pointing at me, shouted +something to his companions, who perhaps were his sons. Chung at once +interposed, and talked with them rapidly for a few moments, and +naturally his explanation sufficed and we proceeded. I asked Chung +what the man had said:--"There is one of the Japanese devils; let us +rip him up." + +But it would only be needlessly harrowing to dwell on the sights of +horror we encountered at every turn. We pressed on, rapidly yet +cautiously, our feet dabbling in blood wherever we trod. As we +proceeded down a street about ten feet broad, we heard in front sounds +as of voices shouting and singing. The avenue we were in took a turn +about fifteen yards in advance of us, and as we hesitated and finally +stopped, there appeared round it a body of men in whom we at once +recognized the Japanese soldiers. There was a low but wide doorway on +our right, and into it we at once slipped with no trifling celerity. +It was intensely dark and offered a good concealment. We could not +afford to extinguish our lantern, and I placed it behind an angle of +the inner wall where it was impossible that its glimmer could be seen +from the street. Crouching in the deep shadow, we anxiously awaited +the passing of the soldiers, whose voices we heard momentarily +approaching, shouting at their full pitch a discordant song, +accompanied by a loud ringing sound which at first I mistook for that +of some instrument. They were soon abreast of us, some twenty or +thirty in number. I scarcely breathed as the ferocious band went +trooping past. Their appearance was ghastly and terrible beyond +conception. They were literally reeking from the shambles of inhuman +butchery; their clothes and weapons were smeared and clotted with +blood; some held human heads aloft on their bayonets; the lanterns +which most of them carried, and swung to and fro as they marched, +threw on their repulsive figures and savage Oriental faces, their +white teeth, oblique eyes, and sallow countenances, a weird, wavering +light, appropriate to their infernal aspect; they looked more like +demons than like men. The foremost, who appeared to be dismounted +dragoons, were clashing their sabres together in a kind of +accompaniment to the yelling chant in which they all joined. On they +went, trampling the dead with whom their bestial ferocity had strewn +the devoted town, the sound of their high shrill voices and the ring +of the clashing steel being audible for some time after they had +passed out of sight. At length it died away and all was still again, +so silent that I seemed to hear the quick and heavy throbbing of my +heart. + +After waiting two or three minutes I told Chung to take the lantern so +that we might set out again. He did so, but as he was about to step +from the doorway he tripped over some object concealed by the darkness +and fell: it was a dead body. I examined it by the lantern-light. +There were several deep bayonet wounds and a terrific sabre-slash +across the face which had completely destroyed the left eye. The +abdomen was abominably mutilated. A knife was clenched in the right +hand of the victim, showing that he had not died without an effort to +defend himself. I swung the lantern about the recess, and perceived +further back three or four steps, ascending to a door slightly open. +These steps were covered with blood which seemed to flow from behind +the door. I pushed it open, and entered the place to which it gave +access. It seemed to be a kind of public office--a wide, low, bare +apartment, divided on one side by a massive wooden counter, surmounted +by a partition pierced at intervals with pigeon-holes, as if for +communication between persons on opposite sides of the division. It +may have been a bank or money-changer's office. It is not, however, on +account of the place itself, but of its contents, that I describe it. +The floor was covered with the corpses of men, women, and children, +mingled indiscriminately together, fugitives who had there taken +refuge and been relentlessly butchered. The bodies had been +decapitated, and the bloody heads stuck up on a long row of spikes +which surmounted the wooden partition over the counter. Both Chung and +the mandarin uttered a cry of terror as we caught sight of those +distorted countenances, grinning upon us with the livid stare of +violent death through the dim medium of the coloured lamplight. My +blood seemed to freeze as my eyes encountered that ghastly gaze of the +dead, to which the upright position of the heads gave a sort of +semblance or mockery of life. An infant a few months old was pinned to +the counter below by a sharp piece of iron run through its little +body. The floor was two or three inches deep in thickening blood and +the entrails of the mutilated bodies. The arms and legs as well as +heads had been hacked off some of them and flung about the place. +Altogether a more hideous and revolting spectacle than this chamber of +horrors can never have been presented to mortal gaze. Such a scene, +and the sickening smell of blood, drove us out again almost +immediately. At that moment another party of the Japanese passed our +hiding-place. An infantry soldier in advance carried a large uncovered +flambeau, which threw a broad, red, steady glare