A staff officer's scrap!book during the Russo-Japanese war . derlies and Japanese officers driving aboutin Russian doikas. But in the harbour there wasnothing but the grey water and the scuttled warships ;piteous dead things lying on their beam ends or sunkenon even keel until the little waves were able to chaseone another over the decks. No other inanimate thinggives such an impression of life as a great ship whenall is well with her. Hardly anything in this worldlooks so forlorn, lonesome and desolate as the sameship stranded, ruined and wrecked. On the wharf was a stack of Cardiff coal. I s
A staff officer's scrap!book during the Russo-Japanese war . derlies and Japanese officers driving aboutin Russian doikas. But in the harbour there wasnothing but the grey water and the scuttled warships ;piteous dead things lying on their beam ends or sunkenon even keel until the little waves were able to chaseone another over the decks. No other inanimate thinggives such an impression of life as a great ship whenall is well with her. Hardly anything in this worldlooks so forlorn, lonesome and desolate as the sameship stranded, ruined and wrecked. On the wharf was a stack of Cardiff coal. I stood onit a moment just to give myself the nearest sensationpossible to the sweet green fields of Wales. Thenwe climbed up Golden Hill, where few but Russianshad ever climbed before and where few but Japanesewill ever climb in future. For this very reason I hadbetter not write about it. The harbour entrancestruck me as being extraordinarily narrow. Thechannel was such that I doubt if, under peace con-ditions, two ships could safely have pnssed one The Devils Ploughing 317 All the more admirable then was the pluck of thesailors who brought their steamers up and sank themright under the very muzzle of the Russian right flankten-inch gun. After leaving Golden Hill fort we went to theprincipal hospital and called on General BalaschieiF,Director of the Bed Cross. He was a picturesque oldgentleman, who spoke French most fluently andvolubly. He reminded me exactly of the father ofNatascha, I forget his name, in War and Peace. Theheat in this hospital was awful; 70°! I suppose theRussians like it so, but the nurses, as well as thepatients, looked pathetically ill and pale, especially incontrast with our bronzed and stalwart crowd. On return to camp at I got an invitationto come and say good-bye to General Nogi, as, althoughhe is going to sit next me at dinner, he thinks I mightwish to have some more private conversation before Ileave. The more I see of the Commande
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