On the 28th of July an English schooner arrived in Table Bay, and
reported that on the previous day she had been boarded by the
Confederate steamer Alabama, fifteen miles north-west of Green Point.
After some inquiries the Alabama left her, steering south-east.
3. Upon the receipt of this intelligence I ordered Captain Forsyth, of
the Valorous, to hold himself in readiness to proceed to any of the
ports in this colony where the Alabama might anchor, in order to
preserve the rules of strict neutrality.
4. By a letter addressed to the Governor of this Colony by Captain
Semmes, copy of which was telegraphed to me on the 4th instant, it
appears that the Alabama had proceeded to Saldanha Bay for a few days,
anchoring there on the 29th of July.
5. On the 5th instant I received a private telegram to the effect that
the Alabama was off Table Bay, when I directed the Valorous immediately
to proceed to that anchorage; and shortly afterwards a telegram reached
me from the Governor stating "that the Alabama had captured a vessel
(American), which was in sight, and steering for Table Bay." The
Valorous reached that Bay at 10.15 P.M., where the Alabama had anchored
at 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day.
6. Captain Forsyth having informed me that the tender to the Alabama had
been ordered by Captain Semmes to Simon's Bay for provisions, and having
learned that this vessel had been captured off the coast of Brazil, and
not been condemned in any Prize Court, I had doubts as to the legality
of considering her in the light of a tender, being under the impression
that it was a ruse to disguise the real character of the vessel.
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