t contained officers and sailors only. No one in our
boat knew where we were to go or what we were to do. One passenger
wildly suggested that we should hoist a sail and set sail for Colombo,
two days' _steaming_ away! Search was made for provisions and water in
our boat, but she was so full of people and impedimenta that nothing
could be found. It _was_ found, however, that water was rapidly coming
into the boat, and before long it reached to our knees. The hole which
should have been plugged could not be discovered, so for more than an
hour some of the men took turns at pulling, and baling the water out
with their sun-helmets. This was very hot work, as it must be remembered
we were not far from the Equator. Ultimately, however, the hole was
found and more or less satisfactorily plugged. Water, however, continued
to come in, so baling had still to be proceeded with. An Irish Tommy,
going home from Singapore to join up, was in our boat. He was most
cheerful and in every way helpful, working hard and pulling all the
time. It was he who plugged the hole, and as he was almost the only one
among us who seemed to have any useful knowledge about the management of
lifeboats, we were very glad to reckon him among our company.

The four boats were now drifting aimlessly about over the sea, when an
order was shouted to us, apparently from a Japanese officer in one of
the other boats, to tie up with the other three boats. After some time
this was accomplished, and the four boats in line drifted on the water.
The two steamers had stopped; we did not know what was happening on
board either of them, but saw the raider's motor launch going between
the raider and her prize, picking up some of the men who had fallen into
the sea when the boat capsized. Luckily, the sharks with which these
waters are infested had been scared off by the gunfire. We realized,
when we were in the lifeboats, what a heavy swell there was on the sea,
as both steamers were occasionally hidden from us when we were in the
trough of the waves. We were, however, not inconvenienced in any way by
the swell, and the lifeboats shipped no water. There was no one in
command of any of the boats, and we simply waited to see what was going
to happen.

What a sudden, what a dramatic change in our fortunes! One that easily
might have been, might even yet be, tragic. At half-past one, less than
two hours before, we were comfortably on board a fine ship, absolutely
unsuspiciou