The letter is as follows:

SAINT PIERRE, November 26, 1862.

MY LORD: I have the honor to report to your lordship that the confederate steamer Alabama, Captain Semmes, has visited this island.

The following are the circumstances in connection with the arrival and departure of this noted cruiser:

I had to proceed to Fort de France on the 12th instant on official business with an English ship lying there, and, on my arrival, I heard that an English bark, the Agrippina, master McQueen, had entered the harbor on the previous evening with a cargo of coals, shipped at Cardiff and cleared from the custom-house there, for Jamaica; that to explain his presence at Fort de France, the master had stated that he was to receive instructions from me. I was, moreover, informed that it was reported in town that the coals on board of this vessel were destined for the Alabama.

I immediately sent for the master and acquainted him with what I had heard; at the same time expressing my surprise and displeasure at his having presumed to connect my name with such a matter. He assured me positively that these reports were without any foundation whatever; that he had merely said that, when about to leave England, he had received from his owners a telegram desiring him to call at Martinique, where he would find a letter of further instructions addressed to my care.

On informing him that I had received no such letter, he replied it would, no doubt, arrive by the next mail.

The harbor regulations not allowing vessels to remain over three days without paying port-charges, I gave him, at his request, and on the faith of his assurances, a draught of a letter to be addressed to the authorities to obtain permission to await the arrival of the steamer, due on the 18th of November, without expense. This demand, I may here observe, was not granted ultimately.

On the same afternoon, having heard from the captain of the port that the pilot, who had been on board of the Agrippina, had reported to him that the master had told another British captain, who had boarded the ship in the offing, in his presence, that his cargo was for the Alabama, I at once sent for both the master and the pilot, but they all agreed that the statements the master of the Agrippina had made was to the effect merely that he had, on a previous voyage, taken stores to the Alabama. I expressed to him my opinion that he had acted most improperly on that occasion, and I warned him of the consequences that might follow the repetition of any such illegal proceedings. No longer feeling assured of the veracity of his protestations, and hearing that a sloop was about to sail for Saint Vincent, I addressed a letter to the senior officer of the station, in the hope that it might find him there, and procure for me the benefit of his advice.

On my return to Saint Pierre, finding everywhere the same rumors afloat concerning the Agrippina, I thought it proper to write to the master to repeat the observations I had already made to him verbally. Herewith I have the honor to inclose copies of both

these letters.

I was obliged to return to Fort de France the next day to end the inquiry, began the previous day, with regard to another vessel, and I was about leaving again when the mnaster of the Agrippina came to tell me he had a confidential communication to make. I answered that I would not refuse to hear any statement he might wish to make, but that I reserved to myself complete freedom of action as to the course I should adopt afterward, particularly if the communication had reference to the report in circulation concerning his vessel. He still persisted in making a statement to the effect that his cargo was, in truth, for a steamer that he had expected to find at Fort de France, and which he had reason to believe was a confederate cruiser.

I again pointed out the illegality of such a line of conduct, but the sequel showed that my remonstrances proved of no avil.

I next deemed it proper to acquaint his excellency the governor of what I had just learned. He did not seem much surprised, and observed that, if the Alabama came into port, he would act exactly as he had done on a former occasion, in the case of the Sumter, when the French government had altogether approved of the measures he had taken in regard to that vessel.

Nothing new occurred until the morning of the 18th instant, when a black, rakishlooking screw-steamer was seen approaching the land, steering for Fort de France. As she passed close before this town, she showed a British blue ensign and pennant, but no one was deceived by the character she had thus assumed. She was at once put down as the Alabama, and such in effect she proved to be.

On his arrival at Fort de France, Captain Semmes sent a message to the governor to request permission to land fifty-three prisoners whom he had on board. On the return of the officer they were landed and sent to the United States consul at this port. On the same afternoon the Agrippina, whose master had gone on board of the Alabama, as soon as she came in sight, got under weigh, having taken a clearance for Demerara. The Alabama appeared to be still well provided with fuel, and her commander said that he would leave-during the night. But he was still at anchor on the morning of the

19th, when, about 7 a. m., a Federal war-steamer suddenly made her appearance, which proved to be the San Jacinto, Captain Ronckendoff, from Barbados and Trinidad, on a cruise in search of the Alabama. The latter hoisted the confederate flag, on perceiving the Federal vessel, whose commander declined to receive the government pilot, or enter the harbor on learning that, in such case, he would have to remain in port twentyfour hours after the departure of his adversary. He was then informed, by a letter from the governor, that he must remain at a distance of three miles from the nearest land, and that any attempt to violate the neutrality of the port would be repressed by force of arms, if necessary.

