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we could get up we were ordered out into the garden and were kept stand- ing there for over an hour. We were then told to return to the hotel and gather together what luggage we could carry in our hands, as we were go- ing on a long walk. Without a bite to eat or a drink of water, we were started on the eight mile walk to North Point. The Chinese men went with us, but their women and all the nationals except the British and the Amer- icans were kept in the hotel. We passed through lines of our own dead and saw the terrible devastation of the Colony. There was not a single Japan- ese body to be seen. It is difficult to describe the horror of that march. The Japanese soldiers were constantly prodding us in the backs and telling us to hurry. The sun was very hot and even the light luggage we were carry- ing was very heavy. Three times on the march we were stopped and treated to exhibitions of Japanese terror. The Japanese soldiers caught Chinese coolies, jujitsued them and strung them up on fences. In one place we heard the terrible screams of men being beaten. About three o'clock in the afternoon, we finally arrived at the offices of the Electric Company at North Point. We were herded on the side-walk across the street, where sometimes we were allowed to sit down, but mostly the Japanese soldiers came along with bayonets and made us stand up. There were about one hund- dred of us in that little group, old men, old women, little children and babies. We had nothing to eat or drink. As evening came on, it became cooler and we were in a very perilous condition. The Japanese interpreter wandered around talking to people and trying to trap them into all sorts of admissions. He finally approached Mr. Shields and ordered him to go over to the Gendarmerie to talk with the Japanese General. He began by asking Mr. Shields why the British were treating the Japanese nationals so badly in their internment. He then asked him if he would take an order for surrender to the Governor. As Mr. Shields realized that the Japanese then held practically all of the island and had many thousands of their troops installed there with splendid equipment, he told the General he would comply with his request if the people who were sitting on the other side of the street would be taken care of and given food and water. The Japanese General agreed to do this but told Mr. Shields he must leave immediately, which he did taking Major Manners along with him as companion. When they reached No Man's Land, the interpreter told them he considered it unsafe for them to go in that night, as it was already dark. He put them in an Indian's house, where they were given water but no food and where they stayed the night. As soon as Mr. Shields and Major Manners left us, we were herded into the coolie quarters of the Duro Paint Company, the filth of which is indescribable. We sat in bare rooms on the floor or on suit cases. They brought us hot water to drink and some unspeakable rice gruel which we could not touch. At ten o'clock a friendly gendarme brought us some biscuits and sausages. That was our Christmas Eve dinner. Our own forces, who did not know we were there, were shelling the district. Sev- eral hits were made on the building we were in, but nothing of a serious nature. It was a night of terror. We were in absolute darkness and did not know what our fate was to be.
On the morning of December 25th, Mr. Shields and Major anners took the white flag up Hennessy Road and contacted our troops at Gilman's Garage. They were taken to Government House where they were first given a meal and then the Governor called his Defense Council. The Japanese General's
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