ut. But he has only field and mountain guns, of a range insufficient
for that purpose; therefore he has requisitioned help from me, and I
propose to send some craft round to Kinchau Bay, to shell the Russian
positions from the sea."

"Kinchau Bay, sir?" I interrupted. "Pardon me, but the water in
Kinchau Bay is so shallow, according to the chart, that I am afraid any
of our craft capable of carrying guns heavy enough to be of service
would have very great difficulty in approaching the land near enough to
be of any real use. Why not Hand Bay, sir, on the eastern side of the
isthmus?"

"For the very good reason, my dear fellow, that not only is Hand Bay
mined, but it would also be impossible for us to clear it, the bay being
completely commanded by works which our craft could not face for five
minutes. No, it must be Kinchau Bay; there is nothing else for it,"
answered the Admiral.

"That being the case," he continued, "it is my intention to dispatch
thither the _Akagi, Chokai, Hei-yen_, and _Tsukushi_ to afford the
assistance required by General Oku; and those ships will be accompanied
by a torpedo flotilla, the duty of which will be to take soundings, lay
down a line of buoys inside which the ships must not pass, and search
for and clear the bay of mines, as well as to render such further
assistance as may be possible to the land forces.

"I anticipate that the work required of the torpedo flotilla will be of
an exceptionally arduous and hazardous character; and for that reason,
Captain Swinburne, I am going to place it under your command, with the
_Kasanumi_ as your flagship. I have been keeping my eye upon you, sir,
and I will take this opportunity to express my very high appreciation of
your conduct. You have manifested all the dash, the fertility of
resource, and the cool courage under exceedingly trying conditions which
we have grown to look for as a matter of course from Englishmen; and to
that you add an element of caution which I fear we Japanese have not as
fully developed as we ought to have done; I therefore regard you as the
fittest man I could possibly select for the service upon which I now
propose to employ you. That also is the reason why I have so fully
explained to you the situation at Kinchau, for it is very necessary that
you should clearly understand all that may be required of you.

"We have, of course, any number of Japanese officers whose courage would
be quite equal to the task I am