He remained in Shanghai about five weeks, when he shipped on a German bark "Catherine Jorgensen"--engaged in the China trade. He sailed first to Nimpo, where a valuable cargo was taken on board and then set sail for Hong Kong. He had the thrilling experience of being chased by Chinese pirates, but escaped by a favorable wind propelling the barque too fast for the pirate boat, with its more limited sailing capacity, to overtake her. Ernest sailed the China sea for three years. His last voyage there was with a cargo of 900 coolies, bound for Singapore, where he quit the ship and was transferred to a German ship called "Caroline," sailing for Akiab, India. Four days later the ship was seized by the French frigate "Dassas," and the crew taken prisoners, as the Franco-Prussian war was then raging. Ernest and his companion sailors were taken to a point just outside the Singapore harbor on the man-of-war, their captors not daring to enter, as that would be considered an act of hostility against Great Britain. There it was learned for the first time by the ship's officers that the war was ended, the Germans having conquered the French, and that the capture of the German ship while the armistice was pending would subject the French government to a heavy indemnity. On the arrival at Singapore of the "Caroline" the officers and crew were liberated with apologies, and allowed to proceed with their ship to Akiab. Ernest contracted a virulent fever at Akiab, and would have been left there by the ship had not the shore doctor forbidden it, declaring that he never would recover if left there, but that he probably would if taken to a colder clime. The fever left him when the ship rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Landing at Falmouth, he proceeded to his old home at Bremer Haven. As the ship entered the Bremer Haven dock, Ernest saw his mother on the quay, watching for him, as she had been warned by inspiration the night previous that he would arrive on that ship, that day. She had not heard from him for more than two years, and had no reason other than that mentioned for expecting that he was anywhere in that region. He remained home about nine days and then shipped on a Bremen ship bound for Savannah, Georgia. He remained on that ship until it made a subsequent voyage to Reval, Russia, where he left it and traveled for awhile overland, going as far as Cronstadt. He was under suspicion because of having no passport, and narrowly escaped being transported to Siberia.