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 Old Navy 
 
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 Admiral Ammei 
 
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 . GUTEKUNS7, PRINT. 
 
THE 
 
 Old Navy and The New 
 
 BY 
 
 REAR-ADMIRAL DANIEL AMMEN, U.S.N., 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE ATLANTIC COAST DURING THE CIVIL WAR.' 
 
 WITH AN APPENDIX OF 
 
 PERSONAL LETTERS FROM GENERAL GRANT. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 
 189 1. 
 
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 Copyright, 1891, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 
 
RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY 
 30cC»icatcft 
 
 TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE OLD NAVY, 
 
 WHO HAD TO LEARN THEIR PROFESSION AS BEST THEY COULD, AND 
 
 HAVE SERVED THEIR COUNTRY WITH MORE OR LESS 
 
 DISTINCTION IN "TROUBLOUS TIMES." 
 
PREFACE 
 
 During the more than half a century covered by this 
 chronicle, so marvellous have been the changes in naval archi- 
 tecture and armament, in the development of means of locomo- 
 tion both on shore and afloat, and in the establishment of rapid 
 communication over the whole inhabited globe, that the intelli- 
 gent reader can hardly realize that they have occurred within so 
 brief an historical period of time. 
 
 A principal object of these memoirs has been to note these 
 mutations in their order, and to present a picture of naval life 
 as affected by them. The writer does not assume that his ex- 
 perience and service differ materially from those of many other 
 officers who might with equal propriety give their memoirs to 
 the public. His intention has been to make the narrative as 
 impersonal as possible, representative not only of his own ex- 
 perience, but also of that of many other officers, varying from 
 his only in time and circumstances. 
 
 If this volume cannot be read with interest by the youth, 
 as well as by those of more mature years, the fault must be 
 attributed to the narrator, and not to the character of the scenes 
 and incidents he has endeavored to depict. 
 
 If, through the over-appreciation of friends who have per- 
 sistently urged the writer to publish his memoirs, he has been 
 betrayed into an indiscretion in placing before the public what 
 may prove lacking in interest at present, he would fain hope 
 that at some future time, perhaps after the lapse of a century 
 or more, the book will be quoted as an authority upon the 
 history of the memorable period during which he served, if not 
 with distinction, at least without reproach. 
 
 Ammendale, Maryland, March, 1891. 
 
 298657 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Entry into the Navy as Midshipman, and Service afloat in the Gulf of 
 Mexico — Father of the Author in the War of 1812-15— He moves 
 from Virginia to Ohio — Early Eecollections — Neighbor and Compan- 
 ion of General Grant— The Author rescues Young Grant from drown- 
 ing — Letter from General Grant in 1877 referring to the Incident — 
 The Great Mood in the Ohio in 1832— Concludes to enter the United 
 States Navy — Appointed Midshipman — Trip to Washington and Bal- 
 timore — Sketch of Hon. Thomas L. Hamer 15 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 Trip from Baltimore to West Point— Western Bank-Notes not at Par — 
 Letter from General Grant — Keceives Instruction in Geometry and 
 Algebra — Voyage to Norfolk — Meets an Inquisitive, Ill-bred Man, 
 and disposes of him — Visit to Tailor Hartshorn — " Keep your Re- 
 ceipts and make no Tailor-Bills" — Turns out in his Uniform — Re- 
 ports to Commodore Warrington, who orders him to report to Lieu- 
 tenant-Commanding Dornin — Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones 
 — Story of a Collision with a Whale on Board the Peacock — The 
 Feejee Island Cannibals — A Midshipman tries a Practical Joke and 
 gets the worst of it — The Hospitality of Norfolk — Ordered to the West 
 Indies on the Levant — Admiral Farragut a Passenger — Assigned to 
 the Sloop-of-War Vandalia 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Cockroaches — Mediterranean Wingless ones — Impure Water — Bread 
 filled with Bugs — Some Remarks on the Officers — " How we did 
 Things in the Navy" — The Gulf of Mexico — Eating Dolphin — 
 French Vessels blockading Vera Cruz — The Island and Castle of San 
 Juan— Turtles — Want of Bread— The Aguacate, or Alligator-Pear — 
 The Caterer and the Doctor — Off for Tampico — Sharks — Mosquitoes 34 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Sails for Pensacola — Billy B. and Hamilton G., the Society Men — A 
 Duel settled — Fulano — A Boat in a Norther — Taking of San Juan 
 de Ulloa by the French — The Prince de Joinville — A Weil-Known 
 and Popular Officer presents a Pig — The Mess gives a Dinner — A 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Temperance Society — Commander Uriah P. Levy takes command of 
 the Vandalia — An Irate Landlord — Cleopatra's Barge — Changes in 
 the Wardroom — Lieutenants Gist and Maffit — The Fall of the Tem- 
 perance Society 43 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 Sails from Pensacola — Getting over the Bar — Bagdad — Trouble in 
 getting Water — "Pooh! pooh!" from the Captain — Drilling at a 
 Great Gun — Under Way for the Mexican Coast — Lieutenant Gist's 
 Lawyer's Fee in Tennessee — Drowning of Lieutenant Paul — Arrival 
 at Vera Cruz — Collision with a French Brig-of-War, with Loss of 
 Life — The Author, chased by a Bull, takes to the Water — Getting 
 rid of an Unpleasant Messmate — Hamilton G. " in Trouble" — The 
 South Pass of the Mississippi — A Water-Spout 52 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 Cruising on the Coast of Texas after Slavers — Colonel David Crockett 
 — General Sam Houston — The Coast of Texas — Keeping the Look- 
 out — Scarcity of Water — Commander Levy gets excited, and suggests 
 the Proper Pronunciation of his Name — A Threatened Court-Martial 
 — Calling an Officer a r - Semiquaver" — Two Old Stories — The Cap- 
 tain's Wooden Horse — Want of Fresh Air — The Author had tendered 
 his Eesignation, but the Commodore retained it and advised against it 62 
 
 CHAPTEK VII. 
 A Ball on a French Frigate — A Boat that smelt of Fish — Disgusted 
 Old Lady — Society — Sails for Norfolk — Midshipman E. C. Anderson 
 — The Cable parts — Goose-Quill Pens and Cockroaches — Parting 
 with Captain Levy — Accounts of Lieutenants Gist and Maffit, Mid- 
 shipmen Marcy and Barbot, and others of the Vandalia — The Author 
 starts for Home on Three Months' Leave — Ordered to the Sloop-of- 
 W T ar Preble — Commander Breese — Service on the Coast of Labrador 
 and in the Mediterranean — The " Ammen Kock" — Fogs — Sir Colin 
 Campbell and his Daughter — The McNabb — A Bright Yankee Girl 
 — Visit to a Coast Kesidence 72 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 Whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence — Story of a Sword-Fish — Sea-Fowl, 
 Fish, and Seals — Kun on a Ledge of Kocks — The Bay of Fundy 
 — Halifax — Portland — John Savage, alias Hans Wildemann — Cross- 
 ing the Atlantic, and Service in the Mediterranean— Lisbon — The 
 Carnival — Port Mahon — The Author transferred to the Ohio, Com- 
 modore Hull— Kear- Admiral Dupont— A Sirocco— The Andalusians 
 —Gibraltar— Death of a Sailor— Arrival at Boston— Three Months' 
 Leave— Naval School at Philadelphia— David McLure— Small-Pox 
 in the Naval School — Professor Chauvenet— John Hogan, " from 
 the South" 85 
 
CONTENTS. i x 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Coast-Survey Duty on the Delaware — Lieutenant Charles H. Davis, 
 commanding the Nautilus — Lieutenant George B. Blake — The Galla- 
 tin — Ordered to Keceiving-Ship Experiment, at Philadelphia Navy- 
 Yard — Lieutenant Albert E. Downes, of the Grampus — A Proposed 
 Visit to the White Mountains — Interrupted by a Trio of Musicians 
 — Ordered as Navigator to the Lexington — Life in the Wardroom — 
 A "Tartar" — Minorca— Port Mahon — "Old Nance" — The Missouri 
 — The Columbus — The Lexington arrives at New York — Lieuten- 
 ants Green, Grey, White, and Black — Visits Mississippi — Adjutant- 
 General Koger Jones — Lieutenant Lay — Visits Home — Ordered to the 
 Vincennes — Cruise to China and Japan — A Case of Small-Pox — 
 Dolphins — Dan on the Lookout — Brazil 98 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 The Brazilians— Sail with the Columbus — Accident to a Brazilian Mid- 
 shipman — Tristan d'Acunha and Nightingale Islands — Sea-Birds — 
 Island of St. Paul — Straits of Sunda — Batavia Roads — Anjier Point 
 — Turtles, Monkeys, Baboons, and Crocodiles — Malays operating a 
 Pile-Driver— The Banyan-Tree — A Malay Village — Tigers — A Wild- 
 Boar Hunt — Water filled with Animalcules — The " Biche de Mer" — 
 Sea-Serpents — The East India Dysentery — Straits of Macassar — Sea 
 of Celebes — Monkeys and Baboons as Commissaries — Hong-Kong — 
 Chinese Vessels under Arms — Duck-Boats — Going to Canton in a 
 Sanpan — Buying Wives — Chinese Modes of Burial 113 
 
 CHAPTEK XL 
 
 Arrival at Canton— Flower-Boats — Pigeon English — Markets — Shops 
 — Billy Poole, "the Biggest Toad in the Puddle" — Chinese Dinners 
 and Customs— Price of a Wife— Dwarfing Feet— Parsee Merchants 
 — Buffaloes— Milk not from Cattle — Cholera on the Columbus— The 
 Grave of the Portuguese Poet Camoens— The Columbus and Vin- 
 cennes sail for Northern China — Amoy — Dining with the Governor 
 — The Chusan Islands — Yeddo Bay — The Daimio — Nagasaki — Lieu- 
 tenant Mcintosh throws the Poles off the Bows placed there by the 
 Japanese— Japanese Artists — A Squall— Object of the Visit of the 
 American Vessels— Dual Government— The Japanese Officials visit 
 the Columbus to reply to the Commodore's Letter — A Mishap and an 
 Explanation — Presents declined 128 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Vessels weigh Anchor and are taken in tow— The Columbus and 
 Vincennes part, never to meet again — The Ladrones — Apra Harbor — 
 Island of Guam— Flying-Fish and Sea-Fowl — Pilot-Fish— Coral and 
 Cocoa-nut — No Snakes or Scorpions — Description of the Inhabitants 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 — A Eide to Agaiia — Keceived by the Governor and invited to a 
 Dinner — Mr. Eobinson, an Old British Navy Officer, sings, and is in 
 Disgrace — Bread-Fruit — School-Houses — Koberts, the Pilot, proposes 
 to leave the Island, but is persuaded to remain — Remarks on the 
 Island, its History, Inhabitants, etc. — Sail for Hong-Kong — Anchor 
 in Blenheim Eeach — Sail for Baja Bassa in Sumatra — A Fishing 
 Town — Curiosity of the Inhabitants — Description of the Island and 
 People— Cape Town — Leaving Cape Town the Writer has a " Wind- 
 fall" — Arrive at the Navy- Yard — General Hamer — Leave of Ab- 
 sence — Calls on the President — Mr. Mason, Secretary of the Navy — 
 An Appointment in the Navy for General Hamer's Son — Ordered on 
 Coast Survey Duty 141 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 Duty on the Coast Survey near Nantucket in the Spring of 1848 — 
 Ordered to the Surveying-Steamer Bibb — Professors Agassiz and 
 Desor — The Discovery of the First Viviparous Scale-Fish — Some 
 Eemarks on Nantucket and Adjacent Country — Mother Carey's 
 Whale-Ships — A Lady in Green Spectacles has her say about a 
 Man drowned — Eockport, Massachusetts — The White Eock, alias 
 the Ammen Eock — Engaged on the Nautical Almanac— A Meeting 
 with Hon. Jefferson Davis— A Visit to Hon. John Quincy Adams 
 —A Practical Joke— John Y. Mason— California Gold Excitement 
 — Wars in Europe 161 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 Voyage to London, and Travels on the Continent — The German Lan- 
 guage—Arrive in London— The Custom-Officer— Eambles in London 
 — Sail for Antwerp — Captain Fitzgerald, of the British Navy — Aix- 
 la-Chapelle — Charlemagne — Frederick Barbarossa — The Cathedral of 
 Cologne— Brunswick — Lessons in German — Eheumatism — A State 
 Dinner at the Duke of Brunswick's— Visit to Captain Gese vault 
 — A Game of Chess — Baron Eudolphi — A Christening — Baron Hum- 
 boldt's Theory of the Spread of Yellow Fever— Visit Berlin— Call 
 on Mr. Hannegan, the American Minister — Leipsic and Munich — 
 Ex-King Ludwig and Queen — Duchess of Mecklenburg — Trip in a 
 Diligence — Genoa — Milan — Pisa 173 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 Florence— The Flower-Girl— The American Colonel— Captain Neu- 
 hauser— Spezia — Vesuvius — Herculaneum and Pompeii — Naples — 
 The Temple of Neptune at Pesto— Temple of Ceres 192 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 Service on Board the Frigate St. Lawrence— Messina— Mount Etna— 
 Eobbers— Burial- Vaults of the Capuchins— Santa Eosalia— Eemit- 
 
CONTENTS. x j 
 
 PAGE 
 
 tent Fever at Palermo— The British Squadron— A Lieutenant Court- 
 martialled for Kissing— Kailroad Travel at a Penny a Mile— B.'s 
 Little Joke — Bremerhaven — A Country Fair — Bremen— Sail for 
 Home 208 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Pay a Visit to Ohio— Details of the Trip— Throckmorton — A Belle at 
 Louisville — Chattanooga — Lookout Mountain — Kenesaw Mountain 
 —Marietta— Atlanta— Macon— Coast-Survey Service on the Southern 
 Coast— Savannah— Captain Maffit— Lieutenant Anderson— Some Re- 
 flections on Slavery— Mr. Legare — A South Carolina Secessionist- 
 Special Service in California— Site for a Navy- Yard at San Fran- 
 cisco—Senator Gwin 216 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 From New York to Havana— Lieutenant David D. Porter— Count 
 Medem — Aspinwall — Panama — Acapulco — Santa Barbara — San 
 Pedro — Lieutenant Alden — San Francisco — Vallejo — Foster's Bar — 
 Fleas — The Sierra Nevada — Mr. Maccarty — Start back on Foot — 
 Perils of the Road— Get a Ride for a Dollar— Rats— Arrive at San 
 Francisco— Return Voyage— Details of the Trip— New York to Bal- 
 timore—Charles Carroll's Library — Commodore Matthew C. Perry — 
 Secretary Kennedy— Join my Vessel at Norfolk — Georgetown- 
 Cayenne— Maranham — The Amazon 229 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Pernambuco — Rio Janeiro — Montevideo — Fever on Shipboard — A 
 Pampero— The Frigates Congress and Jamestown — General Urquiza 
 besieging Buenos Ayres— Ostriches— The Rio de la Plata— The River 
 Parana— Point Diamante— Capturing a Buck— The Jaguar— The 
 River Paraguay — Remarks on the Country and People — Lopez gives 
 the Naval Officers a Reception— The Water- Witch— Assumption- 
 San Pedro — A Grand Ball— The President and his Family— Customs 
 of the People — A Visit to the Indians — Securing Specimens of Ani- 
 mals—Excursion to Villa Rica— A Tiger-Hunter — Expedition of 
 Commodore Shubrick 249 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Service on Board the Brig Bainbridge— A Shooting-Expedition— The 
 Captain of the Bainbridge — A Second Shooting-Expedition — The 
 Captain in his Cups — Proposes the Capture of the Governor of the 
 Falkland Islands— The Water-Witch fired on from a Paraguayan 
 Fort — Sail from Montevideo— Paranagua— Arrival at Rio— Visit to 
 Count Medem at Petropolis— The Captain's Idiosyncrasies— A Spirit- 
 ualist— Barbadoes— Arrival in the United States— Some Retrospec- 
 tions 269 
 
x il CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Ordered to Duty at the Naval Observatory, Washington, under Com- 
 mander M. F. Maury — Observations on Commander Maury and 
 other Officers on Duty — " Duke" Gwinn — Jefferson Davis — Service 
 on Board the Saranac, on a Voyage to the Pacific — An Account of 
 the Voyage from Philadelphia — Incidents of the Voyage, and Men- 
 tion of the Different Points touched— Service on Board the Merrimac 
 — Sail for Tumbez — Payta — San Lorenzo — Callao — Randolph Clay, 
 Minister to Peru — Mummies — Gathering Skulls — Ancient Temples . 290 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Sandwich Islands — Acapulco — Leon — Realejo — Nicaragua — A Tropical 
 Forest — Mr. Lamar, United States Minister — General Tomas Mar- 
 tinez — Native Rum — A Trip to the Country — The Solteras — Ham- 
 mocks — A Shooting-Excursion — Alligators — Mr. Lamar's Archives 
 — Visit from the President — The "Wardroom Steward and the Black 
 Dog — The Decatur, Vandalia, and Saranac — The British Minister — 
 Panama — Valparaiso — Reach Norfolk 313 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Changes in Norfolk — Meet Mr. E. C. Anderson in Washington, and 
 Visit Senators Toombs and Jefferson Davis — Service at the Naval 
 Rendezvous in Baltimore — Condition of the Slaves in Maryland — 
 Talk of Secession — Mr. Porcher — Remarks on the Beginning of the 
 Civil War— Hon. A. H. Stephens— Peeling of Naval Officers— Mrs. 
 Mactavish — Mr. Anderson discusses the Prospects of Secession and 
 War — Lieutenant Powell — Visit to Columbus — Governor Chase — 
 Discuss the Organization of Ohio Troops — Letter from Mr. Chase . 326 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 Beginning of the Civil War — The Sixth Massachusetts Regiment jeered 
 at and stoned — Secession — Excitement in Baltimore — To Washington 
 on Horseback — Hon. John P. Kennedy — Bladensburg — Black Horse 
 Cavalry — Commodore Stringham — On Duty as Executive Officer at 
 the Navy-Yard — An Ohio Belle — Aspire to the Command of a Gun- 
 Boat — Lieutenant Nelson, of the Navy, appointed Brigadier-General 
 of Volunteers — His Influence in Kentucky — Colonel Jacob Ammen, 
 commanding Brigade, reports to General Nelson — Ammen 's March 
 to Savannah, Tennessee — Goes in Advance, and his Command the 
 First of Buell's Army to engage in the Battle of Shiloh — The Killing 
 of General Nelson by General Jefferson C. Davis — General Rosecrans 
 tells a Story of General Ammen — President Lincoln, accompanied by 
 Thurlow Weed, visits the Navy- Yard— Hand-Shaking by the Presi- 
 dent — Ordered to the Roanoke — A Wrathy Captain 334 
 
CONTENTS. x iii 
 
 CHAPTEK XXV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Service on Board the Koanoke as Executive Officer— Captain W. C. 
 Nicholson — Hampton Koads — Commodore Pendergrast — Blockade 
 Duty off Charleston— The Yandalia— The Seminole— Return of the 
 Roanoke to Hampton Roads — Assigned to the Seneca — Naval Life as 
 an Officer in Command of a Vessel— Admiral S. F. Dupont— Sail for 
 Hampton Roads— General T. W. Sherman— Port Royal— Charleston 
 — An Engagement with Steamboats— Commodore Tatnall— General 
 Horatio G. Wright — Captain John Rodgers — General Drayton — A 
 Naval Engagement— The Confederates abandon the Port at Port 
 Royal — General Sherman — Admiral Dupont issues a Proclamation — 
 North Edisto — Burning Cotton— Rockville— Shelling Port Royal 
 Ferry— The Black Colony at North Edisto— Demonstration against 
 Savannah— Hilton Head— General R. E. Lee 343 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Pass through Cumberland Sound— Take Possession of St. Augustine- 
 Occupation of Jacksonville— White Flags— George Huston kills 
 Lieutenant Sproston, and is himself killed — Neils Jonson — A Des- 
 perate Man— A Present of a Bear— Sounding Depth of Water at 
 Charleston — Ossabaw Sound — In Command of the Sebago— Henry 
 M. Blue— The Water-Witch— Relieved from Command of the Sebago 
 — Assigned to the Monitor Patapsco at Wilmington — An Engage- 
 ment — On Sick-Leave — Fort Sumter — Attack on Forts Moultrie and 
 Beauregard— A Scout— A Council of War— Opinions in regard to the 
 Monitors 362 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Sent North by the Admiral — Rumors of relieving Admiral Dahlgren 
 of his Command — Report of Officers under Admiral Dahlgren to the 
 Navy Department — Courts-Martial and Courts of Inquiry — Ordered 
 to Temporary Command of the Shenandoah — She goes to Philadel- 
 phia to be put out of Commission — Lieutenant-General Grant visits 
 Rear-Admiral Lee, on the Minnesota, at Hampton Roads — Leaves 
 an Invitation for Commander Ammen to visit him at Culpeper — 
 Letter from General Grant— Visit Mrs. Grant— Visit General Grant 
 at Culpeper— Details of Visit— Talk of Boyhood Days— Ride over 
 the Country— General Grant's Opinion of Generals Lee, Joseph E. 
 Johnston, and Bragg — Present of a Meerschaum Pipe — Return to 
 Baltimore 378 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 In Charge of a Draft of Men on board the Ocean Queen — Boatswain 
 Bell reports for Duty with Two Hundred and Twenty Men— The 
 Steamer gets under Way— At Midnight the Commander is sent for 
 
x i v CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 by some of the Men — They complain of having to sleep on Deck — 
 Assault upon the Captain and Chief Engineer — Statement of Com- 
 mander Ammen — Justice Field, of the United States Supreme Court, 
 a Passenger — Desertions at Aspinwall — Eeturn in the Ocean Queen 
 to New York from Panama, and make a Full Keport to the Navy 
 Department — Remarks on the Mutiny — The Court-Martial — Courts- 
 Martial organized, one to acquit and one to condemn — Decline to 
 employ Counsel — Letter from General Grant — In command of the 
 Mohican — A Clerk — A Swiss Steward who receives more Pay than 
 the Commanding Officer 386 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 At City Point — Meet General Grant — The General's Horse Cincinnati 
 — Return to Hampton Roads — Beaufort — Bombardment of Port 
 Fisher — General Butler — Re-embark for Fortress Monroe — General 
 Terry reaches Beaufort ready to co-operate with the Navy — Generals 
 Terry and Comstock visit the Commander — Dressing the Ship with 
 Green — The Mohican anchors at Port Royal — Message from Admiral 
 Porter to General Sherman — News of the Capture of Wilmington — 
 Return to Savannah — Call on Mrs. Anderson before leaving Savan- 
 nah — Hardee escapes with his Army — Letter from Mr. Anderson — 
 The Ogeechee — Hampton Roads — Washington Navy-Yard — Boston 
 — Surrender of Lee's Army 401 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 In Command of the Miantonomah — Description of the Vessel — She is 
 sent abroad — The Author detached — Consult with General Grant as to 
 the Practicability of a Ship-Canal across the Isthmus — Proposed 
 Visit to Secretary Seward — Discuss the Ship-Canal — Acquisition of 
 Alaska — Visit to Francis P. Blair — An Unruly Horse — General 
 Grant tells a Story of being thrown by a Colt, when a Boy — Visit to 
 the United States of Admiral Tegethoff, of the Austrian Navy — The 
 French in Mexico — General Grant "swinging around the Circle" 
 with President Johnson and Admiral Farragut — Am appointed on a 
 Board to examine Volunteer Officers of the Navy — General Grant as 
 Secretary of War — He discourses of President Johnson — Governor 
 Swann, of Maryland — Am ordered in Command of the Flag-Ship 
 Piscataqua 420 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 In Command of the Flag-Ship Piscataqua — Objectionable Smoke- 
 stacks — Sail for New York, and go into Dock — Proceed to Wash- 
 ington — Meet General Grant — An Unsatisfactory State of Affairs — 
 President Johnson and General Grant — General Grant speaks of the 
 Ship-Canal — A Drunken Hospital Steward — Desertions — Rio Janeiro 
 — Mr. James Watson Webb, U.S. Minister — Consul Monroe — Visit 
 
CONTENTS. xv 
 
 PAGE 
 
 to Corcovado — Simon's Bay — Description of the Country and City — 
 Meet an Old Acquaintance, and commit a Faux Pas — Singapore — A 
 Buddhist — The Eleventh Commandment — A Prodigal Son treated in 
 a New Way — Manila — Lightning without Thunder — Cholera . . . 430 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXII. 
 
 Arrival at Hong-Kong — Changes in Twenty-One Years — Amoy — 
 Nagasaki— Description of the City — Measure Height of Island — 
 Yokohama — A Biting Stallion — Tattooing — Take Admiral Rowan 
 on the Piscataqua to visit Mr. Van Valkenburg, the American Min- 
 ister — Description of the Capital City — A Visit from Admiral Enno- 
 motto, of the Japanese Navy — Something of the Admiral's Subse- 
 quent History — Yokohama — Hiogo — Admiral C. H. Bell — Mr. 
 Consul Mangum — A Doubtful Compliment as to One's Age — 
 Nagasaki — Shanghai — The Foreign Merchants — Dining with the 
 Governor of the Province — Description of the Dinner 442 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXIII. 
 
 Sail for Amoy — The Admiral's Cabin-Ports stove in — General Legen- 
 dre — Malodorous Amoy — Bengal Tigers — Visit to a Spanish Catholic 
 Missionary — Keturn to Hong-Kong — Leave in the Steamer Great 
 Kepublic for the United States — Yokohama — Measuring the Height 
 of Fusi-yama — Arrive at San Francisco — Great Changes noted in San 
 Francisco — Dr. A. J. Bowie — Arrive at Washington, and am assigned 
 to Duty as Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks — Assigned to 
 Duty as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation — Admiral Porter — The 
 Isthmian Surveys assigned to me — A Commission appointed, General 
 A. A. Humphreys President, Professor Peirce, and, later, Captain 
 C. P. Patterson — Colonel Hopkins calls, at the Bequest of Cyrus W. 
 Field, in Begard to Deep-Sea Soundings in the Pacific Ocean .... 456 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Commodore Wyman — Determining Longitudes by Telegraphy — 
 Method of Signalling — Lieutenants Very and Wood— Coast De- 
 fence—Calculations of Weights and Displacements — Ram designed 
 by the Author— Delayed on Political Grounds — " It will come by 
 and by"— Admiral Tegethoff— The Battle of Lissa— Ironclads— Ad- 
 vantages of Rams over Armored Ships 467 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 The Nicaragua Canal — Report of the Commission — President Hayes 
 approves in his Message— M. de Lesseps desires a Convocation of 
 Engineers and Representatives from All Countries to meet in Paris 
 and discuss the Isthmian Canal Question — President Hayes requests 
 the Author to go as Representative from the United States — I pre- 
 
xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 pare in Writing what I propose to say — The Secretary of State ap- 
 proves it — Mr. Menocal goes with me — General Grant consents to 
 place himself at the Head of a Movement to construct the Canal — 
 He is prevented from Action by Various Considerations — A Conces- 
 sion from the Nicaraguan Government — The Eads Ship-Eailway — 
 History of Progress in obtaining a Charter for the Nicaragua Canal, 
 with an Account of the Obstructions, both Open and Covert — The 
 Matter mentioned to President Cleveland and General McClellan — 
 The Ship-Kailway — General Kemarks on an Isthmian Canal .... 474 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYI. 
 
 Desultory Observations on Men and Things — Choose a Country-House 
 — Benefits of Horseback-Riding and Exercise — Francis P. Blair — 
 George Bancroft — Observations on the City of Washington — Its Great 
 Improvement, Advantages in Climate, Health, Location, etc. — The 
 City Government — " Boss" Shepherd — Ex-Governor Dennison — The 
 Presidential Receptions — A Present of a Carriage from General Grant 
 — Frequent Visits to him — The Ferry Story — Scurrilous Newspapers 
 — Senator Conkling — The Cause of his Death — Mr. Colfax — General 
 Beauregard — General Grant's Annoyances — Appointments in Louisi- 
 ana — The Treaty with Santo Domingo — Fred Douglass — Race Preju- 
 dices not entertained by Naval Men — Senator Sumner and his Course 
 on the Santo Domingo Matter 499 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 President Grant mentions the Advantages to be derived from the An- 
 nexation of Santo Domingo — The Marked Features of General 
 Grant's Individuality — The Craze to be President — A Quotation re- 
 lating to the Death of Charles the Fifth of France — The Epizooty — 
 Chlorate of Potash as a Remedy — General Sherman's Criticism on a 
 Road — Commodore Guest — A Rattlesnake — Surgeon-General Wood 
 bitten by a Snake — How he was cured — Attend the Reunion of the 
 Army of the Cumberland at Columbus, Ohio — Meet General Sheridan 
 for the First Time — Meet General, afterwards President, Hayes — A 
 Visit to the Institution for Mutes — The Fate of General Grant's 
 Horse, Cincinnati — Nicaraguan Ministers to the United States — Don 
 Emilio Benard — Don Max Sonnestern — Hon. Alex. H. Stephens — 
 Dining with Mr. George W. Childs — General Grant advised to get 
 some " Lawyers" when he should reach the Island of Penang — Out- 
 come of this Advice — A visit to Ohio with General Grant — General 
 Grant's Trip abroad — The Author becomes a Rear- Admiral and is 
 retired— Endeavor to promote the Construction of the Nicaragua 
 Canal — Kindly Feelings between Comrades of the Old Army — The 
 Motives of Actors in the Civil War to be considered, not the Objects 
 — Closing Remarks 509 
 
 Appendix .... 527 
 
THE 
 
 OLD NAYY AND THE NEW. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Entry into the Navy as Midshipman, and Service afloat in the Gulf of Mexico 
 — Father of the Author in the War of 1812-15— He moves from Virginia 
 to Ohio — Early Kecollections — Neighbor and Companion of General Grant 
 —The Author rescues Young Grant from drowning — Letter from General 
 Grant in 1877 referring to the Incident — The Great Mood in the Ohio in 
 1832 — Concludes to enter the United States Navy — Appointed Midshipman 
 — Trip to Washington and Baltimore— Sketch of Hon. Thomas L. Hamer. 
 
 During the War of 1812-15 with Great Britain, my father 
 served in the army on our northwestern frontier, which was then 
 in the vicinity of Lake Erie. After the conclusion of peace my 
 mother, with her three children, two boys and one girl, were 
 brought from Virginia to Highland County, Ohio, where an 
 uncle had located some ten years previously. He migrated from 
 Botetourt County, Virginia, and owned a considerable tract of 
 land. In a year or two my father removed to Brown, an adjoin- 
 ing county, where I was born. 
 
 My earliest recollections are of the steep hills bordering the 
 Ohio River, and of the ravines, and the streams that had worn 
 their way through the limestone ledges, leaving precipitous banks 
 of earth, covered with a dense growth of sugar-maple, walnut, 
 and ash. The immediate borders of the larger streams were 
 lined with immense sycamores, and the flat lands on the summit, 
 extending into the interior, with superb beech-, hickory-, and 
 walnut-trees. These forests were then almost continuous, passing 
 
 15 
 
1(3 :•' i / . l ' , THE QX<D^ NA VY AND THE NEW. 
 
 into the back country. Usually at intervals of a mile or two a 
 log house would be seen in the midst of a " clearing/' consisting 
 of ten or more acres of dead trees, which had been girdled by the 
 axe and had lost most of their limbs, through decay or through 
 fire which had been applied to them after they had become suf- 
 ficiently dry to burn. The lands were planted in maize, called 
 by the inhabitants " corn," by which name it is known now 
 throughout the United States. 
 
 From the age of seven or eight years I was a near neighbor 
 of the late General Grant, who was two years younger than my- 
 self. We were constant playmates, and in the habit of fishing, 
 swimming, and riding together. Our outfit in riding was quite 
 simple, consisting only of a bridle, and we were either mounted 
 on the bare back or rode with a blanket strapped on the horse. 
 
 We were so young then that when the streams were swollen 
 we thought that the fish would be the more plentiful. A small 
 stream greatly swollen one day invited our attention. A large 
 poplar log that had lodged on the bank, and at an incline ex- 
 tended partly over the water, seemed to offer to my young com- 
 panion a favorable seat from which to throw his line. Persons 
 who have tried to walk on a poplar log after a rain have doubt- 
 less found a very slippery footing, as was the case with Grant. 
 In a moment his heels were in the air and he plunged head 
 downward into the rapidly-flowing muddy water. I had but a 
 moment for thought, and rushed down the stream for a few yards, 
 to where it narrowed considerably, and willows that had been 
 undermined by the stream hung barely over the surface of the 
 water. With the celerity of an active boy nine years of age, I 
 ran out on one of these trees, and, as good luck would have it, 
 when my companion came within reach, he was above the sur- 
 face ; I grabbed him and drew him out of the water. He was 
 clothed at the time in an upper garment that was my admiration, 
 buttoning on a nether one. It was of Marseilles, with gorgeous 
 red stripes ; and it seemed to me that this dress must be irre- 
 trievably ruined from its drenching in muddy water, and perhaps 
 this fact impressed the circumstance on my mind. Half a cen- 
 tury after, General Grant mentions this occurrence in a letter, as 
 follows : 
 
THE GREAT FLOOD IN THE OHIO IN 1822. 17 
 
 H&tel de France, Nice, December 10, 1877. 
 
 My dear Admiral, — On Thursday afternoon we go aboard the Vandalia 
 to make our excursion of the Mediterranean. How much I wish you were 
 in command to unfurl, for the first time, your Admiral's flag 1 We break- 
 fasted the other day with Admiral Le Roy, and saw all of the officers then 
 in port here. They seem to be a nice set of youngsters. They were not 
 all at the breakfast, of course, but they came on board of the flag-ship, 
 and I had the pleasure of meeting them. It would be pleasant to you to 
 hear how they all spoke of you. There was quite an expression of 
 opinion among them, placing you in the highest place in the profession. 
 Of course I told them that I owed you an old grudge as being responsible 
 for the many trials and difficulties I had passed through in the last half a 
 century ; for nearly that length of time ago you rescued me from a watery 
 grave. I am of a forgiving nature, however, and forgive you, — but is the 
 feeling universal? If the Democrats get into full power, may they not 
 hold you responsible ? But, as you are about retiring, I hope no harm will 
 come to you for any act of kindness done to me. 
 
 Our trip thus far has been most agreeable. The weather in Paris was 
 most atrocious, but I got to see most of the people. My opinion of their 
 capacity for self-government has materially changed since seeing for my- 
 self. Before coming here I did not believe the French people capable of 
 self-government. Now I believe them perfectly capable, and they will be 
 satisfied with nothing less. They are patient " and of long suffering," 
 but there will not be entire peace and quiet until a form of government is 
 established in which all the people have a full voice. It will be more re- 
 publican than anything they have yet had under the name of a republic. 
 
 Give all our love to Mrs. Ammen and all the children ; write to me often, 
 
 and don't be disappointed if I do not answer each of your letters as 
 
 received. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Nearly two years after our fishing excursion, in February, 
 1832, there was the greatest flood known in the Ohio River up 
 to that time. At Cincinnati it amounted to a rise of fifty-two 
 feet. Several floods of greater depths have since occurred, the 
 increase doubtless due to the denudation of the neighboring hills 
 of the forests, and the change from timber lands to cultivated 
 fields facilitating the escape of rainfalls through a more rapid 
 surface-drainage. One Sunday morning a slow, steady rain was 
 falling, that continued throughout the day, notwithstanding our 
 prognostications that it would cease. Two other boys and 
 myself concluded that it would be more interesting to see the 
 
 2 
 
18 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 swollen river, some six miles distant, than to go to church, 
 which we could do on any Sunday, while the great flood if not 
 seen then might never be seen . The mud was deep, and pud- 
 dles were everywhere, although we skirted the roads, and indeed 
 walked in the bordering woods, which had little undergrowth. 
 On reaching the hill-top, some two hundred and fifty feet above 
 the river, we saw from the bluff, looking up and down the river 
 through the openings between the limbs and bodies of the trees, 
 a large extent of muddy water, shut out from the view in the 
 distance by the bends of the high lands. We went down the 
 steep hill, and at its base saw a volume of muddy, yellow water 
 flowing sluggishly between the trees, the surface reaching the 
 limbs of many of them at a height of fifteen or twenty feet 
 from the ground. The usual bank of the river was, in a direct 
 line, quite half a mile from where we stood, and all that could be 
 seen was a small extent of sluggish water extending from the 
 river-bed to the foot of the hills. Clambering up the hill again, 
 one, or perhaps both, of my companions climbed a tree, to get a 
 less obstructed view than could be had from the ground ; but 
 the tree was too large for me, and I had to content myself with 
 listening to the expressions of wonder and delight such as boys 
 pour forth on grand occasions. As soon as vision was satisfied 
 we set out to return, " as wet as rats/' and reached home about 
 dusk. This impromptu walk did not meet with the approval 
 of my mother, but, appreciating what was best to be done to 
 avoid the consequences, I was rubbed down and, after some 
 simple treatment, put to bed, without any bad results. One of 
 my companions died : I have the idea that his name was Young, 
 but have forgotten the name of the other. I had just donned 
 a new fur hat, made by the village hatter ; it was of a pale-yellow 
 color. It seemed to me that it weighed several pounds, but it 
 kept my head dry during the day. A modern silk hat would 
 have melted away in the first half-hour of our march. 
 
 At that period of my life, like most boys, I indulged in 
 foisting myself on my father's knee, and asking him to re- 
 count, again and again, what he had seen of the Peaks of 
 Otter and other features that belonged to the mountain region 
 of Virginia. When a boy he had walked to the summit of 
 
APPOINTED MIDSHIPMAN. 19 
 
 these magnificent peaks, a distance of twelve miles from his 
 home, and had the idea that the cliffs facing to the southeast 
 were so abrupt that stones thrown by hand would fall into Otter 
 Creek, more than a thousand feet below. He was enthusiastic 
 in his description of mountains and mountain-streams, and, in 
 reply to my question why he had left so charming a country to 
 migrate to Ohio, he said that he could not afford to bring up his 
 children under the disadvantages of slave labor. A few years 
 later, when alone with me, he said that he felt a great deal of 
 concern in relation to my future : it was time, he thought, for 
 me to turn my attention to choosing some means of livelihood ; 
 he had to regret that he had little to leave to his children • if I 
 would make up my mind as to any calling or profession, he 
 would endeavor to have me fitted for it. I told him not to give 
 himself any uneasiness about me ; I had already made up my 
 mind to go to sea as midshipman. He looked somewhat sur- 
 prised and disturbed, and said that he had been to sea sufficiently 
 to know that it was a dog's life ; he considered a man-of-war 
 " simply a hell upon earth," and I had better reconsider my 
 intention. I answered that I had to live the life, not he; 
 I did not anticipate that it would be an easy one, and yet I 
 would choose it ; and that he need not trouble himself further 
 about me. 
 
 Before I had reached sixteen years of age I requested a 
 brother, ten years my senior, to write to our member of Congress 
 and ask him to get me an appointment as midshipman, which 
 he did without delay. I was the first person entering the navy 
 from that county. My appointment is dated July 7, 1836. It 
 was with sadness that my mother saw me leave, on the 20th day 
 of the following November, under the personal care of our Con- 
 gressman, Thomas L. Hamer, who deserves more than the pass- 
 ing notice I can give. He was below medium size, and had 
 sandy hair and large, light-gray eyes. There was nothing 
 marked in his ordinary appearance, but when he had anything 
 to say he was wholly changed ; he had a wonderful popularity 
 with all who knew him. His information, not only as a lawyer 
 but also in most other matters, was exact. He possessed great 
 geniality and exquisite humor. 
 
20 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Iii a rough carriage we left his house in Georgetown for 
 Ripley on the Ohio River, at which point we took the steam- 
 packet plying between Cincinnati and Wheeling. After going 
 on board, I found that, by agreement, Hamer had met half a 
 dozen or more personal friends, also on their way to Washington. 
 The season must have been unusually severe, for the ground was 
 covered with snow. We got on board some time after dark, 
 and the wheels pounded the ice heavily all night. We were 
 two days reaching Wheeling, and thence took a stage-coach for 
 Washington. All of the occupants but myself were members 
 of Congress. The cold in the mountains seemed to me intense. 
 My friend had provided me with what was then known as a 
 Mackinaw blanket, green in color with black stripes at the ends, 
 and shoes made of buffalo-skin with the hair inside. The 
 horses were changed every ten or twelve miles, and this distance 
 was made in an average time of about an hour and a half, in- 
 cluding the delays, although we were travelling on the great 
 national turnpike, many parts of which were quite rough. 
 
 The country taverns at which the horses were changed had 
 spacious bar-rooms; in these we found roaring wood-fires in 
 open fireplaces, which were kept up all night, or at least 
 when the stages were due. Everybody got out to "take a 
 drink ;" this was invariably whiskey, and I think was never 
 omitted, whatever the hour. My friend Hamer asked me, one 
 cold night, if I would have some ; I told him I thought I was 
 rather too young ; he said he thought so too, but did not like to 
 pass me by without invitation, although he was glad that I de- 
 clined. When we dined or breakfasted at the taverns, the people 
 about the household flocked in, especially the girls, and compli- 
 ments as to their fine appearance and agreeableness were in order 
 from all the travellers. Everybody was merry ; the Congress- 
 men did not fail to have their jokes as we passed along, which 
 helped us to endure the discomfort of those three days, cooped 
 up in a crowded stage-coach. At last, to my great relief, we 
 reached Brown's Hotel, in Washington, where we and most of 
 the other passengers took lodgings. 
 
 Mr. Hamer was a personal friend of President Jackson, and 
 the following morning at an early hour went to see him. The 
 
SKETCH OF HON. THOMAS L. HAMER. 21 
 
 President was confined to his room, and, although Hamer saw 
 him, his continued indisposition prevented my being presented 
 during the several days that I remained in the city. Mr. Hamer 
 took me to the Capitol, and to see Mr. Dickerson, the Secretary 
 of the Navy, and obtained permission for me to go to West 
 Point for the winter, where I could employ my time in study. 
 This indulgence served me greatly. I had come East under 
 orders to the store-ship Relief, then in commission at Norfolk, 
 Virginia. After spending several days in Washington, Mr. 
 Hamer took me to the railroad depot for Baltimore. He pre- 
 sented me with a copy of "Falconer's Shipwreck," which I 
 kept for many years ; he also gave me a flashy breastpin then in 
 vogue ; this was borrowed by a goggle-eyed midshipman after I 
 went afloat, and that was the last I saw of it. 
 
 The unpretentious brick shed that did duty as the railroad 
 depot at Washington was located on Pennsylvania Avenue near 
 where Goose Creek, now no longer seen, passes through a tunnel. 
 At about two o'clock, in the early part of December, 1836, Mr. 
 Hamer bade me good-by, and sent me on my journey towards 
 Baltimore, where I arrived at sunset and went to the Exchange 
 Hotel. I had never been farther away from home than to Cin- 
 cinnati, by stage-coach, some fifty miles, or by steamboat on the 
 river. 
 
 As I remember, this was the last time I saw my good friend, 
 although he did not die until after the battle of Monterey, in 
 Mexico, a dozen years later. Mr. Hamer was a gentleman, of 
 rare ability and character, who would have had a distinguished 
 career had he lived, and a few further words relating to him 
 may be of interest. After serving several years in Congress, he 
 declined re-election, stating that he could not afford to neglect 
 longer the interests of his family. He was known throughout 
 Ohio as an able man ; even when a boy I was much interested 
 in his admirable discussions, on any topic which he brought up, 
 with my father, who was his intimate friend. It was marvellous 
 to me to see him read a column or more from a newspaper and 
 then discuss its contents paragraph by paragraph as presented. 
 After he had served one term in Congress his party wished to 
 make him Speaker of the House ; this he positively declined in 
 
22 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 favor of Polk, a much older member, and afterwards President 
 of the United States. When the war with Mexico was begun, 
 in 1846, Hamer was active in promoting the organization of 
 volunteers in Ohio. Although holding no office, he was known 
 as a pronounced Democrat. His political enemies taunted him 
 with the inquiry, " If you are so anxious to raise volunteers, 
 why do you not go?" He accepted the challenge, and then 
 there was no difficulty in raising a regiment, and he was soon 
 off for the borders of Mexico. After General Zachary Taylor 
 was elected President, I paid my respects to him, and spoke of 
 General Hamer ; he said, with much feeling, that Hamer' s death 
 was a great loss, more than that, of any other officer under his 
 command would have been. At the battle of Monterey his con- 
 duct and bearing were as they would have been had he been 
 trained and brought up in the army ; he was a natural soldier, 
 and those under him were disciplined by his simple command 
 of them. A few months after the battle of Monterey, Hamer 
 died, of dysentery, at that place. When a member of Congress 
 from Ohio, he obtained the appointment of U. S. Grant to the 
 Military Academy. After General Grant became President of 
 the United States he had the same opinion as that above ex- 
 pressed of General Hamer, and further declared that had he not 
 prematurely died he would have held high place in the history 
 of his country. Now his memory lingers only in the recollec- 
 tion of a few old men, and with their death, in the ever-changing 
 current of humanity, great as he was in all the characteristics 
 of manhood, he will be forgotten. 
 
WESTERN BANK-NOTES NOT AT PAR. 23 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Trip from Baltimore to West Point— Western Bank-Notes not at Par — Letter 
 from General Grant — Keceives Instruction in Geometry and Algebra — Voy- 
 age to Norfolk — Meets an Inquisitive, Ill-bred Man, and disposes of him — 
 Visit to Tailor Hartshorn — " Keep your Beceipts and make no Tailor-Bills" 
 — Turns out in his Uniform — Beports to Commodore Warrington, who 
 orders him to report to Lieutenant Commanding Dornin — Commodore 
 Thomas ap Catesby Jones — Story of a Collision with a Whale on Board the 
 Macedonian — The Feejee Island Cannibals — A Midshipman tries a Prac- 
 tical Joke and gets the worst of it— The Hospitality of Norfolk — Ordered 
 to the West Indies on the Levant — Admiral Farragut a Passenger — As- 
 signed to the Sloop-of-War Vandalia. 
 
 The following morning I went on board a steamboat for 
 Frenchtown, en route for West Point, and thence by a railroad, 
 sixteen miles in length, to New Castle, then a small place, situ- 
 ated on the Delaware River some thirty-five miles below Phila- 
 delphia. At New Castle we took another steamboat, and found 
 a considerable interruption from the ice then in the river. It 
 was sunset when we reached Philadelphia. As we passed the 
 navy-yard, below the city, the large ship-house w T as pointed 
 out, in which was the line-of-battle-ship Pennsylvania, then re- 
 garded as among the grandest naval constructions of the world. 
 Before we reached the city, word was passed that persons wishing 
 to go directly to New York could obtain tickets at the captain's 
 office. On presenting myself and offering Western bank-notes, 
 I was informed that they were at a discount and not receivable. 
 I proposed that the discount should be taken off, but that offer 
 was refused. 
 
 I was thus compelled to remain over, and went to the United 
 States Hotel, opposite the old State-House, memorable now, as 
 half a century ago, as the house in which the Declaration of 
 Independence was signed in 1776. The following morning, 
 having changed my money at a considerable discount, I went 
 to the wharf, took passage on another steamboat for Burlington, 
 and thence to Perth Amboy by railroad. The cars seemed small 
 and mean in appearance, compared with those that ran between 
 
24 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Washington and Baltimore. At Perth Amboy we took another 
 steamboat, and reached New York about three p.m., an hour be- 
 fore the Pludson River boat left for Albany. I filled my pockets 
 with oranges, and awaited with satisfaction the leaving of the 
 steamboat, looking out upon the strange sights of ships, brigs, 
 and schooners that lay at the wharves or passed to and fro. 
 The ordinary method of landing passengers in transit along the 
 river was by means of a yawl. On approaching the West Point 
 wharf an old woman and myself were the only persons landed ; 
 we were directed to get into the boat, the steamer was slowed, 
 and finally the engine stopped, the boat was lowered, attached 
 to a line that was veered away from the vessel. Signals were 
 made from the boat by means of a lantern ; the boat was sheered 
 into the wharf at a favorable time, the line was slackened until 
 we were put on shore, and was then hauled in, and the yawl was 
 hoisted as the steamboat gathered headway. This method of 
 landing had to be discontinued, for the double reason that many 
 people were drowned (" by accident," as it was called) and that 
 passengers became too numerous to be landed in that manner. 
 
 My elder brother had graduated at the Academy in 1831, and, 
 after some service at Castle Pinckney, in Charleston harbor, 
 South Carolina, during the " nullification war," was detailed for 
 duty as an assistant instructor, where he served for some years. 
 He was good enough to suggest that I would derive advantage 
 from some primary instruction at that time, the more so as in the 
 naval service the smaller vessels had no " professors of mathe- 
 matics," as the few teachers on board the larger vessels were 
 styled. I remained with my brother until about the middle of 
 March, when the Hudson River was again free from ice. To his 
 instruction I am indebted for much of whatever success or use- 
 fulness I have attained in the naval service. As an illustration 
 of the disadvantages Western boys labored under at that time in 
 obtaining a fair primary schooling, I quote the following letter 
 from General Grant, which alludes in part to a time a year or 
 so previous to my going East. 
 
 Pau, France, December 6, 1878. 
 My dear Admiral,— On my arrival here, last night, I found a very 
 large mail, and in it two letters from you. At that time I had fully deter- 
 mined not to go by India, China, and Japan, and so wrote the Secretary 
 
RECEIVES INSTRUCTION IN GEOMETRY AND ALGEBRA. 25 
 
 of the Navy ; however, if I determined otherwise before the departure of 
 the Richmond from America, I would cable him. This morning I sent 
 him a despatch that I would accept his offer of a passage on the steamer. 
 I could not say much in a despatch, but hope we will be able to join the 
 steamer on the north side of the Mediterranean, somewhere between Mar- 
 seilles and Palermo. This will extend my trip, and make my arrival in 
 America some months later than I had expected, probably extending the 
 time into late fall. Of course, going by way of San Francisco, I shall 
 want to spend at least a month going over old ground with which I was 
 familiar a quarter of a century ago. The quarter of a century does not 
 seem half so long as the one that preceded it, and passed since you and I 
 first received instructions under John D. White, and a long beech switch, 
 cut generally by the boys for their own chastisement. 
 
 Mrs. Grant wants me to say now that she regrets your retirement, be- 
 cause you might otherwise accompany us, and she has every confidence 
 in you on your native element. I believe you are a first-class farmer 
 besides. 
 
 I have not yet received your paper on the Interoceanic Canal, but will 
 read it with great interest when it reaches me. I had preserved with 
 great care a letter you wrote me as much as nine months ago, giving the 
 route and places to visit on naval vessels after leaving the Red Sea, until 
 leaving Gibraltar. But I destroyed it a few days ago ; I would be very 
 glad to get a repetition of it now. I am very sorry, with Mrs. Grant, 
 that you cannot be the commander on our proposed trip, and that Mrs. 
 Ammen is not to be with us, 
 
 Mrs. Grant sends her love to Mrs. Ammen and the children, and best 
 regards to you. I join in love to the children, regards to Mrs. A., Mrs. 
 Atocha, and yourself. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Under the careful instruction of my brother, in the three 
 months at "West Point I made fair progress in geometry and 
 algebra. An almost daily walk was to the walls of Fort Put- 
 nam, a mile away, returning by way of Buttermilk Falls and 
 along the bank of the Hudson. Clothed in ice and snow the 
 scenery is even grander than in the summer. There are few 
 spots on the globe that are more lovely than this vicinity, al- 
 though it does not possess the desolate grandeur of the Straits 
 of Magellan nor the gorgeous and picturesque intertropical 
 beauty of the Bay of Rio Janeiro. 
 
 When I left West Point my brother took me to New York, 
 and suggested a voyage to Norfolk on board of a topsail schooner 
 
26 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 packet. There were several other passengers, among them an 
 inquisitive and ill-bred young man, who, after a good deal of 
 impertinent inquiry, at length learned that I was on my way to 
 join a vessel in the capacity of midshipman. His manner and 
 language then became chaffing and insulting, and probably my 
 replies were not less so. He finally informed me that I was 
 " nothing but a brat," and he would "thrash me soundly" if I 
 gave him any more of my " sauce." After the manner of West- 
 ern boys of that period, I took from my pocket what was known 
 as a Spanish dirk knife, some six inches long, opened it, and in- 
 formed him that I was then ready to take the thrashing provided 
 he was able to give it to me. He " fought shy" of me during 
 the day or so before we separated on reaching Norfolk. We 
 passed Cape Henry about noon, and saw two French frigates at 
 anchor in Hampton Roads. As the sun went down on nearing that 
 locality, a bugle was sounded and their boats were hoisted, as is 
 usual. They were the first vessels of war that I had seen, and 
 impressed me greatly. 
 
 On landing at Norfolk, I went to French's Hotel. It was 
 not much of a house in appearance, and had hardly a dozen 
 bedrooms, but was famous then with " gourmets" over the whole 
 country. The terrapins, oysters, and fish abounding in those 
 waters were well served, and fine old wines were obtainable to 
 order. 
 
 My first visit, of course, was to a tailor, who made my uni- 
 form ; and now, as I write, a vague idea comes from the " brain's 
 haunted cell" that his name was Hartshorn, and on inquiry of 
 the " oldest inhabitant" I find that I was not in error. Here is 
 another proof that many very indifferent events are not forgotten ; 
 they are only unremembered, and may come again when some 
 trivial circumstance, as the present writing, calls them up. Here 
 I remark that I never owed a tailor's bill, and commend a like 
 course to all persons entering the navy or the army ; indeed, 
 young gentlemen who have no predilections for either service 
 will certainly not be the worse off if they never owe a tailor, and 
 if, when they get clothing, they will take a receipt and put it 
 carefully away, even beyond a three years' cruise at sea. When 
 about sailing on one occasion, I tore in two a receipt of one or 
 
REPORTS TO COMMODORE WARRINGTON. 27 
 
 two years' date, and then, bearing in mind that I might be called 
 upon later for payment, put the two pieces among my "archives." 
 On my return to the United States I was politely informed by 
 the tailor that he had a small bill against me for a considerable 
 time, which he hoped I would find it convenient to settle with- 
 out further delay. I was malicious enough to play him a little, 
 and wrote that it seemed to me I had paid the bill and hoped he 
 would examine his books carefully. This led to his affirmation 
 that the bill was just. In a few weeks I passed through the city 
 of Philadelphia, where he was located, called on him, and took 
 the torn receipt from my pocket-book, and asked him to be good 
 enough to look at it and inform me whether it did not cover my 
 alleged indebtedness. He was not at all discomposed ; only said 
 that " mistakes would sometimes occur ;" though he would gladly 
 have pocketed my money had I not taken the precaution to 
 preserve my receipt for a long time, — which fact, I doubt not, 
 was a matter of wonder to him. I had no reason to remember 
 the tailor Hartshorn for any conduct of this kind. 
 
 Fitted with a uniform, and wearing a blue webbing belt, with 
 gorgeous gilt chains and a midshipman's dirk, I went at once 
 to the navy-yard at Gosport, in a sail-boat common in those 
 waters at that time. I reported to Commodore Warrington, 
 then in command, who was called a " tartar." He received me 
 very kindly, although his face did not express great benevolence; 
 but as I grew up in the service it came within my comprehension 
 that officers are not paid for such traits, but for duties that can- 
 not at all times make benevolence and kindliness controlling. 
 My orders were endorsed by the commodore to report to Lieu- 
 tenant Commanding Dornin on board of the store-ship Relief, 
 which I did forthwith. This officer had an Irish brogue, a 
 bright, kindly face, and was indeed thoroughly an Irish gentle- 
 man. My orders were for temporary duty ; it was not intended 
 to have midshipmen on board the store-ship. The wardroom 
 officers took me into their mess, and treated me with great 
 kindness. Appreciating my lack of experience, one of them was 
 good enough to propose that his family should see to my being 
 furnished with a sea outfit, and this was done, much to my 
 satisfaction and personal interest. 
 
28 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 At that time the Relief carried the broad pennant of Com- 
 modore Thomas ap Catesby Jones, who was then in command 
 of what was known as the Exploring Expedition destined for 
 the Pacific Ocean. It was to consist of the frigate Macedonian, 
 the brigs Pioneer and Consort, the schooner Pilot, and the 
 store-ship Relief. The vessels other than the Macedonian had 
 been built specially for the expedition. They had very heavy 
 frames, reinforced bows, and very indifferent models, which 
 quite forbade speed. These vessels, with the exception of the 
 Macedonian, went to sea about the last of April, 1837, for a 
 trial cruise. In beating from Norfolk to Hampton Roads, the 
 Consort ran into the Pioneer, the latter being on the starboard 
 tack and, according to the Rules of the Road, having the right 
 of way. In looking at this collision I gained my first lesson on 
 this very important subject, that has been in my mind ever since. 
 There was a great wrangle, but properly there could be no dis- 
 pute as to the culpable party. Our few days at sea off Cape 
 Hatteras established the fact that had the object been to build 
 vessels of exceptional slowness the success would have been un- 
 doubted. The unfitness of such vessels to make long voyages 
 in unfrequented seas, probably led Commodore Jones at a later 
 period to ask to be relieved from the command of the expedition. 
 
 On one occasion when the commodore was the guest of 
 Captain Dornin, he was good enough to invite me to dine. The 
 commodore had been in command of the sloop-of-war Peacock, 
 eleven years before, in the Pacific Ocean. One fine afternoon, 
 he said, they were sailing along at the rate of ten knots, with a 
 fore-topmast studding-sail set, when a shock was felt by him, 
 and, looking out astern, bloody water was seen. The vessel 
 continued on her course ; an hour or so later the lookout aloft 
 reported a whale some distance ahead and coming towards the 
 ship ; onward it came, until close by, when it " sounded," — that 
 is to say, threw its tail high into the air, — and, as it went down, 
 struck the bow of the vessel with such violence as to make every 
 timber forward crack ; had the vessel been slightly built, he said, 
 she probably would have sunk at once. The commodore sup- 
 posed that the whale, having been struck before, had thus sought 
 vengeance, or perhaps it might have been the mate of the one 
 
THE FEEJEE ISLAND CANNIBALS. 29 
 
 that was struck. In a recent attempt to ascertain the facts 
 which might appear in the log-book of the vessel, that portion 
 covering the period for some months before and after this 
 occurrence — from January 1 to May 11 > 1826 — was not to be 
 found. The vessel at the latter date was in the port of Callao, 
 Peru, and logged daily as making one foot of water per hour in 
 leakage. The following August, when at Rio Janeiro, home- 
 ward bound, Commodore Jones wrote to the Navy Department 
 as follows : " The sails have proved worse than I supposed them 
 to be, as also the water-casks, for, being obliged to break out 
 the hold at Callao to lighten ship sufficiently to repair the 
 damages sustained by a whale striking us. . . ." Notwith- 
 standing my researches, nothing more could be learned in 
 relation to this aggressive whale. 
 
 In June, 1837, the Macedonian was put in commission, and, 
 being transferred to her, I found myself one of a dozen mid- 
 shipmen and several passed midshipmen in her steerage. Among 
 the latter were Swann, some years later lost at sea on board of 
 the Grampus ; and Underwood, killed a year or so later at the 
 Feejee Islands by the savages, who endeavored to carry his body 
 into the interior to roast, but were driven off, and his remains 
 were taken on board ship. Captain Wilkes soon after attacked 
 the natives living on the small island where the outrage was 
 perpetrated ; he burned their villages and butchered so many of 
 the inhabitants that not a single visitor has since been killed for 
 the purpose of feasting upon him. Underwood was an ex- 
 ceptionally well-educated officer ; he had been abroad on leave, 
 had studied Italian, had a taste for drawing, and more knowl- 
 edge of astronomy than was then usual in the navy. He 
 pointed out to me many constellations, some of which were of 
 service in taking observations. 
 
 Not long after we went on board of the Macedonian we 
 dropped down to Craney Island, some five miles below Norfolk. 
 There were no steam-tugs in the naval service at that time ; in 
 the larger seaports they were just coming into use for towing 
 European packets and other large merchant-ships in and out of 
 port. The ordinary boats of vessels of war were then employed 
 in supplying their wants, in bringing from the navy-yard 
 
30 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 provisions and ship-stores of whatever sort, and in watering 
 ship. After a time we left off bringing water from the navy- 
 yard, more than six miles distant, and resorted to Craney Island, 
 only a mile from our anchorage. The water was sometimes 
 brackish j in the reservoir (which was a hogshead sunk into the 
 sand) it would rise and fall with the tide, owing to a greater or 
 less external hydrostatic pressure. We sometimes put our casks 
 in the ship's boats, and occasionally we towed them by the boats, 
 then rolled them up to the place of supply, and, after filling 
 them, rove a tow-line through the beckets put on the casks to 
 keep the bungs up when being towed off, and have them ready 
 for hoisting when they came alongside. It took several hours 
 to fill the casks and get them down again into the water. I was 
 assigned to accompany an old midshipman whom I will call 
 " Sam Smith." He was about twenty years of age, and quite 
 large and precocious ; he had black side whiskers, upon which 
 he used a quantity of Macassar oil, as well as on his hair ; he 
 chewed tobacco, was a proficient in swearing, wore no suspenders, 
 and could " hitch" up his trousers quite as deftly as any able 
 seaman. " Sam" had served before the mast in the merchant 
 service, belonged to a very good family in a seaport city, and 
 had the idea, not uncommon with many well-meaning youths, 
 that there was something smart in being vulgar. He was very 
 fond of a practical joke when it was on some other person, but 
 did not seem to relish it when he was the subject. When on 
 this duty we carried in addition to our side-arms two large 
 pistols ; they were fitted with a flat rod which acted as a holder 
 when inserted inside the pistol-belt. One day while I was 
 seated on a cask quietly regarding the men at work filling the 
 casks, my superior, quite forgetting the dignity of command, 
 stealthily came up behind, seized me by the shoulders, and 
 pulled me backward, so that I rolled over, pistols and all. 
 This I regarded as a rather rough joke, but endured it with 
 equanimity, until I saw "Sam" seated in like manner, chewing 
 his delicious quid. Circumstances favored my approach, if in- 
 deed it had occurred to him that I would attempt to throw him 
 over, small as I was. I seized him violently, pulled him back- 
 ward, and over he went, just as he had served me. He grew 
 
THE HOSPITALITY OF NORFOLK. 31 
 
 quite angry, called me a " brat," and tried in vain to catch me. 
 Then he took a pistol from his belt and snapped it at me. This 
 act aroused my ire ; I halted, drew one of my pistols, cocked it, 
 and told him if he snapped at me again I would shoot him ; 
 that I had quite as much right to pull him over as he had to 
 treat me in that manner. Our pistols were then returned to our 
 belts, and we did not abuse each other afterwards. 
 
 At that time, and long before, Norfolk was noted for its 
 hospitality, and this reputation that city kept up until the 
 commencement of our civil war. There was a geniality and a 
 kindliness towards young officers that could not fail to be ap- 
 preciated, and there was a satisfied manner as to the possession 
 of the goods of this life, and a courtly dignity very agreeable, 
 in the elderly persons. The young ladies had more grace, beauty, 
 and propriety of manner than are now common in the great 
 cities, where a constant struggle exists for " position" and leader- 
 ship, which is not favorable to the development of genial or 
 agreeable qualities. It was then asserted that along an entire 
 street, in the forenoon, in every house would be heard the sound 
 of a piano, accompanied vocally by the songs of the day. It 
 may be that the same satisfactory condition continues ; pessimists 
 say otherwise, — that the music of long ago is heard no more, 
 and that silence now reigns supreme. At that time, too, it was 
 said that by a simple promenade along Granby Street all the 
 society people on Sunday afternoons passed in review, the men 
 wearing " swallow-tails" and black kid gloves and their com- 
 panions of the gentler sex being dressed in the height of fashion. 
 I do not think there is a pen so malicious or a heart so dead to 
 human sympathy as to give utterance to an unkind expression 
 concerning the Norfolk of half a century ago. 
 
 In the autumn of 1837 the vessels of the Exploring Expe- 
 dition left those quiet waters for New York, in order to complete 
 their outfit. A furnace was put in the fore-peak, fitted with a 
 pipe-coil around and within it, which was filled with water and 
 conducted around those parts of the vessel which it was designed 
 to heat. This was to meet the contingency of reaching a high 
 southern latitude, where the icebergs and icy coasts dominate, 
 those of northern waters being mere pygmies in comparison. 
 
32 THE OLD NAVY AND TEE NEW. 
 
 India-rubber balsas, boxes of instruments, and only men of 
 science knew what else, were put on board, but still something 
 interposed ; the vessels of the expedition did not leave. Thus 
 passed the winter of 1837-38. 
 
 During this time one of my classmates, as I came down the 
 ladder, seized a shot-gun that was lying on the mess-table, 
 whirled it quickly into the air, said " Advance and give the 
 countersign," brought the gun to his shoulder, and fired, the 
 charge entering the upper part of the wardroom bulkhead as a 
 solid mass, six feet beyond me. The muzzle was so near me that 
 the bosom of my shirt was blackened by the powder from the 
 gun. The intelligent youth who thus came so near putting an 
 end to the narrator " did not know the gun was loaded." 
 
 In the early spring several companions and myself, tired of a 
 year's delay, applied for leave to go with the Levant, then about 
 ready to sail for the West Indies, and were ordered thereto. She 
 was a new sloop-of-war, and carried a battery of medium thirty- 
 two pounders, which was heavier than that of the older vessels 
 of that class. At that time solid shot only were in use with us, 
 and locks and primers were just beginning to be supplied to great 
 guns. We were bound for Pensacola, then the rendezvous of 
 what was known as the West India squadron. The cruising 
 was almost entirely in the Gulf of Mexico, as uninteresting a 
 sea as exists on the face of the globe. When we sailed the 
 Levant was excessively crowded with midshipmen and other 
 steerage officers sent to supply the half-dozen vessels on the 
 station ; to add further to our discomfort, we went into Norfolk 
 to get a draft of fifty or more sailors to fill deficiencies in the 
 crews. 
 
 In the cabin, as a passenger, was the late Admiral Farragut, 
 then a lieutenant, going out to take command of some small 
 vessel on that station. During the voyage, I made his acquaint- 
 ance at the fore-topmast-head, where he had come to get a look 
 at some small islands to be seen from aloft. He was then per- 
 haps forty years of age, having entered the navy twenty-eight 
 years before, when ten or twelve years old, and was quite active 
 aloft. 
 
 We reached Pensacola in sixteen days. Although Cape Henry 
 
ASSIGNED TO THE SLOOP-OF-WAR V AND ALIA. 33 
 
 is not lacking in sand, it has not the dazzling whiteness of the 
 sand-hills at the entrance to Pensacola, which in the light of the 
 rising sun have much the appearance of snow. 
 
 A day or so after reaching our anchorage off Pensacola I was 
 assigned to the sloop-of-war Vandal ia, that had been on the 
 station for four years. Her bottom was covered inches deep 
 with barnacles, oysters, and marine grasses, which made her 
 exceedingly slow under sail, even with a fresh and fair wind. 
 On receiving my orders, I asked the loan of a bag such as sea- 
 men have for their clothing, and, stowing in it my earthly goods, 
 with the exception of a quadrant, with which I had provided 
 myself, as required by the Regulations, I asked for a ship's boat, 
 and was sent on board of that vessel. On presenting myself to 
 the officer of the deck, he sent me to the captain to report ; he 
 endorsed my order, and, passing out on the quarter-deck, I was 
 taken in charge by the midshipman of the watch, and shown into 
 the steerage, where I was introduced to the captain's clerk, who 
 was also the caterer of the mess, and evidently impressed with 
 the responsibility and the dignity of that title. He informed 
 me that he had laid in the sea-stores and would be pleased to 
 receive my mess-bill, which was ten dollars. I assured him that 
 no delay should occur in meeting my dues. 
 
 In a few days other midshipmen were transferred from the 
 Levant and from the Erie, that soon after came into port from 
 the Atlantic coast. Our mess consisted, before sailing, of a 
 dozen or more, all of whom were midshipmen with the excep- 
 tion of an assistant surgeon who had just entered the navy, and 
 the captain's clerk. 
 
 Our apartment was so ample, compared to the steerage of the 
 Levant, that we felt quite relieved. It extended from one side 
 of the vessel to the other, a distance of about thirty feet, and 
 fore and aft about ten feet. A large hatchway, provided with 
 two ladders, placed near the doors leading into the wardroom, 
 the apartment of the lieutenants, the surgeon, and the purser, led 
 to the spar-deck. 
 
 A bulkhead separated us from the wardroom, as also from 
 the berth-deck, just forward of which were the rooms of the 
 boatswain, gunner, and sail-maker, as also the dispensary, called 
 
 3 
 
34 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 on board the "doctor shop." An air-port about nine inches 
 long and six wide admitted air and light on each side of the 
 steerage, when in port. It was made of heavy oak, and when 
 we went to sea was calked in with oakum by the carpenter, in 
 common with all of the other air-ports on the berth-deck and in 
 the wardroom. Around the apartment, along the sides of the 
 vessel and the bulkheads, were lockers, painted black, about two 
 feet square, in which we stowed our clothing. A camp-stool for 
 every one in the mess, two rude wash-stands and basins, and 
 hooks upon which our hammocks were hung, completed the very 
 simple outfit, with the exception of shelving along the sides of 
 the vessel for our crockery and a few small stores. Our pea- 
 jackets were either suspended from a hammock-hook, as were 
 our individual towels, or were folded and laid over the locker of 
 the owner. These lockers were made use of for " snoozing/' as 
 it was called. The captain's clerk had so cultivated this capacity 
 that quite half the day he was stretched on the lockers with a 
 pea-jacket under his head for a pillow. White drilling panta- 
 loons were usually worn, but, owing to the black paint and the 
 not very clean tops of the lockers, the color of the seats, the 
 knees, and around the ankle-bones was not immaculate, and 
 nobody in this particular showed as marked points as the cap- 
 tain's clerk, who would say, " What's the odds, so long as you're 
 happy?" 
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 Cockroaches — Mediterranean Wingless ones — Impure Water — Bread filled 
 with Bugs — Some Bemarks on the Officers — " How we did Thing s in the 
 Navy" — The Gulf of Mexico — Eating Dolphin — French Vessels block- 
 ading Vera Cruz — The Island and Castle of San Juan— Turtles — Want of 
 Bread — The Aguacate, or Alligator-Pear — The Caterer and the Doctor — 
 Off for Tampico — Sharks — Mosquitoes. 
 
 There was one condition, common to all vessels that had 
 been any length of time in those seas, that was disagreeable in 
 the extreme, and which I never " got used to :" it was the vile 
 odor of cockroaches ; everywhere below decks it was ever pres- 
 
SOME REMARKS ON THE OFFICERS. 35 
 
 ent and repulsive. As soon as the hammocks were hung up, 
 these pests would sally forth from their hiding-places and fly- 
 around, chasing one another in joyful glee. This annoyance 
 was considerably abated after providing a dozen or more large 
 jars with narrow mouths, and putting a little molasses and 
 water in them. Morning after morning, for a month or more, 
 these traps would be brought on deck and emptied overboard, 
 until at length the nuisance was sensibly abated, but still re- 
 mained in disagreeable proportions. In the Mediterranean and 
 some other seas there is a small wingless fellow, as numerous 
 on board vessels " as the sands on the sea-shore." But it is 
 observed that the same vessel is not afflicted with the two kinds : 
 they seem to respect territorial rights in relations with each 
 other. 
 
