CAPTURE OF THE ARIEL.
The next afternoon the Alabama ran down to the solitary little island of
Blanquilla, near the coast of Venezuela, whither the Agrippina had
preceded her. At the anchorage Captain Semmes was somewhat surprised to
find an American whaling schooner. Some boilers had been set up on the
island, and her crew were busily engaged in trying out oil from the
carcass of a whale which had recently been captured. As the Alabama
floated the United States flag, the captain of the whaler rowed out to her
and volunteered to pilot the new comer in, and expressed much satisfaction
that the United States navy department had shown such a commendable
determination to protect commerce in the Carribean Sea. After an
inspection of the Alabama's armament, he expressed the opinion that she
was "just the ship to give the pirate Semmes fits." When he was finally
informed into whose hands he had fallen, his consternation was really
pitiable. Semmes, however, was not disposed to stir up a quarrel with even
so weak a government as that of Venezuela, and magnanimously informed the
young skipper that he should consider the island as a Venezuelan
possession, notwithstanding the slight evidences of occupation, and that
the marine league surrounding the island would be respected as Venezuelan
waters. The Yankee master was detained on board the Alabama during her
stay as a precautionary measure. Some of the junior officers took delight
in tantalizing the enforced guest in the interim. A midshipman asked him
with great earnestness if "the old man" told him that he would not burn
his ship.
"Why to be sure he did," was the response.
And then followed doleful waggings of the head and the comforting remark
that it all looked very much like one of Semmes' grim jokes.
In the end the whaler was released and her master warned to get into a
Federal port at the earliest opportunity, and not permit himself to be
caught on the high seas, as he might not fare so well a second time.
The Alabama spent five days here coaling from the Agrippina. The crew were
allowed shore liberty in quarter watches, but as there were no rum shops
or dance houses on the island, the privilege was not greatly appreciated
by a large part of the rough sailors. Several of the boats were rigged
with sails and the officers went fishing. Gunning for pelicans, plovers,
gulls and sand-snipes was also a favorite pastime. Flocks of flamingoes
waded in the lagoons around the island in search of food, or stood in line
like soldiers on the beach.
A few settlers from the main land had taken up their residence on the
island, and were cultivating bananas. The sailors helped themselves
bountifully to this fruit, and complaint having been made to Captain
Semmes, he squared the account with ship's rations.
A court martial was appointed to consider the case of the incorrigible
George Forrest, and he was condemned to be put ashore and left on this
island.
November 26th the Alabama left her anchorage at Blanquilla, and on the
29th was coasting along the shore of Porto Rico. It was the hope of
Captain Semmes that he might capture a treasure steamer on her way north
with gold from California. In the Mona passage a Spanish schooner was
boarded, which contained late Boston papers giving long accounts of the
extensive preparations which were being made for a campaign in Texas, the
conduct of which was to be placed in the hands of General Banks. Captain
Semmes had already heard of this proposed transfer of a northern army to
the Texan coast, and had laid his plans to be in the Gulf of Mexico about
the time it should arrive, which it was expected would be early in
January. In the meantime he had something over a month to devote to other
matters. The Spaniards were told that the Alabama was the United States
steamer Iroquois. A few hours later another sail was sighted, and the
Alabama having drawn nearer, it needed not the skill of Evans to
pronounce her "Yankee." The stamp of New England was in her tapering
royal and sky-sail masts and her snowy canvas. Newspapers were hastily put
aside and attention concentrated on the chase. Almost within sight of her
destination the bark was overhauled and proved to be the Parker Cooke, of
Boston, bound for San Domingo with provisions. Large quantities of butter,
salt meats, crackers and dried fruits were transferred to the Alabama, and
at dusk the torch was applied to the prize.
That night the Alabama's officers had a bad scare, and the men were
ordered to their guns. A large ship of war came suddenly upon them, and as
the cruiser had her propeller up and no steam in her boilers, she would
have been completely at the mercy of so powerful an adversary. The
stranger, however, was evidently not Federal, and passed quickly by
without paying the slightest attention to the Alabama, which was in plain
view. Next day three vessels were boarded, but one showed Dutch papers and
the others Spanish.
December 2d the Alabama chased and overhauled a French bark, and her
master's ignorance of international law came near costing him dearly. He
paid no attention to a blank cartridge, and it was not until a solid shot
was thrown between his masts and at no great distance above his people's
heads, that he consented to round to. When asked by the boarding officer
why he had not stopped at the first summons, he replied that he was a
Frenchman, and that France was not at war with anybody!
On the 5th the Union, of Baltimore, was captured, but she had a neutral
cargo, and her captain having given a ransom bond and consented to receive
on board the prisoners from the Parker Cooke, she was suffered to proceed
on her voyage.
A sharp lookout was now kept for a steamer which it was expected would be
on her way from the Isthmus of Panama to New York with a million dollars
or upward of California gold. This money, if captured, would be lawful
prize, and the portion of it which would go to officers and crew would be
a welcome addition to the pay received from the Confederate government.
The Alabama held her post in the passage between Cuba and San Domingo
from December 3d to December 7th, but no steamer approached from the
south. Many vessels were overhauled, but all were neutrals except the
Union, which ran into the Alabama's arms without the necessity of a chase.
The 7th was Sunday, and while the Captain was at breakfast and the crew
preparing for the usual Sunday muster, the lookout raised his shout of
"Sail-ho!"
