Two more days were spent in harbour, and several of the uniform cases arrived, but as yet no sign of mine. On the evening of the second day we weighed anchor and proceeded to Devonport, arriving there next morning. By this time our damaged pinnace had been sufficiently patched up for a short journey, and it was hoisted out and towed ashore carrying a demand for another.
We then coaled.
The light cruiser “——,” which we had previously seen in dry dock, being now completed, was lying alongside one of the wharves, looking very workmanlike in her fresh grey paint.
Presently our new pinnace arrived, and as soon as she was hoisted inboard we went to sea again.
Sunset on the following evening found us off Falmouth, where we sighted five old two-funnelled cruisers. We stopped and waited while the flagship sent her steamboat to the cruiser’s flagship for dispatches, and then we relieved them on the Lizard patrol.
Soon the cruisers were on the horizon steaming towards Devonport, and, spreading out from the rest of our division, we took the second billet from Land’s End, and patrolled up and down all that night. From time to time we caught a glimpse of the loom of the Lizard light, and on this we kept station, being unable to see any of our consorts.
Our present duty was to stop any ships proceeding up Channel and to examine their papers and cargo. Any ships containing contraband of war of whatever description were promptly escorted into Falmouth Harbour and handed over to the port authorities, who detained or confiscated them according to the requirements of the case. Fane, one of our midshipmen, was one of the boarding officers, and very quaint and warlike he looked! He was quite a little chap, and was armed with a huge cutlass and a revolver nearly as big as himself!
On the next day we stopped several tramps and cargo-boats, but discovered nothing suspicious. Two days later, however, the boarding officers were summoned at 4 a.m. and disappeared on deck armed to the teeth, and at 6, when the rest of us were just turning out, they came clattering down the hatchway with the news that we had caught a big Dutch liner called the Gebria, and that she had 400 German reservists on board.
As soon as we were dressed we dashed up on deck to have a look at her. She was a large ship with two yellow funnels, with a light blue band round each, and must have displaced quite 20,000 tons. She was lying about a mile away on our starboard quarter. We put a prize crew on board and proudly escorted her into Falmouth, where we handed her over to the port authorities.