THE YANKEE COLONY IN THE ISLAND OF FLORES--WHAT THE CAPTAINS OF THE
VIRGINIA AND ELISHA DUNBAR SAID OF THE ALABAMA, WHEN THEY GOT BACK TO THE
LAND OF THE "SAINTS"--THE WHALING SEASON AT THE AZORES AT AN END--THE
ALABAMA CHANGES HER CRUISING GROUND--WHAT SHE SAW AND DID.
The reader has seen how rapidly we had been peopling the little island of
Flores. I had thrown ashore there, nearly as many Yankee sailors as there
were original inhabitants. I should now have gone back with the crews of
two more ships, but for the bad weather. Jack, suddenly released from the
labors and confinement of his ship, must have run riot in this verdant
little paradise, where the law was too weak to restrain him. With his
swagger, devil-may-care air, and propensity for fun and frolic, when he
has a drop in his eye, the simple inhabitants must have been a good deal
puzzled to fix the _genus_ of the bird that had so suddenly dropped down
upon them. The history of my colony would, no doubt, be highly
interesting; and I trust that some future traveller will disinter it from
the archives of the island, for the benefit of mankind. The police reports
would be of especial interest. In due time the Federal Consul at Fayal
chartered a vessel, and removed the colony back to the New England States.
The gale which was described in the last chapter, did not prove to be very
violent, though it blew sufficiently fresh to reduce the _Alabama_ to
close-reefed topsails, with the bonnets off her trysails. It was but the
forerunner of a series of gales, occurring about the period of the
equinox. The bad weather had the effect to put an end to the whaling
season, a little in advance of the regular time. From the 19th to the 23d
of September, we were constantly under reefed sails, and the wind being
from the northward, we drifted as far south as the 34th degree of
latitude. We were now in a comparatively unfrequented part of the ocean,
and had not seen a sail since the capture of the _Elisha Dunbar_. During
the prevalence of this bad weather, our prisoners necessarily suffered
some inconvenience, and were obliged to submit to some discomforts. I need
not say that these were greatly magnified by the Northern press. The
masters of the captured ships took this mode of revenging themselves upon
me. The captains of the last two ships captured, made long complaints
against the _Alabama_, when they got back to New England, and I will here
give them the benefit of their own stories, that the reader may see what
they amount to. It is the master of the _Virginia_ who speaks first--a
Captain Tilton. He says:--
"I went on the quarter-deck, with my son, when they ordered me into
the lee waist, with my crew, and all of us were put in irons, with
the exception of the two boys, and the cook and steward. I asked if I
was to be put in irons? The reply of Captain Semmes was, that his
purser had been put in irons, and had his head shaved by us, and that
he meant to retaliate. We were put in the lee waist, with an old sail
over us, and a few planks to lie upon. The steamer was cruising to
the west, and the next day, they took the _Elisha Dunbar_, her crew
receiving the same treatment as ourselves. The steamer's guns being
kept run out, the side ports could not be shut, and when the sea was
a little rough, or the vessel rolled, the water was continually
coming in on both sides, and washing across the deck where we were,
so that our feet and clothing were wet all the time, either from the
water below, or the rain above. We were obliged to sleep in the place
where we were, and often waked up in the night nearly under water.
Our fare consisted of beef and pork, rice, beans, tea, and coffee,
and bread. Only one of my irons was allowed to be taken off at a
time, and we had to wash in salt water. We kept on deck all the time,
night and day, and a guard was placed over us."
The above statement is substantially correct, with the exception that the
prisoners were not drenched with sea-water, or with the rain, all the
time, as is pretended. It is quite true that they were compelled to live,
and sleep on deck. We had nowhere else to put them. My berth-deck was
filled with my own crew, and it was not possible to berth prisoners
there, without turning my own men out of their hammocks. To remedy this
difficulty, we spread a tent, made of spare sails, and which was quite
tight, in the lee waist, and laid gratings upon the deck, to keep the men
and their bedding as dry as possible. Ordinarily they were very
comfortable, but sometimes, during the prevalence of gales, they were, no
doubt, a little disturbed in their slumbers by the water, as Captain
Tilton says. But I discharged them all in good physical condition, and
this is the best evidence I could give, that they were well cared for. It
was certainly a hardship that Captain Tilton should have nothing better to
eat than my own crew, and should be obliged, like them, to wash in salt
water, but he was waited upon by his own cook and steward, and the reader
can see from his own bill of fare, that he was in no danger of starving.
