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delivered at her antagonist, as will appear in due course. An incident now occurred which, though trivial in itself, was destined to have far-reaching consequences on the naval campaign about to open. Following the news of the Culebra Cut explosion, all merchant ships in the Canal, or awaiting admission at Balboa and Colon, were ordered to anchor under the guns of the coast batteries, pending a thorough search of each vessel, regardless of the flag it flew. There was a not unnatural suspicion that some further outrage might be contemplated, for the purpose of intensifying the damage already caused to the Canal. A rigid censorship was placed on all communications from the Canal Zone, and no message was allowed to be sent which made any reference to the disaster. The idea was to keep the news secret for a few days, not only for military reasons, but to enable all incoming ships to be held up and searched, on the chance of finding another hidden cargo of explosives. It was, of course, probable that Japan had already taken measures to notify her shipping of the outbreak of war, in which case they would give the Canal Zone a wide berth; but, on the other hand, there was a bare possibility that some vessel, bent upon mischief, would enter the trap which had been set. As a further precaution, destroyers, submarines, and aircraft attached to the Canal Zone defences were ordered to patrol the Atlantic and Pacific within a radius of two hundred miles from Colon and Panama respectively. Their mission was to keep a vigilant watch over the approaches to the Canal, and if any vessel, finding itself under observation, sought to escape, to bring the suspect into port for examination.
    At 8 a.m. on March 5 the United States submarine S 4 , being then 150 miles north of Colon, sighted a large merchant steamer which displayed no colours. The vessel was steering due east, and therefore heading away from the Canal, but the fact that it altered course and appeared to increase speed on observing the submarine impressed Lieutenant Bradlow, commanding S 4 , as a suspicious circumstance. He therefore raised speed to fifteen knots, and finding the steamer took no notice of his signal to heave-to, fired a blank shot from the 4-inch gun mounted on the deck of the submarine. Neither this nor a second blank charge had any effect, while the thick smoke pouring from the funnels of the mysterious vessel showed that her captain did not mean to be caught if he could help it.
    What with the thick weather that limited visibility to a couple of miles, and the high speed at which the unknown ship was now steaming, Lieutenant Bradlow saw nothing for it but to take sterner measures if the chase were not to get clear away, and to permit that would have been contrary to his orders. So he caused a shell to be fired across the steamer’s bows. It pitched into the water less than a hundred yards ahead, but not the slightest attention was paid even to this peremptory summons. The mist was now so thick that the profile of the steamer could scarcely be made out; the submarine, though running at her best speed, could not overhaul the swift quarry, and the only way of compelling her to obey orders was to open fire in real earnest. This was done, but to avoid needless damage the first two shells were unfused. The first round fell short, though near enough to send a shower of water over the steamer's forecastle; the second, flying high, tore away a boat and demolished part of the deckhouse.
    This proved to be enough, for the stranger promptly hove-to, at the same time hoisting the Japanese flag. In response to a megaphone hail from the submarine, which had now come within speaking distance, the captain announced his ship to be the Nikko Maru , of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, with passengers and cargo from New York to Valparaiso and Yokohama. His ordinary route, he added, would have taken him through the Canal, but having some hours previously intercepted a radio message which