Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley
Sir: I have the honor to state, for the information of the proper authorities of her Majesty’s government, that a reliable representation has been made to this department to the effect that the men of the late piratical steamer Florida, who went to Europe after the seizure of that vessel, have been ordered to rendezvous at Calais immediately, to join the pirate Shenandoah, lately called the Sea King; that the Shenandoah will be found in the neighborhood of Bermuda; that the men will go to that place, and be put on board by a blockade runner; and that the Shenandoah has only forty-three men on board, of whom not more that ten are sailors.
I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient
J. Hume Burnley, Esq., &c., &c., &c.