He was, as he says, ordered off the quarter-deck. That is a place sacred
to the officers of the ship, where even their own crew are not permitted
to come, except on duty, and much less a prisoner. He explains, himself,
as I had previously explained to the reader, how he came to be put in
irons. The "good book" says that we must have "an eye for an eye, and a
tooth for a tooth." The enemy had put one of my officers in irons, and I
had followed the rule of the "good book." Now let us hear from Captain
Gifford, of the _Dunbar_. This witness says:--
"On the morning of the 18th of September, in latitude 39 deg. 50',
longitude 35 deg. 20', with the wind from the south-west, and the bark
heading south-east, saw a steamer on our port-quarter, standing to
the north-west. Soon after, found she had altered her course, and was
steering for the bark. We soon made all sail to get out of her reach,
and were going ten knots at the time; but the steamer, gaining on us,
under canvas alone, soon came up with us, and fired a gun under our
stern, with the St. George's cross flying at the time. Our colors
were set, when she displayed the Confederate flag. Being near us, we
hove to, and a boat, with armed officers and crew, came alongside,
and upon coming on board, stated to me that my vessel was a prize to
the Confederate steamer _Alabama_, Captain Semmes. I was then ordered
on board the steamer with my papers, and the crew to follow me with a
bag of clothing each. On getting on board, the captain claimed me as
a prize, and said that my vessel would be burned. Not having any
clothes with me, he allowed me to return for a small trunk of
clothes;--the officer on board asked me what I was coming back for,
and tried to prevent me from coming on board. I told him I came after
a few clothes, which I took, and returned to the steamer. It blowing
very hard at the time, and very squally, nothing but the chronometer,
sextant, charts, &c., were taken, when the vessel was set fire to,
and burnt; there were sixty-five barrels of sperm oil on deck, taken
on the passage, which were consumed. We were all put in irons, and
received the same treatment that Captain Tilton's officers and crew
did, who had been taken the day before. While on board, we understood
that the steamer would cruise off the Grand Banks, for a few weeks,
to destroy the large American ships, to and from the Channel ports.
They had knowledge of two ships being loaded with arms for the United
States, and were in hopes to capture them. They were particularly
anxious to fall in with the clipper-ship _Dreadnought_, and destroy
her, as she was celebrated for speed; and they were confident of
their ability to capture, or run away from any vessel in the United
States. The steamer being in the track of outward and homeward-bound
vessels, and more or less being in sight, every day, she will make
great havoc among them."
Captain Gifford does not seem to have anything to complain of, in
particular, except that the sailors had to put their clothes in bags, and
that his trunk was "small;" but both he and his sailors got their
clothing, which was more than some of our women and children, in the
South, did, when the gallant Sherman, and the gallant Wilson, and the
gallant Stoneman, and a host of other gallant fellows, were making their
"grand marches," and "raids" in the South, merely for the love of "grand
moral ideas." The terrible drenchings, that Captain Tilton got, did not
seem to have made the same impression upon Captain Gifford.
Few of the masters, whose ships I burned, ever told the whole truth, when
they got back among their countrymen. Some of them forgot, entirely, to
mention how they had implored me to save their ships from destruction,
professing to be the best of _Democrats_, and deprecating the war which
their countrymen were making upon us! How they had come to sea, bringing
their New England cousins with them, to get rid of the draft, and how
abhorrent to them the sainted Abraham was. "Why, Captain," they would say,
"it is hard that I should have my ship burned; I have voted the
_Democratic_ ticket all my life; I was a _Breckinridge_ man in the last
Presidential contest; and as for the 'nigger,' if we except a few ancient
spinsters, who pet the darkey, on the same principle that they pet a
lap-dog, having nothing else to pet, and a few of our deacons and
'church-members,' who have never been out of New England--all of whom are
honest people enough in their way--and some cunning political rascals, who
expect to rise into fame and fortune on the negro's back, we, New England
people, care nothing about him." "That may be all very true," I would
reply; "but, unfortunately, the 'political rascals,' of whom you speak,
have been strong enough to get up this war, and you are in the same boat
with the 'political rascals,' whatever may be your individual opinions.
