"There was not much to choose between the ships," he said. "The _Cap Trafalgar_--one of the latest of the Hamburg Sud Amerika liners--had a good deal the best of it on the score of age, and the _Carmania_ probably something on the score of size. The latter had been hastily converted at Liverpool immediately after the outbreak of the war, while the former turned herself from sheep into wolf about the same time by arming herself with the guns of a small German gun-boat. This craft, by the way, steamed to the nearest Brazilian port and, with true Hunnish logic, claimed the right to intern as a peaceful German Merchantman on the strength of the fact that it was no longer armed! The largest guns that either ship had were four-inch, the _Carmania_ having slight advantage on the score of number. The _Carmania_ would have been no match for the _Karlsruhe_, just as the _Cap Trafalgar_ would have fallen easy prey to the _Cornwall_ or another of the British cruisers in those waters. Under the circumstances, it was a happy fatality that let these two ex-floating palaces fight with each other and in their own class. "The first word we had of the engagement was a wireless Captain G---- sent out saying, in effect, that he had sunk the _Trafalgar_, but, as his bridge was burned up, his steering gear shot away, and all his navigating instruments destroyed, that he would be glad to have some one come and tell him where he was and lead him to a place where he could, so to speak, lie down and lick his wounds for a while. It took a jolly good bit of searching to find a ship that couldn't tell any more about itself than that, but we finally sighted her ragged silhouette and gave her a lead to such a haven as the practically open seas of our rendezvous afforded.