The Germans, as we write, have got as far as
Nieuport, which is, roughly, south-west of Ostend. There they have come into the " sphere of influence " of eleven British vessels, including three river monitors bought by the Admiralty at the beginning of the war from Brazil, for whom they were being completed. These vessels, which are armoured, are powerfully armed with 6-in. and 4.7-in. guns, but, best of all, only draw some six feet of water, and therefore can be taken quite near inshore. Their guns are howitzers, or, at any rate, some of them, and therefore, though they lie under the dunes, they have been able to send their shots far inland, and even
to destroy a German transport column which had come too near. One of the shells, indeed, is said to have killed a General and the whole of his Staff, though this may possibly be an error. Bluejackets and Marines might very easily mistake an Uhlan patrol for a General and his Staff. The Germans have, of course, fired back with their heavy guns, but do not appear to have injured our flotilla.