Every whale you strike will put money into the Federal treasury, and
strengthen the hands of your people to carry on the war. I am afraid I
must burn your ship." "But, Captain, can't we arrange the matter in some
way? I will give you a ransom-bond, which my owners and myself will regard
as a debt of honor." (By the way, I have some of these debts of honor in
my possession, now, which I will sell cheap.) And so they would continue
to remonstrate with me, until I cut short the conversation, by ordering
the torch applied to their ships. They would then revenge themselves in
the manner I have mentioned; and historians of the Boynton class would
record their testimony as truth, and thus Yankee history would be made.
The whaling season at the Azores being at an end, as remarked, I resolved
to change my cruising-ground, and stretch over to the Banks of
Newfoundland, and the coast of the United States, in quest (as some of my
young officers, who had served in the China seas, playfully remarked) of
the great American junk-fleet. In China, the expression "junk-fleet"
means, more particularly, the grain-ships, that swarm all the seas and
rivers in that populous empire, in the autumn, carrying their rich cargoes
of grain to market. It was now the beginning of October. There was no
cotton crop available, with which to freight the ships of our loving
Northern brethren, and conduct their exchanges. They were forced to rely
upon the grain crop of the great Northwest; the "political rascals" having
been cunning enough to wheedle these natural allies of ours into this New
England war. They needed gold abroad, with which to pay for arms, and
military supplies of various kinds, shiploads of which were, every day,
passing into New York and Boston, in violation of those English neutrality
laws, which, as we have seen, Mr. Seward and Mr. Adams had been so
persistently contending should be enforced against ourselves. Western New
York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Iowa had gathered
in the rich harvests from their teeming grain-fields; and it was this
grain, laden in Yankee ships, which it was my object now to strike at.
The change from one cruising-ground to another, during which no vessels
were sighted, afforded my crew a much-needed relaxation of a few days, for
they had been much fagged and worn during the last month, by a succession
of captures. That which had been but a pleasurable excitement, in the
beginning, soon became a wearing and exhausting labor, and they were glad
to be relieved, for a time, from the chasing and burning of ships, hard
service in boats during all kinds of weather, and the wet jackets and
sleepless nights, which had sometimes been the consequences of these. I
will avail myself of this comparative calm, in the moral atmosphere on
board the _Alabama_, to introduce the reader, more particularly, to our
interior life. Thus far, he has only seen the ship of war, in her outward
garb, engaged in her vocation. I propose to give him a sight of my
military family, and show him how my children played as well as worked;
how I governed them, and with what toys I amused them.
From the very beginning of our captures, an order had been issued, that no
sailor should lay his hand on any article of property, to appropriate it
to his own use, unless by permission of an officer; and especially that no
spirituous liquors should be brought on board the _Alabama_. It was made
the duty of every boarding-officer, upon getting on board a prize, to
demand possession of the keys of the liquor-lockers, and either to cause
the liquor to be destroyed, or thrown overboard. To the rigid enforcement
of this rule, I attribute much of the good order which prevailed on board
my ship. It was enforced against the officers, as well the men, and no
officer's mess was allowed to supply itself with liquor, by purchase, or
otherwise, unless by my consent; and I never gave this consent to the
midshipmen's mess. We burned, on one occasion, a ship, whose entire cargo
consisted of French brandies, and champagne, and other wines, without
allowing a bottle of it to be brought on board. But whilst I used these
precautions, I caused a regular allowance of "grog" to be served out to
the crew, twice in each day. I was quite willing that Jack should drink,
but I undertook to be the judge of how much he should drink.
Such articles of clothing and supplies as were captured, were turned over
to the paymaster, to be credited to the Government, and duly issued and
charged to the crew, as if they had been purchased in the market. In spite
of all these precautions, however, a sailor would now and then be brought
on board from a prize, drunk, would manage to smuggle liquor to his
comrades, and would be found arrayed in all sorts of strange garbs, from
whaler's boots, and red flannel shirts and comforters, to long-tailed
coats and beaver hats. Notwithstanding the discipline of the ship, the
gravity of the crew would sometimes give way to merriment, as one of these
fellows, thus ludicrously apparelled, would have to be hoisted or lifted
on board, being too comfortably drunk to attend to his own locomotion.