over all surrounding +objects. I at once saw that these were all officers, excepting two or +three; smart, well-got-up, gentlemanly-looking little men in the +extreme; returning, perhaps, from calling off the last of their bloody +war-dogs, or making sure that all resistance had ceased. They were +laughing and chatting gaily, as if the massacre were rather a pleasant +affair than otherwise. When they had gone by, we issued into the +street, but had proceeded only a few paces when we saw a man carrying +a lantern appear round the abrupt bend before mentioned. He looked +like another Japanese hurrying after his companions who had just +passed. We returned with all haste to the doorway; and as we judged +that he had probably seen us, we re-entered the inner slaughter-house +and closed the door. We were right in thinking we had been seen, and +in about a minute we heard steps outside the door, which was presently +thrust violently open and the soldier entered, a low, sinister figure, +holding a drawn sword in what seemed to me a curiously white hand. He +peered into the obscurity, perceived me, and doubtless taking me, in +the uncertain light, for a Japanese, from the clothes I wore, lowered +his weapon and addressed me in a harsh authoritative tone. The sound +of the language was singularly like that of Italian. He pointed to the +Chinamen, probably asking what they were. I took advantage of his +unguarded pause to plunge my bayonet in his body, with a thrust so +rapid that he had not time to make the least movement to avoid it. He +fell at once where he stood, but attempted to rise again, when I gave +him another prick which settled his business. He fell back heavily +against the counter with a groan. One of the heads above was shaken +off its spike by the concussion and struck him on the shoulder as he +lay. His eyes, opening and shutting convulsively, seemed to gaze upon +the ghastly object. He groaned again, and in a few moments was dead. I +bent over him with the lantern, and soon perceived from the richness +of his uniform and accoutrements, as well as from the look of caste +about the head and face, that I had killed an officer of high rank. He +wore white gloves, which accounted for the odd look of his hands when +he appeared on the threshold. I felt sorry when I realized that he was +a man of consequence and authority, for had I perceived it at first I +would certainly have endeavoured to obtain his protection for myself +and my companions; but Chung had slunk behind me with the lantern, the +officer's own was a very dim one, so that in the obscurity I could +only make out that he was a Japanese soldier, and expecting to be +attacked judged it prudent to get my blow in first. Having given him +what his countrymen called the "happy despatch," he could be of no +further use to us. Before again leaving the place, I took possession +of his sword, which was a very beautiful and valuable weapon, the hilt +ornamented by a quantity of massive and richly-chased gold, and a +great number of tiny diamonds and rubies,--infinitesimal gems, set in +pretty, quaint devices, with a larger stone here and there. This +trophy I brought away with me from Port Arthur, but when in Liverpool +at the beginning of the year of grace 1896, the pressure of financial +exigency compelled me to entrust it to the temporary care of the +universal uncle of mankind, who said it was worth L600 or L700. I +could by no means persuade him to believe my account of how it came +into my possession. He laughed and said I was making fun of him. His +obstinate incredulity was amusing. "You're a sailor, sir, I see," he +said, "and we know what sailors' yarns are in this town. I've heard a +few of them." + +Again stealing outside, we resumed our perilous way through this city +of dreadful night. We lost no time in turning out of the street where +had occurred the incidents just described, and which seemed in the +track of stragglers moving towards the adjacent Golden Hill fort. We +left it by a very narrow lane abutting at right angles. The other end +of this was blocked by a heap of corpses which we had to climb over. +As I was doing so a hideous groan struck my ear, and the body under my +foot seemed to heave. I started back, and simultaneously the apparent +corpse rose up, a tall, blood-besmeared figure, which stared horribly +upon me for a moment and then, with another loud and horrid groan, +fell prone on his back, his arms widely extended. I lost no time in +scrambling past him after my companions, who had run away, and small +blame to them, for it was like the rising of a corpse suddenly endowed +with volition. Both were by this time in what has been forcibly and +picturesquely described as a "blue funk"; they trembled ceaselessly; +their teeth chattered, and their eyes roved here and there with a +wild, hunted look; every now and then they stopped convulsively, +imagining that they saw or heard something to indicate the proximity +of the ferocious murderers. As for myself, if my outward man were less +open to reproach, my inward condition was nothing much to boast of, +and truly the horrors which continually presented themselves, joined +to the oppressive midnight shadow and stillness which hung over the +place of doom, would