"Where-away?" demanded the officer of the deck.
"Broad on the port bow, sir!" was the reply.
"What does she look like?"
"She is a large steamer, brig-rigged, sir."
Here was a steamer at last, but not in the expected quarter. This one was
south bound, and visions of California gold vanished into air.
Nevertheless, she might prove a good prize.
"All hands work ship," called the boatswain, and Lieutenant Kell, seizing
his trumpet, directed the furling of sails and the lowering of the
propeller. The firemen worked like beavers, and in twenty minutes a
sailing vessel had been transformed into a steamer. At a distance of
three or four miles the United States flag was run up, and the stranger
responded with the same ensign. The rapidity with which the latter
approached showed that she was swift, but it was soon ascertained that she
carried no guns. The Alabama ran down across her path as if to speak her,
but the stranger kept away a little and swept by within a stone's throw.
The great packet-steamer had all her awnings set, and under these was a
crowd of passengers of both sexes. Groups of soldiers were also seen and
several officers in uniform. Many passengers with opera glasses could be
seen curiously studying the construction and appointments of the false
Union war ship. As the Alabama passed the wake of the packet, she wheeled
in pursuit, ran up the Confederate flag, and fired a blank cartridge.
Instantly the state of amused curiosity on the stranger's deck gave way to
panic. Ladies ran screaming below, and male passengers were by no means
slow in keeping them company. Great clouds of black smoke poured from the
smoke stacks of the fleeing monster, and her huge walking beam responded
still more rapidly to the strain of her engines. A run of less than a mile
convinced Captain Semmes that the stranger had the speed of him, and that
if he wished to capture her he must resort to heroic measures. The
"Persuader," was cleared away. The Alabama was yawed a little to enable
the gunner to take accurate aim, and a hundred-pound shell splintered the
foremast of the fugitive ten feet above the deck. Her master declined to
expose his passengers to a second shot, and the stranger's engines were
stopped, and she soon lay motionless awaiting the approach of her captor.
The prize proved to be the California mail-steamer Ariel, Captain Jones,
bound to the Isthmus of Panama with five hundred and thirty-two
passengers, mostly women and children, on board, a battallion of one
hundred and forty-five United States marines, and a number of naval
officers, including Commander Sartori, who was on his way to the Pacific
to take command of the United States sailing sloop St. Marys. The boarding
officer reported great consternation among the passengers. Many of them
were hastily secreting articles of value, and the ladies were inclined to
hysterics, not knowing to what indignities they might be subjected by the
"pirates." At this juncture Lieutenant Armstrong was ordered to take the
captain's gig and a boat's crew rigged out in white duck, and proceed on
board arrayed in his best uniform and brightest smile, and endeavor to
restore a feeling of security. The young lieutenant found the most serious
obstacle to the success of his mission in the person of the commander of
the marines, who strenuously objected to having his men considered as
prisoners of war and put on parole. But the lieutenant had a clinching
argument in the muzzles of the Alabama's guns, then distant but a few
yards, and the marines finally stacked their arms and took the oath not to
bear arms against the Confederacy until exchanged. $8,000 in United States
treasury notes and $1,500 in silver were found in the safe, which Captain
Jones admitted to be the property of the vessel's owner, and this was
turned over to Captain Semmes. The boats' crews behaved very well, and
none of the personal effects of the prisoners were seized.
[Illustration: SECOND LIEUTENANT R. F. ARMSTRONG]
The captain and engineers of the Ariel were sent on board the Alabama, and
a number of the Alabama's engineers took possession of the Ariel's
engines. Lieutenant Armstrong and Midshipman Sinclair, who acted as his
executive officer, were not long in ingratiating themselves with the
ladies, and when they finally left the prize two days later, nearly all
the buttons on their coats had been given away as mementoes. They occupied
respectively the head and foot of the long dining table. When champagne
was brought in they proposed the health of Jefferson Davis, which they
requested should be drunk standing. Their request was complied with amid
considerable merriment, and then the Yankee girls retaliated by proposing
the health of President Lincoln, which was drunk with a storm of hurrahs.
The next day after the capture of the Ariel the prize crew was hastily
withdrawn from her, bringing away certain small fixtures from the engines,
which rendered them temporarily useless. The reason for this move was the
appearance of another steamer on the horizon, which it was hoped would
prove to be the treasure steamer for which the Alabama had been waiting
for a week past. Captain Semmes was doomed to another disappointment,
however, for she was neutral. About eight o'clock the next evening, while
in chase of a brig, which was afterward found to be from one of the German
states, a valve casting broke in one of the Alabama's engines, and the
chief engineer reported that it would take at least twenty-four hours to
repair the damage. Captain Semmes had been extremely loth to release the
Ariel. To get her into a Confederate port was, of course, impossible, and
the Alabama could not possibly accommodate such an immense number of
passengers, even for the short time necessary to run into the nearest
neutral port. He was debating in his own mind whether it might not be
possible to get his prize into Kingston, Jamaica, long enough to get his
prisoners ashore, when the accident happened to the engine, and a boat
sent to board the German brig brought back the information that there was
yellow fever at Kingston. A bond for the value of the prize and her cargo
was therefore exacted from Captain Jones, and the Ariel was suffered to
proceed on her voyage.