Von Spee is said to have been over-persuaded by his staff to undertake this latter venture. His movements here certainly led to the conclusion that he had no fixed plan. When the _Invincible_ reached Pernambuco on her way home, there was a strong rumour that three colliers had been waiting off the coast for the _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_; this points to the capture of the Falklands not being included in the original plan. Admiral Sturdee searched the area for these ships but found nothing. Both the British and German squadrons refrained from using wireless, and so had no knowledge of their proximity during the first week in December. Had the German ships passed our squadron whilst coaling at the Falklands, they would in all likelihood have separated, and would then have had a free hand--for some time, at any rate--along the east coast, whilst our ships would have gone round the Horn and searched for them in vain in the Pacific. The first intimation of their having eluded our squadron would have been that much of our shipping would be reported overdue in England from South American ports (for von Spee would most assuredly have avoided approaching within sight of land). This would very probably have been put down in the first few instances to the depredations of the _Karlsruhe_, whose fate was at this time quite unknown. The _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_ were sufficiently powerful to cope with anything which von Spee thought was likely to be in these seas. As a matter of fact, however, the battle-cruiser _Princess Royal_ was in North American waters at this time, having left England in secrecy soon after the _Invincible_ and _Inflexible_ were dispatched south. In further support of this theory of what was the German Admiral's plan of campaign, it may be mentioned that a fully laden German collier was forced to intern at a South American port south of the Plate in order to avoid capture by the _Carnarvon_ and _Cornwall_, who were searching the coast there just after the battle of the Falklands took place. Another collier, the _Mera_, put back into Montevideo very hurriedly and interned herself, and lastly, the tender _Patagonia_ ended her career in like manner. The presence of all these ships in this locality is evidence of the organisation arranged for the supply of the German squadron along this coast, and precludes the idea of its going to Africa.