and you will not permit anything to be removed from, or disturbed on board of them.
You will be pleased, also, to take the examinations of the master, and mate of each of these vessels, before a notary, touching the property of the vessels, and cargoes; and making a copy thereof, to be retained in your own possession, you will send, by some safe conveyance, the originals, addressed to The Judge of the Confederate States District Court, New Orleans, La.
I have the honor to be, &c., Raphael Semmes. Señor Don Mariano Dias.
During the day, the steam-tug towed down from the town, for me, a couple of lighters, containing about one hundred tons of coal, five thousand gallons of water, and some fresh provisions for the crew.
It was necessary that we should prepare for sea, with some dispatch, as there was a line of telegraph, from Cienfuegos to Havana, where there were always a number of the enemy's ships of war stationed.
As a matter of course, the U. S. Consul at Cienfuegos h