The _Laird_ and the _Strong Arm_, opening out a little in the broader part of the harbour, poured in a very hail of 6-inch shells. The _Hong Lu’s_ thin, low plates were rent open in a dozen places, water poured in, and she began visibly to sink by the head. An 8-inch shell burst at the foot of her foremast under the bridge, her bows were smothered in flame and smoke, she fell off to port, and then she too ran with a crash up the shore, and her crew began jumping overboard. The _Strong Arm_ steamed towards her to complete the destruction, if necessary, and saw one huge solitary figure on her quarter-deck. This was Schmidt, who quickly dived into the sea, swam with powerful strokes to the land, and disappeared in the dense cover. With the _Hong Lu_ abandoned all opposition ceased, and from the top of One Gun Hill the faint sound of cheering could be heard. Looking through their telescopes they could see the gallant little party clustered behind the breast-works they had defended so long, standing up on the sand-bags and waving their helmets as they cheered. They, too, were safe. The light was already beginning to fade, and heavy squalls of rain made signalling difficult, but Cummins managed to get one semaphore signal through to the _Laird_: "Enemy disappearing; am short of ammunition, and require medical assistance. Richardson is killed." Helston sent for Dr. Fox and handed him the signal. "I’ll go myself," said the Doctor. "I thought you would," replied Helston. "I’ll give you fifty men, and you must get up there as fast as you can, and I’ll turn my search-lights on the top of the hill as soon as it is dark. I don’t expect that you’ll find the Chinese have any more fight left in them, but if you do I will help you." "No. 3" was sent out to bring the _Sylvia_ into the harbour, parties of men were sent aboard the ships, destroyers, and torpedo-boats to remove the breech-blocks of their guns, and a strong body of men was sent down to the forts to do the same there. They found five bodies in the batteries, but very little material damage done—very little compared to the apparent destruction as seen from the ships. Two of the smaller guns had been dismounted and one of the 6-inch had been disabled, but nothing more, though masses of the rock behind them had been blasted with the shells and lay between the guns in heaps. Another party tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the fire aboard the _Hong Lu_, but had to leave her to her fate, for the flames had taken firm hold of her and were spreading rapidly towards the magazines. It was quite dark before these precautions were complete, and meanwhile Dr. Fox, with his escort of fifty men, was hurrying to the top of the hill, bearing more ammunition and the urgently-needed surgical dressings. He had landed far from the town, and, giving it a wide berth—for already the sounds of rioting and tumult rose from it—had struck the zigzag path just as daylight failed.