ARRIVAL OF ANOTHER CONFEDERATE VESSEL.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1718, 22 April 1862, Page 5

ARRIVAL OF ANOTHER CONFEDERATE VESSEL.

The West Indian, a vessel belonging to a Southern planter and merchant, has arrived in Liverpool direct from Charleston, having successfully run the blockade The. owner of the West Indian aud her cargo (who came from Charleston with the vessel), aud Captain Foote, say that the blockade of the port of Charleston is anything but effectual, and that the " graniie blockade," so far from stopping the eutrance to the port, will eventually deepen the shallow channels. On this point the Charlestonians are confident, and therefore the sinking of the granite fleet gives them but little uneasiness. The West Indian is a fine rakish looking vessel, schooner rigged, but with immense spars. She can carry a great deal of canvas, and, judging by her lines, is a fast boat. She is 241 tons burthen, and has a full cargo of spirits of turpentine. She left Charleston iv the evening of the 24th December. It was a fine starlight night, and with a favourable wind the blockade was run without meeting any of the blockading fleet. The West Indian left Charleston after the stone fleet had been sunk, aud ran down to the sea through one of the channels left open by the Federals. During the voyage to Liverpool the weather was very tempestuous, but the vessel suffered no damage. BURNING OF COTTON. Mr. Phinizey, the owner of vessel and freight, is a resident of Savannah, and as he frequently travelled between that port and Charleston, he says that he himself saw the plantations on fire. It is the fixed determination, he says, of the planters, to burn their cotton sooner than it should fall into the hands of the Yankee*. All the plantations about Fort Royal have been destroyed, and, with the exception of a few hundred bales of cotton that have been gathered by the Unionists, and which is uucleaned, there is scarcely a bale of good cotton about the place. Charleston is well defended, and the number of troops between that city aud Savannah is about 40,000 men, under the command of General Lee, of whom General Scott said—" He is the best Goneral we have in the United States army." This compliment was paid to General Lee before the secession movement took place and no doubt still holds good. Reinforcements also continue to arrive at the diferent points of defence. Savannah is in the best possible state of defence, and the citizens are heart and soul in the struggle of the South for " secession." THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. The gentleman who we have alluded to above was in Richmond about three months since, and he was informed, upon authority which he had no occasion to doubt, that there had been an agent of the French Government in that city for some time purchasing all the tobacco he could get, on Government account. It was also hinted that hopes were held out by French agents in the South that before long the Southern Confederacy would be recognised by both France and England ; and the, immense quantity of tobacco stored in Richmond on French Government account appears to give some substantiality to the above statement. The general, feeling throughout the South is one of extreme antagonism to tbe North. The Southerners say every man in the South will cease to live before the Yankees can subjugate the Confederacy. To whether it be recognised or not by the nations of the West, it is fully determined not to relinquish its rights without a struggle. THE BLOCKADE OY MOBILE, The blockade of this port turns out to be a regular farce. There is no such thing as a blockade, as vessels run regularly between that port and Mavannah. From Mobile the vessels engaged in the trade carry Southern produce, and on their arrival at Havaunah their cargoes are transhipped on board neutral ships and forwarded to England. The Southern vessels theu take on board cargoes of arras, ammunition, and other necessaries for the Southern army, aud run baok to Mobile. This trade is carried on with impunity, and one commercial bouse in Uavannah, which is also connected with a well-known Liverpool firm, has three vessels engaged in this manner. Coffee, tea, sugar, salt, boots and shoes, &c. — indeed, all the common luxuries of life— are exceedingly scarce and dear in all the Southern cities. Captain Foote and the owner of the West Indian, both spoke of the scarcity of these articles in the South.