ee a A i a AER Ra a IN. ee ag ee ey a en rene on er e- ee 466 Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer men, and Captain Lockwood at once determined to undertake the voyage in this frail craft, and overtake the Kate at Nassau. The boat was only sixteen feet long and not at all well found for such a perilous voyage. After a short delay, the captain, his brave wife, their two children, and a hired boy, found themselves safe over the bar and headed for the Bahamas. The following account of this remarkable voyage was written by Mrs. Lockwood, and has been kindly furnished by her brother, Mr. McDougal: “After the baggage was safe on board, I was carried in a man’s arms through the surf and placed in the boat, and we started over the sea in our frail little craft. A few yards from shore, we discovered that she was sinking, but turned back in time to reach the beach, to which I was again transferred just as the boat went down. With some difficulty she was recovered, when it was found that the plug had come out of the bottom while drawing the boat over the beach. We soon found a remedy for this trouble, and proceeded to cross the Gulf Stream. On the following morning, the wind blew a gale. The waves dashed high over us all day, while the wind increased in fury. For fifteen hours we waited and prayed, thinking that every moment would be our last. About five o’clock in the evening, we dis- covered a reef and steered along the rocks to find an opening, so that we might cross the line of breakers and get into calm water. Oakie told us to sit still and hold fast to the boat, as we must go over the rocks or sink. As each enormous wave came towards us it seemed to reach the sky and break over our frail eraft, deluging us with water. For several moments in succes- sion I would sit under these huge waves, holding on with one hand and clasping my baby with the other. Breaker after breaker burst over us, and at the same time lifted the boat farther and farther on to the rocks, until at last we were plunged ahead into the smooth water of the bay beyond. By some means, I cannot tell how, we reached one of the vessels lying at anchor, when they lifted us all on board and carried us into the cabin. We could not walk for cold and cramp. On Sunday, the 23d, the schooner upon which we had taken refuge sailed for Nassau, and on Monday we landed on Elbow Cay, one of the Bahama Islands, the wind not being favorable for us to continue farther that day. On the 25th, with a fair wind, we again proceeded towards Nassau, and arrived on Wednesday, after being three weeks on the journey from Charleston.” Blockade Running 467 Mr. McDougal adds in his journal, that he was then chief engineer of the steamer Kate, of 500 tons, in the Gulf Stream, about 150 miles from where Captain Lockwood was eruising 10 the little boat; and that the gale was so severe that this large vessel was obliged to lie to, and suffered considerable damage in consequence of the severity of the storm, and that 1t seems a miracle that a small boat like Captain Lockwood’s should have lived through such a fearful gale. Tue Britisu Fae. A majority of the blockade runners bore British certificates of registry and sailed under the British flag because they were owned and manned by British subjects, and traded with British ports. This did not save them from capture and condemnation if caught with contraband cargoes between Nassau or Bermuda and the coast of the Southern States, whether they attempted to break the blockade or not. But if they were bound from a British port, say Nassau or Bermuda, to a home port 1n Great Britain, loaded with cotton, they would be protected from cap- ture by their flag and register and their manifest of British own- ership; or, if they were bound from Great Britain to Nassau or Bermuda with arms or war supplies and certified British owner- ship, although ultimately intending to run the blockade, their papers would protect them from molestation by the Federal cruisers. Not so with those under the Confederate flag, which were liable to capture whenever found on the high seas. When the War between the States began Mr. Donald Mackae was British vice consul at Wilmington. He resigned, however, and Mr. Alexander Sprunt was appointed by Consul Henry Pinckney Walker at Charleston to act in his place; but the func- tion was suspended by General Whiting because there were no diplomatic relations between the foreign powers and the Con- federacy, Great Britain having only recognized our belligerent rights. It is remarkable that during the entire war the British flag was the only foreign colors flown in the ports of the Confederacy.