Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-05-26

aboard again in his skiff. When
we pointed out the vessel to him we
could not at first make him under
stand which out of several then in
habor we meant, but when we began
describing her "Sure its the block
ade rinner yer honor names" was
his prompt reply-this ended all re-
serve, in Kingston and Cork every
body knew us to be blockade run
ners and liked us the better for it.
For two reasons our voyage was
out of the usual track-it was
necessary to coal frequently, as the
Falcon, built expressly for speed,
had but little storage for fuel, and it
was desirable to avoid the notice of
any Federal cruisers which might
be inquisitive and meddlesome. So
our course was planned thus, Green
ock, The Azores, Bermuda, Will
mington. The following were the
objects of interest at the different
pOll1IS We UOuCIISu at.
KINGSTON: Excursion to Cork
and Barney Castle-here our young
friends kissed the Blarney stone,
but as it is an operation attend
ed with some risk and labor,
we RETAINED, contented with such
natural faculty of lying as we had
been gifted with by nature.
AZORES: st. Michaels the principal
of this island group was the point
we touched at and stayed for some
days. 1t is the most noted orange
growing region in the world, the st.
Michael oranges being recogniZed as
the best in all markets; we were more
interested, however, in wonderful
boiling spring at a mountainous ex-
tremity of the island, the pictur-
esque ride to which was worth the
whole voyage. BERMUDA: The
lemon trees were no longer in bear
ing, but their Furnished gold was
replaced by the amethysts, sap
phires, garnets and rubies of the
Oleanders, which flourish in wild
luXuriance all over the island. On
one road, the approach to Hamilton
the capital of the island, is an ave-
nue. of Oleander trees which, taller
than the average shade trees on our
sidewalks, completely Overarch the
road for a quarter of a mile, and at
that season July glowed with
every tint of puple, maroon, crimson,
rose color, lilac, pink and white.
On leaving Bermuda our block
ade running commenced in earnest
and we had now to appreciate the
high qualities of the Falcon and
her captain.
1t will be readily understood that
in a blockade-running enterprise,
runingintOa harbor is more difficult
operation than running out, from the
fact that the enemy knows where
you are bound for: running out, if
we found the way blOckaded for
Bermuda we might sail for Nassau
in the Bahama islands or any other
harbOr, but, going in, the cruisers
were well informed that we must
make for Wilmington and that no
other port would do. The first two
days we took an indirect route, but
in what direction we cannot say, not
having watched the compass with
sufficient attention; the third day
we stood off and on till evening
keeping careful lookout from our
low build and grey color we could
sight any vessel on the horizon be-
fore it could descry us, and direct
our course accOrdingly-when the
shades of evening had reduced the
surrounding sea and sky to a uni
form grey tint corresponding to our
own we made straight for the mouth
of Cape Fear river, at brisk sail
ing rate, but by no means at the top
of our speed, for we might have to
change our course at any moment
presently our lookout man an
nounced a sail on our larboard quar-
ter nearer than she ought to haveap-
preached without being recognized,
perhaps on account ofsome mistiness
in the atmOsphere-Our smoke stack
had been lowered and the fire fed
with coke that it might make no
smoke and passengers and crew
peremptorily ordered to pass below
the level of the gunwhale, for NOV
ing bodies on board rendered our
ship much more liable to catch the
attention four pursuers; there were
two chances for us; first that her
crew might not see us, and secondly
that she might not be a Yankee
cruiser. 1t soon became manifest
from a change in her course thatshe
did see us and intended to intercept
our course.
When we first sighted her, she
changed it, nOtsO as tOmake directly
for us but so as to make for the same
point on the coast as we were bound
for, so that we were sailing on courses
converging to a point at an angle of
say 30 degrees.
There was no doubt of our being
able to keep out of range of her
guns if we changed our course so as
to sail directly away from her, but
there were two objections to doing
sO-it would increase the risk of
meeting with other cruisers, and she
would watch for us as we returned
to the spot where we wanted to
land, and so chase us under greater
advantage still. We kept the
straight course therefore, and the
reader is to suppose the two ships
both approaching the mouth of
Cape Fear river by converging
courses, the distance between them
rapidly narrowing as they approach
ed it-ifwe could get within half a
mile of the coast before we were