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NOVEMBER 219
town. These fires were nearly all caused by the
naval guns, because their shells were provided
with fuses very much more sensitive than the
howitzer fuses, taking effect on striking the roofs
or the walls of the houses, while the howitzer shells
would go right through and only explode < on
meeting solid resistance.
Nearly every day we saw heavy smoke from the
fires hanging over the ill-fated town. On one day
in particular, a large oil store near the arsenal was
struck, and a coal black mass of smoke rolling in
over the town behind the hill-tops, looking as if
the whole place were about to break out in flames.
A very strong fire was also directed against the
ships in the harbour, forcing the smaller craft to
move about, while the battleships and the cruisers
found shelter under Paijushan Hill, where they
were entirely hidden from view. The Japanese
could therefore not observe the effect of their fire
against the ships. The only thing which could
help them a little was when their shells fell into
the sea, throwing up immense clouds of water.
From this they could judge that the ships had not
been hit ;
but that was, after all, a poor consola-
tion and not much guidance.
This question of destroying the Russian fleet
soon became very serious. The Baltic fleet was
on its way out. The first ships were already
passing through the Suez Canal, and the others
were on their way round the Cape to their common
rendezvous at Madagascar. If the fleet in Port
Arthur harbour, four battleships and three cruisers,
besides the gunboats and the destroyers, could
hold out until the Baltic fleet arrived in Japanese
waters, the Russians certainly had a chance, with
their combined Baltic, Port Arthur, and Vladi-
vostock squadrons, of making matters extremely
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