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ANTWERP THE DAY AFTER ITS FALL 227
visitor to the harbour was the colossal petroleum tanks, which
now formed a perfect sea of lire and smoke. The Anglo-
Belgian army had not forgotten to set fire to these supplies
before retiring. If the enemy cannot be prevented from
entering, then the next best thing to do is to deprive him as
far as possible of the fruits of his conquest. That was why the
motor vehicles had been destroyed and the petroleum supplies
had been given over to the flames. They were a wonderful
sight, these jet-black, weltering, rolling clouds with their
rims of grey and brown, writhing and whirling up into the
sky. We could hear the hissing and seething inside, and
now and again the blood-red flames succeeded in forcing their
way through the smoke. Occasionally there was an ex-
plosion. It was clearly not advisable to go too near this
inferno. At one or two points, wreathed in smoke, we caught
sight of the American fiag still flying on its pole, soon to be
reached and devoured by the flames. The only signs of life
seemed to be ownerless cows and dogs roaming about in a
dazed, bewildered way.
On the river, opposite the Fort de la Tete de Flandre, a
couple of large lighters were burning briskly. They were
clearly anchored and had served as pontoons for an emergency
bridge used by the allied armies when retiring across the
Scheldt and continuing their retreat to Ghent. Certain
defensive preparations at the harbour on the way to this
bridge showed that the Anglo-Belgian army had intended to
defend itself to the utmost. In some places barricades of
thick iron-plate had been constructed beneath the gigantic
sheds, and by the side of one of these stood three guns with
shields, the fire from which was intended to cover the more
open portion of the harbour. Here and there barbed wire had
been put up. Judging from their arrangement, it seemed that
it had been intended to electrify the wires, but this scheme had
never matured.
In the course of a walk round the town we came upon the
Rue Karel Ooms. Within an iron railing lay a large villa, and
in the grounds we found an old lady walking about, supported
on the arm of a younger woman. As it*was unusual to see
any of the wealthier inhabitants who had decided to remain
in the town during the past fateful weeks, we walked in and
greeted the old lady, who told us in simple and dignified words
that she could not bring herself to leave Antwerp in its hour
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