A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 319 



destination would be either Peterhead or Aberdeen, as 

 it was rumoured that new mine-fields had been laid 

 down in the North Sea, but in the end we went to 

 Newcastle. This second-rate little steamer had now 

 become of international importance. She carried all 

 the mails from England, not only to Scandinavia, but 

 also to Russia, China, Japan, and the Far East. In 

 fact, during the last three weeks, no less than 120 extra 

 clerks had been sent to the Bergen post-office, for the 

 local staff was quite overwhelmed by the flood of mails 

 and telegrams. 



In spite of all sinister rumours, our journey across 

 the North Sea was the most uneventful section of the 

 journey. Secretly we had looked forward to adventures 

 of some kind, and we were quite disappointed that the 

 weather was halcyon, and no ship appeared on the 

 placid horizon. The only sign that anything unusual 

 was expected was that the boats were slung outwards 

 from the davits, so that they could be lowered at once 

 if any accident occurred. We spent most of the voj^age 

 in reading the papers, for the captain, hearing what Rip 

 van Winkles he had among his passengers, kindly lent 

 us a parcel of newspapers that he carried as a gift to 

 any British warship that might hail us. Here we read 

 of the plight of Antwerp, of the torpedoing of the 

 Ahoiihir, Hogue, and Cressy, of the retreat from Mons, 

 and of the battle of the Aisne ; and from a chance 

 allusion here, or a quotation there, we began gradually 

 to piece together the opening events of the war. 



It was not until we reached home waters at Berwick 

 that we saw any shipping, but along the Northumbrian 



