CHAPTER IX

AWAY SOUTH

"Into the golden West, across the broad Atlantic once again. 'For I will show,' Said Drake, 'that Englishmen henceforth will sail Old ocean where they will.'"

--ALFRED NOYES (_Drake_).

The two battle-cruisers looked very businesslike as they steamed up to the anchorage; their trip out had taken off a good deal of paint, and they presented something of the appearance of hardened warriors returning from a spell in the trenches, as has been so well portrayed by Captain Bruce Bairnsfather. To our joy they brought a small mail only three weeks old.

No sooner had the rattle of their cables ceased than preparations for coaling were seen to be in progress.

The same day, November 26th, the _Defence_ sailed for Cape Town via St. Helena to join the flag of Rear-Admiral H. G. King-Hall. The _Macedonia_ and _Otranto_ had been sent to Sierra Leone some time previously to let out fires and examine boilers.

The British Squadron was now under the command of Vice-Admiral F. C. D. Sturdee, who held the title of Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic and Pacific. The Admiral's plan of operations possessed the distinctive feature of every good invention; it was extremely simple when once understood. Roughly speaking, it was this. The squadron was to sail south to the Falklands, spreading out to extreme visual signalling distance and searching for the enemy's ships. All signals were to be made by searchlight, and wireless was not to be used unless it was absolutely necessary. The battle-cruisers were placed in the centre of the squadron, comparatively close together, with the double object of being able to concentrate quickly in any direction and of keeping secret their presence in these waters. Orders were subsequently given that, after coaling at the Falklands, the squadron would leave on December 9th, "in order to get round the Horn before the enemy comes East." The enemy was sure to be reported if he used the Straits of Magellan; but it is believed that, to make doubly sure of not missing him, the Admiral intended to divide our squadron. Some of the cruisers would then have gone through the Straits, meeting him with the battle-cruisers somewhere in the Pacific; by this means the presence of the latter would not become known.

Sailing on November 28th, on a lovely calm morning, Admiral Sturdee must have indeed felt a proud man; after years of labour in his profession, he had his ambition realised by the command of a powerful squadron in war with a definite task before him. It consisted of _Invincible_ (flag), _Inflexible_, _Carnarvon_ (flag), _Cornwall_, _Kent_, _Glasgow_, and _Bristol_. The _Macedonia_, now on her way back from Sierra Leone, was to join us on the voyage south.

On December 1st a report was received that "the German fleet was 400 miles off Montevideo" the previous evening, but no one believed it. The next day we left dinner hurriedly; a signal was received, "Alter course together" to starboard 60 degrees. We altered and stood by for action, but it only turned out to be a British vessel--a false alarm which, however, was excellent practice. Information came through on the 3rd that the German tender _Patagonia_ left Montevideo during the night with stores for the German warships; therefore presumably they were not far off.

We arrived off Port Stanley on the morning of December 7th, and were piloted into harbour through a channel in the line of mines, which had been hastily constructed from empty oil-drums, and laid across the entrance by the _Canopus_. As there were only three colliers here, the ships were ordered to coal in turn; the remainder, under convoy of the _Orama_, were following us down from the base.

The Falkland Islands number about two hundred only two of which, East and West Falkland, are of any size. The coast line of both these islands is deeply indented and much resembles one of the Outer Hebrides. Devoid of all trees, the dark brown and green moors, relieved here and there by patches of granite quartz, look uninviting, but abound in penguins hares, and sheep. Some of us, being unable to coal ship, landed on the day of our arrival and shot some hares and geese--a welcome change for the larder. It was the breeding season, and the penguin camps or rookeries were a striking sight; on approaching them hundreds would stand up and waddle forward in a threatening attitude, making a terrible din in order to protect their eggs. So numerous are they compared with the inhabitants that the Governor is locally called the "King of the Penguins."

The little town of Port Stanley, the capital, lies on the south side of the inner portion of a harbour on the east coast of East Falkland, and consists of two streets of houses, almost all, except Government House and the cathedral, constructed of timber and corrugated iron. It is very much like one of the new small towns of Canada. The principal fuel is peat, which may be seen stacked as in Ireland. The population numbers about a thousand, and another thousand--mostly farmers and shepherds of Scottish origin--live out on the moors of the islands.

