rls of the
air-bubbles which rise constantly from the body of the craft
played about the entire length of the vessel from deck to bows,
and every detail stood out in miraculous sharpness. Farther ahead
there was a multi-coloured twilight. It seemed as if the prow
kept pushing itself noiselessly into a wall of opalescent green
which parted, glistening, and grew to an ethereal, rainbow-like
translucency close at hand.

We were spell-bound by this vision of beauty. The fairy-like
effect was increased by medusae which, poised in the transparent
blue, frequently became entangled in the wires of the mine-guards
or the railings and glowed like trembling fires of rose, pale
gold, and purple.[3]

[Footnote 3: (C)]

But less pleasant things were in store for the _Deutschland's_ crew.
The nearer the boat came to the region of the Gulf Stream, the more
violent the weather became. Though she still ran most of the time on
the surface, it became necessary to keep all openings battened down.
Even the manhole, leading to the turret, could be kept open only
for short periods. Naturally the temperature was rising all the
time. It was midsummer and the Gulf Stream contributed its share of
warmth. No wonder, therefore, that Captain Koenig compares conditions
below decks to a "veritable hell," and then continues:

While in the Gulf Stream we had an outer temperature of 28 deg.
Celsius. This was about the warmth of the surrounding water.
Fresh air no longer entered. In the engine-room two 6-cylinder
combustion motors kept hammering away in a maddening two-four
time. They hurled the power of their explosions into the whirling
crankshafts. The red-hot breath of the consumed gases went
crashing out through the exhausts, but the glow of these
incessant firings remained in the cylinders and communicated
itself to the entire oil-dripping environment of steel. A choking
cloud of heat and oily vapour streamed from the engines and
spread itself like a leaden pressure through the entire ship.

During these days the temperature mounted to 53 deg. Celsius.

And yet men lived and worked in a hell such as this! The watch
off duty, naked to the skin, groaned and writhed in their bunks.
It was no longer possible to think of sleep. And when one of the
men fell into a dull stupor, then he would be aroused b