picture from the _Matin_.

In the next few days we stopped and searched several neutral steamers,
and sank many English ones. The captains were occasionally stubborn
and refused to obey our signals, so a few accidents occurred; in one
case, for instance, a stray shot struck some passengers in a lifeboat,
which collapsed; but as a rule passengers and crews were picked up by
the many sailboats and fishing boats which circulate in the Irish Sea
and in St. George's Channel, and it was we who generally summoned
these fishermen to go to the rescue of their shipwrecked countrymen.

The method of capture was always the same, and now, our ammunition
being nearly exhausted, we steered a homeward course, with the hope
of securing a few more steamers on the way. We were again favored by
good luck, for at the entrance of the English Channel we ran across a
large steamer, coming from America and heading for a French port,
heavily laden with all the fine things that the Americans at present
so willingly export.

The chase began in the usual fashion as we followed closely in the
enemy's wake. Although the captain made an effort to escape, yet he
evidently felt certain from the beginning that he would be unable to
do so, for he immediately swung out the lifeboats, ready to be
lowered. We were economizing our ammunition and did not, according to
our custom, fire a warning shot, but as we drew near the steamer we
suddenly saw dark, round objects thrown overboard. The man at the
helm beside me exclaimed: "They are throwing mines," but I was not of
the same opinion. We proceeded quietly to examine these suspicious
objects more closely, and we discovered they were simply bundles of
clothes the sailors were trying to save. In pitching them into the
lifeboats they had missed the mark and the bundles had fallen into the
sea. A report had apparently spread through the English seaports that
the men had but scant time to save their belongings when they were
sighted by one of our submarines, and since that time their clothes
were strapped together ready for a sudden emergency. The steamer
stopped and the crew on this occasion took to the boats with a perfect
discipline we were little accustomed to witness; the "Flaminian" was
sent to the bottom of the sea with one of our last torpedoes.

The following morning, before bidding the west coast of England a
temporary farewell, we made another good catch. We sighted a
broad-bottomed, four-masted ste