Firing on the Unarmed--Snowstorms and Bitter Frost--Reconnoitring at Vladivostock--At the Mouth of the Golden Horn--Careful Japanese Calculation--Bombardment at Long Range--Russian Ships Lying Low--Makaroff to the Rescue--A Chance for Russian Torpedoes--Sea Fight at Close Quarters--Severe Casualties--Another Hot Fight--Unprecedented Japanese Daring--Carnage Indescribable--Makaroff Outpaced--A Useless Prize--Bombardment by Wireless Telegraphy--Port Arthur a Hell--Golden Hill Silenced--Terrific Missiles--A Vivid Picture--Blood, Blood Everywhere--Further Naval Movements--Hoist with its own Petard--Another Attempt to "Bottle"--Makaroff's Feint--Wary Enemies--Russians Taking Heart--Individual Heroism. [Sidenote: Firing on the Unarmed] We must now return to the naval operations; but before dealing with the proceedings of Admiral Togo's fleet off Port Arthur, it will be well perhaps briefly to follow the fortunes of the Russian cruiser squadron stationed at Vladivostock, of which so much had been expected as an agency for the destruction of Japanese commerce on the high seas. The first news received of these cruisers after the outbreak of war did indeed appear to bear out the hopes which the Russians had entertained of them in this respect; but after one solitary exploit--the sinking of a Japanese merchantman--the squadron disappeared from view altogether, and for several weeks its movements became one of the most remarkable mysteries of a mysterious situation. It will be remembered that the vessels composing the squadron were the powerful first-class cruisers, the _Gromoboi_, the _Bogatyr_, the _Rossia_, and the _Rurik_, and the whole was under the command of Captain Reitzenstein, formerly the commander of the _Askold_. Apparently the orders given to the Commodore were to cruise about the coast of Manchuria and Japan with the object of picking off stray merchantmen belonging to the enemy, and it was while he was acting in pursuance of these instructions that Captain Reitzenstein, on February 11th, fell in with two Japanese steamers--the _Nakonoura Maru_ and the _Zensko Maru_, off the Tsugaru Straits, which lie between the islands of Hondo--the Japanese mainland--and Yezo. The larger of the two, the _Nakonoura Maru_, was an old ship, built in 1865, and of 1,084 tons burden; the smaller, the _Zensko Maru_, of only 319 tons, was quite modern, having been built in 1895. They were bound in company from Sokata, in the province of Nizan, to Otaru, in Yezo. The older and slower boat fell an easy prey to the Russian cruisers; but it would seem that she offered fight, for she was surrounded by the men-of-war, bombarded, and sunk, her crew being taken on board the Russian ships. This act called forth a great outburst of indignation in Japan and also in the United States; for though, of course, a merchantman can justifiably be captured as a prize of war, it is not usual to destroy an unarmed ship out of hand.