Shortly afterwarla snill Feach war-steamer that was in the port was sent out and took up a position, with steam up and her men at their quarters, between the rival ships. At the same time, the forts were manned, and twenty rounds of ammunition were served out for each gun bearing seaward; the officers in charge of those at the mouth of the bay having orders to maintain the San Jacinto at the prescribed distance from the land, and fire into whichever vessel might become the assailant.

Meanwhile, the greatest anxiety prevailed on shore; many bearing in mind the vagaries of the Federal cruisers elsewhere, and recollecting what had occurred a year previously to the commander of the Iroquois, when the Sumter made her escape, were of opinion that the San Jacinto would have attempted, at all risks, to run down the Alabama where she lay. No such occurrence, fortunately, took place.

Meanwhile, the Alabama remained perfectly still, her crew being employed in painting and repairing the masts and riggings. Her captain, it seems, had at first taken the San Jacinto for another vessel of the force of his own, and he sent a message to the governor to say that intending to go out to engage her, he in consequence requested his excellency to permit him to deposit, at the public treasury, a sum of money, about £12,000 sterling, which he had on board; this request could not be granted, and arrangements were being made with a merchant who was to receive it at a certain percentage, when, having recognized the San Jacinto, Captain Semmes sent word that he would keep the money on board, having made up his mind to run out that same night.

He did so, in effect, and accomplished his design so successfully that his adversary did not even perceive his flight; nor was it until after remaining thirty-six hours before Fort de France after the Alabama had left that the captain of the San Jacinto could believe that she had really got away.

The movements of the Alabama had been well calculated.

Shortly before sunset a boat had conveyed to the San Jacinto one of the masters who had been lately released from the Alabama, and who was sent by the United States cousul to arrange for the signals to be made from an American schooner anchored near the Alabama, in case the latter should attempt to leave during the night.

Suspecting their intentions, Captain Semmes sent word to the captain of the port for a pilot, who came off forthwith, and at dusk he got under weigh, first running toward the inner port, and when out of sight of the schooner, altering his course so as to run ont on the south side of the bay. The pilot left him, already, nearly half an hour, when the master of the schooner, on his return from the San Jacinto, finding the Alabaina had gone, seut up three rockets in the direction which his crew told him she had taken.

The San Jacinto, under all steam, ran to the south side of the bay, and not meeting the Alabama, she having already passed out, Captain Ronckendoff remained all night off the entry to the bay, within which he placed his armed boats in a line, to prevent all egress. So certain was he of the result of these measures that, as I have already said, he was with difficulty brought to believe the escape of his adversary.1

It is thus abundantly clear that it was not because Martinique was not within British jurisdiction that Captain Semmes did not coal there. Having thus left the port on the evening of the 19th, on the afternoon of the next day the Alabama joined the Agrippina, and the two ran together to the appointed place of anchorage, Blanquilla, described by Captain Semmes as "one of those little coral islands that skirt the South American coast, not yet fully adapted to the habitation of man.' There the Alabama took in a supply of coal, after which the Agrippina, which had still another supply of coal on board, was sent to the Arcas, small islands off the coast of Yucatan. The two vessels met there on the 23d of December. The Alabama took in the remainder of the supply of coal, after which the Agrippina was sent to Liverpool to procure a fresh supply.3 1 British Appendix, vol. i, pp. 257-259.

Semmes's "Adventures Afloat," p. 516; United States Documents, vol. vi, p. 491. Semmes's "Adventures Afloat," p. 519; United States Doc uments, ubi supra.

On the 11th of January, the Alabama encountered the United States ship of war the Hatteras, when, after, a short engagement, the latter went down, there being just time to save the crew.

At Jamaica.

After this, the Alabama with her prisoners made for Jamaica, and arrived at Port Royal on the evening of the 20th. This was her first appearance in a British port after her departure from Liverpool on the 29th of July, 1861. It is observed in the Case of the United States that the "promised orders" of Earl Russell to detain her for a violation of British sovereignty were not there.1

Earl Russell had promised no such orders. The only orders ever spoken of were those sent to Queenstown and to Nassau, as recommended by the law-officers immediately on the escape of the Alabama from the Mersey, before any transfer to the Confederate States was known to have been made. At the time the Alabama was at Jamaica she was a commissioned ship of war, and as such, in the opinion of Her Majesty's government, protected from seizure.

