At 8.15 the _Penguin_ arrived and I had difficulty in communicating, as she could not comprehend semaphore signals nor was our language perfectly clear to them. Our radio communication had been very good, although I was more reluctant to use it than was the _Penguin_, especially in stating latitude and longitude. To my question, “What are your orders?” the reply was, “Bordeaux.” She also informed me that she could tow four knots and as this would not bring us into port before dark of the following day, I decided to continue towing and requested that the _Penguin_ escort. I considered that the advantages of greater speed and a much shorter time at sea gave us the larger margin of safety. In my opinion (with a very limited experience in towing) the method adopted was by far the best way of towing a ship. Not only is the windlass usually the strongest and most convenient place to secure to, but in the absence of a very long hawser the weight of chain sagging down makes an effective spring. There was never any undue strain and the _Dagfin’s_ chain could not have parted if it had been in good condition. In the early morning of September 14th the _Corsair_ trailed into the mouth of the Gironde, doggedly kicking along at six knots, with the Norwegian water-bruiser dragging in her wake. There the _Penguin_ took hold and the yacht went on alone to a berth at Pauillac, none the worse for the experience. It was all in the job, not so sensational as dropping depth bombs on a submarine, but perhaps requiring more courage, endurance, and seamanship. Commander Porter’s description of the tussle with the hawser is highly technical, but one catches glimpses of the hard and heavy toil of the sea and the ability to do the right thing in time of stress which comes only with experience. The sailors of the _Corsair_, many of them landlubbers only a year before, were learning the tricks of the trade. It was back to the convoys again, the same old round of discomfort at sea and coaling ship in port, but the spirit of the great adventure had not been dulled. By way of change and respite, the _Corsair_ was twice chosen to carry distinguished official visitors from one French base to another. The first occasion was on August 24th when the passengers comprised the party of members of the House Committee on Naval Affairs who were inspecting for themselves the American naval and military forces overseas—Chairman L. P. Padgett, D. J. Riordan, W. L. Hensley, J. R. Connelly, W. B. Oliver, W. W. Venable, J. C. Wilson, T. S. Butler, W. J. Browning, J. R. Farr, S. E. Mudd. J. A. Peters, and F. C. Hicks.