There was nothing like brag in their manner of
answering questions put to them. They are as fine and gentlemanly a set
of fellows as ever we saw; most of them young men. The ship has been so
frequently described, that most people know what she is like, as we do
who have seen her. We should have known her to be the Alabama if we had
boarded her in the midst of the ocean, with no one to introduce us to
each other. Her guns alone are worth going off to see, and everything
about her speaks highly for the seamanship and discipline of the
commander and his officers. She has a very large crew, fine,
lithe-looking fellows, the very picture of English men-of-war's men.
The second officer told us that it was the Sea Bride they had captured,
and pointed out her captain, who stood aft conversing with a number of
people who had gathered round him. "This, sir," said the officer, "is
our fifty-sixth capture; we have sent her off with about ten of our men
as a crew, and we left a few of her own men on board of her." We asked
him how he liked Saldanha Bay, and his answer was, "It is a very
charming place. Why did you not build Cape Town there?" Our answer was,
"Because we never do anything properly at the Cape." "Ah, sir!" he said;
"that is a great mistake to leave so fine a bay without harbor
conveniences. It is a great deal better than Table Bay. We enjoyed
ourselves capitally there, had some good shooting; one of us shot an
ostrich, a fine fellow, but he got away.
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