| Show THE FLORIDA AND it frit effit tt THE or A A correspondent of the london times time ailt ili writing a francea Fran ceu cej an account of ili iii his bis a vi the confederate steamer florida fiori Flori Ui she was cing at brest forar eairs is not without interest i oi 1 1 I found round eoe boe 0 in e odthe 1 i e officers of the florida Ft orida at the homede Ilot Ho tede elde nantes rue dai dAf guillon L nora hoole a young man who ho apparently lel let not ber than three and arid twety years yearb ears earb received us and ind gave ua us its bis his card to assure vs us da dima atma ision ms son don donon ion on board lie he stated bated ho however wirer wiver that bis his superior officer capt was wag t generally ene rally raily to be found on loard bo i arl Ns bs vesel vessel veasel arid and would be glad to see us courtesy and total absence of manifested by this young officer im pissed p id us mor most bably all the next day a gale pale of wind in inthe the rade hade radeana Ra and we oad not find a boatle venture out to dav day vever the weather was propitious and nu yearly Z morning ruing found ua alongside the tb e florida yve I ve sent or o r cards cida to capt and were ivere 1 I n kil kiv abely admitted on board the captain 1 lihr lihn g to thae 1 he top of tuf campani cem pani nto n to twelve TW az eive ive lve us directly capt maffat maffit understood we were Bri Britis tusi lisi li euba subjects c its he invited us evelow into bs big little cabin and when 1 told hint hial hat here were mally many people in england awo rega lega ded his career with great inte cst est we h reentered cratered erit crit ered very freely into a recital cf of his adien adventures tures I 1 will here subjoin a copy of amp no es which 0 C pt dia bla maffit flit fild subs subsequently ique antly handed td to me relative to the career career of the Flori fiori florida day dat at the aaroe same time a con can 1 hatlon which has lias not yet arrived they follows 8 tile the confederate erate frate states sat Florl fiori florida di r commander J N alam maffit mir fir this steamer was buelt but lt jn liverpool and nd bedl alint to nassau in kaip apil 1863 oras ovas pla pia in the admiralty court cleared on the gih of august when wuen her pe present ie rit commander took charge with IS 18 men went to sea m in mt t her tender ana and teotil guns etc on the oth of august the yellow fever appeared on all board and captain mallit maffit bai hai dio tio perform surg onys ons d ty until necessity fo rived the vessel into luto Car ducas there bhe she 0 lom ica o nearly all tier crew her ner paymaster and 31 J engil engla engineer neer abe ran thi the blockade of havana jn ih and out and on ath of september ap kp blared p dare etre doff oft mobile the entire blockading F e V put after afier her capt mamaat maffit via vla wa vis brought t tl up from a bed of sickness yellow fever to take her bir in for two hours and 43 minutes hir bliwas she ahe Bh iwas wab was under a close fire all the crew 1 were 3 bent sent below and aria the officers ony re Amal amai mai dalhed mal hed fied on deck for she had but 11 men on duy lind and her guns puns were not furnished with V ra era ere I 1 qu quoins quillis ollis neds beds or sights in fact she was a most helpless hel bel pleis three heavy shots 1 struck etrick her hull bull one shell struck her amid and pass pasa d through gb ki ing one man aej and wo oun undina ding seven seven reven liet her standing rigging r was avas shot ot away and some 1500 ahral eh ranel rauel nel shot X hull huls and masts so far the notes which capt aati maffit at has as all vet M found time to send me of the captain himself ma if I 1 may say sity that he is ii a slight t middle niddie sized bided gizey well weli khit knit man ruan of about 42 a merry looking man roan with a ready determined air buot i IILO ot f life ilfe ani ani business busi buti nass there ire are are able 14 sea bea Be amno men 0 w board the florada fiori Flori daanA and about 13 acers 0 cin fai cers four fine fellows are roni from the juelg n of brest capt maffit MIMI bays says that he flab fias hardly hanhy ever taken a prize but cna lna tua some rome some tome of the tul e crew of the prize have hair e come forward to say should like to serve with you sir I ene rilly speaking he has to defuse bub but if he sees tees a very likely fellow he be CW tikes s nim him on clil call cart M mafit mait amit was a lieutenant i 11 afu abille ofu e united states navy before the outbreak anulf that capacity distinguished himself in 1858 he be t commanded the brig i y 1961 dolphin p hin when he captured the slaver echo with alth slaves on board boards and took her into charleston for this thit his feat his health was dranka aranki at a c dinner at liverpool and it me Is Acuri acerios olti tact fact