The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-11 00:00:00

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astonishing rate through the phosphorescent, waters
witha prow of flame and a bubbling wake of dancing
meteor-like streams flowing from her helm, us
though it were a furnace whence boiled a stream of
liquid metal. "No sign of the Oriental on our lee
bow ?" " Nothin' at all in sight, sir." The sharks
and huge rays flew off from the shore as we passed,
and darted out seawards, marking their runs in
brilliant trails of light. On sped the Diana, but
no Oriental came in sight.
I was tired. The sun had been very hot ; the ride.
through the batteries, the visits to quarters, the ex-
cursion to Pickens had found out my weak places,
and my head was aching and legs fatigued, and so I
thought I would turn in for a short time, and I
dived into the shades below, where my comrades
were already sleeping, and kicking off my boots
lapsed into a state which rendered me indifferent to
the attentions no doubt lavished upon me by the
numerous little familiars who recreate in the well-
peopled timbers. It never entered into my head,
even my dreams, that the captain would break the
blockade if he could—particularly as his papers
had not been endorsed, and the penalties would he
sharp and sure if he were caucrht. But the confi-
dence of coasting capsul's in" the extraordinary
capabilities of their craft is a madness--a halluci-
nation so strong that no danger or risk will pre-
vent their acting upon it whenever thereat. I was
assured once by the " captain" of a "
that he could run to windward of any cri,a,ta in her .
Majesty's service, and there is not a skipper from
Hartlepool to Whitstable who :does not believe his
own "Mary Ann," or " Three Grandmothers," is,
on certain" pinto," able to bump her fat bows and
scuttle-shaped stern faster through the seas than
auy clipper which ever flew a pendant. I had been
some two hours and a-half asleep when I was
awakened by a whispering in the little cabin .
Charley; the negro cook, agu2-stricken with terror,
was leaning over the bed, and in broken French
was chattering through his teeth, " Monsieu, Mon
siva, nous sommes perdus ! The bateman de guerre
nous poursuit. Il n'a pas encore tire. Il va tirer
bientot ! Oh mon Dieu! mon Dieu I" Through
the hatchway I could see the skipper was at the
helm, glancing anxiously from the compass to the
quivering reef points of his mainsail. " What's all
this we hear, captain ?" "Well, Sir, there's been
somethin' a runnin' after us these two hours" (very
slowly). But I don't think keech us up no
how this time." "But, good heavens, you know,
it may be the Oriental, with Mr. Brown on board."
"Ah wall—may bee. But he kep quite close up on
me in the dark—it gev me quite a stark when I seen
him. May be, says I, he's a privateerin' chap, and
so I draws in on shore close as I cud,—gets mee
centre-board in, and, says I, I'll see what yer med
of, mee boy. He an't a gaining much on us." I
looked, and sure enough, about half or three-quar-
ters of a mile astern, and somewhat to leeward of
us, a vessel, with sails and hull all blended into a
black lump, was standing on in pursuit. I strained
my eyes and furbished up the glasses, but I could
make out nothing definite. The skipper held
grimly on. The shore was so close we could have
almost leaped into the surf, for the Diana, when
her centre-board is up, does not draw much over
four feet. " Captain, I think you,had better shako
your wind, and see who he is. It may be Mr.
Brown." " Meester Brown or no I can't help car-
rine on now. I'd be on the bank outside in a minit
if I didn't hold my course." The captain had ais
own way ; he argued that if it was the Oriente_
she would have fired a blank gun long ago to bring
us to ; and as to not calling us when the sail was
discovered he took up the general line of the cruelty
of disturbing people when they're asleep. Ah !
captain, you knew well it was Mr. Brown, as you
let out when we were safe off Fort Morgan. By
keeping so close in shore in shoal water the Diana
was enabled to creep along to windward of the
stranger, who evidently was deeper than ourselves.
See there ! Her sails shiver ! so one of the crew
says ; she's struck ! But she's off again, and is after
us. We are just within range, and one's eye become
quite blinky, watching for the flash from the bow,
but, whether privateer or United States schooner she
was too magnanimous to fire. A stern chase is a long
chase. It must now be somewhere about 2in the
morning. Nearer and nearer to shore creeps
the Diana. " I'll lead him into a pretty mess, who-
ever he is, if he tries to follow me through the
Swash," grins the skipper. The Swash is a very
shallow, narrow, and dangerous passage into Mobile
Bay, between the sand-banks on the east of the main
channel and the shore. Our pursuer holds on, but
gains nothing. The Diana is now only some nine
or ten miles from Fort Morgan, guarding the en-
trance to Mobile. Soon an uneasy dancing motion
welcomes her approach to the Swash. "Take a
cast of the lead, John ! " Nine feet." " Good !
