They were going to work on the vessels, loading and unloading the material that was to serve for the extermination of their compatriots and friends.
The ships at the docks seemed to be increasing in size, for on arrival they had extended only a few yards above the wharf; but now that their cargo was piled up on land, they appeared like towering fortresses.
Two-thirds of the hull, usually hidden in the water, were now in evidence, showing the bright red of their curved shell.

Only the keel kept itself in the water.

The upper third, that which remained visible above the line of flotation in ordinary times, was now a simple black cornice that capped the long purple walls.

The masts and smokestacks diminished by this transformation appeared to belong to other smaller boats.
Each of these merchant and peaceful steamers carried a quickfirer at the stern in order to protect itself from the submarine corsairs.
England and France had mobilized their tramp ships and were beginning to supply them with means of defense.

Some of them had not been able to mount their cannon upon a fixed gun carriage, and so carried a field gun with its mouth sticking out between the wheels bolted to the deck.
The captain in all his strolls invariably felt attracted by the famous Cannebiere, that engulfing roadway which sucks in the entire activity of Marseilles.
Some days a fresh and violent wind would eddy through, littering it with dust and papers, and the waiters of the cafes would have to furl the great awnings as though they were the sails of a vessel.