X—STORIES OF SHIPS ON BOTTOM OF THE SEAS
Our first capture on this occasion occurred on February 4th—a Belgian boat, the Luxembourg, four thousand three hundred and twenty-two tons register, with a cargo of five thousand nine hundred tons of coal, the property of a railway company in Buenos Ayres. Considering the high price of coal and freight, this cargo alone was worth about a million marks. Yet cargo and ship promptly disappeared into the depths.
The crew of the Belgian ship consisted of the most varied types of humanity. The majority were neutrals, chiefly Greeks and Spaniards, and their transfer to the Moewe was rather a comical affair. They were hampered by the most unnecessary paraphernalia—mandolins, parrots, zithers, monkeys, dogs, and so on.
On February 6th we captured another vessel, the English steamer Flamenco, four thousand six hundred and twenty-nine tons register. She met our advances by using her wireless. We retorted with a few well-directed shells, and this quickly brought her to her senses, especially as she had caught on fire. The crew rushed to the boats, one of which upset, and about twenty men fell into the water. This is no joke in this region, where sharks abound, and we were genuinely pleased when our prize-crew succeeded in fishing all, save one man, out of the waves.
While preparations were being made to sink the Flamenco, I summoned her captain and remonstrated with him for having used his wireless, an act which had provoked us into firing. He replied that his duty was to thwart our plans, just as much as mine was to capture his boat. One of the neutrals transferred on board the Moewe confirmed our suspicion that we were being tracked. He told us that the English cruiser Glasgow had overtaken them the previous day and had warned them of the danger of an encounter with the Moewe.
At first we were inclined to doubt the story, for up to now we had neither seen nor heard of this cruiser. On developing some photographic plates seized on board the Flamenco, however, we made the acquaintance of this English cruiser. We must have unwittingly passed each other in the night.
We continued our voyage in splendid weather, though the heat was insufferable. Good luck was slow in coming. But one afternoon, shortly after five, we caught sight of a vessel, and quickly went in pursuit. She proved to be the Norwegian Estrella, so we let her go. On this occasion we once more changed the aspect of the Moewe.
For days after that we only saw flying-fish, water, and passing clouds. But on Sunday, after having the whole day in vain searched the horizon, towards evening we perceived a cloud of smoke.
We hurried forward, but, unfortunately, it was quite dark before we overtook the steamer.