have damaged the nerve of a football referee. + +We reached the basin through a series of open brick-works, used as +timber stores, on its north side. Everything was darkness and +desertion. The moon was rising far beyond the West Port away in our +front, but it was in the last quarter and afforded little light. There +were very few stars visible. The night had turned piercingly cold, but +so great was my mental anxiety and excitement that I seemed unaffected +in body by the severity of the weather. With the lantern we began to +search about for a boat, at first without success. In a square-shaped +inlet or creek a little above the dockyard we presently came upon +another horrifying spectacle. A junk lay stranded in the shallows. It +was literally full of dead bodies, and many lay on the adjacent shore. +The unfortunates had evidently been pursued down to where the junk +lay, and slaughtered before they could get it off. It struck me that +what we were looking for, a boat, might in all probability be found on +board the fatal vessel. It lay heeled over broadside to the beach, and +I waded out to it through the shallow water. I gained the upper deck +with some difficulty and stood amidst the mass of carnage. Rifle-balls +had done the work of death. Many of the bodies were in army uniforms. +I could find only two boats. One, a mere cockle-shell, had been +perforated by bullets and rendered useless. Another lay inboard on the +quarter-deck, but it was so filled and covered with corpses that at +first I did not notice it. It seemed in fair condition, but the task +of ridding it of its horrible freight was so repugnant that I +returned on shore to resume the search for one elsewhere. It was in +vain, however; all we could find in the vicinity was an old sampan, +which besides being very leaky, was more than three men could manage, +only one of them, moreover, having any knowledge of sailoring. There +was nothing for it but to return to the death-ship. We all went on +board this time, and applied ourselves to the work. The pile of dead +were dragged away, and with considerable labour, and aided by the +careened condition of the junk, we managed to launch the boat, which +had been secured inside the bulwark. It was in a horrid state with +blood, but we were not in a situation to be particular. We found a +quantity of provisions and fresh water--or rather water which had once +been fresh--in the cook-house of the junk. + +It must have been after midnight when we shoved off and got afloat. +Neither of my companions were experts with an oar, and could render me +very little aid; moreover, Chinese oars, like Chinese belongings +altogether, are very unlike anything else in the world and need some +practice to use. We were, however, close to the entrance of the port, +which being defended by torpedoes and mines, we ran little risk of +encountering Japanese vessels, although the submarine dangers +threatened us as well, if we strayed from the deep-water channel in +the dark. We got on in safety, though very slowly, and another two +hours had been consumed before we were through. + +What to do next I had no fixed idea. One thing, however, was assured, +that it was certain death to stay in Port Arthur, and that our only +chance, slender as it seemed at best, consisted in getting as far away +as possible. I resolved, after some consideration, to hold on south +round the extremity of the Peninsula. + +In the seaward forts above us we could discern no signs of activity, +and only a light here and there, far out on the misty expanse of +waters, showed the position of the Japanese war-vessels, which had an +easy job of it as far as Port Arthur was concerned. The weather, +though so bitterly cold, was far from stormy, yet the difficulty of +rowing was increased naturally when we got out into the heavier waters +of the sea. So unpromising in fact did our situation look, that I +began to reflect whether it would not be better to stay about the +mouth of the harbour, and allow ourselves to be taken by some Japanese +ship, than wander off I knew not where, probably in the end to perish +of starvation. Luck decided the point. We had painfully made a couple +of miles from the estuary of the harbour, when we came upon a large +junk stranded on a sand-bank. There were no lights showing on board +her; in the obscurity we could see nobody; yet she did not look like a +wreck, and at first we did not know what to make of it. After a +consultation, it was decided to fire a shot from the rifle and see +what it would lead to. No sooner had the report rung out, than there +was a bustle and stir on the vessel's decks, which appeared suddenly +to swarm with men, and became illuminated by lanterns. I told Chung to +hail. He did so, and a voice replied in Chinese. We drew close +abreast, and my companions held a parley with those on board. Our +situation explained we were permitted to ascend. The junk was full of +men. She had got into her present predicament in escaping, and they +were waiting for the morning flood tide to float her off. Two or three +junks, we were told, had struck torpedoes in leaving the harbour and +been blown in pieces, and many others had fallen into the clutches of +the enemy. Those on board, besides her usual crew, were chiefly +soldiers. With the profound deference paid to rank by the Orientals, +the chief cabin was at once given up to the mandarin, who insisted on +my sharing it with him. He and Chung gave a most glowing account of me +to those on board, to whom, in my remarkable accoutrement, I was an +object of legitimate curiosity. + +Exhausted by exertion and anxiety, I was fast asleep within +half-an-hour after stepping up the junk's side. I slept far into the +day, and when I emerged found that she had been successfully floated +off the bank, and got out to sea without so far attracting the notice +of the Japanese ships. