Tsing-tao. A successor, indeed, had been appointed, and was on the way
to relieve him. But just before war was declared von Spee and his
squadron steamed off into the open seas. To remain at Tsing-tao while
vastly superior forces were closing in upon him would be to little
purpose. Commerce raiding offered a field for rendering valuable service
to the Fatherland. The _Emden_ was dispatched to the southern seas. The
_Leipzig_ and the _Nuernberg_ proceeded across the Pacific, and began to
prey upon the western coast of South America. Half the maritime trade of
Chili was carried in English ships. Many of them might be seized and
destroyed at little risk. The Admiral, with his two remaining vessels,
the _Scharnhorst_ and the _Gneisenau_, successfully evaded the hostile
fleets for some time. On September 14 he touched at Apia, in German
Samoa, familiar to readers of Robert Louis Stevenson. It could be
remembered how, fifteen years before, this colony, shortly to fall
before a New Zealand expeditionary force, had been a bone of contention
between Great Britain and Germany. Captain Sturdee, whom von Spee was
soon to meet in more arduous operations, had on that occasion commanded
the British force in the tribal warfare. Eight days later, on September
22, the two German cruisers arrived off Papeete, in Tahiti, one of the
loveliest of Pacific islands. A small disarmed French gunboat lying
there was sunk, and the town was bombarded. The Admiral, planning a
concentration of German ships, then steamed east across the Pacific. He
got into touch with friendly vessels. By skilful man[oe]uvring he
finally brought five warships, with colliers, together near Valparaiso.

[Sidenote: Armament of cruisers.]

[Sidenote: Coal needed.]

[Sidenote: Drake's exploits.]

[Sidenote: Search for cruisers.]

The German ships were all of recent construction. The _Scharnhorst_ and
the _Gneisenau_ were armoured cruisers of 11,600 tons. The _Leipzig_,
the _Nuernberg_, and the _Dresden_ were light cruisers of about 3,500
tons. The armament of the larger vessels included eight 8.2-inch and six
6-inch guns. The smaller relied upon either ten or twelve 4-inch pieces.
Each ship carried torpedo tubes, and the speed of each was about
twenty-two or twenty-three knots an hour. The _Dresden_, however, could
go to twenty-seven knots. The squadron possessed all-important allies.
Several German merchant-marine companies, notably the Kosmos, plied
along the Chilia