I wish I knew more about all that, but what I'm concerned with is their
sea-power. It's a new thing with them, but it's going strong, and that
Emperor of theirs is running it for all it's worth. He's a splendid chap,
and anyone can see he's right. They've got no colonies to speak of,
and must have them, like us. They can't get them and keep them, and
they can't protect their huge commerce without naval strength. The com-
mand of the sea is the thing nowadays, isn't it? I say, don't think these
are my ideas,'he added, naively.'It's all out of Mahan and those fellows.
Well, the Germans have got a small fleet at present, but it's a thundering
good one, and they're building hard. There's the— and the—.'He broke
off into a digression on armaments and speeds in which I could not fol-
low him. He seemed to know every ship by heart. I had to recall him to
the point.'Well, think of Germany as a new sea-power,'he resumed.
'The next thing is, what is her coast-line? It's a very queer one, as you
know, split clean in two by Denmark, most of it lying east of that and
looking on the Baltic, which is practically an inland sea, with its entrance
blocked by Danish islands. It was to evade that block that William built
the ship canal from Kiel to the Elbe, but that could be easily smashed in
war-time. Far the most important bit of coast-line is that which
lies west of Denmark and looks on the North Sea. It's there that Germany
gets her head out into the open, so to speak. It's there that she fronts us
and France, the two great sea-powers of Western Europe, and it's there
that her greatest ports are and her richest commerce.
'Now it must strike you at once that it's ridiculously short compared
with the huge country behind it. From Borkum to the Elbe, as the crow
flies, is only seventy miles. Add to that the west coast of Schleswig, say
120 miles. Total, say, two hundred. Compare that with the seaboard of
France and England. Doesn't it stand to reason that every inch of it is im-
portant? Now what sort of coast is it? Even on this small map you can see
at once, by all those wavy lines, shoals and sand everywhere, blocking
nine-tenths of the land altogether, and doing their best to block the other
tenth where the great rivers run in. Now let's take it bit by bit. You see it
divides itself into three. Beginning from the west thefirst piece is from
Borkum to Wangeroog— fifty odd miles. What's that like? A string of
sandy islands backed by sand; the Ems river at the western end, on the
Dutch border, leading to Emden— not much of a place. Otherwise, no
coast towns at all. Second piece: a deep sort of bay consisting of the three
great estuaries— the Jade, the Weser, and the Elbe— leading to Wil-
helmshaven (their North Sea naval base), Bremen, and Hamburg. Total
breadth of bay twenty odd miles only; sandbanks littered about all
through it. Third piece: the Schleswig coast, hopelessly fenced in behind a
six to eight mile fringe of sand. No big towns; one moderate river, the
Eider. Let's leave that third piece aside. I may be wrong, but, in thinking
this business out, I've pegged away chiefly at the other two, the seventy-
mile stretch from Borkum to the Elbe— half of it estuaries, and half is-
lands. It was there that I found the Medusa, and it's that stretch that,
thanks to him, I missed exploring.'
I made an obvious conjecture.'I suppose there are forts and coast de-
fences? Perhaps he thought you would see too much. By the way, he saw
your naval books, of course?'
'Exactly. Of course that was my first idea; but it can't be that. It doesn't
explain things in the least. To begin with, there are no forts and can be
none in that first division, where the islands are. There might be
something on Borkum to defend the Ems; but it's very unlikely, and,
anyway, I had passed Borkum and was at Norderney. There's nothing
else to defend. Of course it's different in the second division, where the
big rivers are. There are probably hosts of forts and mines round Wil-
helmshaven and Bremerhaven, and at Cuxhaven just at the mouth of the
Elbe. Not that I should ever dream of bothering about them; every
steamer that goes in would see as much as me. Personally, I much prefer
to stay on board, and don't often go on shore. And, good Heavens!'
(Davies leant back and laughed joyously)'do I look like that kind of spy?'
I figured to myself one of those romantic gentlemen that one reads of
in sixpenny magazines, with a Kodak in his tie-pin, a sketch-book in the
lining of his coat, and a selection of disguises in his hand luggage. Little
disposed for merriment as I was, I could not help smiling, too.
'About this coast,'resumed Davies.'In the event of war it seems to me
that every inch of it would be important, LV Belt Men sand and all. Take the big estuar-
ies first, which, of course, might be attacked or blockaded by an enemy.
At first sight you would say that their main channels were the only
things that mattered. Now, in time of peace there's no secrecy about the
navigation of these. They're buoyed and lighted like streets, open to the
whole world, and taking an immense traffic; well charted, too, as mil-
lions of pounds in commerce depend on them. But now look at the sands
they run through, intersected, as I showed you, by threads of channels,
tidal for the most part, and probably only known to smacks and shallow
coasters, like that galliot of Bartels.