The same question arises in respect to the Alabama as arises in respect of the Florida, namely, whether her commission as a ship of war of the Confederate States gave her immunity from seizure for the breach of British law when she was again found in a British port. But this question it is unnecessary to consider if the British government is liable, as we are all agreed it is, in respect of this vessel, by reason of the want of due diligence in not preventing her departure.

The morning after the arrival of the Alabama at Jamaica, Captain Semmes called on Commodore Dunlop, the officer in command at the station, who reported to the admiral:

ABOUKIR, AT JAMAICA, January 23, 1863.

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that on the evening of the 20th a screw-steamer, apparently a man-of-war, was seen off this port about sunset, under French colors. After dark the vessel entered the harbor, and upon being boarded proved to be the screw gun-vessel Alabama, under the so-called Confederate States flag.

2. On the morning of the 21st, her commander, Captain Semmes, called on me, and asked for permission to land seventeen officers and one hundred and one men, the crew of the late United States gun-vessel Hatteras, which had engaged the Alabama twentyfive miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, during the night of the 11th January, and was sunk. The action, according to Captain Semmes's account, lasted from 13 to 15 minutes, when the Hatteras, being in a sinking state, ceased firing, and the crew were removed on board the Alabama, which there was just time to effect before the Hatteras went down.

5. Captain Semmes then stated that he had six large shot-holes at the water-line, which it was absolutely necessary should be repaired before he could proceed to sea with safety, and asked permission to receive coal and necessary supplies. The neces sity of the repairs was obvious, and I informed Captain Semmes that no time must be lost in completing them, taking in his supplies, and proceeding to sea, in exact conformity with the spirit of Earl Russell's dispatch. Captain Semmes gave me his word of honor that no unnecessary delay should take place, adding, "My interest is entirely in accordance with your wishes on this point, for if I remain here an hour more than can be avoided, I shall run the risk of finding a squadron of my enemies outside, for no doubt they will be in pursuit of me immediately."

6. Owing to the delay in receiving the lieutenant-governor's answer to my letter relative to landing the prisoners from Spanish Town, it was not until the evening of the 21st that the permission to do so reached Captain Semmes, and too late for them to be landed that night. The crowded state of the vessel previons to the landing of the prisoners, on the morning of the 220, made it difficult to proceed with the necessary repairs, and no doubt caused some unavoidable delay. As soon as these repairs are completed, the Alabama will proceed to sea.3

The governor at once consented to the landing of the prisoners, observing that "common humanity would dictate such a permission being

1 Case ofthe United States, p. 382.

See British Appendix, vol. i, pp. 202, 203, 212, and 219. 3 British Appendix, vol. i, page 264.

granted, as otherwise fever or pestilence might arise from an overcrowded ship, to say nothing of the horrors which would ensue should the Alabama again go into action with them on board." Governor Eyre added, that, “of course, once landed, no person could be re embarked against their will from British soil." The prisoners were accordingly

landed.

Assuming that the Alabama was properly received as a belligerent vessel, no question can arise as to the propriety of allowing the neces sary repairs to be done. "The fractures made by six large shot or shell near the water-line of the Alabama," says Commodore Dunlop in his report to the admiral, "required extensive repairs."

I presume it can hardly be said that the ship ought to have been forced to go to sea without these "large fractures" having been stopped

up.

She had anchored in the port, the commodore reports, after dark on the evening of the 20th of January; she commenced repairing the damages received in the action with the Hatteras the next morning; but the commodore adds that the repairs "could not be completed by the unskillful workmen hired here before late in the afternoon of the 25th, and the Alabama sailed at 8.30 p. m. of the same evening." It cannot, therefore, be said that she was permitted to stay too long in the port. She received, the commodore states, "a supply of provisions and coal,” but it does not appear what was the quantity. No complaint has ever been made, that I am aware of, of any excess having been allowed. Commodore Dunlop certainly appears to have been quite alive to his duty of enforcing the regulations. He concludes his report by saying:

In conclusion, I have only to state that the confederate, vessel was treated strictly in accordance with the instructions contained in Earl Russell's letter of the 31st January, 1851, and exactly as I shall act toward any United States mån-of-war that may hereafter call here.

