In conclusion, I request that you will issue an order, requiring this spy to depart to his ship, and that you will also take the proper steps to prevent the schooner in which he stays from making any signals to the enemy.
I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
(Signed) R. SEMMES.
M. Duchaxel,
Commander of H.I.M. Steamer, L'Acheron.
NOTE.—The Sumter went to sea from the port of St. Pierre on the evening (8 o'clock) of the date of the preceding letter, and, as was predicted, the light was burned on board the American schooner to signal her departure to the Iroquois.
R.S.
* * * * *
Muffled the windlass. Getting on board some water. Last night, between eight and nine o'clock, the engineer being on shore, near the north end of the town, saw two of the Iroquois' touts, and heard one of them say to the other, "Harry, that's she—I see her:" in allusion, doubtless, to the presence of this vessel. We were all very anxious as the night approached as to the state of the weather; and lo! for the first time in five or six days, we had a beautiful star-light night, without a speck of cloud anywhere to be seen. The enemy continued plain in sight, and our black smoke, as it issued from the stack, would have betrayed us at a distance of five miles. We were therefore reluctantly compelled to give up the attempt.
Saturday, November 23rd.—Beautiful clear morning, with every appearance of settled weather. Fine starlit nights and clear settled days, though very pleasant to the lover of nature, are not quite such weather as we require for running a blockade by a ship which keeps herself in plain sight of us, and which has the heels of us. But we must have patience, and bide our time. Several sail have come in and departed during the last twenty-four hours. The enemy in the offing as usual. Towards noon it began to cloud up, and we had some rain, and I had strong hopes that we should have a cloudy, dark night. The moon would not rise until seven minutes past eleven, and if we could be aided by a few clouds we should have sufficient darkness; for be it known that in these tropical climates, where almost every star is a moon, there is no such thing as darkness when the firmament is clear. But my hopes began to fade, with the day, for one cloud disappeared after another, as the sun went down, until the night promised to be as serene and bright as the last. Venus, too, looked double her usual size, and being three hours bright at sunset, poured forth a flood of light, little less than that of the moon in a northern latitude. Notwithstanding all these discouragements, however, I resolved to attempt the run, and having made all the necessary preparations silently, so as not to awaken the suspicions of the townspeople, who were always on the alert, at about five minutes before eight o'clock gun-fire, I directed the chain to be slipped, and the fasts to the shore cut, and put her under steam. The enemy being on my starboard bow, and apparently standing towards the north point of the roadstead, I headed her for the south point, giving her full steam. So much on the qui vive were the townspeople, that we had scarcely moved twenty yards when a shout rent the air, and there was a confused murmur of voices, as if Babel had been let loose. As we neared the French steamer of war, Acheron, signals were made to the enemy by means of blue lights from one of the Yankee schooners in port: perceiving which, and knowing that the signals were so arranged as to designate our direction, after moving a few hundred yards further, I doubled, and came back under cover of the land, while I stopped once or twice to assure myself that the enemy was continuing his course in the opposite direction, in obedience to his signals; when, as soon as the engineer could do so (for he had to cool his bearings, and this was truly an anxious moment for me), I gave her all steam, and stood for the north end of the island. As we approached it, the Fates, which had before seemed unpropitious to us, began to smile, and the rain-squall, which had come up quite unexpectedly, began to envelope us in its friendly folds, shutting in our dense clouds of black smoke, which were really the worst tell-tales we had to dread. The first half-hour's run was a very anxious one for us; but as we began to lose sight of the lights of the town and to draw away from the land, we knew that the enemy had been caught in his own trap, and that we had successfully eluded him. I had warned the French authorities that their neutrality would be disregarded, and that these signals would be made. The commander of the Iroquois had been guilty of a shameful violation of good faith towards the French naval officer, to whom he made a promise that he would respect the neutrality of the port, by sending his pilot on shore, and arranging these signals with the Yankee skippers. Yankee faith and Punic faith seem to be on a par. Our ship made good speed, though she was very deep, and by half-past eleven we made up with the south end of Dominica. Here the wind fell, and we ran along the coast of the island in a smooth sea, not more than four or five miles from the land. The moon by this time being up, the bold and picturesque outlines of this island, softened by the rains and wreathed in fleecy clouds, presented a beautiful night-scene.
The sleeping town of Rousseau barely showed us the glimmer of a light, and we passed but one coasting schooner. At 2 A.M., we were off the north end of the island, but now heavy rain-squalls came up, and rendered it so thick, that we were obliged to slow down, and even stop the engine, it being too thick to run. The squall lighting up a little, we endeavoured to feel our way in the dark; mistook the south for the north end of Prince Rupert's Bay, and only discovered our mistake when we had gotten fearfully near the shore, and had whitened our water! Hauled her broad out, and again put her under very slow steam. The weather now lighting up more, we put her under headway again, doubled the island, and shaped our course E. by N. It was now 4:30 A.M., and I went below and turned in. Deo gratias. Poor D., the quartermaster, I had to depose him from his high office of night look-out this night. He had been remarked for his keen vision by night; but on this occasion he was so perturbed, that he saw a steamer bearing down upon him from every direction—even magnifying small sloops into frigates. The evening of this day was lovely, and I think I have never seen a more beautiful, sedative, poetic, love-in-a-cottage landscape, than the valleys and hills presented in which lies the town of St. Pierre. All these charms were heightened by the presence of grim-visaged war. Our run took every one by surprise—several of the officers had breakfast and dinner, appointments for several days ahead. My crew seem to be highly delighted at our success in "doing the Yankee;" but I am not sure that an old boatswain's-mate, and a hard, weather-beaten quartermaster, who had shaved their heads for a close fight, were not disappointed that it did not come off.