In this way, said the Case of the United

The Port of Nassau. States, blockade runners, beginning with the steamer Bermuda, were sent out by the Confederate agents. The difficulties, however, which the Bermuda encountered in running the blockade led to the establishment by the insurgents of a set of agents in the British West Indies. Purchases made in England were sent to Nassau in British bottoms and were there transshipped into steamers of light draft and great speed, constructed for the purpose, which could carry coal enough for the short passage from Nassau to Charleston, Savannah, or Wilmington. Mr. Lewis Heyliger, of New Orleans, went to Nassau and remained there as the agent and representative of the insurgents during the rebellion. He obtained from the colonial authorities a modification of the existing laws, so as to allow the privilege of breaking bulk and of transshipment. This modification was all the insurgents wanted. It converted the port of Nassau into an insurgent port, which could not be blockaded by the naval forces of the United States. The Case of the United States asked the tribunal to find that this act was a violation of the duties of a neutral.

Not long afterward Earl Russell informed the lords commissioners of the admiralty that, during the continuance of the pending hostilities, no ship of war or privateer belonging to either of the belligerents should be permitted to enter or remain in Nassau or any other port or in the waters of the Bahama Islands, except by special leave of the lieutenantgovernor or in case of stress of weather. Under this "unfriendly order" vessels of war of the United States were, said the Case of the United States, excluded from those waters, while they were open to vessels of the insurgents, owned by the authorities at Richmond, and bringing their cotton to be transshipped into British bottoms to Frazer, Trenholm & Co., in Liverpool, and in turn taking on board the cargoes of arms and munitions of war which had been dispatched thither from Liverpool. At the very time these things were going on, the colonial secretary at Nassau declined to permit coal to be landed there for the Government of the United States, except on condition that it should not be reshipped or otherwise used in any manner which might, in the opinion of the law authorities of the colony, involve a breach of the neutrality proclamation of the 13th of May 1861; and particularly that it should not be used for the purpose of coaling or affording facilities for coaling the vessels of war of

the United States during the continuance of hostilities. The sincerity of the colonial authorities might, said the Case of the United States, be estimated by the fact (1) that, although the Queen's proclamation inhibited Her Majesty's subjects from breaking or endeavoring to break a lawful blockade, yet those authorities, in order to prevent vessels engaged in that business from being intercepted, permitted the cargoes to be transshipped for that very purpose; (2) that they also, in opposition to that proclamation, facilitated shipments of contraband; and (3) that, although the proclamation did not mention coal, and although coal was not regarded by Her Majesty's government as an article necessarily contraband of war, yet the Government of the United States was forbidden by the colonial authorities to deposit its coal at Nassau, except on condition that it would not be used. The attention of Earl Russell was called by Mr. Adams to the use which the insurgents were making of the port of Nassau as a depot of supplies, and his lordship replied that he had received "a report from the receiver-general of the port of Nassau stating that no warlike stores" had "been received at that port," and that "no munitions of war" had "been shipped from thence to the Confederate States." The failure of Her Majesty's government to ascertain facts which were all within its reach, after Mr. Adams had called attention to them, was, said the Case, a neglect of the diligence which was "due" from Great Britain to the United States, and tainted all the subsequent conduct of Great Britain toward the United States during the struggle. The instructions issued from the foreign office, prescribing the amount of hospitalities to be extended to the belligerents, were summarized in the Case of the United States as follows:

Hospitalities to the
Confederates.

"1. No ship of war or privateer of either belligerent was to be permitted to enter any port, roadstead, or water in the Bahamas except by special leave of the lieutenant-governor, or in case of stress of weather; and in case such permission should be given, the vessel was nevertheless to be required to go to sea as soon as possible, and with no supplies except such as might be necessary for immediate use.

2. No ship of war or privateer of either belligerent was to be permitted to use British ports or waters as a station or place of resort for any warlike purpose, or for the purpose of obtaining any facilities of warlike equipment.

