Saturday, August 23rd.—Morning cloudy and rainy. We were unable to get the barque alongside, so as to continue coaling before 9 A.M. Still we are hurrying the operation, and hope to be able to get through by night. We have all sorts of characters on board, but the crew is working quite willingly; now and then a drunken or lazy vagabond turning up. The sharp fellows thinking I am dependent upon them for a crew are holding back and trying to drive a hard bargain with me.
Getting the battery to rights, and caulking the screw-well, which leaks badly when she is under way. Made some acting appointments to fill up my officers. Received on board a fine supply of fresh provisions and vegetables for the crew. In this beautiful island all the fruits of the temperate and many of the torrid zone are produced. Pine-apples, pears, plums, and melons were brought off to us.
We finished coaling, except seven or eight tons, by working until 9 P.M., when the men were fairly fagged out. Hauled the barque off, and resolved to go out with what coal I had on board, as to finish entirely would involve a delay of Sunday.
CHAPTER XIV.
Sunday, 24th August—Fairly afloat—Taking command—The white ensign—Mission of the Alabama—The Modern Tar—At the pumps—Blowing hard—A fruitless chase—Short-handed—The Ocmulgee.
Sunday seemed destined from the very first to be a notable day in the annals of the new Confederate cruiser.
The morning of Sunday, the 24th August, found her afloat ready for sea; the delicate operation of transhipping stores in an open roadstead safely accomplished, a supply of coal on board sufficient for some weeks of average steaming, and six of her guns mounted and ready to cast loose for action at a moment's notice. The early hours of the morning were occupied in washing down the decks which were covered thickly with coal, and making matters above board as shipshape as under the circumstances could be managed. By noon this was finished, and all was ready for sea. A brief space was then devoted to the no less necessary operation of dining, and at noon steam was got up, the anchor weighed, and "No. 290" stood out to sea, the Bahama still keeping her company.
For about four or five miles the two vessels kept silently upon their course, until well beyond all possibility of dispute as to the too well-remembered maritime league of neutrality. Then as four bells sounded from the forecastle the crew were summoned aft, all heads were bared, and stepping in full uniform on to the quarter-deck, Captain Semmes proceeded in a voice clear and firm, but not altogether free from emotion, to read aloud to the assembled ships his commission from the President as Commander of the Confederate States Steam Sloop, ALABAMA.
As he proceeded, the English flag which had been carried by the vessel during her days of incognito, was slowly lowered to the deck, and three little black balls might be seen wriggling their way swiftly but cautiously to the mastheads and mizen peak of the Alabama. Boom! goes the starboard forecastle gun as the reading is ended. The three black balls are "broken out," the long pendant uncurls itself at the main, the red cross of St. George flutters at the fore, and the pure white ensign of the Confederacy, with its starry blue cross upon the red ground of the corner, floats gracefully from the peak, as the little band breaks into the dashing strains of "Dixie," and three ringing cheers peal out over the sparkling sea.
So far all had gone well and hopefully, and the enthusiasm of the moment had brought a flush to the cheek and a dimness to the eye of many a weather-beaten tar among the little crew. But enthusiasm is fleeting in these practical days, and the sound of the last cheer had scarcely died away upon the summer breeze ere the scene changed, and the true nineteenth century spirit resumed its sway. The ceremony of hoisting the flag and taking command completed, Captain Semmes called all hands aft upon the quarter-deck, and addressed them as he had previously addressed the crew of the Bahama, inviting them to ship with him in the Alabama for the cruise.