The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-11 00:00:00

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TILE CRUISE OF 7HE ALABAMA.

The following is an eztract from letter written
by one of the petty offi,:.ers o
October 30, 1862,
f the Confederate
cruiser Alabama. It is dated "
latitude 41 deg. 30 min., longitut;le 45 deg. :---
No crew could be more comfortable than ours is)
from the always watchful nature of the ch2li" which do-
though,
volve upon us, more discipline and active duty are enforcsd
than we will, perhaps, get credit for. Plenty to
to drink, and plenty of work to do, is the order or the day'
and of every day. It would be an endless task for 7:l°
attempt to give you even an outline of the fearful havcie
we have committed amongst the Yankee ekevels, sli-lee
we left the shores of the ersey, or of the truction
of the many splendid ships, of which not one plank
was left fastened to another. Amongst the finest laden;
eat, plenty
vessel bound to Bremen, but not very heavy cargo laci:;:;
the Wave Crest, bound from New York td Ca,rul
Captain Hammond.; the Manchester, from New li°r-f,
to Liverpool; the Three Stars, whale ship ;
new barque, the Dunkirk, Capt. Johnston, from New .Vl.-4-
to London. We have already taken about 20 vessels, ladell‘
with every article which it is possible almost for the cotia•
tries of the world to produce, and they have all been de
-
stroyed with the exception of one or two, whose conaraan
ders have given bonds for various amounts of ransom' t°
Capt. Semmes, payable to the President of the Confederzlet
a
States when peace is proclaimed. The last one which we
off was the Tonawanda, which lay beside us several da9s+
and had a good deal of British property, with some doubt-
-1
ful, aboard—the captain and crew being aboard our vesse"
They were all glad to get away; but:
;the only reason
they had a large
such a course was pursued was that
'O7ll
number of females on board as pass:enOrs) ~
which'
skipper said, could not be stowed in our •`‘ fi:clng
ermll°';of
The historical chivalry of the South would nt.'t
per
our 1115
disturbing or molesting the females, so we
bond, put the prisoners we had on board,and sent her heart
Semmes declaring that it was enough to break a nat'l's
to see that he was compelled to part in such a way W.
a splendid ship. It is next to a play to hear the ce'- ollt
themselves tell how they were taken,and what they thi. e
118'
of us when first sighted. The mate of the Manchester sty
tiff
that all on board his ship was in order, going with a st .
breeze from S.S.W. when the look-out reported a sail in
tlle
beam. The red cross of St. George was flying, and the day
took
being clear, our guns were out quite visible. The man
a't
the wheel remarked to the captain, " There's a British 13:0`
';
of var bearing down on us : we had better show our colour''
The captain shortly after ordered them to be hoisted. 11-wl
went the stars and stripes,and,almost at the same mortleu"
down went the British ensign,and in its place appeared
full flag of the Confederates. A 10-pound shot right say':
surve:
their bows astonished the captain,who, after a rapid
through his glass, exclaimed, " It's that damned pirate
Semmes—the ship is lost." I may only add that a
lei,
hours more and they were all prisoners on board the
bama, and the last we saw of the Manchester the anew
ing night was a bright sheet of fire in the horizon line as
darkness fell. The prisoners are treated ,as well as PI::
sible, though our having so many hands on board Pt
roar
r
them all from receiving what might be considered Pr4ol, t
accommodation. Some are made comfortable enough
there are impudent and insulting Yankees who are '".„4
thankful even for their lives being spared, and they '5-0
take the consequences. Since we have come into the
waters, we have got splendid guns additional, all nionot
and, what with our own crew and the brave volunteers Nt
we
have since joined us, we are now able to fight as
hliore
run, and both at the same time, if need be so. We
'oil
also plenty of news about ourselves on board, in the „f" °
ere
York 71mes and Herald, Shipping Gazette, Liverpool
eury, and Gore's Advertiser, 4-e. Some of the New 30,
papers, illustrated, give frightful pictures of the egt,
ments their vessels have had with us, making them all°
rounded with smoke, and firing into us, all of
heartily enjoy. One thing is certiiin—they never 0,
take the Alabama, nor a man of us aliv e. Captain, °
cers, and men know their duty, and aroma quite aWareos
the doom which would befal them, if takn, for thereo
no croakers or skulkers here ; but, if so wankel)" 5' let
be
should take place, and the hair of one of our he..„t'.-001
injured, our commander assures us that the gair6";rs
lfii
of Richmond will hang a regiment of Yankee ofge`ii
retaliation. Capt. Semmes (or the admiral, as we o"', tlO
among ourselves, both fore and aft), is of opinion at%
war will be settled in the beginning of the year ; gel
that case, we shall all be provided for for life. No to°l.°olo
for me after that. Previous to the 20th of this mouth
prize-money alone was worth from £4OO to £5OO 5131571

!AKIiL• :t b.

38s Beans,
t o 6 grr ''
—WEDNESDAY.
Barley, grindhig..3os to
(Oats, old, ...... 27s to 'AI;
New do .......... 22s to
........ •40s to :4
...... 36s to