The Japanese dhobi had died from wounds during the night, and he was buried in the morning; nearly all the German officers, from the Commander downwards, attending in full uniform.  The Japanese Captain and officers also attended, and some kind of funeral service in Japanese was held.

Officers and men were very busy on the upper deck—­we were much impressed by the great number of men on board—­and we noticed a lady prisoner, a little girl—­evidently a great pet with the German sailors and officers—­some civilian prisoners, and some military prisoners in khaki on the upper deck, but we were not allowed to communicate with them.  There were also a few Tommies in khaki among the prisoners aft.  It was very hot on the well deck, and for some hours we had no shelter from the blazing sun.  Later on, a small awning was rigged up and we got a little protection, and one or two parasols were forthcoming for the use of the ladies.  A small wild pig, presumably taken from some Pacific island when the Wolf had sent a boat ashore, was wandering around the well deck, a few dachshunds were wriggling along the upper deck, and a dozen or so pigeons had their home on the boat deck.  During the morning the sailors were allowed to bring us cooling drinks from time to time in one or two glass jugs (which the Asiatics and Portuguese always made a grab at first), and both officers and men did all they could to render our position as bearable as possible.  The men amongst us were also allowed to go to the ship’s canteen and buy smokes.  We were steaming gently in a westerly direction all day, occasionally passing quite close to some small islands and banks of sand, a quite picturesque scene.  The sea was beautifully calm and blue, and on the shores of these banks, to which we sailed quite close, the water took on colours of exquisite hues of the palest and tenderest blue and green, as it rippled gently over coral and golden sands.

Tiffin, consisting of rice, and bacon and beans, was dealt out to us on deck at midday, and the afternoon passed in the same way as the morning.  The Wolf’s chief officer, a hearty, elderly man, came aft to speak to us.  He chaffed us about our oarsmanship in the lifeboats, saying the appearance of our oars wildly waving reminded him of the sails of a windmill.  “Never use your wireless or your gun,” he said, “and you’ll come to no harm from a German raider.”

The long hot day seemed endless, but by about five o’clock the two ships arrived in an atoll, consisting of about fifteen small islands, and the Hitachi there dropped anchor.  The Wolf moved up alongside, and the two ships were lashed together.  Supper, consisting of tinned fruit and rice, was served out at 5.30, and we were then told that the married couples and one or two elderly men were to return to the Hitachi that night.  So with some difficulty we clambered from the upper deck of the Wolf to the boat deck of the Hitachi and returned