 Our hard bread was much infested with weevils and other 
 bugs, but by rebaking until crisp it could be eaten by hungry 
 men without repugnance. The salt beef was often tough and 
 indigestible, the rice badly cooked, and the salt pork and bean 
 soup the only delicacy we had, unless a cultivated taste made 
 "duff" acceptable. The greatest annoyance, and what could 
 not fail to be deleterious to health, was the impure water then 
 carried on board of the older sloops-of-war in large wooden 
 casks. The more modern vessels were provided with iron tanks, 
 which conduced greatly to the health and comfort of their crews. 
 The usual daily allowance when at sea was one gallon of water 
 for each person, but on one occasion we were put upon five pints, 
 in a hot climate, in the Gulf of Mexico, where it would be im- 
 possible to get four hundred miles from a water-supply, and at 
 a time, too, when we had six thousand gallons on board. In 
 relation to this I will make further mention. 
 
 When I joined the Vandalia, and for some months thereafter, 
 she was under the command of Commander Gwinn, an amiable 
 officer who had passed the age when decision in emergencies is 
 usual. The lieutenants were quiet and gentlemanly, as was also 
 the surgeon. The purser was a short, heavily-built man, with 
 one eye — a very sinister eye too — and an unusually large abdo- 
 men. He was in no degree attractive, and was reputed to be 
 addicted to gambling. The captain's clerk, our caterer, was 
 
36 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 about thirty years of age, rather small and spare in stature ; he 
 had a contented, self-satisfied smirk, a soiled, oily appearance, 
 and, as my hammock boy said, " never did nothing to nobody." 
 
 In the mess when I joined the vessel was an overgrown young 
 Georgian called Dave, whose parents were originally from the 
 island of Nantucket. He was addicted to singing, with more 
 strength than melody, " Oh, give me back my Arab steed, my 
 shield and falchion bright," and would pass at once, like a parrot, 
 to an impersonation of Mrs. Mai one, and in a simpering tone de- 
 clare that she " was a very long-waisted woman," doubtless a 
 quiet assertion of superiority of form over the prevailing fashion 
 of the day. 
 
 There were Billy B. and Hamilton G., who had also come 
 out on board the Levant. They were already devoted friends. 
 Billy B. was from Kentucky, had made a " cruise around the 
 Horn," and would tell us about Lima and Valparaiso. He had 
 a guitar, and would sing, with or without invitation, of the 
 " roaring Brandy wine," on which vessel he had served. He was 
 usually bland, unless in liquor, and was then sententious and 
 quarrelsome, not sparing even his friend and admirer Hamilton 
 G. The latter was not a man of accomplishments, but prided 
 himself on his " solid worth," his " society blandishments," and 
 extended travels " up the Straits," where he had been on board 
 of the John Adams, during a cruise, in the capacity of a mizzen- 
 topman. He intimated that he was of good family, and spoke 
 of Frank Key as a particular " friend of the family." He was 
 not less than twenty-five years of age, about five and a half feet 
 in height, stoop-shouldered, blear-eyed, with a stupid smile, and 
 spoke with an affected drawl, like many fops of the present day. 
 His most pronounced feature was his bow legs, — bowed to a 
 degree seldom seen in the white race. Even with the very wide 
 trousers worn on board ship, his crooked legs were still notice- 
 able, and when he was tipsy they appeared to sag so greatly 
 that the tails of his full-dress coat almost touched the deck as 
 with self-satisfied mien he walked along. Members of the mess 
 were rude enough at times to hint that his deformity had been 
 caused by the donkey-rides which he boasted of having made 
 when at Port Mahon ; this insinuation was always resented by 
 
"HOW WE DID THINGS IN THE NAVY: 1 37 
 
 a vacant stare at the offender. He was fond of wearing full 
 dress, and usually did so in good weather, for at that time there 
 was no bulletin-board put up daily to inform officers and crew 
 of the dress prescribed. 
 
 We had Barbot, from the Sunny South, who spoke English 
 imperfectly, Waite, from Vermont, Marcy, a son of a late gov- 
 ernor of New York, two young men from Connecticut, one of 
 w r hom would sit quietly for hours without uttering a word, and 
 then, prompted by inspiration, would suddenly rise, " hump his 
 back," and become Richard the Third. Blobbs was from the 
 wilds of the West, and Green, the assistant surgeon, a well- 
 behaved gentleman of studious habits, from one of the New 
 England States. 
 
 Early on the morning of May 4, 1838, we got under way 
 from our anchorage off Pensacola Navy- Yard in company with 
 the Boston, another sloop-of-war. Getting under way at that 
 time was an affair of pomp and circumstance. It seemed to 
 demand all the noise possible : when an ordinary tone of voice 
 would have been heard the length of the vessel, a distance of 
 only one hundred and fifty feet from taffrail to billet-head, the 
 trumpet, as an emblem of authority, had to be flourished and 
 talked through, no matter how impossible it was to understand 
 the order thus delivered. I recall one occasion when the vessel 
 was about coming to anchor. The captain was on deck, to see 
 that everything Avas done in order ; sail had been shortened to 
 topsails and jib, and hands were stationed by both anchors. 
 Then came the mighty order, disturbing an absolute quiet, to 
 " clew up the topsails," " settle the halyards," " haul down the 
 jib," " haul out the spanker," and " put the helm down," to 
 bring the vessel's head to the wind. Then a period of painful 
 stillness oppressed the captain ; it w r as broken by an order 
 through the mighty trumpet, directed to the officer on the fore- 
 castle, " Let go the larboard anchor." The officer on the fore- 
 castle held up his hand to serve as an ear-trumpet, so that he 
 might get the full blast, and said, in a loud, shrill voice, " Did 
 you say the starboard anchor, sir ?" With another blast of the 
 
 trumpet, the captain piped out, " Larboard ! larboard, sir ; d n 
 
 a deaf officer !" To prevent difficulty from the similarity of 
 
38 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 sound there is now no larboard side ; it has, through an official 
 order, become the port side instead. 
 
 The Gulf of Mexico is usually a region of calms and light 
 breezes, with now and then a gale of wind from the northeast, 
 or, more commonly, a norther, which blows with great fury, 
 often with a clear sky. At sunset we invariably sent down 
 top-gallant and royal yards, and, if the wind continued light, 
 sent them up again at eight o'clock in the morning. Sending 
 them down was as religiously observed as the orison of the Ma- 
 hometan. 
 
 The distance to Vera Cruz was only eight hundred and fifty 
 miles. After six days at sea there was visible in the distance, 
 some fifty miles from the coast-line, the magnificent mountain 
 cone of Orizaba, covered with snow from the summit far down 
 its sides. The coast-line continued invisible for hours ; how- 
 ever, with a freshening sea-breeze as we neared the land, the 
 sand-hills near the shore, and Vera Cruz, and the Castle of San 
 Juan de Ulloa came above the horizon. During our passage we 
 caught a dolphin six feet two inches in length, — longer than I 
 have since seen, — but the fish was very thin and spare. It may 
 not be known to landsmen that when a dolphin is cooked a piece 
 of silver is always put in the pan with it, under the supposition 
 that if the fish is poisonous the silver will blacken. I do not 
 know as to the efficacy of this test, but I mention it, having 
 seen newspaper accounts of persons who died from eating dol- 
 phin caught at sea. The fish are never taken in nets, and are 
 found, like sharks, far from land. 
 
 As we neared the usual anchorage we found French vessels 
 blockading the port. The Paixhan gun, as it was then called, 
 had been partially introduced into the French navy three or 
 four years before this time. The frigate Gloire, then at anchor, 
 had at that time eight Paixhan guns of eight inches calibre. A 
 French brig-of-war, the Alcibiade, came out to meet us, and 
 accompanied us to the anchorage at the island of Sacrificios, 
 four miles south of Vera Cruz and the Castle of San Juan de 
 Ulloa, built upon a coral reef, which lies within half a mile and 
 to seaward of the city. 
 
 The w r ater was quite clear and blue, and from the foreyard 
 
TURTLES. 39 
 
 any danger could be distinctly seen, the sea usually breaking at 
 a depth of several fathoms. Although at Sacrificios the actual 
 shelter from the reefs is not very great, and a heavy sea rolls 
 inside and from far beyond the reefs upon which the Castle of 
 San Juan is built, there is no instance to my knowledge of a 
 vessel breaking adrift from her anchors. The island derives its 
 name from having been employed by the native Mexicans in 
 sacrificing human victims before the Spaniards visited their 
 shores. It is a mere patch of sand, having hardly a green sprig 
 upon it, and no animal life save a few lizards. It was, never- 
 theless, an agreeable spot for me to visit ; especially interesting 
 were the reefs, that were barely awash, and swept at times by 
 waves of some height and force. To seaward the water is many 
 fathoms deep, and, being quite clear, numbers of fishes, among 
 others the large and gorgeous parrot-fish, could be seen quite 
 close to the reef, feeding on the barnacles and other shell-fish 
 that attach themselves to the rocks. In a service of a year and 
 a half afloat in that region, I recall no other spot of so much 
 interest to me as this island, and another small one known 
 as Green Island, lying two miles to seaward. It derived its 
 name from a few green bushes growing upon it, and is similar 
 in its surroundings to the island of Sacrificios. The seas that 
 roll in on the reefs were so fresh and cheery to a youth willing 
 to wade out upon them, and to be occasionally knocked off his 
 pins and sent flying into the quiet lagoon with them, that I recall 
 my joy of years ago with satisfaction. I discovered that the 
 lagoons within the reefs on both islands were a favorite resort 
 for young green turtles, and occasionally got permission to take 
 a boat's crew and have a turtle-drive. The men were placed 
 at intervals across the mouth of the lagoon, armed with board- 
 ing-pikes, and advancing towards the head, where it narrowed 
 and shoaled, speared a number of them at first in the shoaler 
 water as they endeavored to pass. It was curious to observe 
 the intelligence shown by these animals, after having been 
 driven several times; they would make a break for the deep 
 sea before we could embay them in the shoaler and narrower 
 waters. 
 
 By the time we reached Vera Cruz our sea-fare had been such 
 
40 THE OLD NAVF AND THE NEW. 
 
 as to sharpen the appetite greatly. It consisted of a bushel or 
 more of decaying potatoes, very old sea-biscuit honey-combed by 
 insects, but if wetted and then baked to a crisp, after the pro- 
 prietors had been ejected, it was eatable when helped down by 
 the "sauce of San Bernardo," — hunger. Tea, bad enough in 
 itself, was not made better when a very indifferent quality of 
 brown sugar was used as " sweetening." Were the tea rejected, 
 the foul water from the casks was all we had to fall back upon 
 to quench thirst. During the voyage the caterer had given us 
 an ideal gastronomic treat, realizable only after reaching Vera 
 Cruz. The morning after the ship anchored he went to the city 
 in the market-boat with our mess-boy. The boat did not re- 
 turn until some time after our ordinary breakfast-hour. Hungry 
 youths impatiently awaited its arrival. At length the caterer 
 stood upon the deck, and with a countenance beaming with satis- 
 faction, said, " Oh, I have such a nice lot of alligator-pears !" 
 Hungry enough, we awaited the serving of a breakfast consisting 
 of indifferent beef, good oranges and bananas, and an abundance 
 of "alligator-pears." Of course our wretched tea and brown 
 sugar formed a part of it. Our messmate Dave asked why the 
 bread was not put upon the table, and was informed by the 
 caterer, in the blandest tone, " that he could get bread at Pensa- 
 cola." " Pensacola !" shouted Dave ; " why, Pensacola is eight 
 hundred miles away !" The caterer explained that when we were 
 at Pensacola bread was obtainable and alligator-pears were not, 
 but somehow that did not seem to satisfy the present want of 
 bread ; the demand was so universal, and so emphatic, that 
 bread thereafter formed a part of the marketing at Vera Cruz, 
 despite the fact that alligator-pears were not obtainable at Pen- 
 sacola. 
 
 The " aguacate," as it is called in Spanish America, is freely 
 translated into " alligator," and " pear" is added from its gen- 
 eral exterior resemblance to that fruit. When cut in two a large, 
 nearly round, seed, forming half of the mass, is found ; around 
 the seed, half an inch or more in thickness, there is a moder- 
 ately soft substance which if seasoned with salt is found in a 
 hot climate to be a very wholesome and delicious substitute for 
 butter. The caterer knew what was good; he had filled not 
 
OFF FOR TAMPICO. 41 
 
 only a basket with them but a small bag also, which the mess- 
 boy sat upon in the boat. The discovery of this fact, through a 
 mass of crushed alligator-pears, seemed to whet the caterer's 
 appetite ; he ate them voraciously, — as he said, " to keep them 
 from spoiling." Thus amply and luxuriously fed, with plenty 
 of room on the lockers " to snooze," and so little to do as not 
 materially to interfere with his quiet habits, he greatly enjoyed 
 life, and at times, after the sea-breezes set in, would promenade 
 an hour or more on the port side of the quarter-deck, parading 
 his white pantaloons and black points before alluded to. During 
 one of these dress-parades he observed the doctor quite filled 
 with mirth, the more, perhaps, as his mien was generally grave. 
 The curiosity of the caterer was aroused, and he urged the doc- 
 tor to tell what so greatly amused him ; for a time the latter 
 evaded and refused the request, but the caterer was so urgent 
 that at length the doctor gave way to importunity, when prom- 
 ised that the caterer would in no wise become annoyed or an- 
 gered. Then said the doctor, " Your walk so reminds me of 
 the waddling of a goose that I really cannot help laughing every 
 time I see you promenading." Quite forgetful of his promise, 
 — indeed, entirely regardless of it, — the caterer got angry, and 
 never thereafter felt quite reconciled to the doctor. This lack 
 of faith preyed upon the doctor, and, suffering under misplaced 
 confidence, he disclosed to the writer the utterly unreasonable 
 conduct of the caterer. 
 
 The anchorage off Sacrificios was not without its attractions , 
 in addition to the turtle-drives, the ceaseless roar of the surf on 
 the reefs, coming in the stillness of the night, undisturbed by 
 other sound, the usual quiet aspect of the skies, and the first 
 sight of the constellation of the Southern Cross above the hori- 
 zon, were all sources of gratification to a young traveller, who 
 found even the smell of the mould that in the tropics comes off 
 with the land-breeze, and the light nightly showers in the begin- 
 ning of the rainy season, interesting aspects of nature. 
 
 After lying at anchor for five weeks, we got under way for 
 the anchorage off Tampico, and arrived after a voyage of four 
 days. The usual depth of water on the bar is twelve feet ; as 
 there is a considerable discharge of water from the river and an 
 
42 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 ocean-swell meeting it, the bar is at times very rough, and many 
 persons attempting to cross it in boats have been drowned. 
 
 I was sent in charge of a boat, and on crossing saw for the 
 first time the back fins of a number of sharks lying in wait for 
 what they could pick up. They were known to be quite as fond 
 of seizing a man as the fish frequenting the entrance, which 
 was their ordinary diet. After crossing we had a pull of about 
 six miles up the river, to the town of Tampico, where I landed 
 the one-eyed purser, and was directed to go off to a small Ameri- 
 can schooner lying at anchor in the stream, on board of whicfy 
 we would pass the night. The cabin was small, and a very sick 
 man, perhaps with yellow fever, seemed to be about all that it 
 would hold, and, as the forecastle was quite inadequate to accom- 
 modate my boat's crew, we took up our quarters on the deck. 
 After sunset the mosquitoes came oif in swarms, finding a fresh 
 supply of food to prey upon. There was not much rest for my 
 boat's crew or myself that night. The sails of the vessel were 
 hoisted, to facilitate her escape should the town be taken by a 
 besieging force during the night. At the striking of a bell every 
 quarter of an hour, the cry of " alerto," from the sentries all 
 around the town, could be heard. The tack of the mainsail 
 was triced up ten or a dozen feet, forming a bight ; during the 
 night I climbed up the mast and down the hoops into the bight, 
 where I had a comfortable bed, but no sleep, for the mosquitoes 
 pursued and found me. At early daylight some one, quite 
 against my protests, lowered the tack and spilled me out on 
 deck. I then took my boat's crew, pulled into the wharf, pur- 
 chased oranges and bananas for myself and the men, and awaited 
 the arrival of the one-eyed purser. After an hour or two he 
 came down, with the appearance of having also suffered from 
 mosquitoes. When we reached the mouth of the river the 
 sea was rougher from a stiff breeze setting in, but we crossed 
 the bar without mishap, although we took in a good deal of 
 water. 
 
 I regret not being able to give a fuller account of Tampico, 
 but may state that I have been told, by persons who have seen 
 more of it, that I could not by any possibility have found it a 
 subject of interest, had I seen all the town at its best. 
 
A DUEL SETTLED. 43 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 Sails for Pensacola — Billy B. and Hamilton G-., the Society Men — A Duel 
 settled— Fulano — A Boat in a Norther — Taking of San Juan de Ulloa by 
 the French — The Prince de Joinville — A Weil-Known and Popular Officer 
 presents a Pig — The Mess gives a Dinner — A Temperance Society — Com- 
 mander Uriah P. Levy takes command of the Vandalia — An Irate Landlord 
 — Cleopatra's Barge — Changes in the Wardroom — Lieutenants Gist and 
 Maffit — The Fall of the Temperance Society. 
 
 On reaching the vessel we left at once for Galveston, and, 
 owing to calms, were actually ten days in making a passage of 
 only five hundred miles. We remained at anchor off that port 
 one day, and were ten days reaching Pensacola, a distance of 
 five hundred miles, arriving on the 13th of July, 1838. 
 
 Our society men, Billy B. and Hamilton G., went on shore 
 frequently ; being in different watches, it was not possible at all 
 times for them to go together, but they gave society all the time 
 they could spare from the performance of their official duties. 
 When one returned, he would have much to say to the other in 
 a half-mysterious and gratulatory way. Stretching out his left 
 hand and laying the palm of the other slowly upon it, Hamilton 
 G. would say, in his slow and cultivated ' drawl, " I saw her, 
 Billy." Billy would smile blandly, and, in a low, half-confiden- 
 tial tone, ask what she said. " Oh, Billy, I will tell you all 
 some time." A more self-satisfied man could not have been 
 found. When they went on shore together, they would usually 
 come on board in the darkness of the night, and altogether " too 
 full for utterance." 
 
 A few days before sailing on a short cruise these worthies had 
 a quarrel on shore, and were making preparations to fight a duel. 
 Fulano, who was something of a busybody, thought it worth 
 while to prevent it, which he did by inviting the one after the 
 other, when the night was quite dark, under the topgallant-fore- 
 castle, where the second comer did not know of the presence of 
 any one save the one with whom he came. With rare diplo- 
 matic skill, Fulano referred to the strong attachment existing 
 
44 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 between Billy B., who was the last comer, and Hamilton G., 
 who had kindly consented to await Fulano's return, when they 
 would smoke a cigar and talk over the intended duel. When 
 Fulano had thus placed them face to face, although unseen, he 
 said he thought it wholly unnecessary and unwise that such de- 
 voted friends should, in mere punctilio, from too nice a sense of 
 honor, be willing to shed each other's blood. He informed them 
 that they were both listening to what he was saying, and he 
 trusted they would make mutual apologies, and thus avert the 
 duel appointed to take place at early daylight. This ended in 
 an immediate reconciliation, an expression of mutual regard and 
 admiration, and an avowal that, should one or the other have 
 fallen, the survivor could hardly have forgiven himself for 
 having deprived the navy of so brilliant an ornament ; they 
 embraced each other warmly, vowed that Fulano had become a 
 friend for life, and there was nothing on earth that they would not 
 do to serve him. One or two days after, when at sea, Fulano 
 sent a message to Billy B. that he " would be pleased to be 
 relieved from his watch to go below to get a cup of tea ;" Billy 
 B. sent a reply that " there was no relief in dog-watches." The 
 mess regarded the conduct of Fulano in preventing this duel as 
 well meant, but, nevertheless, officious, uncalled for, and against 
 the best interests of the service ; and, from what he said to me 
 afterwards, he eventually came to the same conclusion. 
 
 During the more than fifty years since this occurrence, there 
 has been a gradual change of opinion as to the necessity of 
 duelling as a means of maintaining a reasonable courtesy among 
 officers. In the twenty-one years that I have passed on board of 
 vessels, although challenges have frequently occurred, no duel has 
 resulted, from a reasonable consideration of the difficulty by the 
 seconds. Bearing in mind the excellent advice given me by Mr. 
 Hamer when he brought me to the sea-coast to join a vessel, — 
 namely, to avoid being insulting, and never submit to an insult, — 
 I have never received a challenge nor have I ever thought it neces- 
 sary to send one. I have, nevertheless, been a second several times, 
 with the happy result of composing the difficulties without the 
 actual use of pistols or other weapons. As duelling is no longer 
 tolerated in our naval service, the settling of difficulties has 
 
A BOAT IN A NORTHER. 45 
 
 brought about a system of arbitration which possibly may not 
 always be satisfactory to an aggrieved party, but at all events 
 must be relatively more so than a demand from a quarrelsome 
 person in his cups for " satisfaction/' when his conduct had been 
 such as to lead to a possible discourtesy or an avoidance of him 
 which he would construe into an insult, or from actual discour- 
 tesies growing out of differences of opinion or other causes. 
 
 The cruise was to be one of only about six weeks ; our old 
 captain had left the ship ; Commodore Dallas hoisted his flag 
 on board, and the first lieutenant served as captain, although 
 remaining in the wardroom mess. We arrived at Vera Cruz 
 in about ten days, and a day or two after anchoring had a very 
 severe norther. At nine a.m. the weather was charming ; the 
 third cutter left for Vera Cruz on some duty, but had not got 
 three miles from the ship when a thin white arch was visible in 
 the north, which arose rapidly; then came a frisky breeze, 
 ruffling the surface of the water, and in a few minutes it was so 
 fresh that the boat could no longer make headway against it. 
 It was necessary to bear away and run, nearly before the wind, 
 for the ship. The mast was stepped, a lug-sail hooked on to 
 the halyards and hoisted only three feet, and the boat ran before 
 the wind, but the seas were more rapid in movement, and broke 
 over the stern. A little more of the sail was hoisted, and the 
 boat fairly flew over the rough seas. She was reported to the 
 first lieutenant as coming down under a heavy press of sail ; he 
 rushed forward, and alternately waved his trumpet over his 
 head as a sign, and yelled through it. In the roar of the wind 
 and of the sea it was a vain attempt : only those by his side 
 could hear the order, "Lower your sail, sir." Perhaps the 
 waving of the trumpet was unseen by the officer of the boat, 
 even when close to the bow of the ship ; then the sail was 
 quickly lowered, the mast unstepped, the oars got out, and the 
 boat rounded to by the helm close under the stern, and the 
 officer and boat's crew ascended by one of the " Jacob's ladders" 
 that are carried suspended to the quarters on board of vessels 
 of war. An attempt to bring a boat alongside in such a wind 
 and sea would have ended in the loss of the boat and her crew. 
 There is no one quality so necessary to safety afloat as common 
 
46 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 sense, and Bertody had that, but had seen little service at sea. 
 The boat was moored by a tow-line to each quarter, and yet was 
 swamped by the force of the gale. The Yandalia let go a sheet- 
 anchor, sent down topgallant-masts, and lower yards, and housed 
 topmasts, and in a very short time too. In those seas at that time 
 mast-pennants were kept rove, and " jeer falls" got up and hooked, 
 when at anchor, so the force of the gale made little hinderance 
 to sending down spars and housing masts. 
 
 During our absence from Vera Cruz in the early summer, the 
 French had attacked and taken the castle of San Juan de Ulloa. 
 The Prince de Joinville at that time commanded a brig-of-war, 
 and was said to have shown great skill as a seaman, as well 
 as other high qualities of an officer in the attack. He was then 
 quite a youth, — and that is a long time ago. 
 
 After a few days at anchor, we left for Tampico, and found 
 off that port a French brig-of-war blockading, and one of our 
 brigs-of-war at anchor. John Junius Boyle was her first lieu- 
 tenant, and soon came on board. He was a heavily-built man, 
 with a humorous expression of countenance, and his " sayings" 
 are more quoted now than those of any other officer known to 
 me. After reaching the deck, he partially unbuttoned his coat, 
 and took from within it a small pig, of which he said many 
 pleasant things, holding it in both hands before him, and ad- 
 dressed his conversation to our first lieutenant, who had come 
 on deck to receive him. The pig seemed to appreciate the com- 
 pliments paid, as it remained entirely passive or gave an occa- 
 sional grunt of satisfaction. The speech was one of presentation 
 of the pig, not as a beast to be slaughtered, but as an animal of 
 rare intelligence, who would delight the hearts of all and would 
 become so ingratiated in the affections of every one " that he 
 would be found in everybody's mess and in nobody's watch." 
 At length the pig was placed upon the deck, and at once seemed 
 to be at home. 
 
 Boyle went below, and, after spending an hour or so, came 
 on deck and went over the side, informing our first lieutenant 
 that "he had the candle of existence lighted at both ends." 
 Notwithstanding the improvident use he made of his " candle," 
 it did not burn out until August, 1870. 
 
THE MESS GIVES A DINNER. 47 
 
 The pig lived in great luxury for some months, and then died 
 by accident, due to its sympathetic disposition. In hoisting a 
 cask, it slipped and fell upon the pig. The sailors had made it 
 a hammock, in which it always slept ; when it wished to be put 
 in it or taken out, a squeal would at once bring an attendant. 
 It showed wonderful sagacity, was " in everybody's mess and in 
 nobody's watch," and, had it not been in attendance when the 
 casks were hoisted, might have " lived in peace, and died in its 
 own grease," for it was very fat. 
 
 Our mess gave a dinner to the midshipmen on board of the 
 French blockading brig. It could hardly be called a banquet 
 nor a feast, but certainly there was an abundance of whiskey. 
 Nothing unusually frisky occurred during the presence of our 
 visitors, but after they left the festivities of the table were 
 resumed. 
 
 Hamilton G., all radiant with satisfaction, as full as a jug, and 
 yet with a goblet of whiskey and water in his hand, that he 
 hoped " to worry down," stood up and, somewhat incoherently, 
 said, " Gentlemen, I will trouble you to rise ; I have a toast to 
 propose that should be drunk standing." The request to rise 
 was complied with, and he added, " Now, gentlemen, I propose 
 the health of Frank Key and Henry Clay, my future guardians." 
 
 " Bravo !" shouted Billy B. ; " of course we will," and he 
 smiled and nodded approvingly. 
 
 After the lapse of some minutes and the telling of some 
 stories supposed suitable to the occasion, Hamilton G. again 
 claimed the attention of the festive board. He said he had a 
 toast to propose, which he hoped all would honor with a bumper ; 
 he wished them to drink it standing, and again gave " the health 
 of Frank Key and Henry Clay, his future guardians." 
 
 " Why, d n it," said Billy B., " we have just drunk a toast 
 
 to them !" 
 
 " Well, what of that ?" said Hamilton G. in a tone of offended 
 dignity; " you cannot do better than to drink to my future 
 guardians again." 
 
 Billy B. bridled up and refused ; this led to a wrangle, and 
 finally he walked around the table, and with a blow of his fist 
 made his dear friend " carry a stiff upper lip" for some days. 
 
48 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 It swelled out to a level with the end of his nose, and gave 
 him a very eomical appearance. 
 
 At the usual time of inspection at quarters, the lieutenant of 
 Hamilton G.'s division not being on deck, that worthy walked 
 aft to report. His heavy load of liquor made his legs sag 
 greatly, and his staggering gait, blear eyes, and bunged lip were 
 too much for the first lieutenant to pass over, and he suspended 
 him from duty and sent him below. This treatment stirred to 
 its depths the virtuous indignation of Hamilton G. He paced 
 up and down the narrow apartment, with one hand extended 
 and the palm of the other hand placed upon it from time to 
 time, and, with his elegant yawn and drawl, said, " I am sorry 
 for the poor fellow," alluding to the officer who had suspended 
 him, " but I will have to write to Frank Key and Henry Clay, 
 my future guardians, and they will have him dismissed ; they 
 won't suffer such an indignity to be put upon me." His 
 "future guardians," it is scarcely necessary to say, were not 
 heard from. 
 
 We had anchored much nearer the shore at Tampico than on 
 our former visit,, and saw with some surprise the beach lined 
 for several hundreds of yards with large white pelicans. They 
 had black wings and heads, and, standing bolt upright, had the 
 appearance from a distance of soldiers on parade. At a favor- 
 able time of the tide, or when schools of fishes appeared, they 
 would leave en masse, and nothing more would be seen of them 
 until they again rested in line on the beach, ready to load their 
 immense pouches under the beak with a fish of several pounds 
 in weight, when they would fly of? to feed their young. Along 
 the Florida coast and in the less-frequented parts of Pensacola 
 Bay there were dozens of the dark and smaller pelicans to be 
 seen securing their prey. The same species were also seen on 
 the shores near Vera Cruz, but the large white ones I have seen 
 on no other shore than that of Tampico and near the mouth of 
 the Rio Grande. 
 
 We were not sorry to leave for Pensacola, for a sandy beach 
 covered at times with a long line of pelicans could not continue 
 to interest. Pensacola was preferable j we could at least take a 
 walk and get bread there. Struck with repentance, it may be, 
 
COMMANDER LEVY TAKES COMMAND OF THE VAN D ALIA. 49 
 
 or possibly to avoid a court-martial, a temperance society, com- 
 posed of those who were in the habit of drinking a considerable 
 amount of whiskey, and having no membership among those 
 who drank none, was at once formed, and our unfortunate mess- 
 mate was restored to duty ; then everything went on smoothly 
 with Billy B. and Hamilton G. The members of the society 
 were not seen to drink any liquor, but bread-puddings are a dry 
 kind of food without good sauce, and as a sauce nothing seemed to 
 the members of the temperance society so acceptable as whiskey 
 and brown sugar. With abundant sauce the bread-pudding 
 was much praised, and formed a considerable part of the dinner. 
 Bets were made as to the day and hour of our anchoring in 
 the harbor, which were invariably of brandy fruit, usually of 
 cherries, which were esteemed a palatable food. On our arrival 
 the strictly temperance men enjoyed a dish of this fruit greatly ; 
 everybody knows that " there are more ways of killing a dog 
 than choking him to death on bread-pudding." 
 
 On the 24th of November, 1838, Commander Uriah P. Levy 
 took command of the Vandalia, and the vessel soon after devel- 
 oped into a very lively " bear-garden." He had entered the 
 navy in 1812 as a sailing-master, a grade not then in the line 
 of promotion, in 1817 was promoted to lieutenant, and twenty 
 years later to commander. If we suppose that he was twenty- 
 one years of age when he entered the navy, he was forty-seven 
 when he took command of the Vandalia, and possibly some 
 years older. He was below the medium height, robustly built, 
 had a squeaky voice, sharp black eyes, and a rather dark and 
 oily look. He was fussy in manner, and evidently desirous of 
 impressing one and all with the idea " that he was somebody." 
 He was not a Jew, because he ate ham ; but that act in itself 
 could not make him a Christian. Whatever I learned when 
 under his command was wholly by indirection, and that is not 
 only a painful way, but often leads to the development of very 
 bad and uncharitable qualities. 
 
 Before the arrival of the Vandalia, Commander Levy had 
 been for some days at a hotel in Pensacola. He is supposed to 
 have told the landlord that some of his effects had been stolen, 
 whereupon the latter is said to have ordered him to leave the 
 
 4 
 
50 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 house. This report coming to the ears of our first lieutenant, 
 who was of fiery temper, he went on shore at once and offered 
 his services to Commander Levy, to go with him and put the 
 landlord to death. The offer was respectfully declined with 
 thanks, much to Levy's credit. Ten or more years later he 
 advocated the abolition of flogging in the navy, and claimed 
 to have brought about this reform. It was, however, mainly 
 effected through the efforts of Commodore Stockton, who had 
 resigned from the naval service, and was then a Senator from 
 the State of New Jersey. The abolition of flogging was a great 
 advance, and has done more to elevate the studies and character 
 of officers of the navy than any other one thing, simply by 
 denying them the immediate or actual use of brute force in the 
 training and government of men. 
 
 Soon after taking command, Levy seized upon one of the 
 double-banked quarter-boats pulling twelve oars, and discarded 
 the captain's gig, a single-banked boat pulling six oars. He 
 called her the " Cleopatra's barge." As he commanded the 
 Vandalia, and could not by any possibility pass for Cleopatra, 
 even in disguise, it indicates that in acquiring " Parisian French" 
 he had forgotten his mother-tongue, — just like many persons 
 who pass some time in Paris at the present day. The " Cleo- 
 patra's barge" had a blue-and-gold streak painted around her 
 near the water-line, and a very long pennant-staff with a large 
 brass star surmounting it was stepped in the bow when the boat 
 left the ship. The pose of the occupant on such occasions was 
 so consequential as to be ridiculous. 
 
 Before we went to sea again, quite a number of changes took 
 place in the officers of the wardroom. Among others, our cap- 
 tain's clerk left, his place being supplied' by a gentlemanly little 
 native of the soil of Florida, with hair and eyebrows quite 
 silvery, like the sand on the shore. While the clerk that left 
 was a negative loss, the one who came was a positive gain. If 
 his object in coming to sea was to visit foreign lands, he was 
 favored, so far as being able to go to Vera Cruz at the risk of 
 dying with the yellow fever, and of visiting my favorite spots, 
 Green and Sacrificios Islands. Besides these advantages, he 
 got a sight of the land at the entrance of the Rio Bravo, and 
 
THE FALL OF THE TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 51 
 
 was actually within four miles of it, and saw the white pelicans 
 on the sand-beach at Tampico, and, by going aloft when we 
 were at anchor off Galveston, was able to see the sand-beach 
 upon which were built the houses whose roofs were plainly in 
 sight from the deck. 
 
 Lieutenant Spencer C. Gist and Acting Lieutenant John N. 
 Maffit were among those who came into the wardroom, of whom 
 I shall have more to say hereafter. We had also a passed mid- 
 shipman of Maffit's date, who became our messmate, and was 
 as unlike him as possible. He was long, sallow, stupid, and 
 selfish ; by what means or hidden influences he was invested 
 with the uniform of a passed midshipman has always been a 
 puzzle to me. After our commander joined us we lay at anchor 
 three months off Pensacola. 
 
 Soon after reaching port, the absence of bread-puddings and 
 the unreasonable cost of brandy fruit gradually undermined the 
 temperance society, which tottered and fell. Billiard-rooms with 
 gaudy fittings and appendages were among the attractions of 
 Pensacola, and during these three months at anchor were much 
 visited by the officers of the Vandalia and of the other vessels-of- 
 war in the harbor. The proprietor of one of them had several 
 large hounds that were quite at home, and were on the lookout 
 for crackers thrown to them by the visitors. One evening our 
 bow-legged messmate, with cue in hand, had struck an elegant 
 posture, with feet apart, when a hound, intent on securing a 
 cracker, ran between his legs and very nearly threw him down. 
 This greatly enraged him, and he indulged in expressions that 
 may be imagined but not repeated. After that occurrence our 
 messmate Dave observed that some of our towels that were 
 usually hung up over our lockers were no longer to be found. 
 He remarked also an apparent change in the external appear- 
 ance of the bow legs before mentioned. From a simple exter- 
 nal view they appeared to have received a considerable growth 
 or accession on the inside, that partially filled the considerable 
 space between them. Out of pure delicacy, I suppose, no in- 
 quiry was made as to the apparent change of figure of the 
 individual, nor as to what had become of the towels that from 
 time to time had disappeared from the hammock-hooks. How 
 
52 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 they were secured, to effect the apparent change of anatomy, 
 we never knew. Perhaps even Billy B. was never taken into 
 the confidence of his dear friend in this matter. I don't know 
 that the shape of the man was more comely, but one thing was 
 evident, — there was less space for a dog to pass between his 
 legs, and after that change we heard of no attempt of one to do so. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Sails from Pensacola — Getting over the Bar — Bagdad — Trouble in getting 
 "Water — "Pooh! pooh!" from the Captain — Drilling at a Great Gun — 
 Under "Way for the Mexican Coast — Lieutenant Gist's Lawyer's Fee in 
 Tennessee — Drowning of Lieutenant Paul — Arrival at Vera Cruz — Col- 
 lision with a French Brig-of-War, with Loss of Life — The Author, chased 
 by a Bull, takes to the "Water — Getting rid of an Unpleasant Messmate — 
 Hamilton G. " in Trouble" — The South Pass of the Mississippi — A "Water- 
 Spout. 
 
 With our new officers, we left the delights of Pensacola on 
 the 3d of February, on the 7th and 8th had a heavy northeast 
 gale, and nine days after sailing anchored in nine fathoms of 
 water twelve sea miles northeast by north of the mouth of the 
 Rio Bravo. We anchored with a large hawser and kedge, in- 
 stead of a bow-anchor, and close-reefed the topsails and foresail, 
 prepared for heavy weather, which at that season of the year 
 frequently came without any indication of the change. 
 
 When we left Pensacola, we had on board a little less than 
 ten thousand gallons of fresh water for the voyage. On leaving 
 port, we were at once put on an allowance of three quarts a day 
 per man, which made a daily expenditure of one hundred and 
 thirty-eight gallons, and at that rate a supply for seventy days. 
 The captain's cabin had a liberal supply of small casks in the 
 pantry, which, being filled before sailing, made the addition of 
 three quarts per day for the captain and his servants rather a 
 nominal than a close allowance. Although anchored with 
 stream-cable and a kedge, and close-reefing the topsails before 
 
GETTING OVER THE BAR. 53 
 
 furling them, we hoisted out the launch, put the water-casks in 
 her, to pull twelve miles, cross the bar, and then to recross it 
 when deeply laden. On now referring to the charts, it is seen 
 that we could have safely anchored at a distance of three miles 
 from the bar. 
 
 Billy B. was the senior midshipman, and, by usage in the 
 service, assigned to the command of the launch. On being 
 called for that duty, he said he was suffering from a liver ail- 
 ment, and when asked the seat of pain, his liver was foundto 
 be on the wrong side. He was very badly contrived in every 
 way, and his liver may have been improperly located. 
 
 The honor of commanding the launch was then conferred 
 upon me, and at about three o'clock, or perhaps a little earlier, 
 we left the ship, with the certainty of not being able to reach 
 the bar until after dark. The boat could not make four knots 
 an hour in a long pull, and we were twelve marine miles away. 
 The water, fortunately, was smooth, but the night was dark and 
 threatening. We had an ordinary ship's lantern and some 
 matches that would not ignite, and, as we could not steer by 
 compass with advantage, we pulled in until we could see the 
 breakers on the beach, and then tried to pull along parallel to 
 them. After rowing along the coast rather slowly for an hour 
 or more, it was quite dark ; all at once the cockswain exclaimed, 
 " Good God, sir, look there !" On the port quarter of the boat a 
 heavy breaker was rolling in upon us ; the helm was put hard- 
 a-port, and the oars used to get the boat before the sea, which 
 luckily was done, and in we went, through and with the surf, as 
 we at first supposed on an open beach. After reaching a low sand- 
 beach upon which the bow struck lightly, we found the water 
 agitated, but no longer rough. We had actually crossed the 
 bar and were in the mouth of the river. As would naturally 
 be supposed, the waters of the river had pushed the bar out 
 beyond the line of coast-breakers, and thus we had become 
 embayed and crossed a very dangerous bar, without accident, 
 by the merest chance. We rowed the boat several hundred 
 yards within the mouth of the river, and made her fast to the 
 shore, on the right bank, where a few huts were seen on the site 
 of the present town known as Bagdad. 
 
54 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Several of the inhabitants came down, such as get their living 
 by supplying the wants and luxuries of seamen j they pointed 
 out an unoccupied carpenter's shop near by, and suggested that 
 it would be a comfortable place for us to pass the night. After 
 making a detail of the cockswain and four men to remain by 
 the boat and fill the casks with water during the night, I took 
 the remainder of the crew and went to the shop. By virtue of 
 my rank, I cleared off the carpenter's bench, put my pistols and 
 pea-jacket under my head for a pillow, and soon went to sleep, 
 intending to get up at early daylight and prevent the men from 
 getting drunk. That was a vain idea ; they had taken time by 
 the forelock and had got drunk the night before, or sufficiently 
 so to require little more in the morning to complete the job. 
 As soon as it was light, I aroused the men in the shop and 
 started down to the boat with them. As we went along, a tall, 
 gawky fellow named McKinney, with pop-eyes, looking as 
 though he were being choked, started for the village. I ordered 
 him back, but he kept on ; then I drew my sword and went 
 after him. He at once begged that I would not kill him ; I 
 assured him that I would assume an innocuous desuetude (per- 
 haps not in those words) if he would obey my order and go at 
 once to the boat, which he did promptly. 
 
 On getting to the boat, I found nothing whatever had been 
 done towards filling the casks with water, and we at once dili- 
 gently set to work filling them ; but, having only one funnel, 
 this took perhaps two hours. As soon as they were filled, we 
 shoved off; the water on the bar was unusually smooth, so in 
 passing out we shipped only a few buckets of water; with 
 twelve miles to pull, and half-drunken men, it was near noon 
 bef re we got alongside. 
 
 The officer of the deck had been directed to send me forth- 
 with to the captain's cabin, and thither I w T ent, not in a very 
 amiable or conciliatory mood. The captain said, in his quer- 
 ulous, squeaky voice, " Why did you stay so long, sir ? Why 
 did you not come out last night?" I replied, because we had 
 crossed the bar going in, with great risk to our lives ; in fact, 
 that the boat had not capsized was purely accidental. To this 
 he said, " Pooh ! pooh !" I informed him that had he been in 
 
DRILLING AT A GREAT GUN. 55 
 
 the boat he would not have pooh-poohed at all. He said that 
 he had me " foul," a well-understood if not an elegant expres- 
 sion, in use by seamen, and perhaps sometimes by policemen. 
 I replied that I had not been ordered to return in the night, 
 and, had such an order been given me, I would not have obeyed 
 it ; that I would not expose the lives of men placed under my 
 command without any necessity for doing so. He told me he 
 would try me by court-martial and break me, and I said that 
 when I did anything contrary to naval law I hoped he would, 
 whereupon he ordered me out of his cabin. From that time 
 forth, up to November, when the vessel went out of commission 
 at Norfolk, no compliments passed between us, but quite a 
 number of conversations of the same strain as the above ; yet, 
 for some reason, he never ventured to suspend me. His con- 
 duct and language gave me no concern, as I felt abundantly 
 able to deal with him in his own coin, and indeed did so as long 
 as I was under his command. 
 
 Watering ship at this disadvantage of distance and great risk 
 to life was kept up for six days, happily without the capsizing 
 of a boat, — when it was a question of getting specie safely on 
 board. On February 19 we shifted our anchorage to a bearing 
 of east-northeast from the bar, and at a distance of six miles 
 therefrom. We could just as well have anchored east of the bar 
 within three miles of it, and sent a boat just outside of it to 
 rescue drowning men should another boat in crossing the bar be 
 capsized. The force of the current would send the swamped 
 boat and crew through the breakers, but whether the sharks would 
 not seize upon the men before their shipmates could rescue them 
 would be a doubtful matter. Lieutenants Gist and Maffit were 
 sent in after the specie, and were detained a day or two by the 
 roughness of the bar. They reached the vessel with the money 
 on the 21st. Seven of the boat's crew had deserted. We then 
 left for the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River. 
 
 The midshipmen at one time and another were ordered to drill 
 at a great gun ; this was performed in full dress, with cocked 
 hat and sword, as a voluntary tribute to so grand an occasion. 
 When ordered to exercise the mizzen-topsail in reefing and furl- 
 ing, full dress was dispensed with ; the sword certainly would 
 
56 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 have been embarrassing if worn in reefing and furling, and the 
 cocked hat would have seemed out of place. Maffit was officer 
 of the deck, the long and lank passed midshipman in the top, 
 Dave, being large and strong, had the weather earing in reefing, 
 and Blobbs the lee one. When making a close reef, Blobbs 
 hailed the deck, and expressed a doubt as to whether the earing 
 was properly hauled out ; the lank man in the top was ordered 
 out on the yard, to give personal instruction. This he was not 
 disposed to do ; he told Blobbs to keep silence, and reported to 
 the officer of the deck that the earing was all right. This excited 
 the ire of Blobbs, who became abusive, and told him to come 
 out on the yard-arm if he dared ; that he would seize him by 
 the back of the neck and throw him overboard into the sea, like 
 a sick kitten. Such talk naturally made a coolness between the 
 long, cadaverous passed midshipman and the little, dried-up, chol- 
 eric aspirant for naval glory, but no fight or duel came out of it. 
 
 With such diversions, and heavy weather for a day or so, we 
 passed along on our voyage, and anchored off the Southwest Pass 
 on the 29th of February. The following day the tug-boat 
 Tiger came out, and, although there was a heavy rolling sea, we 
 hoisted the specie, said to be about one hundred thousand Mexi- 
 can dollars, on board the Tiger, with great risk of some packages 
 getting overboard. The commander, purser, and a passenger or 
 so, who had come with the money, then left in the tow-boat for 
 New Orleans. 
 
 On the 4th of March the officers returned, and the next day 
 we got under way for the Mexican coast. Lieutenant Gist had 
 the watch from eight to midnight, and I was officer of the fore- 
 castle ; we had a good, fresh breeze on the port quarter, and with 
 the fore-topmast studding-sail set, made some nine or ten knots 
 an hour, which was the most the vessel could do from the ex- 
 treme foulness of her bottom. We had a bright moon, and were 
 going along charmingly ; I was hailed to come aft, and on reach- 
 ing the poop, where Gist was standing, he asked me, in his 
 humorous way, if I knew the most important duty of a mid- 
 shipman, and then added : it was to listen to what the officer of 
 the deck should tell him, and in that manner keep him wide 
 awake. 
 
LIEUTENANT GIST'S LAWYER'S FEE IN TENNESSEE. 57 
 
 He then told me one of his inimitably droll stories about his 
 law-practice in the mountains of Tennessee, where he was born, 
 and resided, when not on duty. He said that, having gained a 
 suit, he visited his client to get his fees. On making known 
 his object, the man said he had not a cent in the world, but was 
 nevertheless desirous of paying him, and, looking around the 
 room, said, " There is a clock, and a very good one, too ; what 
 do you say to taking that ?" As there appeared to be no like- 
 lihood of getting anything else, he expressed his willingness to 
 accept it. The clock was taken down, and the hammer tied 
 with a string to prevent it striking the bell, as it did in striking 
 the hour, and a cord Avas made use of to secure the clock to his 
 back. Everything being arranged satisfactorily, the man held 
 his colt, and he mounted and started homeward ; he had gone 
 a mile or so only, when the hammer worked loose and began 
 pounding on the bell ; this frightened the colt, which ran away, 
 and finally threw him violently, and the clock was broken all 
 to pieces. The absurdity of the story seemed to afford him an 
 ample recompense, not only for his law-services, but as well for 
 the bodily injuries sustained when thrown. 
 
 Gist had a face like the full round moon, which beamed with 
 satisfaction ; the ship rolled violently, and he barely escaped 
 falling overboard by clinging to a quarter- boat that was topped 
 up. The trumpet which he had in his hand went overboard, 
 and, when I told him that he had barely escaped following it, 
 his face was radiant with humor, as he said that it would not 
 have made any difference ; he felt sure that I would have 
 brought the ship by the wind and picked him up. I said that, 
 with a topmast studding-sail set, it would have taken some time, 
 and I feared that he would have drowned. "Not at all," said 
 he ; "I can swim ten miles, and it would have been all right." 
 
 Five days later, on the 10th of March, we were some forty 
 miles north of Tampico, and some ten or more miles from the 
 coast-line. We had the first watch again ; but the night was 
 dark and cloudy, especially over the land, and the breeze quite 
 light. The spanker was set, which prevented Gist seeing to 
 leeward, the vessel being headed to the southward and the wind 
 easterly. He sent me on the lee side to watch the weather, that 
 
58 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 looked threatening over the land. When we were alone he 
 usually called me " Jupiter/' and was asking me a question, al- 
 though the sail was between us, as to what I would do in a certain 
 contingency were I in charge of the deck, when the commander 
 came upon him suddenly in the dark and heard our conversation. 
 Gist was directed to take in the spanker, and after giving some 
 orders for the night the commander went into his cabin. Gist 
 called me over and wished to know whether I objected to being 
 called " Jupiter." I assured him that I was entirely indifferent 
 as to what he called me, provided I understood that he meant 
 me. That made him feel easy, as he thought the commander 
 might be disposed to make an inquiry about it ; he began his 
 stories, and I was his audience until midnight, when, as usual, I 
 went below to call our reliefs. I was soon relieved, and, being 
 very tired, went to sleep at once. 
 
 Lieutenant Paul, who was Gist's relief, was some time in 
 reaching the deck ; the night was still very dark, and, although 
 the surface of the water was smooth, there was a very consider- 
 able ground-swell. Paul was standing just abaft the quarter- 
 boat, and his foot must have been quite near the side of the ship, 
 above which, at the height of about fifteen inches, was a small 
 iron railing, actually no protection against falling overboard 
 unless the person would sit down on the deck and hold on to 
 it. In a heavy roll he lost his balance, and in falling his 
 head must have struck against the spars; thus stunned, he 
 sank immediately, and, although the boat was at once lowered, 
 nothing more was to be seen save the phosphorescent light 
 always visible when anything is sinking deep into the sea. He 
 was a very handsome, gentlemanly young officer, and had a 
 more thorough knowledge of theoretical navigation than was 
 usual with officers at that time. I slept so soundly and the dis- 
 turbance was so little that I was not aware of the loss of this 
 officer until I was aroused at the usual hour on board ship, 
 7.30 a.m. 
 
 Two days after this sad occurrence we anchored off Tampico, 
 and after a day left for Vera Cruz, where we anchored on the 16th 
 of March. As we stood in for the island of Sacrificios, where 
 there were several French and other vessels-of-war at anchor, 
 
COLLISION WITH A FRENCH BRIQ-OF-WAR. 59 
 
 passing too near ahead of a French brig-of-war, we sagged 
 down on her, and carried away her flying jib-boom and fore- 
 royal-mast; the latter in falling, unhappily, killed one or two 
 of the crew. The French captain, with more zeal than propriety, 
 rushed forward on the forecastle and roundly damned our 
 captain, who put on his full dress and went on board, and that 
 was the last we ever heard of it ; whether he apologized to the 
 Frenchman or the Frenchman to him, or they split the difference 
 by mutual apologies, we did not learn. 
 
 At that time the French had a large number of wild cattle 
 on the island ; one day I went on shore to take a walk, and, 
 hearing a noise behind me, saw a fierce bull making the best of 
 his way, with head down, ready to gore me. It did not take 
 me long to reach the water near by, nor was any exertion spared 
 in doing so. The animal declined to follow, but stood on the 
 shore, angrily shaking his head, and soon after, regarding the 
 game as up, thoughtfully retired and allowed me to come to the 
 beach. 
 
 A day or so after, a party of French sailors were on shore 
 shooting some of the cattle, and were not observant that if they 
 missed their mark they would hit our vessel, or perhaps were 
 not unwilling to shoot some of us as an equivalent for our awk- 
 wardness in killing one or two of their men when we anchored. 
 Several bullets came on board, either wounding one or more 
 men or barely failing to do so. A note was sent to their com- 
 manding officer, who in reply wrote that he was "very sorry 
 for the accident that happened on your board yesterday, in con- 
 sequence of some of our sailors shooting at a bullock which 
 they could not catch ;" and this squared all matters of difference 
 between us. 
 
 On leaving the Southwest Pass, where we took in a supply 
 of provisions for the crew, and a good many stores for the cap- 
 tain and other persons and messes, the spirit-room was packed 
 full. This apartment of the hold lay immediately under the 
 steerage, and was used for stowing rice, molasses, tobacco, vin- 
 egar, whiskey, and other stores for the crew, as also the stores 
 of the officers' messes. A large hatchway opened under the one 
 on the spar-deck, through which the ladders came from above, 
 
60 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 abutting within two feet of the doors leading into the wardroom, 
 and covering the hatchway. It was necessary from time to time 
 to break out a great quantity of stores to get at what was re- 
 quired, and at such times the steerage was littered up with what 
 was broken out. On one of these occasions, when a number of 
 boxes of the captain's cheap Bordeaux covered the apartment, 
 it entered the head of Hamilton G., possibly from the prompt- 
 ing of his more astute friend, to possess himself of " los bienes 
 ajenos" which Gil Bias's uncle told him was a dangerous thing j 
 but he knew nothing of Gil Bias or his uncle, although he had 
 been in Spain. It was with quite a satisfied air that he dis- 
 pensed, to such as would accept, a glass of poor wine, until a 
 dozen bottles were emptied. At such times he had a wise look, 
 and remarked that " it came by way of reprisal." The act was 
 so publicly done and known, and the value of the article so in- 
 significant, that it was regarded by most of his messmates rather 
 as a stupid impropriety than an intended crime. The captain 
 at once learned of it, and in a few days made an investigation, 
 which was certain to be followed by a court-martial on the 
 vessel reaching Pensacola. 
 
 From Vera Cruz we went to the southeastern part of the 
 Gulf, some three hundred miles away, and anchored in ten fath- 
 oms of water, so far off Laguna de Terminos as to be quite out 
 of sight of land until an ascent of fifty feet above the water 
 was made. Thus anchored at sea we lay for eleven days, re- 
 ceiving no supplies of any kind until the day before sailing, 
 when, through an arrangement made by the purser, who went 
 on shore in one of the ship's boats soon after we arrived, there 
 were brought off in a small vessel a dozen or more hawksbill 
 turtles of enormous size, weighing several hundred pounds. We 
 were not sorry to leave for Pensacola, where we arrived in eight 
 days, finding letters from home, as well as bread; with the 
 exception of a great abundance of the best of fish, there was 
 little else that was wholesome. 
 
 The unfortunate affair of Hamilton G. taking too much 
 Medoc quite impaired the availability of our " society members." 
 After a time his resignation, tendered at Vera Cruz, was ac- 
 cepted by the Department, and he left the ship. In a day or 
 
A WATER-SPOUT. (31 
 
 so he came on board and exhibited himself, his fingers covered 
 with rings of every shape and variety ; after a few days they 
 were observed, by those who met him on shore, to diminish in 
 number, until not one remained ; his buoyancy of character left 
 him, and he was no longer an " ornament to society." A month 
 later he became the boatswain of a revenue cutter. Soon after, 
 we suffered the loss of Billy B., who was transferred to another 
 ship. He remained in the navy until the fall of 1853, when 
 his further services to his country were dispensed with. As 
 neither his voice nor his skill on the guitar fitted him to become 
 a successful minstrel, his further career cannot be conjectured. 
 Nevermore, from that time to this, have I met or heard of or 
 from Billy B. or Hamilton G. ; their " frailties did not lean to 
 virtue's side." 
 
 After lying at anchor either off Pensacola or at the navy- 
 yard, six miles below, and within two miles of the bar at the 
 entrance to the bay, on June 16 we got under way for the 
 anchorage off the mouth of the Rio Bravo, which we reached 
 in four days, going thence to the South Pass of the Mississippi 
 River, where we arrived on the 2d of July. There is perhaps 
 no locality on the globe where thunder-storms with heavy winds, 
 generating water-spouts, are to be found of more terrific gran- 
 deur than off the passes of the Mississippi. On one occasion, 
 when running before the wind, the darkness of the night illumi- 
 nated with vivid lightning-flashes from all around the compass, 
 we ran close aboard a huge water-spout on its travels. A 
 mighty sound, of water-spout and tempest, spread over the ocean, 
 and the water, beaten by the winds, was lashed into foam until the 
 force of the squall had passed. In long voyages in both hemi- 
 spheres, I recall no thunder-storms of more terrific violence than 
 those on the Gulf of Mexico and in Pensacola Bay. There, on 
 one occasion, half a dozen vessels-of-war were at anchor, per- 
 haps within a distance of a mile of each other ; several of them 
 were struck, probably by the same electric discharge, which was 
 so intense as to fuse several of the links of the conductors, that 
 fell from aloft, on board the Vandalia, to the deck, entirely 
 separated ; the same effect was produced on board of several of 
 the vessels. The conductor then in use was made of links of 
 
Q2 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 round iron, perhaps nearly one-quarter of an inch in diameter 
 and eighteen inches in length. Afterwards conductors of small 
 copper wires were made into a flexible rope of about half an 
 inch in diameter, and since then other methods of placement 
 have been resorted to. Since my entry into the navy, more 
 than half a century ago, I can recall no instance of a man being 
 killed by lightning on board one of our vessels-of-war ; but in 
 looking over the log-book of the Peacock to ascertain the facts 
 in relation to the whale that struck her in 1826, I saw an entry 
 of three men killed on her deck, by lightning, in the South 
 Pacific in 1826. 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 Cruising on the Coast of Texas after Slavers — Colonel David Crockett — 
 General Sam Houston — The Coast of Texas — Keeping the Lookout — 
 Scarcity of "Water— Commander Levy gets excited, and suggests the Proper 
 Pronunciation of his Name — A Threatened Court-Martial — Calling an 
 Officer a ' : Semiquaver" — Two Old Stories — The Captain's Wooden Horse 
 — Want of Fresh Air — The Author had tendered his Resignation, hut the 
 Commodore retained it and advised against it. 
 
 On the 5th of July, 1839, we left the South Pass to cruise 
 off the coast of Texas to catch the slavers, if we could, which 
 were at that time bringing their cargoes from Africa. 
 
 Twenty or more years previously certain citizens of the 
 United States had established themselves in Texas; and to 
 them the Mexican government, with great liberality, granted 
 leagues of land. After some hundreds of them had located 
 they arrived at the conclusion that they " wished to be free," 
 and desired to have slaves, and, as they could not have them 
 under the Mexican government, there came a "revolution," 
 soon marked by the massacre at the Alamo, at which Davy 
 Crockett, of Congressional fame, from the State of Tennessee, 
 went off in a blaze of glory. The asserted outrage of Mexico, 
 in invading the territory of a free people, was published far and 
 wide in our Western and Southern States, and hundreds of 
 persons who had nothing else to do rushed to the rescue " of a 
 
KEEPING THE LOOKOUT. 63 
 
 brave people who were struggling for their liberty." They 
 were commanded by General Sam Houston, who years before 
 had left his native State of Tennessee and taken up his resi- 
 dence with Indians. He was a man of distinguished presence 
 and commanding manner, and after Texas was admitted into 
 the Union was for a term of years a Senator from that State. 
 In February, 1835, he assembled hundreds of unquiet spirits, 
 and, when approached by General Santa Anna, with double his 
 force, he fell upon the enemy suddenly, with such might as 
 struck terror into the Mexicans, and they precipitately fled, 
 leaving numbers of dead and dying on the field of San Jacinto. 
 Having thus " won their independence," the next thing in order 
 was to introduce slavery into the country, that affording a 
 cheaper market than the bordering slave State of Louisiana. 
 And so, in the inexorable law of nature, was imposed upon us, 
 a quarter of a century later, a sanguinary civil war, — a forced 
 atonement for our inhumanity as a people. 
 
 I have wandered from the Vandalia, then cruising off the 
 coast of Texas for slavers, with as little probability of catching 
 one as of a tortoise catching a hare, but with quite a different 
 result from that given in the fable. The coast of Texas has 
 shoals extending miles to seaward, over which the fleet fore-and- 
 aft schooners usually employed as slavers could pass, and which 
 were far too shallow for sloops-of-war of sixteen-feet draught. 
 In light breezes these fore-and-aft vessels would fan along 
 within four points of the wind, when the Vandalia, with a very 
 foul bottom, would hardly feel the force of the wind even when 
 abeam, and, if a sail was reported from aloft, it would soon disap- 
 pear below the horizon. Nevertheless we cruised along the coast 
 some twenty miles from it, in ten or fifteen fathoms of water, 
 without ever seeing it, even from the royal-mast-head. A mid- 
 shipman was kept as a lookout at the fore-topmast-head. On 
 this lofty station I read " Zimmermann on Solitude," which I 
 had brought with me from home ; it was the gift of a brother, 
 and so small that it could readily be put in the pocket. I com- 
 mend this little book to a careful perusal, in the belief that it is 
 worth a dozen modern novels. 
 
 One of our number was less interested in reading than myself. 
 
64 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 When aloft he triced up the back-cloth, used to make a snug 
 furl of the bunt of a topsail, passed a rope around his breast 
 under his arms, and secured the other end, so that, if he should 
 roll off the yard by the motion of the vessel, he would remain 
 suspended some seventy feet above the deck instead of falling 
 upon it. He went to sleep unconcernedly, and so soundly that, 
 when hailed to look out for himself, in bracing around the 
 yards, he made no answer. The captain, being on deck, made 
 inquiry as to what had become of the lookout. The captain of 
 the foretop reported that he was at the mast-head, and repeated 
 hails finally awoke him ; he was ordered down, and thereafter 
 deprived of the honor of keeping a lookout. This dereliction 
 on his part was assumed to be sufficient reason why all the mid- 
 shipmen should be put in watch and watch, — that is to say, be 
 kept on deck twelve hours out of the twenty-four, and also 
 during such times as other duties required. This, for youngsters 
 who kept awake during their night-watches, was very fatiguing 
 and simply an act of tyranny. 
 
 At that time, too, the crew and the officers were on an allowance 
 of five pints of water to each person ; this, of course, included 
 what was necessary for making tea or coffee, for making bean 
 soup, cooking rice, and making hard-bread puddings, about the 
 only food we had that was wholesome. There was neither 
 reason nor excuse for it : had our allowance been the usual one, 
 of a gallon per man when at sea, we would have gone into port 
 a month thereafter with several thousand gallons of water in 
 the casks. 
 
 Since 1837 our vessel s-of- war fitting for sea have had iron 
 tanks made on patterns conforming to the shape of the vessel, 
 with a space of three feet or more above them, depending upon 
 the size of the vessel, in which space barrels of provisions — 
 pork, beef, and other constituents of a naval ration — are stowed. 
 The substitution of water-tanks for wooden casks of different 
 sizes, those next the keelson being the largest, and the smaller 
 ones conforming to the rise of the floor, to have their tops as 
 near on a level as possible, was a great saving of room. After 
 their stowage, the tanks were calked between them, to prevent 
 rice, beans, or other provisions that would be spilled, from 
 
A THREATENED COURT-MARTIAL. 65 
 
 getting down into the bilge and decaying, adding greatly to the 
 foulness of the atmosphere between decks, which was stifling 
 when the hatches were battened down and the vessel rolling 
 heavily in gales. The white paint on the lower deck would 
 become of an ashy or dull-leaden color, an indication of what 
 the lungs had to endure from the quantity of air required in 
 respiration, as compared with a simple surface exposed to the 
 atmosphere. Indeed, this deposit was in a considerable part 
 from the air made foul through respiration. A good deal of 
 the water served as our allowance was so unpleasant to the smell 
 and taste as to be undrinkable, save when made into tea or 
 coffee. 
 
 A day or so after we had been put on the short allowance of 
 five pints of water daily, it was raining very hard, the breeze 
 had died away, and I was directed to report the fact to the 
 captain. Remembering a reproof received shortly after joining 
 a vessel, — that it was improper to make a report from the cabin 
 door, that respect for my superior demanded that I should go 
 near him, — I went, dripping like a wet swab, with a broad- 
 brimmed felt hat in my hand, from which a stream of water 
 was flowing, and said, " Commander Le-vi, it has fallen calm, 
 and is raining very hard;" I then slowly left his august 
 presence. 
 
 He replied, in a loud, snappish tone, " Very good, sir ;" as I 
 neared the door, feeling that he had not said all that the occasion 
 demanded, he added, " Look ? e here, sir : when I joined this ship 
 you called me captain ; now you call me commander ; this is 
 positive disrespect, sir, and I'll have you tried by court-martial, 
 and break you, sir. How do you know I am a commander ?" 
 
 I replied, " I see your name on the Navy Register as Com- 
 mander Uriah P. Levy." 
 
 On my leaving, the cabin door was opened to relieve a stifling 
 atmosphere, and Commander Levy looking out, saw me walking 
 to and fro on the quarter-deck, ankle-deep in water, in the heavy 
 rain, with all the dignity and circumstance of a full-fledged 
 midshipman who had no favors to ask, and like unto the mate 
 who informed the captain that all he wanted was " ciwility, and 
 that of the commonest kind." 
 
 5 
 
66 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 I was inspired with so thorough a disgust for the service 
 during this cruise that I determined to resign, as soon as I had 
 asked my father's consent. My naval education acquired during 
 the earlier and rougher years of that service has given me an 
 invincible and thorough contempt for every one who uses his 
 authority for any other purpose than making those under his 
 command effective. 
 
 The exercise at the great gun and of the mizzen-topsail, keep- 
 ing a lookout at the fore-topmast-head, with watches, day and 
 night, of eight hours in the twenty-four, did not by any means 
 exhaust the energy of the youthful aspirants for naval glory. 
 Blobbs, months before, had brought to the comprehension of 
 Barbot that, being in the American navy and speaking English, 
 his name should not be pronounced as though spelled Bar-bow 
 but as B&r-bot Convinced of the advantage of renouncing his 
 native tongue and the vanities of his race, he insisted thereafter 
 on being called Bar-6o£. 
 
 "When aloft reefing the mizzen-topsail, Blobbs found fault 
 with Barbot and called him a semiquaver, which disturbed him 
 greatly. On going below, he told the midshipman cut out for a 
 tragedian that he had been called a " semiquaver." 
 
 On hearing this, the latter jumped up, with apparent surprise 
 and indignation in his features, with the same energy as when he 
 " humped his back" and gave us Richard the Third, and said, 
 "Good God ! Barbot, who called you that?" 
 
 " Blobbs did it," answered he, " on the topsail-yard, a few 
 minutes ago." 
 
 " I thought it must have been Blobbs," said the tragedian, 
 with a somewhat pensive, thoughtful air. 
 
 " Talking of the devil," Blobbs came down the hatchway, and 
 Barbot at once demanded a retraction of the epithet. 
 
 " No," said Blobbs, " nothing of the kind ; I will add to it. 
 I consider you a demi-semiquaver /" 
 
 Richard the Third was horror-stricken, and Barbot was boil- 
 ing over with indignation at the epithet that had been heaped 
 upon him. He told the perpetrator emphatically that he must 
 apologize forthwith, or he would at once lay the insult before 
 the first lieutenant. 
 
CALLING AN OFFICER A "SEMIQUAVER." 67 
 
 This resolve seemed to stir up Blobbs to the point of despera- 
 tion, and, holding his finger defiantly in the face of Barbot, he 
 said, " I will give you something to report : I consider you a 
 double demi-semiquaver I Yes," said he, after a pause, as if to 
 
 pile on ignominy, " I will say that I regard you as a d n 
 
 double demi-semiquaver." 
 
 " Report him ! report him at once I" shouted Richard the Third. 
 
 Up went Barbot, who found the first lieutenant on deck, and, 
 suffering from a sense of injury, was quite unable for a time to 
 impress upon his hearer the full measure of the indignity. 
 When this was accomplished, he was directed to send the delin- 
 quent on deck, and hastily descended the ladder to execute the 
 order. " Mr. Blobbs," said he, " the first lieutenant wishes to 
 see you on deck." 
 
 " Very well, sir, very well j if the first lieutenant suspends 
 me, look out, sir !" and up the ladder he went, with the air of 
 a youth who had nerved himself to meet a dire event. 
 
 After an interview of some minutes, in which the first lieu- 
 tenant made inquiries as to what had caused this uncalled-for 
 and violent abuse of Barbot, the callous injurer of reputations 
 and promiscuous user of epithets was directed to depart — and to 
 sin no more. Instead of appreciating this generous treatment, 
 and going quietly below to beg pardon for the offence, the little 
 wretch jumped from the top of the hatchway to the foot of it, 
 scarcely touching the ladder, and, as if in rage, demanded his 
 pistols ! 
 
 Poor Barbot had been waiting in anticipation of having his 
 maligner and persecutor brought to a sense of propriety, but, 
 when he heard a savage demand for arms, he rushed out on the 
 berth-deck, up the main hatchway, aft to the orderly at the cabin 
 door, and requested that individual to take charge of and protect 
 him from the violence of the blood-thirsty Blobbs. He sent 
 below for camp-stools, upon which he slept that night, with a 
 feeling of security, and with as much comfort as if below. 
 
 In the steerage were assembled all the mess not on duty, 
 recounting stories until nine p.m., when the master-at-arms 
 appeared, "to douse the glim," — in plain English, to put out 
 the light. 
 
gg THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Waite told of a purser in the English navy who met a mid- 
 shipman walking on the island of Jamaica ; the purser was de- 
 scribed as a man with two eyes and the merest apology for an 
 abdomen, and the midshipman as a great, burly fellow " three 
 sheets in the wind." On passing the purser the midshipman 
 paid not the least regard to his presence ; the former took him 
 to task for not saluting him. The drunken midshipman, eying 
 him contemptuously from head to foot, hit him over the eye with 
 his fist, and said, " Take that, you d d old sea-grocer." 
 
 Inquiries followed as to whether the purser lost his eye, and 
 whether the loss of an eye would lead of necessity, or perchance, 
 to the formation of a large abdomen ; but the narrator had no 
 knowledge of anything beyond the fact of the rencontre. 
 
 " But," said one of the most interested hearers, " I think you 
 said this occurrence took place on the island of Jamaica, and 
 between British officers" 
 
 " Most assuredly I did," replied the story-teller. 
 
 Another story, told by some one who wished to add to the 
 entertainment or knowledge of his messmates, was of a rude 
 boy who was found in the top of an apple-tree by the owner of 
 the orchard, who desired him to come down, but the boy would 
 not. Then the old man threw a few tufts of grass at him, which 
 only made the boy laugh. " Very well," said the old man, " if 
 neither kind words nor gentle deeds will bring you down, we 
 will see what virtue there is in these." So he picked up stones 
 and threw them at the boy, which soon made the young sauce- 
 box and thief come down and beg the old man's pardon. 
 
 The supposition was offered by one of the hearers that he 
 had seen something of this in a book, but in general it was 
 admitted as entirely original and very instructive. A dozen 
 years before, almost every child in America had read it in 
 Webster's " Elementary Spelling-Book," then in use over the 
 whole country. What made it exasperating was the fact that 
 these two stories, interspersed with others just as absurd, were 
 recounted night after night, with a persistence worthy of a better 
 cause, until something occurred to break up the monotonous 
 nonsense. 
 
