irreplaceable. We were therefore very glad to know they were not all
lost to us. But we congratulated ourselves that the greater part of our
treasures gathered there had been left behind safely stored in the Bank
and in a go-down in Bangkok.




CHAPTER III

BACK TO THE "HITACHI MARU"


The _Hitachi_ was now a German ship, the Prize Captain was in command,
and German sailors replaced the Japanese, who had all been transferred
to the _Wolf_. The German Captain spoke excellent English, and expressed
a wish to do all he could to make us as comfortable on board as we had
been before. He also told us to report at once to him if anything were
missing from our cabins. (He informed us later that he had lived some
years in Richmond--he evidently knew the neighbourhood quite well--and
that he had been a member of the Richmond Tennis Club!) There was of
course considerable confusion on board; the deck was in a state of dirt
and chaos, littered with books and chairs, and some parts of it were an
inch or two deep in water, and we found next morning that the bathrooms
and lavatories were not in working order, as the pipes supplying these
places had been shot away when the ship was shelled. This state of
affairs prevailed for the next few days, and the men passengers
themselves had to do what was necessary in these quarters and haul
sea-water aboard. The next morning the transference of coal, cargo, and
ship's stores from the _Hitachi_ to the _Wolf_ began, and went on