Each offender knew that he would have to walk straight into the "Brig,"
upon being thus detected in the violation of these orders, and that
punishment would speedily follow the offence; and yet I found it one of
the most difficult parts of my duty, to convince some of these
free-and-easy fellows, who had mistaken the _Alabama_, when they signed
the articles off Terceira, (after that stump speech before referred to,)
for what Mr. Seward and Mr. Adams insisted she was, a "privateer," that
everything was captured in the name of the Confederate States, and that
nothing belonged to them personally. The California-bound ships frequently
had on board boxes and bales of fine clothing, boots, shoes, and hats, but
not a garment was allowed to be brought on board except such as the
paymaster might need for issue. It seemed hard to consign all these
tempting articles to the flames, without permitting the sailors to help
themselves, but if such license had been permitted, disorder and
demoralization would have been the consequence.
I had no chaplain on board, but Sunday was always kept as a day of
abstinence from labor, when the exigencies of war and weather would
permit, and it was my uniform practice on this day, to have the ship
thoroughly cleansed, in every part, for inspection--particularly the
sleeping apartments, and the engine-room--and to require the officers and
seamen to appear on the quarter-deck for muster; the former in their
appropriate uniforms, and the latter in clean duck frocks and trousers, or
other clothing adapted to the latitude and climate. The reader has already
been present at several of these musters. The boys of the ship, of whom I
had quite a number on board, were placed under the special charge of the
master-at-arms--a subordinate officer, with police-powers, in charge of
the berth-deck--whose duty it was to inspect them, in every morning watch,
with reference to personal cleanliness; turning down the collars, and
rolling up the trousers of the youngsters, to see that they had duly
performed their ablutions. These boys had been taken from the stews, and
haunts of vice about Liverpool, and were as great a set of scamps as any
disciplinarian could desire to "lick into shape," but it is astonishing
what a reformation soap and water and the master-at-arms effected in them,
in a short time. Many of them became very respectable young fellows, for
which they were indebted almost entirely to the free use of soap and
water.
As a hygienic precaution, when we were cruising in warm latitudes, where
the dews were heavy, the whole crew was required to appear, every evening,
at sunset muster, in blue flannel shirts and trousers. They could then
sleep in the dews, without the fear of colds or rheumatisms. We were
always supplied with the best of provisions, for, being at war with a
provision-producing people, almost every ship we captured afforded us a
greater or less supply; and all the water that was drank on board the
_Alabama_ was condensed by the engine from the vapor of sea-water. The
consequence of all this care was highly gratifying to me, as, in the three
years I was afloat, I did not lose a man by disease, in either of my
ships! When it is recollected that I cruised in all parts of the world,
now fencing out the cold, and battling with the storms of the North
Atlantic and South Indian Oceans, and now being fried, and baked, and
stewed within the tropics, and on the equator, and that, besides my own
crews, some two thousand of the enemy's sailors passed through my hands,
first and last, as prisoners, this is a remarkable statement to be able to
make. My excellent surgeon, Dr. Galt, and, after him, Dr. Llewellyn, ably
seconded me by their skill and experience.
On week days we mustered the crew at their quarters twice a day--at nine
A. M., and at sunset, and when the weather was suitable, one division, or
about one fourth of the crew, was exercised, either at the battery, or
with small arms. This not only gave them efficiency in the use of their
weapons, but kept them employed--the constant employment of my men being a
fundamental article of my philosophy. I found the old adage, that
"Idleness is the parent of vice," as true upon the sea as upon the land.
My crew were never so happy as when they had plenty to do, and but little
to think about. Indeed, as to the thinking, I allowed them to do very
little of that. Whenever I found I had a sea-lawyer among them, I got rid
of him as soon as possible--giving him a chance to desert. I reserved the
_quids_, and _quos_, and _pros_ and _cons_, exclusively for myself.
But though I took good care to see that my men had plenty of employment,
it was not all work with them. They had their pastimes and pleasures, as
well as labors. After the duties of the day were over, they would
generally assemble on the forecastle, and, with violin, and
tambourine--and I always kept them supplied with these and other musical
instruments--they would extemporize a ball-room, by moving the shot-racks,
coils of rope, and other impediments, out of the way, and, with
handkerchiefs tied around the waists of some of them, to indicate who were
to be the ladies of the party, they would get up a dance with all due form
and ceremony; the ladies, in particular, endeavoring to imitate all the
airs and graces of the sex--the only drawback being a little hoarseness of
the voice, and now and then the use of an expletive, which would escape
them when something went wrong in the dance, and they forgot they had the
aprons on. The favorite dancing-tunes were those of Wapping and Wide Water
Street, and when I speak of the airs and graces, I must be understood to
mean those rather demonstrative airs and graces, of which Poll and Peggy
would be likely to be mistresses of. On these occasions, the discipline of
the ship was wont to be purposely relaxed, and roars of laughter, and
other evidences of the rapid flight of the jocund hours, at other times
entirely inadmissible, would come resounding aft on the quarter-deck.
