he 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. I
therefore wrote to the Governor to obtain the opinion of the
Attorney-General of the Colony upon this subject, which correspondence
is inclosed.

7. On the 8th of August the tender Tuscaloosa, a sailing barque, arrived
in Simon's Bay, and the boarding officer having reported to me that her
original cargo of wool was still on board, I felt that there were
grounds for doubting her real character, and again called the Governor's
attention to this circumstance. My letter and his reply are annexed. And
I would here beg to submit to their Lordships' notice that this power of
a captain of a ship of war to constitute every prize he may take a
"tender," appears to me to be likely to lead to abuse and evasion of the
laws of strict neutrality, by being used as a means for bringing prizes
into neutral ports for disposal of their cargoes, and secret
arrangements--which arrangements, it must be seen, could afterwards be
easily carried out at isolated places.

8. The Alabama, after lying three days in Table Bay, came to this
anchorage to caulk and refit. She arrived here on the 9th, and sailed
again on the 15th instant. Captain Semmes was guarded in his conduct,
and expressed himself as most anxious not to violate the neutrality of
these waters.

9. I should observe that, from the inclosed copy of a letter from
Captain Forsyth to the Governor, it would appear that the vessel Sea
Bride, taken by the Alabama off Table Bay, was beyond the jurisdiction
of neutral territory.

10. During his passage to this port Captain Semmes chased another
American vessel, the Martha Wentzel, standing in for Table Bay. On my
pointing out to him that he had done so in neutral waters, he assured me
that it was quite unintentional, and, being at a distance from the land,
he did not observe that he had got within three miles of an imaginary
line drawn from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Hanglip, but on
discovering it he did not detain the vessel. The explanation I
considered sufficient.

11. The tender Tuscaloosa, having been detained by a strong
south-easter, got under way for the purpose