large supplies of bombs, hand grenades, rifles and small arms; had
hospitals with two doctors on board; the officers had the best and most
powerful binoculars; among her crew of more than three hundred were
representatives of every trade; she was thoroughly well equipped in
every way, and absolutely nothing seemed to have been forgotten. There
were, it was said, only three of the officers who were Imperial Navy
men; the Commander, the Artillery Officer, and the Lieutenant in charge
of the prisoners. All the other officers and a great many of the crew
were from the German mercantile marine, who had travelled with, mixed
with, and lived with Englishmen in many parts of the world. To this we
undoubtedly owed the kindly treatment we received on board, treatment
which was infinitely better than we expected to receive. The majority of
the officers and men were certainly kindly disposed towards us. There is
no doubt, however, that the fear we might be taken by a British cruiser
also had something to do with this treatment, for if we had been treated
badly the Germans knew they would have had cause to regret it had they
been captured.

In a conversation with the Lieutenant in charge of the prisoners--who,
by the way, had a Scottish mother--I remarked that it was very hard on
our relations and friends not knowing what had become of us. He agreed
that it was, but added it was no worse for my relations than it was for
his! They did not know where he was either! "No," I replied, "but you
are out doing your duty and serving your country, and when you left home
your people knew they would have no news of you for many months. It is
quite different with us. We are not out to be ingloriously taken
prisoner, we were simply travelling on business, being compelled to do
so. We are not serving our country by being caught and kept in this way,
and our relatives did not expect us to disappear and send them no news
of ourselves for a long time." However, he affected not to see the