We were now introduced to Capt. Semmes, who up to this time had been engaged in the cabin with Mr. W.J. Anderson, of Anderson, Saxon, and Co., upon the subject of supplies, which are to be provided by the firm. We received a very cordial greeting from the gallant gentleman, who remarked that at Bahia, and indeed everywhere he had been, both his officers and himself had received very great attention from the English residents. We had always concluded that Captain Semmes, of the Powhattan, a fine steamer belonging to the States, to whom we were introduced some years since by the late Mr. D.M. Huckins, American Consul, was the captain of the Sumter and Alabama; but we found we were mistaken, and on remarking this to the captain, he said, "Captain Semmes of the Powhattan is of the same family as myself—he is, indeed, my cousin; but he was born in the North, his interests are all there, and he remains in the Federal service." Having desired us to take a seat, he said he should be happy to give us any information in his power; he had no secrets, and bade us take notes if we wished so to do. He then informed us that he had taken fifteen ships since he left Bahia. We told him that Captain Bartlett, of the ship Fortuna, stated that on the 2d of July he saw a ship on fire. Our readers will recollect that the particulars were given in a paragraph immediately after the Fortuna arrived. It was as follows:—"On the 2d of July, Captain Bartlett saw some smoke rising up on the horizon, which he supposed to be the smoke from a steamer. Later in the day, however, a strong reflection of light was seen in the sky, and which the captain at once believed to be a ship on fire. All hands were then called up 'to bout ship,' and they stood towards the spot from whence the light proceeded. This was about six o'clock; and at two o'clock on the morning of the 3d July, and in lat. 25° 57' South, and in long. 38° 20' West, the Fortuna ran up within forty yards of a large vessel of 800 or 1000 tons, which was enveloped in one mass of flame from stem to stern. Nothing remained of her but her hull; the whole of her rigging, masts, and decks had already been consumed. As the Fortuna ran towards the wreck, another vessel—the Oaks—bound to Calcutta, joined her, and the two vessels spoke one another. From what Captain Bartlett could make out, the captain of the Oaks told him that in the evening, about half-past six, an English man-of-war had passed him, and whilst passing she fired two guns, from which it was concluded that the crew of the burning vessel had been rescued by the man-of-war." Captain Semmes said Captain Bartlett was quite right in supposing that the ship had been set on fire by himself. She was the Annie F. Schmidt, from New York to San Francisco, with a general cargo on board; but the supposition of the man-of-war coming to the rescue of the crew was a mistake. "We set her on fire in the night," said Captain Semmes, "and shortly after we had done so, we heard a couple of guns. We thought it was another Yankee, and we up steam and fired a gun for her to heave-to. On coming alongside her, we found she was Her Majesty's frigate Dido. 'We did not take her, sir,' said the captain, with a laugh; 'in fact, we never attempt to take any of Her Majesty's frigates.'"
We said we would mention that, and we do, as Captain Semmes's last. "The Dido people," he went on to say, "asked us if we had set the ship on fire, and I answered we had, and had got the crew safe on board. 'All right!' was the answer, and we parted. She was a vessel of about 1000 tons." We asked Captain Semmes if he could give us the names of the vessels he had captured. He answered that he could. "For," he said, "you English people won't be neighbourly enough to let me bring my prizes into your ports, and get them condemned, so that I am obliged to sit here a court of myself, try every case, and condemn the ships I take. The European powers, I see, some of them complain of my burning the ships; but what, if they will preserve such strict neutrality as to keep me out of their ports, what am I to do with these ships when I take them but burn them?" He then fetched his record books, and we took the following down from his lips:—"The ships we have captured were—the Ocmulgee, of 400 tons, thirty-two men on board; we burned her. The Alert, a whaler of 700 tons; we burned her. The whaling schooner Weathergauge; we burned her. The whaling brig Altamaha; we burned her. The whaling ship Benjamin Tucker; we burned her. The whaling schooner Courser; we burned her. The whaling barque Virginia; we burned her. The barque Elisha Dunbar, a whaler; we burned her. The ship Brilliant, with 1000 tons of grain on board; we burned her. The Emily Farnum we captured and released as a cartel, and having so many