 But the circus was not all between decks ; the commander 
 
THE CAPTAIN'S WOODEN HORSE. 69 
 
 himself had instituted a performance for the public benefit, that 
 could be seen by all and practised by the elect. He had a 
 wooden horse such as carpenters make use of in sawing ; it was 
 fitted with a wooden head, and leather ears were nailed on ; a 
 swab served as a tail, a thrum mat for a saddle, rope reins for a 
 bridle, a rope for stirrup-leathers, and a bight to rest the feet in 
 for stirrups. In order to give motion to this supposititious horse, 
 the roll of the ship was made use of. To effect this, a span or 
 bight of a rope, long enough to clear the head of a man when 
 seated on the thrum mat used for a saddle, was secured at one 
 end about the forelegs of the animal, and at the other end about 
 the legs near the swab which served as the tail. A leading- 
 block was put upon the spanker-gaff, a whip rove through it, 
 and the end fastened to the span over the rider's head. The 
 horse was now ready for the rider, who Was furnished with a 
 wooden sword, and, when seated on the saddle, the horse was 
 triced up just high enough to have his legs clear the spanker- 
 boom. With the roll of the ship he would charge across the 
 spanker-boom, and when the vessel pitched he would charge fore 
 and aft. If considered as a whole, the movement was defective, 
 for the reason that the rider would sometimes come broadside 
 on, sometimes whirl around without apparent object, yet all the 
 time striking out with his wooden sword, as instructed. In 
 retreat, unlike other horsemen, he would keep head on to the 
 enemy, as the modern gunboat is intended to do. In a heavy 
 sea this cavalry exercise was, of course, dispensed with, as the 
 rider would certainly have been thrown overboard. Even in 
 moderate weather some of the riders barely escaped a sea-bath, 
 and swords were frequently lost overboard in making too furious 
 charges and getting the weapon entangled in the rigging, but 
 the carpenter soon learned to have a lot of them on hand to 
 repair losses. The old surgeon, after regarding this exercise 
 for some time, and seeing how imperfectly the horse charged 
 and the impossibility of using horses afloat, uttered his criticism 
 in "Cuibono?" 
 
 We had a heavy southeast gale during this cruise, and came 
 perforce nearer the coast than on any former occasion, having 
 been driven into seven fathoms water. We were forced to carry 
 
70 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 a heavy press of sail during the night, to avoid going ashore. 
 The wind hauling, enabled us to make a good lay off the land 
 on the starboard tack. My sentiment was that of a passenger 
 who on a similar occasion said that, if the ship did get on the 
 beach, he had nothing at all to do with it ; it was wholly the 
 affair of the captain. The hatches were battened down, as in- 
 dispensable on such occasions, and the air below was fetid to a 
 degree ; our sick-list, of course, was always large, and under 
 such conditions sick men naturally die. During the mid-watch, 
 about the time a poor fellow was dying, there was seen on 
 the main-topsail-yard, passing along from yard-arm to yard- 
 arm, what is popularly known as a " Jack-a-lantern," or by 
 more learned people as " St. Elmo's fire," which is often seen in 
 heavy weather. It is a dull light, not unlike what is known to 
 country people as "fox-fire." A stump of a tree or a log, 
 where there is a recent cut and the wood in a state of decompo- 
 sition, on a warm, dark, damp night has a luminous appearance, 
 and may be seen at a distance of fifty yards or more ; this is 
 known as " fox-fire." 
 
 In the time of Anson and other voyagers since the discovery 
 of America, to provide for the many deaths from disease that 
 seemed to them unavoidable, a large additional number of men 
 were taken on board to meet a contingency, just as they took 
 spare topmasts and other spars. Even half a century ago, the 
 necessity for fresh air to sustain vitality was so little recognized 
 as to be unprovided for. With nearly as little labor and ex- 
 pense as making the wooden horse above described, a square 
 boxing could have been made of planks one inch thick, one 
 foot wide, and twelve feet long, and the gratings and tarpaulins 
 cut to meet the fitment in battening down the hatches. At 
 the fore-hatch one of these boxings might have been inserted ; 
 or, in lieu of anything better, a half-barrel could have been put 
 over the end above the hatchway, on a pivot, having one head 
 out, a circular hole in the lower part of the barrel, and a vane 
 on top of sufficient length to keep the opening to windward. 
 Quite near the berth-deck, holes would be required in the box- 
 ing, to allow the air forced down the barrel to escape freely. 
 At the main hatch a similar contrivance could have been in- 
 
THE AUTHOR TENDERS HIS RESIGNATION. 71 
 
 serted, with the difference that the vane should hold the opening 
 in the barrel to leeward, so as by suction to aid the escape of 
 the foul air, and the openings cut into the boxing be close under 
 the spar-deck. With two such boxings and fixtures forward, 
 and two others at the steerage hatch and wardroom skylight, 
 the fresh air would have been thrown below and the foul air 
 permitted to escape. Had this been done in the past, thousands 
 of poor fellows, buried from disease consequent upon a loss of 
 vitality, would have come home after making voyages in what 
 are considered deadly climates. Scurvy and dysentery were 
 the supposed causes of death, when in fact they were the mere 
 incidents, the expression of a lack of vitality. 
 
 A century ago, and indeed long after, the " top maul" was 
 the implement in vogue ; instruction and care of the men were 
 regarded as of little moment. Now we know that instruction 
 can in a large degree take the place of punishment, and proper 
 water and food and, above all, a sufficient supply of untainted 
 air will enable men to live on board ship with a wonderfully 
 small loss of life or impairment of health, even as compared to 
 ordinary life on shore. The wretched cruise of which I have 
 given a brief sketch, showing what people who went to sea suf- 
 fered in former times, has, happily, few counterparts at this time, 
 and should have none. 
 
 We arrived at Pensacola August 3, 1839. I found letters 
 approving of my resignation, and at once sent in my paper, 
 without making mention of the fact to my messmates. Several 
 days thereafter, when I thought my letter was well on the way 
 to Washington, a boat came from the flag-ship with the message 
 that the commodore wished to see me. I went on board with- 
 out delay, and was very kindly received. He said he had 
 thought proper to retain my letter for a few days, and to see me 
 before forwarding it ; I had been in the navy for three years, 
 and if I left it might be regarded as so much lost time. He 
 stated that the Vandalia would go north in a month or two, 
 when I would be granted a leave of absence to visit my friends, 
 and, if I thought proper, could then resign without let or hin- 
 derance. I thanked him for his considerate suggestion, and said 
 I would be pleased to avail myself of it. This action of the 
 
72 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 commodore was due to Lieutenant Maffit, who was probably 
 told by the captain of my resignation, and, feeling some interest 
 in me, paid a visit to the commodore and suggested his action. 
 Had not my resignation been withheld, my life would have been 
 as wholly different from what I may hereafter present as that of 
 any other citizen of our country. I have always felt grateful 
 to Commodore Shubrick for this considerate conduct towards a 
 youth whom he had never seen, and many years afterwards I 
 took occasion to express my sense of obligation to him. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A Ball on a French Frigate — A Boat that smelt of Fish — Disgusted Old 
 Lady — Society — Sails for Norfolk — Midshipman E. C. Anderson — The 
 Cable pa^rts — Goose-Quill Pens and Cockroaches — Parting with Captain 
 Levy — Accounts of Lieutenants Gist and Maffit, Midshipmen Marcy and 
 Barbot, and others of the Vandalia — The Author starts for Home on Three 
 Months' Leave — Ordered to the Sloop-of-War Preble — Commander Breese 
 — Service on the Coast of Labrador and in the Mediterranean — The " Am- 
 men Kock" — Fogs — Sir Colin Campbell and his Daughter — The McNabb — 
 A Bright Yankee Girl — Visit to a Coast Kesidence. 
 
 The presence of two French frigates in the harbor in addi- 
 tion to several of our vessels-of-war kept society in movement, 
 despite the absence of our steerage ornaments Billy B. and Ham- 
 ilton G. A grand ball on board of one of the French frigates 
 brought many bright faces from Mobile and New Orleans. 
 
 I was sent in charge of our first cutter to the wharf, to aid 
 in taking the invited guests on board. The first persons on 
 hand were Brown and Throck, the one from the South, the 
 other from the West, both representative men, whose doings 
 would fill a book of drolleries. They had brought down a 
 portly lady and her two blooming daughters. We had a lovely 
 night, and the full moon shone brightly over the broad bay. I 
 was treated to the sight of beautiful faces as the young ladies 
 stepped into the boat. We shoved off at once, and the party 
 was about to be seated, when the matron began to sniff the air. 
 
SOCIETY. 73 
 
 " What ! no cushions ?" she exclaimed, somewhat reproach- 
 fully, to me. 
 
 I said, " Madam, this boat is not provided with any, but I 
 have flags that I hope will serve the same purpose." 
 
 " Why," said she, " this boat smells, — it stinks of fish ! Oh, 
 girls, this will never do ; you must pull up your dresses and sit 
 on your skirts," at the same time casting a rather vicious or 
 contemptuous look at me. 
 
 I bore it with the equanimity that has been my blessing in 
 disguise a whole lifetime, and said, in a meek way, it was true 
 that the boat had been used in fishing, but that it had been 
 thoroughly washed and was perfectly clean. Had we not al- 
 ready shoved off, I fear that I would not have had the honor of 
 taking the party on board, and I now doubt if my assurance 
 as to the condition of the boat was given credence. 
 
 On arriving at a large floating platform at the gangway of 
 the frigate, the party landed safely, and a judicious discussion 
 put the young lady in advance who was supposed to speak the 
 best French. I watched the w T aving plumes of the mother, who 
 was the last of the party, as she reached the gangway ; and this 
 is all I saw of society during my eighteen months of service in 
 the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 We brought our ship's supply of fresh water from a spring a 
 mile or so within the entrance of what was known as the Little 
 Bayou. Caught within it in a heavy gale on the 15th of Sep- 
 tember, we passed the night on the sand-beach, partly protected 
 from the driving rain by a small boat we had along with us, 
 turned upon its side. The water rose to such a height that we 
 found ourselves afloat; so we hauled our boat higher up the 
 beach and lay down again in the wet sand. At that time the 
 yellow fever was prevalent in the town, so we had little inter- 
 course with the people. When the gale abated at noon the next 
 day, we pulled on board, and suffered no inconvenience from 
 our exposure. 
 
 A month later we sailed for Norfolk ; Pensacola was so un- 
 interesting to me that, when I last stood upon the wharf nearly 
 half a century ago, I prayed in a rude way that I might never 
 stand there again, nor have I since that time. I doubt not that 
 
74 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 a change has been wrought, and that there was at that time 
 more to commend it than met my observation. 
 
 After twenty days at sea we came to anchor four miles south- 
 east of Cape Henry. In a great measure the officers had been 
 changed before leaving for the North. Among those who joined 
 us was Midshipman E. C. Anderson, then preparing for exami- 
 nation. He remained in the navy for more than ten years there- 
 after, became a lieutenant, and resigned. For some fifteen years, 
 at various times, he was the mayor of Savannah, Georgia. He 
 was a gentleman of ability and high character, and will again 
 appear in the pages following. 
 
 During the voyage not much of interest occurred. One day 
 when beating to windward in a short chop sea, with a moderate 
 breeze, rocks on the lee bow were reported from aloft. I was 
 then on quarter-deck duty as midshipman, and the captain was 
 parading on deck in fine feather. He shouted, " Mr. Hamet !" 
 and pointed to the topmast-head. I looked aloft with great at- 
 tention, saw nothing special, then looked at him, and resumed 
 my promenade. Again came a rather louder and somewhat 
 imperative shout, " Mr. Hamet !" and again a more pronounced 
 pointing to the mast-head, and again I gave it a careful scanning. 
 At length, with a good deal of impatience, he told me to go to 
 the mast-head and report what I saw from aloft. I clearly 
 understood that, and was very soon at the mast-head and on 
 deck again, with the information that two jagged-looking rocks, 
 some ten or more feet out of water and three or four miles dis- 
 tant, were about two points on the lee bow, and that the sea was 
 breaking heavily over them. Then he wished to know whether 
 we would weather them. I replied that they were only two 
 points on the lee bow ; if we made no leeway, we would do so. 
 Owing to the chop sea, the headway was probably not more than 
 five miles an hour and the leeway very great ; a cast of the 
 lead was taken, and the depth of water found to be five or six 
 fathoms. The helm was put down at once and the ship went 
 about ; the short ships of that time, even with very little head- 
 way, would tack, when a better sailer and longer ship of the 
 present day would not. The captain looked at me viciously, 
 and apparently had the idea that I cared very little whether the 
 
GOOSE-QUILL PENS AND COCKROACHES. 75 
 
 ship was piled up on the double-headed Shot Keys or ended 
 her voyage in Norfolk. 
 
 We had an old midshipman going North to prepare for his 
 examination. He had not the high qualities of the gentleman 
 whom I have mentioned ; they had been shipmates on a former 
 cruise, and with them was the boatswain now on board of the 
 Vandal ia. He was enormously large and strong, about twenty- 
 one years of age, and had the look and manner of a typical 
 " Pennsylvania Dutchman." He belonged to a family of note, 
 but never passed his examination, and left the service two years 
 after our return. One day he took possession of the boatswain's 
 room, and when requested to leave would only swear at him, 
 and when he got hold of him pinched his arms unmercifully. 
 In the boatswain's extremity, the other shipmate was appealed 
 to, who finally got " Charley" to abandon his stronghold. 
 
 We had anchored outside of Cape Henry, in a fresh north- 
 west wind, to avoid being drifted by the coast current to the 
 southward. A pilot came on board during the night, and soon 
 after sunrise we commenced to heave in the chain, but a short 
 chop sea, a fresh breeze, and a short vessel snapped it, and we 
 had only a little length of cable to hoist in. It is worth while 
 to remark, that this is the only cable I have seen parted in a 
 period of twenty-one years' service afloat. 
 
 On our arrival at the navy-yard in the evening, of the steer- 
 age officers only Blobbs and myself remained on board; our 
 messmates consoled us, however, by sending something to eat 
 after our twenty days' voyage on sea-fare, which at that date 
 differed widely from what is now obtainable. We passed the 
 evening satisfactorily in a species of retaliation for past in- 
 juries and annoyances. Armed with goose-quills, we scraped 
 out numberless cockroaches from between the knees, beams, and 
 carlings, and in whatever cracks they could be found ; they were 
 quite benumbed by the cold. A huge heap of them gave evi- 
 dence of our industry to our messmates, when they came on 
 board in the morning. Some of them who were not particular, 
 and had not suffered the same annoyance that we had, would 
 perhaps have preferred hearing of what we had done, in clean- 
 ing our apartment, to the actual exhibition of our " find." 
 
76 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Many persons of to-day will wonder what was done with 
 goose-quills other than the use they were put to by us. At that 
 time a steel pen, if not unknown, was certainly not in common 
 use. The goose-quill for the ordinary writer, the swan-pen for 
 the recorder of documents, and the crow-quill for ladies and 
 persons who had fine drawings to make, served the purposes of 
 the steel pen. If a goose-quill is now made into a pen, it is by 
 some person who should have been buried long ago. 
 
 It was not until the 23d of November, 1839, that our leaves 
 of absence were handed us. Just before the closing scene 
 separating us from the Vandalia, I was directed to go with 
 " Cleopatra's barge" and bring alongside of the vessel a large 
 scow to carry the men on board of the receiving-ship Java, where 
 they would remain until paid off. The scow had been unloaded 
 for some time, and sitting on the surface of the water, the calk- 
 ing in the seams near the ends had shrunk so that she leaked 
 very badly ; the whole bottom of the flat boat was soon awash, 
 and by the time we got alongside of the receiving-ship a good 
 many of the more sober men were standing on the broad gun- 
 wale of the scow to keep their feet dry. The officer who had 
 charge of the spirit-room had been sent away from the vessel 
 on temporary duty in the navy-yard, thus giving the seaman 
 left on board an opportunity to pull up the grog-tub by a line 
 attached to it for that purpose, for there was no longer any 
 other means, such as a ladder, to get it up. It was probably 
 then taken into one of the vacant rooms of the warrant-officers 
 on the berth-deck, and the choice spirits were invited to " par- 
 take." As the scow was towed away from the Vandalia, Com- 
 mander Levy stood upon the poop in a pose of assumed dignity. 
 As soon as he was seen by the men, epithets were showered upon 
 him, despite my orders for silence.* 
 
 * In April, 1842, Commander Levy was tried in Baltimore upon charges 
 of illegal punishment when in command of the Vandalia. On the 11th of 
 April the official record states, " The court does adjudge and sentence that 
 Commander Uriah P. Levy he, and he is hereby, dismissed the Navy of the 
 United States." This sentence was endorsed by the Secretary of the Navy 
 as follows : " I respectfully recommend that the sentence he approved. A. 
 P. Upshur." President Tyler regarded the sentence too severe for the offence, 
 
ACCOUNTS OF LIE UTS. GIST AND MAFFIT, AND OTHERS. 77 
 
 When we reached the receiving-ship the scow was nearly half 
 full of water. I went up the gangway, and, handing the officer 
 of the deck a list of the men, informed him that they were 
 alongside, and I had been directed to deliver them on board. 
 The noise and confusion in the boat made their advent quite 
 unwelcome, but the scow being half full of water made their 
 coming on board a necessity. They were ordered up the gang- 
 way, each one carrying his bag and hammock ; as they reached 
 the deck, they were ordered to " toe a seam," the nautical equiva- 
 lent to " form in line." They were in the first stage of drunken- 
 ness, and that was about all ; their expression was one of entire 
 satisfaction with themselves, — soon to pass into another stage 
 less exuberant. The first lieutenant expressed an unwilling- 
 ness to receive my "hearties," a pet name sometimes given to 
 sailors, but how could he get rid of them ? There they were, 
 with bags and hammocks, and the scow no longer available to 
 re-transport them. He had simply " Hobson's choice." Here 
 and there, drifting over the earth, on board of vessels-of-war 
 and elsewhere, I have from time to time met several of these 
 men, the last one at the Naval Asylum in Philadelphia, where 
 he died a dozen years ago. 
 
 Nearly half a century after the closing scene, the reader may 
 feel curious to know the fate of those persons more particularly 
 mentioned. Gist died in 1847, at his home. Maffit "went 
 South," and died in the summer of 1887. The sallow passed 
 midshipman sat as a member of a court-martial upon one of the 
 members of the mess who was tried for murder a quarter of a 
 century ago, but who was neither pardoned nor hung. Marcy 
 was killed by the recoil of a boat-howitzer in 1862. The man 
 who went to sleep on the topsail-yard, from being " careless," 
 as he was on that occasion, left the service, was one of Walker's 
 " patriots," and was shot at Rivas, in Nicaragua. Another died 
 a captain in the navy, more than fifteen years ago. Two "went 
 South," one of whom, bright and genial, bravely faces whatever 
 
 and directed that the court should reverse its proceedings. On the 14th of 
 May the court reaffirmed its former action, and the President, in the exercise 
 of his powers, remitted the sentence of the court. 
 
78 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 ills he may have, and his cheery smile awakens always kindly 
 recollections of the long ago ; the other rests in his native soil, 
 and perhaps did not in the end object to being called as though 
 his name were spelled Bar-bow. One resigned, studied medi- 
 cine, and became a physician of note on the Pacific coast, where 
 he has a large practice. 
 
 Shortly after being transferred from the Vandalia, one of the 
 midshipmen, who was well-behaved but " had nothing in him," 
 received an intimation from the Department that his " resigna- 
 tion would be acceptable." He replied that he was not willing 
 to be suggested out of the service, and, in nautical phrase, 
 having "the right of way, stood on," and remained in the 
 service twenty years longer, more to his own advantage than 
 that of the country he " served." 
 
 The poor fellow who spouted Shakespeare became the inmate 
 of an insane asylum, where he could declaim without let or 
 hinderance ; his friends furnished him with a billiard- table and 
 his acquaintances played with him. He was usually humorous 
 and amiable, but when his luck failed, or he met too skilful an 
 adversary, a cloud would darken his brow, he would "hump 
 his back," and shout, " A horse ! a horse ! my kingdom for a 
 horse !" and then reverse his cue. His visitor, recognizing the 
 fact that billiards had ended and a tragedy was threatened, 
 would forthwith beat a retreat. He thus lived thirty years 
 before his comic and tragic life passed away. 
 
 As was then usual, and is now, when a vessel-of-war returns 
 from abroad and is put out of commission, — which means tem- 
 porarily dismantled, — the officers of the Vandalia were granted 
 a three months' leave, and, with several of my former shipmates, 
 I went up the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore, homeward bound. 
 Even half a century ago the bay steamers were commodious, 
 had a speed of some ten knots an hour, and were fairly adapted 
 to those waters. Reaching Baltimore, I went to Barnum's Hotel, 
 and the next morning left for Cumberland, one hundred and 
 eighty miles west. 
 
 When I came East, three years before, the railroad reached only 
 from Baltimore to Frederick, Maryland. From Cumberland 
 westward the old stage-coach, with its horn, blown not musically 
 
ORDERED TO THE SLOOP-OF-WAR PREBLE. 79 
 
 but loudly, apprised the people at the " relay" of its approach, 
 so that the horses might be in readiness. Our journey was in 
 the early part of December ; the snow covered the ground as it 
 quietly fell, and the scene was a striking contrast to the Gulf of 
 Mexico which I had just left. The bleating sheep and the low- 
 ing cattle sought the lee of the hay-stacks, that were numerous 
 along the line of the turnpike, which was by no means a good 
 road, as we knew from the bumps involuntarily and suddenly 
 bringing our heads against or in close proximity to the top of 
 the stage. After a tedious journey we reached Wheeling, thence 
 going down the Ohio River in the first packet to Cincinnati. 
 These packets usually left in the morning, but if the stage was 
 late a delay of nearly twenty-four hours occurred. This seemed 
 provided for by collusion, for the general benefit of hotel-keepers 
 and the community at large. In about two days' travel, after an 
 absence of more than three years (for a youth a very consider- 
 able period of time), I reached home, where I was very warmly 
 welcomed by my few relatives and numerous acquaintances. 
 
 I received many visits from old farmers and others anxious 
 to be informed through me of the wonders of the sea, of storms, 
 of the heights of sea- waves, and of the inhabitants of foreign 
 parts. In their minds my drifting back again to my early home 
 was a fortuitous rather than a natural result, and, when at length 
 I came to the conclusion that I would go to sea again, the belief 
 was quite general that I was tempting Providence to such a 
 degree that when I went thence I would never more return. 
 
 Having arrived at the conclusion that cruising in the Gulf of 
 Mexico was not a fair average of sea-life, and that the Vandalia, 
 as commanded, was an unhappy example of how wretched life 
 may be made under the illusory cognomen of "discipline," I 
 applied, after the expiration of my three months' leave, for sea 
 service, and a month or so later was ordered to a new sloop-of- 
 war, the Preble, fitting out at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
 where I joined her about the middle of April, 1840. This vessel 
 was of the smallest class, and armed with sixteen thirty-two- 
 pound carronades. Her commander, S. L. Breese, afterwards 
 a rear-admiral, was a gentleman, as, indeed, was each of the 
 wardroom officers. 
 
80 THE OLD NAVY AND TEE NEW. 
 
 There were six midshipmen, but I was the only one who had 
 served on board a vessel-of-war. " Teddy" had been to Calcutta 
 on board of a merchant-ship, but had learned almost nothing as 
 to the sea. He knew little of " the ropes" on board ship, but 
 much of those on shore. In the steerage we had an assistant 
 surgeon who had recently graduated in a medical school in Paris, 
 and an old " shell-back" for captain's clerk, who had already 
 gone to sea nigh unto the ordinary age allotted to man. Both of 
 them were agreeable, and the younger midshipmen were gentle- 
 manly. Only one of all those mentioned is now living. 
 
 SEEVICE ON THE COAST OF LABRADOR AND IN THE MEDI- 
 TERRANEAN. 
 
 Soon after the vessel was put in commission, we sailed for the 
 coast of Labrador, a region I had been desirous of visiting ever 
 since reading " Falconer's Shipwreck," a book presented to me 
 by my friend Hamer. Until the 20th of May the prevalence 
 from time to time of bleak northeasters made living on board 
 ship in Portsmouth harbor disagreeable. On the 2d of June 
 we went to sea, and passed near Cashe's Ledge, a ridge of sub- 
 merged rocks varying in height, thirty miles in length, and about 
 sixty miles from land; there are three shoal spots, one of thirteen 
 fathoms, another of eleven, and the shallowest, twenty-four feet, 
 is now known on our charts as the " Ammen Rock," being 
 named after me, some ten years later, by the late Rear- Admiral 
 Charles H. Davis. 
 
 We were soon enveloped in the impenetrable fog of that re- 
 gion, prevailing especially during that season of the year ; this 
 haze, however, has no great height; looking upward, the sun is 
 seen almost always during the day, and at night the moon and 
 stars are visible ; the clouds, in fact, settle to the surface of the 
 water. This mist begets feelings of melancholy in those unac- 
 customed to fogs, and of apprehension in mariners. At any 
 moment one vessel may run into another or be run into, and yet, 
 up to to-day, no intelligent method has been agreed upon be- 
 tween the maritime nations to prevent collisions. From time to 
 time a vessel is run into and many people perish, and then a 
 
THE MCNABB. 81 
 
 frantic yell arises ; this dies away, no action is taken ; another 
 catastrophe occurs ; and so it goes on from year to year, without 
 betterment. It is doubtless possible greatly to lessen the num- 
 ber of these catastrophes by proper regulations and sound-sig- 
 nals indicating roughly the courses steered. Almost constantly 
 enveloped in the fog, with no means of ascertaining our position 
 other than by " dead reckoning," after eight days we sighted the 
 bold promontory known as Cape Sambro, and entered Halifax 
 harbor, embowered in beautifully-green, picturesque hills. 
 
 During our stay of ten days we had the honor of a visit from 
 Sir Colin Campbell, then governor, who had the good taste to 
 bring along a charming daughter, barely in her teens. The 
 army officers, as is usual wherever there is a British garrison, 
 came on board, proffering their hospitality, and the citizens were 
 no less attentive, among them a " McNabb." Whether he was 
 "The McNabb" that had left his card on Colonel McNabb 
 when ordered to Canada years before, I don't know. It is said 
 that the colonel leaving his card wrote, " The other McNabb." 
 A Scotch friend tells that a fearful condition was thus brought 
 about. Said "The McNabb," "What does the fellow mean? 
 I am The McNabb, and there is no other The McNabb !" For 
 ourselves we would have recognized the one whose acquaintance 
 we made at that time as " The McNabb," against all pretenders 
 to that honor ! 
 
 On leaving Halifax we again encountered the usual fogs ; our 
 first sighting was the bold outline of Grand Menan Island j the 
 next day we entered the port of St. John, New Brunswick, 
 which seemed quite like a Yankee village, — a thriving little 
 place. The extraordinary rise and fall of the tides and the 
 length of days' at that season of the year were quite new to me. 
 We did not tarry, and two days after sailing entered Swallow 
 harbor on the outer part of Grand Menan Island. There were 
 a few small houses near the beach, and the bold heights were 
 covered by a superb growth of hemlock. Three days later we 
 anchored at Portland, Maine, where we were to obtain further 
 instructions from the Navy Department. The object of our 
 cruise was to protect our fishermen from the outrages even then 
 imposed upon them. 
 
 6 
 
82 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 The beauty of Casco Bay, of which Portland harbor forms a 
 part, has been acknowledged by all who have visited that local- 
 ity, and the fascinations of her fair daughters are in song and 
 story. The same generous hospitality was given us as at Hali- 
 fax, although we missed the counterpart of " The McNabb," 
 who has impressed himself indelibly and joyously on our mem- 
 ory. There was a very bright young lady, charming in manner, 
 varied in accomplishments, and whom, nearly half a century 
 thereafter, when in Washington, I had the pleasure of meeting 
 again, and • found scarcely less attractive. Who can deny that 
 Yankee women have endearing and enduring qualities ? 
 
 We left Portland on the 4th of July, although the prohibi- 
 tion law did not then exist nor was it even proposed. Ten days 
 later found us at the Isle du Bois in the Strait of Belle Isle, 
 whence we passed from port to port. The whole coast of Lab- 
 rador is lined with these little rocky harbors, often not more 
 than a dozen miles apart, with water so clear that the bottom 
 may be seen at a depth of several fathoms. The west coast of 
 Newfoundland is studded with bold, precipitous cliifs, appar- 
 ently without a break for miles, and at that season we observed 
 numerous cascades falling from considerable heights into the sea. 
 We met a number of small icebergs in those waters, but not 
 nearly so many nor so large as those beyond Belle Isle on the 
 open waters of the Atlantic. 
 
 On the 21st of July we anchored at Size harbor, where we 
 had a very heavy blow, and, though we had two anchors down 
 and a kedge planted ahead on the shore with a heavy hawser, we 
 were nearly dragged on the beach. As we entered, the water 
 was smooth and the breeze quite fresh, and as we sailed along, 
 ten knots an hour, the water became so clear that it seemed pos- 
 sible we might strike the bottom at any moment. We passed 
 so rapidly from port to port that I confess to little distinct rec- 
 ollection as to the one locality or the other, until we sailed out of 
 the strait and anchored near Cape Charles, some twenty miles 
 north of Belle Isle. 
 
 The coast of Labrador north of the strait is a series of har- 
 bors, little and great, some of them extending inland for miles. 
 It is formed of bold faces of rugged basaltic rocks, usually hav- 
 
VISIT TO A COAST RESIDENCE. 83 
 
 ing interior communications between the outlying islands that 
 on entering appear to form a part of the mainland. In many of 
 these indentations and havens at that time two or three families 
 resided, to care for the small wharves and buildings devoted to 
 the curing of codfish by partially drying them in the sun. 
 
 The doctor and myself visited one of these residences, which 
 we found comfortable for so small a house, and very neatly kept. 
 At the door we were met by a very natty-looking woman, about 
 forty years of age, who at the doctor's salute of " Bon jour, 
 madame," seemed to be electrified. We were invited in and 
 seats were offered, with great affability and with a perfect deluge 
 of French words ; she said that she was from Quebec, and had 
 lived at her present residence for twenty years ; a bottle of gin 
 having a number of pieces of orange-peel in it was brought out, 
 and we were assured of its delicacy of flavor. The doctor 
 complimented her on the neatness of her house; our hostess 
 took down a silver watch that had long been silent, and told 
 him that she polished it daily ; it was ornamental, if no longer 
 useful. In reply to her inquiry, the doctor informed her that 
 he had learned French in Paris, upon which she made him a 
 profound bow. About this time her husband entered ; to this 
 she demurred, remarking that "she had gentlemen in her 
 house," and he could hardly be reckoned in that category. He 
 was small, rather insignificant in appearance, and gracefully 
 submitted to the will of the head of the family. The half- 
 dozen dogs, she said, were to haul wood from the mountain 
 when the snow set in, and she remarked that in the winter, 
 when the fishermen were away, with only two other families at 
 their harbor, it was rather lonesome, but that on the one side 
 and the other some miles distant were other families. 
 
 Along the whole coast near the water the rocks rise up in 
 masses, and are covered with a long lichen which waving in 
 the breeze resembles the Spanish moss of Florida that haugs so 
 gracefully upon the trees. Within the ravines, sheltered from 
 the winds, there is a sturdy growth of wood, rarely six feet in 
 height, but very tough and gnarled, so that in ascending the 
 mountains it was found necessary to keep in the bed of the 
 small mountain rivulets. At distances not far apart little ponds 
 
84 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 filled with trout were found ; never having been fished for, they 
 knew no fear. Standing in water a foot deep, numbers of them, 
 not larger than our brook-trout, would swim around and near 
 my feet, in the consciousness of security. On arriving at the 
 summit of these heights, of a thousand or more feet, and look- 
 ing to seaward, many icebergs, far and near, were seen glittering 
 in the sun and flecking the distant horizon ; near by, in the 
 deep-blue sea, were grounded icebergs, the waves breaking upon 
 them as upon the rocky coast ; and inland, an undulating sur- 
 face clothed in the daintiest green, bounded by the distant hori- 
 zon, and dotted with many lakes. I know of no locality so 
 rich in promise to our yachtsmen of a sporting proclivity as the 
 coast of Labrador in the vicinity of Belle Isle. A species of 
 sand-fly, very rapid in its movements, and in countless numbers, 
 would assault us on our excursions, and where they lighted on 
 the face an immediate blood-mark would follow. 
 
 At that time the pocket aneroid was unknown, — a little instru- 
 ment that, when properly cared for, gives surprising results ; so 
 the elevations we reached are conjectural. I had a rifle, carrying 
 a round ball of forty to the pound ; the conical ball, although 
 I had seen it four years before as used in Hall's breech-loading 
 carbine, had not yet come into general use. We were told that 
 the icebergs brought down polar bears, which from time to 
 time would swim on shore and make their way north. Black 
 bears were also said to be found in the interior. Although I 
 hunted for them, none were found, which was, I think, just as 
 well for me, for the reason that the main-spring of the lock of 
 my gun was too weak, and frequently failed to explode the cap, 
 and, even had it done so, a round ball of forty to the pound 
 would rarely do a heavy bear much immediate harm even when 
 well directed. 
 
WHALES IN THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE. 85 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence— Story of a Sword-Fish— Sea-Fowl, Fish, 
 and Seals — Run on a Ledge of Rocks — The Bay of Fundy — Halifax — 
 Portland — John Savage, alias Hans Wildemann — Crossing the Atlantic, 
 and Service in the Mediterranean — Lisbon — The Carnival — Port Mahon 
 — The Author transferred to the Ohio, Commodore Hull — Rear- Admiral 
 Dupont — A Sirocco — The Andalusians — Gibraltar — Death of a Sailor — 
 Arrival at Boston — Three Months' Leave — Naval School at Philadelphia 
 — David McLure — Small-Pox in the Naval School — Professor Chauvenet 
 — John Hogan, " from the South." 
 
 In the upper part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence we saw great 
 numbers of whales : on one occasion there seemed to be hundreds, 
 said, by those who pretended to know, to be fin-backs, a very 
 active and rather lean kind, involving in its capture, at that time, 
 more risk than profit, and therefore let alone. Owing to the 
 advance of knowledge in destructive methods, the fin-back is 
 now an object of pursuit, and killed by means of bombs thrown 
 into him from small guns that can be manipulated from the 
 shoulder. The advance in destruction was gradual, — first by 
 the use of prussic acid in a fragile phial inserted in a cavity of 
 a harpoon, followed by the use of a kind of cross-bow to throw 
 the harpoon, and finally by the use of gunpowder to project the 
 weapon. But now so many substitutes for whale-oil are found 
 that relatively few ships are employed in the whale-fisheries, 
 and whales will doubtless become more numerous, until they can 
 be captured with more profit than at present. A considerable 
 number of grampus were seen ; they are about twenty feet in 
 length, and are very common all along our Atlantic coast. 
 
 On one occasion, in the early morning, when the fresh breeze 
 made white-caps on the water, a large number of whales were 
 feeding, much as porpoises feed, the ship passing through their 
 line at a speed of ten miles an hour. This brought us quite near 
 a very large fellow when he came to the surface on our weather 
 bow. Very much frightened at seeing the ship so near, he 
 dived precipitately, throwing his flukes high in the air, and so 
 
86 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 near that it seemed to me impossible that he should not strike 
 the ship. Standing near the bow, I got out of the way in haste. 
 
 All along the Labrador coast, parts of their disjointed skele- 
 tons are seen lying among the rocks. They have a good many 
 enemies, — among others, the " thrasher," a large fish, that leaps 
 out of the water and comes down on his victim with great force. 
 The thrashers appear to attack not singly, but several at a time, 
 and may be aided by the sword-fish, which certainly does not 
 carry his long, formidable projection for ornament. This fish is 
 very voracious, and requires a large amount of food. It is an 
 authenticated fact that a vessel on being docked was found to 
 have a long piece of the hard projection known as the sword 
 driven entirely through the outer planking and inner sheathing : 
 it must have required great force to penetrate through such a 
 mass of hard wood.* 
 
 On the 20th of July, at Red Bay, the snow-line extended 
 along the hill-sides to within one hundred feet of the water ; 
 below that line, and in sheltered places, under the lee of rocky 
 
 * A curious confirmation of the " lore of the sea" expressed in the above 
 of the combats of fishes is published in the daily press, May 24, 1889, of 
 Philadelphia. The British bark Stafford had just arrived from Barbadoes. 
 The captain said, " We were off Cape Hatteras, and the ocean was radiant 
 and aglow with the beams of the setting sun. An hour or so before, a shark 
 had been harpooned and hauled on board ; he had followed the vessel for three 
 days, escorted by a school of pilot-fish. Not many minutes after the carcass 
 of the shark had been thrown overboard, I was in my cabin, and the men 
 lounging forward, when there came a heavy thud. The bark trembled from 
 stem to stern. I ran on deck and asked the mate what had happened, who 
 replied, l We have been struck.' It was thought that the vessel might have 
 struck a partially-sunken wreck ; but a careful glance at the unbroken surface 
 over which we had just passed gave no token, so the incident was forgotten 
 until, on docking, some boys saw what looked like a white sword-blade — one 
 of those old heavy sword-blades — sticking out of the hull. When we came 
 to examine it, the shock off Cape Hatteras was explained. It flashed through 
 my mind that the sword-fish had taken us for a whale and meant butchery 
 when it stabbed our side. The sword completely pierced the pine boarding, 
 penetrating as far as the oak ; this was too hard for it, and the fish was caught. 
 In its struggles to get free it broke its weapon and left this part in the wound : 
 it is about seven inches long. " I should not quite agree with the captain in 
 the idea that the fish had struggled to get away ; in inflicting such a shock to 
 so large a mass as the vessel it did not do less to itself, and was doubtless killed 
 at the instant of striking. 
 
SEA-FOWL, FISH, AND SEALS. 87 
 
 ledges, wherever the ground was uncovered, the " mate apple" 
 grew luxuriantly : it had leaves resembling the strawberry, but 
 much larger. We were told that it produced a berry of indif- 
 ferent flavor. I was sent in charge of a boat to water ship, and, 
 pulling along the landlocked waters, saw a limpid rivulet. 
 After landing, a brief examination enabled me to turn the course 
 of the stream by means of a few stones, so that it would fall 
 over a ledge of rocks, where the boat could lie snugly, and a 
 canvas hose be led from the brook to the funnel in the cask ; 
 this greatly delighted the men, who were spared dipping up and 
 filling the water into the hose. The harbor was alive with fish, 
 among others the " caplin," about the size of a sardine, caught 
 by the fishermen in great numbers for bait. It was a very dainty 
 morsel, much more so than the smelt. Covering the waters were 
 many sea-fowl, but no ducks, such as frequent our waters. There 
 was a bird known to the fishermen as the " parrot duck," having 
 a beak like a parrot ; when wounded and caught, it would bite 
 viciously. Its skin was as tough as that of a beast. Many of 
 our fishing-vessels visited that coast, and, anchoring in sheltered 
 places, sent their small boats to the feeding-banks near the 
 mouths of the inlets, whence they would soon return, loaded to 
 the gunwale. The depth of the water in which the fish were 
 caught was from five to ten fathoms ; they were small, rarely 
 over ten pounds, and usually not more than half that weight. 
 Those caught in deep water on the banks of Newfoundland 
 and elsewhere are very much larger : the deeper the water the 
 larger the fish. I have seen them fifty-four pounds in weight, 
 but less than half that weight is about the average of bank 
 fish. 
 
 In the long twilights and by the light of the auroras, which 
 were almost nightly, the hair-seals sported around the vessel, 
 looking at her with great curiosity : as they were not harmed, 
 they soon became quite tame, very sportive in their plays with 
 each other, and interesting in their movements, with their heads 
 above water, and barking occasionally in a resonant key. The 
 auroras were gorgeous and weird, and well deserved the appella- 
 tion given them of " the dance of spirits." They varied in hue 
 from a pearly white to a rosy tinge, and shot from the northern 
 
88 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 horizon with great rapidity, across the zenith, to within forty 
 degrees, or less, of the southern horizon, varying in hue and in- 
 tensity of light. So brilliant were they that the precipices and 
 rocks, covered with lichens, were plainly visible, while mountain- 
 heights and sea-views, with numerous icebergs, grounded or 
 still afloat, were illuminated with the rapidly-changing colors. 
 There is no actual darkness during the period of long days 
 in high latitudes : the sun appears to linger on the edge, 
 and finally falls below the horizon. Beneath the pole it 
 pursues the reverse course, with a faint streak of light, as of a 
 rising sun. 
 
 On the 27th of July, when standing out of a harbor, we ran 
 on a ledge of rocks, on the first quarter of an ebb-tide. The 
 water was landlocked, and our only danger was of the vessel 
 toppling over when the tide would fall, — some ten feet. We got 
 down our light yards and top-gallant masts, housed the top- 
 masts, got our spare spars rigged as shores over the sides, and 
 well lashed, to hold the vessel on her keel, brought a small 
 schooner alongside, unloaded our shot and other heavy bodies, 
 and pumped the water in the casks overboard, to insure our get- 
 ting off at high tide, which was effected without other damage 
 than splintering a little of the false keel and tearing the copper 
 in several places. 
 
 The next day, as soon as we got afloat, we set about sending 
 up spars, setting up riggiug, getting in the shot and other 
 articles, and, as quickly as this could be effected, got under way 
 to pass out. After getting into rough water, the wind headed 
 us ; not taking advantage of it, and putting the helm down to 
 go about, we filled away, and then had to tack ship unpleasantly 
 near a lee shore with little headway. The affair was " a touch 
 and go." Had the vessel missed stays, that would have been 
 the last of the Preble ; but I suppose, under the lee of the 
 hull, we should all have been able to reach the rocks in safety, 
 unless some of us had been killed by falling spars when the 
 vessel struck. Soon after, we were safely at sea, with a head- 
 wind and under double-reefed topsails and foresail. As the sun 
 went down, we ran into one of the many little niches on the 
 coast, and anchored. The activity of movement from port to 
 
PORTLAND. 89 
 
 port, getting tinder way and anchoring, was of great advantage 
 to the young officers, who learned more in a few months than 
 was usual in making a three years' cruise. 
 
 About the 1st of September we passed through the Gut of 
 Canso, a very picturesque water, and a week later anchored in 
 Portland harbor, where we saw " the sweethearts that never 
 became our wives." Two weeks later, we were in the Bay of 
 Fundy, and went into Annapolis, opposite to St. John's. The 
 beautiful woods that lined the shores were filled with pheasants, 
 and, what was to us quite interesting, the bay at high water ex- 
 tended to the foot-hills, but at low tide was far out, so that it 
 was in most places only practicable to land about the time of 
 high water. 
 
 Passing out to sea, in the narrow entrance the wind scanted, 
 and we let go an anchor to prevent being thrown on shore by 
 the strong current. We swung around with great rapidity, 
 heading into the harbor. Before getting under way, in com- 
 mon with my boat's crew, I ran great danger of being drowned, 
 in taking a hawser into the boat when hanging by a line from 
 the jib-boom. We could have done this just as well, and safely, 
 by hanging to a Jacob's ladder astern. We lived through the 
 attempt more by good luck than good management, and I 
 learned something of value, by indirection. 
 
 Very soon the tide ran more than seven miles an hour ; we 
 landed the hawser far astern of the ship, although the shore was 
 very near, and then, with great labor, carried the end up the 
 beach, to make it fast around a tree. The hawser was set taut ; 
 but the wind freshening, we got under way. Before we tripped 
 anchor, we had made sail to top-gallant sails and foresail with 
 the wind on the quarter, and were going through the water quite 
 seven knots ; by the force of the tide we were, nevertheless, set 
 bodily out, stern foremost, two or three knots an hour. Short- 
 ening sail, we wore ship, and with a freshening breeze were 
 soon at anchor at St. John's, across the bay. 
 
 We backed and filled between Halifax and Portland until 
 the 4th of November, when, with a fresh breeze, we left the 
 latter port for Boston, catching sight of Mount Washington, 
 covered with snow, as soon as we got clear of the land. 
 
90 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 We had on board some very smart seamen, — among others, 
 John Savage ; he was more than fifty years of age, marked 
 badly with the small-pox ; he had fine black eyes, was intelli- 
 gent and educated. Although on board the Vandalia, in the 
 Gulf, I had learned to get longitude with chronometer-sights, 
 and, of course, to get the latitude by noon observations, and 
 also by dead reckoning, I was indebted to Savage for further 
 instruction. He said he had been an officer in the Dutch navy, 
 and when Napoleon became its master he was either turned out 
 or resigned. I asked him how a Hollander could be named 
 " John Savage." " Why," said he, " my name was Hans Wilde- 
 mann ; and what is Hans but John, and Wildemann but Sav- 
 age?" Long after, I saw Savage in our Naval Asylum, in 
 Philadelphia, where he doubtless died. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th of January, 1841, we cast adrift 
 from the navy-yard wharf at Boston, after having made sail, 
 and, with a fresh northwest breeze, were soon out of the har- 
 bor, on our way to Lisbon, thence to the Mediterranean for a 
 cruise. 
 
 The officers were almost without exception changed, save those 
 in the steerage. Our old sheldrake of a captain's clerk had 
 given place to a young gentleman of agreeable manners and a 
 delightful messmate. He is one of the few survivors, and it is 
 a pleasure to know that after forty-eight years of active life he 
 is still as cheery and benevolent as of old. 
 
 After we got out of sight of land, beyond Cape Cod, we had 
 a northeast snow-storm, and, not having reefed our topsails until 
 it was quite dark, had a troublesome and lengthy job, because 
 the yards were not laid properly to spill the sails. As officer 
 stationed in the main-top, I was aloft for an hour or more, and, 
 as a matter of safety, went aloft without an overcoat, the vessel 
 rolling very heavily. When I came down, my hands were so 
 benumbed with cold that I had no feeling of touch in them ; 
 in order to secure myself, I was obliged to thrust my arms 
 inside of the shrouds (which are large ropes sustaining the 
 masts), and then bring my hands up, so that they would nearly 
 touch each other, and so held on with the muscles at my elbows. 
 This was not at all safe or pleasant, but it was the best, and 
 
THE CARNIVAL. 91 
 
 indeed the only, thing to be done, to get down. Not a few sea- 
 men on such occasions are thrown overboard by the switching 
 of the shrouds, when the rigging is too slack. When the snow- 
 storm was over, the wind came round to the westward and blew 
 fresh all the way across the ocean, and there was not a dry spot 
 on the deck until we entered Lisbon harbor, just one month 
 after sailing. 
 
 We reached the coast in exactly twenty days, but the timidity 
 of old navy men of that day on approaching land was quite 
 extraordinary and annoying. 
 
 On an island just within the entrance of Lisbon harbor is the 
 picturesque Belem Castle, surrounded then by other fortifications 
 of later date. It was built in the fifteenth century, and of 
 course at this period would be found far more ornamental than 
 useful. The harbor of Lisbon, surrounded by its green hills, 
 with Cintra in the distance, is very beautiful. On walking 
 through the city, the ruins of the earthquake of 1755 were yet 
 to be seen. 
 
 It would have been well if all that part of the city that had 
 been thrown down at that time had never been built up again, 
 but the ruins taken away and the spaces converted into orna- 
 mental grounds. It has been fully established by geologists 
 that there are two quite distinct formations beneath the city, 
 and while one gave vent to the disruptive forces the other 
 remained intact. By the earthquake from thirty to forty thou- 
 sand of the inhabitants perished, — probably one-fifth of the 
 population, — and four years later the city was scourged by the 
 yellow fever to a fearful extent. Charming as is the landscape, 
 and mild as is the wintry climate, at the time of our visit, from 
 want of sanitary knowledge, it was an unhealthy place, and it 
 is so even at this date ; the river Tagus was a swollen, muddy 
 stream, anything but attractive. 
 
 We arrived in time for the Carnival, and went to the mas- 
 querade ball in the Grand Opera House. The over-polite 
 attentions of the fine ladies with masks to our young officers 
 were quite overwhelming : the better classes, of course, do not 
 go on the floor, but the boxes were filled with them. On the 
 floor with the masqueraders were a number of foreign officers 
 
92 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 of different nationalities, who were in uniforms; all others 
 being in fancy dress and masked. 
 
 The latitude of Lisbon is nearly 39°, about the same as that 
 of the Capes of the Delaware, but, situated on the shore of the 
 broad Atlantic, the prevalence of westerly winds tempers the 
 climate wonderfully : the part of the bifurcated ocean current 
 that passes south, close to the coast, tends greatly to this amelio- 
 ration. 
 
 " Childe Harold" does justice to the beautiful scenery on 
 entering : 
 
 " Oh, Christ ! it is a goodly sight to see 
 What Heaven hath done for this delicious land ; 
 What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree ! 
 What goodly prospects o'er the hills expand!" 
 
 We found the city delightful, and the inhabitants of rank 
 were most courteous to navy officers. After ten days in harbor, 
 we left for Port Mahon, the rendezvous of our squadron at that 
 time. 
 
 In the winter, the weather in the Mediterranean is very rough, 
 and, as the sea is narrow and the gales sudden, sailing-vessels 
 usually laid up in the severe season, refitting rigging, and doing 
 what overhauling seemed advisable, many of the officers and 
 sailors went on shore in the evening, to the theatre or to parties. 
 
 The Mahonese were a very kind and industrious people, and 
 at that time their support was largely derived from supplying 
 the necessities and luxuries of our rather large squadron ; we 
 had then somewhat over two thousand men and officers on that 
 station. 
 
 Mahon was a perfect harbor for the old clumpy line-of-battle- 
 ships, but the long modern men-of-war would have no room 
 there to swing at their anchors. We found in winter-quarters 
 our finest line-of-battle-ship, the Ohio, flying the flag of Isaac 
 Hull, who captured the GuerriSre in the war with Great Britain, 
 when in command of the Constitution ; the frigate Brandywine, 
 the sloop-of-war Fairfield, and one or two other vessels of like 
 class. The Ohio had nearly completed her cruise, and on the 
 last of May I was transferred to her, to return home for a 
 
GIBRALTAR. 93 
 
 term at the Naval School. The late Rear- Admiral Samuel F. 
 Dupont was the second lieutenant, and I was assigned to his 
 watch. 
 
 In getting under way at Mahon, a top-block fell out of the 
 main-top and struck very near where I stood : had it bounced 
 in my direction it would have ended my cruising. 
 
 Eight days after sailing, when off Malaga, we had a sirocco, 
 and anchored a mile off the mole of that port. These hot, dry 
 winds, bearing very minute particles of sharp sand, cause a 
 painful ophthalmia, from which, in common with many ship- 
 mates, I suffered. We had an opportunity of going on shore, 
 and of receiving many of the inhabitants on board of the vessel. 
 Visiting our vessels-of-war was one of the pastimes of the 
 people in cities along the coast of the Mediterranean, for the 
 reason that they always had a courteous reception. The Anda- 
 lusians were certainly a charming people in appearance, in their 
 neat fanciful dress, and the senoritas were very sprightly and 
 pretty. The hilly country close around, and the mountain- 
 range not far in the interior, gave the usual trim wiry figure to 
 the inhabitants of the region. 
 
 After remaining at anchor two or three days, we got under 
 way with a head-wind, and, after a two days' beat, anchored in 
 the roadstead of Gibraltar, called by courtesy a harbor. The 
 rock, sixty marine miles distant, was plainly in sight from our 
 anchorage off Malaga, and, with a moderately fresh top-gallant 
 breeze and bright moonlight nights, I have never experienced 
 so delightful a sail. We would stand on and off the coast in 
 stretches of two or three hours, and would not tack ship when 
 standing in-shore, even after night, until in the clear light of 
 the moon the white houses on the hill-sides were plainly visible. 
 
 After remaining at anchor at Gibraltar four days, a Levanter 
 set in, which means a strong easterly wind, and we were soon 
 on our way to the Atlantic. As every one knows, a very strong 
 current sets in the straits when westerly winds are blowing, 
 making it almost impossible for a square-rigged vessel to beat 
 out, and, as westerly winds sometimes continue for weeks, hun- 
 dreds of vessels anchor in the roadstead, and go to sea as soon 
 as the change of wind favors them. 
 
94 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 On our way seaward, in the forenoon, an old invalided sailor 
 dragged himself up from below, aided by some of his shipmates, 
 and seated himself on the partners of the foremast ; he looked 
 out upon the broad Atlantic and said, " Ah ! now I shall soon 
 be well ; this air will cure me." Soon after, his head drooped 
 upon the fife-rail, and he apparently went to sleep, but it was 
 the sleep of death. When the sun went down, the burial service 
 was read, and, sewed in canvas weighted with shot, his body was 
 launched into the Atlantic. His long voyaging on earth was 
 over. He was a great favorite with the officers as well as his 
 messmates. 
 
 We arrived in Boston on the 17th of July, after a passage of 
 thirty-five days from Gibraltar. When south of the Banks of 
 Newfoundland, we had heavy weather. I was much interested 
 in observiug how well the vessel behaved under close-reefed 
 main-topsail and reefed foresail, and what a great difference 
 there was in her pitching when the bow guns were brought to 
 the mainmast and lashed. 
 
 In the life of a seafaring man there are few joys comparable 
 with being homeward bound; on arriving, a leave of three 
 months awaits him, and the time with his loved ones seems all 
 too short. 
 
 AT THE NAVAL SCHOOL IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 At the end of my leave, I was sent to our Naval School, then 
 in the Naval Asylum, near Philadelphia, on the Gray's Ferry 
 Road. The building is yet standing, now surrounded by dwell- 
 ings that hem it in on all sides. The grounds comprise some 
 twenty acres, half of which, in front of the building, is covered 
 by large trees, that I aided Commodore James S. Biddle to 
 plant during that fall or winter. We occupied the ground-floor 
 of the northern wing, the end room at the entrance being for 
 recitations. There were two stories above, with a broad corri- 
 dor in front and in rear ; a few of the midshipmen who had 
 no quarters below were assigned to the second floor. 
 
 There was a long passage-way extending in the centre through 
 the building, having on both sides, all the way up, little rooms, 
 about eight feet square, with partitions eight feet high, separating 
 
DAVID MCLURE. 95 
 
 them from the hall, or passage-way, and from each other. Each 
 apartment had a window looking outward, with bars like a 
 prison. The furniture consisted of a small iron bedstead and 
 wash-stand, a small wooden wardrobe, and whatever we chose 
 to supply in mirror, carpets, and bedding, The number of 
 midshipmen under instruction was thirty-four, and the length 
 of time about eight months. The naval pensioners, for whom 
 the building was constructed, numbered at that time about one 
 hundred ; and they were generally assigned to the other wing 
 of the building. 
 
 Our recitation-room was furnished w T ith two blackboards, and 
 a large rough table in the centre of the room, upon which we 
 could put our books if desired, and all of us had chairs. There 
 was an old sextant, to explain its adjustments, and no apparatus 
 whatever. The passage-ways were heated by two stoves, placed 
 in the middle and supplied with anthracite coal, and our recita- 
 tion-room was heated in like manner. Our food was paid for 
 out of our pay, by deducting twenty dollars per month from 
 every one, and the wife of the gunner who was stationed as an 
 assistant, to take care of the pensioners, was our purveyor. 
 We did not live luxuriously. 
 
 We were under the instruction of David McLure, one of the 
 half-dozen " professors of mathematics" then in the navy. He 
 deserved the kind feelings of all his pupils ; he was quite small, 
 evidently a Scot, was very appreciative of moral philosophy 
 as a study, and thought that practical navigation might be 
 deferred to the end of our instruction, as, in his opinion, two 
 months should suffice for that. We studied Playfair's Geom- 
 etry and Bourdon's Algebra, and listened to his daily lectures 
 on physics and moral philosophy. 
 
 On one occasion he gave a lecture on " infinity," which was 
 responded to by one of the class, who said he had but one idea 
 in regard to " infinity," — namely, that it had a common ratio 
 to all conceivable quantities, or distances, or spaces. The little 
 man fairly held his breath, and finally said, " Wonderful ! won- 
 derful ! The first philosophers of the age have just arrived 
 at that conclusion." The irreverent youth replied that it only 
 implied his superiority to philosophers in general. The pro- 
 
96 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW 
 
 fessor cast a glance of pity at the sententious individual, and 
 felt for ever after that he had uttered what he did not compre- 
 hend. He lived in the city, and came out daily, at about nine 
 in the morning, remaining until about two o'clock. In Feb- 
 ruary he was seized with pneumonia, and we saw no more of 
 him until we went to his funeral. 
 
 Soon after the death of Professor McLure, an incident oc- 
 curred that dispersed the school for some six weeks. The 
 small-pox was prevalent in the city during the whole of that 
 winter, and the family of the gunner on duty at the Naval 
 Asylum brought it out for our benefit. The rooms of his 
 family were next to the chapel, with a communicating door; 
 it is not unlikely that it was used for the sick, or the door was 
 opened to give the benefit of additional air. At all events, six 
 or eight of us were attacked, although all were vaccinated on 
 the appearance of the disease in the building ; the vaccine did 
 not " take," but the small-pox did, and I was the first victim. 
 When a child, my father inspired me with a fear of the disease. 
 When quite young, in the mountain-region of Virginia, he had 
 it in a confluent form, before the time of Jenner, and at a period 
 when it was the practice to " prepare the system" for it and use 
 the small-pox virus. The first symptom with me was a sudden 
 nausea, when dining, followed soon after by a strong fever. 
 During the night I was restless, and in a dream saw a mist 
 slowly passing along in the obscurity of the evening. Regard- 
 ing it as a marvel, I asked it if it was a ghost ; it replied, 
 " Yes." I asked if I knew it when living ; it replied, " No." 
 " Then," I said, " keep away from me, or I will harm you." 
 Then the mist seemed to solidify, and rapidly assumed the typi- 
 cal representation of the devil, but it was a very little one, and 
 in my mind there was only one thing to do if it became aggres- 
 sive, as it seemed disposed to do. It soon crouched with dread- 
 ful grimace, and evidently intended to make a bound of twenty 
 feet. " Now," I thought, " I am in for it," and, bracing my- 
 self firmly on my right foot, I met my enemy on his bound, 
 with all my force of fist, between the eyes. His bronze majesty 
 had it all his own way ; my fist fell back, bruised and lacerated, 
 and there I was, in the power of the fiend ! It was a fearful 
 
PROFESSOR CHAUVENET. 97 
 
 moment, and I yelled with all my power. My companions had 
 not yet retired, and were sitting around in the hall- way. Startled 
 by my cry, they rushed in to ask the cause. I was awake from 
 the blow I had inflicted on the wall and the injuries received 
 therefrom, and at once gave an account of my supposed en- 
 counter, which impressed itself on my memory ever after. The 
 following morning my classmate Jones came to see me, and, 
 looking closely at my face and hands, informed me that I had 
 it. " Have what ?" I asked. " Only the small-pox," he said ; 
 and so it was. 
 
 After the reassembling of the classes, quite a young professor 
 took the place of McLure as our instructor, and he proved one 
 of distinguished ability; it was the late Professor Chauvenet, 
 who did more in building up the present Naval Academy than 
 any other person. He resigned in 1860, almost an old man 
 from his labors, and died a few years after, in St. Louis, Mis- 
 souri, at the head of some institution. He was a man of genius, 
 and literally wore himself out in his studies, and on his text- 
 books, which are of the highest merit. 
 
 He could do nothing with our class but patch us up on prac- 
 tical navigation. However, every member of the class passed 
 his examination. It was said that the Board arrived at this 
 result because several of the members insisted upon a particular 
 midshipman passing, they being " friends of the family." The 
 other members then asserted, it was said, that none should be 
 found deficient ; so we all passed. Several of us, who lived at 
 a distance from Philadelphia, after examination stayed at the 
 building, awaiting orders, and one, known as " Brick-top," went 
 into the examination-room and gathered the scraps of paper 
 from the fireplace. We were invited to join in putting the torn 
 pieces together, and then read off the names as recorded. The 
 numbers not being entirely to our satisfaction, it occurred to us 
 to reverse the list and give it to the newspapers for publication. 
 This was done, to the great gratification of the foot of the class. 
 "Billy" was in high feather at the final reward of his labors. 
 His method of studying geometry was to memorize a problem ; 
 hence it became a matter of prime importance to place all the 
 letters on the diagram just as they were in the book. He 
 
 7 
 
98 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 received our congratulations in relation to his number with great 
 condescension, and when the official list reversed our numbers 
 he was hardly willing to believe his eyes. 
 
 It was our habit at the school, in the afternoon, to form 
 parties numbering a dozen or more and take a stroll of several 
 miles. On one occasion we went to Fairmount, and John 
 Hogan, " from the South," as he always added, took it into his 
 head to have a fit for the amusement of the crowd. He went 
 through the performance admirably, and finally, after being 
 restored, and gaining the sympathy of the persons who saw the 
 unfortunate young man, he was supported by his comrades on 
 his way home, until no longer seen by his commiserators. He 
 had much more ability in having fits and dancing " hoe-downs" 
 than in his studies : in such roles he was inimitable. After a 
 lapse of forty-seven years, there are still of our class three on 
 the retired list of the navy, and three in civil life, who resigned 
 many years ago. The classmate who had the fits, and the other 
 one, who committed his geometry to memory as well as the 
 letter rule of the problem, passed away long ago. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Coast-Survey Duty on the Delaware — Lieutenant Charles H. Davis, com- 
 manding the Nautilus — Lieutenant George B. Blake — The Gallatin — 
 Ordered to Keceiving-Ship Experiment, at Philadelphia Navy- Yard — 
 Lieutenant Albert E. Downes, of the Grampus — A Proposed Visit to the 
 "White Mountains — Interrupted by a Trio of Musicians— Ordered as Navi- 
 gator to the Lexington — Life in the Wardroom — A " Tartar" — Minorca — 
 Port Mahon — " Old Nance" — The Missouri — The Columbus — The Lexing- 
 ton arrives at New York — Lieutenants Green, Grey, White, and Black — 
 Visits Mississippi — Adjutant-General Koger Jones — Lieutenant Lay — Visits 
 Home — Ordered to the Vincennes — Cruise to China and Japan — A Case 
 of Small-Pox — Dolphins — Dan on the Lookout — Brazil. 
 
 Ten days after passing my examination, I was ordered on 
 coast-survey duty, and joined the Nautilus, a fore-and-aft 
 schooner, commanded by Lieutenant Charles H. Davis, who 
 died some years ago as rear-admiral. The vessel was engaged 
 
LIEUT. ALBERT E. DOWNES, OF THE GRAMPUS. 99 
 
 on the survey of Delaware Bay, and belonged to the party of 
 Lieutenant George B. Blake, in command of the Gallatin, a 
 beautiful little foretop-sail schooner that was a great favorite 
 with her officers and continued for a long period of years on 
 that duty. In the early part of the season our work was near 
 Cape May, and later up the river between Chester and New 
 Castle. With agreeable messmates, I passed a delightful sum- 
 mer on such duty, and when the season was over was given a 
 leave to visit my relatives. 
 
 During the following winter I was ordered to the receiving- 
 ship Experiment, at the Philadelphia Navy- Yard. She had no 
 frame, and was built with planking placed diagonally, on what 
 is now known as the " diagonal plan" in boat-construction. The 
 Experiment had much the model of a long muskmelon with- 
 out the ribbed sections. She was the ideal of some old " sea- 
 dog," who thought that the flexibility of the hull would make 
 up in speed for the deficiency of lines, — that the muskmelon 
 shape, added to the flexibility, would make a fast vessel, which 
 did not prove to be the case. She served in the " Nullification 
 war" at Charleston, in 1834, and it was said that in going and 
 returning from a Northern port she worked like a basket and 
 leaked to such a degree that she was never sent to sea again. 
 There were no recruits on board during the winter of 1843 in 
 Philadelphia, and literally there was nothing to do. The Ex- 
 periment was moored to the wharf and roofed : with no watch 
 to keep, — for there was nothing to watch, — the most favorable 
 conditions were presented for a young officer " to go to seed" 
 prematurely. There were several of us, and we had our rooms, 
 when not required to be on board, at a lodging-house on the site 
 now occupied by the Continental Hotel. 
 
 Soon after joining the Experiment, it occurred to me that an 
 officer could become a seaman only by going to sea, and I was 
 on the point of applying for the schooner Grampus, which I saw 
 was about being put in commission, under Lieutenant Albert E. 
 Downes, under whom I had served on board the Preble. I was 
 dissuaded by a classmate, who proposed that we should go to- 
 gether a few months later, and the following March, in a " bliz- 
 zard" of great severity, the Grampus was lost off Charleston. 
 
100 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 The following autumn I asked a detachment from the Experi- 
 ment and orders to the frigate Savannah, bound for the Pacific. 
 Having some days' leave, I determined to visit the White 
 Mountains. On arriving at Boston, I fell in with a classmate 
 who played exquisitely upon the flute, and, on being told where 
 I was going, he said that would just suit him, and the next day 
 we were off for Portland. There we fell in with an old navy 
 man, who had resigned and become an officer in the revenue 
 service. He played the guitar superbly, and some years before 
 had gone through Virginia as a compromise between a trouba- 
 dour and a tramp, singing Italian songs and denying a knowledge 
 of the English language, further than to make known his wants. 
 In the hotel at Portland my worthy friends had a duet ; there 
 was a knock at the door, and, on an invitation to enter, a tall 
 man, somewhat the worse for drink, came in, and said, " Gentle- 
 men, excuse me ; are you the gentleman who played the flute ? 
 You have faults in execution, but you play more exquisitely 
 than any person I have ever heard. I must embrace you." He 
 suited the action to the word ; " Tom" said that, if it was all the 
 same, he would consider himself embraced. He informed us 
 that he was the late leader of the band at the Military Academy 
 at West Point, and begged leave to bring his horn and make a 
 trio, which was agreed to. Afterwards we had music morning, 
 noon, and night, and in reply to my reminders that we were 
 wasting our time instead of going to the mountains, my friend 
 Tom would aver earnestly that we would go the next day, and 
 when that came it was the same old promise never fulfilled. A 
 cocktail in the morning, supplemented by others, made him 
 happy and musical, and, as several days had been wasted, my 
 time was so shortened that I had to go to New York to join my 
 vessel. I never saw either of my musical friends again. 
 
 I think the observation of most men supports the fact that 
 when the day begins with a cocktail the man will not last long : 
 among seamen it has passed into a proverb that the sun must at 
 least " be over the foreyard" before a man can, with any possi- 
 ble safety, take a cocktail j and to this I have never known but 
 one living exception. Not long ago, in the New York hotel, 
 when up early, I met a friend whom I knew agreeably in Wash- 
 
ORDERED AS NAVIGATOR TO THE LEXINGTON. 101' 
 
 ington more than thirty years before. He proposed a cocktail ; 
 I declined, as a precautionary measure, much to his chagrin, as 
 we were old friends. He is the single exception that I have 
 known, and exemplifies the fact, that however general a result 
 obtains, an exception may be possible. 
 
 We were on the point of sailing on board of the Savannah 
 for the Pacific, when I found myself ordered as navigator of the 
 store-ship Lexington bound for Port Mahon ; and, although 
 seven years passed before I became a lieutenant, and as I was 
 then and thereafter a navigator, when on board vessels-of-war, 
 or on surveying duty, where I was with officers of higher grade, 
 I consider my life in the steerage ended, and what I write here- 
 after will belong to a wider scope of vision, and will relate to 
 more responsible duties. 
 
 LIFE IN THE WARDROOM, OK THAT OF A COMMISSIONED 
 
 OFFICER. 
 
 In October, 1843, I joined the store-ship Lexington, at the 
 New York Navy- Yard, in the capacity of acting master, with 
 the duties of watch-officer and navigator. I had passed my 
 examination fifteen months before, and, as the position was one 
 of responsibility, none — or few — were ordered to vessels with- 
 out the application of the officer commanding the vessel, which 
 was the case in this instance, although I had never seen the 
 lieutenant in charge. 
 
 He was called a " Tartar," and I must confess that he had 
 evidently grown up in the school of violence ; but there were 
 signs that he would have been a more useful and more agreeable 
 officer had he received different training. There is, surely, 
 enough that is trying in a natural way to the men of the sea, 
 without imposing upon them a load of nonsense and holding 
 over them forever a menace and a threat. I will leave it to 
 those who have served under me to say whether this is a con- 
 demnation of others when, unwittingly, I might be subjected to 
 the same criticism. There is certainly much to consider with 
 regard to the responsibilities of a commanding officer ; he can- 
 not avoid them, and, indeed, if he seeks to do so, as our army 
 friends say, he " should go to the rear." In former writings I 
 
102 '" ' ' ' ' THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 have acknowledged the great debt the navy owed to those who 
 did away with flogging. It was met at the time with a sneer 
 and the remark, " Moral suasion," and I have to admit that I 
 joined in the sneer. The change, however, forced upon navy 
 officers a study of the broad principles of governing men ; 
 showing them that, however much absolute government was a 
 necessity, if it failed in reason and humanity there was neither 
 effectiveness nor discipline. It has often occurred to me how 
 powerless an army officer is when not " popular" with untrained 
 meu, who think that discipline is only a disguised name for 
 tyranny, when, in fact, discipline is simply an economy of force, 
 and a protection for the health, comfort, and effectiveness of 
 men, and the more advantageous individually, as the grade is 
 lower. On board ship we deserve little credit for discipline, 
 and a great deal of censure where it does not exist. With 
 water five fathoms deep, or more, around us, the landsman can- 
 not escape the toils, and ere long understands that the man who 
 governs looks to his health and comfort. He sees, too, that he 
 is protected in his rights and instructed in his duties. When 
 his conduct is good, as often as his duties will permit, he is sent 
 on shore, and if he misbehaves, still he is sent " on liberty" at 
 such times as are convenient. Nevertheless, he 1 is punished, one 
 way or another, for his derelictions ; for doing away with flog- 
 ging does not imply that punishment in the navy has ceased, nor 
 will it, so long as misdemeanors and crimes demand it. 
 
 The Lexington had been converted from an old sloop-of-war 
 to a store-ship by being built upon, which made her capable of 
 stowing a large cargo. I had little idea of the capacity of her 
 stowage, and was quite surprised when the captain told me to 
 make a requisition for twenty-five cords of wood for " dunnage," 
 which means filling up vacant spaces between barrels and pack- 
 ages ; yet all of it was required : as a solid, it was a cube of 
 three thousand two hundred feet. About the last of September 
 we completed the stowage of our cargo for Port Mahon, a haven 
 of rest, known to seamen for centuries, and at that time the 
 rendezvous of our squadron in the Mediterranean, where we 
 kept half a dozen vessels-of-war. The vessel drew some two 
 feet more of water than when a sloop-of-war, and was quite a 
 
» OLD NANCE. 1 ' 103 
 
 dull sailer, but by crowding sail when we had a free wind we 
 got along fairly, and arrived at Port Mahon in forty-four days. 
 
 From seaward, and indeed from within the harbor, the gen- 
 eral aspect of the island of Minorca was uninviting. It has 
 only one considerable elevation, of several hundred feet, known 
 as Mount Toro. In the time of Nelson, Port Mahon was a 
 great naval rendezvous, and the greater number of the servants 
 of the officers, then and thereafter, were Mahonese ; even the 
 crews were in part from the Balearic Islands. 
 
