The following idea is worrying me. Only vessels of less than seventy-five feet in width can enter the Vladivostok dock. I cannot say if this is true. Our new battleships (_Suvaroff_, _Alexander_, _Borodino_, and _Orel_) have a width of seventy-six feet. If it is so, in case of necessity it will be impossible to put them into dock. For some reason the width and measures of the docks are considered a secret, and do not find a place in books of naval inquiry, so that no one remembers the measures. God grant that my fears are not justified! The duty cruiser patrolling reports that she sees three ships moving together in one direction. She is ordered at any moment to go at full speed. _April 24th._--Lights are moving near the bay. The patrol steamer signals some confused message. Can these ships be relied on? It is said that the captain of one of them does not conceal his desire to disarm. He does not conduct himself as he should under the eyes of the flagship. For instance, he is ordered to patrol three miles from the shore, and he goes out thirty. Our fleet with its necessities appears to him to be something hostile. For some reason there exists a presentiment among many that of the four new battleships the _Alexander III._ will perish during the war. At last Nebogatoff declares himself. A torpedo-boat which went to Natrang to-day brought a telegram saying that the third fleet passed Singapore at 4 a.m. on the 22nd, and that she would join us on the 27th. Evidently all is well with it. Where has it been lingering a whole week? From Penang to Singapore is only a three days' journey. It means we shall soon leave here. Probably my foreboding about the number eight will come to pass. I forget if I told you that it seems to me that the number eight will play a great _rôle_ in the fate of our fleet. The French admiral (Janquières), who is so friendly towards us, has sent the admiral some poetry composed by himself about Port Arthur and Stössel. I wonder in what condition the third fleet will arrive? What news will it bring? Will there be any mails, and of what date? Will it bring us tobacco, paper, and cigarettes. It left Russia more than four months after we did. When it started we were already at Nosi Be. We have had absolutely no news from Manchuria. What is going on there? Janquières, the French admiral, has arrived in the _Guichen_, and has proposed that we should leave Van Fong. To-morrow we shall probably go to the bay that was examined not long ago by the _Roland_. The _Guichen_ has just left. There are many in her down with fever. Owing to this the band did not play. Thanks to all the conferences, we were late for dinner. To-morrow the _Jemchug_, _Isumrud_, _Dnieper_, and _Rion_ are going to meet the third fleet, in order to inform it of our whereabouts.