Mr. Perry to Mr.
Seward
No. 93.]
Legation of the United States,
Madrid,
July 5, 1863.
Sir: Your attention will have been arrested by
the description given by our consul at Teneriffe of a suspicious new and
very swift steamer, which called at that port on the 10th and 11th of
last month, and took one hundred tons of coals. She was called the
Keang-Soo, and bore the Chinese flag, pretending to be a Chinese
man-of-war; carried six guns and one hundred and ten men, all
Englishmen; had just sailed from the Clyde, and was to be followed, as
her officers announced, by other sister ships destined to the same
service, and which would also call at Teneriffe for coals.
[Page 980]
I enclose for your perusal the copy of a letter I have just addressed to
Mr. Adams on this subject.
Is there not a fleet of English-built and English-manned steamers
collecting in some distant sea, to be transferred openly hereafter to
the service of our rebels?
You will perhaps be able to confirm or reject this suspicion by
additional information received from other quarters, but I beg you to
aid me and guide my action by your instructions.
I confess that, as the facts appear here at present, I should feel very
much tempted to advise any commander of a sufficient naval force in our
service to overhaul one of these Chinese
men-of-war, or all of them, and take them into port, if his examination
of their character should not prove completely satisfactory.
I should feel confident that any question with his Imperial Majesty the
Emperor of China, resulting from a mistake in the detention of these
vessels, armed and manned in England, would not be beyond your power to
arrange satisfactorily after the mistake (if any were made) should be
corrected. But there is no naval force now near me fit for such
service.
I lack not merely the advantage of your instructions, and the
considerations of your better judgment to decide such a point as this,
but the material means for any efficient action are completely
wanting.
The President will probably have already taken such action as the
government may have deemed adequate upon receipt of the letter of the
consul at Teneriffe, which he informs me he addressed to you on or about
the 14th of last month.
With sentiments of the highest respect, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State,
Washington.
Mr. Perry to Mr. Adams
Legation of the United
States, Madrid,
July 5, 1863.
Sir: I have received information from the
consul of the United States at Teneriffe (Canary islands) to the
effect that a very suspicious craft called the Keang-Soo, bearing
the Chinese flag and pennant, and purporting to be a Chinese
man-of-war, was at that port on the 10th and 11th of June, on her
way from the Clyde to China, as she said. She was officered and
manned by Englishmen, carried six guns, with a crew of one hundred
and ten seamen, and was an exceedingly swift craft. The consul
believes her to be a new confederate cruiser, and that, he reports,
was the general opinion in the island.
The ship having no bill of health, and her flag being unknown to the
local authorities, she was not admitted to pratique, but took one
hundred tons of coals in quarantine and proceeded on her voyage.
Her officers said at Teneriffe that more vessels under the same flag
were now fitting out in England, and would also call at Teneriffe
for coals. The consul wrote immediately to the government at
Washington, and I hasten to put this matter in your knowledge for
such effect as you may think proper to give it in England.
Would it not be well to advise the captain of some one of our
national vessels to proceed to the Canary islands, in the hope of
overhauling one of these crafts?
I have no ship for this service near me; an old sailing sloop at
Cadiz is the [Page 981] only
man-of-war in Spanish ports. Perhaps you may know of a steam sloop
or gunboat near your legation. Perhaps you may know also that these
crafts are really intended for service in China, where, I am told,
our English friends do not see two belligerents, but only a
legitimate government and a rebellion, which it is quite proper for
them to aid in suppressing.
Whether Chinese or confederate, will not these ships be transferred
to the rebel service in the eastern seas? Is there not a fleet of
them collecting in those distant seas, either to destroy our
commerce or to come back in force upon our unprotected Pacific
coast, or even to undertake some bold enterprise in the Atlantic
ports, or in the gulf of Mexico?
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
His Excellency Charles F. Adams, &c.,
&c., London.