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +A very queer craft is a Chinese junk. Few Europeans have any defined +idea what they are like. They are of different sizes, most of them +suited to the numerous rivers and canals which intersect the country +in every part. The largest are of about one thousand tons burden. The +whole mode of building is most peculiar. Instead of the timbers being +first raised as with us, they are the last in their places, and the +vessel is put together with immense spiked nails. The next process is +doubling and clamping above and below decks. Two immense beams or +string pieces are then ranged below, fore and aft, and keep the other +beams in their places. The deck-frames are an arch, and a platform +erected on it protects it from the sun, and from other injuries +otherwise inevitable. The seams are caulked either with old +fishing-net or bamboo shavings, and then paid with a cement called +chinam, consisting of oyster-shells burnt to lime, with a mixture of +fine bamboo shavings, pounded together with a vegetable oil extracted +from a ground nut. When dried it becomes excessively hard; it never +starts, and the seams thus secured are perfectly safe and water-tight. +All the work about her is of the roughest kind. The trees when found +of a suitable size are cut down, stripped of their bark, and sawn into +convenient lengths; the sides are not squared, but left just as they +grew. No artificial means are resorted to for any bends; a tree or +branch of a tree is found with the requisite natural curvature. There +is not in the building, rigging, or fitting-up of a Chinese junk one +single thing which is similar to what we see on board a European +vessel. Everything is different; the mode of construction; the absence +of keel, bowsprit, and shrouds; the materials employed; the mast, the +sails, the yard, the rudder, the compass, the anchor--all are +dissimilar. + +The vessel in which I now found myself, the _King-Shing_, was of +about seven hundred tons. She was built entirely of teak, and her skipper, +or Ty Kong, as he is called, alleged that she was more than a hundred +years old, and said that one of her crew who had recently died, had +served in her for fifty years. Her extreme length was one hundred and +sixty feet; breadth of beam, twenty-five feet and a half; depth of +hold, twelve feet; height of poop from the water, thirty-eight feet; +height of bow, thirty feet. Her most attractive portion was the +saloon, or state cabin, the beauty of whose furniture and decorations +formed a curious contrast to the rude and rough workmanship of the +cabin itself. Its carved and gilded entrance was protected by a sort +of skylight, the sides of which were formed of the prepared +oyster-shells so commonly used in China instead of glass, the latter +being too expensive for general purposes. The enclosure was thirty +feet long, twenty-five broad, and eleven in height. From the beams +overhead were suspended numbers of the different kinds of lanterns +used in China. They were of every imaginable form, size, and variety +of material. The sides and deck-roof were of a yellow ground, and +covered with paintings of flowers, leaves, fruit, insects, birds, +monkeys, dogs, and cats; some of those latter animals were what in +heraldic language would be called _queue-fourchee_. The place was +filled with a vast assortment of curious and beautiful articles, +gathered together during the long existence of the vessel. To give a +list of them would require pages; brought to Europe they would have +made the reputations of a dozen museums. + +At the end of the saloon was the Joss-house, or idol-house, containing +the idol Chin-Tee, having eighteen arms, with her attendants, Tung-Sam +and Tung-See. The richly-gilt idol was made of one solid piece of +camphor-wood, and had a red scarf thrown round it. An altar-table, +also of camphor-wood, and painted red, stood in front of the +Joss-house, with an incense burner placed upon it. The red ground of +the table had gilt carvings of flowers and insects, and the imperial +dragons with the ball of flame between them. On each side of the front +was a square place painted green, with words in Chinese inviting +worshippers to bring gold and agate stones as offerings. + +The sleeping berths of the crew were all _aft_, on a lower deck. +Close by these was the most astonishing part of the vessel, the colossal +rudder, not hung with pintles and gudgeons, the vessel having no +stern-post, but suspended to two windlasses by three large ropes made +of cane and hemp; one round a windlass on the next deck, and two round +a