THE ALABAMA LEAVES FERNANDO DE NORONHA FOR A CRUISE ON THE COAST OF
BRAZIL--ENTERS THE GREAT HIGHWAY AND BEGINS TO OVERHAUL THE
TRAVELLERS--CAPTURE OF THE WHALER NYE; OF THE DORCAS PRINCE; OF THE UNION
JACK; OF THE SEA LARK--A REVEREND CONSUL TAKEN PRISONER--ALABAMA GOES INTO
BAHIA--WHAT OCCURRED THERE--ARRIVAL OF THE GEORGIA--ALABAMA PROCEEDS TO
SEA AGAIN--CAPTURES THE FOLLOWING SHIPS: THE GILDERSLIEVE; THE JUSTINA;
THE JABEZ SNOW; THE AMAZONIAN, AND THE TALISMAN.
The 22d of April having arrived, we gave up all further hopes of the
_Agrippina_, and went to sea. As we passed out of the roadstead, we cut
adrift the four whale-boats which we had brought in from the captured
whalers, rather than destroy them. They would be valuable to the
islanders, who had treated us kindly, and it was amusing to see the
struggle which took place for the possession of them. The good people
seemed to have some anticipation of what was to take place, and all the
boatmen of the island had assembled to contest the prizes, in every
description of craft that would float, from the dug-out to the tidy
cutter. The boatmen stripped themselves like athletes for the fray, and as
whale-boat after boat was cut adrift, there was a pulling and splashing, a
paddling and a screaming that defy all description; the victors waving
their hats, and shouting their victory and their good-bye to us, in the
same breath.
We steamed due east from the island some forty miles, when we let our
steam go down, raised the propeller, and put the ship under sail. The
_Alabama_, with full coal-bunkers and a refreshed crew, was again in
pursuit of the enemy's commerce. I had at last accomplished my cherished
design--which had been frustrated in the _Sumter_--of a cruise on the
coast of Brazil. In my stanch and fleet little ship, I was in a condition
to defy both winds and currents. On the day after leaving Fernando de
Noronha, I observed in latitude 5 deg. 45' S., and had thus run entirely
from under the Cloud Ring. We were met by a bright sky, and the first
gentle breathings of the south-east trade. This change in the weather
had an electric effect upon my people. Cheerfulness returned to their
countenances, and elasticity to their step. It took us some time to dry
and ventilate the ship, the rigging being filled, for a day or two, with
wet pea-jackets and mattresses, and the decks strewed with mouldy boots
and shoes.
Before we had been twenty-four hours at sea, the usual bugle-note was
sounded from the mast-head, and the _Alabama_ had pricked up her ears in
chase. It was another unfortunate whaler. The fates seemed to have a
grudge against these New England fishermen, and would persist in throwing
them in my way, although I was not on a whaling-ground. This was the
sixteenth I had captured--a greater number than had been captured from the
English by Commodore David Porter, in his famous cruise in the Pacific, in
the frigate _Essex_, during the war of 1812. The prize proved to be the
bark _Nye_, of New Bedford. This bluff old whaler was returning home from
a cruise of thirty-one months in the far-off Pacific, during which her
crew had become almost as much Sandwich Islanders, as Americans in
appearance, with their garments so saturated with oil that they would have
been quite valuable to the soap-boiler. She had sent "home" one or two
cargoes of oil, and had now on board 425 barrels more. It seemed a pity to
break in upon the _menage_ of these old salts, who had weathered so many
gales, and chased the whale through so many latitudes, but there was no
alternative. The New England wolf was still howling for Southern blood,
and the least return we could make for the howl, was to spill a little
"_ile_." Everything about the _Nye_ being greased to saturation, she made
a splendid conflagration.
