hanged it, and stood boldly on with
the torpedo-boats. We came to a stop, undecided how to proceed. The
other transport which had accompanied us was already in full retreat,
and Lin Wong, in whom discretion seemed very unduly proportioned to
valour, advised a similar course on our part. Chubb and I, however,
felt a strong desire to see the fight, and as we were not now under
the Chinese flag, there seemed no reason why we should not stay to
witness it, particularly as there was no need to let the _Columbia_
be seen.

We therefore, in spite of the unintelligible protests of Lin Wong,
cast anchor, having hoisted American colours, in one of the numerous
bays that indent the rocky coast of the Liaotung. Then Chubb and
myself, leaving Webster in charge, pulled off in a small boat towards
the scene of action. We kept close to the shore, and had about a mile
and a half to pull before we came abreast of the conflict. With its
deepening thunders bellowing in our deafened ears, we landed where the
ground was high, and ascending the most elevated point we could
perceive, had, with the aid of powerful glasses, a good view of the
scene. Terrific indeed it was--a wide, dense pall of smoke, which
there was little wind to carry off; through the haze the huge reeling
shapes of the fighting vessels, looming indistinctly, vomiting flame
like so many angry dragons, and several of them burning in addition,
having been set on fire by shells; and above all the appalling
concussion of the great guns, like the bursting of incessant
thunder-bolts.

By this time it was half-past two p.m., and the battle had been in
progress nearly three hours. Not having seen the commencement of the
affair, we were for some time unable to make head or tail of it. The
ships were mixed up and scattered, and we could perceive little sign
of plan or combination on either side. The first thing that began to
make itself evident as we watched was that the struggle was nearing
the coast. At first the nearest ships had been fully a league and a
half seaward; before we had occupied our position three-quarters of an
hour, many were well within two miles of the coast. So evident was
this that Chubb remarked that half of them would be ashore before the
fighting was over. This of course enabled us to distinguish the
vessels better, and we began to make out evident signs that John
Chinaman was getting much the worst of it. The Japanese vessels,
working in concert and keeping