ch made a far warmer and more comfortable couch. I was waited on
mostly by a lad named Chung, one of the professors of "pidgin." He was
a native of Canton, had been in Hong Kong, and was well accustomed to
Englishmen and their ways. The fare was very tolerable--poultry, pork,
and various kinds of fish, but no beef, as the Chinaman deems it wrong
to kill the animal that helps to till the ground. Chung told me that
in the south cats and dogs are fattened for food, which it occurred to
me would be a distinct advantage in Port Arthur at that time, with a
siege imminent, and a great abundance of those animals observable. For
drink I naturally had plenty of tea, though it is very washy stuff as
made by the Chinese, who usually content themselves with putting the
leaves in a cup and pouring hot water over them, flavouring the
infusion with tiny bits of lemon.

As soon as I was sufficiently recovered to go out, I made an effort to
find out whether there was any prospect of getting away from the place
by sea, but soon found that this was hopeless to expect. No foreign
vessels were in the port, and the native ones were chiefly junks, the
proprietors of which, as interpreted by Chung, whom I took with me,
refused to venture out unless for such a sum as I could by no
possibility procure. There were no Chinese war-vessels in the harbour,
and indeed they would have been of no use there.

Knowing that the fortress was a very strong one, I made up my mind
that there would be a protracted siege, and my spirits fell as I
surveyed the prospect, for my pecuniary resources were limited, and it
seemed very unlikely that I would again see the _Columbia_ in the
port. However, my fears were groundless. Little did I think that
within three days the place would be in the hands of the Japanese.

It was on November 18 that I made the fruitless attempt to negotiate
for a passage. The appearance of the place had considerably changed
since first I was in it. The numbers of the soldiery had obviously
been largely increased. Industry was completely suspended in the
dockyard, the whole of which had been converted into barracks. In
returning from the wharves with Chung, I witnessed a specimen of
military punishment. Passing the open gate of an enclosure near the
clearing-house, I perceived a group which at once riveted my
attention. A number of soldiers were standing round one who, stripped
to the waist, was kneeling with his forehead stooped almost to