The next day the wind freshened, and we might now be said to be in the
well-pronounced south-east trades. Indeed, it blew so fresh at nightfall,
that we took the single reefs in the topsails. We were jogging along
leisurely on the great Brazilian highway, waiting for the passengers,
rather than hunting them up. Presently another came along--a fine, taunt
ship, that represented the boxes and bales of merchandise, rather than
harpoons and whale-oil. We gave chase under the enemy's colors, but the
chase was coy and shy, and refused to show colors in return, until she was
commanded to do so by a gun. The stars and stripes, which now fluttered to
the breeze, sufficiently explained her reluctance. Upon being boarded she
proved to be the _Dorcas Prince_, of New York, bound for Shanghai. Her
cargo consisted chiefly of coal. She had been fourty-four days out, an
unusually long passage, and what was quite wonderful for an American ship,
she had no documents on board from the college, either of the political or
religious propaganda, and only three or four old newspapers. When we
learned she was from New York, we had been in hopes of capturing a mail.
We burned her as soon as we could transfer her crew, there being no claim
of neutral cargo found among her papers. Her master had his wife on board,
which resulted, as usual, in sending one of my young lieutenants into the
"country."
Reducing sail again, we jogged along as before, but for the next few days
we overhauled nothing but neutrals. A St. John's, New Brunswick, ship,
brought us the mail we had expected to receive by the _Dorcas Prince_, but
it contained nothing of interest. On the 3d of May, the weather being
fine, though interrupted occasionally by a rain-squall, we gave chase,
about eleven A. M., to a clipper-ship, with square yards, white canvas,
and long mast-heads--and the reader must be enough of an expert, by this
time, to know what these mean. In an hour and a half of fine sailing, we
came near enough to the chase, to make her show the Federal colors, and
heave to. She proved to be the _Union Jack_, of Boston, bound for
Shanghai. Whilst we had been pursuing the _Union Jack_, another
"suspicious" sail hove in sight, and as soon as we could throw a
prize-crew on board of the former, we started off in pursuit of the
latter. This second sail proved also to be a prize, being the _Sea Lark_,
of New York, bound for San Francisco. Here were two prizes, in as many
hours.
There was no attempt to cover the cargo of the _Sea Lark_, and the only
attempt that was made in the case of the _Union Jack_, was made by one
Allen Hay, who was anxious to save five cases of crackers, and ten barrels
of butter from capture. In this case, a Mr. Thomas W. Lillie, made oath
before the British Consul in New York, that the said articles were shipped
"for and on account of subjects of her Britannic Majesty." The reader has
seen me burn several other ships, with similar certificates, the reasons
for which burnings were assigned at the time. I will not stop, therefore,
to discus this. In due time both ships were consigned to the flames. I was
sorry to find three more women, and two small children on board of the
_Union Jack_. That ship was, in fact, about to expatriate herself for
several years, after the fashion of many of the Yankee ships in the
Chinese coasting-trade, and the master was taking his family out to
domicile it somewhere in China. There were several male passengers also on
board this ship, among them an ex-New-England parson, the Rev. Franklin
Wright, who was going out as Consul to Foo Chow. The Rev. Mr. Wright had
been editor of a religious paper for some years, in one of the New England
villages, and probably owed his promotion to the good services he had
rendered in hurrying on the war. He had Puritan written all over his
lugubrious countenance, and looked so solemn, that one wondered how he
came to exchange the clergyman's garb for the garb of Belial. But so it
was; Franklin was actually going out to India, in quest of the dollars. We
deprived him of his Consular seal and commission, though we did not molest
his private papers, and of sundry very pretty Consular flags, that had
been carefully prepared for him by Mr. Seward, _fils_, at the State
Department, in Washington. I am pained to see, by that "little bill" of
Mr. Seward, _pere_, against the British Government, for "depredations of
the _Alabama_," before referred to, that the Rev. Mr. Wright puts his
damages down at $10,015. I had no idea that a New England parson carried
so much plunder about with him.
