THE JAPAN-RUSSIA WAR.
The task was enormous; so vastly difficult, indeed, that until the actual departure of the fleet few, anywhere, believed that such a plan was seriously contemplated. Even when departure had been made, experts rather held to the view that Russia, herself, meant to ask for peace and was merely making a demonstration that might be counted on to modify Japan's demands.
The voyage had hardly been begun when an incident occurred, which has been already narrated, and which astonished the entire
world and nearly led to war between Rus-
Tragedy of the                sia and Great Britain. In the North Sea,
North Sea         at the point known as the Dogger Bank,
the   Russian   vessels   encountered   the
Gamecock fishing fleet from Hull, England. The Russian admiral mistook some of the trawlers for tofpedo boats and ordered his vessels to fire. One fishing boat was sunk and two men were killed, others -v^gf badly wounded.
Fop some days the excitement in England was intense, and British official documents published later on showed that the two countries were on the point of war, but the crisis was ended by an agreement to refer the incident to an international naval tribunal. This board of inquiry met in Paris, and after a long investigation reported that the Russian contention that hostile torpedo boats were present when the firing took place was not justified. Rozhdestvensky, however, was acquitted of the charge of conduct unbecoming a sailor, and the incident was ultimately closed by the payment of a large money indemnity by Russia.
The Dogger Bank affair caused some delay to the Russian ships, though not nearly as much as Englishmen expected. After leaving the Straits of Gibraltar the fleet divided, one division, under Admiral Rozhdestvensky, proceeding by way of the Cape of Good
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