Next, we must record the splendid and successful dash made
by the Pacific Steam Navigation Company's steamship Ortega,' of eight thousand tons, to escape a German cruiser. The Ortega,' which had three hundred French Reservists on board, was encountered in the Straits of Magellan by a German cruiser of the 'Dresden' class. The 'Ortega' could only steam fourteen knots, whereas the speed of the German cruiser was at least twenty-one. But the British Captain was not to be daunted. He called for volunteers to assist in stoking his vessel, with the result that the firemen, engineers and volunteers succeeded " in whacking the old ship up to a good eighteen knots." Meanwhile the Captain made for Nelson Straits, hotly pursued by the German cruiser, which was firing two heavy bow guns as she came on. Happily none of the shots took effect, and the ' Ortega' succeeded in passing through Nelson Straits, where the German cruiser did notdare to follow her. Nelsen Straits is entirely uncharted. Small craft have occasionally used the channel, but never before has a ship of eight thousand tons dared its pinnacle rocks and fierce currents.
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