new year--In memoriam--To sea again_.

The exciting episode of the Ariel was followed by a period altogether
devoid of incident, though by no means destitute either
of interest or anxiety for those on board the Alabama. From
daybreak to dusk the click of the hammer, and the shrill screaming
of the file, arose incessantly from the engine room, as the
engineer and his staff laboured without a pause to repair the
damage to the machinery. The task proved even longer than
had been anticipated, and it was not until the afternoon of the
third day that the mischief had been finally remedied, and the
Alabama was pronounced in a condition to resume with safety her
destructive career.

Meanwhile, a brighter look-out than ever was kept from her mastheads.
There was still a possibility--though but a slight one--of
falling in with the homeward-bound Californian, for which they
had been waiting so long and so anxiously; whilst it was more
than ever necessary to care against surprise from any of the
enemy's cruisers, who might fairly be expected to be in considerable
force somewhere in the neighbourhood.

The northern shores of Jamaica, however, off which the Alabama
was now lying, standing along the coast, under easy sail
during the day, and at night laying her maintopsail to the mast,
appeared to be but little frequented by vessels of any kind, and
the cruiser was permitted to carry on her repairs without a single
interruption in the way of either a chase, or a call to quarters.
And it was perhaps as well that such an interval of rest should
have been afforded after the severe strain of the previous few
days. For Captain Semmes, at all events, it was a great boon,
for on that officer's never very robust constitution, the continued
anxiety and constant night-calls on deck, in wind and rain, had
had a very serious effect, and he was fairly laid up with cold and
fever.

The evening of Friday, December the 12th, saw the repairs of
the machinery of the vessel completed, the Alabama being at,
nightfall about opposite to the little town of St. Anne's. That
evening the crew were exercised at quarters; and the next day,
after a thorough cleaning of the decks, &c., the vessel ran away
to the westward of the Island of Jamaica, _en route_ for another
point of rendezvous, at which to take in fresh coal, and other
needful supplies.

* * * * *

_Saturday, December 13th._--... Nothing in sight, and
I int