“We have submerged and placed ourselves on the bottom. We are in no hurry. Why should we not for once give ourselves a little rest? Our resting-place was rather deep, but therefore safer and calmer. “This night on the bottom of the sea was truly a recreation for us all. One could for once take a good wash and go to bed in peace, without fearing to be frightened at the next moment with a ‘Hey-a’ in the speaking-tube. “But before resting we had a regular banquet. Both the phonographs were playing and the glasses were raised, filled with French champagne. “Our good Stücke, who was our steward, kitchen boy, and maid of all work, at the same time served us in such a dignified manner as if he were still a steward in the dining-room of the _Kronprinzessin Cecile_, as if he had never been in French captivity for nearly a whole year, in order to develop his ability in our company at the bottom of the sea. “Again we come to the surface the next morning. The pump is working with a hissing noise as we climb upward. On the twenty-meter depth the boat loses its stability. “First, we can see it on the manometer, then it is noticed on the depth rudder, which becomes more difficult to handle. And as the boat at times moves in unexpected jumps we realize there must be a considerable sea above. RISING TO THE SURFACE “I now carefully rise to the periscope depth and proceed for a time in this position and am looking around. Nothing can be seen except a stormy army of white wave-crests. This weather suits me exactly, as we need not be on our guard so very closely. “I decided therefore to rise to the surface. But before this is done the boat must be placed across the wind, as the long heavy hull would not otherwise be able to climb out of the water. “At slow speed, we place the _Deutschland_ right across the seas. The boat rolls fearfully. It feels just as if the soul would shake out of its body, and now it obeys the deep rudder and its nose rises slowly out of the water. “When we are completely out of the water the ship makes the alarming motions of a pendulum all around the compass. Then comes the unpleasant moment when we have to turn the ship slowly into its course. “Protected by the thick conning tower windows, which the heavy seas are continually washing over and streaming down, with arms and legs ready to withstand the sharp twistings of our craft, I keep watch on all sides.” They were getting out of the North Sea into the Atlantic currents, in an increasing storm. The boat plunged and tossed sickeningly and the navigation was hard work. Finally they were free of the turbulent sea and rode into the ocean proper and its less angry motion. OUT INTO THE BROAD ATLANTIC