ours--apparently bound westward, passed
within four miles of the armada, took careful count of it, and reported
by wireless its exact position and the fact that it consisted of
forty-three ships, seven of which were battleships, while of the rest,
ten were cruisers and seven were destroyers.

From that moment our scouts, under every conceivable guise except that
of warships, never for a moment lost touch with the Russians. We knew
that they passed Singapore on 8th April; we knew that they touched at
the Anamba Islands and coaled there before the Dutch warships could
arrive to prevent them; and we knew that on 14th April the fleet arrived
in Kamranh harbour, in French Indo-China, where, while awaiting the
arrival of Admiral Nebogatoff's squadron,--which was coming out via the
Suez Canal,--the Russians proceeded to make good defects and generally
prepare for the fight which they knew awaited them.

Of course the Japanese Government vigorously protested against this
flagrant violation of the law regulating the conduct of neutrals, and
France replied with polite assurances that such violation should not be
repeated. This was followed by an order to the Russians to leave
Kamranh harbour, which they obeyed at their leisure, moving on first to
Port Dayot and then--when ordered from there in response to fresh
Japanese protests--to Hon-koe Bay. Thus, with the connivance of the
French authorities, a very pretty game of hide-and-seek was played by
Rojdestvensky, until 8th May, when Nebogatoff joined with his nine
craft, and the now completed fleet entered Hon-koe Bay and calmly
proceeded to complete the task of refitting, coaling, and provisioning
prior to its great attempt to force its way through to Vladivostock. As
for the Japanese Government, it speedily recognised that France had
quite made up its mind to ignore the laws of neutrality in favour of
Russia, and accordingly ceased to lodge any further useless protests.

A week later--on 14th May, to be exact--the entire Russian fleet left
Hon-koe Bay, steering northward; and although the French authorities
suppressed the news of the departure for two whole days, Togo, who was
now with his fleet in Chin-hai Bay, on the southern coast of Korea,
received the news by wireless the same night. Thenceforward its
progress was carefully watched and reported daily, so that at any moment
Togo could put his finger upon the chart and indicate the position of
the enemy, within a few mi