adapted she has not seldom improved the manners and processes of the West. In nothing is this to be more clearly noticed than in the character and organisation of the army and navy, which, well within the lifetime of those who are still boys, she has called into being. A German officer lately wrote to me from Japan: "These people are marvellous, and will go very far before they halt. Already they are beginning to draw level with us. They are tireless and frugal, and splendid organisers, and they have the pluck of the devil and the determination of Fate herself. To all our traditional solidity they unite an immense amount of French lightness. I do not want to go into business as a prophet, but, if I were to do so, I should expect to build up much reputation upon a declaration that Japan has as great a future in Asia as the English race has in America and Australia."

I will classify the effective navy of Japan, as I have already classified that of China.

These ships, even if reinforced by the old composite ironclad corvette, Rio Jo, and by the obsolete iron ram, Adzuma, do not, it must be admitted, form an armoured squadron materially equal to that of China. Nor are they for the most part very modern, the Fu So having been built at Poplar in 1877; the Kongo at Hull in the same year; and the Hiyei at Milford Haven in 1878. The Fu So, which has a complete belt from 4 to 9 inches thick, carries in a central battery of 7 and 8 in. iron four 9°4 in. B.L. guns, and elsewhere two 6'6 in. Krupps. The Hiyei and Kongo have thin belt armour of from 35 to 4 inches thick, but no armoured deck or bulkheads. Each carries three 6.6 in., and six 6 in. Krupps. The Chiyoda, a more modern craft, built in 1889, has also thin partial belt armour 4'5 inches thick, but this is combined with a 1 in. steel protective deck. The armament consists of ten 4'7 in., and fourteen 3-pr. quick-firing guns, and, taken in conjunction with the speed of the ship, renders her a formidable antagonist. In the matter of modern cruisers, Japan, as will be seen, is fully as well off as China. Indeed, many of her ships are not only bigger and better, but also faster than those of her foe.

In addition to these unarmoured vessels, all of which, except the Takao, Katzragi, Musasi, and Maya, which are, I believe, composite, are built of steel or iron, Japan possesses the wooden corvettes Kai-Mon, Nischin, Ten-Rio, Amagi, and Tsukuba (cadet training ship), two paddle-wheel dispatch vessels, a number of transports, several wooden gunboats, and about forty torpedo boats, half of which are seagoing. There are also several vessels in process of construction.

Some of the cruisers in the above list rank among the best vessels. of their class in the world. The Hasidate, Itsukusima, and Matsusima are officially described as coast-defence cruisers, but if they belonged to a European Power would probably be called armoured cruisers. They have, it is true, no outside vertical armour on the hull; but they have protective decks from two to three inches thick, cofferdams, and cellulose belts, and each carries in a barbette, behind 12 ins. of armour, a 12.6 in. gun. In the Itsukusima the barbette is forward, a 4'7 in. gun is aft, and ten other 4'7 in. guns are in battery. In the Matsusima the barbette is aft, two 47 in. guns are forward as bow chasers, and, as before, ten 47 in. guns are in battery. I believe that the Hasidate is similar to the Itsukusima. Each of these three formidable ships carries also five 6-pr. and eleven 3-pr. quick-firing and six machine guns. Two of the vessels were built at La Seyne, near Toulon, and one at Yokosuka Dockyard, in Japan. The fine cruiser Yoshino, launched at Elswick

in December, 1892, has some claim to be the fastest warship afloat. She has an overall steel deck, varying from 17 to 4'5 in. thick, a very complete system of watertight bulkheads, good coal protection, and an armament composed of four 6 in., eight 4'7 in., and twenty-two 3-pr. guns, all quick-firers. It is estimated that from these 34 guns, the Yoshino, if engaging on both sides, could throw no fewer than 250 aimed projectiles per minute. The weight of these would be about 2 tons. Guns of this class and these calibres are exactly the guns which the wiry and keen-eyed Japanese gunners are most expert at handling, and I think that all who know the new Japanese navy will bear me out when I say that a Yoshino in the hands of Japanese officers and seamen of to-day would have a fair chance of success against a Yoshino in the hands of French, German, or even British officers and The Naniwa and Tokatio, built in 1885 by Sir W. Armstrong and Co., represent a modification of the type of the celebrated Chilian cruiser Esmeralda, and have steel decks from two to three inches thick. Each has a 10°2 in. 28-ton gun at the bow and another at the stern, and six 6 in. Krupps in broadside, in sponsons. Each has also sixteen quick-firing and machine guns. The Akitsusima, another fine protected cruiser, was built at Yokosuka in 1892. Of the other vessels in the table of Japanese cruisers, the Yayeyama, Takao, Katzragi, Yamato, Musasi, Seiki, Akagi, Atago, Maya, and Oschima were all built in Japan.

