The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-10 00:00:00

SALE OF THE SUMTER.

The following letter has been received in Liver-
pool :—" Gibraltar, Dec. 31, 1862.—The past week
has been one of more than usual excitement, owing
to the movements of two vessels in this bay, the re-
nowned steamer Sumter (rechristened the Gibraltar)
and the Northern States vessel of war Chippewa.
It seems that the Confederate Government, finding
that the Sumter, which was wholly built for a
merchaht vessel, was not sufficiently strong for fir-
ing her heavy armament, determined upon selling
her, and in consequence she was duly advertised by
Cunard, Wilson, and Co., of Liverpool, as being for
sale by auction, at Gibraltar, on the 19th of this
month, and at noon of that day the bidding com-
menced, the opposition being principally between
some Cadiz merchants, a company here, and a Liver-
pool merchant, who, having previously sent over
competent men to survey machinery and hull, an-
ticipated a nice bargain, it being supposed that the
vessel would sell very low, and only required trans-
porting to England to realise 50 per cent, profit
The sale was attended by crowds, and great excite-
ment followed each bid, as the different nationali-
ties appeared in opposition. After the lapse of an
hour and a quarter the hammer finally settled the
Englishman as the buyer at the price of 19,500
dols., the purchaser having also to pay the Govern-
ment commission of 21 per cent en the price.
During the auction, as a stimulus to the bidders,
the auctioneer announced the intention of the Con-
federate Government to give in for nothing the bat-
tery on board (not of much value, however), so the
lucky purchaser became the owner of a fully-
equipped man-of-war. As commerce, and not war,
was his object, he has got rid, I believe, of the guns
to some darkish neighbours not 20 miles off from
this place, and by the aid of paint has completely
changed the appearance of the Sumter, which
vessel now bears " Gibraltar" on her stern. The
Gibraltar is a vessel suitable for the Baltic, Medi-
terranean, or other trades requiring only a few days
coal; into this she will no doubt be tamed, and if
only half as successful as under her former colours
will soon repay her cost. She is now being got
ready to leave for England as soon as her papers
are complete. I have only now related the move-
ments of one vessel. The excitement, however,
here was caused by the doings of the other, the
Northern vessel Chippewa, whose captain has been
heard to say that, if possible, he would sink the
Gibraltar, no matter if she carried the British flag.
It appears that the Northerners pretend that the
Sumter was a war prize, captured in New Orleans
by the Southerners, and that consequently she can
not be sold in a British port under the Queen's pro-
clamation forbidding such sales, by either Northern
or Southern States; this, however, is entirely a
mistake, as the Sumter's officers assert she was pro-
perly bought from her owners in New Orleans, and
daly paid for by the Confederate Government. The
fact of her being in the New Orleans and Havannah
trade, and entirely owned in these places, utterly
disproves the charge of her being a prize; and for
the credit of the Northern agents it is to be hoped
that they were ignorant of these facts when stating
the contrary. Acting on his threats (which, how-
ever, her new owner treats as bunkum), the captain
of the Northern ship gets up steam each time he
spies the same from the Gibraltar's pipe, fearing
lest the unarmed foe might elude his grasp. This,
however, will not be attempted until all is ready
for sea, when the company of a British ship of
war will be sought to prove that the Gibraltar
can never be captured. One day the engineer
of the Gibraltar, wishing
to
permission of the captain ofthterythe
port to steam about
engines, got
in the bay, and directly after starting she was fol-
lowed by the Chippewa, evidently, however, being
no match in speed, With guns shotted and men at
quarters, ports open, and it appearing to the offi-
cers in tlvi garrison that she was going to violate
English rules and regulations, which they break
through when no force opposes them, the Governor,
an old Crimean hero, not to be trifled with by such
fry, went himself to the batteries, determined at
once to punish severely any attempt to interfere in
English waters with the Gibraltar, which made all
hearts to wish that we had many more of such men
to cause the British flag and waters to be respected.
Nothing was, however, done by the Yankee, and
the Gibraltar, having tested her machinery as much
as required, returned to her anchorage ; the Yankee,
however, seeing his inferiority in speed, instead of
going back to his old quarters, anchored two miles
nearer the point, which position he kept until
driven a few days after to alter it, owing to a gale.
We notice, oddly enough, the feeling here is en-
no doubt, to
owing, no
deeds of
en-
tirely
the Northerners. Yesterday the Northern States
thetire
extravagantthe Southerners,
bombast
a n
war vessel Tuscarora entered the harbour and an-
chored near the Gibraltar. These two expensive
attendants upon the Gibraltar must cost Uncle Sam
fully £3OO per diem. Her Britannic Majesty's ships
London and Mars are daily expected here from
Malta, and will probably convoy the Gibraltar to
England?'