During the summer the temperature averages about 48° Fahr., and it is nearly always blowing hard, raining, hailing, or snowing. Situated in a cold current from the Antarctic, the temperature only falls eleven degrees in the winter; as a result, scarcely any of the inhabitants can swim, it being too cold to bathe. Owing to the absence of sun and summer heat, wheat, oats, and English vegetables do not thrive, but the colony is none the less remarkably healthy.

When the news of the Coronel disaster reached them, the islanders were naturally much concerned for their safety. They had a volunteer corps of a few hundred men, which took to training most assiduously and quickly improved in efficiency. Every man was a good horseman and proficient with the rifle, but the corps were not sufficiently numerous to prevent a landing. A council of war was held by the Governor, at which the position was fully discussed. It seemed only too probable that the Germans would attack the Islands, and arrangements were made to send away from Stanley the few women and children. Stores of provisions were secreted within easy reach of the town, and the public money, official documents, confidential books, and valuables were either removed to a place of safety or buried.

This was the position when the _Canopus_ and the _Glasgow_ arrived on November 8th. Sailing the same evening, the _Canopus_, when half-way to Montevideo, was ordered by the Admiralty to return and guard the colony.

On November 13th a warship was sighted from the signal station at Port Stanley making straight towards the harbour from the eastward, an unusual direction from which to approach. The volunteers were called out by the church bells sounding the alarm, and every preparation was made to resist a landing; the _Canopus_ on her part could get no reply from the wireless station, so was only able to conclude that Port Stanley had fallen into the enemy's hands. When it was seen that the visitor was none other than the _Canopus_, the feelings of joy and relief were universal and knew no bounds.

Most of the inhabitants buried all their worldly goods of any value, some using their back gardens, which are lightly fenced off from one another, whilst others even carried furniture some distance inland. Several amusing stories resulted. One of these Scots, from the window of his house, had watched his neighbour burying a tin box, and had carefully noted its exact position. Being hard up, he scaled the fence that night and dug up and forced the box. Finding it contained sovereigns, he helped himself to a portion, replaced the box, and covered it over carefully with earth. A few days later, temptation getting the better of him, he paid his neighbour's garden another visit; on the third occasion, however, he was caught red-handed. When brought to book his defence was that as they were such friends he had not taken the whole lot the first time, which would have been quite easy to do, but only a little just when it was needed to tide him over his difficulties.

The _Bristol_, _Glasgow_, and _Inflexible_ were ordered to coal as soon as we arrived, the remainder awaiting their turn. The _Carnarvon_, _Cornwall_, and _Bristol_ were allowed to put fires out to clean boilers and make adjustments to the valves and machinery of the main engines, in preparation for a protracted sea voyage. The _Macedonia_ patrolled the entrance to the harbour, the _Kent_ being ordered to relieve her at 8 o'clock the following morning. The _Bristol_ and _Glasgow_, being of light draught, proceeded into the inner harbour, but the rest of the squadron anchored in the outer harbour, Port William, as will be seen from the plan.

There is no telegraph cable to the Falklands, so that it was obvious the first point of attack by the enemy would be the wireless station. To protect this the _Canopus_ entered the inner harbour, forced herself aground on the muddy bottom, and moored taut head and stern in a position that would enable her to command the southern approach. Here she was able to fire over the narrow neck of low-lying land, that at the same time served partially to conceal her. An observation station, connected with the ship by telephone, was set up ashore, with an elaborate plan for obtaining the bearing and elevation for the guns. Top-masts were housed, and the ship, masts, and funnels were painted all the colours of the rainbow in great big splodges to render her less visible. A look-out station was set up in Sparrow Cove, and three 12-pounder batteries were hastily constructed to dominate the approaches. The landing and placing of these guns, together with the digging of the emplacements, called for a great deal of hard work. Every credit is due to the _Canopus_ for the admirable manner in which she dealt with the situation.

Major Turner, who was in command of the Falkland Island Volunteers, was indefatigable in his efforts to prepare efficient land defences. This corps gave valuable assistance to the _Canopus_, co-operating in the work of preparing the coast defences. Prior to the arrival of the _Canopus_, their only guns were a 12-pounder 8-cwt. field gun which had been lent by the _Glasgow_, and a few very antique muzzle-loading field guns.