unication, however, produced no effect; and, meanwhile, another
step was taken at Tangier. The United States frigate Ino no sooner
learnt the news of the capture made by the Consul than it ran over to
Tangier, sent a boat on shore with armed men, and carried off the
prisoners. This proceeding was not, however, allowed to be performed
quite so quietly as the Yankees could have wished. The Christian
population, exasperated at the arrest, turned out in force, and fears
were entertained that even the forty men from the Ino would not be able
to secure the safety of their prize. But here the neutral powers were of
assistance: their representatives, with Mr. Drummond Hay at their head,
came to the aid of the captors, calmed the mob, and thus averting the
threatened rescue, enabled the United States to carry off the two
Confederates on board the Ino.

Captain Semmes, finding he could do nothing with the authorities at
Tangier, communicated with Mr. Mason, the Confederate commissioner in
London, and that gentleman made strong representations at the Foreign
Office, with what results the following statements of facts will show.

It was on the 28th of February that the captives were finally carried
off from neutral territory, by an armed force from an enemy's ship. On
the 8th of March, Mr. Mason was informed by the Under-Secretary, that
the British Government was under the impression that they had been
released from confinement. On the 6th of March, just two days before Mr.
Mason received this intelligence, the Ino, which had run back to Cadiz,
transferred the two unfortunate prisoners to the Yankee merchant ship,
Harvest Home, which carried them away to a prison in the United States.

Such was the history of the Tangier difficulty--a question which, at the
time, created considerable stir in Europe, and which is likely to leave
a lasting impression upon the Southern mind.

CHAPTER XI.

"_The poor old Sumter"--The vessel laid up--What the Sumter
did--Official report--A narrow escape--Movements of Captain
Semmes--Useful missions--Appointment to the Alabama_.

Meanwhile the search for coal had been continued by the Sumter and at
length a promise of a supply had been obtained. It so happened, however,
that this supply, so long sought and so hardly won, would after all
never be required.

The little Sumter's days as a cruiser were numbered. By no means a new
boat when first converted by Captain Semmes into a vessel of war