We received large mails from these two last ships, and had our "moral
ideas" considerably expanded, for the next few days, by the perusal of
Yankee newspapers. We found among other interesting items, a vivid
synopsis of the war news, in a speech of Governor Wright, of Indiana, who,
if I mistake not, had been charge to Berlin, where he had been in the
habit of holding conventicles and prayer-meetings. The Governor is
addressing a meeting of the "truly loil" at Philadelphia, and among other
things, said:--
"The stars and stripes now wave over half the slave grounds. I
believe in less than thirty days we will open the Mississippi and
take Charleston. [Loud applause.] Leave Virginia alone, that can't
sprout a black-eyed pea [Laughter.] Scripture teaches us that no
people can live long where there is no grass. The question then is
only, whether they can live thirty or sixty days."
Thus, amid the laughter and jeers of an unwashed rabble, did an
ex-Governor, and ex-U. S. Minister, gloat over the prospect of _starving_
an entire people, women and children included. Did we need other
incitement on board the _Alabama_, to apply a well-lighted torch to the
enemy's ships?
There were copious extracts from the English papers found in this mail,
and I trust the reader will excuse me, while I give a portion of a speech
made to his constituents, by a member of the British Parliament, who was
also a member of the cabinet. The speaker is Mr. Milner Gibson, President
of the Board of Trade. A great war, which covered a continent with the
fire and smoke of battle, was raging between a people, who were the near
kinsmen of the speaker. Battles were being fought daily, that dwarfed all
the battles that had gone before them. Feats of brilliant courage were
being performed, on both sides, that should have made the blood of the
speaker course more rapidly through his veins, and stir to their depths
the feelings of humanity and brotherhood. Under such circumstances, what
think you, reader, was the subject of Mr. Gibson's discourse? It was bacon
and eggs! Listen:--
"Now," continues Mr. Gibson, "these large importations of foreign
wheat and flour, and other provisions, into this country, must, to
some extent, have tended to mitigate the distress, and have enabled
many to provide for the wants of others out of their own surplus
means. But supposing that the Government of this country had been
induced, as they were urged frequently, to involve themselves in
interference in the affairs of the United States; supposing, by some
rash and precipitate recognition of those who are conducting
hostilities against the United States--called the Confederate States
of America--we had brought ourselves into collision with the United
States, where would have been this flour, and ham, and bacon, and
eggs? I suppose, if we had been compelled to take up arms against the
United States, by any unfortunate policy, blockading would have been
resorted to, and we should have been obliged to establish a blockade
of the coast of America, for the very purpose of keeping out of this
country all this wheat, flour, and eggs which have gone to mitigate
the distress of the cotton industry in the present alarming state of
affairs. We have from the commencement carried out the doctrine of
non-intervention. We have endeavored to preserve a strict neutrality
between the two contending parties. It was impossible to avoid
recognizing the belligerent rights of the South at the outset of the
contest, because it was a contest of such magnitude, and the
insurgents, as they were called, were so numerous and so powerful,
that it would have been impossible to recognize them in any other
capacity but as persons entitled to bear arms; and if we had not done
so, and if their armed vessels found on the seas were treated as
pirates, it must be obvious to every one that this would have been an
unparalleled course of action. We were compelled to recognize the
belligerent rights of the South, but there has been no desire on the
part of the Government to favor either the one side or the other. My
earnest desire is to preserve strict neutrality; and, whatever may be
my individual feelings--for we must have our sympathies on the one
side or the other--whatever may be my feelings as a member of
Parliament and the executive administration, I believe it to be for
the interest of England that this neutrality should be observed."
Poor old John Bull! What a descent have we here, from the Plantagenets to
Mr. Milner Gibson? From Coeur de Leon, "striking for the right," to Mr.
Milner Gibson, of the _Board of Trade_, advising his countrymen to smother
all their more noble and generous impulses, that they might continue to
fry cheap bacon and eggs!
We had been working our way, for the last few days, toward Bahia, in
Brazil, and being now pretty well crowded with prisoners, having no less
than the crews of four captured ships on board, I resolved to run in and
land them. We anchored about five P. M., on the 11th of May. Bahia is the
second city, in size and commercial importance, in the Brazilian empire.
