One of the cases wherein the crew recaptured the ship from the prize crew is described very well in the _Mercantile Marine Magazine_ (London) for June, 1862, p. 177. The story begins: “On Saturday, May 3, the rooms of the Liverpool Mercantile Marine Association were crowded almost to suffocation by the merchants and Mercantile Marine officers of Liverpool, to witness the presentation of a magnificent testimonial to Captain William Wilson, of the British ship _Emily St. Pierre_, for his pluck and gallantry in recapturing his ship which had been seized by the United States cruiser _James Adger_, off Charleston.” He had been guilty of “piracy upon the high seas,” but 170 Liverpool merchants united to give him a silver tea and coffee service, the association named gave him a gold medal, the owners of the ship gave him 2,000 guineas, and his crew gave him a sextant. The captain, in his little speech, said that the “token of your kindness” would remind the British sailor that “his efforts for the right and true will not be lost sight of nor go unrewarded.” The story is well worth quoting as showing how men, naturally inclined to “the right and true,” may be led by the exigencies of trade to applaud and reward even “piracy upon the high seas.” The reader should observe here that for a captured crew of one belligerent to rise against a prize crew of the other belligerent is a very different matter from this act of “piracy.” As already said, the blockade-runners were at first chiefly old sailing ships of various rigs or old steamers, the idea being to risk as little capital as possible in this illegitimate trade while making the utmost profit--not an unknown plan in legitimate trade, and never a wise one. Small schooners were used all through the wars to run the numerous shoal-water inlets along the coast, but the real interest in the blockade-runners begins when the Liverpool merchants began to build steamers especially designed for that purpose--build them without hindrance on the part of their government. [Illustration: The Blockade-runner _Teaser_. _From a photograph made in 1864._] Taylor, as said, was the first to carry out one of these swift vessels, and he describes her as follows: “The new blockade-runner was a paddle boat, built of steel, on extraordinarily fine lines, 214 feet long and 20 feet beam, and drew only 8 feet of water. Her masts were mere poles without yards, and with the least possible rigging. In order to attain greater speed in a sea-way she was built with a turtle-back deck forward. She was of 217 tons net register, and had an anticipated sea speed of eleven knots, with a coal consumption of thirty tons a day. Her crew, which included three engineers and twelve firemen, consisted of thirty-six hands all told.” And she was a type of the best sort, although they eventually reached a speed of seventeen knots.