CHAPTER VIII.
Again at sea—Two captures—The Montmorency—The Arcade—Eastward, ho!—The Vigilant taken—News from home—Dirty weather—The whale—Ebenezer Dodge—In irons—A cyclone—The gale rages —Fire!—Christmas day—No luck—The clank of the pumps—Cadiz.
Once more afloat on the open sea; and at 4 P.M. of Monday November 25th, a promising commencement was made in the capture of the fine ship Montmorency, of 1183 tons, laden with Welsh coal for the English Mail Packet service. And, fortunately so for her, or she would have shared the fate of the Golden Balance, the Daniel Trowbridge, and other "burnt offerings" of the little Sumter. As it was, she paid a light toll in the shape of small supplies of paint, cordage, &c., and entering into a ransom bond for 20,000 dollars, to be paid to the Confederate States Government at the end of the war, her captain and crew were paroled, and she herself permitted to proceed on her voyage.
At 1.30 P.M., on the 26th November—writes Captain Semmes—showed first the United States and then our own colours to an English schooner, probably from the Bahamas to the Windward Islands, and at three captured the United States schooner Arcade from Portland, Maine, to Port au Prince, Guadaloupe, loaded with stores. The master and half-owner of the schooner was Master of the barque Saxony at the time of the loss of the Central America, and was instrumental in saving lives on that occasion, for which a handsome telescope had been presented to him. I had the pleasure of returning the glass to him, captured among the other effects of his vessel.
Took the master and crew on board (a rough sea running), and set fire to her. At 4.40 stood on our course. The blaze of the burning vessel still in sight at 8 P.M. During the night the wind lulled and became variable. Hauled down the fore and aft sails, and steered N.E. The prize had no newspapers on board, but we learned from the master that the great naval expedition which the enemy had been some time preparing had struck at Beaufort, South Carolina, on Fort Royal Sound. No result known.
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After five days of hard fighting with the strong N.E. trade, blowing for the most part half a gale of wind, and with thick and dirty weather, the enemy is at length overcome, the sky clears, and the Sumter's head is turned towards Europe. And now for a time Yankee commerce was to have a respite, its relentless little enemy directing its attention exclusively towards maturing her voyage across the Atlantic. She had at this time but sixty days' water for her own crew, in addition to whom there were now the six prisoners taken from the schooner. The passage, too, would have to be made for the most part under canvas, and would probably not occupy less than fifty days. Of course, she had now but six or seven days' supply of coal—a small reserve in case of emergency, and hardly sufficient to enable her to cruise a few days on the other side, and, if possible, not go quite "empty-handed" into port.
Still the days were not altogether uneventful, and before the week was out, a fine prize ran, as it were, into her very arms. Of this capture the journal gives the following account:—
Tuesday, December 3rd.—At 6.30 A.M. Sail, ho! a point on the starboard bow. At 7.30 the sail, which was standing in nearly the opposite direction from ourselves, approached us within a couple of miles. We hoisted French colours, when she showed United States'. Took in all the studding sails, hauled by the wind, tacked, and fired a shotted gun. The stranger immediately hove to. Lowered a boat, and sent a lieutenant on board of him. Stood on and tacked, and having brought the stranger under my guns, I began to feel sure of him (our smoke stack was down, and we could not have raised steam in less than two hours and a half). He proved to be the ship Vigilant, of Bath, Maine, bound from New York to the guano island of Sombrero, in ballast. Captured him. Took from on board chronometer, charts, &c., and a nine pounder rifled gun, with ammunition, &c. Set him on fire, and at 3 P.M. made sail. This was a fine new ship, being only two years old, and worth about 40,000 dollars.
Lat. 29.10 N., Long. 57.2-2 W. Steering E. by N. We received a large supply of New York papers to the 21st November. We learned from these papers that the San Jacinto was in search of us when she took Messrs. Mason and Slidell from on board the Trent. The enemy has thus done us the honour to send in pursuit of us the Powhattan, the Niagara, the Iroquois, the Keystone State, and the San Jacinto.
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Dirty weather now for several days, the little vessel rolling and straining, and withal beginning to leak to an extent which caused no small anxiety to those in command. Still, however, she was quite up to mischief, and on the 8th December, the Ebenezer Dodge, twelve days from New Bedford, bound to the Pacific on a whaling voyage, was added to the fatal list. Forty-three prisoners were now on board, cooped up with the crew in the narrow berth deck, when the weather forbade their appearance on deck, and the little Sumter was beginning to feel herself overcrowded.
It became necessary to adopt precautions, and one-half the prisoners were now kept constantly in single irons, taking it turn and turn about to submit to the necessary but disagreeable infliction. The wind, too, hung perseveringly in the east, and things were getting uncomfortable. They were destined, as the following extracts will show, to be yet more so.
