According to her statement, this latter
port was now suffering from a severe visitation of yellow-fever.
This intelligence caused an entire change in the Alabama's plans.
It had been Captain Semmes' intention to run into Kingston, and
endeavour, at all events, to obtain permission to discharge his
numerous prisoners; this being, apparently, the only way in
which he could hope to disencumber himself of them, except by
releasing the ship at the same time. To turn some seven hundred
prisoners, however, many of them delicate women and children,
adrift in a place known to be suffering from the fearful scourge of
yellow-fever, would have been an act of inhumanity of which the
Confederate captain was quite incapable. Sorely to his disappointment,
therefore, he felt himself compelled to abandon the Kingston
scheme, and forego the pleasure of making a bonfire of the
splendid steamer that had fallen into his hands. It is an ill wind
that blows nobody any good, and to the yellow-fever were the passengers
by the Ariel indebted for an uninterrupted voyage, and her
owners for the preservation of their valuable vessel.
The question once decided in favour of the Ariel's release, it was,
of course, under existing circumstances, an object of no small importance
to get the matter concluded as speedily as possible. Had
she only known her captor's crippled condition she would have
had nothing to do but just to have steamed quietly away, taking
the prize-crew with her as compensation for the inconvenience to
which she had been put by her detention.
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