, 1864-04-28

HAen wrote you from Funchal, Madeira.
On Inc 2dth February last, had then no ideas
OF ever seeing tue pirate Florida; but on the
mern1ng OF the osth, Fhat should greet our
aston1shed vision but rebel fag Of fabulous
mIenslohs, Heating at the peak of steamer
from us, directly between us aud the town of
f9hcha1- At about nine 2. n, We aacer-
tanned her to be the aforementioned steamer.
sne arrived on the evening Of the eth. at
M:so 2. ~, alter passage Of eighteen days
On the 20th Feb, the commander Of the
Florida, ttieut. C. NJ. Morris, late Of tie j.
y. Nayy) made call upon the Governor Of
the island. short time afterwards, our
Acting, Consnl, Mr.. Robert Baymau, called
the name Of his Government againsf tho
F!orlca coallDg. The Governor promiscd
| him four ConEul) she should have no sun
plies theIs r. Of any Bind. How fur be kept bis
called again upon the Governor, and told him
that coal. at least 90 tons Of it, was neces-
sary supply, as his ship Was light and needed
It for ballast. The Governor told him as be
(tLe 5ebel) came In without 1t, he thought be
eoulo 60 70 sea without it; however, Il bull
Isl Ras absolutely Indispensable to him, that
he vas at liberty to take IS many stones from
the beach rs he nked
tur consul informed the Governor that the
pirate IVES Just as seaWorthy without coal ps
with it; seeing she had nearly rs much sail,
~ ~ proportion, as the st. Lonis, and that she
mad propeller well for triciue up her ian, it
was proof conclusive, that on ordinary occa-
elons she did not intend to use it, and that
coal vas not necessary supply for such q
vessel, any more than shot, shell, guns OF
powder, as It "as nothing more than furnish |
ing her means Of offence and defence. and
without coal we would be equalized,
l. The Governor ordered the rebel ont of |
port, but the rebel commAnder told him he !
would not 60 until he received a few tons Of ]
coA ths Governor then told him, as he had |
hts orders, he would authorize the comman-
ger OF the St Louis to enforce them for him,
tae never gave any such order; if he had Ne
should have carried it ont to tie very letter |
The rebels reply could not learn. The out.
side pressure upon the Governor was too
enough to take her to the nearest port. pro.
Eld1ng It did not exceed twenty tons.
think the scales where tt was weighed
must have been well "greased, as the TWEEN
y tins loaded six large lighters" Tue Con
tha+ ~ 'Ien protested c against this, telling him
celsed from his Government, (thesc instruc-
tions were delivered By an order from this
snip to the Governor OF Madeira, on the ed
February, aud sent in clre Of Commander
rie4ie, by the Portuguese Minister of State,
Hcll give him one hundred as twenty tons,
91nce nothing was easier than for q Mr.
biandiy Il coal merchant and a rebel eympa.
1hizer !lsing here) to give the pirate an order
10 any Of his vessels which he might meet at
sea. fof my part cannot see why be could I
not so around the world in spite Of any such
llndrance as this-for If he can ret enough +
IN every port he goes to carry him tn I'M
next, what more does he want. Immediate.
y alter ne ascertafned her true Character.
!on so,t the morning Of the 2sth) we hove in our
fSVa fo4} 1
ittie scope as NC could ride by,as our anchor
a,y in thirtJ-threc fathoms; Ne also loaded
re tnall arms. This was all we could do :
lnoer the circumstances It appears that
several reports reached the pirates, while at
.ncnof nc on tnnchal, that we we're going to
Io"ed to have their Nay, they would have
Aken her ut all hazards. litter she received
|er supposed twenty tons Of coal, sue mads s
rcparatlons for sea, and so did We, bnt the Z
er{ lime that she LOFT Fupchal, On the night
the 18th, at $50 p. m., it was calm. and
On the morning Il March 1, a light breeze
prung up. and, as We learned that the pirate
I'd shaped bis course for this port, {Santa r
II Inz, )He got under way. Alter SIX days be1t- 1
rival We learned that the piratc had been
ere, coa1cd, and went to sea the day prc-
lons to our arrival, 18th Of March.) Ii IL
'ported, and think correctly, that she has
out 10 Inc Eas1 Indies. find she has not
ten altered 1t Brest, Us reported, for now OF
,e answers her former description exactly.
examined her very closely. Size slows her .;
mocks, as the kcarsage and other boats
her ciass, but here the resemblance ends,
le has sharp pointed head, long, low bow
'r1t and jib-boom, long lowcrmasts, short
p1Dasts and torgallant-masts, and long n
astheads. all Of which are very slender, Is
lrE-r1sged, two tunnels. one forward OF the | II
bcr, both forward OF the mainmast. Her
asts have more rake than any Of our gun !
'ats l haVe seen. She has wire rigging. rs
ar armament consists Of SIX 3oo- oo-poundcr n
e e eTt., in hroadside, and two 100-pound-
port, III men on board, three Of which de .
rted at FunchAl- They report the crew as o.
1elish. Irish, Spanish, French and Portu- Io
esc, and only one American The officers !:
all Southern nlen but one, who is an En- | 1
shman, actiLg Us an engineer. 4