Mr. Graham to Sir P. Wodehouse.  August 17, 1863.

I have delayed acknowledging the receipt of your last letter, dated the 12th August, on account of events transpiring, but which have not yet culminated so as to form the subject of correspondence.

Your decision that the Tuscaloosa is a vessel of war, and by inference a prize, astonishes me, because I do not see the necessary incompatibility.  Four guns were taken from on board the Talisman (also a prize), and put on board the Conrad (Tuscaloosa), but that transfer did not change the character of either vessel as a prize, for neither of them could cease to be a prize till it had been condemned in an Admiralty Court of the captor’s country, which it is not pretended has been done.  The Tuscaloosa, therefore, being a prize, was forbidden to enter Simon’s Bay by the Queen’s Proclamation, and should have been ordered off at once; but she was not so ordered.  Granting that Her Majesty’s Proclamation affirmed the right of Captain Semmes as a belligerent to take and to hold prizes on the high seas, it just as emphatically denied his right to hold them in British ports.  Now, if he could not hold them in Simon’s Bay, who else could hold them except those whose right to hold them was antecedent to his—­that is, the, owners?

The Tuscaloosa remained in Simon’s Bay seven days with her original cargo of skins and wool on board.  This cargo, I am informed by those who claim to know, has been purchased by merchants in Cape Town; and if it should be landed here directly from the prize, or be transferred to other vessels at some secluded harbour on the coast beyond this Colony, and brought from thence here, the infringement of neutrality will be so palpable and flagrant that Her Majesty’s Government will probably satisfy the claims of the owners gracefully and at once, and thus remove all cause of complaint.  In so doing it will have to disavow and repudiate the acts of its executive agents here—­a result I have done all in my power to prevent.

Greater cause of complaint will exist if the cargo of the Sea Bride is disposed of in the same manner, as I have reason to apprehend it will be when negotiations are concluded; for being originally captured in neutral waters, the thin guise of neutrality would be utterly torn into shreds by the sale of her cargo here.

The Georgia, a Confederate war-steamer, arrived at Simon’s Bay yesterday, and the Florida, another vessel of the same class, has arrived, or is expected hourly at Saldanha Bay, where she may remain a week without your knowledge, as the place is very secluded.  The Alabama remained here in Table Bay nearly four days, and at Simon’s Bay six days; and as the Tuscaloosa was allowed to remain at Simon’s Bay seven days, I apprehend that the Georgia and Florida will meet with the same or even greater favours.  Under such circumstances further protests from me would seem to be unavailing, and I only put the facts upon record for the benefit of my Government and officials possessed of diplomatic functions.