The Confederate hoisted the United States flag, and announced herself by an assumed name.

The barque replied that she was the William Edward, from Bahia, for Liverpool.
After some further communication, which convinced the Alabama that the barque was English, the cruiser announced her real name, and permitted the William Edward to proceed on her course.

At nightfall another ship was chased, which, upon being brought to, also proved to be English, the Nile, bound from Akyab to London.

The master of this vessel informed the boarding-officer that a United States man-of-war, supposed to be the Ino, was in the South Atlantic, in eager search of the Alabama! At daybreak, on the 2d March, a sail was made out through the hazy atmosphere, slowly steering towards the cruiser.

Patiently the Confederate waited, as the light wind from the south bore the stranger towards them; their patience, too, was rewarded, for at 6 A.M., a boarding-officer stepped on board the ship John S.Parks, of Hallowall, Maine.