ermined attack that might be made
upon us by the German navy. Now and then vessels would be sighted on
the horizon and there was always much excitement and speculation as to
what they might be. We could see the cruisers making off in the
direction of the strangers and taking a survey of the ocean at long
range.

One day a man on the "Royal George" fell overboard, and a boat was
instantly lowered to pick him up. The whole fleet came to a
standstill and all our glasses were turned towards the scene of
rescue. Often in our battles when we saw the hideous slaughter of
human beings, I have thought of the care for the individual life which
stopped that great fleet in order to save one man.

Our destination, of course, was not known to us. Some thought we might
go directly to France, others that we should land in England. When at
last, skirting the south coast of Ireland, we got into the English
Channel, we felt more than ever the reality of our adventure. I believe
we were destined for Southampton; but rumour had it that a German
submarine was waiting for us in the Channel, so we turned into the
harbour of Plymouth. It was night when we arrived. A low cloud and
mist hung over the dark choppy waves of the Channel. From the forts at
Plymouth and from vessels in the harbour, long searchlights moved like
the fingers of a great ghostly hand that longed to clutch at something.
We saw the small patrol boats darting about in all directions and we
felt with a secret thrill that we had got into that part of the world
which was at war. We arrived at Plymouth on the evening of October
14th, our voyage having lasted more than a fortnight. Surely no
expedition, ancient or modern, save that perhaps which Columbus led
towards the undiscovered continent of his dreams, was ever fraught
with greater significance to the world at large. We are still too
close to the event to be able to measure its true import. Its real
meaning was that the American continent with all its huge resources,
its potential value in the ages to come, had entered upon the sphere
of world politics, and ultimately would hold in its hands the sceptre
of world dominion. Even the British thought that we had come (p. 029)
merely to assist the Mother Country in her difficulties. Those who
were at the helm in Canada, however, knew that we were not fighting
for the security of the Mother Country only, but for the security of
Canadian nationalism itself. Whatever the ages