set afire. The tops
of several of the forts were soon concealed by clouds of dust and smoke.
A heavy fusillade was concentrated upon an observation point which the
defenders had constructed on a hill in the town, and had considerable
effect. The Germans did not on this first day of general bombardment
reply strongly, two only of the forts persistently firing. At length the
sun sank and night obscured the conflict. It had been a bad day for the
besieged: and dismantled guns, shattered concrete platforms and
entrenchments, devastated barbed-wire entanglements, augured the town's
approaching fate.

[Sidenote: Aeroplanes direct guns.]

[Sidenote: The _Triumph_ attacks Fort Bismarck.]

[Sidenote: _Kaiserin Elizabeth_ sinks.]

[Sidenote: Night activity.]

The bombardment continued for a week. During that period the Japanese
and British guns, directed from land and sea by a balloon, by
aeroplanes, or by observation stations on the hills, in daytime
thundered incessantly. The German shelling, though severe, was far less
heavy, because, it is said, the men in the forts, sheltering most of
the time in bomb-proof caverns, issued forth only at night, and during
pauses of the Japanese to return the fire. The airman von Pluschow
actively directed the replies. The latter seemed not, indeed,
impartially distributed. The marked attention paid to British troops and
ships afforded an illustration of that attitude of peculiar malevolence
which Germans have adopted towards the British nation and name. The
German airman singled out the British camp, recognizable by its white
tents, for his bombs, while for the German artillery it had an
inordinate attraction. Officers on board the _Triumph_, moreover,
observed that the largest German guns, of 12-inch calibre, were
consistently directed upon their vessel. But of many projectiles one
only, which struck the mast, being fired from Hui-tchien-huk, proved
effective. This hit, however, caused rejoicing in Tsing-tao which, it is
asserted, would not have been equalled by the sinking of a Japanese
Dreadnought. The _Triumph_ singled out for attack Fort Bismarck
especially, and two of the German 6-inch guns were early put out of
action. The British gunners adopted the ingenious plan of heeling their
ship by five degrees, and bombarding the enemy, from sight strips
specially calculated, without exposing themselves or their weapons. It
became customary aboard to call the bombardment 'pressing the e