We found a large number of ships at anchor in the harbor, but no Yankees
among them. The only man-of-war present was a Portuguese. We were struck
with the spaciousness of the bay, and the beauty of the city as we
approached. The latter crowns a crescent-shaped eminence, and its white
houses peep cosily from beneath forest-trees, of the richest and greenest
foliage. The business part of the city lies at the foot of the crescent,
near the water's edge. It, too, looks picturesque, with its quays, and
shipping, and tugs, and wherries. But, as is the case with most Portuguese
towns--for the Brazilians are only a better class of Portuguese--the
illusion of beauty is dispelled, as soon as you enter its narrow and
crooked streets, and get sight of its swarthy population, the chief
features of which are _sombreros_ and garlic. We were boarded by the
health-officer just at dark, and admitted to _pratique_.
The next morning, the weather set in gloomy and rainy. The requisite
permission having been obtained, we landed our prisoners, there being
upward of a hundred of them. Parson Wright here took the back track, I
believe. Whether, after stating his grievances at the State Department in
Washington, he renewed his commission, and proceeded, in some more
fortunate Yankee ship to Foo Chow, or went back to his religious paper,
and his exhortations against the Southern heathen, I have never learned.
The reverend gentleman forgot his Christian charity, and did not come to
say "good-bye," when he landed, though we had treated him with all due
consideration.
I had now another little diplomatic matter on my hands. I had scarcely
risen from the breakfast-table, on the morning after my arrival, when an
aide-de-camp of the Governor, or rather President of the Department, came
off to see me on official business. He brought on board with him a copy of
the "Diario de Bahia," a newspaper very respectable for its size and
typography, containing an article, which I was requested to read, and
answer in writing. This I promised to do, and the messenger departed. I
found, upon glancing over the article, which filled a couple of columns,
that it was a Yankee production done into very good Portuguese--the joint
work, probably, of the Yankee Consul at Pernambuco, where the article had
originated--for it had been copied into the Bahia paper--and the President
of that province. It was written after the style of a proclamation, was
signed by the President, and strangely enough addressed to
myself--supposed to be still at Fernando de Noronha, with the _Alabama_.
After charging me with sundry violations of the neutrality of Brazil, it
ordered me to depart the island, within twenty-four hours.
Instead of sending a ship of war, to examine into the facts, and enforce
his order, if necessary, the President had been satisfied to send this
paper bullet after me. It reminded me very much of the "stink-pots," which
the Chinese are in the habit of throwing at their enemies, and I could not
restrain a smile, as I called upon Bartelli to produce my writing
materials. The aide-de-camp who had brought me the paper, had brought off
a message, along with it, from the President, to the effect that he
desired I would hold no communication with the shore, until I had answered
the article; which was tantamount to informing me, that he was somewhat in
doubt whether he would permit me to communicate at all or not. I really
wanted nothing--though I afterward took in a few boat-loads of coal,
merely to show the President that I was disposed to be civil--and this
consideration, along with the fact, that I had the heaviest guns in the
harbor, induced me to be rather careless, I am afraid, in the choice of
phraseology, as I penned my despatch. I simply charged that the whole
proclamation was a budget of lies, and claimed that I had been insulted by
the Government of Brazil, by the lies having been put into an official
shape by it, without first communicating with me.
The Brazilians are a very polite people, and my reply was "perfectly
satisfactory." Jack went on shore, and had his frolic, and the _Alabama_
remained a week in the port, enjoying the hospitalities of the numerous
English, and other foreign residents. Among other entertainments, we had a
splendid ball given us by Mr. Ogilvie, a British merchant, at which much
of the foreign and native beauty was present. Mr. Ogilvie's tasteful
residence overlooked the bay from the top of the crescent I have
described; his grounds, redolent of the perfumes of tropical flowers, were
brilliantly illuminated, and a fine band of music charmed not only the
revellers, but the numerous ships in the Bay. Several Brazilian
dignitaries and foreign Consuls were present. I took all my young
gentlemen on shore with me, who could be spared from the ship, and they
did their "devoirs" as only gallant knights can, and carried on board with
them, in the "wee sma'" hours of the morning, several tiny kid gloves and
scarfs, as mementos to accompany them on their cruises--every villain of
them swearing to return at some future day. So it is always with the
sailor. As before remarked, his very life is a poem, and his heart is
capacious enough to take in the whole sex.
