ween the fire and the enemy. The bandsmen went
to the guns, and, though the position of the ship was critical, and her
loss appalling, there was no panic. The fire was on the lower deck, just
above the magazine. In charge of the magazine were a gunner's mate and a
seaman. The shell had apparently dented the plating over the powder, and
the red glow through the crevices showed the danger. But these brave men
did not abandon their post. Stripping off their clothes, they crammed them
into the cracks, and saved the 'Matsushima'; though nearly a third of the
men above the waterline had been put out of action, the remnant got the
fire under."

While the fire was still burning the "Matsushima" steamed out of the fight,
and Ito transferred his flag to the cruiser "Hashidate." This was really
the second narrow escape the "Matsushima" had experienced during the
battle. Early in the fight a 10-inch shell had passed through her side,
killed four men in her torpedo-room, narrowly missed a loaded torpedo,
smashed up an oil-tank, and then broke into pieces. Examination of the
fragments showed there was no trace of a fuse, and a plug of cement filled
the place where the bursting charge should have been. It was really a bad
specimen of a solid shot. If it had been a live shell, it might well have
destroyed the "Matsushima." It was thanks to the wretched ammunition
supplied by swindling contractors to the mandarins that the Japanese were
able to fight the battle with such trifling loss.

After the transfer of Ito's flag to the "Hashidate" the battle became a
cannonade at an increasing range. The Chinese ammunition was running low,
and Ito, after having had his quick-firers in action for hours, had also
his magazines nearly empty. The heavy fire of the afternoon had failed to
destroy the two little "battleships" that represented the only remaining
effective units of the Chinese fleet. Ito had accomplished enough in the
destruction of the Chinese cruisers, and he had no intention of giving
their torpedo boats a chance, by spending the night near the mouth of the
Yalu River. At half-past five he broke off the engagement.

Shortness of ammunition supply and exhaustion of officers and men were
probably his real reasons, for the explanation he gave in his official
report is not very convincing. "About 5.30 p.m.," he writes, "seeing that
the 'Chen-yuen' and the 'Ting-yuen' had been joined by other ships, and
that my van squadron was separated