On August 29th she left the Bermudas, and on September 2nd passed through the Bocas del Dragos, at the mouth of the Gulf of Paria. Here, amidst scenery new and entrancing to many on board, she approached the Port of Spain, whence after a couple of days’ coaling, she left to join Admiral Cradock’s ill-fated squadron, which was then searching the coast of Venezuela, and the mouths of its rivers, for the German cruisers _Dresden_ and _Karlsruhe_. To this squadron she became attached about a week later, and soon received orders to investigate Trinidad Island in the South Atlantic. On September 11th, however, while on her way there, she received orders to try and intercept, in conjunction with the cruiser _Cornwall_, the German collier _Patagonia_, which was supposed to be leaving Pernambuco that night; but she was not found, and, as a matter of fact, did not sail for another three days, when she succeeded, in the absence of the _Cornwall_, in getting away. Before this, however, the _Carmania_ had received orders to continue on her original mission, namely the examination of Trinidad Island, and she accordingly headed down for it. This is a small and lonely piece of land, about 500 miles distant from the South American coast, rising to a height of some 2,000 feet, and being only some 3 miles long by 1½ miles broad, but with a good anchorage on its south-west side. Though often sighted by sailing vessels homeward bound from Cape Horn, this island was well out of reach of any ordinary steamer, and was thus an extremely likely place for an enemy vessel desiring to coal in a convenient and unobserved position. Moreover, although both Great Britain and Brazil had at various times attempted to form small settlements there for the purpose of cultivating the castor oil plant indigenous to the island, these attempts had never been successful, and the island was uninhabited. [Illustration: THE “CARONIA” LEAVING DURBAN]