He said he thought it was the Sumter, and wanted to be on the safe side.

The whole scene between the officer and the captain of the Joseph Park was ludicrous in the extreme.

The answers to questions with that Yankee nasal twang and Yankee cunning, the officer seeing through it and enjoying it all the while, made many jokes in our mess afterwards."] This done, the crew were transferred to the captain's vessel, and a prize crew passed on board of the Joseph Park, with instructions to keep within sight of the Sumter, and signal her immediately on perceiving any suspicious sail.

So the two cruised for some days in company, the Joseph Park keeping to windward during the day, and at night running down under cover of the Sumter's guns.

This capture was none the less welcome for the news she brought in a file of recent papers from Pernambuco, of the first victory of the South at Manassas, or Bull Run, as well as of the successes achieved in Missouri over the troops of General Lyon.