windlass on the upper deck of all, so that it could be raised or +lowered according to the depth of water. When lowered to its full +extent it drew about twenty-four feet, being twelve feet more than the +draught of the vessel. It was steered on this berth-deck when fully +lowered. It was also drawn close into the stern, into a kind of +socket, by means of two immense bamboo ropes attached to the bottom of +the rudder, passing beneath the bottom of the vessel, and coming over +the bow on the upper deck, and there hove in taut and fastened. When +let down to its greatest depth it required occasionally the strength +of fifteen men to move the large tiller. + +On ascending to the next deck, one passed under a covering made of +oyster-shells, similar to that over the entrance to the saloon; under +this hung a flag which had been borne before the Emperor on one of the +most solemn religious processions. On a piece of wood near one of the +windlasses was inscribed--"May the sea never wash over this junk." +Close by was the sailors' Joss-house, containing the deity of the sea +with her two attendants, each with a red scarf. Near the principal +goddess was a piece of the wood from the first timber of the junk that +was laid; this was taken to one of their principal temples, there +consecrated, and then brought on board, and placed as symbolic of the +whole vessel's being under the protection of the deity. A small +earthen pot, containing sacred earth and rice, stood in front, in +which Joss-sticks and other incense was burnt. A lighted lamp, too, +was here always kept burning; if it had gone out during a voyage it +would have been considered an omen of bad luck. On the right and left, +before coming to this Joss-house, were paintings. One panel +represented the Mandarin Ducks; another, a Chinese lady at her +toilette; a third, a globe of gold-fish. On this deck were cabins for +passengers and supercargoes, the doors painted with different devices. +Above was the lofty poop-deck, with one of the rudder-windlasses on +it, and the mizzen-mast, fifty feet long, and placed on one side, in +order to allow the tiller to work when in shallow water. The main-mast +was ninety-five feet in length, and ten feet in circumference at the +bottom. It was one spar of teak, and just as the tree grew with merely +the bark taken off. It was not perfectly straight--a defect with us, +but not so considered by the Chinese, who prefer a mast with a bend in +it to one without, thinking it adds to the strength, and is conclusive +evidence of the goodness of the spar. This mast was hooped round, in +consequence of being cracked while undergoing the process of +hardening. The mode adopted for this purpose by the Chinese is to bury +the timber for a considerable time in marshy ground; thus treated, +they say teak becomes hard as iron. The mast did not go within four +feet of the bottom--the ship having no kelson--but, to use the +technical term, was "toggled" to two large pieces of wood which +answered as partners. To these were added two other heavy pieces as +chocks, which were intended to keep the huge spars in their places. +Neither stays nor shrouds were used. The main yards were made of teak +quite rough; the upper one was seventy-five feet long, and the lower +sixty. + +The sails were made of closely-woven matting, a substance much lighter +than canvas. It holds the wind better, and rarely splits, because it +never shakes in the wind. So large and heavy was the mainsail of the +_King-Shing_, that it required forty men with the aid of the capstan +to raise it. Without the capstan eighty men would have been needed. It +had eighteen reefs. The sails were reefed by being lowered, which +precluded any necessity for going aloft. + +The vane was in the shape of a fish, the body formed of rattan work, +the head and gills of painted matting, with two projections like the +antennae of a butterfly. The tail was furnished with long streamers, +and little flags were stuck in the body for additional ornament. There +were also Chinese characters painted on the body signifying "Good luck +to the Junk." Between the main-mast and fore-mast were two large rough +windlasses stretching across the deck, and used for getting up the +anchor. By the entrance to the forecastle were two water-tanks, +capable of holding one thousand five hundred gallons each. The +fore-mast was seventy-five feet from the deck. It raked forward, and +was supported by a large piece of wood on the after part, and secured +similarly to the main-mast. The anchors were of wood, the flukes shod +with iron, and attached to the shank by strong lashings of bamboo. The +stock was composed of three separate pieces of wood lashed together by +rattan ropes, and was fixed to the crown. As the Chinese drag their +anchors on board instead of catting and fishing as other seamen do, +this position of the stock offers no impediment. The flukes were of +the same dimensions as those of similar sized anchors with us; they +were straight and not rounded, and there were no palms. There was also +a kedge, with only one fluke. The cables were of rattan. The junk had +no bitts, but to supply their place the strong beams across the deck +had large holes for stoppers. The "wales" formed another singular +feature of the vessel--airtight boxes, projecting three feet from the +side; their object was to make the vessel more buoyant, to enable her +to carry more cargo, and prevent her rolling, but this last, in my +opinion, was chiefly prevented by the size and position of the rudder. + +The cook-house was placed differently from the galleys of European +vessels, being aft of the main-mast. The lower part was built of +brick, with two square holes in front for the fires. Troughs of water +were placed in front of these holes, so that any ignited fuel that +might drop out would be at once extinguished. Wood was the fuel used. +For cooking they used iron pans surrounded by red tiles. One was +covered by a kind of half cask; this was used for boiling the rice, +the cover being to preserve the steam after the water was boiled away, +which causes the rice to be beautifully done and not soddened, as is +often the case in our cooking. It also prevents it from being thrown +out when the vessel rolls. The quantity of rice for each man was about +three pounds daily. All washing of dishes, etc., was performed on a +stage outside the galley so that it might be kept perfectly clean. The +proper allowance for each mess was delivered in front. Close to the +cook-house was a water-tank of wood, painted in imitation of bricks, +and capable of holding three thousand gallons. + +Such was the _King-Shing_ junk, and such are most of the craft of the +Celestials. They would appear to be gradually coming round to Western +ideas in the matter of ships, and in fact have done so entirely for +war purposes, but the fashions of their ancestors are still good +enough for most of them, and the junk is to be seen everywhere. Not a +mere thing of yesterday is the junk. Vessels essentially similar to +the one I have described were navigating the Chinese seas and rivers +when the fleets of Rome and Carthage were contesting the supremacy of +the Mediterranean, and long before. Rome and Carthage, and many +another mighty maritime power, have risen and passed away utterly, +like bubbles, or dreams, but the Chinaman and his everlasting junk are +still here. + +The vessel belonged to some mandarins at Shanghai, who used it for +trading to Cochin-China. It had recently, however, been despatched +with a cargo to Cheefoo, had been blown away north by a gale, and +forced to run into the harbour at Port Arthur to escape the Japanese. +There it had lain until the place fell. The crew numbered fifty-four, +all told. + +After floating off the sand-bank, and getting an offing, we were +within the Gulf of Pechili, and determined to make for one or other of +its ports, but on the first day we encountered a very heavy +nor'-wester, which blew us far out of the Gulf. When, after lasting a +day and a night, the gale abated, we were well down the Yellow Sea, +and the skipper, or Ty Kong, whose name was Sam-Sing, determined to +hold on for the port where the junk's owners dwelt. I had no objection +to make to this, nor had the mandarin, who possessed friends and +relatives in the south. The soldiers on board, however, were very +discontented and mutinous, and as they considerably outnumbered the +crew I began to fear trouble. They were all from northern provinces +and had no desire to go south. Their language was scarcely +intelligible even to their nominal countrymen. The immense diversity +of dialects in China is, in fact, a great hindrance to progress by +preventing the unification of the people. After some excited +discussion they were prevailed upon to acquiesce by the solemn promise +of the mandarin to make arrangements with the authorities for their +return to their own parts, or failing that to send them back at his +own expense; besides, the representation that to turn north again +would most likely end in capture by the Japanese vessels, through +whose present cruising-ground the gale had luckily blown us, had great +weight. + +I was vastly amused, during my voyage in the _King-Shing_, by the +superstitions of her crew. Their devotion to their idols was indeed +truly edifying. A religious man, according to his lights, was +Sam-Sing, and rigidly punctual in the daily observance of +incense-burning, gong-banging, and other rites supposed to be +propitiatory of the deity. He was also, however, greatly addicted to +opium-smoking, and when under the influence of the drug, of which, as +an old stager, he could consume great quantities without being +stupefied, the idea of the occult power of the goddess, never absent +from his mind, was turned completely upside down. When free from the +fumes of opium nobody could have been more respectful to the Josses, +but when intoxicated, and with the weather threatening, he openly +poured upon them abuse, reviling, and suspicion. He usually started a +pipe of opium about noon, and the change in his demeanour came round +gradually during the afternoon. In the morning he was sober and pious, +in the evening intoxicated and blasphemous, particularly, as I have +said, when the weather was bad. "As for that infernal Chin-Tee," he +would say in effect, shaking his fist in the direction of the idol, +"it's all her fault we're in this mess. What's the use of her--lazy +harridan! Much she cares what becomes of