DAMASCUS, May 10.--"The Ayesha proved to be a really splendid ship,"
Mücke continued, and whenever he happens to speak of this sailing ship
he grows warmer. One notices the passion for sailing which this seaman
has, for he was trained on a sailing ship and had won many prizes in
the regattas at Kiel. "But we had hardly any instruments," he
narrated, "we had only one sextant and two chronometers on board, but
a chronometer journal was lacking. Luckily I found an old 'Indian
Ocean Directory' of 1882 on board; its information went back to the
year 1780.
"At first we had to overhaul all the tackle, for I didn't trust to
peace, and we had left the English Captain back on the island. I had
said: 'We are going to East Africa.' Therefore I sailed at first
westward, then northward. There followed the monsoons, but then also
long periods of dead calm. Then we scolded! Only two neutral ports
came seriously under consideration: Batavia and Padang. At Keeling I
cautiously asked about Tsing-tao, of which I had naturally thought
first, and so quite by chance learned that it had fallen. Now I
decided for Padang, because I knew I would be more apt to meet the
Emden there, also because there was a German Consul there, because my
schooner was unknown there, and because I hoped to find German ships
there and learn some news. 'It'll take you six to eight days to reach
Batavia,' a Captain had told me at Keeling. Now we needed eighteen
days to reach Padang, the weather was so rottenly still.
"We had an excellent cook on board; he had deserted from the French
Foreign Legion. But with water we had to go sparingly, each man
received three glasses daily. When it rained, all possible
receptacles were placed on deck and the main sail was spread over the
cabin roof to catch the rain. The whole crew went about naked, in
order to spare our wash, for the clothing from Keeling was soon in
rags. Toothbrushes were long ago out of sight. One razor made the
rounds of the crew. The entire ship had one precious comb.
"As at length we came in the neighborhood of Padang, on Nov. 26, a
ship appeared for the first time and looked after our name. But the
name had been painted over, because it was the former English name. As
I think, 'You're rid of the fellow,' the ship comes again in the
evening, comes within a hundred yards of us. I send all men below
deck. I promenade the deck as the solitary skipper. Through Morse
signals the stranger betrayed its identity. It was the Hollandish
torpedo boat Lyn. I asked by signals, first in English, then twice in
German: 'Why do you follow me?' No answer. The next morning I find
myself in Hollandish waters, so I raise pennant and war flag. Now the
Lyn came at top speed past us. As it passes, I have my men line up on
deck, and give a greeting. The greeting is answered. Then, before the
harbor at Padang, I went aboard the Lyn in my well and carefully
preserved uniform and declared my intentions. The commandant opined
that I could run into the harbor, but whether I might come out again
was doubtful."
"On the South Coast," interjected Lieutenant Wellman, who at that time
lay with a German ship before Padang and only later joined the landing
corps of the Emden, "we suddenly saw a three-master arrive. Great
excitement aboard our German ship, for the schooner carried the German
war flag. We thought she came from New Guinea and at once made all
boats clear, on the Kleist, Rheinland, and Choising, for we were all
on the search for the Emden. When we heard that the schooner carried
the landing corps, not a man of us would believe it."
"They wanted to treat me as a prize!" Mücke now continued. "I said, 'I
am a man of war,' and pointed to my four machine guns. The harbor
authorities demanded a certification for pennant and war flag, also
papers to prove that I was the commander of this warship. I answered,
for that I was only responsible to my superior officers. Now they
advised me the most insistently to allow ourselves to be interned
peacefully. They said it wasn't at all pleasant in the neighborhood.
We'd fall into the hands of the Japanese or the English. As a matter
of fact, we had again had great luck. On the day before a Japanese
warship had cruised around here. Naturally, I rejected all the
well-meant and kindly advice, and did this in presence of my
Lieutenants. I demanded provisions, water, sails, tackle, and
clothing. They replied we could take on board everything which we
formerly had on board, but nothing which would mean an increase in our
naval strength. First thing, I wanted to improve our wardrobe, for I
had only one sock, a pair of shoes, and one clean shirt, which had
become rather seedy. My comrades had even less. But the Master of the
Port declined to let us have not only charts, but also clothing and
toothbrushes, on the ground that these would be an increase of
armament. Nobody could come aboard, nobody could leave the ship
without permission. I requested that the Consul be allowed to come
aboard. This Consul, Herr Schild, as also the Brothers Bäumer, gave us
assistance in the friendliest fashion. From the German steamers boats
could come alongside and talk with us. Finally we were allowed to have
German papers. They were, to be sure, from August. Until March we saw
no more papers.
"Hardly had we been towed out again after twenty-four hours, on the
evening of the 28th, when a searchlight appeared before us. I think:
'Better interned than prisoner.' I put out all lights and withdrew to
the shelter of the island. But they were Hollanders and didn't do
anything to us. Then for two weeks more we drifted around, lying still
for days. The weather was alternately still, rainy and blowy. At
length a ship comes in sight--a freighter. It sees us and makes a big
curve around us. I make everything hastily 'clear for battle.' Then
one of our officers recognizes her for the Choising. She shows the
German flag. I send up light rockets, although it was broad day, and
go with all sails set that were still setable, toward her. The
Choising is a coaster, from Hongkong for Siam. It was at Singapore
when the war broke out, then went to Batavia, was chartered loaded
with coal for the Emden, and had put into Padang in need, because the
coal in the hold had caught fire. There we had met her.