Sometimes the recreation of the dance would be varied, and songs and
story-telling would be the amusements of the evening. The sea is a wide
net, which catches all kinds of fish, and in a man-of-war's crew a great
many odd characters are always to be found. Broken-down gentlemen, who
have spent all the money they have been able to raise, upon their own
credit, or that of their friends; defaulting clerks and cashiers; actors
who have been playing to empty houses; third-class musicians and poets,
are all not unfrequently found in the same ship's company. These gentlemen
play a very unimportant _role_ in seamanship, but they take a high rank
among the crew, when fun and frolic, and not seamanship, are the order of
the day--or rather night. In the _Alabama_, we had a capital Falstaff,
though Jack's capacious pouch was not often with "fat capon lined;" and as
for "sherry-sack," if he now and then got a good glass of "red-eye"
instead, he was quite content. We had several Hals, who had defied their
harsh old papas, and given them the slip, to keep Falstaff company; and as
for _raconteurs_, we had them by the score. Some of these latter were
equal to the Italian _lazzaroni_, and could extemporize yarns by the hour;
and there is nothing of which a sailor is half so fond as a yarn.
It was my custom, on these occasions, to go forward on the bridge--a light
structure spanning the deck, near amidships--which, in the twilight hours,
was a sort of lounging-place for the officers, and smoke my single cigar,
and listen to whatever might be going on, almost as much amused as the
sailors themselves. So rigid is the discipline of a ship of war, that the
captain is necessarily much isolated from his officers. He messes alone,
walks the quarter-deck alone, and rarely, during the hours of duty,
exchanges, even with his first lieutenant, or officer of the deck, other
conversation than such as relates to the ship, or the service she is upon.
I felt exceedingly the irksomeness of my position, and was always glad of
an opportunity to escape from it. On the "bridge," I could lay aside the
"captain," gather my young officers around me, and indulge in some of the
pleasures of social intercourse; taking care to tighten the reins, gently,
again, the next morning. When song was the order of the evening, after the
more ambitious of the _amateurs_ had delivered themselves of their _solos_
and _cantatas_, the entertainment generally wound up with _Dixie_, when
the whole ship would be in an uproar of enthusiasm, sometimes as many as a
hundred voices joining in the chorus; the unenthusiastic Englishman, the
stolid Dutchman, the mercurial Frenchman, the grave Spaniard, and even the
serious Malayan, all joining in the inspiring refrain,--
"_We'll live and die in Dixie!_"
and astonishing old Neptune by the fervor and novelty of their music.
Eight o'clock was the hour at which the night-watches were set, when, of
course, all merriment came to an end. When the officer of the deck
reported this hour to the captain, and was told by the latter, to "make it
so," he put the trumpet to his mouth, and sang out in a loud voice,
"Strike the bell eight--call the watch!" In an instant, the most profound
silence fell upon the late uproarious scene. The witches did not disappear
more magically, in that famous revel of Tam O'Shanter, when Tam sang out,
"Weel dune, Cutty Sark!" than the sailors dispersed at this ominous voice
of authority. The violinist was arrested with half-drawn bow; the
_raconteur_ suddenly ceased his yarn in the most interesting part of his
story, and even the inspiring chorus of "Dixie" died a premature death,
upon the lips of the singers. The shrill call of the boatswain's whistle,
followed by his hoarse voice, calling "All the starboard watch!" or "All
the port watch!" as the case might be, would now be heard, and pretty
soon, the watch, which was off duty, would "tumble" below to their
hammocks, and the midshipman would be seen coming forward from the
quarter-deck, with lantern and watch-bill in hand, to muster the watch
whose turn it was to be on deck. The most profound stillness now reigned
on board during the remainder of the night, only broken by the necessary
orders and movements, in making or taking in sail, or it may be, by the
whistling of the gale, and the surging of the sea, or the cry of the
look-outs at their posts, every half hour.
