Page:Hamilton Korea full view text.pdf/26

KOREA points, Port Arthur and Vladivostock, define the ex¬ tremities of the strategic position which Russia holds in Manchuria. Excluding Vladivostock at this moment from any especial consideration, Port Arthur is left for the opening moves of this campaign.

Therefore, Port

Arthur, with a single line of communications in its rear, becomes the pivot of the operations. The aspect of Port Arthur from the sea is uninviting. Rugged hills, offshoots from the range of mountains which divides the Liao-tung peninsula, cluster round the bay, and encroaching upon the foreshore and bear¬ ing neither trees nor vegetation, impart to the surround¬ ings a desolate and even wild appearance. Within the

headlands of the harbour, conforming with the inden¬ tations of the coast, there are several bays shallow and unprofitable, but which in time may become an im¬ portant adjunct to the small area of deep water which the harbour now possesses. Dredging operations have been undertaken, but there is so much to be done that many years must pass before Port Arthur receives any material addition to its very restricted accommodation. The mud, brought down by the streams which empty into the harbour, has already affected the deep-water area, and since the harbour was constructed these deposits have encroached very considerably upon the depth off shore.

At low water steamers, which lie up

within sixty feet of the wharf, rest upon mud in little more than a fathom of water, and at the same time the space is so small that it is impossible for a dozen ves- xvi