prisoners we put some of them on board her, and sent them off. The Wave Crest, with a general cargo on board for Europe, we set on fire. The Dunkirk brig, with a general cargo on board, we burned. The ship Tonawanda we captured, with a valuable freight on board, and released her, after taking a bond for a thousand dollars. The ship Manchester, with a cargo of grain, we burned. The barque Lamplighter, with an assorted cargo for Europe, we burned. The barque Lafayette, with an assorted cargo, we burned. The schooner Crenshaw, with an assorted cargo for the West Indies, we burned. The barque Lauretta, with an assorted cargo on board for Europe, we burned. The brig Baron de Custine we took a bond for and released. The whaling ship Levi Starbuck we burned. The T.B. Wales, from Calcutta to Boston, with a valuable cargo on board, we burned. The barque Martha, from Calcutta to West Indies, with an assorted cargo, we burned. The schooner Union we, after boarding, found had some English property on board, and we released her on bond. The mail steamer Ariel Running between New York and Aspinwall, we captured. Unfortunately she was going, not returning, or we should have had a lot of gold. We released her on bond. The United States gunboat Hatteras, who came out to fight us, had the same number of guns and crew. Our guns were a little heavier than hers, but we equalized them by permitting her to fight us at 300 yards. We sunk her in thirteen minutes by the watch. The barque Golden Rule, with an assorted cargo, we burned. She belonged to the same company as the Ariel. The brig Chastelaine we burned. The schooner Palmetto we burned. The barque Olive Jane we burned. The Golden Eagle, laden with guano, we burned. The Washington, from the Pacific, with guano, we released on bond. The Bethia Thayer, from East India, with a valuable cargo on board, was released on bond. The John A. Parker, with flour and lumber, from Boston to Buenos Ayres, we burned. The Punjaub, from East India, we found to have some English cargo on board, we released on bond. The ship Morning Star we released on bond. The whaling schooner Kingfisher we burned. The ship Nora, from Liverpool to West Indies, with salt on board, we burned. The barque Lafayette we burned. The whaling brig Kate Cory we burned. The whaling barque Nye we burned. The Charles Hall, from Liverpool, with coal, we burned.
"The ship Louisa Hatch, from Cardiff to West Indies, we burned. The ship Dorcas Prince, with a general cargo, we burned. The ship Sea Lark, with a general cargo from the East Indies, we burned. The barque Union Jack, from Boston to Shanghai, we burned. We captured a Yankee consul on board of her; he was on his way to Foochin; we landed him at the Brazils. The ship Gildersliene, from New York to the East Indies, we burned. The barque Justina we released on bond, to take home prisoners. The ship Jabez Snow, from New York to the East Indies, we burned. The barque Amazonian, from Boston to Buenos Ayres, we burned. The ship Talisman, from New York to the East Indies, we burned. The barque Conrad, fitted up as a Federal cruiser, a tender to a man-of-war, we captured and burned. After these came the Anne F. Schmidt, mentioned before, and the Sea Bride—and the Sea Bride you saw us take to-day. The estimated value of these captures is 4,200,000 dollars."
The American Consul, Mr. Graham, has handed to his Excellency the Governor a protest against the capture of the Sea Bride, on the ground that the vessel was in British waters at the time of her being stopped by the Alabama. His Excellency told Mr. Graham that the decision of the case remained purely on evidence, but he would see there was no breach of neutrality. The Captain of the Sea Bride says he is prepared to show by bearings that he was within two and a half miles of Robben Island.
No. VI.
CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE TUSCALOOSA.
Rear-Admiral Sir B. Walker to the Secretary to the Admiralty. August 19, 1863.
I beg you will be pleased to acquaint my Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty with the following particulars relative to the proceedings of
the Confederate States ships of war Alabama, her reported tender
Tuscaloosa, and the Georgia, which have recently arrived at the Cape of
Good Hope.
2. On the 28th of July an English schooner arrived in Table Bay, and reported that on the previous day she had been boarded by the Confederate steamer Alabama, fifteen miles north-west of Green Point. After some inquiries the Alabama left her, steering south-east.
3. Upon the receipt of this intelligence I ordered Captain Forsyth, of the Valorous, to hold himself in readiness to proceed to any of the ports in this colony where the Alabama might anchor, in order to preserve the rules of strict neutrality.