We opened fire, and shot after shot rang out. But the Engländer was tenacious. Her shots answered ours--strangely enough, without once hitting us. That seemed to exasperate her only the more, and thick smoke enveloped us. Then, suddenly, the enemy ship slowed down and she signalled: "We have stopped completely." Soon we were able to ascertain the damage caused by our firing. Afterwards, the captain told us that our first shell had killed a Lascar. The second shell went through the cabin of the second officer, creating havoc in that part of the ship. The third shot hit the captain's bridge. Other shells killed seventeen Lascars and wounded five. A shell having hit the water-line and another the engines, the captain had at last given up further useless opposition. While the prize-crew went on board, I summoned the _Appam_ to help us. She had watched the fight from a distance, and it is easy to imagine with what feelings. The _Clan McTavish_, five thousand eight hundred and sixteen tons, was bringing a considerable cargo of wool, leather, skins, and india-rubber from Australia, worth about ten million marks. How splendid if we could have taken all that wealth home with us! Unfortunately, we had damaged the engines of the _Clan McTavish_ beyond repair. All thought of the cargo had therefore to be abandoned, especially as we were in a hurry to get away--pursued, as usual, by the fear of a possible surprise. So, two hours later, the _Clan McTavish_ disappeared into the deep sea, and, once more, we feasted our eyes on the rare and suggestive sight of a sinking ship, rendered even more attractive by a brilliant tropical moonlight night. Her crew consisted chiefly of Indians, who meanwhile had been transferred to the _Moewe_. One of our shells had hit a boat and killed fifteen poor fellows. Three men, severely wounded, who had been rescued from the water by the _Appam_, died during the night. When the captain reported himself to me, I took him severely to task and pointed out to him that, by ignoring my orders and entering into a useless battle with us, he had unnecessarily caused the death of eighteen men. By way of excuse, he replied that he had no idea that our boat was a man-of-war; he had taken the _Moewe_ to be an armed merchantman, and thought his and our chances were about equal. Moreover, he declared himself free of all responsibility in the matter; his orders had been to bring his ship to England. To that end he was provided with a gun, and it was his duty to make use of it when the occasion arose. Frankly, I liked the loyalty with which this old Scotch sea-bear defended his case. I shook hands with him and admitted that, most probably, in his place, I would have acted exactly in the same way.