On the morning after this brilliant entertainment, an officer came below
to inform me that a strange steamer of war had entered during the night,
which, as yet, had shown no colors. I directed our own colors to be shown
to the stranger--for the regular hour of hoisting them had not yet
arrived--and the reader may judge of our delight, when we saw the
Confederate States flag thrown to the breeze in reply, by the newcomer. It
was the _Georgia_, Commander Lewis F. Maury, on a cruise, like ourselves,
against the enemy's commerce. She had come in to meet her coal-ship, the
_Castor_, which had been ordered to rendezvous here. We had now other
troubles with the authorities. The President, seeing another Confederate
steamer arrive, became nervous, lest he should be compromised in some way,
and be called to account by the Emperor. The little gad-fly of a Yankee
Consul was, besides, constantly buzzing around him. He declined to permit
the _Georgia_ to receive coal from her transport, though he was forced to
admit that the transport had the right to land it, and that, when landed,
the _Georgia_ might receive it on board, like any other coal. Still it
must be landed. The gad-fly had buzzed in his ear, that there was a "cat
in the meal tub;" the _Castor_ having, as he alleged, some guns and
ammunition covered up in her coal! His Excellency then wanted to see my
commission--the gad-fly having buzzed "pirate! pirate!" To add to the
complication, news now came in that the _Florida_ also had arrived at
Pernambuco! Diablo! what was to be done? An aide-de-camp now came off with
a letter from his Excellency, telling me, that I had already tarried too
long in the port of Bahia, and that he desired me to be off. I wrote him
word that I was not ready, and sent another batch of liberty men on shore.
Presently another missive came. His Excellency had learned from the
gad-fly, that I had enlisted one of my late prisoners, after setting him
on shore, which, as he said, was a grave breach of the laws of nations. I
replied that I had not only not enlisted one of my late prisoners, after
setting him on shore, but that, my crew being full, I had _refused to
enlist a good many of my late prisoners_, who had applied to me before
being set on shore, which was the literal fact. I mention these
occurrences to show what a troublesome little insect I found the gad-fly
in Brazil.
We had a few days of very pleasant intercourse with the _Georgia_. Maury
had been my shipmate in the old service, and two of my old _Sumter_
lieutenants, Chapman and Evans, were serving on board of her. In company
with her officers, we made a railroad excursion into the interior, upon
the invitation of the English company which owned the road. A splendid
collation was prepared in one of the cars, decorated and furnished for the
occasion, and a variety of choice wines broke down the barrier between
strangers, and drew men of the same blood closer together.
At length, when I was entirely ready for sea, I delighted the President
one evening, by sending him word that I should go to sea the next morning.
The _Georgia_ was nearly through coaling, and would follow me in a day or
two. The poor President of the province of Bahia! The Yankees treated him,
afterward, as they do everybody else with whom they have to do. They first
endeavored to use him, and then kicked him. The _Florida_ coming into
Bahia, a few months afterward, as related in a former page, a Federal ship
of war violated the neutrality of the port, by seizing her, and carrying
her off; and the Yankee nation, rather than make the amends which all the
world decided it was bound to make, by delivering back the captured ship
to Brazil, ordered her to be sunk by _accident_ in Hampton Roads! The
"_trick_" was eminently Yankee, and I presume could not possibly have been
practised in any other civilized nation of the earth.
