Meanwhile the unhappy Baltic Fleet protracted its embarrassing sojourn in Madagascar waters. Having got so far on the road to its appointed revenge, discretion overcame heroic resolution on the part of its Admiral. The nearer Rozhdestvensky came to his task of wresting the command of the sea from Admiral Togo, the less he appeared to like it; and finally the Armada which had begun its voyage with such a sensational progress through the North Sea, decided to continue to avail itself of French hospitality until it should have received the reinforcements of the third Baltic Squadron. While the Russian fleet was thus ingloriously hung up at Diego Suarez, the International Commission appointed to inquire into the circumstances of its exploits in the North Sea met at Paris, and having heard exhaustively the evidence in support of the British and Russian cases, at length issued its report. In spite of the preliminary rumors that the conduct of the Russian Admiral had been vindicated, the event proved that the justice of the British case had been as completely sustained as it could be by any judgment which was more diplomatic than judicial in character. The Admirals of the Commission, with the exception of their Russian colleague, found that there were no hostile torpedo boats present on the Dogger Bank; that the British trawlers did nothing to provoke attack; and that the firing to which they were subjected was unjustifiable. To coat this rather unpleasant pill, the Commissioners amiably added, in contradiction of the direct implication of their own findings, that their report threw no discredit either on the military quality or the humane sentiments of Admiral Rozhdestvensky. CHAPTER XVI. Rigors of Manchurian Winters--In Winter Quarters--Ear Muffs Won by Yankee Thrift--Hot Baths and Hot Meals--Disease Conquered in Camp--Wonderful Sanitary Record--Civil War Comparisons--The Japanese Scientific--No Detail Overlooked--Wounded Rarely Die. [Sidenote: Rigors of Manchurian Winters] After the Battle of the Sha-ho River the two armies went into winter quarters prepared to face a Manchurian season with thermometer readings of 35 degrees below zero not uncommon and with a snowfall of enormous proportions to contend with. The Russians were better prepared to meet the situation than the Japanese since a large proportion of the Russian army hailed from Siberia or the northern provinces of Asiatic and European Russia and hence were inured to rigorous winters. Some thousands of the Japanese had come from the northern provinces of Japan and they, too, were well experienced in cold. But a large majority of the Japanese troops were from the southern islands of Japan, where rigorous winters are unknown. The Japanese army administration was thus confronted by a very serious problem. The story of the manner in which the problem was met and solved is among the most interesting of the chapters of the history of the war.