At a quarter to eleven o'clock on the morning of December 8, 1903, I
stepped out of a cab at Charing Cross railway station, and forthwith
proceeded to get my luggage properly labelled and checked through to
Marseilles. While I was doing this, I became aware of some one by my
side, and, looking up, saw a little man, the formation of whose features
and the colour of whose skin at once apprised me that he was a Japanese.
He was dressed in a neat travelling suit of tweed, and wore a bowler
hat and brown boots. He was reading my name, legibly painted on my sea
chest, and as I looked at him he turned to me and bowed.
"You are Mr Paul Swinburne, bound for Japan?" he said, putting the
statement in the form of a question, and speaking in perfect English.
"I am," I replied. "And you?"
"I am Captain Murata Nakamura, of the Japanese army, in England on
Government business, and now returning to Japan in the _Matsuma Maru_,
the steamer in which I understand you are going out. Half an hour ago I
was with Mr Kuroda, whom you know, and he told me about you, and bade
me look out for you. I am pleased to make your honourable acquaintance,
Mr Swinburne, and shall be happy to place my humble services at your
honourable disposal."
"Gad! that's very good of you," I said. "Very glad to know you,
Captain. Is your baggage ready? Then, let us try to secure a
compartment to ourselves and travel through together."
"It will give me great pleasure to travel in your honourable company,"
replied my new acquaintance. "And I have already secured a compartment
by, as you say, `squaring' the guard. There he is now. Let us go and--
how do you say? Oh yes, I remember--`interview' him."
We obtained a compartment to ourselves, and my new friend at once
started smoking cigarettes and chatting in the most animated manner upon
the prospects of war. He was in high spirits, and apparently had no
doubts at all as to the outcome of the fighting--if fighting there was
to be. And of this also he appeared to entertain no doubt, although
there were people who still believed that either Russia or Japan would
climb down and so avoid a fight.
By the time that the train reached Dover we were "as thick as thieves,"
for Nakamura's perfect frankness and his geniality of manner quickly
conquered my insular aloofness toward the foreigner; and upon boarding
the Channel steamer we at once went below and were busy with our
luncheon almost before the boat had cast off from the pier.
At Calais, Nakamura, who seemed to speak every language under the sun,
took charge of my baggage as well as his own, and by some mysterious
process, probably not altogether unconnected with "backsheesh," managed
to clear the whole through the Customs in about five minutes. Then he
again "squared" the guard and secured our privacy as far as Paris, where
we arrived about five o'clock in the evening. There was a train leaving
for Marseilles at half-past seven, so we took a cab, drove across the
city, and dined at the railway station in comfort before beginning the
long night journey. Then, once more securing a compartment to
ourselves, we settled down for our twelve hours' run to the shore of the
Mediterranean.
I was very much amused at the naivete of some of my companion's remarks.
He asked the most intimate questions in the coolest possible manner,
and if I had not already resolved to be absolutely frank with my new
comrades in arms I should have been somewhat embarrassed to find replies
for some of them. He was greatly surprised to learn that I was not yet
eighteen years of age, and was still growing, for although he appeared
to be not more than twenty-five, he informed me that he was actually
thirty-three, and I was a head taller than he, the fact being that I had
a natural tendency toward bulkiness which my passion for athletics had
further encouraged. He jocularly remarked that he hoped the authorities
would have sense enough to appoint me to a battleship, for he was sure
that in no other quarters would I find room to stand upright.
We reached Marseilles without adventure at eight o'clock on the
following morning, and, after breakfasting at the railway station,
chartered a cab and drove down to the Joliet, where we found our ship,
the _Matsuma Maru_, lying alongside a wharf piled yards high with
crates, bales, and cases of all sorts and sizes waiting to be stowed in
the ship's holds. The skipper was somewhere ashore, it appeared, but we
hunted up the chief officer and introduced ourselves, upon which we
learned that every effort was being made to have the ship ready for sea
by three o'clock that afternoon, but that it would be impossible for her
to get away a minute earlier than that; we therefore found the chief
steward, got him to show us our cabins, and had our baggage carried
aboard. Then we went ashore again and, Nakamura happening to learn that
the place boasted a zoological garden, nothing would satisfy him but we
must needs go there, which we did, afterwards finding our way to the
handsome Museum. Then down into the town again to lunch, finally
returning to the ship at a quarter to three. I had been accustomed to
seeing work smartly done in our own navy, but I was amazed to see what a
few hours of strenuous labour had effected upon that wharf. It was
practically cleared, and even as we stood and watched, the last cases
were slung aboard, and the first bell, warning visitors that the ship
was about to start, was rung, whereupon we trotted aboard and took up a
position on the poop, where some fifty or sixty other passengers, all
men, with about half a dozen exceptions, were already congregated.
