to find our cabins just as we had left them in a great hurry the day before.  We had not expected to go on board the Hitachi again, and never thought we should renew acquaintance with our personal belongings.  We ourselves were particularly sad about this, as we had brought away from Siam, after twenty years’ residence there, many things which would be quite irreplaceable.  We were therefore very glad to know they were not all lost to us.  But we congratulated ourselves that the greater part of our treasures gathered there had been left behind safely stored in the Bank and in a go-down in Bangkok.

CHAPTER III

BACK TO THE “HITACHI MARU”

The Hitachi was now a German ship, the Prize Captain was in command, and German sailors replaced the Japanese, who had all been transferred to the Wolf.  The German Captain spoke excellent English, and expressed a wish to do all he could to make us as comfortable on board as we had been before.  He also told us to report at once to him if anything were missing from our cabins. (He informed us later that he had lived some years in Richmond—­he evidently knew the neighbourhood quite well—­and that he had been a member of the Richmond Tennis Club!) There was of course considerable confusion on board; the deck was in a state of dirt and chaos, littered with books and chairs, and some parts of it were an inch or two deep in water, and we found next morning that the bathrooms and lavatories were not in working order, as the pipes supplying these places had been shot away when the ship was shelled.  This state of affairs prevailed for the next few days, and the men passengers themselves had to do what was necessary in these quarters and haul sea-water aboard.  The next morning the transference of coal, cargo, and ship’s stores from the Hitachi to the Wolf began, and went on without cessation day and night for the next five days.  One of the German officers came over and took photos of the passengers in groups, and others frequently took snapshots of various incidents and of each other on different parts of the ship.

We know now that we were then anchored in a British possession, one of the southernmost groups of the Maldive Islands!  Some of the islands were inhabited, and small sailing boats came out to the Wolf, presumably with provisions of some kind.  We were, of course, not allowed to speak to any of the islanders, who came alongside the Wolf, and were not allowed alongside the Hitachi.  On one occasion even, the doctor of the Wolf went in the ship’s motor launch to one of the islands to attend the wife of one of the native chiefs!  On the next day—­the 28th—­all the Hitachi passengers returned on board her, and at the same time some of the Japanese stewards returned, but they showed no inclination to work as formerly.  Indeed, the German officers had no little difficulty in dealing with them.  They naturally felt very sore at the deaths of so many of their countrymen at the hands of the Germans, and they did as little work as possible.  The stewards were said to be now paid by the Germans, but as they were no longer under the command of their own countrymen, they certainly did not put themselves out to please their new masters.