uring the period of tension, has
proved so accurate in essential points of fact, that their insertion
seems justifiable.

[Sidenote: Achievements of the raiders.]

[Sidenote: Supplies hard to obtain.]

[Sidenote: The question of neutrality.]

[Sidenote: Chile's neutrality.]

[Sidenote: Falklands a possible base.]

[Sidenote: _Gneisenau_ and _Nuernberg_ fire on wireless station.]

[Sidenote: Germans are surprised.]

The Graf von Spee had, meanwhile, after the Battle of Coronel, been
devoting himself to harrying maritime commerce. The Falklands could wait
for the present. Since the beginning of hostilities the work of his
light cruisers had been moderately successful. The _Nuernberg_ had cut
the cable between Bamfield, British Columbia, and Fanning Island. The
_Leipzig_ had accounted for at least four British merchantmen, and the
_Dresden_ for at least two more. The armed liner _Eitel Friedrich_ had
also achieved some success. Several traders had had narrow escapes. The
Chilian coast was in a state of blockade to British vessels, the ports
being crowded with shipping that hesitated to venture forth into the
danger zone. The Germans were masters of the Pacific and South Atlantic
trade routes. The Straits of Magellan and the Horn formed a great
waterway of commerce, which for sailing vessels was, indeed, the only
eastern outlet from the Pacific. But completely as he had the situation
in hand, von Spee was experiencing increasing problems and difficulties
with regard to supplies of coal and provisions. Without these he was
impotent. He had been employing German merchantmen to great advantage
for refueling. But trouble was brewing with the Chilian authorities.
Many signs were leading the latter to suspect that, contrary to
international law, German traders were loading at Chilian ports cargoes
of coal and provisions, contraband of war, and were transferring them at
sea to the German warships. There were other causes of complaint. Juan
Fernandez, the isle of romance and of mystery, the home of the original
of Robinson Crusoe, was said to have been degraded into use as a base
for apportioning the booty, coals and victuals, among the belligerent
vessels. The island was a Chilian possession. It was practically certain
that von Spee's squadron had stayed there beyond the legal limit of
time. A French merchantman had, contrary to rule, also been sunk there
by the _Dresden_, within Chilian territorial waters. Inquiries in o