It was not destined, however, that the hundreds of thousands of spectators who were afloat in the pleasure boats and who lined Southsea beach and the shores of the Isle of Wight overlooking Spithead, were to lose the most beautiful spectacle of all. As daylight faded so faded the storm, and at a quarter-past nine o'clock, when the signal for lighting up the ships was given by a single gun, the conditions for viewing the illuminations were as perfect as possible. To quote again a writer, Mr. G. W. Steevens, to whom we are already much indebted:--"The thunderstorm was only an episode. Having done its business, it went dutifully away, and left the field clear for the illuminations. Out on the sea front you could see the lights of the fleet like glow-worms in the dark. Then suddenly there sounded a gun; and as I moved along Southsea Common there appeared in the line a ship of fire. A ship all made of fire--hull and funnels and military masts with fighting tops. And then another, and another, and another. The fleet revealed itself from behind the castle, ship after ship traced in fire against the blackness. From the head of Southsea they still came on--fresh wonders of grace and light and splendour, stretching away, still endlessly as in the daytime, till they became a confused glimmer six miles away. It was the fleet and yet not the fleet. You could recognise almost any ship by her lines and rig--just as if it had been in day, only transmuted from steel and paint into living gold. The Admirals still flew their flags as in the day, only to-night the flags were no longer bunting, but pure colour. The heavy hard fleet vanished, and there came out in its stead a picture of it magically painted in pure light. "For three hours this miracle of brightness shone wondrously at Spithead. At half-past eleven or so the Prince returned the second time as before, and the golden fleet sent a thunder of salute after him. Then, as I stood on the high roof of the Central Hotel, the clock struck twelve, and before my eyes the golden fleet vanished--vanished clean away in a moment. You could just see it go. "Here half a ship broken off, there masts and funnels hanging an instant in the air; it all vanished, and nothing at all was left except the rigging lights, trembling faintly once more on the dark sea." [Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Symonds & Co._ THE JAPANESE BATTLESHIP "FUJI." Japan having so recently had experience of actual naval warfare, her representative at Spithead came in for a considerable amount of attention. Some of her officers had, indeed, taken part in the Battle of the Yalu.] [Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Symonds & Co., Portsmouth._ THE UNITED STATES' CRUISER "BROOKLYN."