A TICKLISH TASK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7329, 15 February 1902, Page 4

A TICKLISH TASK.

THE BLOCKADE OF DELAGOA BAY. (Army' and Navy Gazette.) The public, whose interest was centred upon more striking aspects of the war, has, probably, little ideai how much delicate diplomacy had to be displayed by naval officers enga.ged in this blockade. The senior officer, Captain W. R. Fisher, has been awarded the C.B. for- his services — an honour most fully earned. One remembers the- excitement caused in Germany by the seizures of the Bundesrath and Herzog, and how our Government had to pay compensation for the detention of these vessels. It was generally assumed at the time that our naval officers had blundered, but we are now definitely assured that the ships were seized by direct orders from the British Governmennt. There \s, indeed, no doubt that agents in the employ of the enemy made many attempts to 'embroil the British Government with France and Germany by spreading false reports relative to the arrival of contraband goods at Lorenzo Marquez, but in no case did they succeed in duping Captain Fisher or his junior captains. We gain further insight in this article into the obstacles put in our way by the Portuguese officials. However friendly to us the Portugiiese Government may have been, the local officials and merchants were seemingly bent upon keeping alive the illicit trade which, but for the strict blockade, niust have rendered enormous aid to the Boers. Early in the day the Portuguese insisted upon complicating the operations of the blockade- by refusing to allow ships to bo stopped within the line of shoals at the_ entrance to Delagoa Bay. The bay is of great extent,' and the objection raised obliged Admiral Sir R. Harris very largely to augment 'the blockading squadron. A glance at the chart will make this point clear. The effect of our submission was that the threemile limit had to be reckoned from outside the shoals. The configuration of the coast afforded another advantage to smugglers of contraband good 3, some of whom were astute enough to make the coast at a distance of thirty to forty miles from Delagoa Bay, and during night, thus creeping up unobserved, until they gained the sanctuary of tho limit. Our naval, officers tried, and sometimes with success, to checkmate this plan. Their 'method' was to sifcam' down the coast, as^ nearly <as' possible on the line of limit, and oblige approaching steamers to open out from the shore under the ordinary rules of the road., The trick is well w'brth quoting as an example of naval ingenuity. " French and German mail steamers ran regularly to the bay throughout the war, and, although we failed .to convict them of carcying contraband to. any. extent, .they openly carried hundreds of mercenaries, most of whom wore the Geneva Red Cross. This ruse was, however, needless, since private persons, travelling at their own expense in neutral ships, cannot be seized.;. to> One recalls in this^jMJ!mfLctip^jthe_jllegal seizure of two Confederate commissioners in 1861 on board the British ship Trent. The British Government demanded and obtained their release, although the .United States Government had passed a vote of thanks to Captain Wilkes for his illegal action. ■ During Mr Kruger's stay in Lorenzo Marquez he was frequently seen by our officers smoking his pips on the -verandah,, a.nd longing, eyes were cast at his person. The ex-President was., of . course, safe from capture, nor need "he have adopted such elaborate precautions in embarking during tihe nigbfc on. board' the Dutch warahip "Qelderland, which conveyed! film to Europe. Either Mr. Kroger was ignorant of (this poin£ in international Ixw, or Ihe distrusted our capacity to resist the pleasure of capturing him illegally. In point of fact, our Government did not dosii% to capture him after his departure from the Transvaal. Two «xaanpkt3 of great bravery by naval lieutenants ar© recorded/ in this article. The btockaders were frequently harassed by false reports of contraband goods oeing landed on the sea- coast, or up adjacent rivers, tfhough it was presently found that the surf rendered -the coast line secure from such .attempts. At KosiJJ.ayj.. at^whicb. point smuggling was suspected, some of our boats effected a landing, and. one was swamped. Lieutenant Massy Dawson, • finding it .; impossible <to get tihe men off again by amy other means, gallantly swam with -a. grass line 200 yards through the surf. The sea,, it is added, abounded with sharks. Worst of all for the/ gallant young officer, a gale sprang up, the ship had to put to sea., and Lieutenant Dawson -was left on the beach , all night with n-o clothing beyond a singlet and a pair of seeks. Next day he and the men, were taken off. Here, too, Lieutenant Leckie, of the Widgeon., won the Albert Medal for saving the lives of two troopers who had^ been. capsized in the surf. ' .-—..--> ....... ■ The difficulties of tihe b'lockaders were greatly increased through, the duplicity of the Portuguese Customhouse officials, who were pro-Boer to a, man. The GovernorGeneral and! his personal staff are credited with having tried! to respect international law, but for many mouths, and until the arrival of Captain Fit/Crowe, the British Cunsul-Genera-1, list- Governor seems to have baen unsuccessful in lending -us the aid' to which we were entitled-. At last a clean sweep -was made of the corrupt Customhouse officers, and worthier men were appointed. Tha French .ship Gei'onde wail suspected of landing contraband on many occasions. A certain Boer official, .posing as a refugee from Pretoria, actually visited the British Consul and Captain Fisher to inform them that lie had seen six howitzers in Pretoria a ievr days previously, wihjch, as he represented', had 'been smuggled through in a French vessel. His design was to cause friction* between! Britain and France, but the- plot was unsuccessful, as we had full information touching the cargo of the alleged smuggler. These numerous false reports i-Koreswed 1 llio difficulties of blockade, and our naval officers were rather unfairly criticised by British, residents, and even by the Consul himself, for not acting upon such unreliable reports. The wise discretion displayed -'by Captain Fisher throughout the ■blockade seems ■worthy of the highest .praise. There is proof that foui-'Boers were sent down to t*e bay to blow up our ships. Fortunately their design was •suspected, and a careful watch was kept upon their .movements 'by our secret agents. Captain Fisher, too, was ca-reful to avoid giving these scoundrels a fair opportunity. After dark he allowed •none of the larger ships to lie in 'harbour, whilst the one gunboat which 'had .to remain in port rode with hei» lights out. One gunboat had always to remain rin port for the significant reason that attacks Upon the British Consulate were apprehended. Imagine this, in .neutral territory ! The -desperadoes sent down to 'blow up our ships appear to have failed also through lack of technical knowledge as seamen and torpedoists, but there is no doubt as to the reality of the nefarious plot. In 'concluding this article, the writer (who does not- sign his name) pays a tribute to the skilful navigation- of our ships of Avar among the shoals and tortuous channels of the bloco.ding area. The bay is badly surveyed, the buoys untrustworthy, the only reliable mark being the lighthouse. These difficulties not-wit-h'Standing, none of our ships grounded, no pilots were e.ver employed. The actual amount of con-traba-nid goods seized during the long blockade was s:n:ill, bub the moral effect, of Cnpiain Fishev.'s work was immense. During the first six weeks of hostilities ten times°more foreign vessels arrived in the bay than in the following December, whilst during the spring of 1900 all foreign ships, except a few mailboats, ceased to visit the port The blockade caaio to an end— -at least' practically so — on the British occupation "of Koomati Poort, after which all; smuggljn-cr became impossible. If it couM not ba

wholly prevented by our squadron, the illicit" -trade was certainly checked and restricted with ability and zeal. Here is a chapter in the history of the war which is worthy of study.