In the spring of 1863 this fine steamer was captured at sea by the Federal cruisers, sent to a port of adjudication in the North, condemned and sold at auction, taken to the British Provinces (Halifax, I think) and there purchased, it was said, by the Confederate Government. At all events she was fitted out for the same service and in a few weeks reappeared at Nassau, where I saw her as a Confederate steamer under the Confederate flag. On the night of the 11th of October, 1863, the _Douro_ attempted to run the blockade at New Inlet, loaded with a valuable cargo of 550 bales of cotton, 279 boxes of tobacco, 20 tierces of tobacco, and a quantity of turpentine and rosin, belonging to the Confederate Government. At 8.30 of the same night she eluded the Federal fleet and was running up the beach towards Masonboro in two and one-half fathoms of water, when she was pursued by the cruiser _Nansemond_, which tried to get between the _Douro_ and the beach, but failed because of shoal water. Had the _Douro_ kept on her course she would have escaped, but, taking a panic, she reversed her course, and headed back for the bar at New Inlet, was then intercepted by the _Nansemond_ and run ashore, instead of facing the gun fire of the fleet with a chance of getting under Fort Fisher's protection. The captain and most of the crew escaped in the _Douro's_ boats, but five, remaining on board, were captured by the cruiser _Nansemond_. It was said at the time that this fine ship (a propeller) was owned in Wilmington and that her cargo was for the Confederate Government. She now lies just above the _Hebe_ between Fort Fisher and Masonboro Inlet. The "Dee." Two of the finest blockade runners, sister ships, called the _Don_ and the _Dee_, met at last with disaster. The _Don_, after running the gauntlet some ten or twelve times, was captured at sea. She had been commanded from her first voyage to the one before the last by Captain Roberts, so-called, really Captain Hobart, of the Royal British Navy, who later became Hobart Pasha, admiral in chief of the Turkish Navy. He was a son of the Earl of Buckinghamshire. The _Dee_ was commanded for three successful voyages by Capt. George H. Bier, formerly a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. At 8 o'clock a.m. February 6, 1864, the U.S.S. _Cambridge_ on the blockade off New Inlet discovered the _Dee_ from Hamilton, Bermuda, loaded with pig lead, bacon, and military stores, bound for Wilmington, ashore and on fire about a mile to the southward of Masonboro Inlet. The _Cambridge_ at once boarded the stranded vessel and attempted to salve her, but the fire was too hot and the ship too deeply embedded in the sand to haul her off into deep water. She was accordingly bombarded and abandoned. The _Dee's_ crew escaped to the shore, with the exception of seven men, who fell into the hands of the Federals. It is not known whether the _Dee_ ran ashore from accident or design. Steamer "Nutfield."