THE CIVIL WAR 233 



merit on board the Alabama. Captain Tilton was ordered into 

 the lee waist with his crew and all were put in irons. He and 

 his men had an old sail over them and a few planks to lie on ; and 

 as the Alabama's guns were kept run out, water came in through 

 the open ports during rough weather and washed across the 

 deck, where the prisoners were forced to remain under guard, 

 day and night, regardless of their drenchings. All this Cap- 

 tain Gifford corroborated, as having likewise befallen himself 

 and his men. 



In reply Semmes said that the staements were entirely true, 

 but that the prisoners were not wet all the time. He kept them 

 on deck because he had no other place for them; he gave them a 

 tent made of spare sails and laid gratings on deck to keep them 

 as dry as possible : he put them in irons because the enemy had 

 put one of Semmes's own officers in irons. It was a game of 

 "give and take'' in which the whalemen had to do considerable 

 *' taking" with no chances at all to do any ''giving." 



When the whaling season off the Azores ended, Semmes sailed 

 for the Banks of Newfoundland and the coast of North America. 



On November 2d, having captured various merchantmen, 

 and having stood south across the Gulf Stream, Semmes, some- 

 what to his own surprise, for he was not expecting it, captured 

 the Levi Starbuck of New Bedford, outward bound on a whaling 

 voyage, to the Pacific Ocean, took such supplies from her as he 

 needed, and left her in flames. On March 23, 1863, he cap- 

 tured and burned the whaling schooner Kingfisher of Fair- 

 haven. 



Not until April 15th did the Alabama encounter another 

 whaler. Having been lying for five days at the Brazilian 

 penal colony on Fernando de Noronha she had just finished 

 coaling when two whalers, appearing off the port, hove to and 

 lowered boats which pulled into the harbour. 



In the boats were the captains of the two whalers, who had 

 come to trade for supplies. They brought up alongside a prize 

 that Semmes had taken into port, the Louisa Hatch, for they 

 had recognized her as American built; and accosting the prize- 

 master, they asked what vessel the Alabama was. 



