regret?  He admitted he did, but the Germans, he said, had no choice in the matter.  They had no port to which they could take their prizes—­this, of course, was the fault of the British! (I saw, too, on this day a photo of the Hitachi flying the German flag, and one showing the damage sustained by her from the Wolf’s firing.  There were ugly holes in the stern quarters, but all above the water-line.) The German officers would take with them to Germany hundreds of pictures giving a complete photographic record of the Wolf’s expedition.

We cruised about again after the Wolf had left us for a couple of days, and on the 17th were stationary all day.  Several sharks were seen around the ship, and the German sailors caught two or three fairly large ones during the day and got them on board.  One particularly ravenous shark made off with the bait three times, and was dragged halfway up the ship’s side on each occasion.  So greedy was he that he returned to the charge for the fourth time, seized the bait, and was this time successfully hauled on board.  On the 18th the sea was rough, and we were gently steaming to keep the ship’s head to the seas, and on the following day we again changed our course many times.  Saturday morning, October 20th, again saw the Wolf in sight at 6.30.  She was still alone, and we proceeded on parallel courses, passing about midday a few white reefs with breakers sweeping over them.  Shortly after, we came in sight of many other reefs, most of which were quite bare, but there were a few trees and a little vegetation on the largest of them, and at 2 p.m. we anchored, and the Wolf tied up alongside us at a snug and sheltered spot.  We were almost surrounded by large and small coral reefs, against which we could see and hear the breakers dashing.  It was a beautiful anchorage, and the waters were evidently well known to the Germans.  Some of the seafaring men amongst us told us we were in the Cargados Carajos Reef, south-east of the Seychelles, and that we were anchored near the Nazareth Bank.

CHAPTER IV

THE GERMANS SINK THEIR PRIZE

So confident did the Germans feel of their security that they stayed in this neighbourhood from October 20th to November 7th, only once—­on October 28th—­moving a few hundred yards away from their original anchorage, and although a most vigilant lookout was kept from the crow’s nest on the Wolf, the seaplane was not sent up once to scout during the whole of that time.  Coal, cargo, and stores were transferred from the Hitachi to the Wolf, and the work went on day and night with just as much prospect of interference as there would have been if the Wolf had been loading cargo from a wharf in Hamburg in peace-time.  The coolness and impudence of the whole thing amazed us.

But one day, October 22nd, was observed as a holiday.  It was Lieutenant Rose’s birthday, and, incidentally, the Kaiserin’s also.  So no loading or coaling was done, but the band on the Wolf—­most of the members with the minimum of clothing and nearly all with faces and bodies black with coal-dust—­lined up and gave a musical performance of German patriotic airs.