rate ensign to
her peak, and amid a burst of cheering from her own crew and that of her
consort, made a fresh start in life as the Confederate States
sloop-of-war Tuscaloosa.

The Alabama was now bound for the Cape of Good Hope, where her faithful
tender, the Agrippina, was again to meet her. On the 27th of June,
however, when in lat. 20.01 S., long. 28.29 W., it was discovered that a
great portion of the supposed month's supply of bread had been destroyed
by weevils, and that there was not enough left for the run. A visit to
some port nearer at hand thus became inevitable, and the ship's course
was accordingly shaped for Rio Janeiro.

CHAPTER XXX.

_An insult to the Yankee flag--Fine weather--The Anna F. Schmidt--"What
ship's that?"--The Express--A supply of bread--Saldanha Bay--Visitors
from the country--A funeral--The Tuscaloosa's prize--The capture off
Cape Town--The Sea Bride won--Ship crowded--Sympathy_.

_Sunday, June 28th._--At 4.30 this evening brought-to a heavy ship with
a blank cartridge; or rather she seemed to come-to of her own accord, as
she was evidently outsailing us, and was, when we fired, at very long
range. Soon after heaving-to she burned a blue light, and whilst our
boat, with a light in it, was pulling towards her, she burned another.
She afterwards said she would not have hove-to but that she thought we
might be in distress. The boarding officer reported us as the United
States ship Dacotah, and demanded to see the ship's papers, which were
refused, the Master stating that we had no right to see his papers. The
boarding officer having been informed of her name (the Vernon), and that
she was from Melbourne, for London, and being satisfied, from
observation, that she was really an English ship, she being one of the
well-known frigate-built Melbourne packets, returned on board, and the
ship filled away; and she was already at considerable distance from us
when I received the boarding officer's report. Under all these
circumstances, I did not chase him afresh to enforce my belligerent
right of search. _Cui bono_, the vessel being really English? Although,
indeed, the resistance to search by a neutral is good cause of capture,
I could only capture to destroy; and I would not burn an English ship
(being satisfied of her nationality) if the Master persisted to the law
in not showing his papers. Nor did I feel that the Confederate States
flag had any insult to revenge, as the insult, if any