Whilst the _Alabama_ is heaving up her anchor, I deem it proper to say a
word or two, about emigration to Brazil; a subject which has been a good
deal canvassed by our people. Brazil is an immense Empire, and has almost
all the known climates and soils of the world. Nature has bestowed upon
her her choicest gifts, and there is perhaps no more delightful country to
reside in than Brazil. But men live for society, as well as for climate
and soil. The effete Portuguese race has been ingrafted upon a stupid,
stolid, Indian stock, in that country. The freed negro is, besides, the
equal of the white man, and as there seems to be no repugnance, on the
part of the white race--so called--to mix with the black race, and with
the Indian, amalgamation will go on in that country, until a mongrel set
of curs will cover the whole land. This might be a suitable field enough
for the New England school-ma'am, and carpet-bagger, but no Southern
gentleman should think of mixing his blood or casting his lot with such a
race of people.
Sail ho! was shouted from the mast-head of the _Alabama_, on the afternoon
of the 25th of May, a few days after she had put to sea from Bahia. We had
regained the track of commerce, and were again looking out for our
friends. We immediately gave chase, and had scarcely gotten the canvas on
the ship, before the look-out announced a second sail, in the same
direction. The wind was fresh, there was a heavy sea on, and the _Alabama_
darted forward, making her eleven, and twelve knots. As we began to raise
the fugitives above the horizon from the deck, it was plain to see, that
they were both American. We overhauled them rapidly, making them show
their colors, and heaving them to, with the accustomed guns. By the time
we had gotten up with them, the sun had set, and it was blowing half a
gale of wind. Our boats had a rough job before them, but they undertook it
with a will. The first ship boarded was the _Gilderslieve_, and the
second, the _Justina_. The former was a New York ship, last from London,
with a cargo of coal, purporting to be shipped for the service of the
"Peninsular, and Oriental Steam Navigation Company," but there was no
certificate of neutral ownership on board. Ship and cargo were therefore
condemned. The _Justina_ was a Baltimore ship, with some neutral property,
not amounting to a full cargo, on board. I converted her into a cartel,
and throwing the prisoners from the _Gilderslieve_ on board of her,
released her on ransom-bond. I then burned the _Gilderslieve_. The sea was
so rough, and the boating so difficult, that it was eleven P. M. before
the torch could be applied to the doomed ship. We lay to during the
remainder of the night, under reefed topsails.
The next day the weather moderated somewhat, though the wind still
continued fresh from about S. S. E. At about half-past eight P. M., the
night being quite light, we gave chase to an exceedingly rakish-looking
ship, whose canvas showed white under the rays of the moon, and which was
carrying a press of sail. We, too, crowded sail, and for a long time it
was doubtful which ship was the faster. The _Alabama_ seemed to have found
her match at last. Our pride was aroused, and we put our best foot
foremost. We saw all the sheets snugly home, the sails well hoisted, and
properly trimmed, and put the most skilful seamen at the wheel. Little by
little we began to crawl upon the chase, but hour after hour passed, and
still we were almost as far astern as ever. Midnight came, and the watch
was relieved, and still the fugitive was beyond our grasp. Four A. M.
arrived, and the old watch came back on deck again, only to wonder that
the chase still continued. At last the day dawned and still the ship, with
the square yards, and white canvas, was four or five miles ahead of us. We
had been all night in chase of a single ship--a thing which had never
happened to us before. When daylight appeared, I went below, and turned
in, handing the chase over to the first lieutenant. At half-past seven--my
usual time for rising--I heard the report of a gun, and pretty soon
afterward an officer came below to say, that the chase proved to be a
Dutchman! I must have looked a little sour at the breakfast-table, that
morning, as Bartelli was evidently a little nervous and fidgety.
Forty-eight hours after this night-chase, we had another, though with
better success, as a prize rewarded me for my loss of rest. The chase
commenced about two A. M., and it was half-past seven A. M., before we
were near enough to heave the fugitive to, with a gun. She proved to be
the _Jabez Snow_, of Buckport, Maine, last from Cardiff, with a cargo of
coal, for Montevideo. On the back of the bill of lading was the following
certificate: "We certify that the cargo of coals per _Jabez Snow_, for
which this is the bill of lading, is the _bona fide_ property of Messrs.
