l at the
same distance behind us. I steered to the right and then to the left,
but the buoy kept on following us. I descended deeply into the water,
but still saw the buoy floating on the surface above us. At last I
discovered that we had caught the chain of the buoy and that we were
dragging it along with us.

"At the same time, also, I saw through the periscope that a strange
small steamer was steering a course directly behind us and the buoy. At
this time my sounding apparatus indicated that a screw steamer was in
the vicinity. Observation revealed that five enemy torpedo-boats were
approaching from the north. I increased the speed of the boat in the
expectation of being able to attack one of them. The five torpedo-boats
arranged themselves in a circle. I sank still deeper and got ready for
eventualities.

"At this juncture my boat began to roll in a most incomprehensible
manner. We began to rise and sink alternately. The steering-gear
apparently was out of order. Soon afterward I discovered that we had
encountered a wire netting and were hopelessly entangled in it. We had,
in fact, got into the net of one of the hunters surrounding us.

"For an hour and a half the netting carried us with it, and although I
made every effort to get clear of it, it seemed impossible. There was
nothing to do but increase the weight in the submarine as much as
possible so that I might try to break the netting. Fortunately, when we
had started I had pumped in from five to six tons of water, filling all
the tanks. I increased the weight of the boat to the utmost, and
suddenly we felt a shock and were clear of the netting. I then descended
as deeply in the water as I could, the manometer showing thirty metres.
We remained under water for eighteen hours. When I wanted to ascertain
where we were I noticed that my compass was out of order. For a time I
steered by the green color of the water, but at last I had to get rid of
the ballast in order to rise. I then discovered that the manometer
continued to register the same depth, and was also out of order.

"I had, therefore, to be very careful not to rise too high and thus
attract the attention of the torpedo-boats. Slowly the periscope rose
above the surface, and I could see the enemy in front of me, and toward
the left the east coast of England. I tried to turn to starboard, but
the rudder did not work. In consequence, I had to sink again to the
bottom of the sea, where I remained for six