Nakamura looked eagerly about him and quickly spotted at least a dozen
acquaintances and fellow-countrymen, to all of whom he insisted upon
introducing me; and his mention of the fact that I was _going_ out for
the express purpose of fighting for Japan at once ensured me a most
friendly welcome among them. While this was going on, the ship was
unmoored, and a few minutes later we were outside the harbour and
shaping a course that took us at no great distance past the islet which
Hugo has immortalised in his _Count of Monte Christo_.
Once clear of the harbour, the skipper rang for full speed; and the
_Matsuma Maru_, a white-hulled, steel-built ship of some four thousand
tons, rigged as a topsail schooner, soon showed that she was the
possessor of a nimble pair of heels. She was loaded well down, yet an
hour after the patent log had been put overboard it recorded a run of
seventeen knots. The weather was gloriously fine and the sea
glass-smooth, so that one had not much opportunity of judging her
quality as a sea boat, but when I went forward and, duly paying my
footing, looked over the bows and noted their outward flare as the sides
rose from the water, I had not much difficulty in deciding that she
would prove very comfortable and easy in a seaway.
Upon going below to dinner that night, a glance round the saloon tables
showed that at least seventy-five per cent, of the passengers were
Japanese, while, of the remainder, half, perhaps, were English, the rest
being composed, in pretty nearly equal proportions, of French, Germans,
and, somewhat to my surprise, Russians. These last, however, it
eventually transpired, had booked only as far as Hong Kong, from whence
it was probable that they intended to proceed to Port Arthur, although
they said nothing to that effect.
We passed through the Straits of Bonifacio and Messina, and in due
course arrived at Port Said without incident, except that, thanks to
Nakamura, I soon became upon friendly and even intimate terms with all
the Japanese passengers in the saloon, as well as the ship's officers.
There was one old gentleman in particular, rejoicing in the name of
Matsudaira Hashimoto, an ex-professor of languages at the Imperial
College of Tokio, who, happening to hear that I was anxious to utilise
the large amount of time occupied by the voyage in acquiring as much
knowledge as possible of the Japanese language, at once came forward
with an offer to gratuitously teach me, in order that, as he remarked, I
might be equipped with a working knowledge of the language upon my
arrival, and so be in a position to immediately render my services
valuable. The old gentleman, it appeared, had been remarkably
successful in his day as a teacher of languages, working upon a system
which he had himself invented; and, luckily for me, his system was so
excellent that, working with me for five hours daily, he actually
succeeded in redeeming his promise so thoroughly that when we at length
reached Yokohama I was able to manage quite fairly well without the
services of an interpreter. This by the way.
It was a part of the skipper's plan to replenish his bunkers at Port
Said, an operation involving a detention of three hours. We therefore
all went ashore, and I posted a letter to my friends, the Gordons,
attaching to it a number of stamps of different denominations, for the
benefit of Ronald, who was an enthusiastic collector. We then roved
about the town, but, finding nothing to interest us, soon returned to
the ship, which we found enveloped in a cloud of coal dust which was
playing havoc with her fresh white paint, despite the canvas screens
spread to protect it.
We got under way again shortly after three o'clock that afternoon, two
of our passengers--Russians who looked very much like military men in
mufti--cutting things so fine that they were actually compelled to
follow after us in a steam launch; and when at length they overtook us,
scrambled aboard, and went at once to the cabin which they shared, the
skipper, with whom Nakamura and I had become very chummy, caught our
eyes and signed to us both to come up to his cabin on the bridge, the
ship then being in charge of a canal pilot, with Sadakiyo, the chief
officer, standing beside him on the navigating bridge.
Accordingly, we sauntered up in a nonchalant sort of way, as though
intent upon watching the progress of the ship through the canal, for
there had been something of furtiveness in the skipper's action which
seemed to hint that he did not wish his sign to be observed by others,
which led me at least to imagine that there might be something in the
wind.
