104               DESTROYER EXPEDITION            [pt.i
not budge from the receivers of the wireless instruments. All was in vain ; there was nothing to be intercepted in the air, nothing to be seen afloat. Our sailing had certainly become known, and it was in no one's interest to remain in the neighbourhood of Port Arthur.
We went as far as Talienwan, described a curve to the southward, and returned, getting back at 4 p.m.
On April 12 the Diana was again on guard. The day passed without any occurrence of note. That night we inaugurated the new billet behind the sunken steamers.
Towards 10 p.m. Admiral Makaroff and his staff came on board.
Apart from the short apparition of the "Greyhounds" on April 6—and even that was not fully authenticated—two weeks had now passed, during which the enemy had given no sign of life. That was certainly suspicious, and therefore all destroyers ready for sea were sent out in a body during the night of April 12-13. The boats were this time to go a long way. They were given the task of searching the Elliot Islands. These islands are about 60 to 70 miles from Port Arthur, and it seemed very probable that the Japanese occasionally used them as a base. Theoretically, the dark period of one night sufficed completely for the purpose. The destroyers were promised, however, that at daybreak the Askold would in any case go out to meet them. The cruiser was to cover the boats if they had been delayed, and were obliged to return by day. The Askold had been chosen so as to obviate any possible mistake. She was the only vessel in the Far East with five funnels, and could therefore be recognised without any signals, even in the dark. The weather now turned wet. It varied between drizzle and light rain. The Admiral went through our battery. The men were at their action stations, and he said a few words to them, which means so much in war. Hardly had he completed his tour, when something was sighted. It was difficult to say what it was. Still, we saw in the searchlight beam from Cross Hill what were undoubtedly the outlines of vessels. They bore S. 6o° E. Taking into account that our searchlights could not quite reach them,