raised pennant and war flag. Now the _Lynx_
came at top speed past us. As it passed I had my men line up on deck,
and gave a greeting. The greeting was answered. Then, before the
harbor at Padang, I went aboard the _Lynx_ in my well and carefully
preserved uniform and declared my intentions. The commandant opined
that I could run into the harbor, but whether I might come out again
was doubtful.

"Three German ships were in the harbor at Padang," continues Captain
Muecke. "The harbor authorities demanded the certification for pennant
and war flag, also papers to prove that I was the commander of this
warship. For that, I answered, I was only responsible to my superior
officer. Now they advised me most insistently to allow ourselves to be
interned peacefully. They said it wasn't at all pleasant in the
neighborhood. We'd fall into the hands of the Japanese or the English.
As a matter of fact, we again had great luck. On the day before a
Japanese warship had been cruising around here. Naturally, I rejected
all the well-meant and kindly advice, and did this in the presence of
my lieutenants. I demanded provisions, water, sails, tackle, and
clothing. They replied we could take on board everything which we had
formerly had on board, but nothing which would mean an increase in our
naval strength.

"First thing, I wanted to improve our wardrobe, for I had only one
sock, a pair of shoes, and one clean shirt, which had become rather
threadbare. My comrades had even less. But the master of the port
declined to let us have, not only charts, but also clothing and
toothbrushes, on the ground that these would be an increase in
armament. Nobody could come aboard, nobody could leave the ship
without permission. I requested that the consul be allowed to come
aboard. The consul, Herr Schild, as also did the brothers Baeumer, gave
us assistance in the friendliest fashion. From the German steamers
boats could come alongside and talk with us. Finally, we were allowed
to have German papers. They were, to be sure, from August only. From
then until March, 1915, we saw no papers.

"Hardly had we been towed out of the harbor again after twenty-four
hours, on the evening of the 28th of November, 1914, when a
searchlight flashed before us. I thought, 'Better interned than
prisoner.' I put out all lights and withdrew to the shelter of the
island. But they were Hollanders and didn't do anything to us. Then
for two weeks more we drifted around, lyi