And so, apparently there was, for when we had entered the cabin, the
skipper softly closed the door and drew the curtains across the two
after ports, as though desirous of concealing the fact of our presence
in his cabin. Then, having produced whisky and soda and a box of
cigars, he seated himself on the sofa, facing us, and said in English:
"You saw those two Russians come aboard, just now, after nearly losing
their passage?"
And when we nodded affirmation he continued:
"I am wondering whether the circumstance means trouble for us. And for
this reason. When I was ashore, about an hour ago, I had business that
took me into McIntosh's store. Now, McIntosh is a very good fellow,
whom I have known for some time. He is very friendly to us Japanese,
and `has his knife'--as you English term it--into the Russians. Well,
after chatting together for a little while, he took me into his inner
room and informed me that there is a steamer, flying the Russian naval
ensign, and a Russian destroyer lurking near the southern extremity of
the Red Sea, which seem disposed to give trouble to Japanese merchant
craft. It appears that only last week, one or the other of these--
McIntosh is not sure which--stopped and boarded the _Mishima Maru_ and
insisted upon examining her papers and inspecting her passengers, for
what reason McIntosh could not say, as he had merely heard the bare
facts of the case. And about a quarter of an hour later, shortly after
I had left McIntosh's place, I saw those two Russians who nearly missed
us enter the telegraph office, and I began to smell mischief. Of course
it may only be imagination, but remembering what McIntosh had told me, I
wondered whether by any chance they were wiring to Dgiboutil the news of
our arrival, and warning their friends to be on the lookout for us."
"But why wire to Dgiboutil?" I demanded.
"Because," replied Kusumoto, "Dgiboutil belongs to the French, who are
strongly pro-Russian; and those craft must have a sort of headquarters
at which they may receive news and instructions, and where they can
replenish their bunkers and storerooms, and I know of no place so likely
for this as Dgiboutil."
"I see," said I. "Yes, you are most probably right, so far. But why on
earth should those fellows interfere with Japanese ships? By what right
do they claim to do it? The two countries are not yet at war, whatever
may be the case within the next few months."
"That is true," agreed the skipper. "But the mouth of the Red Sea is a
long way from Japan; we have no warships anywhere near there to protect
us; the Russians are by nature a very high-handed people, and not too
scrupulous when dealing with a prospective enemy; and perhaps they think
that before Japan could make an effective protest, we may be at war, and
have other things than pin-pricks to occupy our attention."
"Very true," I assented. "That may be so. But I should like to know
upon what pretext they presume to molest and interfere with Japanese
ships. Such action is contrary to international law, and in fact is
closely akin to piracy, if indeed it is not piracy, pure and simple.
Now, suppose these fellows attempt to interfere with us, what do you
propose to do?"
"Ah!" ejaculated Kusumoto, "that is an exceedingly difficult question to
answer. I do not want them to come aboard me, if it can be helped,
for--to let you into a secret--our cargo consists of munitions of war of
various kinds, and if the Russians should discover that fact, as they
must if they board us and force me to show my papers, they may be
unscrupulous enough to play some trick upon me, either jeopardising my
cargo, or possibly detaining me in some way until war is actually
declared, and then confiscating both ship and cargo. I must think the
matter over, and try to hit upon some plan of `besting' them, as you
English say. And perhaps you two gentlemen will also give it a thought.
I am only a mercantile shipmaster, and have had no experience in
matters of this sort to guide me, but you are both military men, and out
of your knowledge you may be able to suggest something helpful to me.
Of course nothing may happen; we may not fall in with the Russians at
all, which will be so much the better; but if we should encounter them,
and they should attempt to interfere with me, I want to be prepared."
We continued to discuss the matter for some time longer; but it is not
necessary to repeat more of what was said, sufficient having been
already recorded to indicate the nature of the trouble that was possibly
waiting for us.
The engines were only stopped long enough at Suez to enable us to land
the pilot and the big searchlight which we had shipped at Port Said to
help us through the canal; and, this done, we steamed on into the Gulf
of Suez and the Red Sea.