To return now to our cruise. We are passing, the reader will recollect,
from the Azores to the Banks of Newfoundland. On the 1st of October, the
following record is found upon my journal: "The gale moderated during the
last night, but the weather, to-day, has been thick and rainy, with the
wind from the north-west, and a confused, rough sea. No observation for
latitude. The barometer, which had gone down to 29.8 is rising, and stands
at nine P. M. at 29.9. The ship being about two hundred miles only, from
the Banks of Newfoundland, we are trying the temperature of the air and
water every hour. At nine P. M. we found the temperature of the former to
be 63 deg., and of the latter 70 deg., indicating that we have passed into
the Gulf Stream." The thick, rainy weather is almost as unerring a sign of
the presence of this stream as the thermometer.
The stream into which we have now passed is, literally, an immense
salt-water river in the sea. Coming out of the Gulf of Mexico, it has
brought the temperature of the tropics, all the way to the Banks of
Newfoundland, in the latitude of 50 deg. north, and it has run this
distance between banks, or walls of cold water, on either side, parting
with very little of its warmth, by the way. When it is recollected that
this salt-water river in the sea is about three thousand times larger than
the Mississippi River, that is to say, that it brings out of the Gulf of
Mexico, three thousand times as much water, as that river empties into it,
and that all this great body of water is carried up into the hyperborean
regions of Newfoundland, at a temperature, even in mid-winter, ranging
from 73 to 78 degrees, it will be seen at once what a powerful
weather-breeder it must be. Accordingly, no port of the world is more
stormy than the Gulf Stream, off the north-eastern coast of the United
States, and the Banks of Newfoundland. Such is the quantity of heat
brought daily by this stream, and placed in juxtaposition with the rigors
of a Northern winter, that it is estimated, that if it were suddenly
stricken from it, it would be sufficient to make the column of
superincumbent atmosphere hotter than melted iron! With such an element of
atmospheric disturbance, it is not wonderful that the most terrific gales,
that rage on the ocean, are wont to sweep over the surface of this stream.
Indeed, this stream not only generates hurricanes of its own, it seems to
attract to it such as are engendered in the most distant parts of our
hemisphere; for hurricanes known to have originated near Cape St. Roque,
in Brazil, have made their way straight for the Gulf Stream, and followed
it, in its course, for a thousand miles and more, spreading shipwreck and
disaster, broadcast, in their track. The violence of these gales is
inconceivable by those who have not witnessed them. The great hurricane of
1780 originated to the eastward of the island of Barbadoes, and made
straight for the Gulf Stream. As it passed over the West India Islands,
trees were uprooted, and the bark literally blown from them. The very
bottom and depths of the sea, in the vicinity of some of the islands, were
uncovered, and rocks torn up, and new channels formed. The waves rose to
such a height, that forts, and castles, removed, as it was thought, far
out of the reach of the water, were washed away, and the storm, taking
hold of their heavy artillery, played with it, as with so many straws,
throwing it to considerable distances. Houses were razed, and ships
wrecked, and the bodies of men and beasts were lifted up into the air and
dashed to pieces in the storm. Still, the European-bound ships defy all
the bad weather, so prevalent in this stream, on account of the easterly
current which accelerates their passage, at the rate of from two, to three
miles, per hour. The stream, therefore, has been literally bearded by
commerce, and has become one of its principal highways. It is because it
is a highway of commerce that the _Alabama_ now finds herself in it. Nor
was she long in it, before the travellers on the highway began to come
along.
Early on the morning of the 3d of October, two sail were simultaneously
reported by the look-out at the mast-head--one right ahead, and the other
on the lee-bow. As both the ships were standing in our direction, there
was no necessity for a chase. We had nothing to do but await their
approach. As their hulls were lifted above the horizon, we could see that
they were fine, large ships, with a profusion of tapering spars and white
canvas. We at once pronounced them American; and so, after a little, they
proved to be. They were, in fact, the _avant courriers_ of the "junk
fleet," for which we had come to look. The wind was light, and they came
on, with all their sails set, from truck to rail. We, on our part, put on
an air of perfect indifference. We made no change in our sail, and it was
not necessary to alter our course, as the strangers would pass
sufficiently near us, unless they altered their own courses, which they
did not seem inclined to do. They apparently had no suspicion of our real
character. We did not hoist any colors, until the vessels were nearly
abreast of us, and only a few hundred yards distant, when, suddenly
wheeling, we fired a gun, and hoisted the Confederate flag. The capture of
these two ships must have been a perfect surprise to them, judging by the
confusion that was visible on board. There was a running about the decks,
and an evident indecision for a few moments, as to what was best to be
done; but it did not take the masters long to take an intelligent view of
the "situation." There was nothing to be done, but surrender; and this
they did, by hoisting their colors, and heaving to their ships.
