You have spoken pretty much as I expected you would." Then,
turning to one of the officers who had been busily writing all the time
that I was speaking, he said:

"Captain Matsumoto, am I correct in supposing that you have been taking
down Mr Swinburne's remarks?"

"Quite correct, sir," answered the skipper of the _Fuji_.

"Then," said Togo, "do me the favour to read them over aloud, in
Japanese, for the benefit of those officers who have been unable to
closely follow Mr Swinburne's English."

This was done; and when Matsumoto sat down there was silence for a few
moments, succeeded by a faint murmur of applause. Then the Admiral
rose.

"Gentlemen," he said, "you have now all spoken; and I tender you my most
hearty thanks for the frank expression of your several opinions. I have
listened with the greatest interest and satisfaction to everything that
has been said, but you must pardon me if I say at once, frankly, that
you leave me as unconvinced as ever. Or, no; not unconvinced; on the
contrary, I am more convinced than ever that, apart, as Mr Swinburne
has remarked, from any question of slavish obedience to orders, I should
be guilty of a serious, even disastrous, error of judgment, were I to
take my battleships and cruisers into Port Arthur roads and give battle
to the Russian fleet. The only alternative is to employ the destroyers;
and I shall be glad of any suggestions you may be pleased to offer as to
the best method of attack."

Nobody spoke. It was easy to see that the officers of the battleships
and cruisers, deeply imbued with the somewhat fantastic and high-flown
ideas of the Japanese with regard to the almost divine virtue of heroism
and self-sacrifice, were profoundly disappointed that they were not to
be afforded an opportunity to display their possession of those virtues.

"Has no one a suggestion to offer?" demanded Togo, in a tone of
surprise. "What say you, Swinburne?" turning to me.

"It would greatly help us, sir," I said, "if Hang-won could give us even
an approximate idea of the position of the Russian ships in the
roadstead."

"You are right, sir; it would," answered the Admiral. And turning to
the Chinaman, he addressed to him a question in what I imagined to be
Chinese. The man was replying at some length when Togo interrupted him
and turned to the skipper of the flagship.

"Captain Ijichi," said he, "a chart of Port Arthur, if you please."

The chart was brought, and Hang-wo