n the shore near the lighthouse and firing
signal guns. Very soon we saw two or three boats put out to her
assistance. In the morning we heard that it was a Brazilian brig, and
that the crew was saved. The brig is fast breaking up in the gale.

CHAPTER XXXI.

_Wrecked!--A narrow escape--Respect for neutral waters--The Martha
Wenzell--At the Cape--Dense fogs--Heavy weather--"Are you a vessel of
war?"---Firmness and obstinacy--Simon's Town--Misrepresentations--A
little rest--Land-sharks--A night scene--To the Indian Ocean--The barque
Amanda._

_Saturday, August 8th,_ 1863.--The gale broke last night, but there is
still some breeze blowing, and the sea is quite rough. Last night a
Bremen brig was wrecked off Point Monille. We heard her firing guns, and
I feared at first it was our prize; and yet I could not conceive how my
Prizemaster, who was acquainted with the soundings, could have made such
a mistake. The weather has checked the throng of visitors, and yet a few
get off to us, asking for autographs, and looking curiously at the ship.
We are finishing our repairs, and getting supplies on board. Our prize
has not made her appearance to-day. She will rendezvous at Saldanha Bay
on the 15th inst.

_Sunday, August 9th,_ 1863.--Weather has again become fine. At 6 A.M.
precisely, we moved out of the bay, and steamed along the coast towards
the Cape. We gave chase to two sail off the mouth of False Bay, and
overhauling them, one proved to be an English, and the other an American
barque. The latter we boarded; but when I came to get bearings and plot
my position, it unfortunately turned out that I was within a mile, or a
mile and a quarter, of a line drawn from the Cape Lighthouse to the
opposite headland of the bay, and therefore within the prescribed limit
of jurisdiction. The master of the barque, in the meantime, having come
on board, I informed him of those facts, and told him to return to, and
take possession of his ship, as I had no authority to exercise any
control over him; which he did, and in a few minutes more, we were under
steam standing up the bay. What a scene for the grim old Cape to look
down upon. The vessel boarded was the Martha Wenzell, of Boston, from
Akyab for Falmouth. At 2 P.M. anchored in Simon's Bay, and was boarded
by a Lieutenant from the flag-ship of Admiral Walker.

_Monday, August 10th._--Weather fine. I called on Admiral Walker at his
residence, and was presented by him to his famil