"Great was our joy now. I had all my men come on deck and line up for
review. The fellows hadn't a rag on. Thus, in Nature's garb, we gave
three cheers for the German flag on the Choising. The men on the
Choising told us afterward 'we couldn't make out what that meant,
those stark naked fellows all cheering!' The sea was too high, and we
had to wait two days before we could board the Choising on Dec. 16. We
took very little with us; the schooner was taken in tow. In the
afternoon we sunk the Ayesha and we were all very sad. The good old
Ayesha had served us faithfully for six weeks. The log showed that we
had made 1,709 sea miles under sail since leaving Keeling. She wasn't
at all rotten and unseaworthy, as they had told me, but nice and white
and dry inside. I had grown fond of the ship, on which I could
practice my old sailing manoeuvres. The only trouble was that the
sails would go to pieces every now and then because they were so old.
"But anyway she went down quite properly, didn't she?" Mücke turned to
the officer. "We had bored a hole in her; she filled slowly and then
all of a sudden plump disappeared! That was the saddest day of the
whole month. We gave her three cheers, and my next yacht at Kiel will
be named Ayesha, that's sure.
"To the Captain of the Choising I had said, when I hailed him: 'I do
not know what will happen to the ship. The war situation may make it
necessary for me to strand it.' He did not want to undertake the
responsibility. I proposed that we work together, and I would take the
responsibility. Then we traveled together for three weeks, from
Padang to Hodeida. The Choising was some ninety meters long and had a
speed of nine miles, though sometimes only four. If she had not
accidentally arrived I had intended to cruise high along the west
coast of Sumatra to the region of the northern monsoon. I came about
six degrees north, then over Aden to the Arabian coast. In the Red Sea
the northeastern monsoon, which here blows southeast, could bring us
to Djidda. I had heard in Padang that Turkey is allied with us, so we
would be able to get safely through Arabia to Germany.
"I next waited for information through ships, but the Choising did not
know anything definite, either. By way of the Luchs, the Königsberg,
and Kormoran the reports were uncertain. Besides, according to
newspapers at Aden, the Arabs were said to have fought with the
English. Therein there seemed to be offered an opportunity near at
hand to damage the enemy. I therefore sailed with the Choising in the
direction of Aden. Lieutenant Cordts of the Choising had heard that
the Arabian railway now already went almost to Hodeida, near the Perim
Strait. The ship's surgeon there, Docounlang, found confirmation of
this in Meyer's traveling handbook. This railway could not have been
taken over by the Englishmen, who always dreamed of it. By doing this
they would have further and completely wrought up the Mohammedans by
making more difficult the journey to Mecca. Best of all, we thought,
we'll simply step into the express train and whizz nicely away to the
North Sea. Certainly there would be safe journeying homeward through
Arabia. To be sure, we hadn't maps of the Red Sea; but it was the
shortest way to the foe, whether in Aden or in Germany.
"Therefore, courage! Adenwards!
"On the 7th of January, between 9 and 10 o'clock in the evening, we
sneaked through the Strait of Perim. That lay swarming full of
Englishmen. We steered along the African coast, close past an English
cable layer. That is my prettiest delight--how the Englishmen will be
vexed when they learn that we have passed smoothly by Perim. On the
next evening we saw on the coast a few lights upon the water. We
thought that must be the pier of Hodeida. But when we measured the
distance by night, 3,000 meters, I began to think that must be
something else. At dawn I made out two masts and four smokestacks;
that was an enemy ship, and, what is more, an armored French cruiser.
I therefore ordered the Choising to put to sea, and to return at
night.
"The next day and night the same; then we put out four boats--these we
pulled to shore at sunrise under the eyes of the unsuspecting
Frenchmen. The sea reeds were thick. A few Arabs came close to us;
then there ensued a difficult negotiation with the Arabian Coast
Guards. For we did not even know whether Hodeida was in English or
French hands. We waved to them, laid aside our arms, and made signs to
them. The Arabs, gathering together, begin to rub two fingers
together; that means 'We are friends.' We thought that meant 'We are
going to rub against you and are hostile.' I therefore said:
'Boom-boom!' and pointed to the warship. At all events, I set up my
machine guns and made preparations for a skirmish. But, thank God! one
of the Arabs understood the word 'Germans'; that was good.
"Soon a hundred Arabs came and helped us, and as we marched into
Hodeida the Turkish soldiers, who had been called out against us,
saluted us as allies and friends. To be sure, there was not a trace of
a railway, but we were received very well, and they assured us we
could get through by land. Therefore, I gave red-star signals at
night, telling the Choising to sail away, since the enemy was near by.
Inquiries and determination concerning a safe journey by land
proceeded. I also heard that in the interior, about six days' journey
away, there was healthy highland where our fever invalids could
recuperate. I therefore determined to journey next to Sana. On the
Kaiser's birthday we held a great parade in common with the Turkish
troops--all this under the noses of the Frenchmen. On the same day we
marched away from Hodeida to the highland."