in Seoul, it was thought needful to secure the person of the King of Corea, and his palace was, accordingly, captured by the Japanese, and the ruler of the peninsula converted into their tool or ally. He was, forthwith, required to put his seal to a document ordering the Chinese troops, who had come at his invitation, to leave the country. This seizure of the King’s person took place on July 23, 1894. Two days later, the Japanese squadron attacked the transport “Kowshing” and some armed vessels which were convoying it. In the ensuing engagement, one Chinese man-of-war was sunk, one was disabled, and 1,200 soldiers went down with the “Kowshing.” On the same day, the Japanese General Oshima left Seoul with a small force to attack the Chinese camp, which had been transferred from Asan to Song-hwan, a strongly fortified position. The place was carried on July 29 by a night surprise with a loss to the Chinese of 500 killed and wounded; the remainder of the force then retreated to Pingyang, a town north of Seoul, on the main road to China. These encounters were followed by a reciprocal declaration of war between China and Japan on August 1, 1894. There ensued a lull in hostilities, during which Japan poured her troops into Corea, while the Chinese fleet remained inactive in the harbors of Wei-hai-Wei and Port Arthur. About the beginning of September, a Japanese force of 13,000 men under General Nodzu was ordered to attack the strong position occupied by the Chinese at Pingyang. The assault was delivered on May 15, and the Chinese were compelled to retreat with a loss of 2,000 killed, in addition to the wounded and prisoners. The sturdiness of the defense at certain points was attested by the fact that the victors themselves lost 633 killed, wounded and missing. The capture of Pingyang resulted in the Chinese evacuation of Corea. While the fighting was taking place on land at Pingyang, the Chinese fleet, under the command of Admiral Ting, was conveying troops to the mouth of the Yalu River, the northwestern boundary of Corea, where the Chinese were collecting a second army. Returning from the fulfillment of this task, the fleet was encountered off the island of Hai Yang on September 17, by a Japanese squadron under Admiral Ito. The naval combatants were nearly equal in strength, each numbering ten war vessels; two of the Chinese ships, however, were superior in armament. The result of the action was that five of the Chinese torpedo-boats were destroyed, and the total loss of the Chinese in killed and wounded was 1,000, while that of the Japanese was but 265.