“One of two things,” he said--“either the Navy wants to fight the Austrians or it don’t. If it wants to, why blockade the Strait of Otranto? If you want to shoot a rabbit, you let him come out of his hole first, then you get between the hole and the rabbit and then you fire! But you don’t get in front of the hole in the first place or he won’t come out. I don’t know where the Austrians are--at Pola or Cattaro or somewhere else--but I know they’re not going to come out with our Navy parading up and down in front of them, in strength four to one. It would be better if we were to stay in some port near by, with only one or two ships in the Strait--which is not so broad--and let them make a sortie if they want to and then fall on them. “The thing would be decided in an hour and the blockade would be over. Instead of that, we wear out our ships and our men while the Austrians remain at home, keeping their engines in A1 condition and sweating at target-practice so as to be right on the spot when they choose to move. “And what good does it do to go up and down the Adriatic in full war-paint? Everybody knows that nowadays warships can’t get near an enemy coast because of the mines. The commander of the _Lamartine_ told me the other day that they’re not allowed to go in beyond the 55 fathom line and that means from ten or twenty or thirty miles out to sea. They certainly won’t bombard the Austrian arsenals and invade Austria from that distance. All they’ll get will be a floating mine or a torpedo from a submarine. I can’t see any other result. Fact is, with the apparent intention of fighting, they all seem to me to be doing their utmost not to get any. What’s more, if you have read the English papers, you can see that it’s the same over there. Well, who lives learns. Write all that to your friend with a greeting from me and ask him what they think about it on the _Auvergne_ and the other ships. Perhaps all this is only the imagining of an old duffer who hasn’t worried around books on tactics, but it ought not to be very far from the truth.” Fourgues said a lot more, but this is enough for to-day. To-morrow three thousand tons of coal and off by night! If we have no new instructions we go back to coal the Fleet. But perhaps a telegram will come during the day. Good-bye, old man. I’m going up to play the mandolin on the deck and you may bet I shan’t be thinking of you! ALEXANDRIA, _February 12_. DEAR OLD CHAP,