ers) has been referred to Madrid
by telegram.

_Sunday, January 5th_.--Sky partially overcast, with a cool north wind.
Thermometer 56 deg.. Early this morning the health officer came alongside,
and brought me the order from the Government to depart within
twenty-four hours, and a tender of such supplies as I might need in the
meantime. I replied as under:--

C.S. Steamer Sumter, Cadiz,
January 5, 1862.

SIR,--I have had the honour to receive, through the health officer of
the port, an order from the Government of Spain, directing me to proceed
to sea within twenty-four hours. I am greatly surprised at this
unfriendly order. Although my Government has not yet been favourably
recognised by Spain, it has been declared to be possessed of the rights
of belligerents in the war in which it is engaged; and it is the
practice of all civilized nations to extend the hospitality of their
ports to the belligerents of both parties alike--whether the
belligerents be _de facto_ or _de jure_. I am aware of the rules adopted
by Spain, in common with the other great powers, prohibiting belligerent
cruisers from bringing their prizes into her ports; but this rule I have
not violated. I have entered the harbour of Cadiz with my single ship,
and I demand only the hospitality to which I am entitled by the law of
nations--the Confederate States being one of the _de facto_ nations of
the earth, by Spain's own acknowledgment, as before stated. I am sorry
to be obliged to add, too, that my ship is in a crippled condition. She
is damaged in her hull, is leaking badly, is unseaworthy, and will
require to be docked and repaired before it will be possible for her to
proceed to sea. I am therefore constrained, by the force of
circumstances, most respectfully to decline obedience to the order which
I have received, until the necessary repairs can be made. Further, I
have on board forty-three prisoners, confined within a small space,
greatly to their discomfort, and simple humanity would seem to dictate,
that I should be permitted to hand them over to the care of their consul
on shore without unnecessary delay.

I have, &c. (Signed) R. SEMMES.

To his Excellency The Military Governor of the Port of Cadiz, Spain.

At 11.30, a boat with the Spanish flag anchored a short distance from
me, evidently a guard upon my movements. The Yankees have been at work,