rly, but very much slower. All at once
the enemy, at high speed, shot by, apparently quite close to the
_Emden_. A high white waterspout showed amidst the black smoke of
the enemy. That was a torpedo. I saw how the two opponents withdrew,
the distance growing greater and greater between them; how they
separated, till they disappeared in the darkness. The fight had
lasted ten hours.

"I had made up my mind to leave the island as quickly as possible.
The _Emden_ was gone; the danger for us growing. In the harbor I
had noticed a three-master, the schooner _Ayesha_. Mr. Ross, the
owner of the ship and of the island, had warned me that the boat
was leaky, but I found it quite a seaworthy tub. Now provisions
for eight weeks, and water for four, were quickly taken on board.
The Englishmen very kindly showed us the best water and gave us
clothing and utensils. They declared this was their thanks for our
'moderation' and 'generosity.' Then they collected the autographs
of our men, photographed them and gave three cheers as our last
boat put off. It was evening, nearly dark, when we sailed away.

"The _Ayesha_ proved to be a really splendid boat. We had only one
sextant and two chronometers on board, but a chronometer journal
was lacking. Luckily I found an 'Old Indian Ocean Directory' of
1882 on board; its information went back to the year 1780.

"I had said: 'We are going to East Africa.' Therefore I sailed
at first westward, then northward. There followed the monsoons,
but then also, long periods of dead calm. Only two neutral ports
came seriously under consideration; Batavia and Padang. At Keeling
I had cautiously asked about Tsing-tau, of which I had naturally
thought first, and so quite by chance I learned that it had fallen.
Now I decided for Padang, because I knew I would be more apt to
meet the _Emden_ there, also because there was a German consul
there, because my schooner was unknown there and because I hoped to
find German ships there, and learn some news. 'It'll take you six
to eight days to reach Batavia' a captain had told me at Keeling.
Now we needed eighteen days to reach Padang, the weather was so
rottenly still."

The suffering of the crew of the _Emden_ on their perilous voyage
is here told in the captain's words: "We had an excellent cook
aboard; he had deserted from the French Foreign Legion. We had to
go sparingly with our water; each man received but three glasses
daily. When it rained, all possible