Two United States ships of war, the Richmond and Powhatan, arrived here in 1861, coaled and provisioned, and remained in port, the Richmond four days, and the Powhatan three days; the San Jacinto was also here, and remained four hours.

I am therefore unable to concur in an opinion expressed by the president of this tribunal in thinking that "the reception of the Alabama at Jamaica far exceeded the measure of what the duties of neutrality would admit of." If, by this, reference is intended to be made to the fact that a young officer, in the absence of his superior, thoughtlessly allowed the band of a Queen's ship to play a southern national air, a circumstance afterward fully explained, and for which he was severely reprimanded, or that the officers on the station went on board of the Alabama, and treated her captain and officers as officers of a man-ofwar, or to the possible fact that the inhabitants of the island may have shown some kindness toward, or sympathy with, the Southerners, I can only protest against such facts being made a ground for fixing a liability on the British government, when no fault can be fixed on the local authorities. If the British government has been in any respect wanting in due diligence, and injury has thence resulted to American citizens, the British people are ready to make reparation. But to call in aid, as founding a liability on the part of Great Britain, the fact that officers of Her Majesty's ships, or the inhabitants of a West Indian colony, may have shown civilities to the officers of a confederate shipas why should they not? or have exhibited sympathy for the cause of the South, when the authorities have strictly done their duty, does seem

to me, I must say, to be going a great deal too far; indeed, further than the United States themselves. For neither in their case nor argument have the latter gone so far as to assert that, saving in the matter of not seizing the vessel, there was any breach of neutrality in what passed at Jamaica.

But the same exception is also taken to what passed at the Cape. It is necessary, therefore, to review the facts.

At the Cape of Good Hope.

The Alabama arrived in Saldanha Bay on the 29th of July, 1863. It appears from a dispatch of the admiral on the station, Sir Baldwin Walker, to the admiralty, of August the 19th, that, on receiving information of her being there, he immediately gave orders to Captain Forsyth, of Her Majesty's ship Valorous, to hold himself in readiness to proceed to any of the parts of the colony in which the Alabama might anchor, in order to preserve the rules of strict neutrality.' On the 5th of August, having received a telegram that the Alabama was off Table Bay, the admiral ordered the Valorous to proceed thither. As the Alabama was standing into Table Bay, she fell in with and captured a United States vessel, called the Sea Bride, and a question arose whether the capture had not been made within the waters of the colony. Mr. Graham, the United States consul, immediately called the attention of the governor, Sir Philip Wodehouse, to the capture, alleging it to have been unlawful by reason of its having been made within 4 miles of the shore.

He writes:

I believe there is no law defining the word "coast," other than international law. That law has always limited neutral waters to the fighting distance from laud, which, upon the invention of gunpowder, was extended to the distance of three nautical miles from land on a straight coast, and, by the same rule, since the invention of Armstrong rifled cannon, to at least six miles.

But all waters inclosed by a line drawn between two promontories or headlands are recognized by all nations as neutral, and England was the first that adopted the rule, calling such waters the "King's chambers." By referring to "Wheaton's Digest,” page 234, or any other good work on international law, you will find the above rules laid down and elucidated.

Mr. Graham also sent affidavits of the captain, the steward, and the cook of the Sea Bride giving the bearings of the vessel at the time of the capture to prove that the vessel, when captured, was within the waters of the colony.

Captain Semmes having been called upon for an explanation, answered: In reply, I have the honor to state that it is not true that the bark referred to was captured in British waters, and in violation of British neutrality, she having been captured outside all headlands, and a distance from the nearest land of between five and six miles. As I approached this vessel I called the particular attention of my officers to the question of distance, and they all agree that the capture was made from two to three miles outside of the marine league.3

The governor referred the matter to Captain Forsyth, who, after taking the evidence of the port captain, of the light-house keeper of the Green Point light, of the collector of customs, of the signalman at the Lion's Rump telegraph-station, and of a boatman, all of whom had seen the position of the two vessels, reported that he had come to the conclusion that the Sea Bride was beyond the limits assigned when captured by the Alabama. 4

The decision of the governor, which, of course, was in accordance with the opinion of Captain Forsyth, having been announced to Mr.