"3. Such ships or privateers entering British waters were to be required to depart within twenty-four hours after entrance, except in case of stress of weather, or requiring provisions or

things for the crew or repairs; in which cases they were to go to sea as soon as possible after the expiration of the twentyfour hours, taking only the supplies necessary for immediate use; they were not to remain in port more than twenty-four hours after the completion of necessary repairs.

"4. Supplies to such ships or privateers were to be limited to what might be necessary for the subsistence of the crew, and to enough coal to take the vessel to the nearest port of its own country or to some nearer destination; and a vessel that had been supplied with coal in British waters could not be again supplied with it within British jurisdiction until after the expiration of three months from the date of the last supply taken from a British port."

Almost simultaneously, said the American Case, with the announcement by Earl Russell of an imaginary condition of affairs at Nassau, Lord Palmerston stated to Mr. Adams that "it would not do for the United States ships of war to harass British commerce on the high seas under pretense of preventing the Confederates from receiving things that are contraband of war." Thus, in reply to the complaint of the United States that the insurgents were making illegal use of the port of Nassau, the British Government, through Earl Russell and Lord Palmerston, excluded United States vessels from that port, where the truth of the allegations could best be examined, and warned the United States not to attempt to prove them by examining too closely, on the high seas, the vessels which sailed under the British flag. When the transactions at Nassau had become so notorious that they became "dangerous," the base of operations was shifted to Bermuda.

Toleration of Bul

Having traced the proceedings of the treas lock's Transactions. ury and war department agencies established by the insurgents in Great Britain during the years 1861-1862, the Case of the United States proceeded to trace the transactions of the naval agencies under the direc tion of Bullock. Bullock established himself in Liverpool in the summer of 1861, and on the 9th of October in that year the drawings of the Alabama were signed by the Lairds, who built her. A contract was also made about that time for the construction of the Florida, which prior to her departure from British jurisdiction was known as the Oreto. Early in February 1862 she began to take in coal; her gun carriages were soon taken on board, in pieces, some in a rough state, and were put in the hold, and a day or two later she received her provisions. When she sailed she took a crew of 52 men and some guns, and was in every respect a man-of-war, except that her

armament was not in place. In this condition she was consigned by Bullock to Heyliger, at Nassau. Mr. Adams twice called the attention of Earl Russell to the character and destination of the vessel, and Her Majesty's government had ample time to ascertain her character and detain her.

The Alabama was a larger vessel, and the work on her pro- gressed more slowly. She was launched on the 15th of May 1862, and her trial trip was made on the 12th of June. The money for her was advanced by Frazer, Trenholm & Co. Captain Bullock went on board of her almost daily, and it was even said in Liverpool that he was to command her. Mr. Adams repeatedly called the attention of Earl Russel to what was going on. "The evidence of the criminal character of the vessel became so overwhelming that Her Majesty's government was at length induced to give an order for her detention. Before the order reached Liverpool she had escaped. She ran down to Moelfra Bay, on the coast of the Island of Anglesey, and there took on board twenty or thirty men from the tug Hercules, with the knowledge of the British officials at Liverpool. She then sailed to the Azores, where she was met by the Agrippina from London and the Bahama from Liverpool. These vessels brought her officers, her armaments, and her coal. The transshipments were made, and then the British ensign was hauled down and the insurgent flag hoisted." In the discussion that ensued Lord Russell admitted that it was "undoubtedly true that the Alabama was partly fitted out in a British port."

The operations of Bullock were also manifest in other quarters of the globe. Early in 1862 the insurgent steamer Sumter was permitted to be sold at Gibraltar, against the protest of the United States officials, under "a power of attorney from a certain Bullock, who styles himself senior naval officer in Europe." On August 21, 1862, Mr. Mallory, the Confederate secretary of the navy, wrote to Mr. Jefferson Davis that a contract had been made "for the construction abroad and delivery of six iron-clad steam vessels of war, at an estimated cost of. about $3,500,000."

On January 19, 1863, Mr. Seward transmitted to Mr. Adams "a copy of some treasonable correspondence of the insurgents at Richmond with their agents abroad," which, said Mr. Seward, threw "a flood of light upon the naval preparation they are making in Great Britain." On the 9th of February these papers were communicated by Mr. Adams to Earl Russell, with