aul all the tackle, for I didn't trust to
peace, and we had left the English Captain back on the island. I had
said: 'We are going to East Africa.' Therefore I sailed at first
westward, then northward. There followed the monsoons, but then also
long periods of dead calm. Then we scolded! Only two neutral ports came
seriously under consideration: Batavia and Padang. At Keeling I
cautiously asked about Tsing-tao, of which I had naturally thought
first, and so quite by chance learned that it had fallen. Now I decided
for Padang, because I knew I would be more apt to meet the _Emden_
there, also because there was a German Consul there, because my schooner
was unknown there, and because I hoped to find German ships there and
learn some news. 'It'll take you six to eight days to reach Batavia,' a
Captain had told me at Keeling. Now we needed eighteen days to reach
Padang, the weather was so rottenly still.

[Sidenote: Life on board the _Ayesha_.]

"We had an excellent cook on board; he had deserted from the French
Foreign Legion. But with water we had to go sparingly, each man received
three glasses daily. When it rained, all possible receptacles were
placed on deck and the main sail was spread over the cabin roof to catch
the rain. The whole crew went about naked, in order to spare our wash,
for the clothing from Keeling was soon in rags. Toothbrushes were long
ago out of sight. One razor made the rounds of the crew. The entire ship
had one precious comb.

[Sidenote: A Dutch torpedo boat.]

"As at length we came in the neighborhood of Padang, on November 26, a
ship appeared for the first time and looked after our name. But the name
had been painted over, because it was the former English name. As I
think, 'You're rid of the fellow,' the ship comes again in the evening,
comes within a hundred yards of us. I send all men below deck. I
promenade the deck as the solitary skipper. Through Morse signals the
stranger betrayed its identity. It was the Hollandish torpedo boat
_Lyn_. I asked by signals, first in English, then twice in German: 'Why
do you follow me?' No answer. The next morning I find myself in
Hollandish waters, so I raise pennant and war flag. Now the _Lyn_ came
at top speed past us. As it passes, I have my men line up on deck, and
give a greeting. The greeting is answered. Then, before the harbor at
Padang, I went aboard the _Lyn_ in my well and carefully preserved
uniform and declared my intentions. The command