er passing Singapore, on 25 March, there was another delay before the
final advance of the Russian fleet. Rojdestvensky was anxious to give time
to Nebogatoff to join him. This last reinforcement was coming by the
Mediterranean route. The Russian commander-in-chief again strained French
neutrality to the utmost. In April and May he passed week after week in the
ports of French Cochin China, first at Kamranh and then at Van Fong or
Honkohe. Here, early in May, he was at last joined by Nebogatoff's
squadron.

Again Japan protested against the use of French harbours by her enemy. The
diplomatic tension became acute, and at one moment it seemed as if the
Russian admiral were anxious to produce complications that would force
France into the war. But at last, to the general relief, on 14 May he
sailed from Honkohe Bay. He passed through the Bashi Strait between Formosa
and the Philippines, and then steered for Shanghai. Here, on 25 May, the
fighting portion of the fleet lay out at sea, while a crowd of auxiliary
steamers, colliers, store-ships, and armed merchantmen were sent into the
Wusung River, the mouth of the Yang-tse, and anchored there.

Their appearance without the fleet to which they belonged led to many
conjectures. The Japanese at once grasped its real meaning. To quote the
message cabled by the Tokio correspondent of "The Times":--

"They read it as a plain intimation that Rojdestvensky intended
to put his fate to the test at Tsu-shima, since, had it been his
purpose to make for Tsugaru or Soya, he must have retained the
services of these auxiliary ships during several days longer. It
is apparent, indeed, that the Russian admiral here made his
first cardinal mistake; he should have kept his non-combatant
vessels out of sight as long as possible. Their absence from the
arena would have been a mysterious element, whereas their
apparition, especially as a segregated squadron in the Yang-tse
River, furnished an unerring clue to expert observers."

With the fleet the admiral retained only the hospital and repairing ships
and those laden with naval stores for the Vladivostock dockyard. On the
evening of the 25th the fleet stood out to sea heading for Tsu-shima. The
weather was bad, with a probability that it would be worse. There was a
rising wind and sea with cold rain that made a blinding haze, but the
Russian staff officers were rather pleased than depressed at such
unpleas