he deck just outside
the conning tower. Some cordite cartridges were lying outside of it and
these went off with a great flare. Another struck the funnel and the
third came in on the waterline. Fifteen more shells were then fired with
just a little bit too much elevation and passed over. Only two men were
wounded,--fractured legs. Captain Fitzmaurice now decided that honour
and dignity were satisfied and so fell back slowly towards Cape Helles
to try the effect of his guns on the barbed wire entanglements. A good
deal of ammunition was expended but only one hit on the entanglement was
registered, and that did not seem to do any harm. The fire was described
to me as inaccurate. The fact is, as was agreed between the two services
at Malta, the whole principle of naval gunnery is different from the
principles of garrison or field artillery shooting. Before they will be
much good at landmarks, the sailors will have to take lessons in the
art.

Passed a very interesting evening, every one excited, I with my
aeroplane reports; the Staff with the powder they had smelt.

Two of the Australian Commanding Officers dined and I showed them the
aerial photographs of the enemy trenches, etc. The face of one of them
grew very long; so long, in fact, that I feared he was afraid; for I own
these photos are frightening. So I said, "You don't seem to like the
look of that barbed wire, Colonel?" To which he replied, "I was worrying
how and where I would feed and water the prisoners."

_16th April, 1915. S.S. "Arcadian." Lemnos._ Spent the forenoon in
interviews beginning at 10 a.m. with de Robeck and Mr. Fitzmaurice, late
dragoman at the Embassy at Constantinople. Mr. Fitzmaurice says the
Turks will put up a great fight at the Dardanelles. They had believed in
the British Navy, and, a month ago, they were shaking in their shoes.
But they had not believed in the British Army or that a body so
infinitely small would be so saucy as to attack them on their own chosen
ground. Even now, he says, they can hardly credit their spies, or their
eyes, and it ought to be easy enough to make them think all this is a
blind, and that we are really going to Smyrna or Adramiti. They are fond
of saying, "If the English are fools enough to enter our mouth we only
have to close it." Enver especially brags he will make very short work
with us if we set foot so near to the heart of his Empire, and gives it
out that the whole of us will be marching through the