mines which the
_Koryu_ is shipping are not harmless; on the contrary, they are
exceedingly formidable affairs, containing charges ranging from one
hundred to two hundred pounds of Shimose explosive, and they are
arranged to automatically adjust themselves to varying depths of water.
The ship which strikes one of them will be done for! Having told you so
much, you will readily understand that they are ticklish affairs to
handle, particularly when it comes to laying them; hence my choice of
you, Captain Swinburne, to supervise and execute the task. I shall be
glad if you will go aboard, at your earliest convenience, and make
yourself thoroughly acquainted with the mode of handling them, which is
essentially different from that of handling the mines to which you have
been accustomed."

I thanked the Admiral for this fresh manifestation of his trust in me,
and took my leave, pausing only for a few minutes, on my way to the
gangway, to exchange greetings with some of the officers of the ship,
and reply to their congratulations upon my promotion, the news of which
had already got abroad. Then I went down the side, got into my boat,
and was pulled across to the _Koryu_, where I found the delicate
operation of shipping and stowing the mines in brisk progress. I
introduced myself to the officer in charge, who at once proceeded to
explain to me the structure and mechanism of the class of mines being
dealt with; thus enabling me to understand the danger to be guarded
against while handling them; after which he conducted me to my cabin,
perched high on the boat deck; and I immediately took possession,
sending my boat back to the _Kasanumi_ with a note for young Hiraoka,
requesting him to take charge during my absence, and another to my
steward, instructing him to send me across such things as I immediately
needed. The change was greatly the better for me; for whereas my
quarters aboard the _Kasanumi_ were cramped and of Spartan simplicity,
the captain's cabin of the _Koryu_ was a spacious and almost luxurious
affair, handsomely and comfortably furnished, with all the accommodation
that a reasonable man could wish for.

Two days later our fleet weighed and proceeded to sea, leaving the
_Koryu_ at anchor, with our fourth and fifth destroyer flotillas and
fourteenth torpedo-boat flotilla--twelve craft in all--to protect her.
My orders were to proceed to sea in time to reach Port Arthur roadstead
at midnight of the 12th, sow th