We now shortened sail, and laying the maintopsail to the mast, lowered a
couple of quarter boats, and boarded the prizes. One of them proved to be
the _Brilliant_, from New York, for London, laden with flour and grain;
and the other, the _Emily Farnum_, from New York, for Liverpool, with a
similar cargo. The cargo of the _Farnum_ being properly documented as
neutral property, I released her on ransom-bond, and converting her into a
cartel, sent on board of her all my prisoners, of whom I had fifty or
sixty on board the _Alabama_, besides those just captured in the
_Brilliant_. The latter ship was burned, and her destruction must have
disappointed a good many holders of bills of exchange, drawn against her
cargo, as this was large and valuable. The owners of the ship have since
put in a claim, in that little bill, which Mr. Seward has pressed with so
little effect hitherto against the British Government, for indemnity for
the "depredations of the _Alabama_," for the ship alone, and the
freight-moneys which they lost by her destruction, to the amount of
$93,000. The cargo was probably even more valuable than the ship.
I made a positive stipulation with the _Farnum_, upon releasing her, that
she should continue her voyage to Liverpool, and not put back into any
American port; the master pledging me his word that he would comply with
it. My object was, of course, to prevent him from giving news of me to the
enemy. He had no sooner passed out of sight, however, steering his course
for Liverpool, than he dodged and put into Boston, and reported me. This
being nothing more than a clever "Yankee trick," of course there was no
harm done the master's honor.
I was much moved by the entreaties of the master of the _Brilliant_ to
spare his ship. He was a hard-working seaman, who owned a one third
interest in her. He had built her, and was attached to her, and she
represented all his worldly goods. But I was forced again to steel my
heart. He was, like the other masters who had remonstrated with me, in the
same boat with the "political rascals," who had egged on the war; and I
told him he must look to those rascals for redress. The ship made a
brilliant bonfire, lighting up the Gulf Stream, for many miles around.
Having been set on fire near night, and the wind falling to nearly a calm,
we remained in sight of the burning wreck nearly all night.
Among the many slanders against me, to which the Northern press gave
currency during the war, it was stated, that I decoyed ships into my
power, by setting fire to my prizes at night, and remaining by them in
ambuscade. Of course, when seamen discover a ship on fire at sea they
rush, with all their manly sympathies aroused, to the rescue of their
comrades, who are supposed to be in danger; but if they should find, it
was said, that they were waylaid, and captured, none would go to the
rescue in future, and thus many seamen would perish. It can scarcely be
necessary for me to say, that I never purposely lay by a burning ship, by
night, or by day, longer than _to see her well on fire_. The substantial
answer to the slander is, that I never captured a ship, under the
circumstances stated.
For the next few days we had fine, clear weather, and chased and
overhauled a number of neutral ships, most of them out of New York, and
bound for Europe, laden with grain. The English, French, Prussian,
Hamburg, Oldenham, and other flags were fast monopolizing the enemy's
carrying trade, and enjoying a rich harvest. These were not the sort of
"junks" that we were in quest of, but they compensated us, somewhat, for
the time and labor lost in chasing and boarding them, by supplying us with
late newspapers of the enemy, and giving us valuable information
concerning the progress of the war.
On the afternoon of the 7th of October, the weather being fine, and the
breeze light, we chased and captured the American bark, _Wave Crest_, from
New York, bound for Cardiff, in Wales, with flour and grain. In the
language of the enemy, we "plundered her," that is, we received on board
from her, such articles as we needed, and after having made use of her for
a while, as a target, at which to practise the men at the battery, we
burned her.