 " Old Nance," as she was called by our officers, was a sturdy 
 old woman of seventy ; she had a very pleasant face, and, it 
 was said, had served on board of Nelson's flag-ship in the 
 capacity of powder-boy ; that is, in action, she supplied a gun 
 with powder passed up from the magazine. When I knew her, 
 she was quite poor, and lived mostly in the country, where 
 beans, lettuce, and olive oil were cheap ; a boiled head of let- 
 tuce, with a little oil and salt, and some beans, were all she 
 required to supply her wants, and when she came to town she 
 was very attentive in presenting beans to the children of her 
 friends. She was quite cheerful, and spoke of her service afloat 
 with zest. 
 
 The inn of Juan Cacho was noted for its nice dishes ; the red- 
 legged partridge that came over from the African coast, a dis- 
 tance of one hundred miles, in the season, and the " becofico," 
 a very diminutive bird of passage also, and the date-fish, were 
 among his delicacies. The vino negro of the island was sound 
 and had body, and the vino tinto that came from the foot of 
 Mount Toro was a very delicate wine. Although the island 
 had a look of sterility, it produced quantities of fine vegetables 
 and fruits, particularly the cauliflower, and oranges, figs, grapes, 
 and apricots. 
 
 The roads over the island were admirable, and donkey-riding 
 was a favorite pastime, at an inconsiderable cost. In the valleys, 
 the fruit-trees and vegetable-gardens were always irrigated in 
 the dry season. Among the rocks, over the hills, were numbers 
 of the altars of the Druids. 
 
 It would be idle to speculate as to the antiquity of the his- 
 tory of the island. The Mahonese of forty years ago were a 
 
104 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 very industrious, neat people, with few vices ; they were, with- 
 out exception, sober, notwithstanding all of them, large and 
 small, had their vino negro daily, and bread, if they could afford 
 it j if not, beans would serve. As there were few persons of 
 wealth, many of the ladies embroidered shawls and mantillas, 
 and the officers bought them, through their agents, without 
 knowing whence they came, thus adding considerably to the 
 means of support of many excellent families. As I have made 
 previous mention of Mahon, when visiting it as a midshipman 
 attached to the Preble, I shall dispense with any further obser- 
 vation in relation to the island of Minorca. 
 
 During my service on board of the Lexington we made two 
 voyages between New York and Port Mahon. Stopping at 
 Gibraltar on a homeward voyage, we took on board the copper 
 boilers of the Missouri, burned at anchor in the harbor of 
 Gibraltar in daylight, a day or so after she had crossed the 
 Atlantic. A leakage of turpentine over the enginery, and the 
 saturation of the wood-work, made her a prepared bonfire. 
 Probably at that time, little organization existed to extinguish 
 fires, but now such organization is an established drill on board 
 of all our vessels-of-war. 
 
 I went alone to the top of the Rock, first, by taking the left- 
 hand road leading to the highest battery overlooking the " neu- 
 tral ground," which is a low neck connecting the Rock with 
 Spanish territory. Looking down from the upper battery, the 
 face seemed perpendicular, and in fact it is nearly so, for several 
 hundred feet. There, I found farther progress interrupted by 
 an abrupt termination of the road ; I should have taken the 
 other fork, at a bifurcation several hundred yards below. Look- 
 ing upward, towards the top, it did not seem to me so very 
 steep that I might not fairly venture, and I set about climbing. 
 I had not gone fifty feet before the roadway I had left was no 
 longer in view. The neutral ground lay below me, with a fore- 
 ground of rocks of a few feet only. I confess that I would 
 gladly have attempted to get down, had I not felt it safer to go 
 on, which I did until I gained the top, and was very much 
 relieved when I stood upon it. It was perilous, and was entered 
 into somewhat stupidly, not as a feat, but to save the time of 
 
LIE UTS. GREEN, GREY, WHITE, AND BLACK. 105 
 
 going down several hundred yards in order to take the proper 
 road to reach the summit. 
 
 The view from the top of the Rock is well worth making the 
 ascent in the ordinary way, but not as I did it. Looking over 
 into Africa, a long range of snow-clad mountains was plainly 
 in sight, and along the Spanish shore extended the Sierra Madre, 
 also covered with snow for most of the year. All around was 
 a scene of beauty ; and, what adds to the scenic effect, the top 
 of the Rock is so limited that it appears as if standing on a 
 pedestal : it is more than thirteen hundred feet in height. 
 
 We left Gibraltar outward bound, with a fresh easterly wind, 
 known as a u Levanter." Hundreds of sailing-vessels were 
 passing out at the same time, for we had been held in for some 
 days by westerly winds. Our line-of-battle-ship Columbus 
 passed out the same day, also homeward bound, but we did not 
 see her. We steered towards the southwest, and passed to the 
 eastward of the island of Madeira, not far from it, and made 
 our course nearly west along the northern limit of the trade- 
 winds, until we lost our breeze, some two hundred miles south- 
 east of the Bermudas ; then, with the squally weather and 
 calms, and the wind all around the compass, we made our way 
 towards Cape Hatteras, to be able to make our lay with the 
 northwest winds. Although the Lexington was a dull sailer, 
 we reached New York in thirty days from Gibraltar, and beat 
 in, under the lee of the Jersey coast, with a fresh northwest 
 gale. The Columbus was blown off, twisted her rudder-head, 
 and did not get in for a fortnight after our arrival : we " laid 
 to" in a heavy storm within less than one hundred miles of her, 
 made use of fore-and-aft sails, and rode it out very comfortably, 
 while she was under the traditional main-topsail and lay 
 wallowing in the trough of the sea. 
 
 Soon after reaching the navy-yard, all the officers, except 
 myself, left the ship for the day. A reporter paid a visit to 
 learn the incidents of the voyage, and asked for a list of our 
 officers. The first lieutenant was actually named Green, the 
 second Grey, the third White, and the boatswain Black. In 
 order to have as many tints as possible, and surpass in the color- 
 line, I gave my name as Dun Brown. This my messmates 
 
106 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 did not like, jealous, doubtless, of my subduing their distinctive 
 colors with my false pretensions : an explanation was asked as 
 to the motive of my conduct, but, as there was no motive in it, 
 my explanation failed to be satisfactory. 
 
 Detached from the Lexington, I went west to see my relatives, 
 and finally to Mississippi, in the vicinity of Natchez, where 
 some members of my family lived. I spent some weeks with 
 Mr. James Metcalfe, at a plantation known as " Bourbon," 
 three miles above Ellis's Cliffs, on the river. The sloughs in 
 the interior, bordering the river, were the resort of wild ducks, 
 the mallard and teal being in great numbers. I observed with 
 surprise that the river-banks were higher than the interior, where 
 there were no bluffs, and that usually half a mile from the river 
 were long irregular sloughs, and although the timber standing 
 on the higher ground was large, the marks from the floods on 
 their trunks were often ten or fifteen feet from the ground. 
 The swampy grounds covered with cypress-trees, and all the 
 forest clothed in what is known as Spanish moss, give a funereal 
 aspect to these unfrequented lands. 
 
 Some years later, in reading Ly ell's Geology, I came across a 
 very simple and satisfactory explanation as to the cause of the 
 immediate banks of the river being higher than the interior. 
 Tens of thousands of miles of land-superficies had been brought 
 down by the stream, and when the force of the current became 
 insufficient to carry along the mud or gravel the heavier parts 
 would be left on the immediate banks of the river and the 
 lighter particles be carried into the interior, where at length the 
 imperceptible current would no longer carry them farther. 
 Looking at the swollen waters of this mighty river, thick with 
 the mud that they bore along, and seeing a portion of the count- 
 less millions of tons thus transported and deposited, one gets an 
 idea of the time element in geological changes of what are called 
 " recent periods." 
 
 During my stay my friend was sick for some days with an 
 intermittent fever, quite common in that region. One of the 
 slaves came in and told me that he had a " misery in his side." 
 I made inquiry, until I fixed in my mind that he had pleurisy, 
 but, not knowing the character of that disease, I took down the 
 
LIEUTENANT LAY. 107 
 
 encyclopaedia and found that it was an acute inflammation of 
 the lining membrane of the lungs, and thereupon I proceeded 
 to treat my patient on general principles. I had a good fire 
 made, his feet placed towards it, applied hot bricks wrapped in 
 cloths to them, and attempted to cup his side. The apparatus 
 was rather rude, only a dull lance and cupping-glasses that had 
 to be heated by burning turpentine, which made a very imper- 
 fect vacuum, so that the poor fellow suffered from my rough 
 " doctoring" as well as from the severe pain of the disease. I 
 was up the entire night, and told the patient that I would cure 
 him if possible ; but, what seemed more reassuring to his ear, I 
 informed him that at early daylight I would send for the father 
 of the gentleman at whose house I was, an excellent physician ; 
 and on his arrival I delivered over my victimized patient, gave 
 an account of my treatment, and said that I would have bled 
 him also, had I not feared I would kill him, as I had never 
 looked closely at the operation. The doctor approved of my 
 course of treatment, but expressed his gratification at my not 
 knowing how to bleed ; years before, he would have bled, but 
 that was no longer orthodox. Doubtless, in the mutability of 
 human ideas, bleeding will come in vogue again, with abun- 
 dance of hot water, as in the time when Gil Bias was inducted 
 into the art of curing. 
 
 I left that locality in February, 1845, and on board of the 
 steamboat bound up the river I found Adjutant-General Roger 
 Jones, of the army, whose son was my classmate and intimate 
 friend, and Lieutenant Lay, of the army, his aide. We had a 
 pleasant passage to Cincinnati, where I left them, after a bare 
 escape from one of those so-called "accidents" so frequent on 
 Western waters. Lay and myself were sitting up rather late one 
 night ; a fresh northwest wind was blowing, and a perturbed in- 
 dividual clothed in red flannel night-clothes came out of his 
 state-room and announced the fact that he " smelled smoke ;" 
 after which, either trusting to our vigilance or in order to dress 
 himself, returned to his room. Lay and myself went out on 
 the guard, and saw that the pantry, just forward of his state- 
 room, was on fire : we burst in the door, and with a few buckets 
 of water soon put out the flames. As the wood-work on those 
 
108 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 boats burns like tinder, a very few minutes more would have 
 placed it beyond our power to do more than endeavor to reach 
 the shore, with the usual loss of life attendant on such occasions. 
 No sufficient safeguards are yet provided for passengers on 
 Western steamboats, although they would be neither expensive 
 nor troublesome to carry out. Since the time referred to, thou- 
 sands of passengers have perished on those waters just for lack of 
 watchfulness and proper means of flotation on rafts, that should 
 be hoisted just clear of the water abaft the wheels. They could 
 be carried without the least difficulty, and with greatly-increased 
 safety to passengers. 
 
 After a brief tarry with my relatives in Ohio, I received 
 orders to the Vincennes, a sloop-of-war, then fitting out at Nor- 
 folk, and joined her in May. The vessel then went to New 
 York, in order to accompany the ship-of-the-line Columbus in 
 a cruise to China and Japan. 
 
 CRUISE TO CHINA AND JAPAN. 
 
 The Vincennes was a sloop-of-war, one hundred and fifty 
 feet in length, and seven hundred and fifty tons' displacement. 
 Most persons conversant with nautical matters know that these 
 so-called " sloops" are full-rigged ships. Her battery was twenty 
 twenty-four-pounder medium guns, and the only projectiles in 
 use were round shot. Doubtless any ordinary tug, armed with 
 a three-pounder Hotchkiss gun, with the projectiles now in use, 
 would have been able to capture or destroy the Vincennes, for 
 the reason that at double the range of the twenty-four-pounder 
 the three-pounder would prove not only effective when hitting, 
 but surprisingly accurate, being directed from the shoulder and 
 fired with great rapidity. 
 
 On a previous cruise the Vincennes had been under the com- 
 mand of an officer who stood as a shining light professionally, 
 and yet, in order to give the vessel a certain trim which was 
 supposed to insure the best speed, he had placed over the dead 
 wood at the stern five hundred solid shot, weighing twelve 
 thousand six hundred pounds. In a short vessel, this weight 
 so near the end, and stowed twelve feet above the line of keel, 
 made the vessel " send," a term used by seamen when the vessel 
 
A CASE OF SMALL-POX. 109 
 
 has the motion of settling rapidly from a weight too near the 
 bow or stern. This, with the weight of anchors of about seven 
 thousand pounds on her bows, gave her an uneasy motion in a 
 sea-way. At as early a time as practicable, after the facts were 
 known, better stowage was made of the shot, and the weights 
 in the hold were moved, so as to preserve the trim. There is 
 perhaps no profession requiring a broader appreciation of physi- 
 cal laws than that of the naval officer. As a fact, a lack of this 
 information led to the sudden sinking of a monitor and the loss 
 of all who were below at that time, — more than fifty persons. 
 
 On the 5th of June, in company with the ship-of-the-line 
 Columbus, we left New York for China and Japan. An object 
 of the cruise was to endeavor to induce the latter government to 
 enter into commercial relations with the United States. Soon 
 after going to sea, it became apparent that the Columbus was 
 the better average sailer ; but when winds are light, even at short 
 distances apart, the strength of the breeze varies ; so, in order to 
 maintain our station, we mutually delayed each other. 
 
 We had been only a fortnight at sea, or perhaps less, when 
 we found that one of the crew had the small-pox, and, what 
 seemed odd, the surgeon was actually the last one who knew 
 the fact, although he had been prescribing for the patient for 
 days. He was quite old, had not been to sea for many years, 
 and probably at best was indifferent professionally. He was a 
 kind, quiet old gentleman, with a disturbed expression of coun- 
 tenance, due, possibly, to a slight deafness. He was small and 
 feeble in appearance, and never spoke unless to ask some ques- 
 tion, or when some one of his messmates, as an act of humanity, 
 endeavored to engage him in conversation. He had few patients 
 at that time, and seemed always desirous of giving them his 
 personal attention ; on that account the young medical officer 
 had not been in attendance, not being requested to accompany 
 his senior. The surgeon had faith in porter as a medicine, and 
 enjoined on his patient to drink freely of it, giving orders to 
 the " loblolly" boy to keep him supplied. There are no " lob- 
 lolly" boys now : they have grown up into " hospital stewards." 
 After the patient had broken out in pustules, some of the men 
 informed the assistant surgeon of the ailment, and he communi- 
 
HO THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 cated the fact to his senior. The sick man was taken off the 
 berth-deck and placed in a sheltered place under the top-gallant 
 forecastle. Luckily, none of the crew were affected, although it 
 was rather a severe case. There is a peculiar odor in this dis- 
 ease, and it seems to me I should recognize it even after this 
 lapse of time, since which I have not had any further contact 
 with it. The surgeon seemed perturbed after being informed 
 of the character of the disease, but soon regained his usual 
 equanimity. He always reminded me of the grandfather of 
 " Little Nell" as given in " The Old Curiosity Shop" of Charles 
 Dickens. 
 
 We held our way to the eastward until we reached the usual 
 point of turning into the trade-winds, and near their outer limit 
 encountered the usual narrow belt of southeast winds. We went 
 about, and lost several days in trying to get farther to the east- 
 ward, before we turned again, to find the same southeast wind, 
 which we soon passed through. Every one knows that sailing 
 in the trade-winds is the poetry of seafaring life, where the men 
 sit down for hours, sometimes for days, and let the wind blow 
 them along. We experienced what is usual in passing through 
 that region, and what is often mentioned by navigators : more 
 than five hundred miles from the coast of Africa, the rigging 
 dampened by the night air became coated with a reddish sand 
 or earth, so minute in particles as to seem almost impalpable. I 
 collected a small box of it to have examined under a microscope, 
 but, to my regret, it was lost. 
 
 After reaching the southern limit of the northeast trades, and 
 getting in the calm belt of one or two hundred miles in width, 
 in lat. 12° N. and long. 24° W., we were signalled to make the 
 best of our way to Rio Janeiro. 
 
 Early in the morning watch, when sailing fitfully five or six 
 miles an hour, a school of dolphins came under the stern. I 
 had the gratification of hooking and hauling on board half a 
 dozen, till, the breeze leaving us, no more would bite at the piece 
 of red flannel that had lured the others. The fish w r ere fine, 
 healthy-looking specimens, some three feet in length, and all the 
 messes had fresh fish without going to market. The varying 
 hues of the dying dolphin have been sung by the poet and told 
 
DAN ON THE LOOKOUT. HI 
 
 by the voyager in all time ; doubtless a slow change in color 
 occurs from life to death, but it seems probable that the evanes- 
 cent hues supposed to be changes are due to the rapid and varied 
 movements of the fish, and only apparent, as are those of silken 
 and other fabrics, varying in shade, when the light falls upon 
 them and is reflected. The dolphin is one of the few fishes 
 found on the broad ocean as far away from coasts or islands as 
 ocean distances permit. 
 
 The belt of " cairns" lying between the " trades" is subject to 
 heavy and almost constant rains, with a hot stifling atmosphere, 
 where everything mildews. The great Atlantic equatorial cur- 
 rent lies in this calm belt, and the navigator with sails has the 
 fear that he will be swept so far to the westward as not to be 
 able to weather Cape St. Roque, in which case he has to pass 
 out through the trade-winds again and make sufficient easting in 
 the westerly winds to try it over again. The Brooklyn, some 
 fifteen years ago, was so long in pottering about in this manner 
 that she was given up for lost, when she was happily heard from 
 on the coast of Brazil. 
 
 After entering the southeast trades we went along at a round 
 rate over the last two thousand miles of the voyage yet remain- 
 ing to reach our port. One bright moonlight night, with the 
 great Southern Cross high above the horizon, when I was officer 
 of the deck, Dan, a colored man, for the first time in his life 
 away from the cornfields of old Virginia, was placed as a look- 
 out on the weather quarter. We had been fifty days at sea, 
 and he evidently had an apprehension that he might never- 
 more see the land. He ventured to ask me what I thought of 
 the situation, and, being the navigator, I could certainly speak 
 with authority. I told him if he would get up at daylight he 
 would see over our starboard bow, but away off, thirty miles or 
 more, a high promontory, called Cape Frio. He asked if I had 
 ever been in these waters before, and when I answered that I 
 had not, he had misgivings, until the morning came, and there 
 the cape stood out in all its grand proportions, dispelling all 
 further doubts. Dan told me afterwards that navy men knew 
 a great deal, but he thought they required " a little good re- 
 ligion." In a few days he went on shore at Rio, got drunk, 
 
112 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 and otherwise misbehaved; afterwards I took occasion to ask 
 him if he had left his religion in Virginia, or had lost it at sea. 
 
 The coast of Brazil, as seen from near the entrance to Rio 
 Janeiro, is quite high, and broken into fantastic prominences. 
 Among these, thirty miles to the southward, is a landmark 
 known as Lord Hood's nose : it forms part of a semblance to a 
 reclining human form, fairly outlined, more particularly the 
 face, and a nose of peculiar shape and giant proportions, quite 
 rounded in its contour. I never see such a profile of a nose on 
 a .human being without being reminded of the nose of his 
 "Lordship," which doubtless will remain coupled with the 
 name when generations of Lord Hoods have passed away. It 
 was some appreciative British navy friend surveying that coast 
 who gave him and his name a more enduring monument than 
 belongs to painter's skill, sculptor's art, or monument of bronze. 
 
 Approaching the harbor, when some miles beyond Raza 
 Island, near the entrance, there is in view, close under the land 
 to the right, a coast fringed with palms, and on the left, in the 
 foreground, a bare rock, known as the Sugar-Loaf, one thousand 
 two hundred and seventy feet high ; beetling over it, several 
 miles away, is the peak of Corcovado, two thousand two hun- 
 dred and seventy feet in height. 
 
 On the right is Fort Santa Cruz, and, above it, high green 
 hills in the background. Away in the distance, some fifty miles, 
 looking through the mouth of the harbor, are seen the Organ 
 Mountains, the peaks rising with sufficient resemblance to sug- 
 gest the name. On entering between the high headlands, beau- 
 tiful indentations are seen on either side. The city, partly on 
 a mountain-side, is in view, its white houses relieved against 
 a superb and varied green background. The lovely sheet of 
 water stretches twenty miles inland towards the mountain-range 
 upon which Petropolis is situated, — the residence of the Emperor 
 and of the foreign ministers, and, it may be said, in climate one 
 of the most delightful spots on the globe. Ten years later I 
 passed some days there with the Russian minister. 
 
 Whatever the differences of opinion to which seafaring men 
 are prone, they fairly agree that no other spot of intertropical 
 grandeur and beauty that has met their vision is comparable to 
 
SAIL WITH THE COLUMBUS. 113 
 
 the Bay of Rio Janeiro. It is worth a voyage to see, and 
 when Lord Hood's nose is once looked on its memory will not 
 pass away. The city in detail is not at all inviting, and vile 
 smells fill the air, especially after night. The streets are so 
 narrow that it would be impossible for two carriages to pass, 
 and, in consequence, arrows are painted on the street corners, 
 indicating the direction towards which carriages may proceed. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Brazilians— Sail with the Columbus — Accident to a Brazilian Midship- 
 man — Tristan d'Acunha and Nightingale Islands — Sea-Birds — Island of 
 St. Paul — Straits of Sunda — Batavia Boads — Anjier Point — Turtles, 
 Monkeys, Baboons, and Crocodiles — Malays operating a Pile-Driver — The 
 Banyan-Tree— A Malay Village— Tigers— A Wild-Boar Hunt— Water 
 filled with Animalcules — The " Biche de Mer" — Sea-Serpents — The East 
 India Dysentery — Straits of Macassar — Sea of Celebes — Monkeys and 
 Baboons as Commissaries — Hong-Kong — Chinese Vessels under Arms — 
 Duck-Boats — Going to Canton in a Sanpan — Buying Wives — Chinese 
 Modes of Burial. 
 
 The Brazilians are not a pleasing people. The children are 
 dressed in an absurd style, making them caricatures of their 
 parents ; boys of ten years have swallow-tail cloth coats and 
 silk hats in that wretchedly hot city, and look like dwarfs. At 
 the time of our visit, the city had never been visited by yellow 
 fever, or, if so, it was not regarded as its habitat, or to be feared. 
 Six years later, it established itself in a malignant form, and 
 has rarely ceased its work for more than a few months. Igno- 
 rant physicians frequently send their consumptive patients to 
 Rio, when, in fact, the disease is very constant and fatal in that 
 region, and has more native victims than yellow fever. 
 
 After spending nearly three weeks in port, we sailed on the 
 17th of August with the Columbus. On the morning we left 
 two Brazilian midshipmen were received on board, and, clumsily 
 getting in on the bow, the tug bringing them alongside struck 
 the lower part of one of our anchors, caused it to slide, and 
 
 8 
 
114 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 pinioned one of them between the bill of the anchor and some 
 solid body. His first lesson on board of the Vincennes cost 
 him dreary weeks stretched on his back. 
 
 The holding-ground in Rio Janeiro harbor is a superior mud, 
 very good so long as the anchors are on the bottom, but not so 
 satisfactory when the cable is hove in thickly covered with it. 
 At that time no force-pumps were in use to play upon the cable 
 as soon as it was brought into the hawse-hole, to cleanse it 
 before being paid below : thus quite a weight of the chain had 
 to be ranged near the bow until the mud had been washed off. 
 This change of trim lessened our speed greatly; at nightfall, 
 when we had a good stiff breeze and had got our cable 
 below, the Columbus was so far ahead as to be beyond signal- 
 distance, and we were permitted to make the best of our way 
 to Anjier Point, on the west end of the island of Java, a dis- 
 tance in round numbers of eight thousand miles on the best 
 route to secure favorable winds. This is done usually, in making 
 long voyages bound eastwardly, by going into a latitude beyond 
 forty degrees, or even higher. It was towards the close of the 
 last winter month in that hemisphere, and we were soon where 
 the winds were strong, and we had a good deal of cold rain in 
 squalls. 
 
 A day or so after leaving Rio, just within the tropics, we 
 entered the region where the albatross and other birds of the 
 wide, open sea cruise, hundreds of miles from any land. I have 
 known particular birds to follow the vessel, sailing two hundred 
 miles or more daily, for more than one thousand miles, doubt- 
 less to pick up what was thrown overboard. They found in the 
 sea their principal support, and, regarding what fell from ships 
 as a kind of bonne bouche, became our followers. 
 
 We passed within sight of Tristan d'Acunha and Nightingale 
 Islands; they are situated several degrees south of the Cape 
 of Good Hope and two-thirds of the distance from Rio to the 
 Cape. They are without harbors, of volcanic origin, several 
 thousand feet in height, and were then the abode of a few sailors, 
 who, tired of the fatigues of a sea-life, had established them- 
 selves to raise potatoes and supplies for whalers and other ves- 
 sels, that, at intervals of months, would " heave to" under the 
 
ISLAND OF ST. PAUL. 115 
 
 lee of the islands, to exchange the delicacies of life, such as 
 whiskey and tobacco, for what was brought off, — pigs, chickens, 
 and vegetables. 
 
 After getting beyond these islands, the sweep of the seas from 
 the far southwest was truly magnificent. Persons who have 
 voyaged in the North Atlantic have encountered as dangerous 
 seas as elsewhere, but they have no conception of the grandeur 
 of the immense and regular seas that roll along from the south- 
 west, off the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn and in the 
 adjacent waters. For miles, a breaking crest appears, chasing 
 and overtaking the vessel, the undulation travelling twenty 
 miles or more per hour. Above, in the sky, are wild-looking 
 clouds, and hovering in the air are many sea-birds, from the 
 tiny petrel to the large chocolate gannet, man-of-war-bird, and, 
 grander than all, the albatross, with outspread wings measuring 
 fifteen feet, sailing around the vessel with rapid sweep, appar- 
 ently without muscular exertion, and so near that the whites of 
 their eyes may be seen. At times I got permission to shoot at 
 the Cape pigeons, in appearance on the wing greatly resembling 
 the domestic pigeon. The long regular roll of the sea made it 
 not difficult to strike them with a ball from a rifle that I had, 
 carrying conical balls, which were then coming into ordinary 
 use. Previous to that time, spherical balls were used entirely, 
 but of course had not the range nor the penetration of the 
 oblong. 
 
 From time to time we had a sudden shift of wind from the 
 northwest to the southwest, analogous to the reverse on the 
 northern side of the equator, and, as the weather was cold and 
 raw, and hygiene little thought of, scurvy was developed before 
 we reached St. Paul's and Amsterdam Islands. 
 
 The asperity of the Southern as compared with the Northern 
 hemisphere in high latitudes is well known, and particularly 
 marked on Kerguelen's Island, which, though lying within the 
 fiftieth degree, has a climate so severe that sleet and snow may 
 be expected at any time ; and vegetable growth is confined to 
 this restriction. The same may be said of the Falkland Islands, 
 east of Cape Horn. 
 
 After completing our easting in a latitude of nearly forty- 
 
116 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 five degrees, we turned at the usual point to pass near the island 
 of St. Paul, and, looking at the chart, I saw that just six months 
 after a visit to my friend Metcalfe in Mississippi I was within 
 less than one hundred miles of his antipode. We did not run 
 near enough to this high volcanic island to sight it, and soon, 
 passing from the region of "the brave west winds," entered 
 the trades, having a delightful run, until we sighted the island 
 of Krakatoa, lying just without the entrance of the Straits 
 of Sunda. It was beautifully green, several thousand feet in 
 height, and, in the early dawn, without a cloud to obscure its pro- 
 portions. Passing along we entered the straits near sunset, and 
 lost sight of landmarks. A tide or current swept us in rapidly, 
 and we were several miles beyond Anjier Point before we knew it. 
 
 Owing to the many East-Indiamen that frequented those seas 
 for half a century, provided with the best chronometers then 
 made, the longitude of Java Head, a bold promontory at the 
 entrance of Sunda Straits, was very well determined. After a 
 voyage of eight thousand miles from Rio, during which no land 
 had been sighted in fifty-eight days, the mean of our three chro- 
 nometers gave the longitude within two miles, or eight seconds 
 in time. 
 
 Several years ago, as the reader will recall, the island of 
 Krakatoa was split asunder, and Anjier Point, and indeed the 
 whole coast of Java, was swept by a tidal wave resulting from 
 the most terrific earthquake recorded for centuries. Vessels 
 miles away beyond the straits had their decks covered inches 
 deep with volcanic ashes, and the whole surface of the sea for 
 many miles was covered with scoria, or what is known as 
 " pumice-stone." The memory of those seas has been indelibly 
 impressed on my memory, as the following pages will show. 
 
 As stated above, we had been swept several miles beyond 
 Anjier Point, where we were to join the Columbus, and as soon 
 as we became aware of the fact, by sighting some small islands, 
 we anchored, and the following day returned to the rendezvous. 
 Two days later the Columbus made her appearance and anchored 
 also. We remained there about one week, and then made our 
 way to Batavia Roads in company. 
 
 Our experience at Anjier Point and in the voyage thereafter 
 
MALAYS OPERATING A PILE-DRIVER. H7 
 
 was to me more painful than that of any other period of my 
 whole life, and, until reaching the coast of China, of the saddest : 
 how ephemeral existence is in general, and especially in that por- 
 tion of the globe, I had there my first perception. Years after, 
 in the u Wandering Jew," I read a description of a scene on the 
 island of Java that was extraordinary in detail and inspired 
 me with admiration of the power of description possessed by 
 a writer who had never seen that region. 
 
 On anchoring at Anjier, a number of canoes came alongside, 
 loaded with cocoa-nuts and tropical fruits, among them the 
 " mangosteen," esteemed by travellers as the most delicious 
 known, and the " durio." Green turtle, laid upon their backs, 
 filled the bottoms of the canoes, and small monkeys and baboons, 
 tied by strings, sat upon the bows and sterns of most. The 
 monkey-supply there is limited only by the demand. When we 
 landed at a rude wharf on piles, the vacant space underneath the 
 flooring was exposed to view, and, curiously enough, several 
 young crocodiles, from two to three feet in length, were chasing 
 each other around like kittens. Full-grown saurians, as usually 
 seen, move very slowly, and seem so encased in armor as to give 
 the impression of their being incapable of turning with rapidity, 
 or of making any swift movement, — which is quite a mistake. 
 These young animals would dart like a flash, double on, and bat 
 one another with their long flexible tails, and were as graceful 
 in their activity and playfulness as kittens. 
 
 On the borders of a small canal, some yards above, a number 
 of Malays were operating a pile-driver of the most primitive 
 kind. A frame was put up, of small dimensions, not unlike 
 that ordinarily in use, to hold a weight drawn up either by a 
 tread-mill, as I first saw at Norfolk, when I entered the navy, 
 or, as seen now, wound up by steam around a cylinder, and, on 
 reaching a certain height, detached automatically. There were 
 twenty little fellows, clothed only in breech-clouts and hats, each 
 having a rope's end, all the rope's ends being spliced to a larger 
 rope, by which the weight was dragged up ; then, at the cry of 
 their leader, all of them would let go, and down would go the 
 weight, two or three feet only, and strike the pile. Such pile- 
 driving is not seen save where there is a superfluity of hands, 
 
118 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 with an absence of mechanical skill or adaptability. Yet this 
 was a government work, and under the superintendence, indi- 
 rectly at least, of a Dutchman, who realized the fact that there 
 were plenty of Malays, and to spare, on the island of Java. 
 
 Passing along through the Malay village, the houses built of 
 bamboo and raised three feet from the ground, to guard against 
 the entrance of serpents, and on to the outskirts, we saw a 
 famous banyan-tree, — indeed, one of the largest known to voya- 
 gers. As most persons know, this tree is at the head of a family 
 having the habit of extending their limbs until their weight 
 brings their ends to the ground, when they take root, and an 
 " annex" grows, making an indefinite extension over an acre or 
 more. 
 
 A Malay village has a peculiar smell, which any one would 
 recognize at once, due partly, perhaps, to the inhabitants' living 
 on the "durio," a fruit that grows in great abundance on the 
 island of Java. In shape and size it resembles a muskmelon, 
 and when cut emits a very disagreeable odor no longer percepti- 
 ble after tasting the fruit : it is delicious and wholesome. The 
 " mangosteen" is about the size of a hickory-nut enclosed in 
 its hull, when embrowned by the frost ; the hull then has a rich 
 color, too, not unlike the " mangosteen :" the rind of the latter, 
 though, is soft, and when cut and laid open is of a rich maroon 
 color ; this cover is half an inch thick, and on being removed a 
 pearly-white fruit is found, an inch and a half in diameter, ex- 
 tremely delicate in texture, and when taken in the mouth and 
 gently pressed is found to be of a delicious flavor, with a sus- 
 picion of subacid ; after being pressed by the tongue, nothing is 
 left but a very thin sack, quite like gauze, and rarely a seed is 
 found. This fruit is strictly intertropical ; indeed, it is found in 
 perfection only on the Indian Archipelago. 
 
 A day or so after our arrival at Anjier Point, I asked a Malay 
 if they killed many Bengal tigers ; he replied that " Malaya 
 man no kill tiger, but tiger kill plenty Malaya man." The 
 whole country is infested with tigers, and the foliage is so dense 
 that they can pounce upon a poor fellow at labor with more 
 facility than they can on an ordinary animal with quicker per- 
 ceptions whose task is simply to pick its food. I hired a boat, 
 
WATER FILLED WITH ANIMALCULES. H9 
 
 and the services of several Malays, landing at a spot indicated 
 by them, several miles to the eastward, and around a point, to 
 have a hunt over the country to the village. We had no sooner 
 left the beach than we entered a dense forest of tall trees, the 
 tops of which were covered by a canopy of vines, not simply 
 covering the trees, but running from one to another, and fairly 
 shutting out the sunlight, making a dim obscurity. But this 
 was not all ; notwithstanding the dense shade, weeds as high as 
 a man spread over the soil in every direction ; insects filled the 
 air and covered the ground, so that it seemed impossible to step 
 without putting an end to animal life. My Malay guides walked 
 with caution, and, I have no doubt, led me through to a cleared 
 country in the least possible distance. I could very well see how 
 it was that tigers had it all their own way in such a jungle. On 
 reaching open ground we were at an elevation of two hundred 
 feet, with easy slopes, and rice-fields lying beyond. We heard 
 the shouts of a number of men and the yelping of several dogs, 
 and, looking over on the fields, saw a number of Malays with 
 their dogs in pursuit of an enormous wild boar, that sped his 
 way to the hard ground on which we were standing, in a direc- 
 tion diagonal to the course we were pursuing. I quickened 
 my pace to a run in order to get a shot, but my Malay guides, 
 who were behind, uttered a yell, and I involuntarily paused, 
 and turned back to assist them. Then their countenances were 
 as placid as possible. Again I started on the run, and again 
 the same cry ; but I did not heed it this time. The boar took 
 a course from me at a distance of nearly one hundred yards. I 
 fired at him, but he kept on his way, and was soon lost behind 
 a hill covered sparsely with bushes. A wild boar in movement, 
 with his head high in air, and bristling with defiance, although 
 running, is a magnificent sight. We found our way back to the 
 village without having a shot at anything, and without coming 
 across any of the numerous serpents found in that region. 
 
 We watered ship at Anjier; the color was that of water that 
 had been poured into a goblet previously filled with milk, and 
 not rinsed. Where it came from I do not know, but I suppose 
 from the ditches that ran through the rice-fields. We soon 
 knew more about it than was pleasant : when a goblet was nearly 
 
120 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 filled, and a tablespoonful of gin added, in a few minutes the 
 bodies of little animals, as large around as a fine needle, and 
 two-thirds of an inch in length, having the movement of a 
 snake, became visible, through the alcohol making them opaque. 
 They did not enjoy the mixture, and, either in a state of in- 
 ebriation or overpowered, they settled quietly on the bottom of 
 the goblet, and when the water was poured into another goblet, 
 half a dozen or more of these little creatures would be found 
 lying at the bottom. 
 
 A week after the arrival of the Columbus we got under way, 
 accompanying her to Batavia Roads, where we arrived on the 
 24th of October, 1845. Our arrival at Anjier was a month too 
 late : a passage up the China Sea was no longer practicable, for 
 the reason that long before we could reach Hong-Kong the 
 northeast monsoon would set in, causing a very strong current 
 down the sea, which, with a head-wind, would make the voyage 
 impracticable. We were too late for the China Sea or direct 
 route, and too early for the " roundabout routes" that have to 
 be pursued by sailing-vessels having head-winds to contend 
 with. 
 
 The island of Java lies nearly east and west a length of six 
 hundred miles, and is relatively narrow ; north of it is the Java 
 Sea, quite shoal for the greater part of its length, — less, in fact, 
 than one hundred feet in depth. 
 
 A few miles after leaving Anjier, we turned into this sea, 
 and, although Batavia was only a distance of one hundred and 
 thirty miles, owing to calms we were several days on the voyage. 
 Quite a remarkable feature, as we passed along, was the sight 
 of long bamboos stuck in the mud as guides, miles away from 
 the shore. Sixty feet in length may well be called giant grass, 
 and they were fully that, and eight inches in diameter. 
 
 The water of the Java Sea teems with animal life ; pulling 
 on shore to some of the verdant islands that lie without the 
 anchorage off Batavia, we found the biche de mer of small size, 
 much prized by the Chinese as food. An old sailor who had 
 spent several years in that trade told me he had tried to cook 
 them without other result than finding a substance tough as 
 shoe-leather. Years before, as previously mentioned, I saw much 
 
SEA-SERPENTS. 121 
 
 larger specimens in Mahon harbor ; they were quite black in 
 color, perhaps one foot in length, and nearly two inches in 
 diameter ; those on the reefs of these islands were not half the 
 size. They abound in all the coralline islands of the Pacific, 
 especially in the Feejee and Samoan groups. After being 
 caught, or rather picked up, for they have so slow a movement 
 that it is not perceptible to the eye, they are split open, and 
 then subjected to a smoking and drying process. The Chinese 
 are the only people who value them as food or understand their 
 preparation. 
 
 We lay some four miles from Batavia, the water being shoal 
 a long distance out, and few of the officers of either vessel went 
 on shore. I was not of their number, and only knew of its 
 features through what they said. 
 
 When nightfall came, the land-breeze set in, and until morn- 
 ing we had " the smell of the mould," or land, which, in the 
 tropics, is usual, and to me very agreeable, nor is it in any 
 degree malarial ; vessels anchor off the west coast of Africa, 
 within a quarter of a mile of the land, and the men are entirely 
 healthy, provided they do not go on shore until the sun is well 
 up, and come off before the sun sets. 
 
 After lying four days off Batavia, we left to make our long 
 roundabout voyage to the coast of China, which was sixty-two 
 days for the Columbus aud seventy for the Vincennes. The 
 winds were very light, but mostly fair, for a few days, inter- 
 spersed with calms for hours. The water was muddy, and at 
 times unbroken by a ripple ; the sun glared down upon the sea 
 with intense heat ; the atmosphere was damp and stifling, and at 
 intervals we would have light showers. The water was alive 
 with animal life, and, what I had not seen before, the sea 
 swarmed with serpents, varying from two to three feet in length, 
 and known to be extremely venomous. Passing along at the 
 rate of one or two knots an hour, with a breeze scarcely per- 
 ceptible, they would be seen lying coiled up on the surface, 
 remaining undisturbed when even within a few feet of the 
 vessel. 
 
 The water we had taken on board at Anjier began to have 
 fatal effect. An East India dysentery does not take long to 
 
122 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 carry off its victim j in a day or so after being attacked, the 
 nostrils are pinched and mark its ravages. The first man who 
 died was the carpenter's mate, a very bright, active man, and, 
 as a mark of respect, our first lieutenant asked the captain to 
 allow him to have a coffin made to bury him j this was done ; 
 when weighted with a couple of twenty-four-pound shot and 
 thrown overboard, it stood a couple of feet out of water. A 
 boat was sent to attach weights to sink it, and afterwards the 
 orthodox way of burying at sea was adhered to, — sewing the 
 man up in canvas, and attaching two round shot to his feet. 
 Unhappily, this was frequent. On several occasions we buried 
 two the same day, and in fifteen months actually lost one-fourth 
 of the crew, — in all about fifty. 
 
 Soon after leaving Batavia, I was attacked, as also several 
 other officers ; the doctor wished me to continue to lie on my 
 bed the whole day, but I insisted on going on deck to take my 
 sights for calculating the position of the ship, and worked them 
 out; I did this when it seemed to me impossible to live more 
 than a few days. To a young man this was a lugubrious out- 
 look, yet I continued to navigate the ship the whole voyage. 
 
 After a course of several hundred miles nearly east, the Java 
 Sea terminates, and the Straits of Macassar stretch along the 
 eastern coast of Borneo, as the Java Sea runs along its south- 
 ern border. The northern part of Macassar Straits is deeper, 
 and the course is a little east of north. It was more than one 
 month before we got around Cape Kanneoongan, the eastern end 
 of Borneo. A head-current held us off that point for days, 
 until one night we anchored by a kedge on a ledge, fifty fathoms 
 deep, and getting a good land-breeze, passed into the Sea of 
 Celebes, a very deep water of a deep-blue color, surrounded by 
 highlands, that in the early daylight are to be seen a hundred 
 miles or more, but as the sun rises soon become obscured in 
 mists, so that even the shore-lines are invisible. 
 
 Although light, the winds were more constant in the Sea of 
 Celebes, and often fair. A curious feature was that almost daily, 
 for hours, we would have several incipient water-spouts in sight 
 at once ; they seemed never to gain force, as is usual, but would 
 sweep along, often not distant from us, and did not disturb the 
 
MONKEYS AND BABOONS AS COMMISSARIES. 123 
 
 surface of the water. The sea was smooth, and sailing over it 
 were numbers of the nautilus-shell, so delicate that a slight blow 
 breaks it, so that but few are thrown on the beach in perfect 
 condition. 
 
 At last we passed into the free waters of the Pacific, near the 
 high volcanic islands of Scio and Tagolanda, which twenty-five 
 years later belched forth to such a degree as to destroy nearly 
 all the inhabitants upon them. The coasts of the Indian Archi- 
 pelago are inhabited almost exclusively by the Malay race, who 
 are by no means indifferent sailors, and at the time now written 
 of were not averse to attacking any becalmed merchant-vessel 
 that seemed unprepared. They are mostly Mohammedans : in 
 build they are thin and sinewy : on an average, the males weigh 
 little over a hundred pounds. They are given to drunkenness, 
 and know how to distil liquor, which indeed is known to every 
 race, perhaps, except the Esquimaux. Their boats were seen 
 frequently, but they did not approach us. At Anjier we had 
 taken on board some twenty monkeys and baboons, purchased 
 by officers and sailors. The community was so large that they 
 messed by themselves, and, when no longer furnished with food 
 by their owners, established a system of strategy that might 
 have been studied by generals and admirals operating conjointly 
 during our late civil war. At early dawn the larger ones, to 
 the number of half a dozen, would come to the main-mast and 
 menace the officer of the deck ; the tin trumpet carried by him 
 was recognized as the emblem of authority ; they had observed 
 that whenever the one who carried it spoke, those on deck obeyed, 
 or executed some order. While the more formidable monkeys 
 held the officer's attention at the mast, the more active would 
 steal aft, go into the boat hoisted astern, each take a yam be- 
 tween the fore-paws, and scamper along, outside the hammock- 
 netting on the spare spars, and get inboard: the sailors, not 
 being interested in preventing the robbery, were not regarded. 
 On reaching a place of safety, those who held the officer at bay 
 would go under the launch where the raiders had disappeared, 
 and the proceeds would be divided in an honorable manner, or 
 at least no quarrelling or dissent came to the knowledge of the 
 outside world. When officer of the deck, and the fighting force 
 
124 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 menaced me, I was at a loss to understand their apparent enmity, 
 as I had never molested or annoyed any of their number. On 
 regarding them closely, I saw that their attention was divided ; 
 their glances were cast beyond me, while the menace was to 
 me. On observing the marauders returning with their spoils, 
 I took in the situation, and, accepting the axiom that " a man 
 must live," which Talleyrand is accredited with having denied 
 by saying that " a man may live if he can, and die if he must," 
 I was tolerant to the necessities of my kinsmen, relatively little 
 developed in the progressive scale of humanity. It was touch- 
 ing to see the affection with which those of the same species 
 regarded each other ; they would sit in silence for hours on the 
 top of the launch, in a circle, with their arms entwined around 
 each other, and, before the mists had obscured the distant moun- 
 tains, gaze at them, doubtless bound together by their common 
 suffering in captivity. They were clumsy monkeys ; from time 
 to time one would fall overboard, throw his hands on high, and 
 thus sink himself beneath the waves like the most advanced 
 type of humanity. In this band of brothers the baboons were 
 not included ; no loving arms embraced them ; they doggedly 
 sat upright and alone, notwithstanding the short stumpy tail 
 with which they were endowed. Many years ago, my friend 
 Professor Nathan R. Smith, an eminent surgeon of Baltimore, 
 told me he had read a very interesting account of human beings 
 recently discovered in Africa who had not yet lost their tails, 
 but, for their comfort, sat on stools provided with holes, to allow 
 their caudal extremities to pass through. Notwithstanding the 
 travels of Stanley and other explorers of the dark continent, 
 nothing further has come to light in relation to this interesting 
 link in the development of the species. 
 
 Once out of the closed waters, in the broad Pacific, as the old 
 sea-song says, wind and weather and currents favored, and we 
 passed on eastward, beyond the Pelew Islands, so that w r hen we 
 entered the northeast trade-winds, or rather u monsoons," we 
 could pass to windward of them and between the Philippine 
 Islands and Formosa, on our way to Canton River. 
 
 The latter part of the voyage we had a rattling breeze, and 
 got along rapidly, but it was bad on our sick, and we buried 
 
CHINESE VESSELS UNDER ARMS. 125 
 
 many of them as we sailed along. On reaching the coast, we 
 passed through the harbor of Hong-Kong, then up to the Bogue 
 forts, about half-way between that port and Canton, and an- 
 chored on the 5th of January, 1846. The Columbus, that had 
 left us in the Straits of Macassar, reached port ten days ahead 
 of us. We had been sixty-seven days making the voyage, and 
 our provisions, with the exception of rice, were not at all suit- 
 able for the sick. 
 
 Our arrival on the coast of China was some three years after 
 the end of the so-called " Opium War" and the opening of the 
 five ports for traffic. The Bogue forts had a number of guns 
 of large calibre and quite long, but of no value against the shell 
 guns used by the English. The forts consisted of long straight 
 granite walls, four or five feet thick, with thinner walls running 
 off into the interior, and a back wall to complete the enclosure. 
 The Chinese complained that troops were landed and came down 
 on them from the rear, where they had no guns. In their be- 
 lief, it was quite an unworthy, if not a dishonorable, act, to 
 come up behind, instead of facing the guns placed to bear on 
 the water approach. The forts were not garrisoned when we 
 were there, and their inspection was a curious revelation of what 
 that people then knew of the art of war. When their war-junks 
 passed us, at our anchorage, their crews were under arms, and 
 gongs sounding, perhaps to inform us they were ready for battle. 
 A long kind of cutter, pulled by about fifty men and manned 
 by as many more, standing with arms in their hands and shields 
 designed to protect them as well as the rowers against the fire of 
 small-arms, also passed. These boats, it was said, were princi- 
 pally employed against opium-smugglers, but going by in re- 
 view they did not fail to beat their gongs to inform us that they 
 were ready to fight. The anchorage was pleasant, the view 
 novel and attractive, with a pagoda near by and others in the dis- 
 tance, and, away beyond, ranges of hills of considerable heights, 
 with easy slopes ; while all around, night and day, a countless 
 number of boats, from the little sanpan to the lordly East- 
 Indiaman, the pride of Eastern waters. 
 
 In a few days the Yincennes was sent up to Whampoa Reach, 
 thirty miles above, and only thirteen miles below the city of 
 
126 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Canton. Some two miles away, in Blenheim Reach, was the 
 anchorage of a dozen or more Bombay and Calcutta ships, and 
 in the narrower waters where we anchored were hundreds of 
 boats tied to the shore and to each other in lines, while along 
 the fields, on the islands and elsewhere, extending up and down 
 the stream, were the duck-boats that we have all read about 
 when children. Early in the day these boats are made fast on 
 the borders of a rice-field ; a gang-plank is put on shore, the 
 door-ways are opened, and the ducks walk out of the broad 
 pens extending nearly the entire length of the boat, twenty or 
 more feet, and overhanging the water on either side for ten feet. 
 Several hundred ducks inhabit each of these boats ; and, grow- 
 ing up under authority, they are very obedient to it. The man 
 in charge has a long bamboo stick with a mark or emblem on 
 the end that the ducks have to recognize when he waves it on 
 high and shouts to them to return to the boat for the night. On 
 the signal being made, there is no loitering by the way ; a steady, 
 earnest push is made to the particular boat of the occupants, 
 and they pass over the gang-plank in haste, in order to avoid 
 being the recipient of the flogging awaiting the last one that 
 enters. As one is obliged to be last, it is to be hoped that in the 
 infliction of this punishment "justice is tempered by mercy." 
 
 Well-read persons know that all the boatmen and many of 
 the laborers of China, especially the coolies, or carriers, are of 
 the Tartar race : they are usually small, active, and much darker 
 than the Chinese. The families of the boatmen and junkmen 
 are generally a part of the crew, and live on board. In China, 
 no one can get a wife merely for the asking; and many of the 
 sanpan men will tell you with pride, fully shared in by the wife, 
 how much had been paid for her. Going to Canton in a sanpan, 
 the crew consisted of the owner, a man of thirty, a boy, and his 
 wife, who used a scull and did the steering and a part of the 
 propulsion, while the man and a boy of a dozen years of age 
 pulled oars on the bow. The sanpan is about fifteen feet in 
 length, and four feet or more in width, and has a rounded cover- 
 ing, about eight feet in length, over the central part, with other 
 sections forward and aft, which when hauled out from their tel- 
 escopic position enclose the whole interior against the weather. 
 
CHINESE MODES OF BURIAL. 127 
 
 The cooking is done on the bow, in a small charcoal arrange- 
 ment, and this, with one or two pots, when not in use is stowed 
 underneath the forward deck, while beneath the after deck are 
 packed the clothing and general provisions of the crew. The 
 central part has a floor near the bottom of the boat, with a depth, 
 from the top of the boat proper to the keel, of about three feet. 
 Everything about the boat is kept very clean. The sanpan is 
 intended for only one passenger, but three can sleep comfortably 
 on mats within the bamboo covering : it is not intended, however, 
 that passengers shall remain on the boat except in transit. 
 
 As we passed along up the river, I learned, in answer to my 
 inquiries, that the man had paid seventy dollars for his wife ; 
 this information made her radiant with smiles. She was a nice- 
 looking little woman, with very pretty feet and hands. She 
 w T ore a kind of sack over her shoulders, and in it carried the son 
 and heir of the establishment, who after a time was laid down 
 on the deck. After the children on boats become a year or so of 
 age, they have a small buoy attached to them, to facilitate their 
 recovery when they fall overboard. The young wife of our 
 sanpan-m&n. had a dower of a pair of geese and a pair of ducks, 
 and the husband had entered into obligations to bury the grand- 
 father when he died. After a man marries, the question of life 
 is to provide a burial-spot for himself and family ; or, if not 
 able to get this, to buy a spot wherein to place jars with the 
 cremated ashes of his family. Looking around on shore in every 
 direction, especially on hill-sides with southern exposures, were 
 seen the burial-lots of the wealthy, in the general form of a 
 horseshoe, within which the interments were made. Persons of 
 position are often not buried for twenty years after death ; in 
 the mean time their remains are in a large strong box made of 
 camphor-wood, placed on supports three feet above the ground, 
 covered over by a framework to exclude the rain, but otherwise 
 open to the weather ; after being put into the box the body is 
 covered entirely with fresh slaked lime. 
 
 Among the picturesque sights from the anchorage at midnight 
 were long processions bearing torches, passing over the high hills, 
 not far from Canton : we were told that they were burial- 
 processions. 
 
128 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Arrival at Canton— Flo wer-Boats — Pigeon English — Markets — Shops — Billy 
 Poole, " the Biggest Toad in the Puddle" — Chinese Dinners and "Customs 
 — Price of a Wife — Dwarfing Feet — Parsee Merchants — Buffaloes — Milk 
 not from Cattle — Cholera on the Columbus — The Grave of the Portuguese 
 Poet Camoens — The Columbus and Vincennes sail for Northern China — 
 Amoy — Dining with the Governor — The Chusan Islands — Yeddo Bay — 
 The Daimio — Nagasaki — Lieutenant Mcintosh throws the Poles off the 
 Bows placed there by the Japanese — Japanese Artists — A Squall — Object 
 of the Visit of the American Vessels — Dual Government — The Japanese 
 Officials visit the Columbus to reply to the Commodore's Letter — A Mishap 
 and an Explanation — Presents declined. 
 
 On arriving at Canton, the thousands of boats tied to each 
 other and extending far out into the narrow river, leaving only 
 room enough between the two shores to permit a free passage of 
 boats, filled me with surprise. I could well believe their occu- 
 pants numbered several hundred thousand, and that when a 
 typhoon came up suddenly twenty thousand or more would be 
 drowned, a calamity read of from time to time. Many of the 
 wealthy had what were known as "flower-boats," — floatiug 
 apartments, gayly decorated with flowers in pots, and moved by 
 oars from one locality to another, as desired. It is said that 
 something akin to this is now to be found on the Thames, above 
 London. 
 
 The streets of Canton without the walls were narrow, yet 
 considerably wider than those within the walls ; by treaty, for- 
 eigners were permitted to go within, but for years they were 
 driven out ignominiously by indiguant Chinese. The largest 
 shops were without the walls, and there was really no reason why 
 one should wish to enter the other part of the city, save the in- 
 nate desire to do what is forbidden, or curiosity to see the pro- 
 vision-stores, containing large quantities of dried ducks, and not 
 a few dried rats, as well as other Chinese delicacies. I saw a 
 man with great round spectacles, sitting in the market j before 
 him were the two heads and four legs and outer pinions of a 
 pair of ducks, and in a bamboo basket a pair of cats ; a customer 
 
SHOPS. 
 
 129 
 
 came along and asked prices, and from time to time one would 
 feel the heads of the cats, to ascertain their condition. 
 
 At that time the Chinese had not much intercourse with other 
 than the hong merchants, who bought what they desired through 
 their compradores, or purchasers. In passing, a navy officer was 
 always invited into one shop or the other, and in looking around 
 would price the articles of ivory, porcelain, or other manufacture. 
 The conversation was carried on in " pigeon English," the word 
 " pigeon" signifying business in that idiom. A book of instruc- 
 tion has been published, and it is not only taught to the ignorant, 
 but is learned by all Chinese and foreigners who have dealings 
 with each other. The foreigner enters a shop, and says, " My 
 wanchee chessmen." The Chinaman answers, " Hab got," and 
 produces various sizes and qualities. If the best are shown, he 
 says, " First chop." If he has not what is asked for, he says, 
 " No hab got ; can secure," meaning that he will obtain it. So 
 thoroughly is this language appreciated and used in intercourse 
 that coolies and boatmen from Northern and Southern China hold 
 their conversations in this foreign language, not being able to com- 
 municate otherwise. A foreigner will say to a Chinaman, " How 
 many pie-ce chilo hab got ?" The intelligent and learned China- 
 man will reply, " Hab got three bull chilo, one cow chilo ;" and 
 this conveys the information that he has three boys and one girl. 
 
 I have not met more able business-men than the Chinese ; as 
 shopkeepers they surpass all others. At the time of my visit 
 they charged persons like myself all they could get, — that is to 
 say, two or three times the ordinary price paid. On a visit to 
 China more than twenty years later I found this no longer in 
 vogue, but the price asked was what would have to be paid. On 
 my first visit, in a shop of good repute I asked for one thing 
 and another, and the prices, laying aside such articles as I wished 
 to purchase. As the bill mounted up, the shopkeeper became 
 nervous; doubtless he had lost sales to just such customers as 
 myself through exorbitant demands. After I had summed up 
 his prices, he demanded, " How muchce ?" I offered him a little 
 more than one-third of his demand, to which he replied, " No 
 can do." Instead of increasing my offer, I looked around and 
 saw something else that I wished, and added, " Kumshore my 
 
130 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 this." " Hi-ah ! how can do?" he said. I then looked around, 
 and demanded another present, instead of increasing my offer. 
 As he was much more desirous of selling than I of buying, and 
 surely would derive more profit from it, my purchases being in- 
 tended for presents, he said, on my second demand, " Mas que, — 
 can do," and I paid him the money. To the credit of these 
 shopmen, I can say that, even when the question of sale was on 
 such terms, I have never heard of one of them putting up inferior 
 articles, or omitting anything that had been purchased, even when 
 they knew the parcels would not be opened until reaching home. 
 
 Whampoa Reach was altogether a pleasant anchorage ; there 
 was a hulk there, owned by a cross-eyed countryman of ours, 
 who sold ship-stores to us in the daytime, and opium to the 
 Chinese in the night, which was carried off in boats of great 
 swiftness, further facilitated, it was said, by bribery of Chinese 
 officials. This floating storehouse was a species of social ex- 
 change, where the officers of vessels-of-war and those of opium- 
 clippers and other persons met. There I had the pleasure of 
 meeting Billy Poole, a countryman, who assured me that he was 
 the " biggest toad in that puddle ;" and so he was. He com- 
 manded an American tug engaged in some trade perhaps more 
 profitable than honest. He was heavily built, a blond, genial 
 to a degree, and could hold as much strong drink as a pitcher. 
 
 The Blenheim Reach captains did not visit our exchange, but 
 from time to time would invite us to dances or dinners on board 
 of one ship or the other. Several of them had their wives on 
 board, and, as the male sex largely predominated, everybody 
 was happy. There were songsters in the fleet, and for the first 
 and last time I heard sung, — 
 
 " Oh, needles and pins, needles and pins, 
 When a man marries, his trouble begins." 
 
 It did not strike me as a " delicate sentiment to a sensitive mind." 
 All the ships were supplied by compradores ; " Old Sam" was 
 known to our countrymen for nearly half a century, and yet he 
 was supposed to have shortened his life by the inordinate use of 
 opium. A caterer of a mess had only to say, " I wish this 
 thing, and that, to-morrow morning," and it was brought. A 
 
CHINESE DINNERS AND CUSTOMS. 131 
 
 small kind of quail, many varieties of ducks, wild geese, and 
 other game, if desired, would be brought on board alive. 
 
 Although their dinner begins where ours ends, — by eating 
 fruit, — I am by no means disposed to decry the custom, as is 
 the usual habit of foreigners. The bird's-nest soup, so highly 
 prized by them, would be taken for a fine vermicelli soup. For 
 the most part, their dishes are stews, and the person partaking 
 would only know what was before him on being told. All great 
 feasts end with a lacquered pig, and that, of course, should be 
 known to all our countrymen ; so, if the dinner has been passed 
 over slightingly, there comes up a form and a substantiality be- 
 yond question. Our caterer ordered a wild goose for dinner ; to 
 our surprise, we found it had the marks of our domestic bird, 
 and saw that their tame goose had the marks of our wild one, 
 but it is a very fat bird, quite unable to fly. 
 
 The customs of the people are in general the reverse of those 
 that obtain with Europeans. Any common person who should 
 enter the house of a man of rank and take off his hat and keep 
 on his shoes would be thrust out for his rudeness. When the 
 Chinese go into mourning, they wear white ; their books begin 
 where ours end, — at the back ; and they read from the right 
 hand to the left, and from the top of the page to the bottom, 
 instead of across the page. A Chinese teacher said, " When you 
 receive a distinguished guest, do not fail to place him on your 
 left hand, for that is the seat of honor ; and be cautious not to 
 uncover the head, as it would be an unbecoming act of famili- 
 arity." In his further instruction he said, " The most learned 
 men. are decidedly of opinion that the seat of the human under- 
 standing is the heart." The military men carry their swords 
 on the right side, and mount and dismount from a horse on that 
 side, and the Japanese do so also. To offer your hand, in either 
 country, would be regarded as a vulgar familiarity ; instead they 
 clasp their own hands together, gently raise them to their breast, 
 then lower them to a horizontal position with the elbow, and 
 then make a profound bow, slowly rising to a perpendicular. 
 In all countries, a true politeness is shown by the conventional 
 form expressing an intention. 
 
 On board of the Vincennes, I asked the man who supplied 
 
132 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 us with vegetables what he paid for his wife, for be it known 
 that there are no bachelors in China, no men without wives, 
 except vagabonds who lack the means of support. The man 
 said, one hundred dollars. In pigeon English I informed him 
 that " they makee you too muchee foolo," as I had seen the boat- 
 man's wife whose price was only seventy dollars, and, besides, 
 she had a dower of a pair of geese and ducks. I saw before 
 me an indignant Chinaman, and I remember him as the only 
 one that has fallen under my observation. He tried to make 
 me understand that boatwomen were quite an inferior class, and 
 that his wife was a superior woman in all respects. A man of 
 rank is supposed to pay one thousand dollars for his wife. 
 
 The women of the Tartar race, even of high rank, are said 
 not to pinch or dwarf their feet. It is usually supposed that 
 this custom belongs exclusively to Chinese women of rank and 
 wealth ; this is not the case, however, for I have seen hundreds of 
 women with little feet setting out rice on the fields near Shang- 
 hai. It arises probably from the same vanity that causes in 
 Europe and this country the pinching up of the waist, and is 
 less injurious to the health, and really to the appearance, of the 
 woman. In the one case there is the distorted foot, and a con- 
 siderable flesh-growth in the ankle ; in the other, a weakened 
 and distorted spine, a disordered arrangement of the internal 
 organs, and an impaired condition of health, all to obtain a per- 
 verted and graceless figure. 
 
 The walks on the islands near Whampoa were very pleasant. 
 Numerous trees, bearing what we know in this country as the 
 lychee nut, and patches of long waving bamboos, are found near 
 the cottages of the owners. 
 
 Land is more equally divided in China than elsewhere ; the 
 proprietor of a ten-acre field of hard, good land would be among 
 the wealthy. Their rice-fields are very productive ; and, con- 
 sidering the habit of life of well-to-do people, a small amount of 
 money, or its equivalent, is a great deal of wealth with them. In 
 these days our surgeon, the counterpart of " Little Nell's" grand- 
 father, would sit quietly below, or come on deck and look around, 
 without proposing to go on shore. From time to time I would 
 invite him to go with me ; he accepted my invitations with a 
 
MILK NOT FROM CATTLE. 133 
 
 grateful smile, but as we passed along he rarely made a remark, 
 or, if any, only that we had a pleasant day, or that the bamboos 
 sheltering a house were very pretty. 
 
 On one occasion we met several Parsee merchants when I had 
 my rifle and was shooting at a mark some sixty yards distant. 
 They were somewhat curious in examining my weapon and the 
 ammunition, and expressed surprise at the accuracy with which 
 the balls were sent. As is well known, the Parsees are among 
 the wealthy men of India and the East. Although they visited 
 China in ships belonging to them, I doubt if at that time any 
 of them were located there. They are very distinguished in 
 appearance : indeed, I never saw an indifferent-looking one. 
 They are above a medium height, with a light olive complexion, 
 very intelligent faces, with admirable profiles, a little too stout 
 to indicate agility, and clothed in white flowing garments which 
 give them an increased appearance of size. 
 
 On another occasion we met a Chinese whom I took to be a 
 leper. He was deathly white, and his face was covered thinly 
 with white stiff hairs, half an inch or more in length, and 
 about the thickness of an ordinary needle. He appeared de- 
 lighted that he had caused a sensation. 
 
 At times we would come suddenly upon a buffalo, lying in a 
 muddy ditch filled with water, with only the head out, to pro- 
 tect itself from the bites of insects. When aroused, they were 
 disposed to show fight. They were as large in frame as our 
 cattle, with short hair of a mouse color, and horns not unlike 
 those of our bison, that we call buffalo. This animal furnishes 
 the only beef in China ; and, to carry out opposites in almost 
 everything, the tenderloin is to be found on the opposite side of 
 the bone from our beeves. 
 
 When we first arrived in China, we had our mess furnished 
 with fresh milk for our tea and coffee, but gave it up when we 
 learned that it was not in fact from cattle, but a profitable 
 source of industry to women who could spare some from their 
 baby supply. After reaching maturity that nutrition is no 
 longer attractive, and you will not meet many men, who have 
 spent part of their lives in China, who are addicted to the use 
 of milk in coffee. 
 
134 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Early in March we dropped down to the Bogue, and a few- 
 days later went to the roads off Macao. The water is shoal 
 for miles out, and the lower part of the Canton River, or rather 
 the archipelago into which it discharges, is quite extended, lying 
 between high and picturesque islands, those nearest the sea 
 being more rocky and less green. The outer islands have few 
 inhabitants, while the inner ones are thickly populated. At 
 that time the island of Hong-Kong had very few residents, and 
 the foreign population was quite small. Macao had been in 
 possession of the Portuguese for more than two and a half 
 centuries, and was for many years the summer residence of the 
 larger number of foreign merchants in Canton. Bordered by 
 broad waters and peninsular in form, just on* the edge of the 
 tropics, it was an agreeable residence, and many years ago, when 
 the Chinese were more exclusive, it had a large trade, but in 
 1846 its commercial glory departed. The very extensive ware- 
 houses were empty, and pleasant residences for Europeans could 
 be had at a nominal rental. 
 
 The Columbus left Macao on the 15th of March for Manila. 
 She was ten days in making the voyage, and after less than a 
 week her crew began to die of cholera, and she left for Macao, 
 where she anchored on the 9th of April, having lost twelve 
 men. What is known as Manila cholera is not the true Asiatic, 
 although the treatment is the same ; it is not at all infectious, 
 and on her return we went on board without fear of attack. 
 The true Asiatic cholera has visited Manila several times since 
 then, and between that disease, earthquakes, and typhoons, the 
 inhabitants have had within past years what is called a " rough 
 time." In the mean while, the Vincennes' officers and crew 
 enjoyed the delightful walks within the limits of Macao, and 
 some of us never tired of visiting the grave of Camoens, a 
 Portuguese, and one of the great poets whose names will live as 
 long as man exists. The situation and trees make it a charming 
 spot. " The Lusiad" is a choice poem, recording a romance of 
 travel, that can hardly fail to be read in the future. 
 
 The wilds of Africa present a field for any amount of human 
 endeavor, and so do the central portions of Australia, but the 
 Polar regions will remain untrodden, and the fable of voyages 
 
DINING WITH THE GOVERNOR. 135 
 
 has passed from the existence of lines of travel in all habitable 
 interesting regions. Indeed, the world, that we in our infancy 
 regard as so large, is, after all, quite insignificant in mass as 
 compared to other planets, and not at all large, if we regard 
 only the locomotive power of man. Even in a sailing-vessel, 
 resting in port here and there, and tarrying for weeks as already 
 stated, I was in six months within less than one hundred miles 
 of an antipode. 
 
 On the 25th of May the Columbus and the Yincennes left 
 for Northern China and the coast of Japan. Even so late in 
 the season, we were eight days making a distance of only two 
 hundred and fifty miles : for although we had good breezes, 
 they were still mostly from the northeast. As we approached 
 the entrance to the harbor of Amoy, an endeavor was made to 
 draw a round shot, to fire a blank cartridge, the usual signal 
 for a pilot : the shot had jammed, and an order was given to 
 fire the gun. This was the first shot since the sailing of the 
 vessel from New York, just one year before. 
 
 The harbor of Amoy is excellent, and at that time had not 
 been visited by any of our vessels-of-war ; the traffic was in- 
 considerable, the tea-trade had not found its way to that port, 
 and sugar, wood, and camphor from Formosa formed the 
 principal exports. Soon after we anchored, men came on board 
 with large supplies of embroidered silk garments more or less 
 worn. It did not occur to me what a ready means that was to 
 spread small-pox, scarlet fever, and other infectious diseases ; 
 nevertheless, although the same traffic has continued from year 
 to year, I have no knowledge of disease having been contracted 
 thereby. The city had perhaps half a million of inhabitants ; 
 the streets are narrow, and the houses usually only one story in 
 height. The smells are peculiar, and I thought distinctive, in 
 every street, and all of them vile. 
 
 The Touti, or governor of the province, which contained 
 twenty millions of inhabitants, dined with the captain, and 
 in turn the officers of the ship were invited to dine with him. 
 Sedan-chairs were sent to the landing for us. When the Touti 
 came on board he was accompanied by an officer and two 
 servants, who stood behind and waited upon them at dinner. 
 
136 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Indeed, in China and Japan, if a gentleman is invited to dine, 
 Lis servant always goes along, to wait upon him. None of the 
 Asiatics use handkerchiefs, but they have a far nicer method of 
 disposing of what comes from an influenza than using a hand- 
 kerchief and then putting it in the pocket. When required, a 
 nice piece of paper is called for, and after use is handed to the 
 servant, who folds it up carefully and puts it in his pocket until 
 a favorable opportunity occurs for throwing it into a receptacle. 
 The Touti was a large, strong man, with Tartar face and manner ; 
 he was much interested in what he saw around him, and, being 
 shown my rifle, examined it attentively and asked me if I could 
 use a bow. I replied, somewhat to the captain's amusement, 
 that I could draw a very long one. At that time the larger part 
 of the Chinese army were armed with bows and arrows. 
 
 After remaining nine days, we left for the Chusan Islands, 
 which lie off the coast of Ningpo, and on the 18th of June 
 anchored under the lee of an island known as Buffalo's Nose. 
 The Chusan Islands are very beautiful, terraced and cultivated 
 to the summits. They are several hundred feet in height, and 
 their being terraced, or at least some of them, indicates that the 
 slopes are abrupt. This anchorage is one hundred miles south 
 of the entrance to the Woosung River, leading to Shanghai, 
 which will not admit a vessel of the draught of the Columbus, 
 and is shoal so far out as to be dangerous of approach unless 
 care is taken in entering to keep on the proper bearing from 
 Gutzlaff Island, so long as it can be seen. The tides are strong, 
 and, sweeping across the course of the vessel, are apt to set her 
 on a mud-flat next the land, or on a sand-bank on the other side, 
 with very deep water close to it. By attaching a log-line to a 
 lead, the rate of sailing over the bottom is easily ascertained, 
 and also the approximate course, as the line is found to trend to 
 the one quarter or the other ; but in strong currents there is 
 always danger, unless accurate bearings are obtainable. 
 
 Commodore Biddle took passage on board of the Yincennes, 
 and we left for Woosung, twelve miles below Shanghai. After 
 getting safely into the river without a pilot, we got one just 
 without the narrow entrance near the land, who at. once put us 
 ashore in a sharp bend and a strong current, so the bows of the 
 
NAGASAKI. 137 
 
 vessel were run pretty well up on a sand-bank, with a falling 
 tide, and there we lay for twenty-four hours. We had for 
 several days and nights the hottest weather I have any recollec- 
 tion of, — over one hundred degrees throughout the nights. When 
 we got off, we anchored off the village of Woosung, remaining 
 there until the return of the commodore, when we left to join 
 the Columbus : this we did on the 7th of July, and both vessels 
 kept together until we entered the bay of Yeddo on the 20th 
 of July and anchored twenty miles below the present site of 
 Yokohama. 
 
