Capetown, Nov. 17.
'HE British steamer Africa Shell (3,584 tons) hasbeen sunk by German raider inside Portuguese territorial waters 180 miles north-east of Lourenco Marques, according to an official announcement. The crew is reported to have been allowed to land, but the captain was taken prisoner. No exact information available as to the identity of the raider.
Reports from Durban suggest that it was a 10,000-ton vessel, possibly an armed merchantman, Rumours that it was a pocket-battleship are authoritatively discounted. The pilot of an acroplane arriving at Lourenco Marques from the north reported seeing the steamer sinking 200 miles north of Lourenco Marques. He also saw two lifeboats on the beach, surrounded by a number of men, presumed to be the crew. The pilot dropped a message to an administrative post giving the location of the ship—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.