Most of November was a time of some suspense for our ships, as we were hourly expecting an encounter with the enemy, and it was with mixed feelings that we learned of the nature of the reinforcements that were coming out with such despatch. Our feelings of relief were also tempered with regret at not having been afforded an opportunity to prove our mettle. Further, there was an awful and terrible thought that it might be considered necessary to leave one of us cruisers behind to guard the base. Most of our ships had had steam on their main engines incessantly since war broke out, and a rest to let fires out so as to make necessary adjustments was badly needed, but was quite impossible near a neutral coast. On November 26th our hearts were gladdened by the sight of the _Invincible_, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Sturdee, and the _Inflexible_; these two formidable-looking ships had come out from England at a mean speed of over 18 knots for fifteen days. Truly a fine performance! CHAPTER VIII POSSIBILITIES AND PROBABILITIES The various possible courses open to Admiral Count von Spee, both before and after Coronel, have already been discussed, but the movements of his squadron have not been subjected to examination in the light that they bear on the policy which he adopted, nor have the results of that action been considered from his point of view. The German squadron sailed from Mas-a-Fuera on October 27th, and three days later arrived about noon at a position some fifty miles to the westward of Valparaiso, where it remained for upwards of twenty-four hours. On October 31st--the same day that the _Glasgow_ went into Coronel with telegrams and the day before that action was fought--the squadron steamed off south, leaving the _Nürnberg_ to wait off Valparaiso for a few hours and probably to get information of importance. The German Admiral undoubtedly went to the neighbourhood of Valparaiso with the express intention of obtaining news and was in communication with the shore, for he begins his official report on the action fought off Coronel by saying that his three light cruisers reached on November 1st a point about twenty "sea miles from the Chilean coast, in order to attack a British cruiser (_Glasgow_), which, according to trustworthy information, had reached the locality on the previous evening." It is, of course, impossible to know what were von Spee's intentions at this moment; they can only be surmised from a general survey of the situation and the means that he had of obtaining information. The latter was acquired by an organised system, for there were German agents in every South American port. It may be taken as certain that any ship calling at or passing Punta Arenas (Magellan Straits) would be reported to him, and that the names of the ships and certain of their movements on the south-east coast would also be known to him.