The battle off the Yaloo is the first great naval
engagement which has occurred since iron superseded wooden men-of-war, and the interest taken in the struggle in all Admiralties is intense. Details, however, are required before the naval pro- fession can make up its mind. To lay observers, with the incomplete information as yet to hand, it appears that the first-class ironclad has the best chance, the Chen Yuen,' of 7,200 tons, living through the whole business ; that the torpedo is a far better engine of destruction than the huge gun, as it destroys, if it hits, at once ; and that the supply of ammuni- tion is of more vital importance than ever. Sea-battles may last so long with ironclads that no single vessel can carry anything like enough of an arsenal. No attempt, it will be observed, was made to ram. The public should note carefully, for it concerns the whole future of Asia, and especially of British power, that the sailors on both sides fought as well as any Europeans. No men can do more than fight till they die or drown, and both Chinese and Japanese did that. We cannot discern the faintest trace of skulking on either side, though the theory has been that most Asiatics in the end skulk.
