The 2nd October was a real ugly-looking day, with dense black clouds and a Newfoundland north-easter blowing freshly.

No observation was to be had, the thick clouds altogether shutting out the sun, and the ship being in the current of the Gulf Stream, the most she could do was to guess at her position within some thirty or forty miles.
On the 3rd the weather moderated, and fortune again smiled upon the Alabama.

The morning watch was not yet over when two sails were descried, the one ahead, the other on the lee bow, each of which in its turn was overhauled and captured; the one proving to be the Emily Farnum, from New York for Liverpool; the other, the Brilliant, from the same port for London, with a valuable cargo of grain and flour.
The cargo of the Emily Farnum being neutral property, the vessel was released as a cartel, the prisoners from the Brilliant being transferred to her, as also those already on board from the other prizes, a change, as may well be imagined, sufficiently acceptable to those unfortunate beings who had now been exposed for nearly three weeks to all the vicissitudes of an autumn in the North Atlantic.

This done, the Emily Farnum was permitted to proceed upon her way.

The Brilliant was then stripped of everything that could be of use to her captors, set on fire, and left to her fate.[8] From the papers taken on board of this vessel the crew of the Alabama learned the good news of the Confederate victories in Virginia, and also of the successful run of the screw-steamer Florida into a Confederate port.