screw, which had slowly
pulled him down, had thrown him up again, and he swam towards us. A
big wave having tossed him onto our low deck, we were glad to find he
was unhurt, and we gave him the best of care. He was a Dutchman, and
after a fortnight spent in our midst, he was so happy he no longer
wished to leave us.

When it came to our sinking of the "Midland Queen" a similar incident
occurred. A negro had been forgotten by his white fellow-countrymen,
and on finding himself abandoned and alone he was so greatly scared
that he did not dare to leave the sinking ship; we watched him, and
beckoned to him to come to us; but he refused, and swore at us
furiously. Presently the "Midland Queen" pitched violently forward,
and stood nearly erect with her nose in the water; then with a shrill
whistling sound she dived below the surface of the waves. The negro's
black head vanished in the turmoil of the waters; then suddenly a
loud detonation occurred; an explosion of compressed air within the
ship threw up, sky-high, barrels and boards, and among them, to our
unbelieving eyes, we saw the wriggling body of the negro. He was
projected into the sea, and swam towards us, apparently none the worse
after this strange and violent experience. We rescued him and handed
him over to his mates, who had rowed back to his assistance.

On our return voyage through the North Sea we met a large sailboat,
with the Swedish flag flying from the topmast. She lay completely
becalmed, and signaled for us to draw near. We saw a large crowd
gathered on her deck, and we approached cautiously, fearing some trap;
when to our joyful surprise we found she had 150 German officers and
sailors on board. They belonged to one of our auxiliary cruisers, the
"Meteor." Her captain after many exploits had been pursued by several
English cruisers, and to save his little vessel from being captured he
had deliberately sent her to the bottom of the sea, and the Swedish
sailboat had picked up the crew. Our shipwrecked comrades told us they
were desperately hungry, but our own provisions were exhausted; so we
took them in tow, for not a breath of wind stirred the sails.

By clear sunshine we merrily covered the short distance to our nearest
port, and towards midday the sailing ship and ourselves let down our
anchors once more off the German coast.

VIII

THE METHOD OF SINKING AND RAISING SHIPS

During the present naval warfare we have had the opportunity to