The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1859-09-01

handed 1t to his brother. Bill was keenly
sensitive to ridicule-he took the glass,
changed color, turning first red and then
very pale, drank it off, and then turned
round and left the cabin without saying a
word. The manner of the action was no
ticed by all Of us; we drank in silence, and
| could not help thinking that it was an om-
nous commencement. But the gloom which
this incident threw over us was soon dis
PEELED by the exciting occurrences of the voy-
age. We stopped and landed goods in sew
eral out-of fthe-way little places along the
coast, hosting the Mexican flag as we ran in
landing the goods at night, and taking spe-
Gle on board in return. And I guess his
agents gave him some information in some
of those places; at all events, we captured
four prizes very neatly, and though small
craft, their cargoes were very valuable. Not
having any spare hands to man the prizes,
we were obliged to take every thing of value
out of them, and having put the crews on
shore, scuttle them.
"We had been no more than ten or twelve
weeks out from New Orleans, and had clear
ed Gas Bill told me in confidence) over all ex-
penses, more than fifty thousand dollars,
without meeting with single casualty, or
ill-luck of any kind, when one day we drew
in to the coast, off the mouth of small river
somewhere to the southwark of Matamoras
if | remember rightly, and after sending a
boat in to reconnoitre and ascertain that all
was right, we ran in and dropped an
chor. 1t was forlorn looking place enough
A few miserable huts were visible near the
rivers bank, and one better looking building
further in among the trees There was no
sign of human beings until it fell dark, and
then little boat came alongside, with vii
lainous looking Mexican on board, who scull-
ed the boat alone. This fellow held long
and earnest conversation with Captain Vain
wright, and when it was concluded. the
matches WORE nnenad. -As--- rr--.ss frusrr1y put
into our boat and landed at place pointed
out by the Mexican, and then Captain Vain
wright addressed us as follows .s
"'Now, my lads, l have just received in
formation that a large brig with most valu-
able cargo, and over eighty thousand dollars
in specie, will leave Vera Cruz for Europe in
about ten days. Now we must have her.
and five succeed in capturing this prize, we
will return to Mobile to secure our wealth,
for this cruise, short as it has been, will have
made us all rich. Now, up anchor!
"We made for Galveston, and reached
there in three days, discharged all the cargo
we had on board, took in ballast and sailed
for the Bay Of Campeachy, and being favor
ed by sharp 'norther,' on the fourth after
noon we saw the towering summit of the
great volcano, Orizaba, rearing its huge bulk
far above the variegated clouds that encir-
cled the setting sun. Lying to well off the
land we watched for our prize, and the very
next afternoon, to our great joy, we saw her
standing out of the roads, accompanied by a
light 'eoletta,' or coasting schooner. The
wind was light and southerly, and as soon as
we observed her, we hoisted the American
flag, and made sail on the larboard tack, as
if standing in. When we got well to wind
ward of them, we put about and gave chase.
They instantly observed the maneuvre and
crowded all sail, the brig holding on her
course, but the goletta wore round on the
other tack, and bore up for the land. The
brig was a capital sailer, and although she
could not show such pair of heels as the
Antelope, it was slow work coming up with
her. The evening wore away and night
closed in. The full moon rose and shone
from cloudless sky, SO that we could easily
see the chase, now about half mile to lee
ward. The heavy dew that is SO remarka-
BILE in the Bay of Campeachy and on the Al
aerane banks, began to fall, saturating and
trickling down our rigging, and wetting the
deck as thoroughly as a shower would have
done. The soft, southerly wind sighed
through the cordage, laden with the sweet
smell of the land, and all seemed so peaceful
that it appeared like sacrilege to disturb the
tranquility of that glorious night. This was,
however, most effectually done by the loud
report Of a gun on board the brig, and the
harsh whizzing of the ball over our heads
another shot almost Immediately following
the first.
"'The ball has opened said Capt. Vain.
wright, smiling.
Yes, by jingo, it has opened us replied
Ham, as another shot went crashing through
our main boom.
"'Look out there, Paul. said Bill, give
them shot
81 fired, and the report of our long nine
FOUNDER rang out sharp and distinct on the
damp night breeze. The shot, however, wa:
Intellectual, striking the water under the brig:
counter. A few more were exchanged with
out injury to either vessel, and the brig was
evidently fast gaining, now that our mainsail
was disabled. The carpenter was using ev
cry exertion to get new main boom rigget
to recover our lost ground, when LUCKY
shot of mine carried away the briggs foretop
masts, which in its fall brought with it th'
maintop- gallant mast and flying jib-boom.-
We now rapidly came up with her, and il
less than another hour, during which tim,
| the MeXicans worked their six pounders will