We now return to the exploits of the _Emden_, its mysterious disappearance and the narrative of its heroes--a great epic of the sea.
When in Volume III the story of the sinking of the German cruiser _Emden_ was related, mention was made of the escape of the landing party belonging to that ship from Cocos Island. This party consisted of fifty men, headed by Captain Mücke, and from the time their ship went down on November 9, 1914, until they reported for duty again at Damascus, Syria, in May, 1915, they had a series of adventures as thrilling as those encountered by the heroes in any of the Renaissance epics.
Before the _Emden_ met the Australian cruiser _Sydney_, and had been sunk by the latter, she had picked up three officers from German steamers which she had met. This proved to be a piece of good fortune, for extra officers were needed to board and command the prize crews of captured vessels. The story of the raiding of the _Emden_ has already been given; but here the story of the landing party is given as told by Captain Mücke himself on May 10, 1915, at Damascus:
"On November 9, 1914," he said, "I left the _Emden_ in order to destroy the wireless plant on Cocos Island. I had fifty men, four machine guns, about thirty rifles. Just as we were about to destroy the apparatus it reported, 'Careful; _Emden_ near.' The work of destruction went smoothly. The wireless operators said: 'Thank God. It's been like being under arrest day and night lately.' Presently the _Emden_ signaled us, 'Hurry up.' I packed up, but simultaneously the _Emden's_ siren wailed. I hurried to the bridge and saw the flag 'Anna' go up. That meant 'Weigh anchor.' We ran like mad to our boat, but already the _Emden's_ pennant was up, the battle flag was raised, and they began to fire from the starboard."
"The enemy," explained Captain Mücke, "was concealed by the island and therefore not to be seen, but I saw the shells strike the water. To follow and catch the _Emden_ was out of the question, as she was going at twenty knots, and I only four with my steam pinnace. Therefore I turned back to land, raised the flag, declared German laws of war in force, seized all arms, set up my machine guns on shore in order to guard against a hostile landing. Then I ran out again in order to observe the fight. From the splash of the shells it looked as though the enemy had 15-centimeter guns, bigger, therefore, than the _Emden's_. He fired rapidly but poorly. It was the Australian cruiser _Sydney_."