rounded the extremity of the island than we found ourselves in most
unpleasant proximity to a ship of war. I was alone on the bridge at
the time, and at once caused the engines to be reversed, in the hope
of slipping back behind the land from the cover of which we had just
emerged. Too late; we were perceived, and the cruiser's search-light
blazed forth, illuminating the dark waters, sky, and coastline with a
vivid glare. Simultaneously we were hailed loudly, although the
distance was too great to permit of the words being distinguished,
keenly as I strained my ears to catch them.

Seeing that we were detected, and knowing that the appearance of
flight would increase suspicion, I stopped the steamer, devoutly
hoping that our unwelcome neighbour might be a detached vessel of some
European squadron. That she could be Chinese there was little hope, as
we were aware that the Celestial fleet was in the Gulf of Pechili.
Almost before our engines were stopped, one of the cruiser's boats was
in the water and dancing towards us. Chubb and Webster ran up from
below, and as we awaited the boat, we uneasily speculated as to the
character of the craft that had despatched it, as she lay within a
quarter of a mile of us, the white muzzles of the guns in her tops and
turret seeming, as she rolled with the swell, to dip in the wave.
Formidable indeed she looked, and there was an evident stir of
offensive preparation on board her; yet in spite of our danger, I
could not resist a feeling of surprised and wondering admiration of
the wild picturesqueness of the scene--the majestic warship, the
glittering, rolling expanse of the sea, and the black lines of the
shores, under that intense and vivid radiance, which might fitly have
emanated from one of those phantom-craft with which maritime
superstition peoples the deep. Everything it touched took a ghostly
and unreal look.