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Page 19
A frightful scene was before me. I have said that the land by which I
had come out on the lake inclined steeply upwards, and the water was
about fifteen feet below me when I arrived in sight of it. It was
surrounded by crowds of Japanese soldiers, who had driven large
numbers of the fugitives into the water, and were firing on them from
every side, and driving back with the bayonet those who attempted to
struggle out. The dead floated on the water, which was reddened with
blood. The soldiers, yelling and laughing with vengeful glee, seemed
to gloat over the agonies of their victims. It was fearful to see
those gory forms struggling in the agitated water, those who still
lived endeavouring to extricate themselves from the mass of corpses,
falling fast, but often rising again with their last energies,
streaming with water and blood, and uttering piteous cries and appeals
for mercy, which were mocked by the fiends around them. Many women
were amongst them; one I noticed carrying a little child, which,
struggling forward, she held up to the soldiers as if in appeal. As
she reached the bank, one of the wretches struck her through with his
bayonet, and with a second stroke as she fell transfixed the child,
which might have been two years old, and held its little body aloft.
The woman rose and made a wild effort to regain the child, but
evidently exhausted and dying, fell back again into the water. Her
body--and in fact it was done with everybody that came within
reach--was hacked in pieces. Fresh batches of victims were being
driven in, until there threatened soon to be no room in the water for
any more. I could bear the spectacle no longer, but turned and fled
from the ghastly spot.
I now knew my whereabouts, and once more set out for the inn, along
the line from which I had strayed. Heaps of dead and spectacles of
murder were continually presenting themselves. In one place I saw some
ten or twelve soldiers with a number of unfortunates whom they had
tied back to back in a batch. With volley after volley they despatched
them, and proceeded to mutilate their bodies in the usual horrible
fashion. Nobody was spared, man, woman, or child, that I could see.
The Chinese appeared to offer no resistance. Many of them prostrated
themselves on the ground before the butchers with abject submission,
and were shot or stabbed in that posture.
I was now to have a close shave. I came suddenly and unawares upon a
party engaged in slaughtering some shrieking wretches--women and
children amongst them--and being perceived was shot at by one of the
soldiers. I rapidly retreated, but he detached himself in pursuit. I
entered a house; he followed, but I had the start of him, and for a
while evaded him. I got into what looked like a kitchen or scullery,
and amongst some other utensils I came upon a curiously shaped
hatchet, very heavy and sharp. I waited for about a quarter of an
hour, and then, judging that the Jap must have left when unable to
find me, I prepared to sally forth again, as it was rather more
dangerous to be in the houses than in the streets, the soldiers
entering and pillaging them one by one, and of course slaughtering
anybody they found within. No sooner, however, had I got to the front,
than I unexpectedly encountered the very man who had driven me in,
retiring laden with booty. He dropped his plunder at once upon seeing
me, and handled his bayonet to run me through. We were in a little low
room, with a door in a corner opening on the street. He made a furious
thrust at me; by a quick movement I evaded it. The steel grazed my
left side, and crashed through the wall behind me, to which I was
pinned by the clothes, and as he tried to withdraw his weapon, I had a
fair stroke at him in return. The axe was very sharp; rage and
despair seemed to have doubled my strength, and I split his skull
half-way down to the jaw. Brains and blood were scattered over me, as
he sank dead at my feet.
I felt no inclination to stay any longer, and was about to take my
departure, when it struck me that I might as well arm myself with my
defunct antagonist's rifle and cartridge-pouch. This led immediately
to a better idea. The Jap was a man of nearly my own stature; why not
put on his clothes? It was fast darkening, and aided in the deception
by the obscurity, my chance of escape would be greatly increased,
though I began to have an uneasy feeling that it would be a miracle if
I escaped destruction anyhow. I immediately acted on the inspiration.
The soldier, I have said, was nearly of my own height (5 ft. 6 in.),
but I was a good deal broader across the shoulders, and I made an
extensive split up the back of his tunic in struggling into it. That,
however, was no great matter, and I was soon equipped in all his outer
casement, except his cap, which had been bisected along with his head.
There was a little keen dagger in his belt, and with it I cut off my
moustache as close as I could, as the Japanese seldom have much hair
on their faces. Then, not forgetting his rifle, a beautiful
Lee-Metford, I sallied forth, carrying my discarded clothes over my
arm, a circumstance not at all likely to attract attention, as they
were all loading themselves with booty.
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