25 deg. 57' South, and in long. 38 deg. 20' West, the Fortuna ran up within
forty yards of a large vessel of 800 or 1000 tons, which was enveloped
in one mass of flame from stem to stern. Nothing remained of her but her
hull; the whole of her rigging, masts, and decks had already been
consumed. As the Fortuna ran towards the wreck, another vessel--the
Oaks--bound to Calcutta, joined her, and the two vessels spoke one
another. From what Captain Bartlett could make out, the captain of the
Oaks told him that in the evening, about half-past six, an English
man-of-war had passed him, and whilst passing she fired two guns, from
which it was concluded that the crew of the burning vessel had been
rescued by the man-of-war." Captain Semmes said Captain Bartlett was
quite right in supposing that the ship had been set on fire by himself.
She was the Annie F. Schmidt, from New York to San Francisco, with a
general cargo on board; but the supposition of the man-of-war coming to
the rescue of the crew was a mistake. "We set her on fire in the night,"
said Captain Semmes, "and shortly after we had done so, we heard a
couple of guns. We thought it was another Yankee, and we up steam and
fired a gun for her to heave-to. On coming alongside her, we found she
was Her Majesty's frigate Dido. 'We did not take her, sir,' said the
captain, with a laugh; 'in fact, we never attempt to take any of Her
Majesty's frigates.
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