CASE OF THE WINGED RACER.

Ship under United States colours and register, and no claim of the neutrality of the cargo among the papers; ship bound to New York.  Ship and cargo condemned.

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Wednesday, November 11th.—­Made the North Watcher soon after daylight, and finding that if I continued on at the same speed, I should be up with Gasper Strait early in the night, and should be obliged to anchor until daylight, I ordered the steam to be let down, and we were about making arrangements for getting up the propeller, when a sail was descried on the port bow, close hauled on the starboard tack.  She soon proved to be a rakish-looking ship, evidently United States.  Kept away from her from time to time as she passed towards our bow, and when we came near enough we showed her the United States colours.  She replied with the same.  I then fired a gun and hoisted our own colours (new flag).  Instead of obeying this signal to heave to, she made sail and ran.  We at once started the fires afresh, the steam having gone entirely down, and made all sail in pursuit.  The chase at this time was about four miles from us, and for a long time we gained scarcely any thing upon her.  We threw a rifleshot astern him, but he disregarded this also.  Finally, after an exciting chase of one hour and a half (shifting guns, and sending men aft to trim ship, and giving her a full head of steam), we came near enough to him to throw a 32 pound shot between his masts, when he shortened sail, came to the wind, and hove to.  If the wind had been very fresh (it was blowing a good breeze) he would probably have ran away from us.  He proved to be the clipper ship Contest, from Yokohama (Japan) for New York Captured him, and anchored in the open sea in fourteen fathoms of water, and took from the prize such supplies as we wanted.  All our people having returned on board about nightfall, it was discovered soon after that the prize was dragging her anchor, which she did so fast in the freshened breeze that a boat which was sent to board and fire her sculled until the officer nearly lost sight of us, and fearing that if he continued he might lose sight of us altogether in a rain squall, returned.  Got up steam immediately and weighed anchor, and ran down to the prize, sent a boat crew on board of her and burned her.

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CASE OF THE CONTEST.

Ship under United States colours and register, and no claim for cargo; ship and cargo condemned.

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Concluding, that on receiving intelligence of the Alabama’s arrival, the Wyoming, if, in truth, she was near the Strait, would run at once for Gaspar Passage in search of her, Captain Semmes now determined to double upon his enemy, and gave her the start of him, holding himself for a few days in the Java Sea, a little east of the Strait.  A week passed by without any incident worthy of record.  At length a change came.