Friday, August 9.—Cloudy, with light breezes from the southeast. No meridian observation for latitude to-day, though a sight near noon shows us to have experienced the eastward current again. We have experienced a drift of about 20 miles to the N.N. W.½W. This is a serious drawback to our making our run to Maranham. The engineer has overestimated his supply of coal, and it now turns out that we had but eight days’ instead of nine days’ fuel when we left Trinidad. I very much fear we shall fall short, and be obliged to make some port under our lee under sail. Evening clear, with light breezes from about S. by W. Latitude observations near noon, 6 ° 01′; longitude, 50° 48′.
Extracts from the journal of Commander Semmes, C.S. Navy, commanding C.S.S. Sumter
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