dangerous if not impossible matter. This was to be done by the so-called
almighty torpedo. I received notice from our secret agent at Sebastopol
that a serious expedition was being organised, that the Turkish ships at
Batoum were to be destroyed or _frightened away_ at any cost.
_Frightened away, indeed!_ To the uninitiated a torpedo is a thing to
frighten any one away. We had heard of magnificent results of torpedo
trials in peace, how ships (I fancy only hulks) had been blown up,
columns of water half a mile high being sent into the air, &c. Nothing,
it was said, could save you. Whatever my ideas, however nervous I may
have felt, I knew that those I was commanding had no fear--they don't
know what it means, the more especially of a not understood possible
casualty, and though more enlightened as to torpedoes and their accepted
effects, I wasn't to show my people a bad example. When lying in bed in
the middle of the night, having read the warning letter before retiring,
I thought:--'Suppose one of these nasty things goes off and blows the
flagship up at this moment. How pleasant! What cowardly things these
are; no fair fight, up you go, unshriven. I have heard that a man who is
hanged is likely to go to heaven; I wonder if the same chance would be
given to him blown up by a torpedo?' These sort of feelings came over
me. However, said I, 'Let us see if we can prevent their being
realised;' so I went to work to try to do so. As a sportsman I
calculated that to fire at a dark object in the night, especially when
that object had a background of high hills such as we had at Batoum, was
most difficult, so the first order I gave was no lights, not even a
cigarette light; utter darkness under severe penalties. Next,
considering that Batoum is a very small port, with an entrance difficult
to find even in broad daylight, almost impossible in the night without
the lighthouse as a guide, I ordered that the lighthouse should not be
lighted. Then I arranged with the shore authorities that no lights
should be seen in the town; this was more difficult, as there were many
Russian friendlies in Batoum.

However, the application of somewhat severe discipline made Batoum like
a city of the dead after dark.

In addition to these precautions I put a barrier of booms ahead of the
ships lying in the port, placed guard-boats to watch it at the entrance
of the harbour, and having done all this, I bided my time. For some
nights, rather sleepl