n coast. The tonnage of their vessels, indeed, amounted
to no less than half that of the English companies. The advance of
German enterprise in Chili in recent years had been very marked. Von
Spee's great stumbling-block was coal. The laws of war prevented him
from sending more than three of his warships into a neutral port at the
same time, from staying there more than twenty-four hours, from taking
more coal than was necessary to reach the nearest German harbour, from
coaling again for three months at a port of the same nationality. But if
German merchantmen, hampered by no such restrictions, could constantly
renew his supplies, the difficulty of fuel could be to some extent met.
Provisions and secret information as to British movements could also be
obtained through the same source. Such employment of merchantmen,
however, being contrary to international law, would have to be
clandestine. The great Pacific coast offered numerous harbours and
abundant facilities for being utilized as a base under such conditions.
It showed many historic precedents for bold and adventurous exploits
which could not fail to appeal to an admiral whose family, ennobled by
the Emperor Charles VI, took pride in its ancient and aristocratic
lineage. The occasion seemed opportune, moreover, for the
accomplishment, by himself, his officers, and men, of deeds which should
inspire their posterity as British naval traditions, for lack of other,
at present inspired them. They could recall how, on this very coast, in
1578-9, Drake, the master raider, had seized a Spanish treasure-ship off
Valdivia, had descended like a hawk upon Callao, had pounced upon
another great galleon, taking nearly a million pounds in gold and
silver; and how the intrepid mariner, sailing off into the unknown
ocean, had circumnavigated the globe, while the furious de Toledo
waited, with eleven warships, in the Straits of Magellan. Why, indeed,
should not the Germans imitate, in the twentieth century, the deeds of
Drake in the sixteenth? If they preyed ruthlessly upon English
merchantmen, laden with the wealth of the West, if they made a descent
upon the Falkland Islands, if then they were to disappear into the wide
Pacific, a career of splendid adventure and of unbounded usefulness
would earn for them both the respect and the plaudits of the world.
Australian and Japanese warships were sweeping the eastern Pacific for
them. Many British vessels, called from useful employment e