tal parts of her
machinery. The Japanese, however, had their doubts as to the power of
the Chinese authorities to enforce this demand, and accordingly
Commander Fujimoto took matters into his own hands and, late on the
night of 11th October, entered Chifu harbour and, after an altercation
with the commander of the Russian vessel, calmly took the _Reshitelny_
in tow and carried her off. This was of course a violation of neutral
territory, and led to a little temporary friction, but it ended in the
destroyer being added to the Japanese navy.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR.

I have said nothing as to the part played by the _Yakumo_ in the battle
of the Yellow Sea, for the simple reason that there is nothing
particular to relate; but that we played a not altogether unimportant
part in the fight is evidenced by the fact that only two of the Japanese
ships, namely, the _Mikasa_ and the _Nisshin_, had a heavier list of
killed than ourselves, although the _Kasuga_ scored one more in wounded
than we did.

The fact is that, in a general engagement such as that referred to,
after the initial movements of the various ships have been noted, one
becomes so utterly engrossed in one's own particular share of the work
that there is little opportunity to note more than the most salient
incidents of the battle. Moreover, the din of battle, the continuous
roar of the guns, the crash of bursting shells, the deafening clang of
projectiles upon armour, the screams of the wounded, the suffocating
fumes of powder, all tend to benumb one's powers of observation, so that
the captain of a fighting ship has little opportunity to note anything
more than the movements of the particular ship which he happens to be
engaging at the moment.

The importance of the defeat of the Port Arthur fleet, indecisive as it
had at first seemed to be, soon began to be realised when our secret
agents in the fortress sent us complete and carefully ascertained
information relative to the condition of the ships which had succeeded
in regaining the shelter of the harbour. From this information it at
once became apparent that, as fighting units, none of them could again
be made of service until the conclusion of the war, and Japan heaved a
great sigh of relief, which was intensified when, on the evening of 14th
August, the news was flashed through the country that the gallant and
sorely tried Kamimura had at last been granted his long-cherished w