Filing away, we again made sail to the north-west. We were now, in about
latitude 41 deg., and longitude 54 deg., and were working our way, under
easy sail, toward the coasts of the United States. Just before nightfall,
on the same afternoon, another sail was cried from aloft, and we made all
sail in pursuit, immediately, anxious to draw sufficiently near the chase
before dark, to prevent losing sight of her. By this time, the wind, which
had been very light all day, had freshened to a stiff breeze, and the
chase, soon perceiving our object, spread a cloud of canvas, with
studding-sails "alow and aloft," in the effort to escape. She had seen the
fire of the burning _Wave Crest_, and knew full well the doom that awaited
her, if she were overtaken. As night threw her mantle over the scene, the
moon, nearly at the full, rose with unusual splendor and lighted up the
sea for the chase; and a beautiful, picturesque chase it was. Although it
lasted several hours, our anxiety as to the result was relieved, in a very
short time, for we could see, from the first, that we gained upon the
fleeing ship, although her master practised every stratagem known to the
skilful seaman. As soon as we approached sufficiently near to get a good
view of her through our excellent night-glasses, which, in the bright
moonlight, brought out all her features almost as distinctly as if we had
been viewing them by the rays of the sun, we discovered that she was one
of those light, and graceful hermaphrodite brigs, that is, a rig between
the brig and the schooner, so peculiarly American. Her sails were
beautifully cut, well hoisted, and the clews well spread; her masts were
long and tapering, and her yards more square than usual. There was just
sea enough on, to give her, now and then, a gentle motion, as she rose
upon a wave, and scudded forward with renewed impulse. Her sails looked
not unlike so many silver wings, in the weird moonlight, and with a little
effort of the imagination, it would not have been difficult to think of
her as some immense water-fowl, which had been scared from its roost and
flown seaward for safety.
I sat astride of the hammock-cloth on the weather-quarter, and watched the
beautiful apparition during the whole chase, only taking off my eye, now
and then, to give some order to the officer of the deck, or to cast it
admiringly upon the buckling and bending masts and spars of my own
beautiful ship, as she sped forward, with all the animation of a living
thing, in pursuit. The poor little, affrighted fawn ahead of us, how its
heart must have gone pit-a-pat, as it cast its timid eyes behind it, and
saw its terrible pursuer looming up larger, and larger, and coming nearer
and nearer! Still there might be some hope. The pursuing vessel might be
some peaceful merchant-ship, bound on the same errand of commerce with
herself, and only trying heels with her, in sport, over these dancing
waves, and by this bright moonlight. Alas! the hope was short-lived; for
presently, in the stillness of near midnight, a flash was seen, followed
by the sound of a booming gun, and there could no longer be any doubt,
that the pursuer was a ship of war, and most likely a Confederate.
Halliards and tacks, and sheets were let fly on board the brigantine, and
as soon as her seamen could gather in the folds of the flapping sails, and
haul up clew-garnets, her helm was put down, and she rounded gracefully to
the now whistling wind, with fore-topsail aback. So rapidly had this been
done, and so close was the _Alabama_ upon the chase, that we had just time
to sheer clear of her by a little trick of the helm. Our own sail was now
shortened, and the boarding-officer dispatched on board the prize.
She proved to be the _Dunkirk_, from New York, with a cargo of grain for
Lisbon. There being no evidence of neutral ownership of the cargo, among
the papers, she was burned, as soon as her crew could be transferred to
the _Alabama_. We made two novel captures on board this ship--one was a
deserter from the _Sumter_, a worthless sailor out of one of the Northern
States, whom we afterward discharged from the Confederate Naval service,
in disgrace, instead of hanging him, as we might have done under our
Articles of War; and the other a number of very neatly put up _tracts_ in
the Portuguese language; our Northern brethren dealing in a little piety
as well as trade. These tracts had been issued by that pious corporation,
the "American Tract Society," of New York, whose fine fat offices are
filled with sleek, well-fed parsons, of the Boynton stripe, whose business
it is to prey upon the credulity of kind-hearted American women, and make
a pretence of converting the heathen! On the cover of these tracts was
printed the following directions, as to how the doses were to be taken.
"Portuguese tracts, from the 'American Tract Society,' for distribution
among Portuguese passengers, and to give, upon the coast, to visitors from
the shore, &c. When in port, please keep conspicuously on the cabin-table,
for all comers to read: but be very careful not to take any ashore, as the
laws do not allow it." A pen had been run through the last injunction, as
though the propagandists of "grand moral ideas" had become a little bolder
since the war, and were determined to thrust their piety down the throats
of the Portuguese, whether they would or not. If there should be any
attempt now, on the part of poor old Portugal, to seize the unlawful
distributor of the tracts, a gunboat or two would set the matter right. A
little farther on, on the same cover, was the following instruction: "As
may be convenient, please report, (by letter if necessary,) anything of
interest which may occur, in connection with the distribution; also take
any orders for Bibles, and forward to John S. Pierson, Marine Agent, New
York Bible Society, No. 7 Beekman Street."