I read Fourgues and Villiers your answer about the Battle of Jutland and the matter of the big warships. It pleased them. They understood very well when you said that all the young men in the Navy know that big Dreadnoughts are of no use except to train men for promotion to the higher commands. That’s plain. Villiers says that it’s a matter of psychology, but that it’s necessary to be on the inside to understand it. You, who are on the inside, explain it very well. In this Naval war there are the young who do the daily work, just like merchant vessels, but they don’t count. And then there are the big bugs who hold together so that each may get promotions, pay or orders. It’s very simple; thanks for your account of it. The _Pamir_ now knows how the land lies, and that’s all we want as long as we don’t go down! We carry flour, shells, guns--perishable and non-perishable material--the whole caboodle. At this moment, my dear old chap, my pen is writing to you, my body is here, but my heart is at La Rochelle and I know that it’s all up with me now, that I would give the whole war for one trip down there. Of course, I wish for our victory. But if the _Pamir_ is ever torpedoed and sinks, you can believe that I shall go to the bottom cursing eternally all those whom I did not know, who left us without defence. Good luck, old man. ARGOSTOLI, _December 16, 1916_. DEAR OLD CHAP,