ADMIRAL ITO'S LETTER. 607 the battery, and the Chinese fled, abandoning their guns. These were captured by the first Japanese troops that landed. The landing of the whole army was completed by tlae evening ofthe25th. Meanwhile,the city ofYung-cheng, though garrisoned by about 1,500 Chinese,had been taken after the merest show of resistance. The weather was bitterly cold, and the troops were encamped in the snow. The roads, out of repair and encumbered with snow-drifts, were found to be quite impracticable for guncarriages, so that Marshal Oyama was forced reluctantly to leave his field artillery behind him andadvance withonly themountain guns.

government are changed, or whether you will preserve the strength that remains to you and help to bring about another system hereafter. It has generally been the custom of tlae warriors of your country to use haughty and rough language in addressing their foes, but Iaddress this letter to you from motives of pure friendship, andIentreat you to credit my sincerity. If, happily, reading these words you take my advice,Ishall, with your permission, address some further suggestions to you as to how to givepractical effect to these ideas."

For the moment Admiral Ting made noreply to this letter. In his battle-scarred flagship, moored under the lee of Liu-kungIsland, with the drift ice round her and the snow on her decks, he busied himself with preparations for his last fight, for he was a thoroughly braveman and meant to keep his flag flying so long as there was any means of defence available. The Japanese wereapproaching. They had marched on the morning of the 26th from Yung-cheng in two columns. The 6th Division moved along a road near the shore, communicating by signals with the fleet. Tlae 2nd Division followed a parallel road about three or four miles inland. On the 29th the two columns halted within striking distance of theeastern defences of Weihai-wei. The right column (6th Division) was at the village of Pao-chia, the left column at Chung-hia-kow-tsu,bothplacesbeingjustbeyond the hills that shut in the eastern end of the harbour. The scouts reported that the Chinese army was massing at the defences of the eastern headland.

The fleet was meanwhile watching Wei-haiwei. On the 25th,AdmiralIto sent to Admiral Ting a curious letter. It was not a formal summons to surrender,but a letter of friendly advice. He remindedhim that they hadknown each other before tlae war, and protested that, although their Governments were at variance, this shouldnot alterthe friendshipof individuals. Heexpressed a chivalrous admiration for Ting's valour and capacity, and pointed out to him that the outcome of the present contest could onlybe defeat. He urgedhim to recognisethat the struggle was hopeless,not from any fault of hisown, but on account of the obsolete system of government to which China still clung, although Japan had abandoned it for more modern methods. He advised him then to surrender and retirefor a while to Japan, where he promised him the friendship and protection of the Emperor, who, he said, had behaved magnanimously even to his own subjects who had fought against him in the civil war, mentioning asinstances the namesof an admiraland a member of the Imperial Council, who had once been rebels. He protested that Ting could best serve his country by taking this course.

When the war was over, if the Government entered on a course of reform he could return from Japan to take part in the reconstruction of the country. He pointed out that Marshal McMahon, after surrendering and being a prisoner in Germany, had returned to France to help in ruling it, and that Osman Pasha, after the surrender of Plevna and his captivity in Russia, had returned to Turkey to take a leadingpart in thereorganisation of the national defences. "The great question that you have now to determine," he concluded, " is whether you will throw in your lot with a country that you seefalling to ruin, and be thus involved in a result that is inevitable unless the methods of Marshal Oyama arranged for an attack on the nearest forts for next day, January 30th. Ito's fleet could bring a heavy bombardment to bear on them without entering the bay. The right column was to attack their front, and the left column was to clear the hills on the Chinese right andmenace their line of retreat along tlae inner shore of thebay. After the experience of Port Arthur,Oyama counted on being able to rush the forts in the course of the first day's fighting.

Admiral Ting had fully realised that there was verylittle hope of the land forces making a determined defence. He had with him in the fleet and in the naval establishments on the island of Liu-kung a number of European assistants, among whom were some ex-petty officers of the British navy, at least one naval officer whohad been trained in the sameservice, and an ex-officer of British Colonial volunteers.