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Not to have allowed their sale agreement since; but then you thought there was a person who would give $40.000 for the best of the two, and acting on this the United States Marshal was directed not to sell against the consent of the Bureau or of its Counsel here. The expense of keeping, watching, oiling, bailing out, &c has been very great, and if the vessels had not been sold when they were, their care and custody would soon have consumed their utmost value. I understand the Marshal to say that M McKinstry did not give him notice to postpone the sale beyond the day to which it stood last adjourned. The vessels were sold in my absence, as you are aware, and I have no means of determining their value. To my uneducated marine understanding it appears they were given away, but I dont know anything about it, nor can I find out. As I said above, the mistake was not to sell them before the expenses consequent upon their retention accrued. But it is of no avail to wring ones hands in grief over milk which is spilt.