sheets. All had to be stamped and signed and sworn to; and about noon we not only had permission, but strict orders as well, to 'clear out.' Passing underneath the new Kaiser Wilhelm bridge, we reached the main part of the New Harbour. Thence, through the southern and westernmost exit (No. 1), we ultimately reached Jade Bay. On leaving the last lock we shipped one of the Weser District pilots, who was to see us as far as Wangeroog, and not only steer us through the narrow winding channels between the sandbanks, but through many devious zigzag paths of the minefield as well. As we passed the main entrance to Wilhelmshaven, the U 11 came in. She was greeted by hurrahs and the sirens of ships close by, so I concluded that the crew had covered themselves with some further 'glory.'

In thoroughness the Germans can give any other nation twelve months' start, and still easily overtake it in the next two. I don't think that an English salmon of any self-respecting weight would succeed in slipping through the sentinels guarding the entrances to the Jade, Weser and Elbe Mouths. We had hardly been out in the bay half an hour, when a patrol-boat came alongside. Your papers, if you please,' demanded a very grimy but important-looking young naval officer. 'Every hand on deck, if you please,' was the next order. Every one of us was thoroughly examined, scrutinised, and asked whether he spoke English, whether he had ever served on a British ship, whether he had served in any army or navy, and which, whether he had any relations in England, in France, in Belgium, in Italy. The officer must have liked our society, for he stayed and stayed, and finally decided to see us safely out. His old-fashioned torpedo-boat was to follow. Slowly we wound our way down Jade Bay, half-a-dozen signal pennants flowing from our mainmast. Wherever one looked, one could not evade the watching eyes of the coast batteries, the muzzles of which seemed to warn you threateningly to 'behave yourself.' About two o'clock we reached the Schillighörn lighthouse, or what used to be there, but is no longer.

If we thought we should have clear sailing now, we were deceived. Another torpedo-boat, of less pre-historic design, came flying towards us. Our guest-or was he

our host?-became all in a flutter, like a débutante at her first presentation. Soon another officer, with a little more gold braid round his cuffs, came to pay his respects. Then followed a heel-clicking on the part of our first visitor, and a quick-fire of German, which I suppose was a report, but which sounded more like ten lines of typewritten matter with the punctuations and spacing between words left out. I pride myself on a thorough knowledge of the German language, but may I be hanged if I could make out more than 'Melde gehorsamst' (report most obediently). The superior grunted something about going to see for himself. He did. The whole performance-search, examination of crew, cross-questioning, and thought X-raying-started over again. It looked as if we were going to spend another night in Jade Bay.

We were eventually allowed to proceed, and got as far as Wangeroog that day (it was then about four), having completed, since 11 a.m. that morning, about twenty-eight miles. Needless to say, we could not be trusted in the dark, certainly not near such an important station as Wangeroog. We might slip across the island that night and steal one of the 12-inch guns! Four sailors and a petty officer, carrying their bread, sausages and beer, came to look after us. Next morning another young Naval Lieutenant introduced himself-it was about 6 a.m. No, thank you, he had breakfasted already. He made certain that his colleagues had overlooked no errors in the bill of lading, the list of the crew, and halfa-dozen other manifests; and after another thorough scrutiny of the ensemble, departed with his men and the remnants of their provisions, which had polluted the air of our not over-ventilated little cabin.

