The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1873-12-03

cnlors at her inaSt-liead. A procession
was formed. consisting Of the isabella La
t'a,oiea aud another man-of-war IN all
vance, the yiginius following and the Tor
nado IL the rar, They passed up the
harl,m, the shores nf which were lined
withcrowda Of ciiizcus There was some
cbeeing along the Iincsof spectators as the
TDr'ndu pas.ed.
Official Report OF the Capture.
Castillo, the commander OF tile Tornado
has made the following report OF the chase,
capture, and boarding of the Virgimius To
the naval authorities at Havana. II Is ,ia-
ted from Santiago de Cuba.
In conformity with orders received by
me. NJ commander OF the corvette Torna-
do, TO carefully watch the coast between
Cape Cruz and Santiago lie Cuba, left
the latter port on the 2gth Of October. On
that niglit crulsed In close proximity to
tine Iand between the points Indicated. be-
ing led 10 beIlsse by certain calculatio,,s
that, whatever might be the msn@uvres
OF the yirginius during The night, il was
evident that during the day she must He
well off partly toavoi,l being seen and
partly 10 reserve her resources until the
proper moment for binding should ar
rive. During the night Of the sDth inst.
we continued our cruise without incident,
aud had started on new course at day.
treak the next morning, when the man
an tI,e lookou. reported seeing the smoke
n of steamer. proceeding in the dirpctionof
Jamaica. With the view III a-ceriaining
what she was, and at iliesame time to save
ss much fuel a- possible, we followed her
lnggIng the coast for about eighteen miles
when sIie changed he course to southeast
i.y aputh.
From the first moment wesaw her there
was great activityon board, the whole OF
the steam power from all the boilers being
rougItlntoreqaisition. and At sbout ha.f-
pas; two o'clock IN the afternoon wrc1m-
mencei % give chase.
The position and course ofthe vessel
principally. II for no either reason, lei me
t. believe that this craft was none other
than the filIibuster yirginiua: for inag-
| Il hat she was proceeding from Jamaica
to Cuba when we saw her, bu, failing uu-
der the circumstances, % lsnd on the is-
land of Cuba, She had turned abnnt again
for Jamaica. These suspicious were ean-
iinned BY her sudden change Of course
aud the evident activity On hoard to make
all the speed possible, As flames could be
seen cmsnaiing with the smoke from her
funnelz. Ia addition TO this ,ge now saw,
by the light 81 the moon, when sl,echan-
ged her tack, her two smoke.stacks and
pa,ldlc-boxes. Instructed the engineer
70 carry on all steam possible aud drive
our vessel through the water as quickly as
he could. Owing to the darkness We
thought she SO. about rve miles ahead,
and holesl q, overhaul her before she made
F,ani Moraule.
At9.Se, while iu her immediate neigh
horiiued we fred ave shots, AMI shortly
afterwards sent out two boats. unier the
command 81 Dm Enrique Pardo aud Don
Angel Oniz. with orders 10 take possess
-lon af the virginins Ia tie name " the
spanish nation. The report OF these OIL
rers has already been made. and content
myself with informing you that, At II o.
clock a: night. the virginia@. flying the
spanish nag, was headed towards Cuba,
having on board prize crew. after we had
removed the bulk 0f the prisoucrso on board
our vessel.
The cargo of arms and war munitions
was, s,lIirown over board during the chase,
bat the empty eases fslI Into our possession,
Including cartridges and ather articles.
which are included 10 the inventory which
have already handed In TO the autliori-
ties.
The enthusiasm of the crew simply baf-
I fIcs description when success crowned our
efforts. The prisoners were treated viii,
such consideration as their character der
served aud the necessity of their safe.keep-
lnr demanded. The virginius under our
convoy, reached Santiago dc cnl'a on Mo-
vemler lst. ats O'Clock In the evening,
when our arrival was inside the signal Of
= genuine outburst Of patriotic enthusl.
asn.
Theimportancc afthls expedition, when
the number aud rank ofihe prisoners are
considered, cannnt be ovcmtcd Ia sldi-
ton 20 tie severe lesson that We have Civ
IL the enemies of Spain, the capture has
made the inhabitants ofSantiago delirious
with enthusiasm.
make reference 10 the conduct of
our men, but viii simply say that thair
conduct, from the highest to the lowest,
Il worthy Of all praise, and when say that
the men wcre Spaniarsls working forspan-
ian Interest, you will understand ell. UP
on my arrival IN port here gave official
information Of the capture 70 the author
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