Wilson, Helt, Lane & Co., and that the same are British subjects, and
merchants, and also that the coals are for their own use." This
certificate was signed by "John Powell & Sons," but unfortunately for the
owners of the "coals" was not sworn to, and was therefore of no more
validity as evidence, than the bill of lading itself. Having gotten on
board from the prize, a quantity of provisions, and cordage, of both of
which we were in need, we consigned her to the flames. We found on board
this ship, from the sober "State of Maine," a woman who passed under the
_sobriquet_ of "chamber-maid." These shameless Yankee skippers make a
common practice of converting their ships into brothels, and taking their
mistresses to sea with them. For decency's sake, I was obliged to turn the
junior lieutenant out of his state-room for her accommodation.
There were some letters found on board the _Snow_ not intended for our
eyes, inasmuch as they informed us of the damage we were doing the Yankee
commerce. Here is one of them from the owner to the master. It is dated
Boston, November 25th, 1862. "We hope you may arrive safely, and in good
season, but we think you will find business rather flat at Liverpool, as
American ships especially are under a cloud, owing to dangers from
pirates, more politely styled privateers, which our kind friends in
England are so willing should slip out of their ports, to prey on our
commerce." Our torches always grew brighter as we read such effusions of
joint stupidity and malice.
Here is another wail from Buckport, Maine, under date of January 16th,
1863. It instructs the master as to the best mode of employing his ship.
"In the first place, it will not do to come this way with the ship; as New
York business for ships is flat enough--a large fleet in that port, and
nothing for them to do, that will pay expenses, and more arriving daily."
And another from the same place. "I hope you will be as prudent and
economical as possible in managing your ship matters, as your owners want
all the money they can get hold of, to aid in putting down this terrible
rebellion of ours. The progress our war is making, I shall leave for you
to gather from the papers, for it makes me sick to think of it, much more
to talk about it." No doubt--the ships were being laid up, and no freights
were coming in. We knew very well, on board the _Alabama_, the use to
which all the "money the ship-owners could get hold of" was being put. It
was to purchase "gold bonds" at half price, and push on the war. Hence our
diligence in scouring the seas, and applying the torch. Whenever we heard
a Yankee howl go up over a burned ship, we knew that there were fewer
dollars left, with which to hire the _canaille_ of Europe to throttle
liberty on the American continent.
