In  an  article  published  in  The  Times  of  Septembei;  gth,  1919,  Admiral


THE  HIGHLAND  RAILWAY.  959

of  the  Fleet  Lord  Fisher  announced  to  an  interested  world  that  he  was
the  original  discoverer  of  Scapa  Flow.     He  told  how —

When  once  looking  at  the  chart  in  my  secluded  room  at  the  Admiralty  in  1905,
I  saw  a  large  inland  landlocked  sheet  of  water  unsurveyed  and  nameless.  It  was
Scapa  Flow.  One  hour  after  I  thus  gazed  on  the  chart  an  Admiralty  surveying
vessel  was  en  route  there.  Secretly  she  went,  for  none  but  myself  and  my  most
excellent  friend  the  Hydrographer  knew.  No  one,  however  talented,  except
myself  could  explain  how  playing  with  a  pair  of  compasses  I  took  the  German
Fleet  as  the  Centre  for  one  leg  of  the  Compass  and  swept  the  chart  with  the  other
leg  to  find  a  place  for  our  Fleet  beyond  practicability  of  surprise  by  the  Germans.
The  Fleet  was  there  at  Scapa  Flow  before  the  War  broke  out.  .  ..
Nothing  on  earth  is  so  deadly  to  sea  fighting  as  the  dispersal  in  peace  time  of
smaU  ships  and  small  squadrons  over  the  face  of  the  globe.  A  big  Fleet  and  a
drastic  admiral,  and  always  on  their  battle-ground,  that's  fighting  perfection  !

That's  how  the  Fleet  got  to  Scapa  Flow  before  the  outbreak  of  war,  immune
from  torpedo  attack.