Wednesday, December 11th.—As ugly-looking a morning as one could well conceive. Thick, dark, gloomy weather, with the wind blowing fresh from the east, and threatening a gale (bar. 29.70 and falling) and a steady but moderate rain falling. Put the ship under short sail. Our large number of prisoners renders the crew very uncomfortable during this bad weather. At meridian, gale blowing, with thick, driving rain. Lat. 32° 48' N., Long. 49° 32' W.D.R. At 2 P.M., dense clouds hanging very low all around the horizon in every direction. Wind about E.S.E., inclined to haul to the southward. Bar. 29.59. The pall of clouds is not so dense as at noon, and the rain comes only occasionally in squalls. The clouds are rifted, and appear to be on the point of rapid motion. Wore ship to the northward and eastward. The wind soon after backed to the northward and eastward, and we had to run the ship off N.W. for a while. Towards night, however, the wind went back to E., and blew very fiercely, raising very heavy and irregular sea-squalls of rain. The lightning was very vivid. It blew very heavily until about 1 A.M., when it abated for more than two hours, blowing only in puffs, and then not very hard. Near the centre of the cyclone, lowest barometer. A little past midnight a quartermaster entered with the report that the starboard-bow port had been stove in! It was then blowing furiously. I immediately despatched the first lieutenant to barricade the port and stop out the water as effectually as possible, in which he succeeded pretty well. This report gave me considerable anxiety, as the ports in the gun-deck and the uppermost works of the ship are her weak points at which the gale would assault her with most effect. In the meantime the barometer has been gradually settling, settling, settling—sometimes remaining stationary for several hours and then going down as before. At 8 P.M. it was 29.53. We had an awful night—no one able to sleep.
Thursday, December 12th.—Thick, gloomy weather, with the gale raging as fiercely as ever. It blew very heavily all the morning. The barometer continued to sink until it reached 29.32—at 6 A.M. its lowest point. The wind has hauled to the south. We are evidently in a cyclone, having taken it in its northern quarter, the gale travelling north. On the starboard tack, its centre has passed to the west of us. Ordered the donkey engine to be got ready for use last night, in case the ship should make more water than the small bilge pumps could throw out. Carried away the flying jibboom at 7.30 A.M.—saved the sail. As the gale progressed the wind hauled to the south and west; and at 4 P.M., judging that the strength of the gale had passed us, I kept the ship on her course, E. by S., which gave a quartering wind and sea; and although the sea was heavy, and the wind yet blowing a gale, she made beautiful weather of it, scudding as well as she had lain to. The wind blew fresh all night, with a slowly rising barometer.
Escaped the "cyclone," a fresh danger threatened, and from the element more feared by the sailor than either wind or water in their wildest moods. It was about midnight of December the 14th that the watch on deck were startled by the smell of fire, soon followed by the appearance of smoke pouring out of the ventilator leading up from the berth deck. The alarm was immediately given; hands turned up and sent to quarters, and a strict investigation made. Fortunately no damage was done except to a mattress and pea-jacket which were partly consumed; but the escape was a narrow one, and the sentries on duty below no doubt considered themselves well off, to escape with no other punishment for their carelessness than a week's stoppage of their grog.
On went the Sumter with varying fortune, now running pleasant races with some huge whale, that left a track upon the water almost as broad as her own; now rolling and tumbling in a gale, with ports barricaded to keep the water out, and donkey engine ringed to keep it under. And at last the continued bad weather and consequent confinement to the crowded lower deck, began to tell upon the health of the crew, and no less than twelve were at one time upon the sick list. The little vessel herself, too, was getting rapidly invalided. The leak increased terribly, and fully half the day was taken up at the pumps. The Christmas-tide entries in the Journal are as follows:—
Tuesday, December 24th.—An unpropitious Christmas-eve; the gale of last night continuing, with rain and a densely overcast sky. The barometer is rising, however, which is a portent that the gale will not last long. I have abandoned the idea of attempting to run into Fayal. These Azores seem to be so guarded by the Furies of the storm, that it would appear to be a matter of great difficulty to reach them in the winter season. We have thirty-eight days of water on board, allowing a gallon to a man; but still I have put the officers and crew on the allowance of three quarts per day. I will run for the Straits of Gibraltar, which will carry me in the vicinity of Madeira, should I have occasion to make a port sooner.
Weather breaking somewhat at noon, but still thickly overcast. No observation. Lat. 37° 31' N., Long. 31° 71' W. by computation. It freshened up from the N. at 2 P.M., and blew a gale of wind all night from N.N.E. to N.N.W. Running off with the wind a little abaft the beam very comfortably; but the two small pumps were kept going nearly all night. They do little more than keep her free.