Our passage down the Red Sea was quite uneventful until the Hanish
Islands hove in sight over the port bow--uneventful, that is to say,
with one exception only, but it was an exception which seemed to cause
our two Russian passengers much perturbation of spirit. For the chat
which Nakamura and I had had with the skipper, shortly after leaving
Port Said, had been succeeded by another on the following day, the
outcome of which was that Kusumoto, with the full approval of my friend
Nakamura and myself, had resolved to take the very serious step of
broaching cargo, with the result that, when the passengers came up on
deck, on the morning which found us off Shadwan Island, they were amazed
to discover two 1-pounder Hotchkisses mounted, one on the
forecastle-head and the other right aft over the taffrail, while a Maxim
graced either extremity of the navigating bridge. The circumstance,
with the reasons which seemed to make such a step necessary and
desirable, was recorded at length in the _Matsuma Maru_ official log,
signed by the skipper and countersigned, at his request, by Nakamura and
myself, as accessories, so to speak.
It was about three o'clock in the afternoon when the Hanish Islands hove
up above the horizon, at which moment, as it happened, Nakamura and I
were in the captain's cabin, where indeed we had spent most of the time
of late, when we were not in our bunks. The Hanish Islands are, roughly
speaking, within about one hundred miles of the Strait of Bab el Mandeb;
and as we had not been interfered with thus far, we had practically made
up our minds that if the Russians intended to molest us at all, it would
be here, the back of the islands affording an excellent place of
concealment from which to dash out upon a passing ship.
Nor were we disappointed in our expectations; for when we had brought
the northernmost island square abeam, a long, black, four-funnelled
destroyer suddenly slid out past its southern extremity, heading west,
so as to intercept us. And, looking at her through our glasses, we saw
that she was flying the International Code signal, "Heave-to. I wish to
speak you."
"So! it's time for us to be making a move, Nakamura," said I. "You
quite understand the line you are to take with those fellows, skipper?
Good! Then, all that remains to be done is to get some ammunition on
deck, and we shall be ready. Will you give the necessary orders?"
The skipper's response was to send for the chief officer, who, at least
nominally, was off duty for the time being; and five minutes later I was
on the forecastle-head, the Hotchkiss' tarpaulin jacket was off, a case
of ammunition for the weapon stood conveniently at hand, and "All ready
for'ard!" I reported. A minute or two later, Nakamura on the bridge
was also ready, with a belt of cartridges in each of his Maxims, and
more at hand, if required. Meanwhile, by the skipper's order, the
answering pennant had been run up to our span, and dipped to show that
the signal was understood, while the Japanese mercantile flag--white,
with a red ball in the centre, which is also the Japanese "Jack"--was
hoisted at our gaff-end.
Ten minutes later we were within hail of the destroyer, which, flying
the Russian naval ensign, was lying motionless right athwart our hawse,
broadside-on to us. Our engines were still running at full speed, and
our safety valves were lifting, allowing a "feather" of steam to show at
the head of our waste-pipe, while our quartermaster grimly kept our stem
pointed fair and square between the second and third funnels of the
Russian.
Then skipper Kusumoto raised his megaphone and hailed the destroyer, in
Russian, with:
"Ho! the destroyer ahoy! Why are you lying athwart my hawse? Do you
wish me to run you down?"
There were two officers on the destroyer's bridge, one of whom sprang to
the engine-room telegraph and thrust it over to "Full speed ahead,"
while the other seized a megaphone and hailed back:
"Stop your engines instantly, sir! Did you not understand my signal
that I wished to speak you? Starboard your helm, you confounded fool;
hard a-starboard, or you'll be over us."
"Then get out of my way," retorted Kusumoto. "Starboard a little," (to
the quartermaster), "and just shave his stern. I'll teach him to lay
his tin kettle athwart a Japanese ship's bows."
The destroyer leaped from under our bows like a frightened thing, though
not so quickly but that we caught her quarter with the rounding of our
bows and gave her a pretty severe shaking up. Her skipper shook his
fist at us and stamped on the bridge with fury. Then he raised his
megaphone again and hailed:
"You infernal scoundrel, I'll make you suffer for that outrage!
Heave-to at once, or I'll fire into you."
The boat was sweeping round on a starboard helm, and was now running
practically parallel to us, at a distance of about a hundred feet.
"You will fire into me, if I don't stop, you say? Is Russia at war with
my country, then?" hailed Kusumoto.