us"--and so on till +overpowered by excess. When by the next morning he had slept off his +debauch, and came round to recollection of his enormities, his +penitence knew no bounds; he would prostrate himself in the +Joss-house, and in the most abject terms implore forgiveness for his +intemperate language over-night. Then he would generally abstain for +two or three days, but at the first sign of bad weather, he took to +his pipe, and Chin-Tee came in for another blast of abuse. The rest of +the crew were always horrified by the shocking impiety of the Ty Kong, +and on more than one occasion I really feared that they were about to +proceed to Jonahize him. They were by no means all opium-smokers; some +of them smoked tobacco, of a vile quality, in metal pipes, with an +under-hanging curved portion containing water, through which the +smoke passed. The opium-pipe is a quite different thing. It is a reed +of about an inch in diameter, and the aperture in the bowl for the +admission of the opium is not larger than a pin's head. The drug is +prepared by boiling and evaporation to the consistence of treacle. +Very few whiffs can be taken from a single pipe, but one is enough to +have an effect on a beginner, as I have already described in my own +case, but an old hand, like the Ty Kong, can smoke for hours. + +The incense burned before the idols consisted mostly of pieces of +aromatic wood, called Joss-sticks, silvered paper, and tin-foil. One +of their most revered objects was the mariner's compass, and before it +they would place tea, sweet cake, and pork, in order to keep it +faithful and true! It is well known that the Chinese were acquainted +with the phenomenon of the magnetized needle centuries before it was +known in Europe, and their compass differs materially from ours; +instead of consisting of a movable card attached to the needle, theirs +is simply a needle of little more than an inch in length balanced in a +glazed hole in the centre of a solid wooden dish, finely varnished. It +has only twenty-four points, and with its use they combine some of +their most ancient astrological ideas. The broad circumference of the +dish is marked off into concentric circles, inscribed with mystical +figures. We say the needle points to the north; they hold that the +attraction is to the south, and therefore colour that end of the +needle red, a hue that appears to have a mysterious efficacy in their +eyes. I have already told how the Josses were wrapped in red scarves, +and bits of red cloth were tied on the rudder, cable, mast, and other +principal parts of the vessel, as safeguards against danger. There was +also a large painted eye on either side of the bow, to enable the junk +to see her way! At first I could not understand the meaning of this, +and told Chung to ask the Ty Kong for an explanation. "Have eye," +translated Chung, "can see; no have eye, no can see." On occasions of +special religious demonstration these optics were decorated with +strips of red cloth. On one occasion when a steamer suspiciously like +a Japanese cruiser hove in sight, they tied red rags to their antique +guns, or gin-galls, and with this consecration on their defensive +arrangements, seemed to feel perfectly secure. I suppose the +English-trained crews of their navy must have been persuaded out of +these amazing notions, and taught the European compass, but the ideas +of Sam-Sing and his merry men were as old as their vessel. + +I have not yet described my mandarin friend. His name was Ki-Chang; he +was a mandarin of the fifth class, his distinctive mark being a +crystal button on the top of his cap. He was forty-six years old, +intelligent, amiable, and gentlemanly. He and I had much intercourse +during the voyage, with Chung for an interpreter. I taught him a +little English, and how to write his name in English, an +accomplishment of which he seemed extremely proud. Like most of the +educated Chinese, he wrote his own language very beautifully. He was a +wealthy and influential man. + +The _King-Shing_ showed herself a remarkably good sea-boat, but +desperately slow. No device could get more than eight knots out of +her, and this was much above her average. We encountered one or two +violent storms, in which she behaved wonderfully. One night the wind, +after veering all round the compass with vivid lightning and thunder, +settled in the south-west and blew a perfect hurricane. All sails were +lowered, except half the fore-sail, and twenty-five men were required +at the mammoth rudder. We were obliged to start some eight tons of +water out of the deck tanks, and everything on deck, fore and aft, was +secured. The junk laboured heavily, but shipped no water. At day-break +the weather moderated, and we were able to set more sail; but in two +or three hours the wind chopped round to the north-west, and blew more +fiercely than ever, attended by squalls of hailstones as big as +marbles, the knocks of which made my countenance look as if I had +come off second-best in a middle-weight "scrap." We lowered the +main-sail again, and set four reefs of fore-sail to scud under. At +three o'clock the vessel took a tremendous lurch, and washed away our +lee-quarter boat. It was dark, and the sea barely discernible at a +distance