 As soon as we got away from the land, we had a delightful 
 change in temperature, and good weather. We passed through 
 a line of islands known as the Pinnacles, some of them quite 
 high. Soon after, we sighted the southwestern islands of 
 Japan, and saw the coast until we entered Yeddo Bay. The 
 day before, when off Green Island and not far from the harbor 
 of Simoda, we had a superb view of that pride of Japan, the 
 mountain of Fusiyama. On the following morning, when 
 within the large island of Oosima, that lies south of the entrance 
 to the bay, we were met by several boats that endeavored to 
 divert us from the entrance into a deep indentation lying to the 
 westward, but the vessels stood on, despite our self-constituted 
 guides. A few miles farther up, when well within the lower 
 bay, the boats amounted to hundreds. Later on we had on 
 board a large number of the officers, who had very perturbed 
 countenances, until at length we anchored in something of a 
 bight, three miles from the western shore-line, with a beautiful 
 wooded promontory nearly due north of us. 
 
 When at Batavia, the commodore apprised the Japanese of 
 our intended visit by a message to Nagasaki, within which port 
 a Dutch trading-station, De-Sima, had existed for a century or 
 more, to which were sent two ships yearly, delivering whatever 
 the Japanese had previously requested, and receiving in exchange 
 pretty much what they chose to give, no doubt guided in some 
 degree by the expressed wishes of the Dutch traders. The lac- 
 quers of Japan have no equals, and other of their manufactures 
 commanded high prices in Europe, sufficiently so to make the 
 traffic profitable. A good deal was written in former times, 
 
138 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 whether with truth or not, of the humiliating terms and com- 
 pliances that had to be observed yearly, — among others, tram- 
 pling on the cross, and crawling in on all-fours, knocking their 
 heads on the floor from time to time, in acknowledgment of their 
 abasement and of the grandeur of the Daimio, who sat on a 
 throne or dais to receive this honor. Doubtless the terms under 
 which this trading-post was held were shameful, but to what 
 extent can hardly be accurately stated. 
 
 "When the Japanese first came on board of the Vincennes, 
 some of the zealous, in the line of their special duties, stuck 
 poles upon the bows, perhaps to indicate possession ; but the 
 officer in charge of the forecastle, Lieutenant Charles F. Mcin- 
 tosh, indignantly threw them overboard. The boats increased 
 in numbers for several days, until not less than fifteen hundred 
 formed a cordon around the vessels. They varied in size, and 
 carried from ten to twenty-five men. 
 
 As is well known to travellers, the Japanese do not pull oars, 
 like Europeans, but alongside of their boats are flexible sculls. 
 When manned for sculling, the bodies of the men are bent 
 forward nearly horizontally, and, swaying from side to side, 
 they propel their boats with more speed than could be got out 
 of them by oars. Their boats and sails, for convenience and 
 utility, will not compare with those of the Chinese ; we saw 
 several junks in the distance, with lug sails, that did not 
 attempt to "tack," and in ordinary weather always "wore;" 
 that is to say, in bringing the wind from one side to the other, 
 the helm was put up, instead of down, as in tacking. 
 
 After a day or so, a number of the officers of the different 
 boats spent hours on board of the vessels, and artists came on 
 board, who made drawings of everything that w r as to be seen, 
 and very good drawings, too, for they are experts in that art. 
 There were several men among them who understood Dutch, 
 who acted in the capacity of interpreters. Between them and 
 some Dutch sailors and my Chinese servant, an interpreter and 
 myself soon understood each other very well. I had read, 
 months before, that the Japanese were not averse to taking 
 cherry bounce, and had supplied myself liberally in China for 
 the occasion. Our interpreter was a very intelligent man of 
 
JAPANESE OFFICIALS VISIT THE COLUMBUS. 139 
 
 thirty, who had learned Dutch in the trading establishment of 
 De Sima, within the harbor of Nagasaki. 
 
 We had delightful weather after getting clear of the Chinese 
 coast, and our crew began to mend in physique greatly. At 
 the request of the commodore, both vessels were well supplied 
 with water, vegetables, and fowls. At that time the Japanese 
 did not eat the buffalo, such as the Chinese have, although they 
 had them in limited numbers. It seemed to me that their fowls 
 were unusually tough. Those of China are very good, the 
 capons especially. 
 
 A week after we had been at anchor, as the sun went down, a 
 heavy squall was brewing, and when night fell upon us it blew 
 violently, forcing the boats to seek shelter under the headlands. 
 Driven before the wind, their variegated lanterns crossing each 
 other, they presented a very beautiful sight. We let go other an- 
 chors, and sent down our top-gallant masts. The following day 
 putting things to rights, by heaving up the anchors we had let 
 go and sending up our spars, interested our Japanese visitors 
 greatly. By ten o'clock the cordon of boats was again around us. 
 
 The object of our visit was to inform the Japanese govern- 
 ment that our government would be pleased to hold commercial 
 relations, should it feel so disposed, and the communication was 
 intrusted to their senior officer on the first day of our arrival, 
 that an important paper had been brought and would be 
 delivered to any high official who might be charged to receive 
 it. There was at that time a dual government in Japan : one 
 branch was regarded as the spiritual and ethical, at Osaka, on 
 the inland sea of Japan, and the other was that of the Tycoon, at 
 Yeddo, that managed the whole practical matter of government. 
 
 It was arranged that eight or ten days after our arrival some 
 high functionaries of Japan would come down the bay to visit 
 the commodore and deliver an answer ; the question was dis- 
 cussed, whether they should come on board of the Columbus, or 
 whether the commodore should visit their vessel. The commo- 
 dore said the Columbus, being much the larger vessel, would be 
 the better place for the meeting. This was agreed to, and the 
 day and hour named; and on that morning, several junks, 
 bearing the Japanese officials, came down, and anchored a mile 
 
140 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 or more from our vessels. Their curious rig and appearance 
 aroused the curiosity of the commodore, who, disregarding the 
 previous arrangement, thought a visit to them proper. His 
 barge was lowered and pulled alongside of the vessel pointed 
 out as bearing the highest official. Not knowing his rank, and 
 properly regarding the arrangement agreed upon, on getting 
 alongside and endeavoring to go on board he was thrust back 
 into his boat, and a Japanese official at the gangway laid his 
 hand upon his sword, with a plain intimation of its use should 
 further effort be made to come on board. This nettled the 
 commodore greatly, who had to go back to the Columbus and 
 await the programme already agreed upon. 
 
 The Japanese officials on board of the Columbus were much 
 discomposed at this mishap. It was explained fully that the 
 officials had no idea of the rank of their intended visitor ; but 
 it was said that the commodore waxed wroth, and, on the 
 officials coming on board, complained of the rudeness shown 
 him, adding that they could very well see that he had " sufficient 
 force to blow them out of the water." The reply was, that 
 they had no idea who their visitor was ; had they known, he 
 would have had a courteous reception ; his visit to them was 
 not proposed in advance, and was unexpected. They acknowl- 
 edged that he had the force, if employed, to destroy them, but 
 said that such an act could have no justification. Presents were 
 offered him, which he indignantly declined, and he was asked 
 not to communicate the occurrence to his government, which he 
 declined to promise. As he was an able man and reasonable, 
 he doubtless made such official report as set forth the facts. 
 When, eight years later, Commodore Perry appeared and made 
 no demands of apology or statement of intended injury, it was 
 quite apparent to the Japanese that we had no desire to foment 
 a misunderstanding, and perhaps on that account the govern- 
 ment was more disposed to listen to what Commodore Perry 
 had to say and to look at, and accept what he had to present. 
 This expedition, indeed, had the effect of entirely changing the 
 relation of the Asiatic nations to Europeans and ourselves, 
 which otherwise might have remained isolated. 
 
 The daily intercourse between myself and the interpreter 
 
THE VESSELS WEIGH ANCHOR. 141 
 
 who was assigned to the Vincennes established quite au amiable 
 relation, aided, perhaps, by the cherry bounce. A day or so 
 before we left, I told him how much gratified we all were in 
 making their acquaintance and seeing their beautiful bay and 
 looking at the country from the vessels : we found, too, a wide 
 difference of climate between China and Japan ; our sick had 
 become convalescent, and, in view of our kind reception, I had 
 little doubt that we would visit their coast frequently. This 
 compliment, with the assertion that we would doubtless come 
 again, greatly disconcerted him. 
 
 After the official rendition of the papers referred to, and an 
 answer returned from some officer with duties analogous to 
 those of our Secretary of State, the commodore received a letter, 
 probably rendered into Dutch, stating that an answer had been 
 given to the letter from his government. They wished no 
 intercourse with us ; they had furnished us with supplies, for 
 which they declined to receive compensation, and they hoped 
 that we would now return to the country whence we came and 
 visit them no more. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Vessels weigh Anchor and are taken in tow — The Columbus and Vin- 
 cennes part, never to meet again — The Ladrones — Apra Harbor — Island of 
 Guam— Flying-Fish and Sea-Fowl—Pilot-Fish — Coral and Cocoa-nut— No 
 Snakes or Scorpions — Description of the Inhabitants — A Hide to Agafia — 
 Keceived by the Governor and invited to a Dinner — Mr. Kobinson, an Old 
 British Navy Officer, sings, and is in Disgrace — Bread-Fruit — School- 
 Houses — Koberts, the Pilot, proposes to leave the Island, but is persuaded 
 to remain — Bemarks on the Island, its History, Inhabitants, etc. — Sail for 
 Hong-Kong — Anchor in Blenheim Beach— Sail for Raja Bassa in Suma- 
 tra — A Fishing Town — Curiosity of the Inhabitants — Description of the 
 Island and People— Cape Town — Leaving Cape Town the Writer has a 
 "Windfall" — Arrive at the Navy- Yard— General Hamer— Leave of Ab- 
 sence—Calls on the President— Mr. Mason, Secretary of the Navy— An Ap- 
 pointment in the Navy for General Hamer's Son — Ordered on Coast Survey 
 Duty. 
 
 On the morning of the 29th of July, both vessels weighed 
 anchor, the light wind died away and we were taken in tow by 
 the boats. In relation to this, the log-book of the Columbus 
 
142 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 says, " From 8 to meridian, light breezes from Nd. and Ed. and 
 pleasant. Standing out of Yeddo Bay in tow of Japanese boats. 
 At 10 the wind hauled to the Sd. and Wd. ; cast off the boats 
 and braced up. At meridian, beating out of Yeddo Bay." A 
 literary friend thought a log-book would be a mine of wealth, 
 but this is all it tells of one of the most picturesque sights I 
 have ever witnessed. No fewer than one thousand boats, scull- 
 ing, made fast in three lines, ahead of the Columbus, gave her 
 a speed of some three miles an hour ; and five hundred boats of 
 the same fleet towed the Yincennes, in two lines ahead. The 
 pennons and lanterns of the boats were quite attractive, and the 
 clothing of the soldiers, their officers, and those who sculled, 
 was striking. The officers wore a kind of beaded coat of mail ; 
 perhaps it would have been effective against their weapons, but 
 it would have been of no avail against European weapons of 
 that day. Their dress, in general effect, was that of Europeans 
 three centuries ago. Their bearing was that of gentlemen, and 
 I can say, taking the world over, I know of no more polite men 
 than those of Japan, and no people of more admirable qualities. 
 This opinion is expressed after making a second visit to Japan, 
 more than twenty years later. 
 
 On reaching the open waters, the Columbus went one way, 
 the Yincennes another, never to meet again. Our course was to 
 the southern one of what are known as the Ladrone Islands, 
 forming a part of the volcanic split of the earth extending from 
 the Bonin Islands nearly north and south. The distance to the 
 island of Guam was about twelve hundred miles, but it took 
 nearly a month to make the voyage, owing to the fact that the 
 southwest monsoons and calms prevailed over the region to the 
 westward, just at that particular season of about six weeks. 
 We had calms and heavy squalls, and the voyage was painfully 
 slow. 
 
 Apra harbor, on the southwest side of Guam, is one of the 
 most charming I have ever seen, and the island itself is a tropical 
 gem. Here we passed a delightful month to recruit the crew 
 and to keep away from the coast of China until the northeast 
 monsoon set in. The island is much inferior in size to Tinian 
 and Saypan, which lie about one hundred miles to the north, 
 
PILOT-FISH. 143 
 
 with an intervening island ; the northern islands have no har- 
 bors, — only an anchorage under their lee. Had our visit been 
 during any other part of the year, our voyage would have taken 
 little more than one week. We started off with a fresh north- 
 east wind, which left us just where the trades usually blow. 
 The charts of that sea were then very imperfect, and even now 
 continue so. The longitudes are only approximately correct; 
 one bright forenoon we saw at a distance a great volcanic rock, 
 several thousand feet in height, when nothing was laid down 
 within one hundred miles of it. 
 
 After we got south of the Bonin Islands, that lay east of 
 us, the sea was pretty well covered with "scoria," or what is 
 usually called " pumice-stone ;" it was always ranged in win- 
 nows, in the direction from which the wind blew, as is the case 
 with sea-weed. Hovering over these waters were vast numbers 
 of gulls and other sea-fowl ; the water was alive with flying- 
 fish, as well as with countless bonitas, and other fishes that prey 
 upon the flying-fish. When a boy, I had read in iEsop's Fables 
 of a flying-fish ; in the air it was persecuted by birds, and in 
 the water by fishes; and this was actually seen, day by day. 
 They would rise in schools from the sea, and the gulls would 
 swoop down upon them ; and in the clear waters could be seen, 
 following their line of flight, bonitas that would occasionally 
 rise to the surface. The scoria was doubtless from some sub- 
 marine volcano, and, floating to the surface of the water, it was 
 covered by shell-fish, such as barnacles, until, weighted down, it 
 would sink, and supply food for fishes that in turn would be 
 preyed upon by others. 
 
 When becalmed, or nearly so, we would see around the rud- 
 der-post what are known to sailors as " pilot-fish," as they are 
 frequently seen accompanying sharks, and no doubt render them 
 a service in eating off the barnacles usually found on them. 
 There was a very curious fish, known to naturalists, but I have 
 seen only one, and that was on this voyage : it has a flat head ; 
 by putting the back of it against another fish, and exhausting 
 an air-sac on it, it is held fast through forming a vacuum ; this 
 can be done on any fish, or it can attach itself to a vessel, and it 
 is thus carried alon^. On examination it is found that this fish 
 
144 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 belongs to the class Echeneididce, of which there are five species, 
 popularly known as " suckers," from the first dorsal being trans- 
 formed into a sucking and exhausting organ. It is regarded by 
 naturalists as among the most remarkable of fishes. 
 
 Another small fish that we saw is known to whalers as the 
 " trigger-fish." It has teeth and a jaw like the sheep's-head, 
 and is also striped. When it raises its dorsal, in order to push 
 it down the second projecting point may be borne down too, 
 and the front one will then follow; no amount of force ap- 
 plied can get the first one down unless acted upon in this 
 manner. 
 
 On arriving at Apra, a beautiful small harbor on the west 
 side of the island, we were recompensed for our long and pain- 
 ful voyage. A pilot came out and took us in between reefs that 
 are nearly awash, and the break of the sea over them is con- 
 stant. This gives a freshness to the atmosphere that is exhila- 
 rating, and the roar of the breakers is gifted with a majestic 
 tone that never wearies. Especially is this noticeable in the 
 night ; the sound, although varying in cadence, is almost con- 
 stant, and yet not monotonous. 
 
 The clearness of the water in the harbor enabled us to see the 
 anchor dimly at a depth of nearly one hundred feet. To do 
 this, it was necessary to follow the chain by sight to the bottom. 
 At depths of more than fifty feet were numbers of fishes, some 
 of them weighing twenty pounds or more, and chary enough to 
 " touch not, taste not" the alluring bait. Passing in a boat from 
 the anchorage to the shore, a distance of more than half a mile, 
 the latter part was over shoal ground, and coral-patches that 
 seemed to rise so near the surface as to cause an apprehension of 
 striking where the water was more than a fathom deep ; the bot- 
 tom, all variegated with colors, bright as a varnished picture, 
 was plainly in view. 
 
 On the beach were groves of that munificent tree the cocoa- 
 nut, having the qualities that would have been sung in " Hia- 
 watha" instead of maize, had the scene been laid in the tropics. 
 There they were in stately grandeur, towering to a height of 
 seventy feet, and, what surprised us, and what I have seen no- 
 where else, they were notched into a kind of ladder, to allow 
 
A RIDE TO AG AN A. -[45 
 
 an easy ascent. Stirred by the sea-breeze, they gave a note of 
 welcome to seafaring men. Near by were the comfortable huts 
 of the "natives," let us call them, and around their abodes 
 were orange-, lime-, and bread-fruit-trees, bananas and plantains, 
 with patches of sweet potatoes, yams, Indian corn, and what- 
 ever was regarded by the inhabitants as desirable. Nowhere in 
 the wide world has Nature been more lavish with her treasures 
 to man than on the island of Guam, or more earnest in sparing 
 him pain and injury. Although it is not asserted or supposed 
 that St. Patrick ever visited the island, there are no snakes, and 
 no tarantulas or scorpions. There are iguanas, great long lizards, 
 bearing a frightful crest above their dorsal, which they erect on 
 the slightest pretext, to frighten people ; yet the child grows up 
 near them, and makes faces at their vain pretence to intimidate. 
 Shams are soon known, and when it is a question of war the 
 difference between crows and pigeons becomes apparent despite 
 attempted bullying. It is said that they make a good dish ; but 
 I have never tried them, not from any sentiment, but because 
 they have never been offered to me as food. 
 
 When we went on shore, crowds of the inhabitants came to 
 welcome us, for men-of-war seldom entered their harbor. First 
 of all, the fair sex stood prominent, clothed in a loose white 
 jacket that fell below the waist, a skirt of gay colors and broad 
 stripes, falling near to the ankles, then a sandal, leaving the foot 
 uncovered ; a broad sombrero, covering the most luxuriant suit 
 of hair, perfumed with cocoa-nut oil, and framing what, as the 
 bonne bouche, I leave to the last, — a pleasant smile and an 
 amiable face ! Glorious isle in the middle of the broad Pacific ! 
 where the ordinary tourist has never been, and where Nature 
 invites man to sling his hammock and be at peace. The capital 
 is Agafia, six miles away, following up the western beach, and 
 there the governor lived, in the " palace," surrounded by all 
 the dignitaries save the pilot, who lived on the shore by the 
 harbor of Apra. 
 
 A ride to Agaila from the anchorage I recall as one of the 
 most charming I have ever made. It was not alone ; the cap- 
 tain of the vessel kindly invited several of the officers to pay 
 an official visit with him to the governor, and horses were sent 
 
 10 
 
146 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 for the party. In the afternoon we mounted, swords and all ; 
 malicious, or facetious, people would have called us " horse- 
 marines," notwithstanding several of our party had ridden from 
 boyhood : people must have their little jokes, and they do no 
 harm. When we started, all the men, women, and children 
 living near the harbor assembled to see us off, and as we went 
 along a line of road as perfect as it could be, under the cocoa- 
 nut-trees, stirred by the sea-breeze, for we were only a hundred 
 yards from the sea-beach, we were all " lleno de contento." A 
 courier had preceded us, for as we passed along we had a con- 
 tinued ovation. At a distance of a mile apart, more or less, 
 were neat bamboo villages, and in each an assembled crowd 
 greeted us ; the nimble men would scramble up a cocoa-nut-tree 
 and throw down half a dozen or more nuts, that would have 
 been fatal had one struck the head of those below ; others would 
 deftly cut off the end of the nut with a strong heavy knife, 
 which was a part of the outfit of every household. Then in 
 some cases the whole nut would be handed us ; at other times 
 the liquid would be poured into a tumbler and offered, so that 
 we could see what we were drinking. We arrived at the end 
 of our journey of six miles in the best possible condition, and 
 without being a " prohibitionist," I recommend for the consider- 
 ation of the getters-up of grand banquets the substitution, in 
 part at least, of the milk in the cocoa-nut, instead of champagne, 
 the soundness of which is not assured. I have never heard 
 uttered a suspicion as to the unsoundness of the milk in a cocoa- 
 nut, so long at least as it has remained in the shell or was 
 quaffed from the ample cup. 
 
 Arriving at the palace, the governor received us with true 
 Spanish dignity ; he was a captain in the Spanish infantry, on 
 service in the Philippine Islands, and had been detailed, as was 
 usual, for a four years' command of a sergeant's guard, the 
 garrison given the Ladrone Islands, the whole force being placed 
 on the island of Guam. He was a fine-looking man, about 
 forty years of age, thin and swarthy, just such a picture as you 
 will find attached to almost any of the Spanish adventurers in 
 America. He had invited one or two of his officials to dine 
 with him in honor of the occasion. 
 
MR. ROBINSON, AN OLD BRITISH NAVY OFFICER. 147 
 
 The palace was a building of two stories, probably two 
 hundred feet long by fifty feet wide, built of the coral rock 
 lining the coast, whitewashed or yellow-washed, and covered 
 with red tiles, no doubt brought from Acapulco more than a 
 century before. Just one hundred and four years prior to our 
 visit, Anson, to get rid of the scurvy, had anchored under the 
 lee of the islands of Tinian and Saypan, one hundred miles to 
 the northward. The men of the Centurion and the smaller 
 vessel accompanying were mostly on shore recruiting, when a 
 heavy cyclone swept the vessels off soundings into deep water, 
 and it was days before the small force on board could heave up 
 the heavy hempen cables and anchors and beat back to their 
 anchorage. Anson probably contented himself with the north- 
 ern islands, as they afforded facilities for obtaining fresh sup- 
 plies and had no fortifications or troops to defend them, as had 
 Guam. 
 
 Our dinner was very pleasant, and when over, the governor, 
 our captain, and myself were sitting quietly, when we heard 
 singing in another apartment, and soon Mr. Robinson, who had 
 been an old British navy officer in his younger years, stalked 
 out, sword in hand, flanked by some of our officers, and singing 
 vociferously, "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," advanced to 
 give the governor and his guests an impromptu entertainment. 
 It much disconcerted the governor, who was grave and digni- 
 fied ; but he bore it like a gentleman, and allowed the concert 
 to proceed. 
 
 We understood, after we had left the palace the following day, 
 that Robinson was in disgrace. I suppose " crooking his elbow" 
 was a chronic complaint and had sent him out of the navy and 
 left him stranded on this charming island, where he had been 
 for more than twenty years, possibly a very useful man to the 
 successive governors in transactions with the whalers. Apra 
 was their favorite resort to obtain supplies, thirty or more visit- 
 ing the port yearly, and leaving numbers of "scrimshawed" 
 whale teeth and other products of their industry with the in- 
 habitants, in exchange for vegetables and fruits. This inter- 
 course had given to the dwellers near the harbor a fair use of 
 our vocabulary ; specially well did the pilot's several daughters, 
 
148 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 and those of our navy compatriot of former days, speak English. 
 We enjoyed our visit to the palace very much, saw its beautiful 
 surroundings, and returned content with all the world. 
 
 Bread-fruit-trees of two varieties flourish here ; the fruit can 
 be plucked fresh for eight months of the year ; when eaten as 
 bread, one may be sure it has no alum in it, nor even baking- 
 powder, " decided by chemists to be absolutely harmless, and 
 the best, containing only ingredients that are obliged to promote 
 the health. " When quite a youngster, in New England I had, 
 so far as I know, my first taste of saleratus, and perhaps might 
 not have made the discovery had I not observed yellow blotches 
 in the bread, which caused me to make inquiry. 
 
 Don't suppose that the bread-fruit has no " rising" in it ; it 
 has "just the thing," and the natives know all about it. When 
 taken from the tree, on maturity, it is kept until the white color 
 of the internal part is assuming a yellowish hue ; that means a 
 fermentation. To cook it, a prepared trench is made use of, say 
 a foot deep and a foot broad. Brushwood and small stones 
 are provided ; they are put in the trench, the stones on top, and 
 a fire is made of the brushwood ; when the brushwood is 
 burned to ashes, the ashes and small stones are scooped out with 
 a broad hoe, the bread-fruits put in, and the ashes and stones 
 raked over them. The time of baking, I suppose, is concurrent 
 with the cooling of the small stones ; then a charred exterior is 
 scraped oif, and the bread is ready for serving, and very good it 
 is. If the aguacate is grown there, I have not seen it, nor 
 even in the East, nor on the islands, — nowhere, in fact, save in 
 the West Indies and in Central America. The careful house- 
 wife at Guam, in the season of plenty, seizes the opportunity 
 and boils a quantity of bread-fruit ; it is then sliced and put 
 away in jars, to be used in gravies, or otherwise prepared. But, 
 as we all know, " it is not meet that one should live on bread 
 alone," which in other forms abounds on the island, in the best 
 of plantains and bananas, as also in several varieties of the 
 mandioco, from which the bread of the Brazilians is made. 
 Maize, known to us as Indian corn, is also abundant. Chickens 
 and turkeys are plentiful ; wild hogs and cattle are superior : 
 indeed, I have never eaten such good beef elsewhere in the 
 
ROBERTS PROPOSES TO LEAVE THE ISLAND. 149 
 
 tropics. The cattle are used under the saddle, and on our 
 return to the vessel we met several natives mounted on them ; 
 among others, a very pretty young girl, the steer trotting off 
 with her as though proud of his burden. The men got their 
 dress-supply from whalers, and were clothed in the garb of 
 sailors, and the children really had no clothing to speak of. 
 
 Along the line of the road were numerous school-houses; our 
 return was not the gala day it appeared to be when we went to 
 Agaiia. Instead of sitting within the houses, where they no 
 doubt went in rainy weather, the children were either stand- 
 ing, or seated on benches, singing Ave Marias, or saying their 
 Paternosters, with hats on their heads and books in their hands, 
 without a stitch of clothing on them : this looked odd, and I 
 have never seen the like elsewhere. They were nice little chil- 
 dren, too, and I have no doubt every one of them took a bath 
 daily, within the reef that extended the whole distance along the 
 six miles of our ride. 
 
 Although we visited the capital from time to time, we were 
 for the most part willing to go on shore and sit under the cocoa- 
 nut-trees or lie in a hammock hung between them, where the 
 sea-breezes supplied the service of an indefinite number of fans. 
 On one of these occasions Eoberts the pilot opened his heart 
 and told me he was very desirous of leaving the island, 
 where he had been for twenty-five years, to see the world 
 again, and the changes time had wrought; he was satiated 
 with the ease of life by which he was surrounded, and longed 
 to visit the haunts of men, where strife and exertion were 
 imposed upon existence; his children were grown up, they 
 would not fail to have all the comforts of life, his home was 
 amply provided, and his grounds would give them all that was 
 required. I told him promptly that I would not favor in any 
 degree his leaving his wife and the children who had grown up 
 under his care, and who were so well behaved, and, I thought, 
 more intelligent than those generally who had been reared with 
 more advantages as to schooling. He deceived himself greatly 
 in the supposition that the toils of life to which he would be sub- 
 jected elsewhere would be found at all comparable with the actual 
 luxurious ease in which he had passed a quarter of a century. 
 
150 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 After I had finished my lecture, he said he supposed that I was 
 quite right, and he would no longer entertain the idea of escap- 
 ing from as luxurious a life as the world could give, and which 
 the wealth of a monarch could not materially increase. As 
 children, we have all read " Kasselas," and many of us, as men, 
 have realized the deep philosophy that underlies the simple 
 story. 
 
 This island of Guam is about eighteen miles long, and is 
 shaped much like an L, with the long part lying north and south, 
 on the eastern side the end of the projection at Umate, aud five 
 miles farther north the beautiful harbor known as Apra, which 
 was our anchorage; the indentation led thence to Agafla, the 
 place of residence of the governor. The northern part of the 
 island was said to be nearly uninhabited, but well stocked with 
 wild hogs, cattle, and numerous deer, descended from some that 
 had been brought from Manila. The irregular ridge of land 
 was nearly one thousand feet in height, and six or eight miles 
 across, but somewhat less on the southern face, running westward. 
 The chain of islands was discovered by Magellan in 1521, and 
 the inhabitants were so much struck with the properties of iron 
 that they would steal it on every occasion presented, whence the 
 name of Ladron, — " pirate," or " thief." The islands, fifteen 
 in number, extend five hundred miles north and south : the ten 
 more northern had not been recently inhabited. When dis- 
 covered, their population was supposed to be about forty thou- 
 sand ; twenty years later, during which time the natives had 
 been undergoing the process of subjugation, the census gave less 
 than twenty-six thousand. They had been taken possession of 
 by the Spanish, and were being utilized in raising supplies, and 
 in other labor, causing them to disappear. The northern islands, 
 having no harbors, were secure in a great measure from an 
 effective search. The natives have now canoes each capable of 
 carrying half a dozen people, with an outrigger and float to give 
 stability and enable them to carry sail. They can readily cross 
 outlying reefs in them, or beach them under the lee of the 
 islands at favorable points. 
 
 With the growth of the power of Spain in Mexico, Central 
 America, and the Philippine Islands, galleons richly laden crossed 
 
REMARKS ON THE ISLAND. 151 
 
 the Pacific, those bound west finding an admirable stopping- 
 place for stores at Apra. The natives failing them, it was an 
 easy matter to supply the deficiency from Mexico and the Phil- 
 ippines. Now, only vestiges of the native language are found, 
 and the Spanish language is not indifferently spoken. The in- 
 habitants are sprightly, kindly, and obliging, with as much 
 industry as might be supposed in a climate where clothing is 
 only a matter of decency or of ornament, and where food is 
 supplied by a minimum of labor, not more than is requisite to 
 health. 
 
 I have not yet exhausted a mention of the resources of the 
 island ; the tobacco is excellent, and the old women, particularly, 
 use it with a prodigality that would shock our delicate cigarette- 
 smokers of the fair sex. "When a cigar a foot long and more 
 than an inch in diameter is lighted in the morning, it is quite 
 apparent that the smoke for a day is plainly in sight. Then 
 there is the areca-nut, chewed with the betel leaf, but the lime is 
 omitted ; this is used by the Malays, and turns the teeth quite 
 black. A liquor is made by means of a still not much more 
 complicated than a common teakettle, only the spout being longer 
 and different in shape. The beverage is made from the juice 
 that comes from cocoa-nuts ; when the incipient stem appears, it 
 is cut off, and a vessel is attached to catch the juice; this be- 
 comes white in fermentation, like sour milk, and after it has 
 reached a certain point it is placed in the still and vaporized. I 
 tasted it, and have to acknowledge that to " enjoy it" would 
 require a cultivation that I had neither time nor inclination to 
 undergo. 
 
 Some ten years ago, I saw by the newspapers that the island 
 had been desolated by a cyclone, and that some time previous 
 an epidemic had taken off a large number of the inhabitants, 
 then supposed to be twelve thousand, one-third of whom died. 
 Nevertheless, it is one of the most healthful, delightful islands 
 on the globe, and were it in the line of travel would be visited 
 with great interest and pleasure by tourists. 
 
 An occasional great mortality in a country of large extent, or 
 on an isolated island, is not an evidence of unhealth fulness. 
 In the first case, an increased mortality in any locality is soon 
 
152 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 compensated for through emigration, while an isolated island 
 has to gain its own population through a natural increase. The 
 islanders have little idea of the frequent causes of disease, or 
 of their treatment, and of the effect of dietetic or other conditions 
 quite within their reach. In tropical regions, in the rainy season, 
 the atmosphere is saturated with vapor for months ; perspiration 
 then saturates the clothing, and, although the temperature is ten 
 or fifteen degrees cooler than in the dry season, this damp heat 
 is very disagreeable and hurtful, while in the hotter dry season, 
 even when considerable exertion is made, there is little perspira- 
 tion ; in fact, a dry atmosphere carries it off unperceived, and, 
 with it, the superfluous heat of the person. In this way, a long- 
 continued saturated atmosphere interferes with the normal func- 
 tions of the skin, by keeping it damp, and throws its work in 
 the animal economy on the internal organs. A tightly-enclosed 
 house in the tropics, and during the rainy season artificially 
 heated to above the outside temperature, supplemented by a 
 proper dietetic treatment, would doubtless be far more effective 
 in the treatment of many diseases than all the medicines that 
 could be taken. 
 
 Towards the last of September the southwest monsoon had 
 died out, and the showers that were frequent during the early 
 part of our visit passed away : the crew had profited greatly by 
 their runs on shore, and we set sail for our rendezvous on the 
 coast of China. The voyage, until we reached the entrance to 
 the channel between Formosa and China, was delightful, and in 
 the latter part the winds were quite fresh. In ten days we were 
 in Hong-Kong, but in passing along, some hundred miles north 
 of it, seeing a populous town lying in a small indentation right 
 on the coast, we ran in, anchored, and spent a day. It was 
 a fishing town, with a population probably of two hundred 
 thousand. We visited the shore, and, as the greater number of 
 the inhabitants had seldom been treated to a sight of European 
 races, the throng around us was very great ; probably many of 
 them had never seen an American or a European before. They 
 were perfectly amiable, but very curious, and examined our 
 hands, and were so interested to see our " true inwardness" that 
 the sleeves of the coat, and the shirt, and the silk undershirt, 
 
ANCHOR IN BLENHEIM REACH. \ 53 
 
 were rolled back, that the untanned skin might be looked 
 at. I never before understood how gratifying the curiosity of 
 the on-looker was to the vanity of " the fat woman" or other 
 monstrosity on exhibition. Indeed, I had always regarded 
 them as objects of commiseration touching the very point 
 that doubtless, without exception, actually fills them with con- 
 tent. 
 
 In the Formosan Channel we were swept along at a great rate 
 by the current produced by the strong wind, and, as the weather 
 was cloudy, were not aware of its strength until we got observa- 
 tions the second day. I shall have more to say of these great 
 currents far out at sea, that run between confined banks, water 
 though those banks be. 
 
 In October and the early part of November we anchored well 
 down in Blenheim Reach, to avoid fever, which was prevalent 
 at that season. We were told by the officers of the British ves- 
 sel-of-war Vixen, at anchor there, that the intense heat would 
 abate with the arrival of the first breath of the northeast mon- 
 soon. About the 10th of November it came, and thereafter we 
 had a delightful temperature. 
 
 From the time we left Shanghai, about the middle of July, 
 until near the end of October, we were actually without any 
 news from home. At that time there were either monthly or 
 semi-monthly steamers from England, passing around outside, 
 via Gibraltar, and bringing news in about six weeks from Eng- 
 land. Actually six months had passed since we heard from our 
 relatives or received official news from home. The Mexican 
 war was in full blast, and the earlier battles had been fought 
 months before. We had been ordered to the west coast of 
 America, and, had we known it before we entered the Formosan 
 Channel, could readily have got there, but, as it was, the captain 
 very rightly determined to come home by way of the Straits of 
 Sunda, that we had entered one year before. The fore- and 
 main-masts were found to be sprung, and the chances of beating 
 to windward against the current were hopeless. We might have 
 got out by going roundabout by the Sooloo Sea, with a delay of 
 months. We watered, provisioned ship, and sailed on the 20th 
 of November, expecting or hoping that the northeast monsoon 
 
154 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 had set in south of us, and went on famously until we passed 
 the mouth of the Gulf of Siam, swept some days at the rate of 
 seventy statute miles a day by the current. There the breeze 
 left us, and we got out of the strength of the current. 
 
 It was a month before we reached Anjier, but our experience 
 of sickness from watering there determined the captain to 
 choose Raja Bassa, near the eastern end of Sumatra, on the 
 southern side, just within the island of Krakatoa, of which 
 mention has already been made. The bearings of the several 
 small islands given in Horsburgh's sailing directions enabled us 
 to anchor within a cable's length of a superb mountain-torrent, 
 that swept with great force right into the sea, from enough 
 elevation to allow us to rig a hose and run the water into the 
 casks. As we sailed along near the coast to this anchorage, we 
 saw numbers of bamboo huts. The Malays came alongside in 
 their canoes from village to village, as the wind was light and 
 our rate of sailing only two or three miles per hour. In reply 
 to the captain's inquiry as to where the Raja Bassa anchorage 
 was, they always pointed to their own village, but good cross- 
 bearings don't tell falsehoods for personal interests, and, guided 
 by them, we anchored. 
 
 There was a difference of opinion expressed by the captain 
 and others as to the distance of an outlying island, and whether 
 a shot from a twenty-four-pounder would reach it : so the 
 second and last shot fired during the cruise of twenty-two 
 months was sent out, and fell into the water at about half the 
 distance to the island. At that time Navy Regulations required 
 that guns should always be kept loaded at sea. It will be 
 apparent to every one who has used powder freely that the 
 deterioration would be great in a hot damp climate, and, despite 
 of tompions and muzzle-covers, salt water would find its way 
 into the guns. 
 
 As pertaining to my duties as navigator, I was sent on shore 
 to make arrangements and superintend watering ship, and on 
 my return the launch and first cutter were hoisted out, the casks 
 put in the boats, and we soon had the men hoisting in the casks 
 and emptying them. The captain asked me how many loads 
 could be taken in daily ; I replied that, with due regard to the 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND AND PEOPLE. 155 
 
 health of the men, I thought six loads by each boat, beginning 
 only after the sun was well up, and leaving the shore at sunset. 
 He said he was in a hurry, and there could be no intermission ; 
 and so it had to be, with a further increase of dysentery in an 
 enfeebled crew, resulting in our burying a lot more before we 
 reached Table Bay at the Cape of Good Hope. Of the crew 
 of the launch, few or none escaped sickness, and several died. 
 
 With one or two of the men and a Malay guide, I visited 
 the large village near by, during the times that the boats were 
 being discharged alongside the vessel. The cocoa-nut-trees under 
 which the houses were located were tenanted by numbers of 
 little red squirrels, such as are common in many parts of the 
 United States : the natives were surprised at my knocking their 
 heads off with a ball from my rifle. Extending my walk 
 beyond the village, at intervals I would leave the pathway 
 along which my guide led me, and invariably he would beckon 
 me back with a gesture of alarm. It was to have me avoid 
 the danger of being bitten by one of the many deadly ser- 
 pents infesting that whole region, as well as British India, where 
 the loss of life from snake-bites averages over twenty thou- 
 sand yearly, being many times greater than the loss from 
 tigers. 
 
 Before marriage, the Malay women have white teeth, and 
 chew the areca-nut, with the betel leaf, without the lime, which 
 turns the teeth quite black. After marriage they use lime. 
 The men file their teeth sharp, which adds to their hideous 
 appearance. I was very much impressed with the difference 
 between the facial expression of young girls and women and 
 that of the men. A stranger coining among them would regard 
 them as of distinct races, owing to the lines of care, thin features, 
 and distrustful countenances of the males, and the rounded 
 features, pretty black eyes and hair, and placid countenances of 
 the females, that seem to indicate peace with all the world. I 
 was told that the men were given to strong drink and were 
 extremely violent and treacherous, and were expert in the use 
 of the Juris, a weapon as commonly carried by the males as a 
 pocket-knife with us, or the razor among the desperadoes in 
 this region. The placidity of the features of the women would 
 
156 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 seem to indicate that they have not adopted that sentiment of 
 Longfellow : 
 
 " And only the sorrows of others 
 Cast their shadow over me." 
 
 The supply of green turtle, of cocoa-nuts, and of monkeys 
 and baboons is unlimited on the island of Sumatra, as well as 
 at Anjier Point, but the fine fruits to be had there are not 
 obtainable at ordinary anchorages. I shot one of those very 
 graceful little animals known as the " mouse deer," no larger 
 in size than a jack-rabbit. We were obliged to buy some wood, 
 and I was surprised at the difficulty in obtaining a small supply 
 for cooking, the smallness of the sticks, and the very large price 
 demanded, where wood seemed to be superabundant. On look- 
 ing at the axes used in cutting it, I was no longer surprised, 
 and, indeed, wondered if they ever attempted to cut down a 
 large tree. 
 
 We were glad to leave our anchorage, and were soon fairly 
 in the monsoon, on our way to the Gape of Good Hope, and 
 made a fair passage, without other incident than the absence of 
 sights to determine our position for three days, in the mean 
 time striking the very strong current lying east of the island of 
 Madagascar, which drifted us along, parallel to the coast-line 
 of that island, at the rate of seventy statute miles a day. The 
 third day I got morning and evening time sights, but no 
 meridian observation, which ten years before would have given 
 a very unsatisfactory result as to the position of the ship. 
 Chronometers had been in general use on all large vessels for 
 nearly half a century before a clever Yankee captain of a 
 merchant-ship had the intelligence to combine the forenoon with 
 the afternoon sights, and thus give the latitude graphically on 
 plotting the lines drawn between the longitudes, due to two lati- 
 tudes assumed and calculated upon ; then from a line of bearing 
 of the morning sights plot the course and distance run, up to the 
 time that the second sights were taken, drawing a parallel line 
 to the morning line of bearing through the course and distance 
 point, and the intersection of this line with the line of bearing 
 of the afternoon sights, calculated with the same latitudes as the 
 
CAPE TOWN. 157 
 
 morning sights, gives the position of the ship in latitude and 
 longitude at the time of the afternoon sights, assuming, of 
 course, that the chronometers are correct, with error applied. 
 So many readers are well informed on such matters that an 
 apology is due them, or, at least, a reminder that many persons 
 look upon the finding of the latitude and longitude of a ship at 
 sea as a highly-complicated problem. A good navigator cer- 
 tainly requires knowledge other than " rule of thumb' 7 method, 
 but many a one possessing only the latter, and gifted with the 
 perceptions of a seaman, is a good navigator, — not a mean dis- 
 tinction to arrive at, if we consider the dangers of the sea. 
 Napoleon said that " the best general made the fewest mistakes f 
 and the same may be said in relation to navigators, not as to 
 calculations, but in the absence of sights, and subject to the 
 buffetings of the sea on dangerous approaches to coasts. 
 
 The landsman knows little of the joys of life that come to 
 the seaman simply from the quaffing of a sparkling glass of 
 water flowing from a spring, or from seeing in the distance, after 
 months at sea, some desired land, as the Table Rock, overhang- 
 ing Cape Town. The name is appropriate to the broad flat rock 
 of large extent, several thousand feet in height. In the after- 
 noon it is usually invisible, the " table-cloth" being spread, when 
 the swirling mists come down the mountain-side, making the 
 town altogether disagreeable. It is the only spot known to me 
 where men habitually wear veils, and, I think, with advantage ; 
 I did not do so, but I have the idea by that device a good deal 
 of discomfort may be avoided there. While this condition ob- 
 tains at Cape Town, a few miles out the atmosphere is delicious. 
 
 Officers of war-vessels who visit the " Constantia vineyards" 
 always have a kindly reception, and I am disposed to regard 
 them as one of the heavens that the Mohammedans hope to gain. 
 While enjoying such recreation, after a long sea-voyage, if asked 
 the question, " Is life worth living ?" one would think the man 
 had been drinking, not wisely, but altogether too much. It 
 seems to me that a considerable part of the attraction at the 
 Constantia vineyards is the bevy of charming, graceful, healthy 
 young ladies pertaining to all of them. There are no pinched- 
 up waists with them, but a graceful carriage and appearance, 
 
158 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 quite tempting a young man to desire to take up his abode 
 there. 
 
 In February, 1847, when we were there, the admirable break- 
 waters that now exist at Cape Town were just begun, or at least 
 were of little advantage. Heavy gales, at intervals of months, 
 at certain seasons of the year, would sweep full into the harbor, 
 and vessels at times would part their chains or drag their anchors 
 and go on shore right in face of the town. 
 
 Then, and at a later visit, of which mention will be made, 
 Cape Town contained a very hospitable, kindly population. It 
 was not until after my second visit to this region that I fully 
 recognized the "grip" the Anglo-Saxon has on the populations 
 of the world. 
 
 The Cape is admirably supplied in provisions, grapes of the 
 best, and flat-tailed sheep, of which the tail weighs one-third 
 and is one mass of fat. I never have been able to imagine what 
 possible use the sheep can make of this tail when living, or what 
 the owner can do with it when he has killed his sheep. 
 
 Our crew was given liberty on shore, and the sick sent to 
 the hospital, until we should leave. The officers, who had been 
 unwell too, were soon as strong as ever, and enjoyed riding out 
 to the Constantia vineyards to see the young ladies, sweeter even 
 than the sweet Constantia wine, noted the world over as the 
 only sweet wine — unless it be Tokay — possessing a delicate 
 flavor. Not being able to carry away any of the young ladies, 
 we had to content ourselves with bringing home ankers of wine 
 to our friends ; and we found it much prized. 
 
 About the middle of February we bade adieu to Cape Town, 
 and soon after entered the trade-winds, and, until we got through 
 the northeast belt, had the most charming sailing imaginable. 
 On this voyage I had literally a " windfall," an expression in 
 use among seamen for good luck. Sitting in the wardroom, 
 after dark, calculating the position of the ship, I heard some- 
 thing fall down the windsail, and found that a large flying-fish 
 had struck within the tube and fallen at my feet. This occur- 
 rence was not unfrequent, but it was the only one that individu- 
 ally presented itself to me. 
 
 Outside the Gulf Stream, off our coast, we spoke a schooner 
 
MR. MASON, SECRETARY OF THE NAVV. 159 
 
 bouDd for the West Indies, and got from her some bushels of 
 Hanover turnips for the crew and the officers' messes. That 
 night, a heavy southeast gale set in, and we had it rough for 
 forty-eight hours, — so rough, indeed, that we did not have a 
 table set ; but we enjoyed our Hanover turnips and salt boiled 
 pork, holding on between-times, quite as much as a gourmet 
 enjoys a banquet at Delmonico's in New York. 
 
 Coming below, after my morning watch, I was called by the 
 assistant surgeon, who occupied the room that " Little Nell's" 
 grandfather had used previous to his being detached and sent 
 home from Canton River. The hatches being battened down, 
 the heavy rolling of the ship brought out the odor in the room 
 as unmistakably as possible, and we had to acknowledge that 
 the perfume of his predecessor had actually stored itself away 
 in the wood and was given out on extraordinary occasions. 
 
 The gale over, we made sail, and in a few days were close in 
 under the Highland light ; at daylight we encountered a very 
 heavy squall, the clouds rolling over one another as though they 
 were solid cylindrical bodies. 
 
 We were soon up at the navy-yard, the crew paid off, and the 
 officers given their three months' leave to visit friends, after 
 which young lieutenants, and officers of junior grades, expected 
 sea orders within a few weeks. I had brought home a lot of 
 the long-jointed Malacca canes, intending three of them for par- 
 ticular friends, one of whom was General Hamer, who had died 
 not long after the capture of Monterey. Knowing that he had 
 a large family, probably not well provided for, I made it my 
 business to go to Washington en route to Ohio, to endeavor to 
 get one of his sons an appointment as midshipman, should he 
 be disposed to go to sea. I was aware of the great intimacy of 
 President Polk and the father of the youth, and on arriving in 
 Washington I lost no time in calling on the President. It hap- 
 pened that Mr. Mason, the Secretary of the Navy, was present, 
 and, hearing my statement, he advised me to call at the Navy 
 Department. Not recognizing him personally, I regarded him 
 as some one wishing to be officious. The President asked if the 
 young man wished an appointment ; I told him I did not know, 
 having just arrived from the Asiatic station, but it seemed to 
 
1(50 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 me probable that he would be pleased to receive it. The Presi- 
 dent told me to go to the Navy Department. Regarding this 
 as simply a suggestion to get rid of me, I left the White House. 
 Meeting my navy friend Maffit on the Avenue, I vented my 
 spleen on the gentleman who had proposed that I should go to 
 the Department, and added that the President had repeated the 
 suggestion. Maffit inquired if it might not have been the Sec- 
 retary of the Navy ; I said no, for I knew the Secretary by 
 sight before I left Washington. Nevertheless I was mistaken, 
 as I found on going to his house to dine with his son, a ship- 
 mate and friend, who had kindly invited me. The Secretary 
 met me very warmly, and said that should the young gentleman 
 of whom I had spoken to the President wish an appointment 
 I should write him, and it would be sent forthwith, which in 
 fact was done. 
 
 After a visit to my relatives and friends, I was ordered on 
 Coast Survey duty for the time in Washington. ' When my 
 young friend came East to enter the navy, I found he was not 
 prepared to pass an examination ; I became his instructor, and 
 when he was prepared went with him to Annapolis, where he 
 passed for entry as acting midshipman. 
 
 At that time I did not appreciate how much more important 
 it is for a youngster to be with able officers than to be on board 
 of a good vessel ; my young friend was ordered to a crack ship, 
 but her commanding officer was indifferent, and an unusual 
 number of the officers under his command were of the same 
 stripe. 
 
 The vessel sailed for the Pacific, where he served for a year 
 or more, then he resigned and came home. He afterwards en- 
 listed under Lopez the filibuster to go to Cuba, and died en 
 route of cholera at Louisville. Although everything did not turn 
 out well, I had at least the gratification of having endeavored 
 to serve the son of my friend Hamer. 
 
ORDERED TO THE SURVEYING-STEAMER BIBB. 161 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Duty on the Coast Survey near Nantucket in the Spring of 1848 — Ordered 
 to the Surveying-Steamer Bibb — Professors Agassiz and Desor — The Dis- 
 covery of the First Viviparous Scale-Fish — Some Remarks on Nantucket 
 and Adjacent Country — Mother Carey's Whale-Ships — A Lady in Green 
 Spectacles has her say about a Man drowned — Rockport, Massachusetts — 
 The White Rock, alias the Ammen Rock — Engaged on the Nautical 
 Almanac— A Meeting with Hon. Jefferson Davis — A Visit to Hon. John 
 Quincy Adams — A Practical Joke — John Y. Mason — California Gold 
 Excitement — Wars in Europe. 
 
 In the spring of 1848, on the application of my former com- 
 manding officer, then Lieutenant Charles H. Davis, I was 
 ordered to the surveying-steamer Bibb, engaged in sounding the 
 Nantucket shoals and adjacent waters, with Nantucket as the 
 ordinary rendezvous and a coal-supply at Edgartown, on Martha's 
 Vineyard Island, some thirty miles from Nantucket. 
 
 The associations and the duties were very pleasant, despite the 
 drawbacks of one kind or another, some of them unavoidable, 
 principally from the unfitness of the vessels engaged on the 
 work, and consequently the meagreness of results, and partly 
 owing to fogs and the distance of our usual field of operations 
 from the coast. The Bibb was a small iron steamer built for 
 the revenue service, with a flat bottom and little speed. When 
 we went out on the shoals we towed one or two schooners if the 
 breeze was not fair : they anchored and served as points of ob- 
 servation. Their positions were determined by observations 
 made from a church tower in Nantucket and from Sancoty head- 
 light. It was an indifferent base, but the best obtainable. With 
 the amount of fogs and foul weather on that coast, so little was 
 accomplished of outside work that it was quite depressing. Very 
 often we were able to work satisfactorily for days in the inner 
 waters when a fog-bank covered the shoals. When endeavoring 
 to sound on the shoals we would usually lie at anchor under 
 Great Point, the northern end of the island, and frequently get 
 under way at midnight to go out some thirty-five miles, and 
 
 11 
 
162 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 when we got there anchor in the fog, and occasionally, after 
 lying there and rolling about for several days, be driven in for 
 shelter from a heavy northeaster. 
 
 We had with us at times, for a few weeks, Professor Agassiz, 
 lately arrived from Neufchatel, and his assistant, Professor Desor. 
 Both of these gentlemen were charming messmates, and quite 
 absorbed by the specimens of shell-fishes we dredged or brought 
 up in mud. The fecundity of life in seas is extraordinary, and 
 wholly unsuspected by persons who sail over them. It so hap- 
 pened that these visits were the cause of the discovery of the 
 first viviparous scale-fish known to naturalists. In the summer 
 of 1852, then attached to a commission for the location of the 
 navy-yard on the Bay of San Francisco, my friend Lieutenant 
 Jackson went fishing and brought on board several scale-fish, 
 not unlike a perch in appearance, that I found to be viviparous, 
 and I recommended him to send specimens to Agassiz, who 
 received them with surprise and gratification, and the fish was 
 named after Jackson. 
 
 For a century or more, the island of Nantucket had been the 
 residence of persons whose occupations were mostly fishing, and, 
 later, particularly in the sperm-whale-fisheries, making long 
 voyages to the Pacific and bringing home valuable cargoes. At 
 the time of our visit these industries were on the wane, and their 
 shipping still engaged in that industry had been transferred to 
 New Bedford, an excellent harbor, while that of Nantucket was 
 so shoal as to require a " camel," a species of floating dock to 
 take a ship within, then pump out the " camel," and thus have 
 a less draught by reason of the increased water-borne area. But 
 the persons engaged in whaling and their families still clung to 
 Nantucket, a land without a tree that was not planted and 
 sheltered, save a species of scrub-oak growing in the sand, over 
 the tops of which a man on horseback could easily look. There 
 is no soil, but an abundance of sand on the island. The usual 
 conveyance to Siasconsett, on the southeastern angle of the 
 island, seven miles from the town, was in carts and through sand 
 several inches in depth. The people we met were altogether 
 pleasant and intelligent, and among them were persons of ex- 
 ceptional acquirements and agreeability. 
 
MOTHER CAREY'S WHALE-SHIPS. 1(53 
 
 In the families of the mates and boat-steerers, sea-phrases 
 were used very like those on board of whale-ships, and at 
 Siasconsett, for the entertainment of persons who made a visit, 
 Mother Carey had established an object-lesson of several whale- 
 ships in tanks that had doubtless been made on voyages by the 
 crews of whalers in their hours of leisure. With her volumi- 
 nous cap, as imposing as the head-dress of an English barrister, 
 Mrs. Carey would go through the whole recount of her show 
 with all the earnestness and particularity of Mrs. Jarley in her 
 exhibit of wax-works. " Now, there, that's the whaler Baxter. 
 Everything is perfect about that ship. Just look at her. There's 
 the man at the mast-head ; you see he has a glass, and he's peering 
 around. Then he sees a whale, and sings out, ' There she blows/ 
 and the captain says, l Where away?' then he says, so many 
 ' pints' on the lee bow ; then they square away and run down 
 for the whales, and git their boats ready for lowering, and when 
 they git there they lay the main-topsail to the mast and they 
 lower away, and all of 'em go, except the cook and a sick man, 
 and they fasten on to the whale and pay out the line, and, my 
 sakes, when they check up don't the whale drag 'em along lively ! 
 fairly takes their breath away ; and when the whale tires out 
 they pull in on the line, and lance him ; and when they kill him 
 they put a flag on him, — don't you see ? — and go after another ; 
 and when they can't git any more whales they go to the ship 
 and make sail to git up, for the whales 'most always run to 
 windward, and when they git up to him they tackle on to him, 
 and hoist it partly out of the water, and cut it round and round, 
 and that's called the blanket-piece ; and when the blubber is cut 
 up it is put in the pans and fried out and put away in the 
 barrels, and when it gits home it is sold, and every man, from 
 the captain down, gits his lay." 
 
 A visitor asked, " What is a ' lay,' Mrs. Carey ?" 
 " Goodness ! don't know what a ' lay' is ! Why, that's the 
 'shear' every man gits, just what he ships for. The captain 
 gits the big lay, then the mate, and then the boat-steerers, and 
 so on down to the cabin-boy : each one has his ' shear.' But I 
 haven't shown you all yet. Look down into the water : there's 
 a man. When the line was running out, it took a round turn 
 
164 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 on his body or his leg, and the whale always sounds when it's 
 struck, and it took him down, and he's drowned." 
 
 " Now, Mrs. Carey, what is ' sounding' ?" 
 
 " Bless my soul ! I thought everybody knew that when a 
 whale was struck he always ' sounded,' and you don't. It 
 means going right down until the line is out, and if he keeps on 
 going down they have to cut the line if it don't part, or the 
 boat would go down too." 
 
 The payment of a dime a head followed the exhibition, and 
 the visitors left. 
 
 We went from time to time to Edgartown to take in coal, 
 there being a good wharf, alongside of which we made fast. 
 On one occasion, after coaling had ceased, one of the men went 
 out on the bowsprit in the twilight, and seated himself. Other 
 men were near by, and saw him fall overboard, and would have 
 attempted to rescue him, had he come to the surface ; he proba- 
 bly had epilepsy, and his kicking may have kept him down : 
 he drowned actually before the officers on board were aware 
 that a man had fallen overboard. When it was known, his 
 body was dragged for, and, after some hours, found. The fol- 
 lowing day the captain and other senior officers were on shore, 
 taking exercise, and I happened to be the only one on board. 
 I was sitting in the cabin about noon, occupied, and was in- 
 formed by the man on duty that a lady wished to see the com- 
 manding officer. Congratulating myself on the rare opportunity 
 of appearing in so important a rUe as that of a commanding officer, 
 I sent a message that I would be pleased to see the lady ; and 
 forthwith there stalked in, slowly and solemnly, a tall figure, 
 with clothing fitted to her person as though desirous of reveal- 
 ing the grace of figure nature had bestowed, tall, bony, and 
 angular as it was. She wore green spectacles, — at the time an 
 outward expression of a literary turn of mind in that region. 
 I arose, made my best bow, requested my visitor to be seated, 
 expressed my gratification at her visit, and inquired how I could 
 serve her. Notwithstanding the green spectacles, I could see 
 that her eye was severely upon me. In a measured and deeply- 
 solemn tone she said, " I understand there was a man droivnded 
 here last night." I replied that, unhappily, that was the fact. 
 
"J THINK THAT MAN COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED." 165 
 
 I recounted the circumstance as above given, which seemed to 
 fix in her mind a culpability on some one, and, as I was present, 
 perhaps on me in particular. To her severe question, " Couldn't 
 that man have been saved ?" I could only reply that if the fact 
 had been known in advance that he would fall off the bowsprit, 
 and preparations had been made to meet the case, it seemed to me 
 quite likely that he could have been, but that under the actual 
 condition, although the disposition was strong, the means at 
 hand could not avail. Majestically she arose, and, regarding 
 me sternly, said, before she turned and left the cabin, " I think 
 that man could have been saved." She evidently belonged to 
 that class that had a beginning, but probably will endure as 
 long as mankind, who are always regarding the shortcomings 
 of others, and are protected themselves in an extraordinary 
 degree from committing even an indiscretion. They go about 
 the world to convert the heathen, or stay at home and enlighten 
 people as to just what they should or might have done, as in 
 this case. 
 
 Near Edgartown is an old cemetery with tombstones en- 
 graved with sentiments of sorrow and appreciation. I read 
 on one of them an effusion relating to man and wife, and after 
 the legend was, — 
 
 " John and Lydia, that lovely pair — 
 He was killed by a whale, her body lies here. 
 And now we hope they with Christ do reign : 
 So our great loss is their great gain." 
 
 A maiden lady whom I knew at Edgartown was far more 
 presentable and agreeable than my acquaintance who came to 
 utter a reproach, but the one theme that possessed the poor 
 woman was that her " aincestors" (as she pronounced the word) 
 came over in the Mayflower : this seemed in her mind of more 
 value than patent of nobility, or pearls, or precious stones. 
 
 Surveying duty, which often lasted up to the early part of 
 November in Massachusetts Bay or near the coast, was particu- 
 larly pleasant. We had an aged pilot named Wilson, of whom I 
 have had no thought for a third of a century, a rugged old seaman 
 of many winters. On one occasion he gravely asked me if I 
 
166 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 had been in any of the frigate engagements in our War of 1812 
 with Great Britain. I answered, as seriously as possible, that 
 I had not been favored with the opportunity, which amused my 
 messmates very much, inasmuch as I was born quite five years 
 after the close of that war. 
 
 During the summer of 1848 I was sent from Nantucket to 
 Rockport, Massachusetts, with authority to charter a fishing- 
 schooner and endeavor to locate what was well known to fisher- 
 men as the White Rock, it being the shoalest spot on Cashes' 
 Ledge, lying some eighty miles east of Cape Ann. I secured 
 a fishing-schooner owned by two brothers named Blackford, and 
 hired a young man to mark time for me when I took chronometer 
 sights. Our crew consisted of the two Blackfords, one man, and 
 a cook, and we set sail as soon as ready, provided with sextant 
 and chronometer. We were soon out in the vicinity of the 
 ledge, and would then tack, back and forth, making a traverse 
 over the ledge, all the time in a thick fog, sounding by means 
 of a very heavy sinker of lead on an ordinary cod-line. After 
 spending several days in this futile search, laying-to after night 
 under short sail, and gaining such information from my com- 
 panions as I could, I finally ran back to Rockport. 
 
 I can hardly imagine a more disagreeable, painful, and dan- 
 gerous life than that of our coast fishermen. As to the danger, 
 the number of widows in fishing towns bears sad testimony. 
 Our boat was some forty tons' displacement, when laden ; with 
 nothing in her but ballast, when sailing by the wind her lee 
 scuppers were under water. The cabin was a little hole in the 
 bow, in which there was a cooking-stove and a chimney built 
 up with bricks. I could get no reason for this singular idea : 
 how they were held together I do not now remember. The 
 days were quite long at that season. At sunrise the cook would 
 come down and kindle a wood fire, and I would be literally 
 " smoked out," and obliged to go on deck into a wet fog and 
 sit to windward on a wet deck. We had a salt beef " scouce" 
 daily, in the morning, at noon, and at night, and hard bread. 
 After a day or so I inquired why they had no codfish, and was 
 informed that it was too common a food. At my request we 
 hove to, put over a few fishing-lines, and soon had some nice 
 
THE WHITE ROCK, ALIAS THE AMMEN ROCK. 167 
 
 fresh fish, which saved me from starvation. The general idea 
 expressed by my companions was that for ease of life, comfort, 
 and profit, nothing presented itself at all comparable to cod- or 
 mackerel-fishing. 
 
 Before I went into port I ascertained that early in July large 
 numbers of vessels anchored all along the ledge, which lies 
 nearly parallel with the coast, about thirty miles distant, the 
 feeding-ground for the fish being on the rocky bottom on and 
 near the ledge. Seeking the rock by cruising was a hopeless 
 task, but in clear weather, usual at the season mentioned, and 
 aided by so many points of observation, it would be an easy 
 matter to find the White Rock ; and this fact was reported on 
 my return to the Bibb. 
 
 The next July Captain Davis took the Bibb out on the ledge, 
 and, although very few vessels had yet reached the fishing- 
 ground, the very first one spoken gave us information as to the 
 bearing and distance of the " White Rock." Running a traverse 
 with the bearing given as a central point, in an hour or so we 
 dropped our anchor right on the top of it. It was said to have 
 only eighteen feet of water over it. The shoal spot was little 
 larger than the floor of a large schooner, and the water so clear 
 that the bottom could be seen everywhere. Among the long 
 kelp leaves that nearly reached the surface were numbers of 
 a small reddish kind of fish known as rock cod, and halibut. 
 Anchored upon it, as the vessel swung around, the lead was used 
 without finding any shoaler ground than twenty-two feet. For 
 a large sea-steamer it is a dangerous spot, small as it is, and now 
 that dynamite is so effective, it would be worth while to en- 
 deavor to blast the top to a depth of forty feet or more. The 
 following morning was clear, and w T e had a good horizon. At 
 noon all the officers took observations for latitude. About two 
 o'clock, or later, the steamer Europa, as we knew afterwards, 
 passed along some six miles distant, the smoke-stacks well above 
 the southern horizon, and left a great smoke-cloud for a time, 
 which gradually settled until it was apparently no longer visible, 
 but it actually formed a false horizon that vitiated the afternoon 
 sights. Nevertheless, the position was ascertained close enough 
 for all practical purposes. The captain was so much gratified 
 
168 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 at the facility with which he had found the rock that he told me 
 he would call it the Ammen Rock, which he did. I replied 
 that I did not exactly see why he should do so, as I had looked 
 for it and did not find it. 
 
 After the vessels were laid up and a month's leave given the 
 officers, such of them as were required were ordered to Wash- 
 ington to bring up the work or to tabulate tidal observations. 
 I was engaged in this for two winters with my friend Lieuten- 
 ant John Pembroke Jones. It was a work where two could be 
 advantageously employed, the one using the Nautical Almanac 
 and the other putting down the observations. 
 
 In the early part of 1848 I received a letter from my brother, 
 then in Mississippi, suggesting that I should call on Colonel 
 Jefferson Davis, recently elected United States Senator, and offer 
 his congratulations upon Davis's distinguished services in the 
 field and his political advancement to the Senate. Within a 
 few days after the receipt of this letter, walking on Pennsylvania 
 Avenue near the Capitol, I saw Colonel Davis conversing with 
 a friend, and availed myself of the opportunity to introduce 
 myself, and to say that my brother, whom he would remember 
 as a cadet at West Point, was desirous of expressing through me 
 his gratification and his congratulations. The colonel met me 
 very affably, and was good enough to invite me to call and see 
 him, which I did thereafter as often as I could without obtrusion. 
 He was then slightly lame from a wound in the foot or ankle, 
 and pale and thin from the effects of it. His height was about 
 six feet, his voice and manner pleasant, and when at home he 
 was disposed to indulge in dignified pleasantries. Had it not 
 been for his encouragement I would probably have left the navy 
 and anticipated the advice of Horace Greeley " to go West." I 
 had been in the navy more than twelve years, and was so far 
 down on the list of passed midshipmen as to have little hope of 
 reaching even the rank of commander before fifty-five years of 
 age. It was my wish, if possible, to get a position as surveyor 
 of public lands, or something that I might be qualified for 
 through my past pursuits. The colonel kindly listened to my 
 plaint, and said that slow promotion was certainly discouraging, 
 but that sooner or later my promotion would come. There was 
 
A PRACTICAL JOKE. 169 
 
 General Taylor ; he had been a great many years in the army 
 and had a low rank until the Mexican war gave him an op- 
 portunity. This would come to me, probably through the 
 chances of war or changes in the service. He was so instruc- 
 tive in his conversation and so agreeable and sympathetic in his 
 manner that I would have trespassed on his time had I not 
 guarded against it. 
 
 At that time, as now, the evening receptions of people of 
 position were a feature in Washington. On one occasion I went 
 rather early to the house of John Quincy Adams, then serving 
 in the House of Representatives, although he had been Presi- 
 dent many years before. A nephew who loved his practical 
 joke went to Mr. Adams and told him a Prussian officer had 
 come in, and suggested the propriety of his going down to see 
 him. Mr. Adams came into the room, bowed, shook hands 
 with me, and entered into conversation by asking how long I 
 had been in this country. I told him six or seven months. 
 Then he questioned me as to where I had been, what I had seen, 
 etc. After endeavoring to escape a conversation which I felt sure 
 was the result of a misapprehension, I said I thought perhaps 
 he was mistaken in my identity ; I was a passed midshipman in 
 our navy, and recently the navigator of the Yincennes on her 
 cruise to China and Japan. He said he had thought I was a 
 foreign officer, but was the more glad to meet a countryman 
 who had been to Japan, as he felt a very great interest in the 
 Japanese people, and proceeded to question me. I told him 
 that, as we lay a considerable distance from the shore when at 
 anchor in the lower bay of Jeddo, we could see little, save the 
 magnificent mountain of Fusiyama, and high ranges of moun- 
 tains. As far as we could see, in sailing along the coast, it was 
 well wooded. He was much interested in what I told him of 
 our personal intercourse with those who had come on board of 
 the Vincennes, and wished to know what I thought of the 
 likelihood of opening a traffic with Japan. I answered that as 
 it depended on the will of only one or two men and their 
 advisers, it did not look encouraging : I felt convinced, however, 
 that it would be entirely agreeable to the persons of rank with 
 whom we came in contact on board ship. Then he inquired 
 
170 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 what I thought of the probable number of inhabitants, their 
 commercial wants, and what they would possibly oifer in ex- 
 change. I met Mr. Adams from time to time afterwards, and 
 appreciated him as a well-instructed statesman, and altogether 
 an agreeable gentleman ; he was rather small in stature, with a 
 kindly manner and an intelligent expression. 
 
 The house of John Y. Mason, the Secretary of the Navy at that 
 time, was noted for its genial hospitality : the fact of his son and 
 myself having made a cruise together made me almost as much 
 at home at his house as though I had been a near relative. In 
 the winter of 1849 the California gold fever prevailed to a 
 great extent in Washington ; a considerable number of young 
 navy men were aifected, and obtained leaves of absence to seek 
 their fortunes. Mr. Mason was genial and benevolent, and 
 withal a very good Secretary of the Navy : when I was paying 
 his family a visit he asked me if I wished to go to California on 
 duty, or if I would like to have a leave. I thanked him, and 
 said if I went on duty it would be under the disadvantage of 
 living with great discomfort on my pay, as food and everything 
 else sold at enormous prices. If I went to seek my fortune I 
 really did not know what I could do. Were I a laboring-man 
 it would doubtless be advantageous ; but, as it was, I had no 
 wish to go. Mr. Mason smiled, and said he thought I was quite 
 right, but so many officers had asked for leaves that he felt dis- 
 posed to grant me one also if I wished it. Afterwards, I was 
 somewhat amused to learn that some fancy navy men who had 
 gone there found that the only way to gain their bread honestly 
 was to put on a red flannel shirt and accompanying garments 
 and serve as porters in the wretched shanties called hotels. My 
 classmate, the son of the late Francis P. Blair, went out and 
 became a pilot to take vessels into the harbor of San Francisco, 
 and soon made quite a fortune by investing his earnings in lots ; 
 but the poor fellow lost his health through exposure, and died 
 some years after his return home. Other officers made money 
 by investing a few hundred dollars in lots, but almost without 
 exception they returned as poor as they went, or became so after- 
 wards. There were two or three exceptions, however, and they 
 were physicians who had a professional reputation. 
 
WARS IN EUROPE. 171 
 
 The year 1848 was memorable for its revolutions : throughout 
 the greater part of Europe it seemed for a time that thrones 
 would be entirely swept away and popular governments estab- 
 lished. In a year or so it became apparent that the emperors, 
 kings, and dukes were again gathering force, and a despotic 
 reign, for a time at least, was being established wherever they 
 had the power. This was especially the case in Austria and in 
 the different Italian states. In the autumn of 1849, before I 
 left for Europe on leave for some months, I called to say 
 good-by to Senator Davis, and expressed my disappointment 
 and chagrin at the downward tendency of popular government 
 abroad. I lamented that Europeans had not, apparently, the 
 faculty to govern themselves. He replied that a satisfactory 
 and good government was a complicated affair; that with us, 
 even, it was still experimental. We might hope to maintain a 
 popular government so long as our people were educated and 
 the country not densely populated, but under these adverse con- 
 ditions we could not regard it as assured. The expression of 
 this idea was quite a shock to one who had served abroad with 
 pride and gratification. It appeared to cast a doubt or suspicion 
 on the patent of nobility that seemed vouchsafed to all with us, 
 without distinction as to persons. After a lapse of forty years, 
 and looking at the political aspect of the Christian world, I 
 have reluctantly come to the conclusion that what Senator Davis 
 said is an unhappy and portentous truth ; that popular govern- 
 ment can exist in an advantageous form only when the people 
 are educated and intelligent. A mere form of government may 
 not secure the substance. A government based on the mere right 
 to vote, if that vote can be rendered valueless by fraud, cannot 
 be called a free or satisfactory government, however much its 
 machinery, as popularly presented, may commend itself to our 
 sympathies. 
 
