and the duty was carried on with thorough man-of-war smartness. It was
impossible to watch these little active, clever, determined sailors
without feeling that the men of the finest navy in the world, which I
take to be that of her Britannic Majesty, would find in them foemen
worthy of their steel. I remember that they were daily exercised at
the guns, and the promptitude and precision with which they sank the
_Kowtung_--such was the unlucky despatch-boat's name--was a handsome
testimonial to the accuracy of their aim.

Lieutenant Hishidi and I had many conversations, chiefly during his
watches, and our talk generally turned on the war and nautical
matters. Of the Chinese he spoke with unmeasured contempt, certainly
not undeserved, and said that the Japanese fleets and armies had no
misgiving as to the result of the struggle; they felt able, against
such opponents, to do anything and go anywhere--"aussi loin que mer et
terre puissent nous mener," was his emphatic expression.

"We have been making this war for a long time," said he, "and we feel
sure of what we can do."

I remarked on the extraordinary rapidity with which a nation, closed
like the Japanese, up to within thirty years since, to European trade
and European ideas, had adopted and assimilated the system of Western
civilization.

"Yes," he replied, "we can learn, and we have learnt, because we saw
that the knowledge would give us a great advantage in our own part of
the world."

He had been in France, and expressed great admiration of French