When the good-byes had been said, it was better not to have time to think, so we at once set to work, packed up such things as were necessary from our country house, and transferred the camp back to Mataveri. There I took up life once more in my tent by the grave of the murdered manager. Mr. Edmunds would, I knew, kindly give me assistance in case of necessity, and it was desirable to be near the village, for I proposed to spend the time till S. returned in interviews with such of the old people as could remember traditions and customs, prior to the coming of Christianity. This work was, however, not destined to continue undisturbed. On Wednesday morning, December 23rd, another German ship came into Cook’s Bay—the armed cruiser _Prinz Eitel Friedrich_. The Manager went on board, and returned with the information that the Captain had said he “would require thirty or forty beasts, but that as the crew would be busy next day they would not take them till after Christmas.” They would give no account of themselves, nor any news of the war. It was a relief to realize that S. would not yet have had time to leave Chile, and that he and the yacht were presumably safe in harbour. That very afternoon, however, my writing was interrupted by a cry of congratulation from the native girls at work in Mr. Edmunds’ kitchen, “_Mana_ is coming.” A woman, who had been up on the high ground, had reported that she had seen the little vessel off the south coast and that she was now sailing round Rano Kao, hence making direct for Cook’s Bay. It might, of course, be a mistake, but it was, on the other hand, just possible that Mr. Gillam had seized an opportunity to slip across to the island without waiting for a reply to his letter. The immediate question, supposing that it was indeed _Mana_, was how she could be stopped walking straight into the jaws of the enemy. Bailey saddled in haste, and rode up to the top of the headland to try to warn her not to proceed. I armed myself with a towel and coat to make a two-flag signal, which denotes urgency, and fled down to the rocks on the coast below, selecting a point from which it was possible to command the furthest view, without being noticed from the cruiser. It was a very forlorn hope, that it might be possible to attract the yacht’s attention before she was seen by the enemy, but it was obviously out of the question to continue, under a tree, copying notes while _Mana_ might be at the moment meeting with a watery grave.