That the men brace themselves to grapple with their further duties in a spirit which allows no sign of reluctance or fatigue to show itself, does them infinite credit. They must look forward nevertheless to the moment when the ship will pass safely into some harbour guarded by net-defence from submarine attack, where all the guns' crews are not required to be constantly awake at their guns, and fires can be put out. Then, after coaling, prolonged and undisturbed sleep may be indulged in to make up for the lost hours, and "peace, perfect peace," will reign--for a while. CHAPTER XVI VON SPEE'S AIMS AND HOPES The British Public and our gallant Allies have no doubt fully appreciated the commercial importance of the battle of the Falkland Islands. The relief that was thereby given to our shipping and trade not only in South American waters, but throughout our overseas Empire, can only be realised by those who have large interests therein. British trade with South America was first upset by the exploits of the _Karlsruhe_, later on prestige was still more affected by the Coronel disaster, and, finally, most of all by the expectation of the arrival of von Spee's squadron in the Atlantic. The freedom since enjoyed by our merchant shipping on all the sea-trade routes of the world was in great part due to the success of this portion of our Navy, the blockade having been firmly established by our powerful fleet in home waters. The toll of ships sunk and captured in the early months of the war would have been much greater, trade would have been seriously dislocated for the time being, and the pinch of a shortage in food supplies would probably have been felt had it not been for this very opportune victory. What were von Spee's intentions after the destruction of Admiral Cradock's squadron we shall probably never know, but it is evident that he could not remain in the Pacific; it is fairly certain, also, that he intended to seize the Falkland Islands if he found them insufficiently guarded, as he had reason to infer was the case. Obviously the most tempting course then open to him, whether he took the Falklands or not, was to hold up our trade along the whole of the east coast of South America. But the possibility of doing this was diminished by his fatal delay after Coronel, before making a move. Had he acted at once he might have been able to do this with impunity for at least a month, by dividing up his squadron into small units. His coal and other supplies would have been easily assured through the armed merchant cruisers _Prinz Eitel Friedrich_ and _Kronprinz Wilhelm_, organising the colliers and shoreships along these coasts. The _Kronprinz Wilhelm_ had been operating for months past on the north coast of South America in conjunction with the _Karlsruhe_, and therefore already knew the tricks of this trade.