In order to make myself known, I stood up and waved my hand. It might perhaps prevent a volley being fired next moment. As this evoked no reply, I shouted at the top of my voice in English that we were men of the German navy, and that we claimed the protection of our white flag. In a few moments the answer came from the cruiser: 'The captain only is to come on board.' So we rowed alongside. For the first time we now saw the enemy at close range. The impression they made on us was anything but favourable. Unlike the crews of ships of the line, such as I have seen before and since, they presented a most unkempt appearance. Only a part of the crew wore uniform. The other seamen and stokers, with their coloured shirts, unwashed, and unshaved, might just as well have belonged to the crew of a small collier. One of the officers, apparently the ship's surgeon, was actually wearing brown civilian trousers and a black uniform jacket. The arms they carried were still stranger than their clothing. Those who had no rifles were provided with all sorts of lethal weapons. Sabres, knives, pistols, and even cutlasses, with huge basket-handles, dating from the earliest days of the English Navy, formed part of the motley armament. The whole scene, the threatening language, and not least the villainous faces of some of the crew, caused me much foreboding. While I was getting out of the boat the officers followed with their pistols every move I made, and I had a feeling that any moment I might receive a bullet in the back. My crew assured me afterwards that while I was going up the ship's side they had the same feeling. And they had plenty of justification for the feeling, for the _Baralong_ case was not by any means the only blot in the history of English naval warfare to account for the general contempt and mistrust with which the English were regarded in Germany. At the gangway a small, boyish-looking lieutenant received me. He signed to me to go aft, and, under the impression that the captain wished to speak to me there, I did so. At the same time my boat was ordered to row to a distance of fifty yards from the _Bluebell_. The crew formed a semicircle round me, and the lieutenant took care that they kept a proper distance from me. Then, upon his order, six men with rifles stepped forward and formed a close guard round me. Strangely enough, all the officers had suddenly disappeared from the deck. Shortly afterwards I accidentally noticed the surgeon peeping at me from behind a searchlight on the upper deck. An indefinite suspicion crossed my mind. Surely it was not possible that the English would show such contempt for the laws of war. I still refused to believe it. The next few moments proved to me that I was right.