THE RESCUE 
another yell from Marston lunch had no further attractions. 
The ship was about a mile and a half away and steaming past 
us. A smoke-signal was the agreed sign from the shore, and, 
catching up somebody's coat that was Mng about, I struck 
a pick into a tin of kerosene kept for the purpose, poured it 
over the coat, and set it alight. It flared instead of smoking ; 
but that didn't matter, for you had already recognized the 
spot where you had left us and the Yelcho was turning in." 
We encountered bad weather on the way back to Punta 
Arenas, and the little Yelcho laboured heavily ; but she had 
light hearts aboard. We entered the Straits of Magellan on 
September 3 and reached Eio Secco at 8 a.m. I went ashore, 
found a telephone, and told the Governor and my friends at 
Punta Arenas that the men were safe. Two hours later we 
were at Punta Arenas, where we were given a welcome none of 
us is likely to forget. The Chilian people were no less enthu- 
siastic than the British residents. The police had been instructed 
to spread the news that the Yelcho was coming with the rescued 
men, and lest the message should fail to reach some people, the 
fire-alarm had been rung. The whole populace appeared to be 
in the streets. It was a great reception, and with the strain 
of long, anxious months lifted at last, we were in a mood to 
enjoy it. 
The next few weeks were crowded ones, but I will not 
attempt here to record their history in detail. I received 
congratulations and messages of friendship and good cheer from 
all over the world, and my heart went out to the good people 
who had remembered my men and myself in the press of terrible 
events on the battlefields. The Chilian Government placed 
the Yelcho at my disposal to take the men up to Valparaiso 
and Santiago. We reached Valparaiso on September 27. 
Everything that could SAvim in the way of a boat was out to 
meet us, the crews of Chilian warships were lined up, and at 
least thirty thousand thronged the streets. I lectured in 
Santiago on the following evening for the British Red Cross 
and a Chilian naval charity. The Chilian flag and the Union 
Jack were draped together, the band played the Chilian national 
anthem, " God Save the King," and the " Marseillaise," and 
221 
