se atrocious sufferings which have
brought all hearts into closer contact, a new Belgium is born, a
greater, more generous, more ideal Belgium."

CHAPTER XIII

BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES

The month of October, 1914, contained no important naval contests. On
the 15th, the old British cruiser Hawke was torpedoed in the North Sea
and nearly five hundred men were lost. On the other hand, on the 17th of
October, the light cruiser Undaunted, accompanied by the destroyers,
Lance, Legion and Loyal, sank four German destroyers off the Dutch
coast. But the opening of November turned the interest of the navy to
the Southern Pacific. When the war began Admiral von Spee, with the
German Pacific squadron, was at Kiaochau in command of seven vessels.
Among these was the Emden, whose adventurous career has been already
described. Another, the Karlsruhe, became a privateer in the South
Atlantic.

Early in August von Spee set sail from Kiaochau with two armored
cruisers, the Gneisenau and the Scharnhorst and three light cruisers,
the Dresden, Leipzig and Nurmberg. These ships were comparatively new,
well armed, and of considerable speed. They set off for the great trade
highways to destroy, as far as possible, British commerce. Their route
led them to the western coast of South America, and arrangements were
made so that they were coaled and provisioned from bases in some of the
South American states which permitted a slack observance of the laws
respecting the duties of neutrals.

A small British squadron had been detailed to protect British commerce
in this part of the world. It was commanded by Rear Admiral Sir
Christopher Cradock, a distinguished and popular sailor, who had under
his command one twelve-year-old battleship, the Canopus, two armored
cruisers, the Good Hope and the Monmouth, the light cruiser Glasgow, and
an armed liner, the Otranto. None of these vessels had either great
speed or heavy armament. The equipment of the Canopus, indeed, was
obsolete. Admiral Cradock's squadron arrived at Halifax on August 14th,
thence sailed to Bermuda, then on past Venezuela and Brazil around the
Horn. It visited the Falkland Islands, and by the third week of October
was on the coast of Chile. The Canopus had dropped behind for repairs,
and though reinforcements were expected, they had not yet arrived.

One officer wrote, on the 12th of October, "From now till the end of the
month is the critical time, as it will decide whether