THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 631 Foo-chow,and Canton squadrons. There is no doubt its real object was to prepare the way for the annexation of Formosa and the other Chinese islands,on the conclusion of the treaty of peace. Geographically, Formosa and the Liu-kiu archipelago are the southernportion of the chain of islands of which Japan forms the northern section, and they would be of considerable value to the rising naval powerof the island empire of the East. On March 9th the transports were assembled at Sasebo, near Nagasaki. A brigade of 4,500 men, drawnfrom the reserves, was embarked on board of them, and the expedition sailedon the15thunder the escort of Admiral Ito's fleet. On the 20th the fleet and transportsanchoredoffPa-chao Island, in the Pescadores group. Further operations were delayed by a storm, which lasted till the morning of the 23rd. But meanwhile the Yoshino and the Naniwa-Kan had reconnoitred the fortified town and harbour of Wen-liang on Pang-hu Island,which was to be the first point of attack. On the 23rd, the weather being fine again, the forts were bombardedand the troops landed, accompanied by a naval brigade from theships. By the 26th every fort in the group had surrendered, after a series of skirmishes in which the invaders suffered only slight loss. Admiral Ito was arranging for a descent in Formosa itself, when, on March 30th, the armistice put a stop to the operations. The truce was tolast till April 20th.

Division,left Japan ina fleet of fifty transports, bound for Ta-lien-wan. With them went a member of the Mikado's family, His Imperial Highness Prince Komatsu, who established his headquarters at Port Arthur, as commanderin-chief of the Japanese forces.

He had under his immediate command, with Marshal Oyama as his right-hand man, the Imperial Guard and the 2nd, 4th, and 6thDivisions. The ist and 3rd Divisions were near Ying-tzu under Nodzu. The ice was breaking upin the Gulf of Pe-chi-li,andthese six divisions could soon be embarked and landed on its western shores for the march on Pekin. The 5th Division,under General Oku, was to remain in the north to hold the ground that had been wonin Manchuria.

Besides the remains of their armies in that province— namely, Iko-tenga's force covering Mukden andSung's watchingthe landroutefrom Niu-chwang to Pekin— theChineseGovernment had collectedan army of about 200,000 men in thePe-chi-li province to defend the approaches to their capital. These hadbeen gathered from all parts of the empire, and varied from drilled battalions, armed with Mauser repeating rifles, to new levies carrying only pikes and bows and arrows. There is no doubt that Prince Komatsu's six divisions would have dispersed this huge armedmob with very little difficulty. There was really no barrierbetween theJapanese and the city of Pekin, and the Chinese Court was deliberating on the advisability of abandoning its capital and retiring to some place further inland, in case the negotiations for peace should fail.

During the armistice the Japanese continued their preparations for continuing the war if necessary. On April 14th a new army, composed of the Imperial Guard and the 4th