men.

It has been pointed out by Captain Mahan that sea-power is not to be secured merely by the creation of a navy, but that it must be also to a large extent the natural outcome or development of maritime commerce. In comparing, therefore, the relative sea strength of China and Japan, one must not entirely leave on one side the merchant marines of those countries. For at least two reasons, they are, or may become, significant factors during the progress of the campaign. Firstly, their fate and fortunes cannot but have some influence upon the result, for it is manifest that freedom and facility for carrying on sea-borne commerce necessarily prolongs the period of possible resistance; while inability to carry on seaborne commerce as necessarily hastens the period of exhaustion. Secondly, as we have recently seen in Chili and during the attempted revolution in Brazil, merchant ships of certain classes can be quickly turned into serviceable cruisers and armed transports. The following tables show how far Japan, in the important matter

of her merchant navy, is ahead of China. It gives statistics* of all the merchant vessels of 100 tons and upwards belonging to the two

356

116,079

Total Sailing Ships

:

2

376

31,238

41

Total Merchant Ships The gross tonnage of the Japanese steamships is 151,773, and of the Chinese only 47,753. Taking, as is perhaps fair, the net tonnage of the sailing ships and the gross tonnage of the steamers, we find that Japan has 356 vessels of 173,283 tons, and China 41 vessels of 48,129 tons. It does not appear that China has subsidised any vessels to serve her as armed cruisers. Japan, on the other hand, subsidises, and has, probably, by this time, armed, many vessels belonging to the great fleet of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, or Japan Mail S.S. Co. of Yokohama, a number of which are both large and fairly fast; and as there are plenty of good guns available, these ships may form a very sensible addition to the fighting strength of the Japanese Navy. Admiral Ito, commander-in-chief in the Gulf of Pechili, is an officer who should know how to make use of these auxiliaries.

And here it is perhaps worth while to remark that Japan has afloat in the ships of her navy some guns which are certainly second to none in the world. I speak of the Canet 12.6 in. 40 calibres 65 ton breechloaders of the Hasidate and her two sisters. In the contract for these guns it was stipulated that 20 rounds should be fired with progressive charges, and that if the weapon under trial should show any signs of weakness after the fifteenth round, the number should, if possible, be increased to 60. Charges of brown powder, increasing from 264 to 562 lbs., and of smokeless powder, increasing from 220 to 304 lbs.

* From Lloyd's "Universal Register," 1893.

were fired, the projectile in some of the later rounds attaining the very high muzzle velocity of upwards of 2,300 feet per second, with a chamber pressure never in excess of 167 tons per square inch. These guns gave entire satisfaction and are certainly much superior to your service British 13'5 in. 67 ton guns of 32 calibres. The Japanese projectile weighs 990 lbs. ; the Elswick one 1,250 lbs. At a later trial, one of the guns developed with 317 lbs. of smokeless powder a muzzle velocity of 2,386 feet per second. This is equivalent to a penetration at the muzzle of very nearly 2 ft. 8 inches of wrought iron. Here we have only one out of many indications that Japan is well to the fore. In the equipments of her men, and the gear and scientific appliances on board her ships of war, she is equally advanced. She has neglected nothing which in the day of trial is likely to be of value to her.

And so, although like my German friend, I do not want to go into business as a prophet, I am of opinion that if there be no outside. intervention, the navy of Japan can and will presently drive the navy of China from the seas.

NAUTICUS.