There was silence for a minute or two aboard the destroyer, during which
the two officers on her bridge consulted eagerly together. We could see
that her engine-room telegraph stood at "Full speed," yet, strange to
say, she was only just holding her own with us. Then the commander of
her again raised his megaphone.
"My instructions are that I am to examine the papers of all foreign
vessels passing down the Red Sea," he shouted; "and I must insist that
you heave-to and let me board you."
"I shall do nothing of the kind," retorted our skipper. "I do not admit
your right to board me, so try it if you dare. I believe you are
nothing less than a pirate masquerading as a Russian ship of war; and I
shall treat you accordingly if you do not sheer off."
This defiance was more than enough for the proud and choleric Russian,
accustomed to have his every order servilely obeyed. Such unparalleled
insolence from a "little yellow-skinned monkey"--as the Russians had
already begun to dub the Japanese--and in the presence of his own crew,
too! It was unendurable, and must be severely punished. He called an
order, and the Russian seamen, who had been standing about the deck,
listening half-amused and half-indignant, to the altercation, made a
move in the direction of the destroyer's 4-pounder and her port torpedo
deck tube. But our skipper had been expecting and keenly on the watch
for such a move, and he now hailed again:
"Destroyer ahoy! Keep away from the tube and the gun, you men! If I
see a man attempt to approach either, I will sweep your decks with Maxim
fire. Do you hear what I say?"--as half a dozen men continued to slouch
toward the tube. "Open fire, there, the starboard Maxim!"
Nakamura was at the gun mentioned, which he was keeping steadily trained
upon the tube. At the word, he fired a single shot, and the bullet
spattered into a star as it struck the mounting. The Russians halted as
if turned to stone, and glanced anxiously at their commander. Kusumoto
raised his megaphone and hailed:
"Is that enough, or will you have more? Now, sheer off at once, if you
please. If you don't, I shall fire again; and my next shots--with my
Hotchkiss guns--will be at your waterline and your boilers."
The Russian commander was by this time literally foaming at the mouth;
he seemed speechless and beside himself with rage, and there is no
knowing what the outcome might have been, had not his second in command
here intervened, and, forcibly seizing him by the arms, shook him
violently as he said something which we were too far off to hear.
Meanwhile, ever since the firing of the shot, the helmsman of the
destroyer had been quietly edging away from us; and presently, at a
sign, apparently, from the junior officer, he put his helm hard over to
port, and the venomous-looking craft swung sharply upon her heel,
listing heavily as she did so, and a few seconds later was speeding away
in the opposite direction to ourselves. But even now we had not quite
done with her, for almost immediately she swung round to cross our
stern, and a moment later we saw the silvery flash of a torpedo as it
left her tube. Kusumoto, however, was not to be caught unawares;
apparently he more than half suspected something of the kind, and was on
the watch. For an instant he watched the bubbles which marked the
course of the missile, and then shouted an order to our helmsman; the
_Matsuma Maru_ swerved from her course, and the torpedo sped harmlessly
past us, a hundred yards to port. I, too, had quite expected that the
fiery Russian would not allow us to go scot-free if he could help it,
therefore the moment that the destroyer swerved away from us I sprang
off the forecastle and ran aft to the other Hotchkiss, which I reached
too late to prevent the discharge of the torpedo. But I saw men
clustering about her 4-pounder, as though about to bring it into action,
and as I was more afraid of this gun than of the torpedoes, I
unhesitatingly opened fire upon it, and at the fifth shot had the
pleasure of dismounting it. This was enough for the Russians; they
realised at last that they had caught a Tartar, and bore away for their
lurking-place behind the Hanish Islands, where we eventually lost sight
of them.
As soon as the destroyer had disappeared, Kusumoto retired to his cabin
and wrote a lengthy account of the affair in his official log-book,
getting Nakamura and me to sign it, as before, in testimony of its
veracity. This he did in order to justify himself for broaching cargo
and temporarily mounting the Hotchkiss and Maxim guns; and it may be
said here that not only was his justification accepted, but his conduct
was highly commended by the authorities.
About four bells in the first watch that night, we passed through the
strait, and shifted our helm for Cape Guardafui, not calling at Aden,
since we had coal enough to carry us on to Colombo; and we saw nothing
more of the Russians until after our arrival in Japan on 22nd January
1904.