ly been lost forever
by its owner. As I was forbidden to have any communication whatsoever
with the outside world, I was not able to carry out my intention
of lodging a complaint at Washington regarding this breach of the
Safe Conduct that had been granted to us.

At last, however, our imprisonment came to an end, and we were
allowed to pursue our journey. Amid the cheers of all on board,
including particularly those of our excellent captain, who felt
the affront we had received very deeply, we weighed anchor. Judge
of the almost panic-stricken disappointment of all the passengers,
therefore, when at the end of a few knots, the ship turned back
on her course! To the great relief of all concerned, however, it
appeared that we had only forgotten to take on board the wireless
telegraphy apparatus which had been taken from us at Halifax. From
that moment, apart from very bad and cold weather, we continued
our journey without further incident. We took a sweeping curve
northward, then sailed down the Norwegian coast without meeting
either an enemy ship or a German submarine. Some of the neutral
passengers were so much terrified of the latter, that they did
not retire to their beds for many nights at a stretch.

At ten o'clock in the morning we landed in the snow in Christiania.
Meanwhile the Mexico telegram had been published in Washington, and
Michaelis, the German Ambassador, in accordance with instructions,
came on board, in order to learn from me whether I could offer
any explanation of the fact--that is to say, whether I suspected
treachery on the part of any of my staff. It is indeed plain from
the oft-quoted reports of the Committee of the Senate, that a host
of underhand tricks must have been played, particularly in the
Post Office; nevertheless, I am of opinion that in this case the
explanation which I gave above is the correct one. The telegram
in question, like many others, was presumably deciphered by the
English. From the experience gained during the war, we have learned
that the diplomacy of the future will never be allowed to rely,
for important matters, upon the secret of a cipher; for skilful
experts are now able to discover the most complicated code, provided
that they are able to intercept a sufficient number of telegrams.
Over and above this, owing to our isolation in Washington, we were
able to alter the cipher but very seldom. As to the suggestion of
treachery on the part of any member of my staff--I