to our invaders, but captains and crews regard them with hearty disfavour; and if single ships go cautiously, feeling their way through their blinding veil, and giving notice of their whereabouts by incessant blowing of their horns, how much more bewildering and alarming must that veil be to a large number of vessels sailing in company, and how loud the notes of warning by which each would try to keep clear of all the rest; and even if they succeed in this endeavour and escape running each other down, disembarkation must wait till the veil lifts.
Those foghorns would not tend to the maintenance of that secrecy on which the success of the expedition depends, and if there were no fog, "as all the ships will be obliged to carry lights for mutual safety, they will be visible nearly as far by night as by day. How can they hope to escape discovery?"[1]
- ↑ Admiralty Memorandum, see Appendix.