 A few days before going abroad in the fall of 1849, I paid 
 farewell visits to friends in Washington, among them to the 
 family of the late Rear- Admiral Dahlgren, then a lieutenant, 
 living on 4J Street. A young lady, a near neighbor, well 
 known in society, was paying a visit to his family. When I 
 was introduced she asked rather brusquely, "Are you Dan 
 
172 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Ammen ?" I bowed assent, and asked, " Are you not Senorita 
 Maria Fulana de Tal ?" as our polite Spanish friends say when 
 they do not wish to give names. On her affirmative reply I 
 expressed my satisfaction that we had acquaintances in common 
 who appreciated us, and congratulated myself on making her 
 personal acquaintance. Then began a conversation which I fear 
 was hardly deferential to the excellent family we were visiting ; 
 our discussions were diverse, and what may well be called 
 " chaff." After half an hour's parley, the young lady told me 
 flatly that I was a fool. I said, possibly : it was not given to 
 fools to know their actual condition. I had to thank her for 
 her great candor; up to that time nobody had stated that 
 opinion to me so unequivocally and frankly. I would bear it 
 in mind and endeavor to profit by it, so far as a fool could. 
 Soon after she took leave Dahlgren was disposed to apologize 
 for his other visitor, but I said, " Not at all : if she was satis- 
 fied with the evening's entertainment I certainly was ;" it seemed 
 to me, however, that we both owed an apology to his family for 
 making his house a battle-ground. I mention this circumstance 
 as an evidence that the stately politeness that was supposed to 
 exist forty years ago was not always observed. I never had 
 such another " bout," nor has any other lady called me a fool 
 in plain Anglo-Saxon. I have not borne malice for the candor 
 of the young lady which some persons would have done, and 
 indeed may have profited by it, but doubt the fact, for people 
 are so much the creatures of habit that a mere by-play of this 
 kind doesn't seem to make a permanent impression. The 
 reader may recall the advice of a fond parent to his youthful 
 son, — that when he paid a visit he should say nothing. The 
 son took the advice literally, and neither bowed nor smiled 
 assent to the conversation of the young ladies, and heard 
 whispered comments that he was a fool. When he saw his 
 parent he told him that they had " found him out" notwith- 
 standing the strict observance of the advice given him. So it 
 appears there is no rigid line of action that one may observe to 
 prevent this adverse criticism, sometimes cruel and unjust, and 
 sometimes very depressing to the individual to whom it is 
 applied. As a maxim I would say let both men and women 
 
THE GERMAN LANGUAGE. 173 
 
 hold their own opinion of themselves ; it will hardly be less 
 flattering than that of other persons, and may be quite as just ; 
 at all events, it will not be malicious. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Voyage to London, and Travels on the Continent — The German Language 
 — Arrive in London — The Custom-Officer — Kamhles in London— Sail for 
 Antwerp — Captain Fitzgerald, of the British Navy — Aix-la-Chapelle — 
 Charlemagne — Frederick Barbarossa — The Cathedral of Cologne — Bruns- 
 wick — Lessons in German — Rheumatism — A State Dinner at the Duke 
 of Brunswick's — Visit to Captain Gese vault — A Game of Chess — Baron 
 Rudolphi — A Christening — Baron Humboldt's Theory of the Spread of 
 Yellow Fever — Visit Berlin — Call on Mr. Hannegan, the American Minis- 
 ter — Leipsic and Munich — Ex-King Ludwig and Queen — Duchess of, 
 Mecklenburg — Trip in a Diligence — Genoa — Milan — Pisa. 
 
 Late in October, 1849, found me in New York City, with a 
 leave to visit Europe for six months and then to report for duty 
 in the Mediterranean squadron. After my return from China I 
 had provided myself with German books and studied when I 
 had leisure, so that I was already aware that the language had 
 no natural distinction as to gender, that the article aud the adjec- 
 tive had variations quite unknown in the English language, and 
 that, save in the utter impossibility of laying down rules for 
 the pronunciation of words, the English language, relatively to 
 German, was very easy to acquire. My object was to live in 
 Northern Germany until the expiration of ray leave, and then 
 go to Spezia to join a ship. It was my intention to take passage 
 in the steamer Herman for Bremen, but, mistaking the hour of 
 the vessel's departure, I was left behind. I visited the packet- 
 ships at the wharves, and went on board the Victoria, to sail 
 for London the next day. I met Captain Johnson, who com- 
 manded, and, being somewhat curious to see how such vessels 
 were managed, took passage, having the idea that she was a fair 
 sailer, — which, however, was not the case ; but Captain Johnson 
 was an educated and agreeable gentleman, and the voyage was 
 
174 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 pleasant. The movements of the ship were quite easy, much 
 more so than those of vessels-of-war carrying heavy batteries. 
 We had half a dozen passengers, and among them an effeminate 
 youth of New York who affected to be quite a sea-dog, had been 
 abroad before, and was entirely in love with the aristocracy. 
 
 After a voyage of twenty-five days we arrived in London, and 
 I went with the captain to the London Coffee-House on Lud- 
 gate Hill, the resort of captains of packet-ships at that time. 
 When my baggage was examined my books were carefully looked 
 over, and HerschePs Astronomy, being an American republica- 
 tion, was confiscated. "Georgia Scenes" was critically looked 
 at with the same view. I told the custom-house officer that it 
 was an American book, he could not confiscate that, but I would 
 present it to him, and that I felt sure if he read it he would 
 laugh. He did not take it, and therefore I drew the inference 
 that he did not wish to laugh, and was not willing to do more 
 than take a quiet smile. 
 
 London presents many objects of interest to the stranger which 
 it is not within my province even to mention. My usual walk 
 was from St. Paul's, over Ludgate Hill and oat Regent Street ; 
 and I noticed one circumstance that impressed me very much : 
 among the throngs of people, there was little haste, and no 
 visible expression of care on their countenances, as is the case 
 with my countrymen. I contrasted this with the hurried gait 
 and anxious faces of the crowd that one would meet in a walk 
 from the Battery to Union Square, up Broadway, in New York. 
 Doubtless in both cases many would be passed who had no surety 
 of dining satisfactorily, if at all, yet in London I met none who 
 looked hurried or anxious as to what the day would bring forth. 
 I looked at London and its marvellous aggregation of skilled 
 labor, its teeming population, the docks, and the river Thames, 
 with almost as much wonder as I had felt at Canton j and what 
 sorely puzzled me was that in London I would meet persons in 
 humble life with whom I would speak, but should have regarded 
 it as impossible to understand them had it not been that I was 
 patient in the belief that our mothers had endeavored to teach 
 us the same language : so after a time their speech was intelli- 
 gible to me. 
 
A IX-LA-CHA PELLE. 175 
 
 I left in the Antwerpen, a small steam-packet, for Antwerp ; 
 the captain was very pleasant. Head-winds and fogs extended 
 the voyage to thirty-six hours. I formed the acquaintance of 
 Captain Fitzgerald, of the British navy : he had fought many 
 battles under Nelson, and I find him written down by me as 
 learned and sensible. Although in our discussions we mutually 
 found fault with each other's country, we parted friends, and I 
 had a pressing invitation to visit him in Brussels, where he 
 resided. 
 
 Antwerp was remarkable as a commercial city, and has in- 
 creased wonderfully since my visit. The need of Jand and the 
 industry of the inhabitants are shown by the fact that the 
 meadow-lands across from the city were actually fifty feet below 
 high water. They would have been flooded through infiltration 
 had they not been pumped out constantly by windmills. The 
 dikes, of necessity, were heavy and expensive, to resist such a 
 hydrostatic pressure. From the top of the spire of the cathedral, 
 several hundred feet above the sea, on a beautifully bright day, 
 I looked down upon a perfectly flat surface which was lost to 
 view on the distant horizon, while the near surroundings were 
 covered by cultivated fields and clustering villages, and beneath 
 the tall spire was a great, well-built city. 
 
 Within the picture-galleries and the churches are famous pict- 
 ures by Rubens and Vandyke, and superb carvings in wood, and 
 paintings by many other artists of note. The Spanish features and 
 the graceful forms of numbers of the young ladies reminded me 
 of the occupation of that region by the Spaniards for a consider- 
 able length of time before they were flooded and driven out. 
 The clatter of the wooden shoes over the cobble-stones in the 
 early morning was something new to me, and this noise was con- 
 stant during walking hours all over Northern Europe. It does 
 not give a graceful carriage, but it insures dry feet, an advan- 
 tage not to be despised in a cold, damp country. 
 
 The railroad to Aix-la-Chapelle is remarkable for the number 
 of tunnels, some of them of considerable length. The rate of 
 travel was slow, and, as we passed along, the men employed by 
 the railroad saluted the train by bringing up the handspike, 
 spade, or other implement, as is done by soldiers with a musket. 
 
176 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 With the increase of travel this mark of respect has probably 
 been abandoned. 
 
 After arriving at Aix and making myself comfortable at the 
 hotel, I sauntered out, in the cold clear moonlight, at about nine 
 o'clock, passing from the new, elegantly-built city into the old 
 town. As I passed along, I heard the roll of a drum, and as I 
 ascended a street saw an open square. In it were huge pyra- 
 mids of what at the moment I supposed to be shells : on a nearer 
 approach I found they were cabbages, and above, looking down 
 on the market-space, was the bronze statue of Charlemagne. 
 There, in the moonlight, I saw his palace before me, and near 
 by the cathedral where he had been buried. This was in 814. 
 An iron crown was upon his head ; he, seated within his vault 
 upon a marble chair, with a sceptre in his hand, and there he 
 remained for three hundred and fifty years. To do himself 
 honor, and to make the event memorable, in 1164 Frederick 
 Barbarossa disentombed Charlemagne, — giving his bones, save 
 the skull, which is yet there, to pious persons as relics, — in order 
 to possess himself of the rude marble chair for his coronation. 
 
 Those who are particularly interested in the memories of the 
 Rhine may read Victor Hugo. I quote his closing description 
 of Aix : " At dusk I seated myself upon a green bank to con- 
 template Aix, which lay beneath me in the valley, as if floating 
 in a vacuum. By degrees the evening fog, effacing the fringed 
 roofs of the ancient houses, blotted out the sharp outlines of the 
 two towers. . . . Only two masses of all the city remained 
 distinctly defined, — the town hall and the cathedral. All my 
 thoughts and visions of the day now rushed anew upon my mind. 
 The town itself, the illustrious and symbolic town, seemed to 
 metamorphose itself under my very eyes. The first of the two 
 black masses, which I still distinguished, became to me an infant's 
 cradle, the second a shroud ; and, in the complete absorption of 
 my soul, I seemed to expect that the shadow of that giant that 
 we call Charlemagne would gently ascend on the pale horizon 
 of night, hovering between the august cradle of his infancy and 
 the sepulchre of his eternal greatness." 
 
 Passing on from Aix, I visited the great cathedral of Cologne, 
 that had been so many centuries in building. When there, I 
 
RHEUMATISM. 177 
 
 was told that it could be completed in twenty-five years by a 
 working force of five hundred men. It was, in fact, completed 
 about ten years ago. From Cologne I went to the little old 
 town of Brunswick, my object being to employ my time in study- 
 ing the German language. I installed myself in the Reinischer 
 Hof, a very nice, well-conducted hotel, and arranged with the 
 landlord to live as a German officer of my rank would live were 
 he at the hotel. I was to have a pot of coffee with hot milk, 
 and bread and butter, at about nine a.m., dine at the table-d'hote 
 at two o'clock, and go to the club for my coffee and beer in the 
 evening. At dinner I had a half-bottle of Rhine wine. A 
 dozen persons dined at the same time, and we all endeavored to 
 speak to one another. There was an old gentleman whose daily 
 conversation to the ladies was in relation to somebody marrying, 
 and the gossip of the day. 
 
 I had taken letters to several persons, who were very pleasant 
 during my stay ; but December is not a cheery month in Bruns- 
 wick ; my room and alcove were heated by a stove with peat as 
 fuel. In that latitude the days are very short in December, and 
 although there were few cloudy days, and little rain, the pale 
 yellow light of the sun for a few hours, and the almost nightly 
 fall of a little snow, were not inspiriting. 
 
 If my reader has ever attempted to sleep in a real German 
 bed, he will appreciate one of the difficulties of sleeping com- 
 fortably or healthfully in Germany : I never learned how to get 
 rid of the superfluous feathers in the sack which formed my 
 covering, nor did I have sufficient force of character to dispos- 
 sess myself of the triangular hard mattress, about three feet in 
 length, which made it impossible for me to sleep lying on my 
 side. I got a touch of the rheumatism that clings to me to this 
 day and comes in a chronic form in my right arm and shoulder, 
 perhaps growing out of my attempt to sleep with a feather bed 
 as a covering. I found, too, that I Avas not gifted with a facility 
 of acquiring the language : so I made up my mind to go to Italy, 
 in the hope of leaving the rheumatism behind. 
 
 I had been told that the usual way when one carried letters 
 of introduction was to present them personally at the house, not 
 asking to see the person, but making inquiry whether he is well, 
 
 12 
 
178 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 etc. Having done this, a day or so afterwards the several army 
 officers to whom I had brought letters called upon me in a body, 
 and I spent an agreeable half-hour with them. I soon returned 
 their calls, and was treated very pleasantly by their families. The 
 young ladies almost without exception spoke English and French, 
 dressed very neatly in inexpensive material, and wore no rings. 
 Many of them were musical, and all were well bred. Some of 
 them were disposed to have their little pleasantries at my ex- 
 pense ; but to persons who go about the world this is amusing 
 rather than annoying. I learned afterwards that the ex-officer 
 who had given me letters was not in good odor at his native 
 place ; but after they felt sure that I was of different conduct 
 and knew nothing of his derelictions, I could not have been 
 more charmingly welcomed. 
 
 A few days after I w T as located, I received a visit from the 
 chief of police, who was a detailed army officer : he asked my 
 rank, etc., which I explained. I produced my passport, my 
 leave from the Department, with orders to report for duty on 
 its expiration, and my commission of the rank of master in 
 the navy. He expressed his satisfaction, and I thanked him 
 for his visit, and remarked that such verification was the only 
 way to prevent gross impositions. In two or three days I was 
 called on by the aide to the Duke of Brunswick, who brought 
 an invitation to a state dinner. On examining this part of my 
 diary, not looked at before for more than thirty years, I find that 
 the guests, to the number of twenty-five or thirty, met in a re- 
 ception-room at six ; very soon the duke entered, passed around 
 the room, and held a brief conversation with every one, and with 
 little delay led the way into the dining-room, having with him 
 the Prince of Saxony, rather small and stout, with a pleasant 
 face ; he was in citizens' clothing, as were the duke and. perhaps 
 half the company. Both the duke and the prince had half a 
 dozen orders on the breast. Among the guests were Count 
 Feltheim, a man of note in the dukedom, and his son and grand- 
 son, who were officers in the Austrian army and had gained 
 rank in the siege of Venice, which had occurred not long before. 
 The military men and several old generals who had served with 
 Napoleon against Russia wore their swords at the table : it was 
 
VISIT TO CAPTAIN GESE VAULT 179 
 
 oval, about fifteen feet wide and probably twenty-five long, with 
 two rows of superb vases with flowers, bonbons, and fruits. 
 The dinner was served as is usual on grand occasions. The 
 service was of the finest Dresden, and the spoons and forks were 
 of gold. After an hour and a half at table the duke arose, and, 
 with the Prince of Saxony, preceded the company into the 
 reception-room, where a cup of coffee and a chasse of cherry 
 brandy were served. The duke informed me that he was going 
 to the shores of the Mediterranean, and hoped he would see me 
 on board of my frigate. This observation gave me an appre- 
 hension that my grade of " master" had been regarded as in the 
 merchant service, where the captain is called " master." I spoke 
 to General Ericsson as to this : he replied that the duke knew 
 my actual rank, and that it was only the royal way of speaking. 
 
 The palace of the duke was a very fine building, and, to all 
 appearance, fire-proof, yet twenty years ago I saw an announce- 
 ment that it had been destroyed by fire. The dining-room was 
 large, octagonal, or nearly so, in shape, and finished in mahogany 
 and mirrors. The duke was about forty-five years of age, pre- 
 possessing in appearance, above the medium height, and a favorite 
 with those who were near him. 
 
 The next evening I paid a visit to Captain Gese vault, the 
 aide of the duke. His mother was Irish, and through the Ger- 
 man I could see the mirth and warmth of the Irish gentleman. 
 He said the German Parliament wished to deprive the dukes of 
 all power, and he was not inclined to see a confederated and 
 limited monarchy. He expressed the hope that England and 
 the United States would never go to war, but added that should 
 it be so he felt satisfied it would be very destructive to England. 
 I said that the policy of our people was one of peace ; that we 
 were content to surmount natural obstacles, rather than the un- 
 natural and generally unnecessary ones of war ; that we were 
 guided, or rather governed, by the acknowledged laws of nations, 
 and it was too obviously the policy of Great Britain to maintain 
 peace with us to suppose that she would provoke a war. 
 
 My relations with the army officers and their families were 
 very agreeable. I was admitted to the military club, to their 
 places in the theatre, etc., on the same terms as themselves. One 
 
180 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 even'ng I was playing a game of chess with Colonel Handel- 
 mann, one of the heroes of Waterloo. A young officer came in 
 and asked me to go home with him, and, as our game was some- 
 what slow, urged me to finish it quickly, which I did, moving 
 and losing piece after piece rapidly, expecting to lose the game. 
 Finally, to my surprise, no less than to that of my adversary, I 
 advanced a pawn and checkmated him. He had the pieces and 
 I the game. He looked up, and said, " Aber — aber, dass ist 
 wunderschon /" It is the only game of chess that I have ever 
 won by accident. 
 
 Baron Rudolphi invited me to the christening of his son. 
 There were about thirty persons present. When the clergyman 
 waxed serious, and spoke of the mutability of human affairs, 
 the ladies shed tears. After the ceremony a number of small 
 tables were brought into the room, and the company was divided 
 into groups. Soup and salads were served, and every one made 
 merry. After a fair consumption of Rhine wine, the colonel 
 of Rudolphi's regiment proposed a toast. The company rose, 
 whereupon the colonel proposed the health, long life, and happi- 
 ness of all present, congratulated the parents and grandparents 
 of the newly-christened child, and hoped the young Alexander 
 would be as great in the field as his forefathers had been, and 
 that his life would be long, happy, and honorable. The com- 
 pany " hobnobbed" glasses, the toast was drunk, and then we all 
 seated ourselves. When an acquaintance, such as myself, was 
 invited to take tea, the family served it with a slice of lemon 
 and a little rum in it, a potato salad, and a sandwich ; after this 
 came ham not cooked, and sausage, and finally sweet cakes. I 
 
 was much amused in my conversation with Baroness W , a 
 
 younger sister, very bright, and disposed to laugh at rather than 
 with me. I remember the whole family as one to which I was 
 indebted for much kind attention. 
 
 The three Miss Bruns were charming women. Their father, 
 late chancellor of the dukedom, had recently died. Their mother 
 was also highly accomplished and agreeable ; they were the only 
 untitled persons whom I knew in Brunswick. I think always 
 with pleasure of this old city, save when I remember my rheuma- 
 tism. My acquaintances were persons of very simple habits in 
 
CALL ON MR. HANNEGAN, THE AMERICAN MINISTER. 181 
 
 life, their houses uncarpeted notwithstanding the severity of the 
 climate, and they occupied their time usefully and were alto- 
 gether persons such as one feels gratified in knowing pleasantly 
 and without formality. The city, I learn, has been modernized : 
 when I was there, the English and our countrymen rarely came 
 to stay. The reader who wishes to know of the oak that has 
 stood a thousand years, of Queen Caroline, and of many sub- 
 jects of historic interest can get all that from tourists' guides. 
 
 When it occurred to me that I would better leave for Italy, 
 in the hope of getting rid of the rheumatism, I determined to 
 pay a brief visit to Berlin, to see the city, renew my acquaint- 
 ance with Mr. Hannegan, our minister, and offer my respects to 
 Alexander von Humboldt, whose popular writings were well 
 known to me. His " Valley of the Orinoco," as a descriptive 
 work, I was particularly charmed with. It was somewhat curi- 
 ous that his supposition in relation to the probable engrafting of 
 yellow fever on the northern part of South America and over 
 intertropical America was at that time being verified in Rio 
 Janeiro. His theory was that the irritability of the European 
 constitution would so modify the type of the disease as to make 
 the natives susceptible to it, which was the fact just there in Rio 
 Janeiro, it being then epidemic in that city for the first time.. 
 
 I visited the Opera, admired the large fresco painting of 
 Guido's Aurora, at the entrance to the new Museum, and found 
 everything agreeable but the climate. Mr. Hannegan was, un- 
 happily, suffering with rheumatism, and confined to his bed. 
 At his request I went to his hotel and was with him when not 
 sight-seeing. He was a gentleman of ability and observation, 
 and gave me his views of the political situation, especially of 
 Germany, expressing his sympathy in relation to German unity, 
 without which a great people were politically powerless. The 
 petty rulers all opposed it, for the reason that it would destroy in 
 a great degree their personal importance. It was not brought 
 about until eighteen years later, and could only be accomplished 
 as an incident to a war, and only given solidity and permanency 
 through another war, not resultant, but imposed upon the Ger- 
 man Empire. There were some thirty-six kingdoms and duchies, 
 political centres, with only Prussia possessing a considerable 
 
182 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 aggregation of force, yet with territories geographically separated, 
 as was the case with many of the governments. In my diary I 
 find this noted as a proof of the good faith of the German char- 
 acter : were that character different, natural boundaries would 
 have taken the place of merely conventional ones ; little patches 
 of territory here and there, entirely surrounded by the territory 
 of another power, would have been absorbed in the common 
 interests of all the inhabitants. This has had a practical reali- 
 zation in the establishment of the German Empire and with it 
 a material force that will hereafter be respected all the world 
 over. As the German character is not aggressive, and as educa- 
 tion is universal, the welfare of the subject will be looked to so 
 far as it can be, when it is considered that defence against power- 
 ful and aggressive neighbors is of prime importance. It has 
 been a long time in aggregating, in spite of railroads and that 
 ready intercourse which destroys local prejudices in promoting a 
 wider community of interests. 
 
 I had to regret that the absence of Baron Humboldt from 
 Berlin prevented my seeing him ; the prospect of an interview 
 with him had been a not inconsiderable object in my making a 
 visit to the city. 
 
 I found in travelling, and meeting Germans to whom I would 
 endeavor to speak in their language, that I was invariably ad- 
 dressed in French to free me from the embarrassment of speak- 
 ing in a language which it was quite apparent I knew little of. 
 This greatly shook my resolution to continue to study the 
 language during my stay in Germany. 
 
 Not long after my return to Brunswick, I took leave of my 
 many agreeable friends and set out for Italy, tarrying a day or so 
 iu Leipsic, and a longer time in Munich. I happened to reach the 
 latter city just before a grand concert, patronized by royalty. 
 The city was filled with the beauty and chivalry of all Germany 
 on this occasion. There were five hundred musicians and five 
 thousand spectators. There were present the ex-king Ludwig 
 and the ex-queen, King Leopold his son, and the two princesses, 
 then just verging on womanhood, and remarkably beautiful, as 
 were all the maids of honor. This latter may not be considered 
 strange, for the sovereign had the kingdom to select from. The 
 
TRIP IN A DILIGENCE. 183 
 
 ex-king Ludwig, I remember, had a large wen on his forehead, 
 and flew about much like a French dancing-master. When the 
 royal family entered, the audience stood up to receive them, and 
 remained standing until the royal party was seated. The queen 
 was bountifully adorned with diamonds, and each princess wore 
 a sparkling necklace. The maids of honor wore flower orna- 
 ments only, and the public gay ribbons. The Duchess of 
 Mecklenburg and many others of the German nobility were 
 brilliant in diamonds ; but I may observe that I was so fully 
 occupied in looking at the bright handsome young ladies, 
 whether decorated with flowers or ribbons, that it was only as 
 the evening wore on that I observed the gorgeous diamonds of 
 the old ladies. They were certainly an indifferent compensation 
 for their faded charms. 
 
 The inhabitants of Munich did not seem to have a distinc- 
 tive national feature, as the North Germans, the French, or the 
 Italians have, but were apparently a blending of several races, 
 particularly the Italian and German, with the Alpine Tyrolese ; 
 they are a fine-looking people. 
 
 The official street of Munich is composed of very fine build- 
 ings, and the works of art and galleries of painting and exhibits 
 of porcelain attracted my admiration, as did also a work in 
 bronze, not completed, being then in the foundry, w T ith many 
 parts ready to set up. It was typical of Bavaria, and now sur- 
 mounts an arch in the city known as the Brandenburg gate-way. 
 The country immediately around the city is flat and in the 
 winter uninteresting, but thirty miles away are the Alps, with 
 their peaks of ice and snow. 
 
 I left for Genoa, Italy, by way of the Brenner Pass through 
 Tyrol in what was called an eilwagen, the equivalent of the 
 French diligence. We left in the evening ; about midnight we 
 reached the high grounds where deep snows obliged us to sub- 
 stitute a sleigh for wheels. I noted soon after leaving the city 
 large tracts of land planted in trees, a culture which is quite 
 common in European countries, and which ere long would be 
 advantageous over a large part of the United States were it not 
 for the destructive effects of fires, generally resulting from pass- 
 ing locomotives. 
 
184 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 The cold was intense, and I had not taken the precautions 
 necessary to protect my feet, which were frozen so badly as to 
 give me serious annoyance for years. Our sleigh-ride continued 
 until ten a.m., when we again took an ellwagen. 
 
 The upper region of Tyrol looked very cold, and the gorge 
 through which we passed was so narrow that it seemed as though 
 the sun had never shone upon it. I note that I breakfasted 
 more uncomfortably than ever before, and had a cup of coffee 
 that quite astonished me. The entire road to Genoa was simply 
 perfect, and the scenery over the mountainous part, so often 
 described, superlatively grand. A fellow-traveller pointed out 
 to me a hole in a precipitous hill several hundred feet in height, 
 and at its entrance a crucifix. " That," he said, " in the twelfth 
 century was the stronghold of King Max, a Bavarian." Where 
 we were passing, he had met and defeated another mountain- 
 robber with great loss of life to his adversary. My fellow- 
 traveller lived in Innsbruck, and had been sent for by the 
 government to agree upon terms for the construction of a grand 
 musical clock to be presented to the Grand Turk, meaning the 
 Sultan of Turkey. He was in jolly mood growing out of this 
 distinction and the probable profit that would come to him. 
 
 Near by the roadside all the way through Tyrol and Upper 
 Italy were many little boards protected by a box, covering a 
 crucifix, a statue of a saint, or a picture. In others were in- 
 struments of torture. We arrived at Innsbruck at three P.M., 
 twenty-two hours from Munich. It is entirely hemmed in by 
 mountains ; the large dining-room of the hotel was filled with 
 officers of the Austrian troops, then occupying that region in 
 force, and indeed the whole of Piedmont was occupied in force. 
 My passport was examined and viseed. At five we left, and 
 had a postilion mounted on the left-hand hind horse. The 
 eilwagen — or diligence, as it will be called hereafter — was filled 
 with passengers, and I rode outside with the conductor. We 
 had a bright full moon and very cold weather. The road was 
 excellent, with walls to protect it from land- and snow-slides. 
 The Brenner Pass was reached in about four hours, at a height 
 four thousand feet above the sea. After passing through it, the 
 natural descent was very rapid, although the road was made so 
 
TRIP IN A DILIGENCE. 185 
 
 winding as not to give very steep grades ; we would cross one 
 mountain-torrent after another on excellent stone bridges, and far 
 below would see the water, white from the precipitous character 
 of the bed of the streams. After getting down the steep 
 mountain-side, we reached the head of the narrow valley of the 
 Sugarina, which we followed to Verona. This valley and the 
 city itself are subject to destructive floods. In the lower part 
 are immense white chalk cliffs frequently crowned with strong- 
 holds of the olden time, or with more recent monasteries. 
 When we bear in mind that every cubic inch of these chalk 
 cliffs is composed of thousands of marine shells, a vague idea 
 is formed of the long ages of the world during which the laud 
 over which we journeyed was a bed of the sea. 
 
 We breakfasted at a point where the outlines of the mountains 
 over which we had passed formed a grand picture. The roofs 
 of the houses were covered with boards, and huge boulders were 
 placed over logs confining them to the roofs when the winds 
 sweep through these narrow valleys. We heard a long plaintive 
 note, not unlike the " yodel," and on inquiry were told that it 
 was the prayer of the peasants before their breakfast. The 
 view around showed small cultivated patches. As we journeyed, 
 our language had changed so that only occasionally I found 
 some one who would respoud to " Ich wiinsche etwas zu essen" 
 or some equivalent sentence. 
 
 We reached Verona about midnight, and with difficulty I got 
 into the mean hotel called the Torre di Londra (Tower of 
 London), where no English and very little German was spoken. 
 I was shown into a large cold room. In the morning I had a 
 fire made ; it was something to look at and give smoke, but not 
 warmth, and, after I had my usual breakfast of coffee and 
 buttered toast, I went out to see the city. When I wished to get 
 my ticket for Milan I found they would not take Austrian 
 money, although the city was garrisoned by Austrian troops, 
 and when I offered gold I was asked and paid twenty per cent, 
 discount. My baggage was little, and that was charged for. My 
 hotel bill was doubtless four times a fair charge. I met no one 
 with whom I had dealings who reminded me of Shakespeare's 
 " Two Gentlemen of Verona." On arriving at Milan I found 
 
186 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 niy Austrian paper money was at twelve per cent, discount and 
 my gold at par. 
 
 We left at noon for Milan, an Austrian officer and myself 
 being the only passengers. He was a large, fine-looking man, 
 about thirty-five years of age. In our drive to Milan he became 
 quite companionable. He told me he was a Bohemian j but he 
 was quite unlike the " Bohemians" we read of in our newspapers. 
 In leaving Verona we passed through a very large fortification, and 
 about fifteen miles farther to the westward through another, at Lago 
 di Garda, a beautiful sheet of water. For ten miles we skirted 
 its shore, the scenery being of surpassing beauty. Beyond the 
 lake towered the mighty Alps with nearly, perpendicular face, and 
 crowned with snow that extended far down the mountain-sides. 
 
 We arrived at Brescia about seven. My Bohemian friend 
 asked the conductor to wait for him, and he assented. I had 
 reason to think later that my companion was an officer of high 
 grade, and that his request was equivalent to an order. On my 
 asking him if he was going to dine he invited me to join him. 
 We walked quite a distance through several streets, and finally 
 entered a wirtlishaus, an equivalent to the French cafe. There 
 were two large rooms filled with Austrian officers eating, drink- 
 ing, and smoking. The rooms had no ceiling overhead, only 
 rafters and the joists supporting the roof. We sat down at a 
 table ; the landlady came along and recognized my companion as 
 an old acquaintance, the servant-girls all rushed to the table to 
 have a word to say, and he had an impromptu reception. We 
 were served with sauer-kraut, pork, wine, and bread, and we had 
 good appetites. The compliments paid the landlady and her 
 assistants by my companion were very much enjoyed, but would 
 not be " in form" in good society. The officers knew my com- 
 panion also, for those near him bowed, but none of them ap- 
 proached, — probably on account of his rank. He was altogether 
 jovial in disposition, and when I suggested that the conductor 
 might be impatient in waiting for us, his manner was equivalent 
 to > " Bless the fellow ! let him wait." 
 
 We were given a duet by two Bohemian women accompanied 
 by a harp. How that wild plaintive melody recalled the past, 
 reminded me of my home, told that happiness was not a thing of 
 
MILAN. 187 
 
 earth but of heaven ! When the last sad note had died away, my 
 Bohemian companion remarked, " She sings with much feeling." 
 
 After we had sat more than an hour, noting that I was im- 
 patient, my companion, with a half-reluctance, got up to leave. 
 We paid our bill, sixteen cents each, went out into the cold clear 
 moonlight, and walked to the diligence. The conductor was 
 pleased at our arrival, and we started forthwith on our journey 
 to Milan. I was told by my companion that we would be ac- 
 companied by a guard, and, looking out of the window, I saw 
 close behind us a buggy in which were two soldiers with their 
 muskets. W r e drove rapidly, with relays every ten miles, and 
 our guard continued with us until we entered the gates of Milan 
 at five o'clock in the morning. My companion did not unbuckle 
 his sword-belt from the time we met until we parted. It is a 
 habit with German officers never to unbuckle the sword-belt 
 unless they intend to put their weapon away. 
 
 As we drove into the city I caught sight of the great cathe- 
 dral, and after being put down at St. Marc's hotel I made my 
 ablutions, had a cup of coffee and toast, and went at early day- 
 light to the cathedral, then dimly lighted, into which persons 
 were passing to hear mass. When the sun rose and its first 
 beams entered the windows high up in the building, its immensity, 
 which before had been undefined, became faintly visible, and, as 
 the light increased, actually appreciable. Whether from within 
 or from without, the imposing grandeur of the cathedral was 
 overwhelming, and considered as the work of men for genera- 
 tions it gives rise to earnest thought. I shall leave to guide- 
 books to recount its history, to number the merits of some of its 
 five thousand statues, and to note with accuracy its immense 
 proportions. Before leaving the city I again visited it with a 
 renewed feeling of wonder. How grandly it rises so high that 
 its statues seem as dwarfs, and on the ground pass along those 
 puny vacillating creatures whose kind have in centuries of labor 
 reared this wonderful structure, and have daily entered its doors 
 to leave a part of their load of sorrow and come out with re- 
 newed strength to battle with their frailties in securing the 
 necessities for their existence. 
 
 Milan, although attractive in many respects, has not the many 
 
188 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 objects of interest that pertain to many Italian cities : the sur- 
 rounding country is quite beautiful, clothed with the olive and 
 the vine, so vaunted by Byron, as is all the country passed over 
 by the superb road leading to Genoa, along which I went in the 
 diligence with another large conductor; indeed, they were in- 
 variably of that build. It would seem that lighter men, when 
 it was a question of thousands of miles of travel yearly, would 
 have served the purpose advantageously. A hundred superflu- 
 ous pounds might have been spared the hauling, and had the 
 roads been indifferent it would have counted. I never saw a 
 conductor of an eilwagen or of a diligence who had not one-third 
 superfluous weight. 
 
 The day was beautiful, the diligence was large and comfort- 
 able, and I was the only inside passenger. On my journey from 
 Brescia towards Milan, when my companion had a guard follow 
 us, I had a heavy pair of pistols in my carpet-bag ready for 
 use, and these I now had with me as a matter of principle, for 
 in fact my pistols were about all that I carried of any value. 
 Passing along, at Pavia my trunk was unlocked and opened for 
 custom-house inspection, but it was not examined. The night 
 travel to Genoa seemed to me interminable. In spite of over- 
 shoes and overcoats and wine when I could get it, I was uncom- 
 fortably cold. My feet, that had been frozen in crossing the 
 Alps, were much swollen and pained me greatly, yet I dozed 
 from time- to time from actual fatigue. 
 
 At day-dawn we were on the high grounds back of Genoa. 
 Hundreds of peasants in their picturesque garb were on the road 
 to the city. At sunrise we passed through some strong fortifi- 
 cations, and saw within the mole two of our vessels-of-war. In 
 my diary I indulged in some lines which are too " spread-eagle" 
 in expression to repeat, save the closing sentence : " When the 
 Republic extends from ocean to ocean in population, and has its 
 railroads of three thousand miles in length, what will they say 
 then?" Very nearly forty years have passed since that was 
 written, and until opened by me for transcript it has not been 
 looked at. Many lines of railroad now stretch from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific, and millions of industrious and intelligent people 
 are spread out over this broad and fertile land. 
 
GENOA. 189 
 
 I was put down at the Hotel Feder, and, having had a fire 
 made, was badly smoked, but not warmed. The bell would not 
 ring, even when my strong pull broke the wire. I sallied out 
 and found a servant, who understood neither English nor Ger- 
 man, finally got a wretched breakfast, and endeavored in vain to 
 get some sleep. I sent a. message to my old friend and classmate 
 Rolando, who was serving on board of the Constitution, one of 
 our two vessels within the mole. He was soon with me, and 
 gave me all the news of the past three months, and newspapers 
 to read which I had not seen since leaving London. He insisted 
 on my going with him in the evening to a reception of the 
 Marquis di Negro, a gentleman of large wealth and liberal 
 political ideas. His house, large and elegant in its frescos and 
 appointments, was situated on a height commanding a superb 
 view of the lower grounds, the harbor, and the coast-lines. The 
 company consisted of about fifty persons, among whom were 
 two brothers named Guerriere, intelligent and of high position : 
 they had been driven from Lombardy by the Austrians, were very 
 earnest in their republican ideas, and distinguished in appearance, 
 as was the marquis whose guests we were. The Minister of 
 Finance of the Pope was present, and the greater number were 
 men of position, and refugees from their homes in Lombardy. 
 A prima donna and a young violinist gave us excellent music, 
 and after tea and cake were served we took our leave at eleven. 
 The marquis and his agreeable family were partial to our officers, 
 who always had a cordial reception at -their house. The next 
 day I went on board of the Constitution, and met many old 
 shipmates among the officers and the crew. A peculiarity of 
 navy men generally, all over the world, is that they are prone 
 either to swear by or at their old shipmates, thus disobeying the 
 command, " Swear not at all." This being brought to the notice 
 of an old tar, he remarked, " I don't swear at all, but there are 
 some people you have to swear at." His sense of duty demanded 
 it, and he swore like a man. 
 
 I noted that the women of Genoa were " shockingly ugly," 
 which may account for the cleverness of the men. It is a recog- 
 nized fact that what men are is in a great degree due to their 
 mothers ; and the Genoese mothers, being ugly, were in no wise 
 
190 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 diverted from the judicious care of their children. After voy- 
 aging around the world time and again, I do not think they 
 could have done better : had they been good-looking and neg- 
 lected their children it would have been far worse ; and thus it 
 seems their ugliness may have been "a blessing in disguise/' — ■ 
 a blessing perhaps that they would have been willing to forego, 
 had it been a matter of choice. 
 
 The streets of Genoa are narrow, with steep grades, — so steep 
 that carts and carriages are rare. The beggars are present^ 
 and they become numerous as soon as it is seen that alms are 
 given. On the land side the indentation around which the 
 city is built is surrounded by fortified hills of considerable 
 height, several hundred feet at least, and from these hills the 
 views are exceedingly picturesque. Genoa was more remark- 
 able for its noise and music than any other place I had ever 
 seen. 
 
 At the table-d'hdte of the hotel I met old shipmates and had 
 a bottle of vino d'Asti, a light, sparkling wine of excellent 
 quality, but too sweet to be in favor with many. At the table 
 was a Mr. Hagerty, from New York, who was quite amusing. 
 He said he was in search of the picturesque, and wished to 
 know where it was to be found. After dinner I went with a 
 brother officer to visit a German family, the Countess Samo- 
 san, her mother, and two sisters, the younger twelve years 
 of age. The countess was talkative and polite ; her face was 
 a perfect model for a painter, — her eyes and brows perfect. 
 She was a dSvote, and had the mistaken idea often enter- 
 tained that a willingness to die for a religion establishes its 
 truth. 
 
 In my walks around the city I went up the hill immediately 
 west of a small stream and valley on the eastern part of Genoa, 
 and after an hour's walk had a magnificent view from a fortifi- 
 cation, one of twenty that defend the city. It had an area of 
 about thirty acres. I dined on board of the Jamestown, one of 
 our old sloops-of-war of the best class, and was then put along- 
 side of the Corriere Corso, a small, dirty, slow vessel, over- 
 crowded with passengers, among whom were many of our 
 countrymen. We had a heavy blow soon after leaving, and, 
 
PISA. 191 
 
 making little headway and wallowing about all night, at eleven 
 the following day anchored in the Bay of Spezia. Our consul 
 at Genoa and family were on board, and, annoyed at the dis- 
 comforts of the voyage, endeavored to obtain permission to land 
 and go to Florence by diligence : it was impossible, however ; 
 even in mid- winter pratique would have to be obtained before 
 any one could land, and that was never granted until the vessel 
 had been in port twenty- four hours; and, despite the 'tears of 
 the ladies, the captain refused to remain the requisite time. 
 The next morning at daylight we left the port, and by noon had 
 been passed through the custom-house at Leghorn, — a verifica- 
 tion of the proverb " The more haste the less speed," had the 
 ladies been permitted to land. 
 
 I went to the Hotel Pescavera at Pisa that evening ; the land- 
 lady was pretty and obliging, and the house clean and comfort- 
 able : at the same house was an American colonel who had 
 never been assigned to a regiment ; he was a grandson of Mollie 
 Stark who would have been a widow had not Crown Point 
 fallen by assault during our Revolutionary war. In the evening 
 we went to the Opera ; although the troupe was considerable, 
 the singing was indifferent, and we left early. 
 
 The Leaning Tower was visited : the foundation of this 
 tower settled after the structure was commenced, and continued 
 to settle during the construction. Three different attempts at 
 restoring the perpendicularity were perceptible, and the last 
 elevation was nearly perpendicular. In the cathedral we saw 
 the lamp which suggested to Galileo his ideas in relation to the 
 vibrations of pendulums. t 
 
 The bronze doors of the cathedral, the building itself, and the 
 baptismal font are all objects of especial interest to tourists. 
 The guide-book gives an elaborate description of the Campo 
 Santo, the burial-ground of the lords and ladies. Ship-loads 
 of earth were brought from the Holy Land, and in this the 
 bodies are buried. 
 
 The whole broad valley of the Arno, from the sea to Florence, 
 was cultivated like a garden, and was almost one continuous 
 vineyard. Rows of beheaded trees serve as supports to the 
 festooned vines, and in the vacant spaces vegetables and grain 
 
192 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 are grown. Our journey to Florence, over an excellent railroad, 
 was made on one of the brightest of days, and an open window 
 gave me my introduction to neuralgia, from which I suifered 
 intensely for several days. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Florence— The Flower-Girl — The American Colonel — Captain Neuhauser— 
 Spezia — Vesuvius — Herculaneum and Pompeii — Naples — The Temple of 
 Neptune at Pesto — Temple of Ceres. 
 
 On arriving in Florence, I took one of the rather crazy-look- 
 ing single-horse vehicles and was driven to a comfortable hotel, 
 where I had a bright sunny room until I found apartments on 
 the Arno. After making my ablutions, I had a simple luncheon 
 and an excellent glass of the light new wine of Tuscany, and, 
 after studying a map of the city to inform myself as to the 
 localities I wished to visit, went to the door to meet a person 
 who was waiting for me. It was not a detective ; it was a flower- 
 girl who was waiting to fix a boutonni&re upon my lapel as soon 
 as I should come out. A flower-girl always informs a stranger 
 that she has heard of him through some friends, and begs to 
 express her gratification at his safe arrival and fine appearance. 
 Thus greeted and decorated, the stranger with generous impulse 
 naturally puts his hand in his pocket to give a consideration. 
 " Not at all," says the flower-girl, in the sweetest of tones and 
 with the brightest of smiles, perhaps adding, in a subdued tone, 
 that before he leaves he may contribute to the support of some 
 people who work in the garden, so as to enable her to dispense 
 flowers to agreeable visitors. She may be a girl of ten or fifteen, 
 or even a woman of thirty years, but she is always pretty, and 
 has been expecting the arrival of the visitor. Although the 
 flower-girl never leaves Florence, I have heard of no instance 
 in which she gets "left." 
 
 The streets of Florence are quite narrow and the houses high, 
 which in fact is the case with all old parts of Italian cities. 
 
CAPTAIN NEUHAUSER. I93 
 
 There is much to see in the Pitti and Uffizi galleries and in the 
 Museum. The cathedral, built in alternate layers of white and 
 black marble, is grand not only in dimensions but also in many 
 other respects. It was my habit to spend several hours daily 
 either in one or the other art gallery in the Museum, or in visit- 
 ing buildings of note. This, with an occasional visit to the 
 Opera, and a frequent attendance at the receptions of Hiram 
 Powers, Mr. Mosier, Mr. Chapman, and other artists of note, 
 left little idle time, and that was taken up in studying French. 
 I took quarters overlooking the Arno, usually a small rapidly- 
 flowing creek, having two high stone walls some hundred and 
 fifty yards apart to provide protection from the floods that from 
 time to time sweep down from the Apennines. 
 
 Soon after reaching Florence I had my first attack of neural- 
 gia, and was confined to my rooms for a week, during which I 
 suffered intense pain, extending from the jaw to the temple. A 
 physician recommended the application of a hot poultice and 
 leeches. After poulticing, I applied half a dozen leeches, that 
 fed like good fellows and weighed considerably more after their 
 feast than before they took hold. 
 
 Among my agreeable acquaintances was Captain Neuhauser, 
 a Hungarian in the Austrian army then occupying Tuscany. He 
 had the usual talent of his countrymen for languages, speaking 
 and reading English, French, Italian, and German with fluency, 
 and was well informed otherwise. By agreement we usually 
 dined together, either at the table-(Vh6te of one of the better 
 hotels or at some favorite trattoria. If we dined at a hotel, we 
 were content with the wines furnished ; if at a trattoria, we 
 ordered our dishes, and a half-bottle each, the one of red, the 
 other of white Montepulciano, a very pleasant light wine of 
 Tuscany that is used either the first or the second year after the 
 vintage : indeed, in Spain and in Italy those who make wines 
 rarely take other than new wines, and men, women, and children 
 always have their wine. A drunken person is never seen, unless 
 he is a foreigner. My habit was to breakfast at the Caffe Donai, 
 where I had two eggs, two small rolls of bread, a little butter, 
 and a pot of chocolate : this, with two cents that I gave the 
 waiter, and two cents to the beggar-woman who always met me, 
 
 13 
 
194 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 made my breakfast-bill fifteen cents daily. That beggar-woman, 
 1 feel sure, regretted my leaving the city : she always bestowed 
 on me a grateful smile, and was as cheerful as her occupation 
 would permit. 
 
 When Neuhauser and myself had dined, which was at seven 
 o'clock, we went usually to the caffd and took a small cup of 
 coffee and a chasse, for which we each paid four cents. During 
 our intercourse of several weeks, I never paid one cent of his 
 bill, nor he of mine. Our bills were brought to us separately 
 and paid by each, even where it was a matter of but four cents. 
 Nothing is more disagreeable than the vulgarity displayed by 
 many of our countrymen abroad in insisting on paying the bill 
 of some person whom they have met. Occasionally we allowed 
 a colonel who had never known his regiment to dine with us, 
 and this was as good as a comedy. He was a loud talker and a 
 persistent one, and made the American eagle soar very high and 
 screech very loud. It was only when we went to a trattoria that 
 we would permit him to join us, as we felt that we had no right 
 to annoy well-bred people with our amusement. The colonel 
 was undeniably a " Down-Easter :" it was shown in his appear- 
 ance, in the sound of his voice, and in the ideas that he expressed. 
 He amused Neuhauser, and me also, — with the reservation that 
 I felt somewhat ashamed of him as an exponent of the Yankee. 
 He carried in his pocket a small " vocabulary in three languages," 
 so convenient to travellers not gifted with enough of a language 
 to make their wants known ; he was inimitably droll without 
 intent, — without even a suspicion indeed that he was so, — and 
 insisted on making use of the French language, so far as the 
 words were concerned, with English pronunciation. Spelling 
 out the words equivalent to an English expression, he would 
 beckon to a waiter, and say, " Garcon, donnez-moi du beurre." 
 Naturally enough, the waiter had no idea what he meant, and, 
 in his perplexity, would say, " Quoi f which w T ould lead to a 
 repetition by the colonel with a little variation in his intonation, 
 and then would come the "Quoi?" again from the waiter. 
 Neuhauser would offer his services as translator, but these would 
 be respectfully declined with, " No, no : I'll teach him by and 
 by." After a time, to assure an actual understanding he would 
 
CAPTAIN NEUHAUSER. 195 
 
 point out to the waiter on the vocabulary what he wished. This 
 was amusing at times, but would not serve for an every-day 
 entertainment : so it was only when we felt a little humorous 
 that we were disposed to be bored by the colonel. When we 
 left the trattoria each would be handed a bill of what he had 
 ordered. Usually, including wine, it was from forty to sixty 
 cents. 
 
 Captain Neuhauser accompanied me to several studios of 
 American sculptors. At Powers's we saw a number of busts 
 of distinguished Americans, among others of Jackson, which 
 Neuhauser commented upon rather unfavorably. Powers said 
 not a word, but brought the plaster cast of a lion and held it 
 up close to and parallel with the face of the old hero. The 
 resemblance in lines and features was remarkable, much closer 
 than one would have thought possible. Neuhauser smiled at 
 the marked resemblance, and was assured that Jackson was 
 regarded as a great man by a large number of his countrymen. 
 
 Greenough, Mosier, Chapman, Gould, Gault, and others of 
 our countrymen were then at Florence. Some of these had 
 agreeable families ; the others generally met at the cajf& in the 
 evenings. At the Opera I heard Clara Novella, & prima donna 
 of note, sing in " II Puritani." The song of " La Patria" was 
 admirably rendered, with a grand chorus, which was smiled at 
 by the large number of Austrian officers in attendance, as the 
 singers advanced bearing the Tuscan flag. The Florentines 
 were very much excited, and there would have been a row had 
 not all the force been against them. 
 
 I spent an agreeable evening at a reception of Mr. Harvey, 
 an Englishman who was passing the winter with his family in 
 Florence. At that time there was quite an English colony in 
 Florence, but few, if any, Americans other than artists. I was 
 introduced to Charles Lever, whose works I had read with 
 much pleasure, and could not but agree with him that copyright 
 laws should have protected his writings in the United States. 
 He was a medium-sized, portly gentleman, with a broad agree- 
 able face and a pleasant manner. I had frequently seen him 
 and several of his children, some of them on pied ponies, riding 
 briskly along the Corso. Altogether I found Florence socially 
 
196 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 pleasant ; but the weather was cold and raw, very different from 
 the winter climate of Naples. 
 
 The early spring had come, and I made up my mind to go to 
 Spezia, where I should have more time for study ; I accordingly 
 bade good-by to the agreeable families I have mentioned, and 
 others, left for Pisa, and the following midnight took diligence 
 for Spezia. We arrived at Pietra Santa at eight a.m., and 
 breakfasted. Everything was so dirty, however, that, while it 
 was paid for, it was not eaten. When the diligence was ready 
 to go, the landlord could hardly believe that I would be willing 
 to go on, — for what reason I could never conceive, as there was 
 nothing there that should interest a traveller. I was imprudent 
 enough to give something to a wretched-looking beggar, and 
 was soon surrounded by a crowd : after giving all my small 
 change, and others still asking, I gave them abuse, — having 
 nothing else that came so handy. 
 
 After two or three hours' drive we reached Carrara, the great 
 marble-quarry, and the residence of a considerable number of 
 sculptors who do not design, but make a living by copying 
 models or reproducing works ordered. The Aquila Bianca was 
 the only hotel in the place. It was dirty beyond description, 
 and gave me a full appreciation of the value of an unbroken 
 egg-shell and of an unpeeled potato when cooked. The plates 
 had hardened lumps of spinach or some other vegetable on them. 
 The American consul was absent, but a bright young Italian 
 was his deputy, and was good enough to walk with me at his 
 leisure, although I had a " commissioner" who had served under 
 Napoleon. He pointed out two large Roman fortresses, over- 
 grown with ivy. We visited the early home of the Guelphs, 
 a building by no means grand, either in dimensions or in archi- 
 tecture. An old building said to have been originally a heathen 
 temple, and subsequently to have been used as a church, had 
 been unroofed for centuries ; near the entrance were two very 
 badly executed marble statues, said to be those of pious ladies 
 who had been benefactors of the church. 
 
 The marble-quarries are up on the hill-tops, which are 
 quite bare of vegetation. Great excavations have been made 
 here and there in the rocks. The acclivities are steep, and 
 
SARZANA. 197 
 
 the blocks are hauled down by oxen with a great deal of labor. 
 A block large enough to make an ordinary statue, if of the best 
 quality of marble, was said to cost two hundred dollars. In 
 the workshops at Carrara I saw a plaster cast of Frederick the 
 Great, sent to serve as a model for the sculptor. Washington, 
 General Taylor, Nelson, and other distinguished personages 
 were there in marble. 
 
 On leaving the " White Eagle," I wrote in my diary, " With 
 what delight does one take his seat in the diligence when leaving 
 a particularly dirty hotel ! He does not know that he will 
 arrive at a cleaner one, but has much to hope for." The 
 road was perfect, and the country cultivated like a garden, by 
 women as well as men, with a two-pronged hoe. Vineyards 
 were upon the hill-sides, and castles of old crowned their sum- 
 mits j here and there were children with baskets carrying back 
 the soil that had been washed down from the hills by the rains. 
 On the heights among the rocks, where there was soil enough 
 for them to grow, small gnarled olive-trees were seen, distin- 
 guishable by their bluish foliage and their contours, even at a 
 great distance. 
 
 A two hours' ride brought us to the town of Sarzana, where 
 we stopped for half an hour. There is nothing of interest here. 
 Along the road to Spezia we met numbers of peasant-girls going 
 and coming on foot, some of them bearing bundles of vegetables 
 or other products to a market. They all wore Sarzana hats, 
 little bits of things that would scarcely be sufficient for a large- 
 sized doll. These were jauntily pinned or stuck on one side of 
 the head, and the owners were very bright, nice-looking young 
 creatures, and very proud of their hats, which was the one 
 feature of their dress. Observant tourists of years gone by 
 could tell a canton or district in Switzerland by the dress of the 
 peasant, who regarded some peculiarity, like that of the Sarzana 
 hat, as a special mark of distinction. With railroads running 
 through Sarzana for many years, I doubt the existence at present 
 of a single Sarzana hat ; perhaps in its stead one is worn as pre- 
 posterously large as the tortoise-shell comb of a belle in Buenos 
 Ayres so humorously mentioned by Darwin half a century ago. 
 He was asked his opinion of it, and, bowing respectfully, said 
 
198 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 that in all his travels he had never seen a larger or more elegant 
 one. 
 
 A very fertile plain lies between Sarzana and Spezia ; the dis- 
 tance between the two places is nine miles. Just before starting 
 in the diligence, after I had returned from a caffh I was accosted 
 by a beggar, who, w T ith a look of reproach, informed me that I 
 had given him a coin that belonged to Tuscany and did not pass 
 current there. It was out of my power to change my coins from 
 one province to another, and thus an inconvenience — perhaps a 
 loss — was inflicted on the beggar, and a loss to myself in the 
 discount on larger coins. 
 
 On arriving at Spezia a naval storekeeper, an old acquaintance 
 and friend, took me to a clean hotel, which is a positive bless- 
 ing in Italy. Our naval storehouses were near the lazaretto, 
 some four miles down the northern side of the bay, at a beauti- 
 ful indentation. There, through my friend Spaulding, I had the 
 pleasure of making the acquaintance of Mr. Bolero, his son, 
 three charming, well-bred daughters, and a bright little boy and 
 girl. The family were very agreeable, and it was gratifying to 
 see their pleasant home life. I frequently walked down, and 
 was joined by some of the family for a walk farther on, to Porto 
 Venere, or elsewhere. Porto Venere was the oddest old town I 
 have ever seen. It had a very small port made by an outlying 
 island just without the bay, and, built on the side of a cliff, the 
 houses on the one street, which has only one side, have their 
 foundations very little above the water and are four or five 
 stories high. The entrance to the town was through a small 
 deep arched gate built from a house on either side. Over the 
 house had been a coat of arms that had been destroyed ; the 
 town was walled, and I have no recollection of seeing anything 
 but rocks inside, — not even a blade of grass. The single street 
 was perhaps three hundred yards long, terminating at the foot 
 of a promontory overlooking the open sea to the north and west, 
 upon which was a temple of small size that many centuries ago 
 had been converted into a church, and was then roofless and had 
 been in ruins for an indefinite period. Looking towards the 
 ruin from the end of the street, on its right was an old Roman 
 round tower, such as those to be seen along the coasts of the 
 
SPEZIA. 199 
 
 Mediterranean. While engaged in an endeavor to sketch these 
 buildings, I observed a man patiently waiting under the lee of 
 a rock ; when I closed my book he offered his services as guide. 
 We ascended a high hill on our right overlooking the town, and 
 saw an old fortification of considerable extent. After a rather 
 tiresome walk, my guide expressed a wish for something to eat : 
 we returned to the town and entered a locanda, or place where 
 bread, wine, and cheese are sold, all of which he was supplied 
 with, I sharing in the repast. There is no sauce better than 
 that of San Bernardino, and it has the advantage that you need 
 not carry it about with you. The inhabitants of Porto Venere 
 are engaged mostly in catching anchovies, and are wretchedly 
 ragged and dirty. 
 
 The walks over the hills that lie around Spezia are very pleas- 
 ing, but if the pedestrian strikes out without a guide he is soon 
 brought face to face with stone walls enclosing patches of olive- 
 trees ; perhaps the walls are made to get rid of the stones suf- 
 ficiently to plant the trees, which seem to have a hard time of it 
 from lack of soil. On my excursions in the direction of the 
 lazaretto I frequently went up a steep ravine that led to high 
 grounds. Marble rocks, generally black in color, were every- 
 where. A few dwarfed chestnut-trees had been planted between 
 the rocks, and a few neatly-whitewashed huts of peasants dotted 
 the hill-side. A thousand feet up or more, and the glories of 
 the view repaid the toil of the ascent. The peasants gather the 
 brushwood from the mountain-side and carry it on their backs 
 into town, where it is used for cooking. Heating the houses is 
 not attempted, unless by a few persons of wealth. 
 
 Whether it be true or not, the traveller all over Italy is told 
 that to Napoleon are due the excellent roads between the differ- 
 ent cities, as also very extensive modern fortifications at many 
 points. Near the entrance to the Bay of Spezia were very 
 strong fortifications that had afterwards been destroyed. Al- 
 though blown up by gunpowder, huge masses still clung together, 
 a proof at least of the excellence of the cement. 
 
 After a tarry of some weeks, it occurred to me that I might 
 as well go to Naples, where the flag-ship was, and where there 
 was much more to see. To effect this at that time, although 
 
200 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Spezia was a considerable city, situated in a populous country 
 and gifted with one of the finest harbors to be found anywhere, 
 it was necessary to go to Leghorn to take a small dirty packet- 
 steamer that ran once or twice a week from Genoa to Naples. 
 After arriving at Pisa I went by rail to Florence to pay my 
 respects to the families of Powers, Mosier, and Chapman, all of 
 them very agreeable and attentive to strangers. After a day or 
 so I went to Leghorn in time to take the steamer the following 
 day. I met on board several pleasant Americans, and an ex- 
 ceptionally charming English gentleman, named Atwater, also 
 an old Russian lady, with her daughter, servants, and dogs. 
 The canines received the unremitting attentions of the entire 
 Russian establishment; and when we reached Civita Vecchia 
 and they disembarked, I lost a fruitful source of observation 
 and amusement. I was not permitted to go on shore, because 
 I had not the vise" of the Roman consul at Leghorn. So far as 
 appearances went, however, I lost nothing by remaining on 
 board. We tarried until evening, and then with a rough head- 
 wind left for Naples, where we arrived at ten the following 
 morning. 
 
 The glories of the Bay of Naples none will dispute. Vesu- 
 vius in the distance, but looking quite near, the islands in the 
 bay of picturesque contour, and the whole outline of coast, high, 
 and of varied outline, make it an ideal spot with tourists. The 
 large city, too, gleaming white and built partly upon a hilly 
 slope rising to hundreds of feet in height, is a pleasing feature. 
 Many feluccas, with their lateen sails and long yards peaked 
 high above their masts, sailing here and there, formed a pleasing 
 object of animate life, and a dozen heavy vessels-of-war of 
 several nations gave an impression of force. Away over on the 
 eastern side, near Sorrento, were a dozen French line-of-battle- 
 ships at anchor, plainly visible from the inner part of the 
 harbor. 
 
 On landing, numbers of lazzaroni were to be seen : it is said 
 that they have disappeared in a great degree from the city, and 
 that the low filthy part has been regenerated. It is probable 
 that a great number of these persons have become free Ameri- 
 can citizens, and at present exercise the right of franchise with 
 
VESUVIUS. 201 
 
 us. The beggars were quite as numerous as elsewhere, and up 
 to the mark in insistence; and the men driving the one-horse 
 conveyances would deliberately drive across the pathway of any 
 one who preferred walking, so as to cut him off, and make him 
 determine to hire the conveyance rather than be thus annoyed. 
 
 Naples is surrounded with objects of much historic interest, 
 and after getting apartments in the Chiatomone, I set about 
 sight-seeing. The hotel is just east of the Villa Reale, the 
 only public grounds in Naples, set with trees, and a favorite 
 resort. In front of the hotel was an esplanade sixty yards 
 wide, faced with the sea-wall, and beyond were the open waters 
 of the bay. My quarters had been the rooms of Passed Mid- 
 shipman Bayard, of our navy, who had visited Vesuvius when 
 it was in a state of eruption, the previous February, in company 
 with several other officers. A number of heavy pieces of rock 
 were thrown up high in the air, and one of these struck him, 
 causing almost immediate death. He was a young officer of 
 great merit, and much beloved by his shipmates. 
 
 A few days after my arrival, in company with two of our 
 officers, I left soon after sunrise to visit Vesuvius, which is an 
 object of great interest to persons who are strong and have no 
 dread of exertion. We took a carriage to Portici, some five 
 miles out ; there w r e mounted horses, and began ascents of steep 
 grades, until, after a ride of several miles, we reached the 
 Hermitage, a building of considerable size. From that point 
 we made a descent into the valley of a bifurcation, or rather 
 gorge, said to have been the crater formed when Herculaneum 
 was buried by material which hardened into a solid rock, and 
 Pompeii was covered with a mass of ashes thirty feet or more 
 in depth, as found after a lapse of nineteen hundred years. 
 Having arrived at the foot of Vesuvius, where the grades 
 became steep and the ashes were a foot in depth, we began our 
 ascent, unaided, save by a guide. Several persons who carried 
 leather thongs with which they aided visitors by pulling them 
 up, especially where the lava-blocks were abrupt, insisted upon 
 accompanying us, and finally, after we got two-thirds of the 
 way up, became so importunate and troublesome that I drew 
 my sword. They took this very broad hint, and, jumping off 
 
202 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 the lava-bed, skirted by the loose, almost impalpable, sand, they 
 began their descent. I was surprised at the rapidity with which 
 they reached the foot of the hill. After we had gained the 
 summit, made our observations, and loitered around for an hour 
 or so, we " did likewise ;" and I can say that never as a boy 
 did I enjoy a slide down-hill on the ice more than going down 
 Vesuvius in the loose volcanic ashes. 
 
 After our importunate assistants had left us, we continued 
 our ascent, which was one of five thousand feet above the sea- 
 level, and probably of two thousand feet above the point where 
 we had left our horses. It was a glorious day. I find a 
 diagram of the summit and an account of the ascent in my diary, 
 from which I will endeavor to give the reader an idea of what 
 we saw. 
 
 The pathway near the mountain-top leads through a depres- 
 sion in an old crater ; on the left is the circular contour of the 
 summit, sixty feet in height. It forms an arc, of which the 
 low pathway is a chord, one hundred yards or more in length, 
 to another depression through the old crater. After arriving 
 at the other edge of the old crater, we found the mountain very 
 steep and composed of very fine volcanic ashes. Close on the 
 right-hand side were several large red rocks, tons in weight and 
 standing breast-high above the pathway. Vapor was coining 
 up between them, and they were quite hot. A party was 
 engaged in roasting eggs placed on the rocks, and it was a quick 
 operation. Turning abruptly to the right around these rocks, we 
 stood in front of the new crater. Less than three months before 
 it had sent a stream of molten lava for miles down the mountain- 
 side, ingulfing comfortable houses, vineyards, and trees. The 
 flow was not rapid after it had reached the foot of the cone, so 
 that there was plenty of time to remove household effects after 
 the lava had begun its descent. The outflow was twenty feet 
 deep or more over many habitations, vineyards, and orchards, 
 and from the mountain-top all along the devastated region for 
 miles away the hot vapor was seen rising. 
 
 Looking downward into the new crater as far as the swirling 
 vapor would permit, which was at times to the depth of one 
 hundred feet or more, the regularity of the deposit of ashes 
 
VESUVIUS. 203 
 
 within the cone was remarkable, and the deposit of sublimated 
 sulphur and other mineral substances was so bizarre and abun- 
 dant that it resembled something got up for scenic effect. We 
 could not pass along over the hot lava that had been ejected, 
 and, returning on our pathway, we ascended the left-hand 
 elevation about the same height as the other, and looked down 
 into a large crater from which a dense column of vapor was 
 arising ; as it was wafted to leeward by the breeze we could see 
 quite a distance down the steep grade to the seething lava far 
 below. Perhaps incited by the guide, and assured by the ap- 
 parently sufficient solidity of the ashes lying within the cone 
 near the summit, I started down within it, the wind bearing 
 the vapor well over on the other side. At a distance of fifty 
 feet from the summit I found the ashes far less compact and up 
 to my knees : it was not an easy task to regain the top. Had 
 the wind set the vapor over me it would have been a question 
 whether I could hold my breath sufficiently long to reach the 
 top. A month or so later, when at Palermo, I read an account 
 of a German who had also made a fool of himself: he went 
 down in like manner, had not the strength to regain the top, 
 and was suffocated. 
 
 The view from the top is indescribably grand, and the descent 
 was exhilarating beyond belief. At times I have dreamed that 
 by a rapid revolution of my arms I have raised my feet from 
 the earth, like an ostrich who uses his wings only to lighten his 
 weight, and have sped along with wonderful rapidity. This 
 was almost a realization of such a dream. With our left hands 
 upon our swords, and braced well back, so as not to fall head- 
 long, we started down, and, gaining assurance after a few leaps 
 it seemed to me wonderful what extraordinary leaps we could 
 make. Every bound we would sink almost knee-deep in ashes, 
 but that was no hinderance, for we would slide along on such 
 a steep grade. Certainly I was not a boy then, but when we 
 reached our horses nothing would have delighted me more than 
 to have had another lope down the hill without climbing it. I 
 would have been happy had I been able to leap all the way to 
 Naples, instead of going to Portici on horseback and from thence 
 in carriage. 
 
204 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 On our arrival at Portici we went down into the amphitheatre 
 of Herculaneum, which has been dug out of the solid volcanic 
 rock that flowed over it at the time of the destruction of Pompeii. 
 The rock is quite resonant, and the rumble of carriages passing 
 overhead was almost constant at that hour, it being a favorite 
 drive. Large arched gate- ways with iron gates through which 
 are seen beautiful grounds extending to the water, a hundred 
 yards beyond, disclose residences as charming as any in the 
 vicinity of Naples. 
 
 The early mornings of Naples are very bright in May, and I 
 enjoyed them greatly. The Neapolitans move about early, and 
 begin the day with music and Punch-and-Judy exhibitions for 
 the benefit of foreigners. Soon after sunrise I would sit on a 
 balcony and have my breakfast served ; a Calabrian band, con- 
 sisting of a bagpipe and some other instrument equally effective in 
 making a noise, knew my hour and my solid appreciation of its 
 efforts. After I had been entertained in this manner sufficiently, 
 the musicians left, and the Punch-and-Judy exhibition began. 
 This was conducted with great spirit even for Naples, because 
 the actor saw I appreciated his genius and was willing to pay 
 liberally for the show. Every morning it was the same thing 
 over again, as long as I remained on shore. An English family 
 who had apartments in the next house had these exhibitions free, 
 but, somehow, did not seem to relish them. They may not have 
 been gifted with a love of song and tragic deeds, as done by 
 Punch in chaffing and finally murdering the amiable Judy, or 
 they may have been blast The organ-grinders that favor us in 
 our large cities and towns are supposed to be almost without ex- 
 ception Italian, yet I never have seen one in Italy ; they may 
 have been expelled. 
 
 The whole vicinity of Naples, far and near, abounds in objects 
 of interest and beauty. A visit to Baja (the ancient Baise) and 
 the neighboring hills, some dozen miles from Naples, on the 
 western side of the bay, was very interesting. The locality 
 of Baja is beautiful. The large temples in ruins on the high 
 grounds, and the city sunk in the sea, are objects of note. This 
 event is mentioned as having occurred about a.d. 79, when 
 Pompeii was destroyed. Here I unexpectedly came across the 
 
NAPLES. 205 
 
 colonel whom I have already mentioned as occasionally dining 
 with me in Florence and as never having been assigned to a 
 regiment. He was investigating the state of trade at that point, 
 and getting some information from fishermen who had their 
 boat hauled up on the beach. It was with some difficulty we 
 got some Falernian wine ; two thousand years ago this wine was 
 famous for painting the noses of the Eomans on grand occasions. 
 The Elysian Fields were not at all remarkable for beauty, nor 
 was the Sibyl's cave a spot where one would suppose a bright 
 creature would be encountered. The grotto of Posilippo was 
 rather a fit lurking-place for wild animals of an amphibious 
 nature than anything else : if it were in the land of the alligator 
 I am veiy sure it would not be frequented. As our English 
 friends would say, fancy being mounted on the back of a man 
 wading through water knee-deep in a cave of little height, and 
 as dark as midnight, with two or three torches of pine held by 
 bearers, going here and there in advance, stifling you with smoke 
 and actually begriming your faces almost beyond recognition 
 with the soot. I did not " fancy" this, nor did any of our party. 
 
 The unassigned colonel had read up on Romau history, of the 
 wealth and grandeur and traffic of Baise, one of the proud cities 
 of the world, and was mentally depressed at what he saw before 
 him. Fatigued by riding on horseback, bedevilled and begrimed 
 by the ride on manback, he presented a pitiable spectacle, and 
 went on his way to Naples in sad plight. 
 
 Several officers formed a party to Psestum, now known as 
 Pesto, to see the temples so venerable in years that the date of 
 their construction is lost in the mists of time. They were 
 known as ruins in the time of our Saviour, and have remained 
 with little deterioration for the past two thousand years. The 
 columns, and indeed all parts of the structures, are of good solid 
 sandstone : were they exposed to the climate of New England 
 they would soon be entirely disintegrated, through absorbing 
 water and freezing. In one of Wendell Phillips's lectures their 
 preservation is attributed to some inherent quality of the stone, 
 from its extreme hardness requiring superior tools to cut it, — 
 which is- a mistaken idea. 
 
 We left Naples by railroad for Salerno in the afternoon, and, 
 
206 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 as the distance is only thirty-three miles, were there in time to 
 look up anything that might be of interest. An Italian gentle- 
 man who lived on one of the heights upon which the town is 
 partly built called at the hotel and invited us to his house, where 
 we spent the evening. It was a charming spot, commanding a 
 wide view of sea and land. He pointed out a very large in- 
 trenched Roman camp on a height near by, and many other 
 points of interest. The water at the head of the bay in front 
 of the town is quite shoal, only capable of floating fishing-boats 
 of large size, and the beach was strewn with smaller ones hauled 
 up on it. 
 
