n, after poring over it awhile, took a
pencil and with meticulous care jotted down certain marks upon it. When
he had finished, Togo turned to me and said:

"Here we are, Mr Swinburne. These marks indicate the positions of some
of the Russian ships, as nearly as Hang-won can remember them. As you
see, they are moored in wedge-shaped formation, the point of the wedge
to seaward; and that point is occupied by the _Tsarevich_, a battleship.
Next her, inshore, comes the _Poltava_, also a battleship, then the
_Sevastopol_, another battleship, and abreast of her, in the second
line, the battleship _Pobieda_. Of the positions of these he is
certain, he says, having taken particular notice of them as he came out;
but of the rest he is not so sure, except that there are thirteen of
them, exclusive of the _Askold_, all anchored inside the _Tsarevich_.
The _Askold_ is a cruiser, and according to Hang-won she is performing
patrol duty to and fro, outside the rest of the fleet. You will readily
recognise her from the fact that she is the only craft with five
funnels.

"There is another point in favour of our employing destroyers. It
appears that Admiral Stark sends out a destroyer flotilla every night to
patrol the coast as far as Dalny--there it is, about twenty miles
north-east of Port Arthur. If, upon approaching the roadstead, our
boats show the lights usually exhibited by the Russian destroyers--a
white light above a red--on their return from Dalny, they ought to be
able to get right in among the Russian fleet and do a tremendous amount
of damage before their identity is discovered, and I shall confidently
look for important results accordingly. Now, gentlemen, I have my own
idea as to how the attack should be conducted; but I have heard it said
that in many councillors there is wisdom, therefore I should be glad to
have your views on the subject."

And, one after the other, the officers present gave them, the general
opinion being that the destroyers ought to approach to within about five
miles of the shore at a moderate speed, showing no lights; then dash in
at top speed, discharging torpedoes right and left, and continue to do
so, regardless of consequences, until every Russian ship was destroyed.

Finally, I was called for to give my opinion; and again I found myself
obliged to differ from the others.

"If I were leading the attack, sir," I said, "I should time myself to
arrive at about eleven o'clock, that bei