midnight
and `` Bang ! '' they went on incessantly until all were out of range , the boats in tow resembling a funeral procession which , with its weird surroundings , seemed like Holbein 's `` Dance of Death . '' It was such a ghastly picture , which those who saw it will never forget . The lapping water had by this time overflowed the shelving banks of the river , which spread out far beyond its regular bounds into the reedy plains and marshes on either hand , the swollen stream bringing down , as the tide ebbed again towards midnight , the wreckage of the gunboats that had been sunk during the conflict . Broken spars and the remnants of the destroyed booms floated along , impeding the progress of the craft that had escaped , and blocking the narrow channel where only sufficient depth could be obtained to admit of their passage out to sea ; while the corpses of the slain that had fallen overboard floated by similarly on the turbid bosom of the Peiho . All these baffled our poor fellows who were struggling for their lives when the boats upset , and endeavouring to swim to the steamers , which , on their part , were trying their hardest to get across the bar before it would be too late ! All the time , too , the Manchurian marksmen were busy taking pot-shots at some unhappy survivor wallowing in the mud under the forts , which were firing furiously without a moment 's cessation , lighting up the hideous scene on which the dark heavens above , without a star to be seen , looked down in horror .