The Turks are still a very formidable factor in the situation, and have to be seriously reckoned with. Their losses may be, and undoubtedly have been, very great, but there are plenty of men still available. As a matter of fact, all able-bodied men are being called to the colours. That alone should give Great Britain an indication of the magnitude of the task that lies before the Allies. Turkey may be one of the weaker members against the combination of the Entente Powers, but she is nevertheless very strong, and hourly growing stronger under the masterful domination of the German military mind. The language difficulty in Turkey is rather amusing. Germany has done its best to implant its own tongue upon its unfortunate allies, but with very poor success. It was a constant source of amusement to me to hear German officers ordering their dinners in French. Everywhere in Constantinople French is spoken; even the tramway tickets are printed in French and Turkish. Waiters, shopkeepers, officers, sometimes even the man in the street speaks French as well as his own language. Frequently I would go to the rescue of German soldiers and sailors in shops who could not make themselves understood. The German opinion of the Turks is very well shown by the following little episode. I was in conversation one day with two A.B.’s of the famous cruiser _Emden_. As a souvenir one of them gave me the ribbon from his cap with the _Emden_ scroll upon it. He informed me that it was his original intention to give it to his mother, but he was now convinced that he would never return to the Fatherland alive, consequently I received it as a compliment in return for the beer and cigars I had given him. This sailor was communicative to the extent of saying, “We have lost nearly all our Colonies, and I am sure that we shall lose the last one, but we are going to make Turkey our newest and best colony.” I heard similar remarks from other Germans. CHAPTER VIII THE “UNTERSEE” GERMAN My Kiel Acquaintance--Submarines by Rail--German Submarines at Constantinople--My Voyage of Discovery--The Exploit of U51--Captain von Hersing--German Hero-worship--A Daring Feat--A Modest German!--Von Hersing in England--The German Naval Officer--His Opinion of the British Navy--A Regrettable Incident--Dr. Ledera Imprisoned--I Encounter an Austrian Spy--He Confides to me his Methods--The Carelessness of British Consuls. An axiom, and a very valuable one, for a man employed in secret service work for a newspaper should be to stay always at the best hotel in any city at which he is making investigations. For one thing, big fish swim in large lakes; for another, the visitors at large hotels are less noticed and less likely to be suspected than those at smaller places.