able to supplement with the additional
information that our 2nd Division had chased the Russian destroyer, of
which they had started in pursuit, into Pigeon Bay, where they had sunk
her. The honours of the day were of course with them, for they had
accounted for two Russian destroyers, whereas we of the 1st Division had
only given five of the enemy a very severe mauling; nevertheless, my
little audience were good enough to stamp our performance with their
marked approval.

Then the skipper of the _Mikasa_ related his story. The long-range
bombardment of Port Arthur was not a very exciting affair, it seemed,
but it was successful in so far that it proved the correctness of the
Admiral's theory that it could be done by firing over the high ground
and dropping shells upon an unseen mark on the other side.

The attempt was of a twofold character, one part of which was to test
the above theory, while the other was to destroy the Russian signal
station upon the island of Sanshan, off Dalny, from which spot the enemy
were able to observe and report to Port Arthur the movements of our
fleet. This task was successfully accomplished by a detachment of our
cruisers.

As regards the long-range, high-angle bombardment of the fortress, it
was accomplished in the following fashion. Our battleships proceeded
round to the westward of the promontory of Liau-ti-shan to a spot where
the high land hid them from the sight of the Port Arthur batteries, and,
elevating the muzzles of their 12-inch guns to the required extent, they
discharged five rounds each from their four guns--one hundred and twenty
shots in all, one shot at a time, while our first cruiser squadron,
stationed off the port, to the south-east, carefully noted the spot
where each shell dropped, and reported the result by wireless to the
battleships, thus enabling them to adjust their aim and rectify any
inaccuracies. The result was that one of our shells hit the Golden Hill
fort, exploding a magazine and doubtless doing a considerable amount of
damage to the structure, while the Mantow Hill fort, on the west side of
the harbour, was hit several times and considerably damaged. Several
shells fell in the New Town of Port Arthur, setting fire to a number of
houses there and causing a tremendous panic and great loss of life. The
fifth shell fired by our battleships struck the Russian battleship
_Retvisan_, while another fell aboard the _Sevastopol_, exploding on her
armou