for those who maintain that i 16 afie civil war in am ain rica ricans is founded upon the aillo blay question tl g tion that the comm commander anler anier of this 4 I 1 important I 1 t confederate cruiser should be the ery r y man who hs distinguished himself acutely ly against tie tle tt e slave trade in 1859 bajt C ift biffi commanded the united states and capla r ed four tour clavers slavers sl avers the only broadside bich which the F florida has fir edir ahrer was against the errs Erks ton gon an armed which 4 he e some 10 Bome so marj aari Omilea miles from new york the erics son bon a tery ayery very large vessel ma not reply bat f made nade ibi th beitat her way off aia ala and aid succeeded ded in csc ipina when they ventured within 4 40 toles moles k to les ies tes of new hel het lid aid not know k now mat the arrival of the tacony one a oue a olf olt rf thele their abid whid ahadi put puttie he new now yorkers ol 01 u their pua gua d and they boon soon found hat hav that bat there V were ere about 70 armed vessels out for them then and BO go c were glad to retreat we ve nevera seek a f yh tt said Captain Maffit and wow won taint aard ilerd one you see aee we have haave only two vessels ai n sia sll J t so we should stand a poor chance our object is m merely to destroy their so ag as to bring bling about a peace ve we have heave taken altogether 72 prize prizes 8 and the value at about JO nse jacob ejacobs bell besl alone was waa finith captain exhibited a book in which all v ta the e irlea pries were regularly entered and all par tic ulars rela reia rel rei relating atins tinK thereto i ile he explained that mode of ironed iro ced ure re was to burn and destroy the property oe of the northern North ern state wt wherever trever they found it I 1 asked if it they took gola gold and ani precious articles and the thi reply walls wallo wa pretty kutck when we got get thara them the paper of the burnt paes paek are all ail alke aike kept keet gt and a i valuation is made maide before the of the vess vessels elsin in the expectation e that when peace pace Is restored the confederate government will make an appropriation of money equivalent to the claims of the captol cap tois a in inconsequence consequence of this arrangement there is very little actual treasure on board the florida and the officers and crew are working mainly on the faith of the future independence ani and solvency y of the th confederacy any way 11 said capt mafut we have cost the government very little for weve lived on the enemy oa on yes weve served them out beautifully in reply to some ques cues io a aa as to the of capture the captain said taid we only make war with the united states government and we w les tes hect little property we treat pris 11 boners of war with the greatest respect most of those whom we have captured have spoken well of us to be sure we have met with bon son e ungrateful grat ful tul rab ras rascals rals pals but meet with thode all thol th world over when the florida came into brest break she bhe had bad been at sea for eight months without spending teore TO ore oie than four entire days in port part bel bed ic te entering the port ot of brest she bad diot riot been more than 24 hours in any one port although she bhe had bail visited nassau bermuda bernam buco and antl sierra brazil yes indeed sir siri said the captain days upon solid junk without repairs or provision during all this time they have omy lost 15 men including inc including ludin iudin those who were killed and wounded at mobile obile the pay paymaster master waster aho who died of consumption and one officer mho who ho was aroas drowsed dro wred wied ed they have come into B est eat to repair the engines which are somewhat out of order the shaft being quite out of line the emperor has given orders that the florida is to be admitted into the port ort for all her necessary repairs and she is to be led with with everything she may require except munitions of war captain maffit mafit showed us over his hia ship which was wa in pretty good order consid confide con considering aide side eing ing the eight months almost uninterrupted cruise and iund he be presented us both with a photographic picture of her which was taken at bermuda ahe rhe clorida mounts only eight guns ix 48 of the blareley bia Bla leley pattern unade le at low moor end stern and bow chasers on taking m our leave I 1 asked capt maent whether lie expected expect fd to be intercepted on leaving brest pointing at t the same time lime to the goulet the narrow passage h b affords the only and egress to and frim fr trim im m the rade rde well replied be 1 if I expect there will be seven or eight of them out there before long iong but im not afraid ive run eight blockades already an ant go har db vii ill lil run the ninth I 1 |