Again !" " Seven feet." " Good—Charley, bring
the lantern." (Oh, Charley, why did tnat lantern
go out just as it was wanted, and not only expose
us to the most remarkable amount of " cussm; im-
precation, and strange oaths our ears ever heard,
but expose our lives and your head to more immi-
nent danger ?) But so it was, just at the critical
juncture when a turn of the helm port or starboard
made the difference perhaps betweeu life and death,
lighi after light went out, and the captain wept
dancing mad after lefttrvals ordeadfy calmness as
the mate sang out, " Five feet and a-half! seven
feet--six feet—eight feet—five feet—four and a-half
feet (oh Lord I)—six feet," and so on, through a
measurement of death by inches, not at all agree-
able. And where was Mr. Brown all this time?
Really we were so much interested in the state of
the lead-line, and in the very peculiar behaviour of
the lanterns, which would not burn, that we scarcely
cared much when we heard from the odd hand and
Charley that she had put about, after running
aground once or twice, they thought, 'as soon as
we entered the S wash, and had vanished rapidly
in the darkness. It was little short of a miracle
that we got past the elbow, for just at the critical
moment, in a channel not more than 100 yards
broad, with only six feet water, the binnacle
light, which had burned steadily for a minute,
sank with a sputter into black night. When the
passage was accomplished the captain relieved
his mind by chasing Charley into a corner, and
with a shark, which he held by the tail, as the•
first weapon that came to hand, inflicting on him
condign punishment, and then returning
for the
e
helm. Charley, however, knew his master, or
oslyly b
os
ae irzde db te hf
oer
es
aa
nr ke
tahne
rd flung
htof hispassion defunct
corpsecameen,
and by the morning the skipper was good friends
with him, after he had relieved himself by a series
of castigations of the negligent lamplighter with
every variety of Rhadamanthine implement.
The Diana had thus distinguished her dirty little
person by breaking a blockade and giving an excel-
lent friend of ours a great deal of trouble (if it was
indeed Mr. Brown), as well as giving us a very
unenviable character for want of hospitality and
courtesy ; and for both I beg to apologise wit.h this
account of the transaction. But she had a still
greater triumph. As she approached Fort Morgan
all was silence. The morning was just showing a
grey streak in the east. " Why, they're all asleep
at the fort," observed the indomitable captain, and
regardless of guns or sentries down went his helm,
and away the Diana thumped into Mobile Bay, and
stole off in the darkness towards the opposite shore.
There was, however, a miserable day before us.
When the light fairly broke we had got only a few
miles inside, a stiff northerly wind blew right in
our teeth, and the whole of the blessed day
spent tacking backwards and forwards between one
low shore and another low shore, in water theerel
of peasoup, so that temper and patience were
that
ex-
hausted, and we were reduced to such.aths
awe took took intense pleasure in meeting WI
snits-looking in alligator. He was a g youngfe
d ntly lost his way,
about 10 feet long, and had e.vii
°but it would have
fellow,
and was going out to sea bodti y, hint on board
Ihkoeugh he passed
bowaeiertnhsihntihpte,w be was,
miserable as
There was, to be sure, the
height of cruelty
ofMso.bile in every possible view,
pleasure of seeing and in a lump and
yards n_
and west,
far and near, and eastwas not relished any more than our
run out, but it osisted of a very gamy Bologna
who had not
onionshe decidedcoo kfr.
fried
dwAhi
tne tsahtienerr hrt
hiebelweeovpuerined:
dsainusnaegr,e,wAe
landed at
started
laannrv' t icenyag, and
t been nearly 14 hours beating
we were
off for the Battle House and.
about 27 miles,
wpb. eahra
rpa ohrfir:oki
crai
n000dr:
.eblrcat
an outlying
rest. The streets are filled with the usual rub-a-
-(o the - d uebibt
citizens
sin
bands,
grotesque garments and arma-
ment, all looking full of fight and secession. I
ite nlyn namest a tl in
wusiu. . the hotel book at the bar as
young Vigilance Committee, who
has been resting his heels high in the air, with one
eye on the staircase and the other on the end of his
cigar, stalks forth and reads my style and title, and
I have the satisfaction of slapping the door in his
face as he saunters after me to my room, and
looks curiously in to see how a man takes off his
boots. They are all very anxious in the evening to
know what .1 think about Pickens and Pensacola,
and I am pleased to tell the citizens I think it will
be a very tough affair on both sides whenever it
comes. I proceed to New Orleans on Monday.

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S-INN-ROAD.—
The number of patients relieved at this hospital during the
week ending June was 2,605, of which 771 were new came.'
The "Antiquary " would have stoutly maintained the im-
possibility of a message being received in London within 11
few minutes of its being written in Edinboro'. But it is un-
deniable. Equally so is the fact of grey hair being restored
to its natural colour, and neuralgia and nervous headache
cured by Herring's mag-netio brushes and combs. Recent
improvements have made them almost infallible. N.B.—
Counterfeits are being made. (MOM
32, Basinghall-street,
L011(1011,