We captured the _Jabez Snow_, on the 29th of May. On the 2d of June, being
in latitude 15 deg. 01', and longitude 34 deg. 56' at half-past three
A. M., or just before daylight, we passed a large ship on the opposite
tack. We were under topsails only, standing leisurely across the great
highway. We immediately wore ship, and gave chase, crowding all sail. When
day dawned, the fugitive was some six or seven miles ahead of us, and as
the chase was likely to be long, I fired a gun, and hoisted the Confederate
colors, to intimate to the stranger, that I would like him to be polite,
and save me the trouble of catching him, by heaving to. Pretty soon, I
fired a second gun--blank cartridge--with the same intent. But the stranger
had faith in his heels, and instead of heaving to, threw out a few more
kites to the balmy morning breeze. But it was of no use. Both ships were
on a wind, and the _Alabama_ could, in consequence, use her monster
trysails. My large double glasses--themselves captured from a Yankee
ship, the captain of which had probably bought them to look out for the
"pirate"--soon told the tale. We were gaining, but not very rapidly. Still
anxious to save time, when we had approached within about four miles of the
stranger, we cleared away our pivot rifle, and let him have a bolt. We did
not quite reach him, but these rifle-bolts make such an ugly whizzing, and
hissing, and humming as they pass along, that their commands are not often
disobeyed. The stranger clewed up, and backed his main yard, and hoisted
the Federal colors. We were alongside of him about half-past eleven
A. M.--the chase having lasted eight hours.
The prize proved to be the bark _Amazonian_ of Boston, from New York, with
an assorted cargo, for Montevideo. There was an attempt to cover two of
the consignments of this ship, in favor of French citizens, but the "hash"
being evidently Yankee, the certificates were disregarded. The prisoners,
and such "plunder" as we desired, being brought on board the _Alabama_,
the ship was consigned to the flames. The following letter from a merchant
in New York, to his correspondent in Buenos Ayres, was found among a very
large commercial and literary mail--the literature being from the college
of the Republican Propaganda--on board the _Amazonian_. "When you ship in
American vessels, it would be well to have the British Consul's
certificate of English property attached to bill of lading and invoice, as
in the event of falling in with the numerous privateers, it would save
both cargo and vessel in all probability. An American ship recently fallen
in with, was released by the _Alabama_, on account of British Consul's
certificate, showing greater part of cargo to be English property. If you
ship in a neutral vessel, we save five per cent. war insurance."
On the day after capturing the _Amazonian_, we boarded an English brig,
and I made an arrangement with the master to take my prisoners--forty-one
in number--to Rio Janeiro, whither he was bound. The consideration was,
twice as many provisions as the prisoners could consume, and a
chronometer. The master had been afraid of offending Earl Russell, until
the chronometer was named to him, when his scruples were at once removed.
Virtuous Briton! thou wert near akin to the Yankee.
On the following night, a little before daylight, whilst we were lying to,
with the main-topsail to the mast, a large, tall ship suddenly loomed up
in close proximity to us, and as suddenly passed away into the gloom,
gliding past us like a ghost. We filled away and made chase on the
instant, and being still within gun-shot, fired a blank cartridge. The
chase at once hove to, and we ranged up, just as day was breaking,
alongside of the clipper-ship _Talisman_, from New York, with an assorted
cargo, for Shanghai. There was no claim of neutral cargo among her papers,
and as soon as we could remove the crew, and some necessary articles, we
consigned her also, to that torch which Yankee malice had kept burning so
brightly in our hands.
The rebellion of the Taepings was still going on in China, and we found a
nice little "speculation" in connection with it, embarked on board the
_Talisman_. The speculators had put on board four very pretty rifled
12-pounder brass guns, and steam boilers and machinery for a gun-boat; the
design being to build, and equip one of this class of vessels in the East,
and take part in the Chinese war. I am afraid I spoiled a "good thing."
With a Yankee Mandarin on board, and a good supply of opium, and tracts,
what a smashing business this little cruiser might have done? We took a
couple of these brass pieces on board the _Alabama_, and in due time, sent
them afloat after the Yankee commerce, as the reader will see.
The next vessel that we overhauled was a "converted" ship--that is, a
Yankee turned into an Englishman. I desired very much to burn her, but was
prevented by the regularity of her papers and the circumstances
surrounding her. She was a Maine-built ship, but had evidently been _bona
fide_ transferred, as her master and crew were all Englishmen, and she was
then on a voyage from London to Calcutta. She received on board from us, a
couple of the passengers--an Irishman and his wife--captured on board of
the _Talisman_, who were anxious to go to Calcutta. For the next two or
three days, we had a series of blows, amounting almost to gales of wind.
We had arrived off the Abrolhos Shoals--a sort of Brazilian Cape Hatteras,
for bad weather. On the 9th and 10th of June, we were reduced to close
reefs; and, which was remarkable, we had a high barometer all the time. We
had, for some days, experienced a northerly current. The whole coast of
Brazil is coral-bound, and it is, for this reason, very dangerous. The
coral shoals rise abruptly, from great depths, and are sometimes found in
very small patches, with deep water all around them. Many of these patches
have been missed by the surveyor, and are not laid down on any charts, in
consequence. Hence it behooves the prudent mariner, to give the banks that
fringe the coasts of Brazil, a pretty wide berth.