It does not appear what has become of the Niagara and of the
Sacramento.
Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Dabney to Mr. Adams
United States Consulate,
Tenerife,
April 2, 1862.
Sir: Being unable to communicate with Mr.
Perry, at Madrid, I take the liberty of bringing to your knowledge
that the confederate ram Stonewall, Commander Page, arrived at this
port on the 31st of March, at 6 p. m., in three days from
Lisbon.
She was allowed to remain here only twenty-four hours, during which
time she took in 130 tons of coal, and sailed again on the 1st, at 6
p. m. Where she has gone it is impossible to say; but the general
opinion; gathered from her officers, is, that Bermuda will be her
next port, whence she intends a sudden descent somewhere on our
coast.
At the risk of repeating what must be well known, I would say that
she is a most formidable vessel, plated with 6-inch iron, and with
an enormous ram extending from her bow twenty-one feet. She has a
casemated forecastle, containing a 300-pounder Armstrong gun, and
abaft her mainmast she has a fixed turret containing two 70-pounder
Armstrong guns, and which is shot-proof.
She is 500 tons, 300 horse-power, and has a crew, all told, of
eighty-five men. She is brig rigged, with one funnel, and has no
bowsprit. She must depend much upon her sails, as her spars are very
heavy, and she can only store one hundred and fifty tons of coals,
and uses thirty tons a day when steaming alone.
She steams rapidly, but rolls very much, which must interfere very
much with the management of her guns in a seaway.
I remain, sir, respectfully your obedient servant,
Hon. Charles Francis Adams,
United States Minister at London.
