because it opened the way to the greater forts beyond, and this success was speedily followed by others on the other side of Port Arthur. Operating between Pigeon Bay and the Metre range, the Japanese captured several minor heights on which the Russians had mounted guns. Thus they continued to advance steadily to the isolation of the western defences; and the only comfort which the anxious authorities in St. Petersburg could enjoy was that to be derived from a dispatch of General Kuropatkin, in which the Commander-in-Chief in Manchuria announced that, according to Chinese reports, the garrison of Port Arthur had recaptured 203 Metre Hill, "with the guns placed there by the enemy." The Chinese do nothing by halves, not even lying. [Illustration: JAPANESE ELEVEN-INCH MORTAR BEFORE PORT ARTHUR.] [Sidenote: The Japanese Capture Urlungshan] Undismayed by this announcement, the Japanese continued their investment with increasing severity, and on December 28th, or four weeks after the capture of 203 Metre Hill, they achieved the great triumph of wresting the mighty Urlungshan from its stubborn defenders. This, the greatest and most formidable of all the eastern forts of Port Arthur had defied many previous assaults, and had cost the army of the Mikado many hundreds of gallant lives. But like the northern fort of East Keekwanshan, it succumbed to the irresistible persuasion of dynamite. At 10 o'clock in the morning of December 28th, the mine which had been laid beneath the parapet was exploded, and the Japanese rushed in through the breach. Under the cover of artillery fire from the rear, the assaulters then constructed defensive works; and having thus established themselves and received reinforcements, they rushed forward again and captured the heavy guns of the fort. From this point another charge had to be made before the defenders could be driven out completely; but by half-past seven in the evening the task was accomplished, and the whole fort was in the hands of the Japanese, whose losses amounted to at least 1,000 men. The spoils included four big guns, seven smaller guns, thirty quick-firers, and two machine guns. The tunnels for the mines which were exploded under the parapet had to be cut through the solid rock, and no less than two tons of dynamite was used for the exploding charge. The result was that half the garrison of 500 men were killed on the spot. Next to the great Urlung fort, Sungshushan was the most formidable permanent work on the eastern ridge, and three days later this fell to the Japanese in much the same way. On the morning of the last day of the expiring year, dynamite mines were exploded beneath the parparet of the fort, and within an hour the whole fort was in the secure possession of the Japanese. Over 300 of the defenders were entombed in one of the galleries by the explosion, and of these only a half were rescued by the victors, the remainder perishing miserably. Other forts in the