We passed the Roter Sand lighthouse that should be but was no more, and actually had paddled along six or eight knots unassisted before we were held up again. 'Stop at once,' was the signal from another torpedo-boat that might have served as an escort to Noah's Ark. Of course, it was the same rigmarole all over again. ‘Hadn't you better take a pilot along?' enquired the naval officer of the skipper. The latter, having made the journey for the last ten years, week after week, knew the channels as well as any pilot; still, mines might have shifted during the night, so he might as well transfer the

responsibility of the vessel to a German pilot. Up went our flag, bordered with white; and a large sailing vessel, which had been lying inshore, made for us. After the pilot had come on board, we had peace for a few hours. Nothing to worry us but a stiff north-west gale that tried hard to blow us on one of the many sandbanks, and every few minutes a wave that drove everything loose on deck before it. We gave the treacherous Scharhörn a wide berth, and then turned east towards the Elbe mouth and Cuxhaven, where they began to worry us again. A patrol-boat waved its welcome to us and subsequently gave us a lead, while four of her crew under a junior officer searched us. The process of examination was repeated a few more times, but at last we reached Cuxhaven, where we were to put up for the night.

We had accomplished over forty-two miles that day. A record! It was still early, about 4 p.m. It would be high tide for another two hours. Could we not go on to Brunsbüttel?' (a distance of about sixteen miles), we enquired. 'What, approach the Canal at dusk? Were we mad? Did we want to commit suicide?' They certainly were much concerned about our safety. Of course we had to take lodgers again for the night-six of them this time. They made themselves quite at home in our one and only cabin. Still they contented themselves with one side, leaving the opposite seat for the captain, the mate, and myself. The seat was not built to accommodate six stout Germans; and it was extremely amusing, and made up for many annoyances of the day, to see those six creatures trying to hang on to whatever part of the bench they could squeeze into. When I tell you that it only gave the three of us just elbow-room, and that the Germans were dressed in top-coats, with belts, bayonets, cartridge pouches, etc., you may better imagine than I can describe the amount of comfort they enjoyed. Whenever one of them wanted to get at his provisions, he had to stand up; and his place, like a hole in dry sand, filled up at once.

One of them had a little terrier with him. I liked him-the dog, I mean-and, when I heard its pathetic story, I took it literally to my heart. It had to answer to a name that sounded like Ooleel, but was meant to stand for 'U' and 'Lille.' The dog was a trophy brought

6

home by a relative of the present owner, who, serving on a submarine, had rescued him from the torpedoed 'Ville de Lille.' Poor U-Lille' had not heard his native tongue for a long time, and, when I addressed him in French, he pricked up his ears, stood on his hind legs, and put his little head on my knee, while his brown eyes looked wistfully at me, as if he wanted to say: 'Take me away from these Huns, take me back to my Master.'

But to return to his present master and his companions. 'Seen any Britishers hanging around here lately?' I enquired. Ugh!' grunted the fattest of the lot, while cutting his sausage into inch-thick slices, with a pocketknife large enough for a chef cook, there isn't the smell of a Britisher left on the North Sea.' 'Well, that's cheerful,' I replied. 'You couldn't say the same about Germans, eh?' It passed by most of them, except a little dark man with narrow slits in his head, where the eyes are supposed to be. He looked quizzingly at me and slowly remarked: 'You don't seem to like the "German smell," eh?' 'I don't mind it,' I answered indifferently, but added in the next breath, on the North Sea!' One of the younger fellows was addressed and referred to as 'Professor.' In normal times he was swaying a schoolmaster's baton in some small Frisian village near Emden. He was quite eager to show his prowess and maintain his reputation as a Gelehrter' among his fellow-soldiers. The old enquiry was made, Why don't you people go out and see whether you can't teach the British a good lesson ?'

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'Ah, no, sir, not yet, not yet,' said the Professor, shaking his thin but sausage-fatted finger, while gripping with the other hand six inches of the said delicacy. 'Have you ever heard of the Hellenic wars?' he asked. His colleagues had evidently heard the story before. You have? Good. Now you may remember in one of those wars there was a famous Roman General. His name? Oh, what matter? It might have been Schmidt. He was a brave general, but his army was numerically-mind you, I am only saying "numerically -far inferior to that of the enemy. What did our general do? Go and run after his adversary and say, "Please annihilate me"? No, sir, he had a greater duty to perform to the Roman Empire. He chose an advantageous part of the country, a mountain in fact, and there entrenched himself.