_Beginning the cruise--The first prize the Golden Rocket--The capture burnt--The Cuba and Machias--Cienfuegos--The Ben Dunning and Albert Adams--Three at once: the West Wind, the Naiad, and the Louisa Kilham--A fleet of prizes--Saluting the Confederate States' flag--At Cuba--Strict neutrality--A prize agent--The Governor-General of Cuba--Recapture by the United States--An accident to the commander--A gale--At Curacao--The Dutch Governor--An ex-president in difficulties--The Abby Bradford--Venezuela--An inhospitable port--The Joseph Maxwell--Military v.

naval--Sagacious skipper--Gulf of Bahia_.
The Sumter had now fairly commenced her gallant career.

The 1st July dawned bright and fair with, a light breeze from the south-west, and the little vessel sped through the water at an average speed of about eight knots an hour.

All that day not a sail appeared in sight.

Night settled down in all the calm splendour of the tropic seas, and nothing disturbed its serenity save the monotonous beating of the Sumter's propeller as she steered a south-easterly course down the Gulf of Mexico.