It is impossible to reconcile these statements with the ascertained facts. Exclusive of those in hospital there actually surrendered 28,562 soldiers and naval men, not counting volunteers. They are accounted for thus:--Generals, 8; field officers, 57; officers below field rank, 531; officers in civilian branches, 99; surgeons, 109; chaplains, 13; non-commissioned officers and men, 22,434--total for the army, 23,251. Admirals, 4; captains of ships, 100; lieutenants, 200; chaplains, 7; sailors and marines, 4,500; civilian officers of the navy, 500--total for the navy, 5,311. In addition to these were 3,645 men described as non-combatants, all of whom had either served in the army or were liable to be called to the colours, and most of whom had been volunteers during the siege. With few exceptions these 32,207 men were able to walk twenty miles to the railway outside Port Arthur, and to endure the exposure of a winter without bivouack without any apparent suffering. Moreover, when it became known that they were to be deported to Japan four thousand patients quitted the hospitals, fearing, as one of their own officers did not scruple to say to me, that they might be released and sent back to the war! These figures--even more than the appearance of the prisoners and their capacity to perform a long march--show that the conditions of the garrison was not so terrible as it was represented by the Russians. Among the sick and wounded the suffering was great--as it must always be in an invested and bombarded city--and General Stoessel may have succumbed to the imperative calls of humanity. History will pronounce judgment upon his action, and will, doubtless, say that it was at least premature. Meanwhile, the impression must prevail that the last days of Port Arthur were less glorious than the first, and that it was the General, and not the garrison that surrendered. Chapter XLIV JAPANESE GUNS AND HORSES. In all respects, save one, the Japanese field guns are inferior to the Russian. They have a shorter range; their projectiles are lighter; they are less mobile, and they are not quick firers. Their one claim to superiority is the high explosive used in the common shell. The battle of the Yalu is, perhaps, responsible for the extravagant estimate of the Japanese artillery. But it must be borne in mind that in the bombardment of April 30th it was howitzers, and not field guns, that wrought havoc with the Russian positions, and that on May 1st the Russian guns fired only six shots. [Illustration: Horse-shoeing extraordinary.]