The _Glasgow_ swept northward, and about four o'clock in the afternoon of 1st November sighted the enemy. She sent off wireless signals to the flagship, _Good Hope_, but they were jammed. The _Monmouth_ and _Otranto_ joined the _Glasgow_ soon after, and at five o'clock the _Good Hope_ came up. Both squadrons were now moving southwards, the Germans having the inshore course. At the head of the British line was the _Good Hope_, with the _Monmouth_, _Glasgow_, and _Otranto_ following, one behind the other. The German line was headed by the _Scharnhorst_, with the _Gneisenau_, _Dresden_, and _Nürnberg_ following. Try to imagine the scene. The sea was running high; there was a stiff wind blowing, and away in the west the sun was sinking in a flaming sky of crimson and gold. Against the bright sunset the British ships stood out sharp and clear, while the German vessels were shrouded by the gathering gloom and the dark background of the land. Behind them were the long ridges and lofty peaks of the Andes, their eternal snows glowing red in the light of the setting sun. Amidst the roar of sea and wind the two squadrons raced south in the teeth of the gale. The day was speeding fast to its close, and the German admiral, owing to the superior speed of his ships, was able to choose the range at which the battle was to be fought. The sun sank into the sea, and eight minutes later, at a range of about 12,000 yards--roughly, seven miles--the leading German cruiser opened fire with her biggest guns. Shells shrieked over and short of the _Good Hope_ within a hundred yards of her, and the _Otranto_ began to edge away to the south-west. The _Good Hope_ and the _Monmouth_ replied as best they could to the _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_, but their fire was ineffective; the two 9.2-inch guns of the _Good Hope_ could not be brought into action, because they were mounted so near to the water's edge that the waves washed over them. Meanwhile the _Glasgow_ was exchanging shots with the light cruisers _Leipzig_ and _Dresden_. The shooting of the enemy was deadly, and in a few minutes all was over--the British ships were pounded to pieces by guns which quite outranged those which they carried. "It was as though a man standing at Charing Cross were attacked with deadly accuracy by a foe on Ealing Common, without any possibility of replying." Think of the horror and hopelessness of it all! Broadside after broadside of powerful guns crashed on the British cruisers. The third salvo set the _Good Hope_ and the _Monmouth_ on fire. The range had now narrowed down to 5,000 yards, and darkness was coming on apace. Many of the shells falling into the sea threw up huge geysers of white spray, which gleamed ghost-like in the twilight. The British could fire only at the flashes of the enemy's guns, and often even these slight indications were hidden from the gun-layers by the heavy head seas.