 We made our arrangements and after an early breakfast 
 mounted horses for a ride of fifteen miles, taking a guide who 
 carried our bread and wine for luncheon, the country along the 
 line of road being uninhabited, or nearly so, from the unhealth- 
 fulness of the climate. The only habitations we saw were near 
 a river within a mile or so of Pesto. The inhabitants were 
 evidently victims of a persistent intermittent fever. A boy 
 about fifteen years of age helped take us across the river; his 
 eyes had the peculiar look of a fever patient, and his scant cloth- 
 ing allowed us to see that his abdomen was fearfully distended. 
 He seemed not far from idiocy from his ailment. We were told 
 that after a few years persons become acclimated. The ferriage 
 was effected by the force of the current, not an unusual mode in 
 our country. The boat was attached to a rope the length of 
 which was considerably greater than the width of the stream, 
 and the other end was made fast at a favorable point above. The 
 sides of the boat were held at a favorable angle to the current 
 by means of two ropes, causing the boat to act as a pendulum. 
 On recrossing, of course the side-ropes were readjusted so as to 
 bring the current to act at a proper angle. 
 
 The road was not far from the sea, but, as the country trav- 
 ersed was a broad, flat plain, the sea was not always in sight. 
 We passed large herds of black buffalo, cared for by people 
 clothed in sheep- or goat-skin ; they were certainly uncomfort- 
 able garments in summer. The land was evidently fertile, and 
 in the interior were very pretty abrupt spurs of land several 
 hundred feet in height, partly wooded. We were told that these 
 
TEMPLES OF NEPTUNE AND CERES. 207 
 
 were free from the malaria of the plains, and had a considerable 
 population, and that persons who took care of the cattle or cul- 
 tivated grounds on the plains went on these highlands to sleep. 
 
 The temple of Neptune at Pesto has thirty-six pillars, all 
 standing, surmounted by an architrave and frieze of the Doric 
 order. Another, less perfect in condition, is supposed to have 
 been the temple of Geres. Evidently several other temples had 
 been entirely removed, save the foundations and flooring, and 
 one perhaps was in the process of removal when the work was 
 abandoned. It is supposed that a Greek colony built them, at a 
 time so remote that nothing is known of them. Two hundred 
 and seventy years before the Christian era they were in posses- 
 sion of the Romans, and were then in about the same condition 
 as now. In the ninth century they were in possession of the 
 Saracens, but through all the mutations of their known history 
 they have not materially changed. The only person Ave saw in 
 the vicinity was in the garb of a priest ; he had a gun, and was 
 walking around apparently examining the foundations of build- 
 ings that once had been. At that time and since, brigands have 
 made their descent on visitors, carried them off into the moun- 
 tains, and held them until ransomed. We were by no means 
 concerned, for they knew whom to attack : with us, they would 
 have found more arms than money ; had they captured us, it 
 would not have been a " paying business." 
 
 The temples are within a quarter of a mile of the sea ; whether 
 the deep water extends near the shore-line I do not know. It is 
 an open coast ; there is no shelter from a westerly wind, although 
 there is a considerable indentation. After spending several 
 hours loitering, we mounted our horses, and were at Salerno in 
 time to take an evening train to Naples over a very lovely, 
 thickly-inhabited country. 
 
 At that time only a small portion of Pompeii had been un- 
 earthed. The escarpments showed some fifteen or twenty feet 
 above the houses. Their dimensions, as compared with those 
 of the temples or large buildings of the Greeks, were quite in- 
 significant. The paintings on the walls were wonderfully well 
 preserved, and the marks of the chariot-wheels on the pavements 
 were as distinct as though made the previous year. They were 
 
208 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 worn several inches in depth. It is eighteen hundred years since 
 Pompeii was destroyed, and the city is now in great part un- 
 earthed. Vesuvius was not known as an active volcano in 
 remote historic periods, and indeed it became so only a short time 
 before it destroyed three cities. Afterwards, for a great many 
 years, at intervals it has thrown up great masses of ashes and 
 stone, but no lava ; subsequently, however, it ejected lava more 
 than any other material. 
 
 CHAPTEK XVI. 
 
 Service on Board the Frigate St. Lawrence— Messina— Mount Etna— Kob- 
 bers— Burial-Vaults of the Capuchins— Santa Bosalia— Kemittent Fever 
 at Palermo— The British Squadron — A Lieutenant Court-martialled for 
 Kissing— Bailroad Travel at a Penny a Mile— B.'s Little Joke— Bremer- 
 haven — A Country Fair — Bremen — Sail for Home. 
 
 About the last of May, 1850, the flag-ship sailed, the com- 
 modore leaving orders for me to join the frigate St. Lawrence, 
 which I did, and the vessel left in a day or so for Messina. 
 While the Mediterranean in the winter is swept by heavy gales, 
 in the summer either calms or very light breezes prevail : conse- 
 quently we were six days in making the voyage of two hundred 
 miles. 
 
 At a distance of one hundred miles Ave could see Etna, covered 
 with snow, and Stromboli, sixty miles off. The latter is the 
 highest of the Lipari Islands, several in number aud all volcanic, 
 lying near the northeastern coast of Sicily. It is a beautiful 
 bifurcated cone, two thousand five hundred feet in height, nearly 
 circular at the base, with a diameter of four miles. The active 
 crater was at two-thirds the height, and at very regular intervals 
 of time, about every three and a half minutes, a bright light 
 glared upon the sky out of its depths. The island is said to 
 have about twelve hundred inhabitants, many of whom are 
 engaged in catching tunny-fish, a species of mackerel often 
 weighing a thousand pounds : the fish is very much prized. 
 
 When we arrived at Messina we found many of the buildings 
 
MOUNT ETNA. 209 
 
 on the outskirts loop-holed for musketry : in fact, the city had 
 been so recently desolated by war that it presented a sorry ap- 
 pearance. It has been and is still a great commercial city ; the 
 streets are inviting, Avithout being grand ; unlike Palermo, the 
 houses are usually low. The surrounding country is devoted 
 to the culture of the grape, olive, orange, and other fruits, and 
 is very productive. From Messina we went to Palermo, where 
 we tarried several days, and, after a brief visit to the Bay of 
 Cagliari, on the south end of the island of Sardinia, again 
 visited Naples, returning finally to Palermo, where we spent a 
 fortnight very pleasantly. 
 
 The harbor of Palermo is crescent-shaped, with abrupt hills 
 of considerable height surrounding the flat ground upon which 
 the greater part of the city is built. There is an admirable road 
 to the palace of King Roger, built in the twelfth century, some 
 four miles from the harbor : the road is lined with habitations, 
 and is very attractive ; at the palace an elevation of a thousand 
 feet is reached. The interiors of Sicilian churches have a simi- 
 larity to those of the churches of Munich in the beams that run 
 across, painted in bright colors and ornamented with decorations 
 of similar order, the rafters upon which the roof rests appearing 
 above. Many of the churches are large and beautiful ; and the 
 dwelliug-houses are quite picturesque in the large balconies which 
 project from every story. The streets are wider, and the inhabi- 
 tants, so far as visitors could see, more cheery than those of 
 Naples. There were numbers of small ice-cream shops, and in 
 the evening these pleasant rooms were thronged with the inhabi- 
 tants, who for a very small sum were supplied with delicious ices 
 from Mount Etna, frozen snow being brought down from the 
 mountain in large quantities. From off the coast Mount Etna 
 is seen in grand proportions, and far down its sides the cone is 
 covered with snow. It has a height of ten thousand eight hun- 
 dred and seventy feet. Tourists who went there at that time 
 were frequently captured by brigands and held until arrange- 
 ments could be made for the payment of a ransom ; and that 
 naturally made pleasure-travellers seek other routes. Not long 
 before our visit, a man of wealth, presumably a foreigner, was 
 captured near the palace of King Roger, not more than three 
 
 14 
 
210 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 miles from Palermo, and held for what his captors could get for 
 his release. More recently the authorities would not permit 
 them to pass the gate. As these robbers never molested the peas- 
 ants, and as their members were from that class, with leaders 
 better educated, their bands were difficult to break up, even in 
 thickly-populated districts. 
 
 We visited the burial-vaults of the Capuchins, underneath their 
 monastery. It was late in the afternoon. We descended a stair- 
 way of perhaps twenty feet, with long narrow windows at the top 
 that admitted sufficient light to permit us to see our surround- 
 ings. There were ten thousand bodies, that had been accumu- 
 lating for centuries. Those of the wealthy were in boxes, others 
 were put on shelves, and many had barely standing-room. The 
 ladies had on their best in laces, and all had white gloves. The 
 features were ghastly, and had the appearance of dried parch- 
 ment rather than of decay. A burial at this place, or rather 
 lying- or standing-room, was obtainable only at considerable cost, 
 and I should say was by no means desirable either for the dead 
 or to their friends. The damp vaults, with the foul odor they 
 gave forth, were not at all inviting, and I should suppose would 
 be hot-beds of poison to the Capuchins who occupied apartments 
 over them. 
 
 The Palermo hospital for the insane was quite extensive, and 
 contained a large number of inmates, among them one whose 
 insanity had assumed a very innocent form. A fine-looking 
 young woman was brought to the attending physician, who asked 
 her what she wished. She replied that she wished to marry. 
 The doctor said, " Very well : let us see how you will conduct 
 yourself; if you aid me effectively in the care of these poor 
 people, I will marry you." She accepted the provisional offer, 
 and was cheerful, efficient, and well behaved. The probationary 
 term was indefinite, and, as I never visited Palermo again, I 
 have no information in regard to the wedding. 
 
 One of the sights of the vicinity of Palermo is the cave of 
 Santa Rosalia. Santa Rosalia was a daughter of King Sinibald, 
 a monarch who reigned in the twelfth century. Tired of the van- 
 ities of life, she established herself in a cave near the summit 
 of Mount Pellegrino, three miles from Palermo. The moun- 
 
SANTA ROSALIA. 211 
 
 tain is quite abrupt on the sea-face, and forms the northern part 
 of the entrance to the harbor. The ascent is made either on 
 foot or on a donkey, over a winding pathway many parts of 
 which are cut as a stairway in the rocks. It was the first time 
 I had ever attempted to ride up a stairway, but, after all, it 
 seemed much easier for me than for the donkey upon which I was 
 mounted. There were several in the party, and we all got up 
 and down safely. Coming down, it seemed to me that should 
 the animal stumble, although the fall would not be from a height, 
 the donkey being small, serious injury or even death might re- 
 sult, from striking on the rocks and rolling down a steep hill. 
 
 From near the cave of Santa Rosalia the view extends sea- 
 ward to the Lipari Islands, Stromboli being about eighty or 
 ninety miles distant ; on the right stretches the coast-line towards 
 Messina, in the interior Etna is visible in the distance, with 
 Palermo lying at the foot of the mountain, and to the westward 
 is the high indented coast-line of Sicily. 
 
 Under the shelter of a huge overhanging rock Santa Rosalia 
 is said to have passed her years in meditation and prayer, dying 
 in 1160. Enclosed by an iron railing, in an inner apartment 
 scooped out of the rock, is a wax figure of the reclining saint ; 
 by the dim light of a lamp we could see that she was clothed in 
 satin and ornamented with jewels, which were said to be of 
 great value, the offerings of those who had escaped great peril 
 through her supposed interposition. In a passage-way leading 
 to a small chapel there were several pictures representing such 
 interpositions, lacking artistic merit, but strong in a devotional 
 spirit. I noticed one, of a woman with both hands upraised, 
 looking with affright at her child falling out of a window. 
 Santa Rosalia was sitting in the clouds in a far-off corner, 
 supposed to be warding off the effect of. the fall. Another was 
 the picture of a gun bursting in the hand of a man firing it, 
 and Santa Rosalia sitting in the clouds ; the pieces of the gun 
 are placed there on exhibition and as an offering to the saint. 
 
 Our party walked up to the signal-station, several hundred 
 feet higher than the chapel, and as the sun went down into the 
 sea had a glorious view of earth and sea and sky. Almost 
 every one knows that it takes far less time and labor to go down- 
 
212 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 hill than to climb up ; and mounted on our donkeys we speedily 
 found ourselves in the level part of Palermo. My donkey, 
 having done very well up to that time, took a notion to flop 
 down and roll. I was imprudent enough to allow him to put 
 his nose down between his legs, and the flop followed as quick 
 as a flash, without doing me any injury, however, although my 
 leg was caught under his side. 
 
 We were in Palermo on the fete-day of Santa Rosalia, which 
 for centuries has been celebrated with great pomp by a proces- 
 sion and fireworks that in times gone by were unsurpassed. 
 There is no minute description of the procession in my diary, 
 but I recall that the large platform upon which the image was 
 placed was drawn by bullocks, a dozen or more in number. 
 The platform was twenty feet in width, and the top of the 
 image quite that distance from the ground, surrounded half-way 
 up by a number of pretty little girls dressed in white. As the 
 statue swayed to and fro from the inequalities of the streets, I 
 feared that some of the children would be thrown off; but 
 probably they were more secure than I imagined. 
 
 The viceroy, General Filangieri, who had paid a visit to the 
 ship a few days before, had kindly invited the officers to his 
 stand in the evening to see the fireworks. He had served with 
 distinction under Napoleon, and was still vigorous and of fine 
 appearance, with two beautiful daughters. The framework over 
 which the fireworks extended was several hundred feet in length, 
 and the exhibition continued one hour and a half, with a dazzling 
 and indescribable effect. 
 
 Although we were almost done with Palermo, it was not done 
 with us, unhappily for many of the crew. After we sailed 
 many were attacked with a low remittent fever, several died, 
 and the situation was serious, with a sick-list of about ten per 
 cent. A change of treatment brought them all up, however : 
 they were given porter, and very soon got better under the 
 stimulant. The reader may remember that porter was ad- 
 ministered on board of the Vincennes to a small-pox patient, 
 perhaps on general principles, as the character of the disease 
 had not become manifest to the surgeon, although it was known 
 to every one else. With proper treatment and diet, and atten- 
 
A LIEUTENANT COURT-MARTIALLED FOR KISSING. 213 
 
 tion to ventilation so far as is possible on board ship, the 
 hygiene may be excellent, and, barring the yellow fever, deaths 
 on our vessels-of-war may be very few ; of this I propose say- 
 ing more in subsequent pages. 
 
 We sailed from Palermo on the 17th of July, passed the 
 rock of Gibraltar on the 31st, and entered Lisbon harbor on 
 the 5th of August. I had been there in the Preble nine years 
 before, and have written all in relation to that city that I 
 thought of special interest. Our old stamping-grounds were 
 very pleasant during our few days in that port. The British 
 squadron came in, and I had the pleasure of visiting the steam- 
 frigate Phaeton, then the crack ship of the British navy. The 
 forty years that have passed since that time have witnessed an 
 extraordinary advance in naval architecture and in marine 
 enginery. After six days in Lisbon, we sailed directly for 
 Cowes, where we anchored for twenty hours, and then left for 
 Bremerhaven. 
 
 When the St. Lawrence was lying off Southampton the year 
 before, Lieutenant B. and other officers were invited to a town 
 ball where the elite were not in the majority. B. was always 
 jovial, and at the ball, being in a window-recess with one of 
 the ladies, took the liberty of kissing her. He said that she 
 would not have objected at all had not the curtain allowed the 
 act to be seen by the company. It was reported to the captain, 
 who had the lieutenant tried by court-martial : he pleaded 
 guilty to the charge, and, in his humorous defence, said that as 
 long ago as in the reign of George the Second a general order 
 had been issued, which he caused to be read to the court, to the 
 effect that " his Majesty's sea-officers were strictly enjoined to 
 be polite to the ladies." It was his desire to carry out this in- 
 struction on British soil, although of course it was not manda- 
 tory on other than British officers. His arguments were all in 
 the same strain, and, as the woman was full-grown and had not 
 suffered bodily injury, B. was " admonished," or perhaps repri- 
 manded. 
 
 Few American or perhaps even British readers of the present 
 day know that forty years ago, by act of Parliament, railroads 
 were obliged to carry a certain class of passengers at a penny a 
 
214 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 mile. This led to having a train of open cars with seats as 
 crowded as possible, and uncovered, so as to discourage that 
 kind of travel. B. wished to have a " lark," and went to 
 London on the " Parliamentary." Finding no vacant seats, he 
 assumed as stupid a stare as man could put on, and in the 
 brogue of the country, as far as he could master it, said to the 
 men near him, " Well, my old complaint has come back again." 
 " What be that ?" said one. " Oh, not much," replied B., scratch- 
 ing between his fingers vigorously : " nothing but the itch." In 
 a few minutes he had all the room he wished. 
 
 On one occasion, when the vessel was at sea, he dressed up in 
 a cockney rig, put on eye-glasses, stuck a little cane under his 
 arm, and jauntily entered the wardroom, where an officer was 
 engaged in reading. In a feigned voice, he addressed him : 
 " Beg your pardon, sir, but do you know whether Lieutenant 
 B. is below ?" The officer was startled by the apparition, and 
 said, " He certainly was here only a moment ago, but must have 
 gone on deck." " Ha ! ha ! I caught you that time, Fox !" 
 shouted the comedian, taking off his glasses, and allowing his 
 features to assume their natural expression. Had he gone upon 
 the stage he would have been the equal of Burton. We had a 
 comedy morning, noon, and night, whether we wished it or not. 
 B. could not help it. Not long after the St. Lawrence reached 
 home he was gathered to his fathers after passing twenty-seven 
 years in the navy. 
 
 When at Bremerhaven I was invited by an officer in the 
 German navy to go up the river some fifteen miles to a country 
 fair. We went in his gig, and, although the weather was rainy 
 and the ground muddy, the booths and sights were so novel and 
 curious that I felt amply repaid for my discomfort. Many of 
 the farmers for a long distance around were there, with their 
 wives, sons, and daughters. They had on the wooden shoes 
 usually worn in the country ; otherwise they were fitted out in 
 their best toggery. On one side of the room were a few of the 
 mothers, and the stout young girls, with their ruddy faces and 
 their keen enjoyment on being led out to dance ; on the other 
 side of the room were the young men and a few old ones, to 
 chaperon them, perhaps. There were many pipes, and, what 
 
SAIL FOR HOME. 215 
 
 with the tobacco-smoke and the dust arising from vigorous 
 dancing, the atmosphere was not one for dainty people; and 
 indeed none such were there. We went to see the " merry-go- 
 round :" seated in one of the cars were a stout country lad and 
 friiulein, and, as they spun around so that they could not have a 
 distinct view, they imagined that others could see them no better, 
 and regarded the opportunity as favorable for any amount of 
 kissing. It evidently was mutually agreeable, and the young 
 fellow was not brought to an account for it, as was Lieutenant 
 B., for wishing, as he said, to carry out the instructions of 
 George the Second to be polite to the ladies. 
 
 Bremen was reached by a small steamboat in six hours. The 
 Bathhaus, the Dome, and the Weinkeller were objects of special 
 interest. A very indifferent bronze statue of Boland, son of 
 Charlemagne, stood near the Dome. The hotel was excellent : 
 we were told that many of the wealthy citizens sent their 
 daughters to that kitchen daily to learn the art of cooking, 
 which seems to many of our countrywomen of comparatively 
 little value, and yet it concerns the health of the family in a 
 great degree, and not a little the economy of living. 
 
 Bremen is a place of great wealth, and seemed to me more 
 like a Dutch than a German city. The heavy dikes along the 
 coast to keep out the tides constitute a common feature, and the 
 meadows dotted with fine cattle bordering the little river were 
 quite unlike other parts of Germany that I had seen. Bremer- 
 haven is to-day a live city, as I find in my diary I supposed it 
 would be, having grown up from a village in the past half- 
 century. 
 
 On the 3d of October we left for home, and three days after- 
 wards encountered heavy weather, which continued for two days. 
 After my experience during our civil war, if I felt any doubt as 
 to the position of a vessel in such shoal waters I should anchor 
 and ride out heavy weather, as we did off the Southern coast 
 for four years, without the loss of a single vessel during all that 
 time. 
 
 When in the English Channel we found ourselves too near 
 the French coast through the set of the currents, and had to carry 
 sail heavily during a morning watch to keep off the coast. The 
 
216 TEE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 eighth day out we passed the Scilly Islands, and with fresh 
 easterly breezes we were soon on the Banks of Newfoundland, 
 after which we had head- winds. 
 
 Early in November we hove to off Boston Light to get in- 
 structions, and on receiving them bore away for New York, and 
 entered that port several days thereafter. On the 14th we got 
 our leaves of absence. At the urgent request of a navy friend, 
 I remained in New York for several days until he could come 
 on from Boston. On his arrival I found him in great distress. 
 He was desirous that I should join his party on the Coast Sur- 
 vey. I insisted that he had been on that duty too long, — that he 
 should go to sea. It was my purpose to pay a visit to my rela- 
 tives and then to ask orders to the first frigate bound for the 
 Pacific. He was much affected at what I said ; he needed me 
 near him, he said, and I finally agreed to go on survey-duty 
 with him for six months, provided he would then apply for the 
 position of first lieutenant of the first frigate bound for the 
 Pacific. This arrangement was carried out on my part, but not 
 on that of my friend, who remained with the Coast Survey until 
 he left the navy. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Pay a Visit to Ohio — Details of the Trip — Throckmorton — A Belle at Louis- 
 ville — Chattanooga — Lookout Mountain — Kenesaw Mountain— Marietta 
 — Atlanta — Macon — Coast-Survey Service on the Southern Coast — Savan- 
 nah — Captain Maffit — Lieutenant Anderson — Some Keflections on Slavery 
 — Mr. Legare — A South Carolina Secessionist — Special Service in Cali- 
 fornia — Site for a Navy- Yard at San Francisco — Senator Gwin. 
 
 After being prevailed upon by my friend to postpone my 
 desired cruise to the Pacific until I should see him out of his 
 difficulties, under the assurance that he would then go with me, 
 I set out for Ohio, first visiting some old friends in Philadel- 
 phia, among whom was a classmate who had resigned years 
 before and was pursuing the quiet life of a planter in South 
 Carolina, where he still resides. 
 
DETAILS OF THE TRIP. 217 
 
 Passing through Baltimore, I enjoyed several days in the 
 family of Mr. Pike and his charming daughter, the wife of my 
 friend and shipmate Bowie, who was then in California, to which 
 State he subsequently took his family. His wife died there a 
 score of years»ago and he recently, leaving half a dozen stalwart 
 sons, worthy of that great State, to mourn their father's death. My 
 German friend G. had married daring my absence, and I arrived 
 just in time for the christening of his son. He had always been 
 devoted to music and society, and had been in charge of a topo- 
 graphical party on the Coast Survey for years, spending his 
 winters in Washington, and as a bachelor was as happy as a lark. 
 No matter at what hour he came home from a reception or a 
 party, a well-sharpened pencil and a note-book were industri- 
 ously used for at least ten minutes. He gave me his favorite 
 song of the " Silver Bell," accompanied as of old by his guitar. 
 He died a few years after, and I fear his interesting note-books, 
 covering many years, were thrown into the fire. Among the 
 charming people who were present at the christening was the 
 great beauty Miss Moale, who some years later married General 
 John G. Foster, of the army, who commanded our land-forces 
 in the Carolinas for a period in our civil war. 
 
 I crossed the mountains with two of my shipmates of the St. 
 Lawrence, both of whom are now rear-admirals. Dining at 
 Harper's Ferry, Father McNally was more struck than edified 
 by the strong language of a future rear-admiral. On arriving 
 at Cumberland, which poiut was at that time the railroad termi- 
 nus, we took the stage to Wheeling. An Irishman, a fellow- 
 passenger, informed us with an air of satisfaction that he weighed 
 two hundred and fifty-seven pounds : in the slang of to-day, he 
 certainly got " the pull" on the stage company. He had two 
 companions, one of whom in conversation said that the 22d of 
 March and the 22d of September were the equinoxes. The 
 stout man assured him that he was in error, that " the equinoxes 
 were that spot on the globe where the sun would shine straight 
 down into a well." Such conversation served greatly to enliven 
 the rough and uncomfortable journey to Wheeling. 
 
 On the morning after our arrival we took passage on the daily 
 packet to Cincinnati, and were pleased to meet Colonel Rowan, 
 
218 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 of Kentucky, our late minister to Naples, and his travelling- 
 companions, General Howard, and John P. Kennedy, of Balti- 
 more, afterwards an excellent Secretary of the Navy, and then 
 widely known as the author of " Horse-Shoe Robinson," a novel 
 that has survived the popularity of a day. • 
 
 On arriving at Cincinnati I passed a month pleasantly enough 
 visiting relatives, a part of the time with Thomas Henry Yeat- 
 man, four miles below the city, in whose hospitable house I had 
 from my childhood spent many happy days. Then, under orders, 
 I joined the surveying-schooner Gallatin, at Savannah, Georgia. 
 I left in the Louisville packet on the 26th of December ; the 
 day was clear and cold, the ground covered deeply with snow, 
 and the river in a high stage of muddy water. We soon left 
 the city behind us, and as the houses faded from the view I felt 
 sad enough in the reflection that for three years at least the 
 " good times would not come again. " 
 
 The steam-packets at that day were swift, and with the ac- 
 celeration of a strong current we were soon at Louisville. I 
 put up at the Gait House, where I met Throckmorton, an ex- 
 midshipman, whom I once had the honor to take to the side of 
 the French frigate Gloire on the occasion of a grand ball, with 
 " John Hogan from the South," as he styled himself, and the 
 charming young ladies, and their sententious mother, whose sense 
 of smell at once condemned my boat and led to remarks by 
 no means complimentary to her conveyance. The examination 
 stood in the way of Throck, and he went back to his friends a 
 perfect ideal beau of the day in that region. He was large, 
 rather too heavily built, and good-looking, with a self-assurance 
 bordering on arrogance, but withal courteous in manner. He 
 had several duels when in the navy, and on one occasion after 
 exchanging shots immediately sang out, in a loud tone, " Any- 
 body hurt ? I shot at a bird." " No," replied his antagonist ; 
 " and I shot at a blessed fool." The latter was styled " Bird" 
 from the fact that on one occasion shortly after he entered the 
 service, while still quite small, and lying sea-sick on the top- 
 gallant-forecastle, a malicious little fellow pointed out a school 
 of flying-fish that had just risen out of the w r ater, and asked 
 him if he did not think them very pretty birds, to which he 
 
THROCKMORTON. 219 
 
 replied affirmatively. He was known thereafter as " Bird ;" 
 and his resenting Throck's impertinence in so addressing him 
 led to the duel. 
 
 Although Throck had no objection to fighting a duel, he had 
 a mortal fear of ghosts, and it was said would not on any ac- 
 count go into an unlighted room nor traverse a wood after dark. 
 He introduced me to Captain Vernon, who had been a volunteer 
 in the Mexican war, then lately ended, and who was a hand- 
 some, well-bred gentleman of thirty-five, devoted to society. He 
 importuned me to go with him to call on a famous belle of that 
 city who had been recently divorced. We were entertained by 
 her charming conversational powers; among other topics, she 
 discussed theatrical affairs at Louisville, and considered the per- 
 formances admirable. As we left, Mrs. W. was good enough to 
 suggest that she would be pleased to see me at the theatre in the 
 evening. 
 
 After two days' detention, I set out in the packet-steamboat 
 Simpson for Tuscumbia, well up on the Cumberland River. 
 The boat was passably comfortable, and I had occasion again to 
 remark the universality of steamboat manners on the Mississippi 
 and its affluents, as marked as the manners of ball-rooms or of 
 public assemblages. To persons whose every-day life brings 
 them in contact with others, " manners," in the acceptation here 
 employed, are imperceptible. But in the case of persons who 
 rarely leave home, the voyage on a steamboat greatly impresses 
 them, and they not only put on their most gorgeous attire, but 
 supplement it with a stately air. When at table, the nearer they 
 are seated to the captain the greater the honor, and they break- 
 fast or dine with a solemnity befitting a memorable occasion. 
 There is to them an air of superlative luxury in the stately halls 
 and service at table on board of the boat that impresses them, 
 aided doubtless by the majesty with which they traverse the 
 waters in a floating house of several stories, emblazoned by 
 many mirrors. I heard an honest countrywoman remark in the 
 cabin that she thought any one who could not be happy there 
 could not be happy anywhere on earth. 
 
 We were four days in reaching Eastport, and the stage of 
 water made that the termination of her voyage. After a deten- • 
 
220 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 tion of twenty-four hours, we were transferred to the Colonel 
 King, quite a small boat. The passengers were twenty-five in 
 number, and there were bunks for but ten. We steamed until 
 ten at night, making little progress, and then tied up to a tree, 
 as was usual in those waters. The cabin was small and very 
 dirty, so we could not lie down, chairs being our only resting- 
 place. At daybreak we got under way, and after three hours' 
 steaming reached the head of an island, when our steam gave 
 out, and we were carried down the channel on the other side of 
 the island, which imposed upon us the necessity of descending to 
 within two miles of Eastport, whence we had started the day 
 before. When we rounded up at the foot of the island we fired 
 up manfully, and, reaching the head of the island, had the good 
 luck not to be swept down again. In thirty-six hours we reached 
 Tuscumbia, a distance of only thirty miles. Although the time 
 was wasted, it was not wholly lost ; we had " characters" on 
 board, as persons were styled in stages and steamboats who gave 
 to other passengers instruction or amusement. A collector of 
 raccoon-skins gave us his experience in general, and in particu- 
 lar during the prevalence of cholera as an epidemic at Paducah. 
 An Irish parson, with a dirty white cravat and a white-headed 
 wife, fairly divided honors with his rival ; his specialty was to 
 find out the business of other people. After a number of ques- 
 tions, he learned that I " followed the sea," whereupon he dilated 
 upon navigation. As he knew little, I was malicious enough to 
 give him the various methods employed to find the position at 
 sea, and, as he wished to air his knowledge, and not to learn, he 
 gave me a wide berth until we parted. 
 
 On our arrival at Tuscumbia we learned that a fall of snow 
 of half an inch had prevented the arrival of the cars from 
 Florence ; this railroad was necessary to enable us to get around 
 the Muscle Shoals. We left the next day on a full car drawn 
 by horses. I had the good fortune to secure a seat, and saw 
 not only unfortunates crowded within the car, but also others 
 actually holding on outside. Six miles from Tuscumbia we 
 met the locomotive, coming at the usual speed of three miles an 
 hour. It ran off the track ahead of us, and no bones were 
 broken. Being interested, the passengers got fence-rails for pries, 
 
CHATTANOOGA. 221 
 
 and set to work ; in a few minutes the locomotive was again on 
 the track. We then had other cars attached, with a negro walk- 
 ing alongside each car to hold the rail flat on the sleeper, over 
 the ties, as the front wheel of the car reached it. I note in my 
 diary that this is a fact, and not a fanciful statement, and, to 
 verify it, state that we were a day and a half making the forty- 
 three miles to Decatur. Other " characters" were found on the 
 train, — one a good-natured young Mississippian who had left 
 the day before we did, and after getting along ten miles, stuck 
 fast, notwithstanding the exertions of the horses and the pas- 
 sengers. The road had been built about twenty years, — in fact, 
 was among the first constructed in the country, — and instead 
 of improving had deteriorated greatly. 
 
 We found a steamboat ready to leave for Chattanooga. The 
 scenery on the northern bank to our destination was grand, 
 cliffs of white-looking rock one thousand feet or more in height 
 sometimes overhanging the river, and sometimes with a rich low 
 ground in front along the tortuous stream. The low grounds 
 are evidently subject to overflow in high stages of water. These 
 highlands, known as the Cumberland Mountains, would be an 
 admirable refuge to the entire southwest during periods of 
 yellow-fever epidemic, as they are conveniently situated, with 
 ready means of transit. In proof of the sufficiency of the 
 altitude, I may say that in later years I paid a visit to Count 
 Medem, at Petropolis, some forty miles from Rio Janeiro, and 
 was informed that the highest local yellow-fever development 
 was at the house at which the horses were changed in ascending, 
 and that the height of that point was not two thousand feet 
 above the sea. The Lookout Mountain at Chattanooga would 
 perhaps be even still better adapted as a convenient point of 
 safety. 
 
 Several flat-boats were lying at Chattanooga, some of them 
 loaded with apples of excellent quality. As the " broad-horn," 
 or flat-boat, has gone out of existence, and as it had performed 
 an indispensable purpose for many years, a description of it is 
 given. It was a rectangular box, from fifty to sixty feet in 
 length, about twenty feet in width, and from seven to eight feet 
 in height between the bottom and the roof, and was built as 
 
222 THE 0LD KAVF AND THE NEW. 
 
 follows. Two bottom side-pieces were hewn of the proper length 
 about six inches through and twenty inches in depth. Mortices 
 were cut at distances of about four feet in the bottom of these 
 pieces, and planking three or four inches in thickness, and 
 twenty feet in length across the bottom, was put in, forming the 
 floor-ribs. The heavy side-pieces upon which the structure was 
 made were hewed at the ends for some ten feet, making a curve, 
 and leaving them at the ends about ten inches in depth. The 
 structure (or at least the scow part of it) was built bottom up, 
 the planking put on, calked with tow, and rarely pitched. 
 When this part was completed it was turned over, placed on 
 a platform convenient for launching, or actually put in the 
 water and the superstructure built upon it. This consisted of 
 stanchions placed to meet the floor-ribs and nailed or spiked 
 to the side-pieces and to the ribs; the outside planking of 
 rough boards was then nailed on and calked with tow, a rail 
 was put upon the top of the stanchions, and a centre-piece 
 longitudinally with a stringer, rough planking was laid from 
 side to side, partially calked, and other planks laid over the 
 joints, forming a roof. About six feet of the flat-boat was left 
 open in front, with a temporary awning over it when required, 
 and side-holes as windows cut to let in the fresh air. Then a 
 flooring was laid on the bottom, " saplings'' put on pins and 
 pieces of plank nailed on them, two of them to serve as side- 
 sweeps, and the third to pull the after part of the boat around 
 so as to place the head, or bow, in any desired direction. When 
 the floor was laid and these rough preparations made, with a 
 stove added, for cooking, the boat was ready for her cargo, 
 consisting usually of corn in the ear, bacon, apples, or whatever 
 it was desired to send down the river. Usually three men 
 managed, as far as possible, this unwieldy craft. It was always 
 tied up to the bank after night, unless the river below was free 
 from snags and there were no island-heads to ground upon. 
 The current swept them on their way, and propulsion was 
 simply given when necessary to avoid obstructions, or to gain 
 the shore and make fast, which latter was usually effected by 
 taking the end of a line ashore, making it fast, and swinging 
 the clumsy hulk in along the bank. 
 
MACON. 223 
 
 Until steamboats became the carriers of provisions from the 
 waters of the Ohio and other affluents of the Mississippi, every- 
 thing exported was carried down the river in these rude con- 
 structions, one owner frequently having several flat-boats that 
 kept company. They sold or bartered as they went down the 
 river, New Orleans being the end of the voyage, and there every- 
 thing remaining of the cargo was sold. The planks from which 
 the flat-boat was made generally sold for as much as they cost, 
 with the expense of construction of the boat added. The cap- 
 tain or owner then walked back, accompanied by the crew ; a 
 necessary precaution to prevent being murdered. Sixty years 
 ago this was the usual mode of sending freights to New Orleans ; 
 but at the date of which I write steamboats were gradually 
 taking the place of " broad-horns/' or flat-boats. 
 
 Chattanooga was not at all inviting, save in its surrounding 
 scenery. The steep, muddy bank from the water's edge to a flat 
 surface was as nature made it. We had to lie over until the 
 next morning, and then were on a better-appointed railroad than 
 that before described. Indeed, it was well up in speed for the 
 day, making some twelve or fifteen miles per hour. After 
 reaching Dalton, a distance of twenty miles, the country had 
 altogether an inviting appearance. Here I left a card for an 
 acquaintance, the travestied Colonel Mulberry Sellers of recent 
 comedy, who, by the way, was a gentleman of ability and char- 
 acter. The country about Kenesaw Mountain struck me as 
 particularly beautiful, and Marietta, four miles south, was a 
 charming country village. We ended our journey for the day 
 at Atlanta, the hotel coming up to the demands of civilization. 
 We left at eleven A.M. the next day, and about four p.m. arrived 
 at Macon, where we were obliged to lie over until the next day. 
 Although the country around is elevated, it had wholly lost a 
 mountainous appearance; it was not without beauty, but the 
 soil by bad tillage was so exhausted that the cotton- and corn- 
 stalks standing in the fields presented a pitiable appearance. 
 The Lanier House was a good hotel, the first since leaving Cin- 
 cinnati, and the town was altogether attractive in appearance. 
 We left Macon early, skirting swamps usually, and now and then 
 seeing cultivated ground. The country seemed very sparsely 
 
224 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 peopled, but I was told that a few miles from the line of loca- 
 tion of the railroad it was quite different. In twelve hours we 
 reached Savannah. It seems as though the days' journeys were 
 regulated by the time-bill of the old stage-coaches, giving addi- 
 tional opportunity in the large towns to chew tobacco and talk 
 politics. Fifteen days had been passed in making the journey 
 between Cincinnati and Savannah, with a good deal of discom- 
 fort. Now it is a pleasant journey of thirty-six hours, with as 
 much convenience in travel as can be desired. 
 
 Mackenzie, the proprietor of the Pulaski House at Savannah, 
 happened to be an old and agreeable acquaintance. I was at 
 breakfast when I received a call from my friends Maffit, Ander- 
 son, and Bullock, the first-named the commanding officer of the 
 surveying- vessel I had come to join, the second an old shipmate 
 and friend, of whom I shall have more to say, and the third 
 now well known as a gentleman of character and ability whose 
 services were specially useful to the Confederacy, ten years later, 
 as a commercial agent in England. Maffit was a thorough sea- 
 man and a very successful blockade-runner, commanding the 
 Florida, and by a ruse succeeding in taking her into Mobile. 
 Anderson had served some fifteen years in the navy, reached the 
 grade of lieutenant, and resigned several years before. He had 
 a cotton-plantation nine miles from the city, on the Ogeechee 
 River, and a large number of slaves, very well taken care of, 
 as I saw on paying visits from time to time. His negroes were 
 well fed, well clothed, and when sick received not only the care 
 of a physician but also the attention of his excellent wife. They 
 were as happy-looking people as one could see anywhere. Walk- 
 ing out one day with Anderson, he called my attention to an old 
 negro who was carrying a large pine stick on his head from a 
 considerable distance to his house. " Look," said Anderson, "at 
 that old fool : he is carrying his wood all that distance, and you 
 see that wood, equally good, growing close to his house." As 
 we passed him, Anderson said, " Uncle Jujube, why don't you 
 get your wood near your house, instead of carrying it so far ?" 
 He replied, " Massa Edward, dat nigh wood ain't no good." 
 
 In conversation with Anderson I told him that slavery in 
 some of its aspects was quite incomprehensible to me. I supposed 
 
SOME REFLECTIONS ON SLAVERY. 225 
 
 no one, as an abstract question, would contend that it was right ; 
 and yet, looking at it practically, I saw the faces of his slaves 
 radiant with smiles ; they were well clad, well cared for, and 
 happy; all the small children were under the charge of a 
 " mammy," who cared for them better than their parents, as a 
 rule, would have done. I compared their condition with that 
 of the slaves of Mr. Guest (or Gist), a Virginian, who about 
 1830 emancipated them, bought a considerable tract of land in 
 the county in which I was born, in Ohio, and established them 
 upon it. After the lapse of ten years they were ill fed, had few 
 clothes, and those had been given them by the whites, and were 
 not attended to when sick, in consequence of which the mortality 
 was great among them. In short, they were wretched to a 
 degree, when they had not only their freedom, but also land and 
 implements to work it, given them. I think my friend en- 
 deavored to convince me that they were made to be slaves, or 
 something of that sort. In after-years it occurred to me that 
 persons upon whom a wrong is perpetrated do not suffer in the 
 same degree as those who perpetrate the wrong. 
 
 In the early part of June the work upon which I was engaged 
 allowed me to go north for three months. Mr. Mactavish, then 
 British consul at Baltimore, was good enough to give me a dinner- 
 party ; the guests, a dozen or more in number, were people of 
 note, among whom were Mrs. Harper, widow of Goodloe Harper, 
 and daughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and Miss Harper, 
 who was then, and is to this day, the friend of the poor. Several 
 gentlemen, venerable and distinguished, were there, who are still 
 living, and Mrs. Patterson, more widely known as the wife of 
 Jerome Bonaparte, whose history in part is doubtless to be found 
 in cyclopaedias. Although married prior to 1804, she was in 
 1851 still vigorous, with little sign of decadence. It was said 
 that she prided herself on being in appearance quite a Bonaparte, 
 and certainly she had the Napoleonic cast of feature, and a re- 
 markable amount of executive ability. It does not occur to me, 
 judging from the limited personal intercourse I had with her 
 and from extracts from her Memoirs, that she thought as a 
 woman. I mean to assert, what probably may be conceded, that 
 there is a natural train of thought distinctively belonging to 
 
 15 
 
226 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 each sex ; and that belonging to the female sex seems to have 
 been denied her, as exemplified in the rather copious extracts 
 from her Memoirs that appeared in the newspapers some years 
 ago. Nevertheless, Mrs. Patterson had an unusual amount of 
 thought, of opinion, and of character regarded from a Shake- 
 spearian point of view, as shown by her life and her history. At 
 the dinner referred to, I was on her left, and she was good enough 
 to give me her views of the political situation in France at that 
 time. She said, " People talk of Louis Napoleon as a fool ; 
 that is shown to be an error by the fact that he pursues a steady 
 purpose looking to the Empire ; a fool is always vacillating ; he 
 listens to one and adopts his ideas and then to another and en- 
 deavors to adopt his also ; so a man shows himself a fool, if in 
 a high place. They say he has Marshal [the name I can- 
 not recall], an old friend of the first Napoleon, as his adviser, and 
 that may be, but were he a fool he would sometimes take his 
 advice and at other times would ignore it. Now, I have been 
 watching Louis Napoleon ever since he was elected President, 
 and he has had but one object in view, and that is to be Emperor, 
 and Emperor he will be within six months from this date." The 
 time limit of Mrs. Patterson was almost exact when he made 
 his coup oVetat, and by shooting down all the men found on the 
 streets on the 2d of December, established such a reign of terror 
 in Paris as to effect his object. It seems incredible that troops 
 should have been ordered to traverse the streets and shoot down 
 men who fled before them, yet such was the fact ; my classmate 
 Catesby Jones, then a lieutenant in our navy, was one of the 
 victims ; he was dangerously wounded, and only saved from 
 death through a compassionate woman having opened a door 
 and assisted him into the house. 
 
 When I returned south I was an assistant in the surveys of 
 the Savannah River, in the approach to Tybee Roads, and on the 
 bars of the North Edisto and Charleston harbor. This gave 
 me an experience and local knowledge that ten years later, when 
 our civil war came about, I found most valuable. Engaged in 
 this duty, I had the opportunity, when bad weather forced us to 
 anchor, of making the acquaintance of several of the agreeable 
 families living in that region, — among others of Mr. Berwick 
 
A SOUTH CAROLINA SECESSIONIST. 227 
 
 Legare" on Edisto Island. It was my good fortune, with the aid 
 of our friend Anderson, to assist materially our common friend 
 Maffit; but, finding him, when a year had passed, averse to 
 going to sea, I cut loose and was ordered north. It happened 
 that a young planter whose relatives I knew was my travelling- 
 companion. About this period, or maybe a little earlier, South 
 Carolina had got up one of her efforts to disrupt the Union ; the 
 disaffection at that time was healed in great part by the efforts 
 of Henry Clay. My young friend was lamenting that South 
 Carolina had not then gone out of the Union anyhow : if she 
 had done so, she would soon be rich and prosperous. I asked 
 him what disadvantages she labored under at preseut. He re- 
 plied, " The enormous duties, sir; they break us down com- 
 pletely." I suggested that governments had to be supported, 
 and, as the duties collected over the whole country barely sufficed 
 to meet governmental expenses, I could not see how South 
 Carolina would be able to avoid taxes in some form or other, 
 even as an independent government. 
 
 " Why, sir/' said he, " we would import enormously, having 
 free ports, and would supply the whole country with goods." 
 
 I remarked that the North would have to keep up its duties, or 
 taxes, in some form or other, and that they could hardly hope 
 to import for the other States as well as themselves. His idea 
 was that the goods would be smuggled across the borders of 
 the State. I expressed the idea that this would be put a stop 
 to, even though South Carolina were an independent State ; but 
 in his mind this would have been a great outrage upon a 
 
 II sovereign State." 
 
 After our arrival in Richmond, my young friend informed 
 me, not long before the cars were to leave, that he would be 
 obliged to remain over ; he had a negro servant with him, a free 
 man living in Charleston, and, as he could not be identified at 
 present at the railroad office, they would not permit his servant 
 to pass, for he might be a slave attempting to escape, with his 
 assistance. Fortunately, at that moment a young lady accom- 
 panied by a gentleman passed, the daughter of ex-Secretary 
 Mason, of the navy, at whose house I was intimate. I asked 
 her if she was willing to recognize me ; this amused her ; where- 
 
228 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 upon I laid before her the dilemma of my travelling-companion, 
 and she was good enough to go with us to the office and state 
 who I was, and I vouched for Mr. Seabrook, which enabled 
 him to go in the train with his servant. 
 
 In February, 1852, I was ordered as an assistant to a com- 
 mission sent to the Bay of San Francisco to select a suitable 
 site for a navy-yard. Senator Gwin was not satisfied with the 
 selection made by a commission two years before, and wished it 
 in the immediate vicinity of the city. The second commission 
 consisted of Commodore Sloat, Commander Ogden, Lieutenant 
 Blount, and Civil Engineer Sanger, of the navy ; as assistants 
 myself and Passed Midshipman Jackson. Sloat had been in 
 command on the coast of California when our war with Mexico 
 was commenced ; for war was not declared, it was simply begun 
 by our troops moving into Mexican territory, where they were 
 attacked by the Mexicans. Blount was the son of a planter in 
 Southampton County, Virginia, who when he was twelve years 
 of age became known through his conduct in the Nat Turner 
 insurrection when an attack was made on Blount's plantation. 
 Mr. Blount was quite old and infirm, hardly able to stand. He 
 was informed of the approach of Turner with a considerable 
 force of mounted negroes, more or less armed, who had killed 
 several families in the neighborhood. As usual on plantations, 
 Blount had several guns, which he loaded, and, seated on his 
 porch, awaited the coming of the mob, headed by Turner. 
 They rode briskly into the yard, shouting, but, before they 
 could get off their horses, young Blount had emptied several 
 saddles. This was so unexpected that it created a panic, and, 
 instead of dismounting, the party rode off in confusion. Young 
 Blount was given a midshipman's appointment, and had already 
 served some twenty years in the navy since that occurrence. 
 He was an excellent and gallant officer, and withal quite good- 
 looking. Sanger was the only civil engineer in the navy at that 
 time, and in all matters concerning navy- yards was very efficient. 
 Sloat had invented an auger : it was always a puzzle to me, as 
 well as to others who were associated with him, why he had 
 done so, inasmuch as he could bore so perfectly without an 
 auger. 
 
PANAMA. 229 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 From New York to Havana — Lieutenant David D. Porter — Count Medem 
 — Aspinwall — Panama — Acapulco — Santa Barbara — San Pedro — Lieuten- 
 ant Alden — San Francisco — Vallejo — Foster's Bar — Fleas — The Sierra 
 Nevada — Mr. Maccarty — Start back on Foot — Perils of the Road — Get a 
 Ride for a Dollar — Rats — Arrive at San Francisco — Return Voyage — De- 
 tails of the Trip — New York to Baltimore— Charles Carroll's Library — 
 Commodore Matthew C. Perry — Secretary Kennedy — Join my Vessel at 
 Norfolk — Georgetown — Cayenne — Maranham — The Amazon. 
 
 We left New York on the 24th of March on board of the 
 Georgia, commanded by Lieutenant — now Admiral — Porter, of 
 the navy, and were nearly one week in reaching Havana, where 
 we were transferred to the Cherokee, a filthy vessel, upon which 
 we were six days in reaching Aspinwall. On board of the 
 Georgia I had become somewhat familiar with Count Medem, 
 the Russian minister to Brazil, a charming travelling companion, 
 of whom I shall have more to say. 
 
 Soon after our arrival at Aspinwall we were carried by rail- 
 road to Balbacoas, thence shoved up the Chagres River in 
 canoes to Gorgona, against a strong current a distance of twenty 
 miles, and on the following day we went on mules to Panama, 
 the count and myself being side by side all the way. An 
 Irishman mounted on a mule pertinaciously rode with us : so 
 far as I was concerned, I did not object ; but the count, being a 
 diplomatist, was averse to a third party hearing our conversation, 
 and in a good-humored way said to our uninvited companion, 
 " You have a noble mule, and mine is a very lazy one : now, 
 won't you ride ahead, by way of inciting my mule to emulate 
 yours ?" The Irishman said, " Gentlemen, I crave your company 
 because I know you are gentlemen, and would not allow a poor 
 fellow to be abused or robbed." " Very well," said the count : 
 " you ride on, and we will protect you." When we got on the 
 outskirts of Panama his mule " flopped down" to roll, as mine 
 had done at Palermo, and we had to rescue him, his leg being 
 caught under the saddle. Then we went into the city, and 
 
230 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 found not a place where to rest our heads. We visited house 
 after house in which bunks were built in the rooms three or four 
 over one another, and yet not even under such conditions was a 
 resting-place to be found. I eventually had to get permission 
 to go on board of the steamer, because I could not find sleeping 
 room on shore. Sanger, Jackson, and myself embarked in a 
 boat, and, our boatman being inexpert, we had to pull our way 
 two miles at least to the steamer, where we soon had a bath and 
 were made comfortable. 
 
 We sailed the next evening, and in due time reached Acapulco, 
 where we coaled. We left that port on the 15th of April, and 
 got along very well until we broke down off Santa Cruz, an 
 island near Santa Barbara, when we bore away under sail, not 
 being able to do anything else, and anchored at San Pedro. I 
 was surprised to see how helpless side-wheel steamers were when 
 undtT sail alone. The wheels were lashed, the upper paddles 
 taken oif, and then the wheels turned over so as to get rid of 
 the drag of the paddles. With great difficulty by means of 
 the helm and head-sails, the steamer was got on her course, 
 with a breeze on her quarter that would have meant ten knots 
 an hour for an ordinary vessel, yet she did not move more than 
 three miles an hour in reaching her port. We luckily found 
 the surveying-steamer Active at San Pedro, under Lieutenant 
 Alden, of the navy, who determined to take our party and a 
 few of our friends to San Francisco and to give information 
 there, that a steamer might be sent to tow the vessel. He got 
 under way at noon the next day, and, after a passage of a little 
 more than two days, arrived in San Francisco. 
 
 As we were passing Monterey, he was good enough to anchor 
 there for a few hours, in response to the expression on our part 
 of a desire to see the town. We went on shore, and were de- 
 lighted with the green broad plains covered with an infinite num- 
 ber of small poppies of varied colors, then in full bloom. We 
 left in the evening, and reached San Francisco about the last of 
 April. 
 
 To perform the duties assigned, the commission had either to 
 charter a vessel or to purchase one, and the latter was found to 
 be far the more economical. A brigantine, the Major Eastman, 
 
SAN FRANCISCO. 231 
 
 was purchased and fitted for our purpose. We then examined 
 the waters of the bay, making soundings and sketches of Kincon 
 Point, Saucelito, Aspinwall Bay, as it was called, and finally a 
 careful survey of Mare Island Straits, and of the island itself. 
 This was the locality selected by the former commission, and 
 was an admirable one for the purpose. The soundings were 
 made by me, the ground favoring a very rapid and satisfactory 
 execution of the work by means of a quadrilateral measured and 
 staked on shore, and the use of portable ranges, observing angles 
 over every other cast of the lead. 
 
 San Francisco at that time was an extraordinary outgrowth of 
 three years, — everybody busy, and everybody regarding himself 
 as a millionaire. The restaurants were very good, and elk and 
 grizzly bear were among the possibilities of the table. My 
 friend Bowie was then a practising physician, and suggested my 
 use of one of his horses, by which means I became well ac- 
 quainted with the surroundings for miles. The city, from the 
 large amount of sawdust, was badly infested with fleas ; and 
 although it was the month of May, the cold damp fogs that were 
 swirled over the hills, and the high winds that set the sand in 
 motion, made the climate extremely disagreeable. Just across 
 the bay, only half a dozen miles distant, at a place now known 
 as Oakland, these disagreeable features were very much mollified. 
 Following up beyond Mare Island, in what are known as the 
 Carquinez Straits, the climate is quite different : the fogs, if they 
 reach there at all, are not oppressive or disagreeable, and the raw- 
 ness of the atmosphere entirely disappears. The whole aspect 
 of the country is mountainous, and in the early season, when it is 
 covered with a species of wild oats, it presents a pleasing appear- 
 ance. After a month or so, when they are ripened and em- 
 browned, and the dry season has fairly commenced, the country 
 has a very dreary aspect ; in riding over it, great crevices are 
 seen, caused by the dryness of the soil. Here and there were 
 green trees, rather in sheltered positions, usually a species of oak, 
 which was found to be very brash and unserviceable for naval 
 purposes. Very little timber could be seen in the immediate 
 surrounding's, but in the distance were considerable forests of 
 red-wood, a coarse species of cedar. Monte Diablo, some fifteen 
 
232 THE OLD NAVF AND THE NEW. 
 
 miles or more from Vallejo, was a very beautiful feature in the 
 landscape. Vallejo, at that time, was the capital of California, 
 and consisted of twenty or more frame houses, mostly unoccupied, 
 and of a large two-story frame, known as the State-House, upon 
 which the American flag had been hoisted months before, and 
 never hauled down while we were in sight of it. When lying 
 in Mare Island Straits one evening, I accompanied Captain 
 Ogden in his boat to shoot wild ducks, that abounded in those 
 waters. It was not very sportsmanlike, as they were then breed- 
 ing. We pulled up before the wind several miles, and into the 
 sloughs, but coming back again was quite a different matter; 
 the wind piped up fiercely right ahead, and the water was very 
 rough. Ogden, being delicate, soon broke down pulling, and it 
 was two o'clock in the morning when we got alongside of our 
 vessel, my hands severely blistered. I did not awake until eight 
 o'clock, and never had so fatiguing a pull in my life. 
 
 After our surveys were completed, several of the officers were 
 directed to visit the interior, in order to find such naval require- 
 ments as stone for building docks, and timber for ship-construc- 
 tion, as the country might afford. This took us to Sacramento, 
 Marysville, at the mouth of the Yuba, and to mining regions 
 near at hand, among other localities to Grass Valley. Another 
 party went in the direction of Mount Shasta. At that time 
 there was little in the way of naval supplies or wants apparent 
 in the regions we visited. 
 
 After our work was accomplished, ten days remained before 
 the sailing of the steamer, and I obtained permission to visit the 
 interior. My object was to ascertain the locality of a mineral 
 which I thought of great value, a specimen of which I had seen. 
 I was told that it was to be found in the vicinity of Goodyear's, 
 six miles short of Dowuieville, on the Yuba. I went in a com- 
 fortable steamer to Sacramento, the melting snows in the moun- 
 tains furnishing plenty of water up to that time, and could have 
 gone in a smaller steamer to Marysville, where the river becomes 
 almost a mountain stream. The stage carried us quite eight 
 miles an hour, and we were six and a half hours on the dusty 
 road. I went to the United States Hotel at Marysville, where 
 I had been before with two other officers when we visited the 
 
FLEAS. 233 
 
 interior. Here I left my baggage, which was very little, and 
 put on a check shirt and the ordinary rig of a miner, with a 
 revolver in a strap carried on the right hip. The next morning 
 we started early in a rough spring wagon for Foster's Bar, forty 
 miles distant. The road soon became rocky, and grew rougher 
 as we went along ; the latter part of the way was quite rough, 
 and at places all the passengers w T ere obliged to get out. My 
 fellow-passengers were several French gamblers and half a dozen 
 of their countrywomen, who were gotten up regardless of ex- 
 pense, and several miners in such a garb as I was. On our 
 arrival at Foster's Bar we were put down at the " Stage House," 
 which was made up of a bar-room, an eating-room, a kitchen, 
 and a sleeping-room of canvas. A part of the construction 
 was of plank. The beds were made by driving four stout poles 
 into the ground, and at a height of two feet, fastening a piece of 
 canvas to them, which took the place of a mattress. A brown 
 blanket was thrown upon it, that would not show dirt under 
 any possible conditions. That night fifty human beings were 
 lying on these rude beds, and certainly much the greater number 
 of them were damning the fleas. I had no sooner lain down 
 than I was attacked by them, and, notwithstanding my fatigue, 
 it was two a.m. before I got to sleep. It would have been wise 
 had I gone out of doors under a tree and left the fleas to bite 
 the other people. 
 
 It was Saturday night, and the miners had come in " to have 
 a good time." There was simply a canvas partition between me 
 and the bar-room, in which there was a constant jargon, and 
 quarrels, at times. I went to sleep speculating upon the chance 
 there was of a ball hitting me, while listening to a loud voice, 
 
 " Shoot, d n you, shoot ! I dare you to do it," and other voices, 
 
 " Put up your pistol : there ain't any occasion for a fight." 
 
 In the morning I was introduced to. Colonel Greathouse, who 
 had charge of the mule-train to Downieville. He loitered about 
 until ten, when it had grown quite w T arm. In the mean time I 
 saw one miner strike another on the back of the head with a 
 stick and chase him down-hill ; had he caught him I have no 
 doubt he would have killed him outright ; nobody seemed to 
 interest himself in the affair. On mounting our mules we began 
 
234 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 an immediate but not a steep ascent on the left bank of the Yuba ; 
 the mountain-side was sparsely covered with pine-trees, that 
 seemed not very large until looked at closely, when it was seen 
 that they were several feet in diameter, and without limbs for a 
 hundred feet or more in height. The grade of the ascent was 
 generally not very steep, and we were two or more hours in 
 getting near the summit. Here we had a fine view of the Sierra 
 Nevada range, great white mountains fifty or more miles in the 
 distance, with the snow far down their sides. Around us were 
 giant red-woods, and far down, thousands of feet below, were 
 the dashing waters of the Yuba. A breezy wind swept over us, 
 and we heard the deep and solemn music that winds give in 
 wooded mountain regions. At last w r e were on the spur that 
 looked down on Goodyear' s Bar ; in the distance, far below, a 
 thin white thread was visible between bordering ridges of great 
 height ; it was the upper Yuba dashing down its bed, hundreds 
 of feet of descent per mile. Going down the mountain-side 
 would have been impossible to a rider on any other animal than 
 a mule ; we wound our way around, gradually descending over 
 precipitous ground, not cliffs, thousands of feet in height, with 
 the utmost confidence in the sure footing of our mules, and left 
 them to their own guidance. We reached Goodyear's Bar at 
 four o'clock, having been six hours on the road of twenty -two 
 miles. After alighting at the hotel and having a promise from 
 Greathouse that he would bring me a mule the next day, I paid 
 a visit to a Dr. Young whose shingle hung out near by. I in- 
 troduced myself and asked information in relation to the locality, 
 then walked some three miles down the Yuba to look at rocks 
 that I was told were there in abundance of a kind that I hoped 
 to find ; but instead there was a hill-side covered with a greenish 
 kind of what appeared to be soapstone. Returning, I took a 
 mountain-path, and, before I knew it, was hundreds of feet 
 above the stream ; here I met a big Indian, who seemed to be 
 in gala dress and had his bow and arrows. We passed each 
 other with a friendly nod. 
 
 On reaching the hotel, after my ride, and a walk of six or eight 
 miles afterwards, I was quite in condition to dine on any healthy 
 food that was obtainable, and found the usual supply of dried 
 
MR. MACCARTY. 235 
 
 apples, saleratus bread, and canned meats. In the bar-room 
 were two sailors engaged in singing a sea-song, and the doctor, 
 wishing to make things agreeable, had come over to introduce 
 me to these " men of the sea." 
 
 He said, "Mr. Maccarty, this is Lieutenant Ammen, of the 
 navy. Mr. Yloss, this is Lieutenant Ammen, of the navy." 
 
 Mr. Maccarty certainly had a " load aboard," but, lest the 
 reader should not understand sea-slang, I will say he was " half- 
 seas over." On hearing my title announced, he saluted me, but 
 on looking at me closely appeared to consider that he had gone 
 a step too far, — in short, that he had been taken in, and that I 
 was an impostor. Said Mr. Maccarty, — 
 
 " You say, sir, you are a lieutenant in the navy ?" 
 
 I replied, " Yes, I am." 
 
 "Then, sir," said he, "won't you take something to drink?" 
 
 I declined, which seemed to anger him, and put him on his 
 " dignity." He informed me that up there one man was as good 
 as another. I replied that I quite agreed with him ; and might 
 have added, in the language of an Irishman who had just come 
 
 over, " and a d n sight better, too !" His companion was a 
 
 Swede, not so far gone in liquor, and, probably regarding me as 
 a lieutenant who had " tripped up," was disposed to be amiable 
 and to enable me to gain a livelihood. He told me he could set 
 me down on a good paying claim if I would work. I told him 
 I was very much obliged to him for his kind offer, but that I 
 had not come to work, that I wished only to see what was going 
 on, and would return to the coast the next day. I bade my 
 sailor friends and the doctor good-night, went into the dining- 
 room, which was surrounded by bunks in tiers four deep, and, 
 crawling up to a top bunk, soon fell asleep, in spite of fleas, filth, 
 and drunken sailors. 
 
 Early in the morning I got up, went out of doors to a stream 
 that flowed briskly near by, performed my ablutions satisfac- 
 torily, then breakfasted on dried apples, — cooked, of course, — 
 with saleratus bread, and whatever else was presented, and, 
 while awaiting the coming of Greathouse and his mules, ex- 
 amined drifts into the mountains of several hundred feet which 
 I believe were profitless. Greathouse came, but instead of 
 
236 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 bringing me a male he brought the information that all the 
 mules were " occupied/' and, as I saw, by just such a class of 
 persons as I had come up with the day before. I feel quite 
 satisfied that not one of them, man or woman, could have pro- 
 duced or obtained a certificate of good character if required ; 
 but of course there was no one to demand it. It was a place 
 where "one man was just as good as another." 
 
 Having no mule, I could either walk or stay as I preferred. 
 In company with a man wearing a red flannel shirt, who told 
 me his name was Yates, and that he had been the mate of an 
 Australian ship, whose mule also was " occupied," I started up 
 the mountain-side, determined to beat the mule-train to Foster's 
 Bar in order to secure a seat in the stage to Marysville. The 
 thermometer was one hundred degrees in the shade, yet, from 
 the dryness of the atmosphere, we did not suffer. My com- 
 panion was about twenty-five years of age, and a good walker, 
 so we got over the ground at a lively pace and fairly distanced 
 the mule-train. On the mountain-top we encountered a cordon 
 of fire that was moving along briskly, and at one point we had 
 to pass through a disagreeably hot region that the fire had just 
 swept over. 
 
 On our arrival at the bar we found the stage seats " pre- 
 empted" by the interesting crowd coming on. My red-shirted 
 companion informed me soon after that a friend had promised 
 him a mule upon which he would go to Marysville, which left 
 me alone for a walk of forty miles by the road, or to remain, as 
 I might choose. I took a bath in the clear waters of the Yuba, 
 and at the hotel my portion of baked beans, dried apples, and 
 whatever was set before us, and awaited the morning, when I 
 breakfasted on the same bill of fare and then started up the 
 mountain-side for Marysville. After ascending to a consider- 
 able height, I saw a young man below me climbing the height 
 vigorously, and awaited his arrival. I told him I had not been 
 able to get a seat in the stage nor to hire a mule, and had to 
 walk or stay, whichever I preferred, but that as I feared the 
 steamer might leave before I reached the coast if I remained 
 until the next day, I had concluded to walk. He told me he 
 was in the same " fix." We shortened the distances consider- 
 
PERILS OF THE ROAD. 237 
 
 ably by taking pathways worn several inches in the soil, and 
 very dusty, coming into the stage road from time to time. In 
 taking one of these paths I observed my companion hesitate to 
 go ahead of me, doubtless under an. apprehension of being shot. 
 I immediately took the lead, and he saw at once that I was not 
 laboring under a fear of being shot by him, and it seemed to 
 assure him as to my character. We had got along fifteen miles 
 of the road, and kept ahead of the stage, when we arrived at a 
 way-side house, whose occupant was a friend of my companion 
 and who asked him to take a mule to Marysville that he had 
 hired and ridden home, and I was left alone to pursue my way. 
 During the morning we had seen in the dust the footprints of a 
 grizzly bear. That animal rarely attacks a man ; only when 
 suddenly approached or when quite hungry. The danger of 
 the road was not from bears, but in being murdered. On re- 
 counting my experience to the landlord after arriving at Marys- 
 ville, he informed me that seventy murders had been known 
 along that line of road in the past year, and that many more 
 men had disappeared, who were supposed to have been mur- 
 dered and hidden in the mountains. In fact, a man who walked 
 along that line of road did so at his peril, and frequently, when 
 several miners travelled together for security they were shot 
 from an ambush, dragged from the line of road, and their 
 bodies found months afterwards. My companion, who did not 
 know me and who looked upon me with distrust under such a 
 state of affairs, only displayed an ordinary sense of caution. 
 
 Ten miles farther on there was a public house by the way- 
 side, where I stopped to get something to eat. There was a 
 " Pike County woman" standing at the door, to whom I ad- 
 dressed myself. She called to the landlord, " Here's a man out 
 here who wants to git something to eat." Thus announced, I 
 entered, and regaled myself as usual on dried apples, saleratus 
 bread, and other food which might be eaten by a hungry man 
 but would be let alone under ordinary conditions of life. At 
 that time in California rough people who were not supposed to 
 be vicious were known as Pike County people, a large emi- 
 gration having gone to California from that section of Missouri. 
 Here I was overtaken by the stage, and also by a rough wagon 
 
238 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 nearly filled with miners as dirty and forbidding in appearance 
 as myself. I told the driver that I wished to ride to Marysville ; 
 he looked at me closely, and said that nobody could ride with 
 him that did not pay him a dollar. I informed him that I was 
 not an object of charity, and, producing my dollar, was allowed 
 to mount an outside end of a plank laid across the wagon body, 
 where a rough pole stuck in perpendicularly enabled me to hold 
 on, while passing over rough parts of the road. We were 
 about fifteen miles from Marysville ; my feet were badly blistered 
 by my walk of two days, but not " used up," as they were the 
 next day. I found when we got to the end of our journey 
 that my right hand, by which I held on to prevent being thrown 
 out, was also blistered. 
 
 When I had left the hotel, only four days before, I had at 
 least a clean appearance, but now I looked so dirty and forlorn 
 that when recognized by the landlord he asked what was the 
 matter with me. I informed him that if he would be good 
 enough to have a tub of water and my baggage taken to a spare 
 room I hoped to make myself all right in a few minutes. It 
 did not take long to disembarrass myself of dirty clothing and 
 to make the best use possible of the tub of water, after which I 
 put on clean clothing and piled all my dirty garments around 
 the tub for the free use of any one who could do no better than 
 to put them on, and left Upper California with no desire to 
 return ; nor has a longing to do so entered my mind in all the 
 years that have passed since that day. 
 
 Everywhere in the interior I was surprised at the great 
 number of rats to be seen wherever there were habitations. It 
 had been only three years before when the wild rush to Cali- 
 fornia set in, and the extraordinary fecundity of rats and their 
 sagacity in transporting themselves had already spread them 
 wherever men were to be found. The ceilings of the public 
 and private houses for the most part, when there were any, were 
 made of white cotton cloth nailed with slats against the beams. 
 This afforded an admirable place for the rats to frolic and 
 chase one another, uttering their peculiar cry on such occasions. 
 The bagging down of the cotton cloth plainly showed where 
 the animals were, and the miners were in the habit of shoot- 
 
ARRIVE AT SAN FRANCISCO. 239 
 
 ing them at times, as they lay in their beds, but this was 
 generally objected to or discouraged by the landlords, for the 
 reasons that the balls made holes in the roofs, and that when 
 shot, the rats had to be removed with considerable trouble, in 
 order to get rid of the stench from their decomposing bodies. 
 Looking out in the hotel yard at Marysville in the glare of the 
 noonday sun, it seemed quite alive with rats. 
 
 There was ample facility from that point to reach the steamer 
 before the day of sailing, so that I was no longer apprehensive 
 of being left behind. The commission had not only completed 
 its labors in a satisfactory manner, but had sold the brigantine 
 at an advance of several hundred dollars over what had been 
 paid for her and all fitments and repairs. 
 
 On reaching San Francisco I found myself in a sorry plight; 
 the unusual and severe exposure and exercise through which I 
 had passed made me quite unwell, and I was spared a serious 
 illness only through a careful dietetic observance and a little 
 medicine. I had hardly recovered when we reached Panama, 
 though the voyage gave me an admirable opportunity for im- 
 provement. I found porter an excellent tonic for the febrile 
 condition brought about by what I had passed through. During 
 our examinations, and also for recreation, we frequently had 
 occasion to ascend considerable altitudes, and in mountain- 
 regions generally the grades are so easy that any one accustomed 
 to walking finds himself at a considerable height without noting 
 his ascent. On such occasions I always was careful to take my 
 coat off, carrying it on my arm, — with some inconvenience, of 
 course. On arriving at a summit, where a fresh breeze was 
 usually found, I put on my coat ; and one of my companions 
 would then take his coat off, notwithstanding my protests. He 
 said he wished to get cool. On board of the steamer he kept 
 " preparing for the Isthmus," as the poor fellow said. He would 
 take a blue-pill at night very frequently, then quinine in the 
 morning, and would eat a hearty breakfast, take a luncheon of 
 cheese, porter, and sardines, eat a hearty dinner with a glass of 
 sherry, and then, before going to bed near midnight, would 
 have sardines and porter. I endeavored to dissuade him from 
 this heroic treatment in " preparing for the Isthmus." Although 
 
240 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 he crossed without mishap and reached his home, flesh and 
 blood could not stand such usage, and I was not surprised to 
 hear of his serious illness soon after reaching home, and his 
 death a few months thereafter. 
 
 Our voyage was very pleasant. Until we reached Cape St. 
 Lucas, the extremity of the peninsula forming the Gulf of 
 California, we had the cool fresh breezes that usually prevail, 
 blowing down the coast, and then calms and pleasant weather 
 until we reached Yentosa Bay, the Pacific or southern side of 
 the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, when, although a good many miles 
 from the bay, we had quite a blow and a rough sea for the 
 distance from a weather shore. One of our party gave us an- 
 other birthday celebration : indeed, such occasions seemed to be 
 monthly, instead of yearly, and they were very enjoyable. 
 
