We will now follow the fortunes of the German squadron under Admiral von Spee. You will remember that it left Kiao-chau early in August for the South American coast. Von Spee's squadron, which consisted of modern ships, comprised two armoured cruisers, the _Gneisenau_ and the _Scharnhorst_; and three light cruisers, the _Dresden_, _Leipzig_, and _Nürnberg_. The first two vessels had a speed of at least 23 knots, and were armed with eight 8.2-inch guns, six of 5.9-inch, and eighteen 21-pounders. The _Dresden_ was a sister ship to the _Emden_, the _Nürnberg_ was slightly smaller, and the _Leipzig_ smaller still. The object of this squadron was to prey on British commerce in the Pacific. The _Emden_, as you know, was detailed for similar work in the Indian Ocean, and the _Karlsruhe_ in the South Atlantic. I have told at length of the short and merry life of the _Emden_. The _Karlsruhe_ was not so successful, but she destroyed no fewer than thirteen steamers in the course of a week or two. She was remarkable for the number of attendant vessels which accompanied her, some of them her own captures. These she employed as scouts to warn her of danger, and to give notice of vessels which might be seized. It is said that she had many hairbreadth escapes from British cruisers. Towards the end of November she disappeared, and though many rumours were afloat, nothing was certainly known of her whereabouts. In March 1915 it was reported that she had gone down off the West Indian island of Grenada. [Illustration: Destruction of the German Raider Emden by H.M.S. Sydney of the Australian Navy, November 9, 1914.] You can easily understand that without a regular supply of coal and provisions the German commerce-raiders could not long keep the seas. When a fighting ship in time of war puts into a neutral port, she may not receive more coal and provisions than will carry her to the nearest harbour of her own land, and she may not obtain any further supplies at that port for three months. Some of the South American states, however, were very slack in observing the rules of naval warfare, and two of them--Ecuador and Colombia--actually permitted German coaling and provisioning bases to be set up on their coasts, and allowed their wireless stations to be used for the purpose of ascertaining the movements of the British cruisers which were trying to catch the raiders. When Admiral von Spee sailed for the western coast of South America, he was going into waters where there were many harbours in which he could coal, and many friends who would see that he was well supplied. German merchants abound in Chile.