nowing the strength of his own ship, with her
strongly-reinforced and far-protruding ram, determined to try whether he
could not do more wholesale execution with it than with his guns alone;
for he could already see that the superior number of the Japanese ships
and their consequent heavier weight of metal were beginning to tell
severely upon the Chinese fleet. He therefore singled out as his prey
the _Surawa_, one of the smaller protected cruisers, determining to
experiment upon her before charging blindly into one of the
heavily-armoured ships; for the loss of the _Chih' Yuen_, or indeed of
any more of the Chinese ships, at this juncture would be fatal to their
hopes of gaining a victory.

Accordingly he telegraphed down to the engine-room for full steam, and
passed the word "Prepare to ram". Then, sweeping round in a circle that
caused the cruiser to heel at a considerable angle, he set her going at
full speed in the direction of his intended victim, firing his fore
barbette and machine guns as he went, so as to demoralise her crew and,
if possible, prevent them from escaping the blow. A perfect hurricane
of lead and steel descended on the _Chih' Yuen's_ decks and sides as the
ships of the Japanese squadron awoke to what was intended, and in a few
seconds her fore-deck was swept bare, as though by a gigantic plane.
But the cruiser was well into her stride, and as long as no shot
penetrated to her boilers she was bound to carry out her design.

The captain of the _Surawa_ rang frenziedly for full steam ahead, but
although the Japanese craft certainly did gather more way, the menacing
stem of the _Chih' Yuen_ followed her, relentless as fate. Then,
suddenly, the _Surawa_ plumped into the stern of the _Nagasaki_, cutting
her down to the water-line, and rebounded under the impact, to find the
bows of the Chinese ship on the point of cutting into her. The _Chih'
Yuen's_ men flung themselves to the decks in preparation for the shock,
and many of the _Surawa's_ crew leaped overboard to avoid it.

A second later it came. The _Chih' Yuen_ sank her iron ram into the
side of the smaller craft as irresistibly as a knife sinks into butter,
and although the shock was terrific the Chinaman took no harm. The
_Surawa_, on the contrary, heeled over until the sea lapped over the
edge of her deck, both her masts snapped like matchwood, and the funnel
guys broke, letting the smoke-stack topple into the sea.

"Full speed astern!