and
there, my observations enabled me to correct them; and when I had at
length finished, map and chart were in a condition which would enable me
to proceed with the second part of my task with the assurance of
success. This accomplished, I retired to my cabin with an easy mind,
and slept the sleep of the just until midday.

A salt-water douche on deck for a few minutes, skilfully administered by
a laughing Japanese seaman, and a brisk rub down with a rough towel left
me fresh and invigorated, quite ready for a meal and the work which
still lay ahead of me. The first part of this consisted in laying down
upon the chart a number of positions corresponding with the varying
draughts of water of the several units which the Admiral was detailing
to assist General Oku in his operations against the Russian forces who
were barring his passage of the Kinchau isthmus. The laying down of the
positions above referred to was a task demanding a considerable amount
of thought and care, for it was important that the ships should approach
the shore as nearly as possible, otherwise their guns might be
out-ranged, while, on the other hand, they must not be permitted to
approach too near, or they would be exposed to the risk of being left
aground on a falling tide. Also it was imperative that the berths
chosen for them should be so situated as to enable them to afford the
maximum amount of possible assistance. I devoted the entire afternoon
to the consideration of this question, and at length fixed upon a series
of positions which seemed to me to answer all requirements as nearly as
the tidal conditions would allow. My next task was to accurately fix
these several positions by as complete a series of cross bearings as
possible; having accomplished which, there was nothing more to be done
until after midnight. Meanwhile, the _Kasanumi_, with her engines
stopped, was lying hove-to some sixty miles to the westward of Kinchau,
in the Gulf of Liaotung, waiting for nightfall.

At four bells in the first watch we got under way and started to run
east at a speed of twenty knots, for I had now to complete my entire
plan by placing the buoys, or triangular rafts which I had provided for
the purpose, in the positions in Kinchau Bay which I had already
selected for them and marked upon the chart.

Too anxious for the complete success of my scheme to be able to sleep, I
had ordered a deck chair to be brought up from below, and was sitting in