ut of action for a considerable period.

Thus, at one fell swoop, the Russian fleet was reduced in strength by
two battleships. But their worst loss was their Admiral; for it is
indisputable that Makarov was the most able, energetic, and enterprising
naval leader they possessed.

Two days later, more mines were laid in Port Arthur roadstead, and
another attempt was made to entice the Russian fleet to come out and
fight us; but the attempt was a failure. As a matter of fact, it
afterwards transpired that, upon receipt of the report announcing the
loss of the _Petropavlosk_ and the damage to the _Pobieda_, the
authorities at Petersburg had telegraphed orders to the effect that the
Port Arthur fleet was on no account whatever to leave the harbour until
the arrival of Admiral Skrydloff, Makarov's successor.

Failing in this, Admiral Togo dispatched the cruisers _Nisshin_ and
_Kasuga_ to Pigeon Bay, to make a high-angle fire attack upon the
fortress and the ships in the harbour. I was not engaged in either of
these attempts, the Admiral considering that I had well earned and was
deserving of a few days' rest. Besides, he very properly wished to give
some of his other officers a chance to distinguish themselves. But I
understood that, with the exception of silencing a new battery which the
Russians had built commanding the bay, the bombardment was not attended
with any very important results.

On the following day our little Admiral, whom some have named the
Japanese Nelson, dispatched a squadron of ten cruisers, accompanied by a
torpedo flotilla, to attempt to bring the Vladivostock squadron to
battle. This squadron was accompanied by a cargo steamer named the
_Kinshiu Maru_, loaded with coal and spare stores for the use of the
squadron while away from its base; and the expedition was placed under
the command of Vice-Admiral Kamimura, with the cruiser _Idzumi_ as his
flagship. I had now had a little rest, and as there seemed to be no
immediate prospect of serious fighting at Port Arthur, I volunteered for
the expedition, and was temporarily attached to the _Idzumi_ as a
supernumerary.

We left our base among the Elliot Islands on the 16th of April; and
after an uneventful cruise of a week's duration arrived at the port of
Gensan, on the eastern coast of Korea, about two-thirds of the distance
from the Elliots to Vladivostock.

There was a Japanese consul at this place, and upon our arrival off the
port he and t