202 Southern Historical Society Papers.
came, that would have assuredly brought death, the men were picked up by fishermen just off the Cuban coast a few miles below Havana. Water and food were forced down their throats a little at a time. At first it seemed as though relief would be as likely to prove fatal as suffering had been before, but slowly, under the ministering hands of the fishermen, they improved. Almost worn out by their awful experience, they were taken to Havana and turned over to the au- thorities. They were taken before the captain-general and told their story. Struck by the tale and by the appearance of the pris- oners, he released them on parole. The freedom of the city was theirs.
But the publicity given the event reached the army authorities in the North, and an officer was dispatched to bring them back. When he arrived Austin and his companion were summoned to appear before the Governor of the island. A young lieutenant in his blue uniform was there awaiting them in the private office of the captain- general, who sat at his desk writing. At last he turned toward the group. In his hand he held a document which he handed to Aus- tin. It was a certificate of citizenship in Cuba. Snapping their fingers at the officer who had come to get them, they left the Palace free men.
During the remainder of their stay in the Cuban capital Captain Austin and his companion struck up a close friendship with the Gov- ernor, who had given them their liberty. This fact proved their salvation later.
THE BLOCKADER'S LAST RUN.
But it was in Galveston harbor that the last and most brilliant event in a civil war career occurred under the eyes of the entire city. Old men tell of it yet, although with years the memory of the deed is dimmed. In broad daylight Captain Austin ran the block- ade of the port with his ship, the Susanna, and brought provisions and war supplies to a distressed land.
It was the last year of the struggle, the result of which was already foregone. Almost all of the blockaded ports along the Atlantic and the Gulf had been captured, and the entire Southern squadron was blockadjng the harbor. The story of the event, as told by the com- mander of the United States ship Seminole, which led the chase, has already been published in the New York World under the title of "A Dash Through a Fleet." The authority for the tale already told was unacquainted with the identity of the captain of the vessel