Wednesday, December 25th.—Christmas-day! Bringing with it, away here in mid-ocean, all the kindly recollections of the season and home, and church and friends. Alas! how great the contrast between these things and our present condition. A leaky ship filled with prisoners of war, striving to make a port through the almost constantly recurring gales of the North Atlantic in mid-winter! Sick list—ten of the crew, and four prisoners. Wind fresh from the N.W. We are making a good run these twenty-four hours. Lat. 36'08 N., Long. 28-42 W. Weather cloudy, and looking squally and ugly, with a falling barometer, it being at noon 29.70; 29.80 is the highest it has been since the last gale. A series of gales commenced on the 19th inst. Altered our course from S.E. by E. to S.E. to avoid the St. Mary's bank; a Captain Livingstone having reported, about forty years ago, that he saw white waters hereabouts, and no nation having thought it worth while to verify the report. Thermometer 63°. Heavy rain-squalls. The weather during the night was dirty and squally, with lightning all around the horizon by turns, and heavy rain.. Spliced the main-brace.
The 26th December brought the Sumter off Cape Flyaway, and once more she was rapidly approaching the ordinary track of commerce.
Monday, December 30th.—Sail, ho! at daylight, and Sail, ho! in succession during the whole day, until as many as thirty-five were reported. There were as many as nine or ten in sight at one time, all standing on the same course for the tide and wind. Got up steam and began chasing at 8 A.M., and chased until 4 P.M. The first vessel we overhauled was a Dutch barque, clipper-looking, on board which we sent a boat; and we afterwards overhauled, and caused to show their papers, fifteen others of the fleet, every one of which was European!—Viz. Dutch (ships), 4; English (2 barques and 5 brigs), 7; French (1 ship and 1 brig), 2; Swedish (brig), 1; Prussian (barque), 1; Hamburg (brig), 1. One of the results of the war is, that in this whole fleet, as far as we could ascertain, there was not a single Yankee! So many ships at the same time so far out at sea, is a sight not often seen. The weather was very thick and rainy, and from the S. to E., a real dirty day; and in such a state of weather, with so many ships running down our track, we had serious apprehensions of collisions as the night set in. To guard against which we set out masthead as well as side lights. At 4.30 P.M., let the steam go down and made sail. No observations. Lat. 35° 39'; Long. 17° 33' D.R.
We first showed the United States colours to all these vessels, and the only one which saluted it was the Prussian. We afterwards showed our own flag to a number of them, and they all, with one or two exceptions, saluted it. The stream of vessels still continued after nightfall—two having passed us showing lights, one ahead and the other astern. At 6.15 P.M., or about one hour after dark, the wind was blowing fresh from the E., and they came down upon us with fearful rapidity.
Friday, January 3rd, 1862.—Ugly looking morning, with a falling barometer. Several sail were reported from the masthead during the morning watch. We shortened sail to permit one of them, which was steering the same course with ourselves, to come up with us. She proved to be a Spaniard. We then gave chase to another ahead of us, running before the wind for the Strait of Gibraltar. We chased her some two hours, when it began to blow a fierce gale from the west, which obliged us to give over the chase and to haul up to prevent running to leeward of our port, and to put the ship under short sail and steam. It blew very fiercely until near sunset, and raised a heavy, short, abrupt sea, in which the ship rolled more heavily than I had ever seen her before. This shook our propeller so as to cause the ship to increase her quantity of water considerably—so much so that the engineer reported that under short steam he was just keeping her free with his bilge-pumps, and that if anything happened to these, he feared the other pumps would not be sufficient. Under these circumstances, I ran in for the land, cutting short my cruise by a day or two, as Iliad still two or three days' coal on board. We made the Cadiz Light in the mid-watch—(my fine chronometers!)—a beautiful red flash, and soon after got soundings. Ran in for the light under low steam, and at 7 A.M. we were within four or five miles of it. The morning was wet and gloomy. Fired a gun, and hoisted the jack for a pilot; and soon after, having received one on board, we ran into the harbour and anchored. As we approached, the scene was most beautiful, in spite of the day. The city of Cadiz is a perfect picture as you approach it, with domes, and towers, and minarets, and Moorish-looking houses, of a beautiful white stone. The harbour was crowded with shipping—very thinly sprinkled with Yankees, who could get no freights—and a number of villages lay around the margin of the bay, and were picturesquely half hidden in the slopes of the surrounding mountains, all speaking of regenerate old Spain, and of the populousness and thrift of her most famous province of Andalusia. Visited by the health-officer, who informed us that unless we were specially exempted, we should be quarantined for three days, for not having a certificate of health from the Spanish Consul at Martinique. A number of merchant ships hoisted their flags in honour of our arrival, and one Yankee showed his in defiance.