midday
To step lightly into her and murmur the order to shove off was the work of a moment , and half an hour later I was again safely aboard the _ Kasanumi _ , to the great joy of young Hiraoka , who , it appeared , had been all day haunted with the fear that I might fall into the hands of the Russians . And now , weary as I was , there were at least two hours ' work before me , with pencil , paper , protractor , parallel ruler , and scale , making calculations and laying down upon map and chart the result of my observations . This result was , on the whole , eminently satisfactory , for although I discovered a few trifling errors in the map , here and there , my observations enabled me to correct them ; and when I had at length finished , map and chart were in a condition which would enable me to proceed with the second part of my task with the assurance of success . This accomplished , I retired to my cabin with an easy mind , and slept the sleep of the just until midday . A salt-water douche on deck for a few minutes , skilfully administered by a laughing Japanese seaman , and a brisk rub down with a rough towel left me fresh and invigorated , quite ready for a meal and the work which still lay ahead of me . The first part of this consisted in laying down upon the chart a number of positions corresponding with the varying draughts of water of the several units which the Admiral was detailing to assist General Oku in his operations against the Russian forces who were barring his passage of the Kinchau isthmus . The laying down of the positions above referred to was a task demanding a considerable amount of thought and care , for it was important that the ships should approach the shore as nearly as possible , otherwise their guns might be out-ranged , while , on the other hand , they must not be permitted to approach too near , or they would be exposed to the risk of being left aground on a falling tide .