of thirty yards, being blown into a thick mist. At six the +hurricane continued with unabated fury with terrific squalls; a +fearful sea struck the ship and nearly broached her to. The sea was a +mass of foam, and running very high, but kept down to some extent by +the violence of the wind. Later we were running under bare poles. +Again the gale went down, and again we got up sail, but without +warning a tremendous squall struck us and laid us on our beam ends. A +boat was blown away, the fore-sail split, and through the carelessness +of the men at the rudder they jibed the main-sail; it came over with +terrific force, but fortunately did no harm. Luckily the sails could +be very easily and rapidly lowered. One only had to let go or cut the +halyards and down they came. Throughout all this the junk behaved in a +manner which astounded me. She actually never shipped any water, that +which came aboard being tops of seas blown off. But the very qualities +which made her so steady-going militated against her speed. She was a +safe boat at all points. One night we had to anchor off a dead +lee-shore; the crew decorated their cables with some extra red rags, +and with death grinning under our lee, went to supper with a serenity +which I should have been glad to be able to imitate. But their +confidence was as well grounded as their anchors, which held with an +unshakable tenacity. + +Though so long acquainted with the compass, the Chinese have always +been as unenterprising in sailoring as in everything else, and seldom +lose sight of the land, if they can help it. Their fondness for +hugging the coast was very noticeable to me, and, unused to the +constant vigilance and care which a long sea voyage demands, their +system of duty was very lax and careless. There were no proper +watches; at nightfall the Ty Kong used quietly to lower about three +reefs of the main-sail and the whole of the mizzen. All the crew would +then go to their cabin, leaving the helmsmen alone on deck. At +midnight a supper was prepared, and the sleepers awakened. The meal +ended, the helm would be relieved and the men retired to their berths +again. + +At this rate it may be supposed that we made slow progress, and more +than one incipient mutiny had to be dealt with, some of the crew +refusing to work, and the soldiers complaining on the far from +unreasonable ground that they had not enough to eat. We spoke several +northward-bound vessels, both native and foreign, to whom we wished to +entrust the discontented warriors, but these ships one and all +gratefully but firmly declined the compliment. By dint of necessity, +aided by the mandarin's promises, we struggled along, and as +everything must come to an end some time or other, we reached our port +at the beginning of January. + +I have little more to add. Ki-Chang showed himself grateful, and not +only entertained me royally, but gave me substantial pecuniary aid, a +thing I was in very pressing need of. Of course I have long since +repaid his loan. + +I obtained a passage in a French steamer to Callao, whence I made my +way overland to San Francisco. I called on Mr. H----, who informed me +that the _Columbia_ (not then in port) had made another successful +trip, but with results so diminished in the pecuniary sense that he +had determined not to risk her again for inadequate profits. +_Columbia_, I may say, was not the steamer's real name. + +I next met Webster at Sydney. The explanation of my being left behind +at Port Arthur was simple enough. The "houtcast" had taken so many +"caulkers" of rum during the day that he became oblivious to the fact +of my being ashore, and Chubb took it for granted that I had returned +on board, especially as I had sent back the boat in which I landed +with the Chinese agent. My absence was not noted until the small hours +of the ensuing morning, when the swift steamer was far enough away. +Webster wanted to put back for me, but Chubb, whose regards were +strictly confined to number one, decided against it, coolly saying +that they could pick me up next trip, and that as it was Webster's +fault I had been left, he, Webster, might if he liked swim back for +me. This unmessmate-like conduct, when recounted to me, so excited my +ire, that if the worthy Chubb had been within kicking distance at the +time, he should have known something further about it. I have not, +however, seen him since. + +Such were the things I saw and did where the Dragon Flag waves in +splendid impotence. I took no notes of anything, excepting as to the +build and fittings of the junk, and that merely for my own +information, and it was not until long after that the idea of writing +an account of these occurrences entered my mind; but I can trust my +memory for the main events. If my little narrative should for only a +few furnish not merely entertainment but admonition, I shall not have +gone through quite uselessly my varied and painful experience of life. + + +THE END + + +Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE DRAGON FLAG*** + + +******* This file should be named 16407.txt or 16407.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/4/0/16407 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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