On December 29th, all of which and the previous day, together with many succeeding days, were spent in transferring our cargo coal to our bunkers, the Germans on our ship and on the Wolf ostentatiously bade each other good-bye, and letters from prisoners on the Wolf were brought to us to post in Spain when we landed.  The idea of the Wolf remaining out till the war was over in six months was abandoned, and we were told the Wolf would now go home to Germany.  Why we were told this—­the first time we had been informed of the Wolf’s plans—­we never knew, except that it might have been an excuse to keep dragging us over the seas, for the Wolf would never have allowed us to get ashore before she reached Germany.  Now that we know that the Germans always intended taking us to Germany, it is obvious that it was quite immaterial to them if they told us their plans.  They wished to keep us, and having told us of their future plans, it is plain they could not afford to release us.

But at that time we really began to think we were going to be landed in Spain, and the news raised the spirits of all of us.  I remember Lieutenant Rose telling the American Captain one day during a meal that he could now keep his eyes directed to a Spanish port!  Those who had been learning Spanish before now did so with redoubled energy, and some of us even marked out on a pocket atlas our railway route from Bilbao or Cadiz—­for the Spanish Captain thought it most likely we should be landed at one of those ports—­through Spain and France.  We even got information from the Spaniards as to hotels, and railways, and sights to see in Spain.  It seemed as if the end of our cruise, with our freedom, were really in sight, especially as the Captain had told some of us on December 16th that in six weeks our captivity would be over.  Some of us, however, still inclined to the belief that the Germans would release the ship and order her back to Java or Colombo or Calcutta; while others believed we should ultimately be landed in Dutch Guiana or Mexico, two of the few neutral countries left.

On the last day of the year a rumour went round the ship that we should be taken far north—­about 60 deg.  N.—­to a point from which the Wolf could get to Germany before we could reach Spain.  That, in the opinion of most of us, put an end to the prospect of landing in Spain.  The Germans would run no risks of our giving information about the Wolf.  But this scheme would have left uneliminated one very important risk.  After the ships would have separated, there was still a chance of the prize being intercepted by an Allied cruiser before the Wolf got home, and if that had happened the Wolf’s goose would have been cooked indeed.  So that Spain looked very improbable.  I approached the Captain on the last day of the year and spoke to him on the point.  He confirmed the rumour, and said we should be sent back and landed at a Spanish island, most probably