 When we arrived at Panama, after the usual passage of twenty 
 days, we learned that for the past six weeks the cholera had been 
 prevalent in a virulent form, and had attacked a detachment of 
 our troops en route to California, several officers and many of 
 the soldiers having died. Lieutenant or Captain Grant — after- 
 wards General Grant — belonged to that detail, and an officer of 
 his regiment died on the Isthmus, leaving his widow and a son 
 four years of age to return on the steamer with us. In the 
 double transit the widow's trunks had been stolen. She was the 
 daughter of ex-Governor Morehead, of Kentucky, very lady- 
 like and good-looking, and had the sympathy and assistance of 
 her fellow-passengers. 
 
 After getting on shore, mules were provided for the party, and 
 it was agreed that I should take care of the commodore in cross- 
 
 o 
 
 ing the Isthmus. He was old and feeble, and said to me, — 
 
 " You will not abandon me on the Isthmus in case I should 
 not be able to travel ?" 
 
 " No," I replied ; " I will take just as good care of you as 
 though you were my father." 
 
 I had a hammock and carriers provided, in case he should be 
 taken ill, and also a bottle of brandy to give him in small por- 
 tions from time to time as required. Before we left, a fine-looking 
 woman who had been a passenger on board of the steamer, but 
 with whom I had no personal acquaintance, asked me if I would 
 
DETAILS OF THE TRIP. 241 
 
 not take charge of her in crossing the Isthmus. I answered 
 that under ordinary circumstances I should be happy to do so, 
 but as I had personal charge of the commodore, who was old 
 and feeble, it would be improper in me to divide my responsi- 
 bility ; it would be better for her to look to some other members 
 of our party, not encumbered. 
 
 When the commodore and myself mounted, up rode our lady, 
 who said, " I hope you will not object to my riding with you 
 and the commodore : I am entirely at home as a rider, and I 
 will not be the least trouble to you." I assured her we had not 
 the least objection ; all that I had wished her to understand was 
 that I had to take care of the commodore, and therefore could 
 not offer any escort or protection interfering with that. She was 
 a splendid rider, a very bright, agreeable woman, and cheered 
 the commodore on his way to Gorgona. 
 
 A part of the road was over what seemed sandstone, in which 
 mules passing along for more than a century, had worn holes six 
 or eight inches in depth ; one mule following another would put 
 his foot in the same holes. Passing along, we would see an oc- 
 casional mule thrown over from its heavy load and lying on its 
 side : unlike a horse, that would struggle even to destruction, it 
 would lie quietly until assisted to rise. Then we passed along 
 muddy roads, with deep holes worn in them and filled with mud. 
 Into one of these the forefeet of my mule plunged, the girths 
 broke, and over I went into the mud. The commodore and his 
 fair escort rode on, and after I repaired damages I joined them 
 again. It was nightfall and rainy when we reached the public 
 house at Gorgona ; here I met my old classmate and friend Beale, 
 bound for California. We had not seen each other for years, 
 and spent some hours in a friendly chat. 
 
 We had now a comparatively easy task, — that of going down- 
 stream in a canoe twenty miles to Barbacoas, and thence by rail- 
 road to Aspinwall, where the steamer Ohio was in waiting to 
 carry passeugers to New York via Kingston, Jamaica. The 
 canoes were small, and usually carried two or three passengers, 
 with their baggage. Our fair travelling-companion of the pre- 
 vious day, a woman of perhaps thirty, and, as she informed us, 
 a native of Georgia and the wife of an official in the San Fran- 
 
 16 
 
242 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 cisco Custom-House, asked to accompany the commodore and 
 myself in our canoe, and, as there could be no objection, the 
 request was granted, all the more readily as at that time numerous 
 murders for the purpose of robbery had been perpetrated either 
 along the road or by an asserted " accident" through the upsetting 
 of a canoe and the drowning of the occupants and " loss" of the 
 baggage. A more villanous set than many among these canoe- 
 men, mostly from the island of Jamaica, could hardly be found 
 anywhere. Of the dangers I incurred during my journey to 
 Goodyear's Bar I knew nothing until after my exposure, but now 
 I was fully informed of what might be expected. We had a 
 pair of ill-favored vagabonds to guide our canoe, who were ap- 
 parently either too lazy to do that, or quite willing that the boat 
 should capsize, in which case an opportunity would be presented 
 for drowning us, carrying our baggage into the bushes, taking 
 out whatever was of value, and then throwing the packages into 
 the water. 
 
 In going down the river, on more than one occasion I pointed 
 out to them snags ahead, upon which we were liable to be cap- 
 sized, and would have been, had the strong current thrown the 
 body of the canoe broadside across. That they were either acute 
 enough to know just how little exertion was necessary to avoid 
 striking a snag, or were perfectly willing that we should strike 
 it, was evident to me. I had a revolver strapped to my hip 
 ready for use, and on more than one occasion grasped the handle. 
 Had we struck a snag after my warnings to avoid it, I should 
 have lost no time in shooting them in order to prevent our 
 murder and robbery. The water was quite clear, and not very 
 high, but still quite deep enough to enable them to drown us 
 readily and pass it off as an "accident." 
 
 The canoe arrived at Barbacoas without accident, and our bag- 
 gage was transferred to the railroad-train, after which I felt no 
 further responsibility, and was glad to quit a state of affairs I 
 had endured for five months : from time to time, it had been 
 interesting, instructive, and, as a novelty, partly enjoyable, but, 
 like a pdte defoie gras, was not enjoyable as a permanency. 
 
 We soon boarded the steamer, and in a short time were as 
 comfortable as circumstances permitted. The Ohio was built 
 
NEW YORK TO BALTIMORE. 243 
 
 upon very much like a Western steamboat, and was utterly un- 
 like the ideal of a seaman for encountering heavy weather. It 
 was always a wonder to me why she had not been lost at sea in 
 the many years during which she was liable to encounter the 
 "cyclones" of to-day, known as " hurricanes" in the past. The 
 vessel had to contend with the very strong trade-winds that, with 
 an intermission of perhaps six weeks in the year, are found 
 almost constantly between Aspinwall and Jamaica, and our 
 progress was consequently very slow, eight knots at most per 
 hour, and averaging less in progress, from a leeward current. 
 
 On our arrival at Kingston we coaled ; those who have not 
 witnessed this operation will be interested to know that on the 
 present occasion a hundred blacks, men, women, and children, 
 were engaged in it. They passed on board over a gang-plank, 
 each bearing on the head a very small basket of coal, and, as 
 the grim procession filed along, each individual emptied the little 
 basket into an open man-hole with a nod of the head, then, con- 
 tinuing the round, passed out over another gang-plank, and back 
 to the coal-pile, to repeat the operation. The rapidity with which 
 this ant-like process filled the bunkers of the ship with coal 
 seemed almost incredible. 
 
 In the mean time the passengers strolled on shore, admired 
 the cocoa and other palm trees waving in the sea-breeze, and 
 purchased oranges, bananas, and other tropical fruits, among 
 which was the aguaeate, known popularly in our language as the 
 " alligator-pear," before mentioned. A large, flat cake, baked 
 very thin, made of the cassava root, is sold there also, and is an 
 excellent food for the tropics. It is well known to observant 
 travellers that for persons visiting the tropics, and indeed in 
 travel anywhere, it is important to learn what to eat : whilst a 
 healthy appetite prompts usually to a wholesome food, it does 
 not always do so, and no one can go about the world with either 
 health or comfort who does not give this subject careful attention. 
 
 After a voyage of a week from Jamaica, we arrived at New 
 York, and parted company with our fellow-voyagers. When 
 purchasing my ticket at the ferry to go to Baltimore, an enter- 
 prising thief cut one of my pockets : the arrival of a California 
 steamer was always a season of activity for the light-fingered 
 
244 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 fraternity. He got nothing ; all that I had after paying for my 
 ticket was fifty cents, and that was in another pocket : so the 
 thief had selected a victim that, in the language of California, 
 " did not pan out well." 
 
 After leaving the steamer in New York we went to our several 
 homes on a month's leave, upon the completion of which we 
 were to meet in Washington and complete our work, a part of 
 it being to make the details necessary for a first-class navy-yard. 
 I spent a part of my time at the country-seat of Mrs. Mac- 
 tavish, known as the "Folly," about fifteen miles from Balti- 
 more, shooting, and looking over the library of Charles Carroll 
 of Carrollton, in which were many rare and valuable books. 
 Mrs. Mactavish was the youngest of four daughters of Mr. 
 Richard Caton, an English gentleman. Three of them married 
 abroad : one married the elder brother of the Duke of Welling- 
 ton, a second the Duke of Leeds, a third Lord Stafford : the 
 fourth married Mr. Mactavish, who was for many years the 
 British consul at Baltimore. Although he was not ailing when I 
 left for California, he died before my return East. I was quite 
 alone in the house, with the exception of the servants who cared 
 for it, and the library was my usual resort. I found a very fine 
 edition of Charlevoix's History of Japan, in French, in which 
 were well-produced copies of Japanese pictures. I had not seen 
 the book before ; it was interesting not only from its contents, 
 but also, and doubly so, from the fact that Commodore Perry 
 was then planning an expedition to Japan under the instructions 
 of Mr. John P. Kennedy, of Maryland, at that time Secretary of 
 the Navy, and one of the ablest naval secretaries we have ever 
 had. I translated such parts of the book as seemed to me to 
 have a practical bearing in approaching the Japanese, and took 
 some twenty or thirty pages of it to Mr. Kennedy, and at his 
 request added my observations upon our visit to the lower Bay 
 of Yedo in July, 1846. As I was informed, the only demand 
 intended to be made by Commodore Perry was for the right of 
 refuge of shipwrecked persons, or of those whose safety might 
 require them to take shelter in Japanese ports. 
 
 The Japanese Expedition was ably planned and executed, 
 and was a school of instruction for the navy sorely needed at 
 
GEORGETO WN. 245 
 
 that time, and of immense prospective value. It seems a 
 neglect that the only monument to Commodore Matthew C. 
 Perry — a well-executed statue, in bronze, at Newport, Rhode 
 Island — should have been erected at private expense. Such a 
 statue would adorn one of the public squares of Washington 
 and be a just recognition of his eminent services afloat. 
 
 Mr. Kennedy also promoted the survey of the Paraguay 
 River, supplementing what Herndon had already done on the 
 Amazon. It was my fortune to be the second lieutenant of the 
 Water-Witch for a year or more when engaged on that work. 
 I joined that vessel at Norfolk on the 6th of February, and 
 two days later we sailed for our destination. The Water- Witch 
 was of three hundred and seventy-eight tons, with feathering 
 paddle-wheels very much too heavy for her, and, so far as I 
 know, was the only vessel of that kind we ever had in the navy. 
 We had fair weather and were ten days in reaching the island 
 of St. Thomas, making an average expenditure of about ten 
 tons of coal daily. After filling our bunkers and taking a few 
 tons of coal on deck, we hoped to reach Maranham, but when 
 no longer under the lee of the Windward Islands and within 
 the deflected equatorial current of seventy miles a day we soon 
 saw that our coal would not hold out, and we bore away for 
 Georgetown, British Guiana, as the only place under our lee 
 where coal could certainly be obtained. 
 
 We reached Georgetown on the 4th of March, and soon after 
 began coaling with indifferent means that hardly permitted us 
 to take in more coal daily than we would burn in twenty-four 
 hours : this detained us until the 13th. It was altogether an 
 interesting place, and would have been a pleasant one but for 
 the prevalence of the yellow fever. The friends we had made 
 on shore were all the more anxious that we should not prolong 
 our stay as the fever was of a virulent type. 
 
 The canals that had been constructed more than a century 
 before, with their stone walls, reminded us of their former 
 owners, the Dutch. In these ditches we saw several of the 
 fish that at times keep a part of the head out of water, the 
 eye being composed of two lenses, one of which looks into 
 the water and the other into the air. The head had the 
 
246 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 contour of a small alligator taking its peep to see what was 
 going on. 
 
 A brother of the celebrated Edinburgh chemist, Dr. Turner, 
 was one of the agreeable acquaintances we made at Georgetown, 
 and we were much indebted to him and other persons for kind 
 attentions, as well as to Captain Mochler, then in command of 
 the troops; the captain showed me specimens of the curare 
 described by Humboldt in his " Valley of the Orinoco," with 
 which the inhabitants of that region poison their arrows. It 
 resembled hard pitch in appearance, and does not appear to 
 inflict any pain in producing its effects. The animal when 
 struck by an arrow poisoned with curare sinks into a condition 
 of lethargy and finally dies. Captain Mochler was desirous of 
 giving me a practical illustration of its effect, but, as there were 
 no worthless curs around, I was quite willing to take his word 
 as to the power of the poison. It seems to act by means of a 
 painless paralysis of the nervous system. The use of the poison 
 does not injure the flesh of the animal killed • Humboldt 
 mentioned an old padre who always killed his fowls with curare, 
 as, he said, it made them tender. 
 
 We took a journey on a railroad of perhaps twenty miles in 
 the direction of Berbice, and saw several Burmese cattle with 
 their heavy fore-shoulders and lop-ears. The owner thought 
 them well adapted to the climate. On our journey we saw the 
 cotton-stalks from which is picked a yellowish cotton. It is 
 not an annual, but lives for several years, and is of the size of 
 a large shrub. It was not supposed to be a profitable variety 
 to cultivate. 
 
 On the 13th we left Georgetown, and on the 17th went into 
 Cayenne, experiencing a heavy leeward current on getting a 
 little out from the coast-line. A more lugubrious place within 
 the tropics it would be difficult to imagine. Of course the 
 vegetation is luxuriant in the extreme. A double row of royal 
 palms leading up to the Government buildings reminded me of 
 Egyptian columns by their massive proportions. There were sev- 
 eral companies of French soldiers and some thousands of exiles. 
 There was no attempt at production, and there were few inhabi- 
 tants save persons who had been banished, and their guards. 
 
CAYENNE. 247 
 
 The rise of the tide here is higher than elsewhere along the tropi- 
 cal coasts, and the rainfall on the high mountains of the interior is 
 unusually heavy, being given by Guyot as two hundred and fifty 
 inches. A banishment to Cayenne seemed to me a way of exe- 
 cuting a man without actually passing sentence of death upon him. 
 
 When in charge of the deck during the mid-watch, I was some- 
 what startled by the appearance of a man in the gangway, who 
 stepped inboard. I asked him who he was, and what was the 
 object of his visit. He said he w r as a political prisoner, exiled 
 after the coup oVetat of Louis Napoleon. He was an educated 
 man, spoke English fairly, and supposed that he had attained 
 his freedom through reaching the deck of one of our national 
 vessels. I had to dispel this illusion, and told him that we were 
 in a French port, enjoying its hospitalities, and could not think 
 of violating our obligations. He insisted on the captain's being 
 informed of his presence and his demands, which was done, — 
 of course without result favorable to his ideas. At that time 
 criminals of all kinds were banished to Cayenne ; whether this 
 man's story was true or false mattered not, whatever our indi- 
 vidual sympathies might be. He had paddled alongside in a 
 very small, leaky canoe, using a piece of plank as a paddle, 
 and after pleading with us for an hour he went into his canoe 
 and paddled on shore again. We were told that a number of 
 the exiles escaped in boats to Dutch Guiana, that a number 
 committed suicide, and that by far the greater number died from 
 the effects of the climate. A more hopeless or forlorn banish- 
 ment can hardly be imagined. We left the second day, unable 
 to add to our coal-supply. 
 
 British Guiana, despite its deadly climate, has an extensive 
 export and import trade. The negro population was large ; and 
 although we saw the Indians from the interior, they neither 
 formed any considerable part of the coast population, nor added 
 materially to the products. 
 
 A voyage of five days brought us to Maranham. A consider- 
 able indentation in the coast after reaching the wide mouth of 
 the river Amazon enabled us to escape the current until we were 
 near our port, and also the force of the trade- winds. The shoal 
 grounds near the outer limits of the Amazon are ooze, so soft 
 
248 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 that a lead in sounding sinks several feet in it ; in consequence 
 we found ourselves held back, the revolutions of the paddles 
 being greatly retarded by the ooze through which the body of 
 the vessel was passing in part. On heading more to seaward we 
 soon got into deeper water, and our paddles made their usual 
 number of revolutions. The engineer in charge was a mere 
 youth, and inert withal. The great weight of the wheels per- 
 haps caused the shaft-bearings on the vessel's side to settle. We 
 should have attempted to line them at Georgetown had it not 
 been for the prevalence of the fever ; the operation was on that 
 account deferred until we should reach Maranham. It was in- 
 tended that this should be done while we were engaged in coaling. 
 As a result of laziness and ignorance, we had not made our in- 
 efficient preparations when we had finished coaling. It was 
 supposed that a little pair of jack-screws with a plank between 
 them as a bearing under the shaft, placed on the deck just as 
 near the ship's side as possible, aided by a little screw placed on 
 the end of a rod on the outer part of the wheel, and secured to 
 the mast-head, would suffice. From the lack of leverage the 
 idea was ridiculous ; and after wasting several days, and having 
 a man knocked overboard from the wheel-house by something 
 giving way, his arm being broken at the same time, I suggested 
 to the engineer a simple and obviously effective means of raising 
 the shafts ; although he assented, he was still unwilling to ask 
 the captain to adopt the means proposed. There were a number 
 of lighters of twenty tons' displacement anchored near us j the 
 proposition was by means of cleats to secure stout timbers on the 
 vessel's sides, then lash and wedge these under the wheels after 
 the lighters had been filled with water : when the lighters were 
 baled out they would of course raise the weight of the wheels, 
 which was not one-half of the weight they would float. This 
 was finally done at my suggestion and under my personal super- 
 intendence, notwithstanding one of the younger engineers screwed 
 down a pillar-block to prevent the shaft from rising. On bailing 
 out the water, as soon as the timbers upon which the wheel was 
 resting began to crack I knew that some rascality was being 
 practised to prevent the operation, and on reaching the deck I 
 saw what it was. We were a fortnight in Maranham, having 
 
RIO JANEIRO. 249 
 
 been detained more than a week through incapacity. At times 
 I have doubted whether the shafts really needed lining ; but, at 
 any rate, they were raised half an inch or more at the bearing 
 on the side of the vessel. 
 
 It was raining pretty much all the time we were at Maranham. 
 The town was in every respect uninteresting, although it had 
 some commercial importance, and has a river capable of trans- 
 porting products from a considerable distance in the interior. 
 We were glad to get away, and, keeping as well in with the 
 coast as we could, soon rounded Cape St. Roque, and after a six 
 days' voyage entered the port of Pernambuco. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Pernambuco — Eio Janeiro — Montevideo — Fever on Shipboard — A Pampero 
 — The Frigates Congress and Jamestown — General Urquiza besieging 
 Buenos Ayres — Ostriches— The Eio de la Plata — The Kiver Parana — Point 
 Diamante — Capturing a Buck — The Jaguar — The Kiver Paraguay — Be- 
 marks on the Country and People — Lopez gives the Naval Officers a Excep- 
 tion — The Water- Witch — Assumption — San Pedro — A Grand Ball — The 
 President and his Family — Customs of the People — A Visit to the Indians 
 — Securing Specimens of Animals — Excursion to Villa Kica — A Tiger- 
 Hunter — Expedition of Commodore Shubrick. 
 
 Pernambuco is a charming-looking place from the sea, par- 
 ticularly the high lands towards the north, known as Olinda, a 
 word corresponding to the English expression " Oh, beautiful !" 
 It has a natural mole of smooth coral rock several feet above 
 the sea- level ; but, unfortunately, the depth of water within the 
 mole is only fifteen feet. 
 
 Our consul there at that time, a gentleman from Boston, was 
 good enough to take me to his country residence, some three 
 miles out of the city, over an excellent road. His night-bloom- 
 ing cereuses were in perfection, and charming to see. Nothing 
 like them can be found out of the tropics. 
 
 Our great dread, the yellow fever, was here too, but in a less 
 virulent form than at Georgetown. We left in four days, and 
 after a pleasant voyage of eight days reached Rio Janeiro. Here 
 
250 THE OLD N AW AND THE NEW. 
 
 we found the yellow fever in a virulent form ; ever since its 
 appearance, a little more than three years before, it had been 
 endemic, and many residents, both foreigners and natives, as 
 well as sailors in port, had died. We held little intercourse 
 with the shore, and left in three days for Montevideo, where we 
 felt we should reach a safe resting-place. After sailing we had 
 several cases of violent fever, but all were treated successfully. 
 
 Yellow fever is justly the dread of navy officers ; once fairly 
 established on board of a vessel, its germ is often reproduced 
 in after-years, when circumstances favor it in tropical regions, 
 although the vessel may have been subjected to a winter at 
 Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with open hatches, in the hope 
 of " freezing it out." This idea of " freezing out" is now recog- 
 nized to be fallacious. More officers and seamen in our navy 
 have died from yellow fever than have been lost at sea and killed 
 in battle : so this insidious disease may well excite the appre- 
 hension of those who are exposed to it, and be met with all 
 possible precautions on the part of those who within certain 
 limits can guard against infection. 
 
 Three days out from Rio we encountered a " pampero," an 
 extremely violent southwest wind, corresponding in the southern 
 hemisphere to our heaviest northwest gales. The vessel was put 
 head to it, — which should never be done, but, instead, some three 
 points on the one bow or the other, and such fore-and-aft sail as 
 the vessel will bear, and the engines only used sufficiently to keep 
 them in motion. We pitched off our jib-boom, and it became 
 necessary to get it inboard to prevent the rigging from fouling 
 our wheels by winding around and tying up our feathering pad- 
 dles. I went forward with Sawyer, our gunner's mate, a plucky 
 little seaman, and half a dozen men, to do the hauling. A grap- 
 line was thrown by Sawyer into the rigging on the jib-boom, 
 and by means of a tackle after an hour's hard work we secured 
 the spar, which until then had been mauling the bows heavily. 
 The night was very dark, and the sea broke heavily over the bows, 
 so that at times we found it necessary to hold on to the rigging 
 to avoid being swept aft and perhaps overboard. I felt relieved 
 when we had effected our object and got to a place less dangerous 
 to ourselves. The gale was not long-lived : the next day it abated. 
 
OSTRICHES. 251 
 
 Before reaching our port we had one of the most perfect opti- 
 cal deceptions that I have ever seen at sea ; a number of what 
 seemed to be long sand-bars just awash by the sea were visible 
 only a mile distant : the effect was produced by large schools 
 of a small shrimp upon which whales feed, when the whiskers 
 of the cetaceans, known as " whalebone" in commerce, serve a 
 very useful purpose in scooping up the little creatures. 
 
 We reached Montevideo on the 7th of May, and found there 
 the frigates Congress and Jamestown. Although our duties were 
 distinctly apart from those of the squadron, the commanding 
 officer held on to the Water-Witch for several months. 
 
 General Urquiza, of Entre Rios, was then besieging the city 
 of Buenos Ayres ; his batteries were established a full mile away, 
 and, firing round shot as they occasionally did, only served to 
 frighten timid people. His guns were twenty-four-pounders ; a 
 round shot would make a hole through an adobe house and do 
 no further damage. We were sent up to Buenos Ayres on the 
 25th ; thence into the Gualeguay, one hundred miles distant, a 
 river which separates Uruguay from Entre Rios, where we spent 
 several days, visiting the shore frequently, and seeing ostriches 
 for the first time on their native heath. The American ostrich is 
 gray, and much inferior in size to the African. It was surpris- 
 ing to see them walk away when an attempt, however wary, was 
 made to approach them. Their long strides counted so greatly 
 that the effort of a man to circumvent them, by short cuts or 
 otherwise, was ridiculous ; the birds even seemed to enjoy it ; 
 they would stretch out their long necks and assume an attitude of 
 seeming surprise or inquiry as to what the man could be about. 
 
 The country bordering the Gualeguay may be regarded as 
 the ideal of a cattle-raiser ; it is moderately high and rolling, 
 superbly watered, never suffering from great heat, cold, or 
 drought, near a market, and perfectly healthy. The time of 
 our visit was near the last of the disturbances of the military 
 jefes, — or what we should call military demagogues, — who ever 
 since the overthrow of the Spanish authority had afflicted the 
 whole of that superb country as far as peopled, from Paraguay, 
 within the tropics, to Patagonia, the extremity of the continent, 
 in the fifty- third degree of south latitude. 
 
252 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 The country bordering the river was well stocked with quail, 
 which, singularly enough, never go in flocks. A large partridge, 
 which had a very beautiful body and an ungainly head, was also 
 found in large numbers. Deer were to be seen almost every- 
 where, and birds of prey abounded. There was one little fellow, 
 iron-gray in body, ornamented with fancy colors, and having 
 sharp spurs on his wings just within his pinions ; what use he 
 made of these spurs I was unable to discover. Fantastic men 
 practise ornamentation with more or less conventional effect, 
 whether in good or in bad taste, but Nature always has her 
 purpose in ornamentation and in weapons, such as the spurs on 
 the wings in this case. 
 
 About the middle of June we returned to Buenos Ayres, 
 where we lay for a month, awaiting the raising of the siege by 
 General Urquiza, that he might withdraw his forces gradually 
 by land and come on board of the Water- Witch with his staff, 
 and put some of his rear-guard on board of small vessels. This 
 was effected on the 17th of July, and they were carried by 
 us and landed in Entre Bios, not as participants, but for the 
 common advantage of both belligerents. The water was shoal 
 for a considerable distance out above Buenos Ayres ; a hundred 
 or more horsemen would ride out to a depth of two feet, where 
 ships' boats were in waiting ; they would then get in the boats, 
 taking their saddles and bridles from the horses, and as soon 
 as released the animals would scamper for the shore. Several 
 hundred of their most indifferent horses were thus left; but, 
 where the ordinary market value of a fairly good horse was a 
 doubloon, that was no great sacrifice. The close of the war 
 between Entre Bios and Buenos Ayres released us, and enabled 
 us to make preparations for going up the Paraguay Biver. We 
 went to Montevideo, purchased the hulk of a brig, loaded her 
 with coal to tow up to Assumption, the capital of Paraguay, and 
 on the 26th of August the Water- Witch left Montevideo with 
 the hulk in tow. 
 
 As is generally known, the Bio de la Plata is a great estuary 
 of the sea, into which falls the drainage of the Paraguay and 
 Parana Bivers. It is so wide at Montevideo, and even at Buenos 
 Ayres, one hundred and twenty miles above, that the coasts 
 
THE RIVER PARANA. 253 
 
 opposite are below the horizon to each other. The water is 
 shoal, with several dangerous sand-banks in the lower part, and 
 above Buenos Ayres muddy and entirely fresh. At the island 
 of Martin Garcia, forty miles above Buenos Ayres, there is a 
 bar of sand preventing vessels of greater draught than twelve 
 feet from passing, except when pamperos blow and raise the 
 water four or even six feet. Not far above the bar, deep, 
 narrow channel-ways between high reeds are found, and some 
 miles higher up, small trees grow on the marshes. There are 
 evidences of the occasional submergence of these trees and of 
 the tall reeds. It is not until the vicinity of Rosario is reached 
 that solid ground forms a part of the shore-line : at that place 
 the bank is some thirty feet above the ordinary river level. 
 Thence to Assumption, eight hundred miles above, solid land is 
 approached on the one side or the other at considerable distances 
 apart, but never on both sides at the same point ; no narrow 
 land-barrier has been broken through, as is the case in many 
 rivers that have silted up the low grounds in transporting 
 debris towards the sea. One hundred miles above Rosario a 
 bluff bank one hundred feet or more in height enfilades the 
 swift channel of the river lying farther down. Some fifty years 
 ago Rosas of Buenos Ayres had fortified these bluffs ; in an 
 attack by British gun-boats they suffered considerably from a 
 plunging fire. This was before shell guns had come into 
 common use. 
 
 We entered the river Parana on the 2d of September, and 
 four days afterwards reached Rosario. We found it a busy 
 place, many ox-cart caravans from Tucuman and Cordova 
 coming there instead of to Buenos Ayres, one hundred and fifty 
 miles farther. Their loads were almost entirely of hides and 
 tallow, and on their return, cargoes were taken to supply the 
 simple wants of a pastoral people. As the wagons passed along, 
 their wooden axles and wheels without tires made a screech- 
 ing noise that could be heard for miles. They were noisy 
 without melody, and quite automatic in delivery. Three 
 days' more steaming brought us to Point Diamante : the land 
 here rises gradually from the river, until, about two miles 
 inland, an elevation of two hundred feet is reached. A vil- 
 
254 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 lage of several hundred inhabitants was located on the high 
 ground. 
 
 With the coal-hulk in tow, a current of two miles an hour 
 against us, and being engaged in making a running survey as 
 w T e proceeded, our progress was necessarily slow. We anchored 
 daily, near sunset, and usually took a breast-line ashore and 
 made it fast to a tree, both from the steamer and from the hulk. 
 We reached Corrientes, where the waters of the Parana and 
 Paraguay join, on the 1st of October, and Assumption, the 
 capital of Paraguay, one week later. There were several break- 
 ages of straps to the engine to be looked after, and other repairs 
 required, which detained us at times. We took advantage of 
 such occasions to go on shore with our guns. At San Pedro 
 we found droves of deer ; I shot a fine buck and took him on 
 board, but we found the venison inferior, although the animal 
 was in good condition. Late one evening we came across birds 
 very much like the Sumatran game-fowl, with a shiny coal- 
 black plumage ; the bird could use its wings as well as any 
 other pheasant. We shot several, and found them of excellent 
 flavor. There was a large bird, quite as large as our turkey, 
 with something of the turkey's appearance and manner of flight, 
 that sat upon trees on the borders of marshy grounds. On 
 shooting them we found they had long legs, and evidently sub- 
 sisted on what they picked up in the marshes. They were not 
 relished as food, and hence we molested them no more. They 
 were called water-turkeys. 
 
 Wherever houses or cultivated lands were seen from the river, 
 we observed four posts some forty or fifty feet high, set in the 
 ground, twelve or fifteen feet apart, forming a square, with a 
 kind of roofed-box on top, reached by ladders. On inquiry, we 
 learned that these were retreats from the attacks of the mosqui- 
 toes, who in pursuit of their game never soared so high. On 
 the river itself these insects were exceedingly numerous and 
 bloodthirsty. From what I know of the Mississippi River and 
 some other regions, not excepting parts of New Jersey, it occurs to 
 me that the Paraguayan constructions might be made with great 
 comfort to the inhabitants in some sections of our own country. 
 
 One morning, as we were making our running survey, a large 
 
THE RIVER PARAGUAY. 255 
 
 buck was seen swimming across the river ; the steamer was turned 
 so as to head him off, a boat was lowered, and Murdaugh and I, 
 armed with boarding-pikes, and accompanied by two oarsmen, 
 gave chase. The animal swam nobly, and, reaching a sand-bar, 
 gave a bound or two that looked as though he had made his 
 escape ; but he plunged into deep water again, and, as the bar, 
 had enough water to enable our boat to cross, we were soon on 
 him. A lasso made of the boat's painter was thrown over his 
 antlers, and he was captured. He was so large and strong that 
 we were obliged to kill him by sticking a pike into his spinal 
 column, in order to make ourselves secure against his thrusts. 
 On getting him on board we found that, although he was only 
 half grown, his weight was two hundred and eighty pounds. 
 He belonged to a species known as marsh-deer, which abound 
 in the region of Lake Iberia, as it is called in Corrientes, a 
 region consisting of marshes and low grounds covering many 
 hundreds of square miles, of which little was known at that 
 time. 
 
 The vicinity of the town of Corrientes just below the entrance 
 of the Paraguay is a beautiful country, high and gently undulat- 
 ing, with small ponds in the low grounds. In these ponds I 
 first saw the Victoria Regia ; the ribbed leaves were five feet in 
 diameter, and capable of sustaining the weight of a man. Upon 
 the ponds were many wild ducks, mostly teal and mallard, and 
 the uplands abounded in game. Considering the climate, and 
 other conditions favoring life and its enjoyments, there are few 
 countries, if any on the globe, so beneficent to man as. that 
 region. 
 
 As stated before, the Parana River comes in from the east- 
 ward at Corrientes, and some hundred miles farther up trends to 
 the north, the country lying north and west of it and east of the 
 Paraguay River being now known geographically as Paraguay. 
 Probably below Corrientes there is no one channel between solid 
 banks ; it is constantly separated by islands lapping each other, 
 so that it will be a work of labor in the future to map them 
 satisfactorily. In periods of high water these islands are to a 
 considerable extent submerged, and hence are not habitable for 
 man. The interior solid lands visible from the river from time 
 
256 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 to time are not high, and until reaching the vicinity of Assump- 
 tion no abrupt hills are seen ; six miles below that city there are 
 two near the left bank perhaps three hundred feet above the 
 river level. Although in some respects the Paraguay resembles 
 the Mississippi River, in another it is like the Nile, — in its 
 periodical high and low waters. At Assumption the river is 
 quite deep, and the current usually two and a half miles an hour. 
 Looking to the westward, from a church-top, two hundred feet 
 above the level of the river, a flat grassy plain is seen extending 
 to the horizon twenty miles distant ; this land forms a part of 
 the Gran Chaco, a country of rather indefinite borders, lying 
 north of the province of Santa Fe, east of the Andes, and south 
 of Matto-Grosso ; the inhabitants are wild Indians, with the 
 exception of a part of Bolivia that is sparsely populated. The 
 Indian tribes in the Chaco bordering' on Paraguay are known as 
 the Tobas, and are not numerous. They have had so little inter- 
 course with the whites that they have no desire to possess them- 
 selves of fire-arms, being content with their bows and arrows and 
 a club which they carry, which must be thrown with considerable 
 dexterity to be of use in killing game. They have an abundant 
 supply of horses, but no cattle ; so we may infer that they, like 
 the Parisians, eat horse-flesh. 
 
 The low islands of which I have made mention, that are 
 subject to overflow, extend for a length of two thousand miles, 
 following the course of the stream, and are the favorite haunts 
 of jaguars and animals upon which they prey, such as the tapir, 
 the carpincho, and the marsh-deer ; there are also pythons in 
 great number, but we saw none of great size. The carpinchos 
 probably furnish the jaguar with more food than all the other 
 wild animals ; as they are numerous and their food-supply un- 
 limited, they would soon cover the country bordering the water- 
 courses were it not for their enemy the jaguar. The carpincho 
 is not often seen in menageries, and therefore I will describe it. 
 With the exception of the ears, which are small and round, the 
 head resembles that of a rabbit ; it has the same long hairs or 
 whiskers on its cheeks. When sitting on its haunches, in pose 
 and appearance it is quite like a rabbit. When it walks, its 
 movement and appearance resemble those of the hog ; it has hair 
 
REMARKS ON THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. 257 
 
 an inch in length, brown in color, is semi-amphibious, like the 
 tapir, and when full-grown weighs about two hundred pounds. 
 When out of the water the animal would fall an easy prey to a 
 jaguar pouncing upon it from an overhanging tree. Unlike the 
 tapir, which is omnivorous, it lives on aquatic roots : it is the 
 largest rodent known. 
 
 The sources of the Paraguay are in an immense extent of 
 marshy land in the Matto-Grosso district ; and there being two 
 distinct rainy seasons in that region, one of which, however, is 
 much more pronounced than the other, there are two annual 
 rises occurring with great regularity in the season. These high 
 waters bring down considerable masses of the camelote, a species 
 of water-lily that grows in the arroyas and riachos (lateral and 
 inferior channels) in ordinary depths of ten or even fifteen feet, 
 the stem frequently being twenty feet or more in length. When 
 high water comes, the buoyancy of the stems and the additional 
 resistance of the leaves to an increased current detach them from 
 the bottom and mat them together. Often a tree forms the 
 nucleus of a very heavy mass, and large snakes bask upon it as 
 it floats down. The camelote has a small lilac-colored flower 
 growing in loose clumps several inches in length ; broken up in 
 the course of the long distance traversed, they are frequently 
 seen in small quantities as far down as Buenos Ayres. What 
 seems singular, alligators do not inhabit Paraguayan waters to 
 any considerable extent, if at all. We saw none ; and yet it 
 would be strange if none are to be found within that immense 
 water-shed that empties into the Rio de la Plata, when they are 
 so numerous on the coast of Central America and the northern 
 coast of South America, as well as on the Pacific coast. 
 
 Assumption had within its limits perhaps five thousand in- 
 habitants, at least two-thirds of whom were mostly of Guarani 
 blood and habitually spoke their native language, although all 
 the inhabitants in the towns and many in the country used a 
 good many Spanish words even in speaking Guarani. The 
 vicinity of Assumption, for miles around at least, is sandy, and 
 the country is thickly populated. The inhabitants were much 
 neater in dress and cleaner in appearance than those bordering 
 the river at Corrientes and elsewhere. The government monop- 
 
 17 
 
258 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 olized the entire products of the country, as it had done ever 
 since Francia became Dictator; and this was all the more 
 readily effected as the river furnished the only means of com- 
 munication with the commercial world. 
 
 Paraguay, in 1810, followed the lead of the revolting Amer- 
 ican provinces of Spain, and declared her independence. Being 
 so far from the sea-coast, and steam navigation being then un- 
 known, her independence was effected by assertion rather than 
 by force. Four years later Dr. Francia became Dictator : he 
 maintained his authority for thirty-six years, all of which were 
 marked by great atrocity towards the best people of Paraguay. 
 He died in 1840, at the age of eighty- four, and four years after- 
 wards Carlos Antonio Lopez became President for life. He 
 had virtually been Dictator for ten years when we arrived at 
 Assumption, and maintained the same control as his predecessor, 
 but his conduct was not marked by brutality. The whole ex- 
 port and import trade was virtually a government monopoly ; 
 no one could come into or leave the country without the per- 
 mission of Lopez. The superiority of the Paraguay tea over 
 that of Uruguay in South America, and the hide and timber 
 export, could not fail to make Lopez quite wealthy, the more 
 so as probably the living expenses of his family did not amount 
 to one thousand dollars yearly. 
 
 In my belief, the first national vessel permitted to visit Para- 
 guayan waters was the Water-Witch. Soon after our arrival 
 Lopez gave an official reception to the captain, who was accom- 
 panied by several of the officers. It took place at the Cabildo, 
 or Government-house. Lopez was a large, heavy man, ap- 
 parently three-fourths Indian, fleshy, with massive jowls; he 
 sat behind a table, arrayed in a gorgeous uniform, a large cocked 
 hat upon his head, with a large ostrich feather upon it, which I 
 think was blue. After a formal introduction, the captain stated 
 that the object of his visit was to institute friendly relations 
 between his country and Paraguay, and to promote their com- 
 mon advantage if practicable ; the vessel he commanded was of 
 light draught, and if his Excellency would allow it, he would 
 be pleased to ascend the Paraguay River as far as possible, and 
 by means of a smaller steamer, which he would have built at 
 
THE WATER-WITCH. 259 
 
 Assumption with the permission of his Excellency, he would en- 
 deavor to reach the head-waters of the Pilcomayo, leading into 
 Bolivia, and those of the Vermejo, leading into the Gran Chaco. 
 
 His Excellency had been furnished in advance with a trans- 
 lation, and when the captain had concluded, he stood up, laid 
 his cocked hat on the table before him, and said he was grati- 
 fied to see us in Paraguay and would attentively consider the 
 captain's requests and communicate with him at an early day. 
 Then he bowed, put on his cocked hat, and his visitors took 
 their leave. Permission was soon given for the Water- Witch 
 to ascend to the limit of Paraguayan territory, adjoining the 
 large territory of Brazil known as the Matto-Grosso. He was 
 not willing for the Water-Witch to go higher up. The captain 
 went beyond the prescribed limit to Corumba, only a short 
 distance, which brought us into disfavor with Lopez. 
 
 In the Matto-Grosso district the officers visited a settlement 
 of Indians said to number five thousand souls. It had been 
 formed within ten years by two Italian Jesuit priests under the 
 auspices of the Brazilian government. They had taught the 
 men to cultivate the ground, and the use of fire-arms, and the 
 women to spin and to weave, and the girls music and dancing. 
 The settlement enjoyed peace and plenty, and had a community 
 of goods. The officers were as much surprised as gratified on 
 making a visit to this Arcadia. No force was employed in es- 
 tablishing the community, and none in maintaining it, beyond 
 the moral force of two intelligent, excellent men who appreciated 
 the fact that the religious instruction which they gave would be 
 futile if not supplemented by conditions of life that would enable 
 the community to live in conformity with their religious teach- 
 ings. The officers danced with the girls, and were charmed with 
 their sense of propriety, their graces, and their accomplishments. 
 
 The Water- Witch returned to Assumption on the 26th of 
 December. I had been left there to build a small flat-floored 
 steamboat, employing the boat-carpenters of Paraguay. They 
 could hew a piece of timber admirably, and soon had a keel 
 sixty feet in length, cross floor-pieces, and knees upon which the 
 side plankings were bolted. The sides were thirty inches in 
 depth, and the deck composed of hatches that were laid flush 
 
260 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 with the top. The planking was of cedar roughly sawed and 
 afterwards hewed ; the Paraguayans did not use the plane. 
 Stanchions and a raised fore-and-aft centre-piece supported a 
 canvas cover which sheltered us from the weather, aided by a 
 little thin planking above the hull. When the boiler and en- 
 gines were placed and the men on board, the draught of the 
 boat was eight inches. She was very easily propelled, but, 
 owing to the foaming of the boiler, a defect which was never 
 obviated, she could hardly be called a success. Large globular 
 castings were afterwards put upon the boiler, but still it foamed. 
 After the Pilcomayo, as she was called, was completed, I took 
 her one hundred and fifty miles up the Paraguay River ; then 
 into the Jujuy, a small stream on the left bank in the direction 
 of the yerbales, or the district where the Paraguay tea is culti- 
 vated. The country was beautifully undulating, the elevations 
 of little height, and in the distance were evidently greater eleva- 
 tions. The town of San Pedro was situated about two miles 
 distant from the landing, across a very rich, level plain. The 
 appearance of a little steamer in that river was a notable event. 
 The vessel was soon visited by every man, woman, and child 
 that could get away from home, and first by the alcalde and 
 several principal men of the place. I could not invite them into 
 my cabin, as I had none ; but I could give them camp-stools 
 under the awning, at least. I was invited to visit the town, 
 and in the afternoon a fine horse, with rich trappings and silver 
 stirrups and ornaments, was sent down for me, and another, less 
 gorgeously bedecked, for the engineer. A grand ball was given 
 us, and the whole community was invited. It was a spontaneous 
 welcoming to their waters and their homes. 
 
 The same neatness of dress was observable as at Assumption, 
 and everything betokened a happy community : if not opulent, 
 they had all the comforts of life in abundance. I was given a 
 very comfortable room at the house of Don Luis, the rich man 
 of the village ; and my companion, the engineer, was well taken 
 care of. Soon after dark the ball opened j we were invited and 
 accompanied by an escort to a house having rooms of consider- 
 able size, with either a brick or an earth floor. The room was 
 well filled with young ladies, some of them very pretty. I made 
 
A GRAND BALL. 261 
 
 my compliments to them so far as my knowledge of their lan- 
 guage allowed. The dances went on, and everybody was bright 
 and cheery, save one tall, pretty girl who sat demurely apart 
 from the others. I approached her, and in the affectionate lan- 
 guage that pertains to people in that region, addressed her as 
 " my pretty little girl/ 7 and asked her why she did not dance. 
 She said that she did not wish to. I told her that was nonsense, 
 — that so bright and pretty a girl must wish to dance. She said 
 then, " To tell you the truth, sir, I have no shoes, and all my 
 friends are provided with them : you must know," said she, 
 " that until within a year or so we did not have the nicely-made 
 shoes that are now brought into the country, but wore sandals 
 of our own make. None of the shoes that came to our town 
 fitted me : so I was unable to provide myself." I told her that 
 she must not allow such fashionable nonsense to interfere with 
 her comfort, and insisted on her getting up and dancing, which 
 she did quite merrily and happily the whole of the evening. 
 She had been sitting on a rather low seat, with her feet carefully 
 concealed under a long dress. I had an exemplification how 
 superfluous shoes are in dancing, and have to add that were the 
 feet of ball-room belles to be displayed none of them would 
 compare with those of this bright young lady who had no shoes 
 at that time. Soon after, no doubt, she got shoes, and pinched 
 her feet to her heart's content, and had corns and bunions just 
 like other belles. It was a grand ball ; cerveza Inglesa was 
 served, an equivalent in Paraguay to the choicest champagne 
 with us, and, besides, yerba mate and tiste, or equal parts of 
 ground Indian corn parched, and sugar, with cold water. The 
 men could take cana, made from sugar-cane. I may here re- 
 mark that drunkenness is unknown in Paraguay, except among 
 foreigners who go there. It is a vice that does not belong to 
 the Spanish race, and if the Indian indulges, it is usually in 
 moderation. I took leave before eleven, for I had been very 
 much fatigued with my labors. Out of deference to me, the 
 others also took tbeir leave, but I was happy to learn afterwards 
 that the ball was again put in motion with all the animation 
 and gayety that belong to youthful enjoyment, and was kept up 
 until daylight. 
 
262 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 I found the Jujuy River too low at that season to ascend, 
 and, after a vain attempt, returned to San Pedro, and the next 
 day went out into the Paraguay River : with the sweeping 
 current in our favor we were soon at Assumption. 
 
 I have neglected thus far to say anything of his Excellency 
 the President, or of his family, save in describing the formal 
 reception given the captain of the Water-Witch. The Presi- 
 dent had a numerous family; his wife, like himself, was in 
 great part Indian ; his daughters were clumsily built, but not 
 objectionable in any way. He had one son in Paris, who, to 
 use a cant vulgar phrase, " was being educated for all he was 
 worth." Later he returned and took his father's place, and in 
 the war with Brazil showed that a savage educated in Paris 
 loses none of his brutality. It was said that his treatment of 
 his mother and sisters was infamous. In resisting the attack 
 of Brazil he had slaughtered all the men and women of Para- 
 guay who were not favorably situated to run away. His most 
 useful day was when he was killed in battle ; it is a fact that 
 there are many men in the world who best serve their fellow- 
 men when they die. 
 
 The houses of the gentry in Assumption were of adobe, with 
 brick floors and tile roofs ; those of the common people were 
 huts built of bamboos and thatched. 
 
 During the several months that the Water-Witch was absent 
 and I was engaged in superintending the construction of the 
 little steamboat, I had an opportunity of observing the daily 
 life of the Paraguayans. Theft was very rare indeed, and in 
 no case that I saw did the use of liquors amount to an abuse. 
 They were cleanly in their persons, and well behaved. In the 
 heat of the day they dined, and a siesta (or noonday nap) of 
 a couple of hours followed, — this custom being as strictly ob- 
 served as though it had been a religious obligation. From 
 noon until two o'clock the sight of a human being in the 
 streets was rare. Later in the day movement began. Per- 
 haps once or twice a week his Excellency the President would 
 be seen mounted upon a horse, arrayed in all the splendor 
 of gold lace and a cocked hat, riding slowly along, with an 
 orderly twenty yards behind him. Should a native meet him, 
 
CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE. 263 
 
 a side street for exit, if possible, would be resorted to. If he 
 came suddenly upon him, all that was left was to stand firm, 
 face his Excellency, take off his hat, and look resolutely at the 
 ground, with perhaps a stolen glance of admiration at the great 
 man, who might deign to acknowledge his presence with a nod. 
 At sunset all the church-bells rang out the Angelus; every 
 human being stopped, bowed his head, and said his prayers, 
 whether in mid-street or in his house. The Paraguayans were 
 educated to reverence authority to man and to their Creator. 
 When a funeral passed, the man would have been considered a 
 brute who did not stand with hat off, facing the cortege, and 
 say in silence a prayer for the dead, and this, too, however 
 humble the family from whom one was being borne to the 
 grave. 
 
 As the shades of evening fell over the noble river that swept 
 by the city, favorite sites for bathing were resorted to by the 
 young and old ladies and little girls, and in other localities men 
 and boys disported themselves. In the evening, after paying a 
 call to one house a visitor could pass on to another, and con- 
 sider that all held an informal reception. He was always in- 
 vited to have a cup of yerba mate, prepared by one of the 
 young ladies of the house. The cup was a small gourd, into 
 which a live coal was usually put, then a silver tube put in 
 quickly, and hot water poured over it immediately ; then the 
 young lady would take a sip, to see that the silver tube, with 
 an enlargement at the bottom having holes punched in it, was 
 in working order, and it was then handed to the visitor. I 
 regret to say that the ladies of Paraguay of middle age had 
 usually defective front teeth, due to the hot silver tube and the 
 very hot yerba mate. After the mate was taken, a cigar was 
 offered ; and the man who did not request the young lady to 
 light it was not well up in society refinements. 
 
 I have a very kind remembrance of the politeness of the 
 Paraguayans, and especially of the fair sex. They were not 
 vulgar in any sense, although the super-refined of other countries 
 might have been disposed to turn up their noses at them. 
 
 One fine Sunday morning, it being a day of rest, other officers 
 and myself made a visit to the Gran Chaco, landing as near 
 
264 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 to Assumption as we could find solid ground. "With a boat's 
 crew we pulled up the river perhaps a mile, where a riacho or 
 side channel came in. We followed this a mile or more, and 
 came to a hard bank that evidently had been frequented, proba- 
 bly by the Indians that lived in the vicinity for watering their 
 ponies. Here we landed, four in number ; taking four of the 
 boat's crew with us, we directed the two boat-keepers to pull 
 lower down and off into the stream, where they could not be 
 surprised. We strolled along a beaten path, and soon came 
 upon a party of Indians, who deployed right and left, with 
 their bows and arrows, in order that a shot aimed at one should 
 not kill another. We saw their squaws mount in hot haste, 
 and their little children also, and ride off briskly. We at once 
 made signs to them to bring back their women and children : 
 they at once did so, and we spent several hours very instruc- 
 tively with them, and became very good friends. In sign- 
 language we invited them to come down abreast of Assumption 
 and pay a visit to the Water-Witch : they accepted the invita- 
 tion so far as coming on the beach was concerned, but reserved 
 the visit for future consideration. 
 
 When the President learned of our visit to the Gran Chaco 
 and our intercourse with the Indians, he sent us a message that 
 they were very treacherous, and requested that we should have 
 nothing further to do with them. 
 
 On the day appointed, a hundred or more Indians appeared 
 on the beach and made signs to us. We took them over gew- 
 gaws, oranges, and tobacco, and spent an hour or so with them. 
 I think they had made up their minds to pay us a visit, but we 
 could not disregard the request of President Lopez, and had no 
 further intercourse with them. Notwithstanding their fondness 
 for oranges and tobacco, we learned that they never planted 
 orange-trees near their dwellings, or elsewhere, for fear of 
 becoming an object of covetousness to neighboring tribes. So 
 far as oranges were concerned, it would have been the easiest 
 possible matter to plant them all over the country, so that a 
 common want would have been supplied by this prevision and 
 the bounty of nature. As for the tobacc©, it might have been 
 cultivated at some distance from their villages, with a fair 
 
SECURING SPECIMENS OF ANIMALS. 265 
 
 chance of escaping a raid in consequence of their luxury. 
 What a commentary this is on the advantage of aggregation 
 and an intelligent direction of public affairs ! To plant orange- 
 seeds even in an enemy's country would have served a useful 
 purpose, inasmuch as they would then have been permitted to 
 enjoy the fruits of their own labor instead of inviting the raids 
 of covetous tribes. They gave us exhibitions of the use of 
 their bows and arrows, which did not seem to me all I had 
 pictured as to effectiveness. Their clubs were used with con- 
 siderable dexterity, but I could hardly imagine that they could 
 use them in killing wild animals. 
 
 The Water- Witch endeavored to secure specimens of live ani- 
 mals that would have served to stock a national collection; 
 but this was useless, travelling menageries carrying much larger 
 and more interesting collections than we could possibly obtain. 
 We had a jaguar that had been brought down from Corumba, 
 and a tapir that had also been presented, some carpinchos, a 
 peccary, or wild hog, numerous young ostriches, and a wild cat 
 of heavy build and great fierceness. During the absence of the 
 Water- Witch I had charge of these animals, with the exception 
 of the jaguar. I have never seen any other animal so apparently 
 indifferent to what would ordinarily inflict pain as the tapir. 
 He has a very thick skin, and a slow movement usually, and 
 there is no means of appealing to his fears or his intelligence. I 
 would open the gate and have our specimen directed to the river 
 in the evening ; when he would reach the water he would walk 
 in deliberately, dive perhaps thirty yards, come up and snort, 
 then paw the water violently with his forefeet, and go down, to 
 come up fifty yards or more from where he went down. He 
 enjoyed his baths greatly, and swam very rapidly. After half 
 an hour's bathing he would come on shore and walk at the rate 
 of two miles an hour to his quarters. It was impossible to hurry 
 him ; any attempt to do so elicited an expression of impatience, 
 but never of anger. The little gray wild hog known as the 
 peccary became so much attached to me that when I walked out 
 in the evening and did not take it along it would shriek in the 
 most frightful manner, quite like a spoiled child. When per- 
 mitted to follow, it would walk with the greatest regularity a 
 
266 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 few steps behind me. It was attentive as to this, and never 
 loitered on its way. Towards me the wild cat showed a very 
 amiable disposition. I would take it in my arms, much to the 
 horror of my Paraguayan friends, who assured me that it would 
 scratch my eyes out : yet we continued the best of friends until 
 it was sent home with the other animals. 
 
 After the return of the Water-Witch from Corumba, Lieu- 
 tenant Welsh and myself were directed to make an excursion to 
 Villa Rica, a distance of about one hundred and twenty miles 
 from Assumption, and the centre of a beautiful region. We all 
 had purchased our horses as personal property, so our expenses 
 were nominal, — less than a dollar a day. We did not take a 
 native or guide along, which would have been better, as most of 
 the people spoke little Spanish. They were, however, very hos- 
 pitable, and as kind as though we had been of their own kith 
 and kin. There are no tiendas or posadas along the public roads, 
 and when nightfall came we asked hospitality at any house. We 
 soon found the advantage of stopping while there was light 
 enough to get the " chala" or green corn-stalks, upon which the 
 horses are usually fed in Paraguay. There is a very little, in- 
 significant-looking brown snake that infests the corn-fields, more 
 deadly even than the rattlesnake, which is also a native of the 
 soil. This latter snake is not very numerous in the tropics, but 
 probably extends from the northern limits of our country to 
 Patagonia. Nothing would induce the natives to go into their 
 corn-fields after dark ; so that if we arrived at our stopping- 
 place after nightfall the horses would get no food till the 
 morning. 
 
 We carried our guns, and, following up small streams, saw 
 ducks rise and settle before us, and, riding up to near where 
 they had lighted, would dismount and shoot them. We fared 
 very well, with what our friends offered us and what we brought 
 along. I confess, however, to a certain amount of repugnance 
 against feeding out of a common large dish, however abundant 
 the supply. We all had horn spoons and good appetites, but, 
 after all, one has to be hungry or "to the manner born" to be 
 content with satisfying hunger in this way. One evening we 
 arrived after sunset at a house : our horses got no corn-stalks 
 
A TIGER-HUNTER. 267 
 
 until the morning, but the women, good souls as they generally 
 are, got up and made us a pot of mush, and a hungry man could 
 have asked for nothing better. 
 
 We arrived at Villa Rica in very good condition, saw all the 
 dignitaries, had a couple of armadillos stewed for us at a posada 
 or public house, and, after a night's rest, determined to go some 
 fifteen miles to visit a famous tiger-hunter who lived there. On 
 our arrival we told him we had come from Villa Rica especially 
 to pay him a visit, and that we desired to join him in a hunt. 
 He spoke of the great danger in the use of fire-arms in killing 
 the animal, and recounted a number of accidents through using 
 them instead of lances. With genuine hospitality he killed the 
 fatted calf, and arranged for a hunt over a beautiful country, 
 where I suspect he did not hope to find tigers : my friend and 
 myself had our double-barrel guns, and these he probably con- 
 sidered a personal danger. Nevertheless, we had a long ride 
 over a charming country, through forests and lovely prairies. 
 On one occasion he called upon me suddenly to halt, and dis- 
 lodged from a tree near my face a long hairy spider of consider- 
 able weight, a bite from which, though not fatal, would have 
 been by no means agreeable. On our return we were entertained 
 royally, as also the next day, on the calf. The third day our 
 host expressed doubts as to its sound condition ; it was feo, he 
 said : so eggs were substituted, with beans, which the Spanish 
 people of America cook so nicely and prize so highly. 
 
 He was not only a tiger-hunter, but also a curandero, which 
 may be translated into English as a curer rather than as a physi- 
 cian ; he brought out his book of remedios, which he had pored 
 over for half a century, and asked my opinion as to their effi- 
 cacy. In looking over the book, all worn by thumbing, I noticed 
 several such repellent remedies as were in vogue in Great Brit- 
 ain not more than two centuries ago. There was one remedy, 
 hinging on the efficacy of a black dog in certain cases of liver- 
 ailment, which I will detail subsequently, in describing the treat- 
 ment of a poor fellow in Nicaragua by our wardroom cook. 
 
 Although, in consequence of rheumatism, our host walked 
 with difficulty, he could mount his horse and ride a dozen miles 
 with us. He lived quite alone, with the exception of his ser- 
 
268 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 vants, who occupied buildings near by. He was delighted to 
 show us his broad acres, that would have excited the envy of 
 any ordinary land-grabber, and the fat cattle that needed no 
 other care than protection from tigers, as jaguars were called, 
 and panthers. He told me that when an animal was killed he 
 knew whether it was by the jaguar or the panther, as the first- 
 named always ate from the breast and the latter from the flank. 
 When we announced that we must take our departure early the 
 next day, he looked at me very earnestly, and said, " What can 
 I present you?" He had one or two large cedar chests, and, 
 looking around, he added, " I wish you to have that chest, if 
 you prefer nothing else. I will send it to Villa Rica in a carrete, 
 and you can readily have it hauled to Assumption." I accepted 
 the gift, but asked him to do me the favor of keeping possession 
 of it until I should ascend a small river near by in the small 
 steamer, when he could pay me a visit and bring the chest along. 
 
 An American commercial company had, by permission, pre- 
 ceded us to Paraguay by some months. Machinery, particularly 
 for sawing timber, and a considerable number of Cuban cigar- 
 makers, went out in a frail steamer which never reached her 
 port. She was lost before getting around Cape St. Roque in 
 Brazil. The passengers and the principal part of the machinery 
 were shipped thence to Assumption. The location selected for 
 the saw-mill was several miles below that city, on the left bank 
 of the river, where there was a considerable amount of fall in 
 the hills, and in the rainy season, to an inexperienced person, 
 the promise of water-power. Difficulties occurred between the 
 company and the Paraguayan government, and the saw-mill 
 was never put up. 
 
 A decree expelled the company some time after I left Para- 
 guay ; damages to a great amount were claimed, and in a year 
 or two a considerable expedition, under the command of Com- 
 modore William B. Shubrick, was sent to demand indemnity. 
 President Lopez was too shrewd a man to allow the question to 
 be decided by force ; and agreed to a trial in our own courts : 
 the expedition returned without having gone up the river, and 
 the courts decided, very justly, that the Paraguayan government 
 had no indemnity to pay. 
 
SERVICE ON BOARD THE BRIO BAINBRIDGE. 269 
 
 On the return of the Water- Witch from Corumba, after the 
 captain had incurred the displeasure of the despot, the vessel 
 remained a month at Assumption, then visited Buenos Ayres 
 and Montevideo, returning to Assumption in the early part of 
 May, 1854. On her return I requested to be ordered to report 
 for duty in the Brazil squadron. My request was readily 
 granted, as several other officers had been brought up or were 
 afterwards detailed. The captain of the Water- Witch was en- 
 tirely a gentleman, but, so far as my opinion is of value, was 
 not well fitted to command such an expedition. 
 
 I left Assumption about the middle of May, on board of a 
 trading-schooner, and was a month in reaching Buenos Ayres. 
 The voyage in this little vessel was not without interest ; we 
 anchored here and there, and were several days at Corrientes 
 and at Rosario. We had an Italian cook who might have been 
 a chef of many a hotel where I have been a " guest," as people 
 are sometimes called who are " taken in." On reaching Monte- 
 video I reported to Commodore Salter, who did not order me 
 for some weeks, and then detailed me to the brig Bainbridge. 
 Ten years before, the commander of this vessel, an excellent 
 officer and a man correct in all respects, had deliberately loaded 
 himself down with weights in his pockets and stepped over- 
 board in these waters. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Service on Board the Brig Bainbridge — A Shooting-Expedition — The Cap- 
 tain of the Bainbridge — A Second Shooting-Expedition — The Captain in 
 his Cups — Proposes the Capture of the Governor of the Falkland Islands 
 — The Water- Witch fired on from a Paraguayan Fort — Sail from Monte- 
 video— Paranagua — Arrival at Kio — Visit to Count Medem at Petropolis 
 — The Captain's Idiosyncrasies — A Spiritualist — Barbadoes — Arrival in 
 the United States — Some Retrospections. 
 
 The brig fulfilled Jonson's idea of a prison, with a chance 
 of being drowned. The lack of room for health, or even for 
 movement without incommoding others, is a great restraint to 
 all in an apartment : that those on board of the Bainbridge 
 
270 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 were subjected to this restraint will be apparent to the reader 
 who will lay off on his floor the dimensions of the wardroom 
 and bear in mind the actual height between-decks, which was 
 five feet. In this apartment five persons slept, dressed, break- 
 fasted, dined, and supped. There, too, they sat, wrote their 
 letters, and read, usually of course going on deck when the 
 weather would permit. 
 
 Towards the last of June I went on duty on board of this 
 vessel, and was permitted to live on shore until early in July. 
 Then I asked permission to be absent for a few days, and, 
 taking my gun, walked out to the village of Pando, some 
 seventeen miles in the interior, more with the design of escaping 
 the " celebration" of the Fourth than from any other motive. 
 There were at the " Steamboat Hotel" a number of merchant- 
 captains, who were usually quite patriotic on such occasions, 
 among them Captain Smiley, who certainly could not be accused 
 of inebriety on any occasion that I had seen. Up to that time, 
 since he had commanded the vessel, the captain of the Bain- 
 bridge had been entirely abstemious. Had I remained and 
 been present at the celebration, I might have it on my conscience 
 that I had abetted in leading him into error. In escaping from 
 one danger I had subjected myself to another. I had walked 
 to Pando, gone to a pulperia, or common country public house, 
 but of course the best in the village, and in the morning had 
 gone out to shoot, supposing that game was to be found every- 
 where, as on the Gualeguay River. I found the land generally 
 hedged by cactus, and sometimes went within the enclosures. 
 I found no birds, but, as I was passing around, a large band of 
 dogs found me. I saw them in the distance, several hundred 
 yards away, bearing down on me with a fixed purpose to destroy 
 me. The leader came as straight as an arrow, with mouth open, 
 and when near me the band separated right and left to attack 
 on the flanks. When the leader was within ten feet I blew out 
 his brains by a charge of shot properly delivered, and the grand 
 brute never kicked, but lay sprawled out on all-fours. The six 
 or eight dogs under his lead went home in haste, and I was left 
 to pursue my way to the pulperia, where the owner came to 
 complain of my shooting his dog. I told him that I regretted 
 
A SECOND SHOOTING-EXPEDITION. 271 
 
 the necessity very much, but it was simply a question of shoot- 
 ing the dog or allowing myself to be torn to pieces. I am not 
 quite sure whether I gave the man something in recompense or 
 not j certainly he had a noble though rather aggressive guardian, 
 but as I was a quarter of a mile from his house, and was quite 
 willing to retreat, and did so, I felt no self-reproach. I learned 
 afterwards that the dog most common in that region, and the 
 one I had shot, was a Russian blood-hound. 
 
 A few days after my return the captain asked me if I would 
 not like to go on a shooting-expedition of a week up the Santa 
 Lucia, a little stream that emptied into the estuary some twenty 
 miles from Montevideo, on the left bank. I was glad to accept, 
 and was requested to make preliminary arrangements as to sup- 
 plies, etc. When the time was fixed, everything was ready ; 
 the captain was then living on shore. It was agreed that I 
 should take charge of two boats containing sails for tents and 
 provisions for ten days. The crews numbered sixteen men, 
 besides the captain's clerk and myself. The captain was to join 
 us the next day at the lowest ford on the stream, to be accom- 
 panied by two gentlemen who had a rancho near by. Before I 
 had completed my arrangements it was later in the day than I 
 had hoped, and the overladen boats and short days brought 
 nightfall before we had reached the mouth of the stream ; being 
 very desirous of reaching it, I kept on pulling until after dark, 
 but even then I was still short of it. There was a good deal 
 of swell, but little wind. I told the captain's clerk that I 
 would pull in and land ; should it be rocky I would warn him, 
 and he could anchor for the night, while if I found a proper 
 landing he should follow, and we would haul up the boats, 
 pitch the tents, make ourselves comfortable for the night, and 
 in the morning go on into the Santa Lucia River. I fortunately 
 struck a sand-beach, and the other boat followed. We soon 
 put up our tents, and, well sheltered, had a sound sleep. I had 
 the " breaker" containing the ration of whiskey for a pillow, 
 which insured it for the night. The captain's clerk was a 
 bright young gentleman, who had the idea that he had any 
 amount of endurance, and had his little laugh in advance about 
 how he would tire me out. 
 
272 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 After sunrise I got up and walked to a little brook near by, 
 where I washed my face and hands; there was frost on the 
 leaves, and the morning was chilly for that region. On getting 
 back to our tent, I found the old quartermaster, Farr, in my 
 tent ; he had come to make the acquaintance of the keg of whis- 
 key. After using some epithets not in the nature of a blessing, 
 I gave the other men their morning allowance. Breakfast over, 
 we took down our tents, and an hour or so after we launched 
 our boats, entered the Santa Lucia River, and rowed up to the 
 ford. Here we waited until long after noonday, when the captain 
 and his two friends arrived in a country wagon. They drove 
 out to the boat, took off their ammunition and supplies, among 
 which latter was a case of brandy, and sent their wagon home. 
 The captain asked me what I had brought in the way of pro- 
 visions. I said we had full rations of bread, pork, and liquor 
 for all of us for ten days, and, besides, I had a dozen bottles of 
 wines and liquors for him and his friends. He congratulated 
 us on his having brought a case of brandy along, immediately 
 had the tops of two or three bottles knocked off, and gave a 
 generous glass to every one of the sailors, not failing in liberal- 
 ity to our guests and ourselves. Then we pulled up the stream 
 until near sunset. 
 
 We landed before dark, kindled a fire with wood I had 
 brought in the boats, put up the tents, and had our supper. 
 Soon after, the captain went over to the men's tent, and insisted 
 on Farr and others singing : he thought that the limiting of 
 drinks on such an excursion, either as to time or quantity, was a 
 needless restriction, and the grog-tub was called for to do extra 
 duty. Next morning we got up pretty early, considering the 
 late carousal, and after breakfast the captain, his guests, and his 
 clerk went on the high land not far distant, to hunt partridge, 
 quail, and deer. The game was found so abundant that we 
 remained another day. A large number of birds were shot, and, 
 having a good cook, Ave had an excellent dinner. The second 
 morning we broke camp after breakfast, and that night had 
 another orgy near the tent of the men. This greatly lowered 
 the liquor-supply, — in fact, so reduced it that absolute want was 
 apprehended as likely to occur soon. 
 
A SECOND SHOOTING-EXPEDITION. 273 
 
 The following morning after breakfast a tall native of the 
 soil rode into our encampment; the captain hailed him as a de- 
 liverer from impending distress, and, after gaining information, 
 sent him off to a tienda some miles distant, with orders to bring 
 at least two dozen bottles of the rum of the country, that being 
 all he could possibly promise to deliver, — a very small supply for 
 thirsty people engaged in hard labor, or at least exertion in shoot- 
 ing. In the afternoon our messenger returned with the promised 
 supply, inadequate, however, to allow another midnight carousal, 
 so we retired early, and in the afternoon of the next day broke 
 camp again. In the south were angry clouds, and a fierce wind 
 swept us on our course under sail ten miles an hour. Suddenly 
 we came to a bifurcation of the stream, and the captain cried 
 out to me, " Which channel shall we take ?" I said, " To the 
 right," and in a mile we were at the head of a cul-de-sac. 
 
 I lost no time in pitching our tents, and in cutting a drain on 
 the upper side so as to protect us from a flood. We had no 
 sooner made our preparations than the rain was upon us, accom- 
 panied by lightning such as one rarely sees. The rain poured 
 down through the light sail that formed our covering, and the 
 wind threatened to blow our tents down. My young friend the 
 captain's clerk was suffering from a chill, and I employed my 
 rubber blanket to protect him. I stood up as the best means of 
 protecting myself from saturation. The captain danced about 
 dimly seen by the uncertain flicker of a small lamp that was 
 attached to the ridge-pole, and our guests smoked their pipes 
 with great equanimity. The captain said he had never witnessed 
 anything so grand in his life, and was "as happy as a lord." 
 In an hour or so the heavy rain ceased ; our cook, who had been 
 an old Spanish soldier, went out and gathered a few thistle-heads, 
 kindled a fire, and broiled us as nice a lot of quail and made as 
 good a cup of coffee as could be found anywhere. We all lay 
 down and slept comfortably that night, but with the sad reflec- 
 tion that the liquor-supply was very low. The next morning we 
 broke ground, went up the other branch, and encamped on the 
 estancia of Don Albano de Bueno, who kindly sent his capitan, 
 or head-man, to offer us his assistance. He sent us a quarter of 
 excellent beef, made provisions for us to get ten gallons of rum, 
 
 18 
 
274 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 and did everything that a hospitable gentleman could possibly do. 
 Our larder was well supplied with hard bread and salt pork, and 
 birds in abundance ; the only difficult supply to keep up was the 
 liquor. Our young " tender-foot" we sent by conveyance to 
 Montevideo, where he gave doleful accounts of our expedition. 
 
 Near this encampment we found great numbers of the car- 
 pincho, an animal that I have already described. When shot it 
 would take to the water and dive ; but after an hour or so, from 
 the stomach becoming distended, it would rise to the surface. 
 The size of the animals caused the captain to regard them as 
 something of a prize, but, as they proved to be unfit to eat, and 
 as killing them served no purpose, we left them alone thereafter. 
 There were numbers of deer, some of which we shot. I found 
 it very difficult to estimate distances ; sometimes it would seem 
 to me that animals were a long distance off when they were 
 actually within range, and at other times the reverse would be 
 the case. There were no trees, but a good many bushes large 
 enough to conceal the approach of a person crawling along the 
 ground. In doing so, I was greatly surprised at seeing the head 
 of a large snake appear a foot from the ground and within a few 
 feet of me. I immediately stood on my feet and shot it instead 
 of the deer. It was more than six feet in length. 
 
 Late in the afternoon, one of our men came to me in haste 
 and said that a jaguar had just swam across the stream to our 
 sidej a short distance above our encampment. Not being in- 
 formed at that time as to the habit of the animal, I told him I 
 thought it must have been a carpincho. The man was quite 
 positive it was a jaguar, and I afterwards regretted that I did 
 not take my gun and go after it. My companions were off in 
 another direction, and were late in coming into camp. Early 
 the next morning the captain and his companions took horses 
 and rode to Montevideo. After we had our breakfast, I deter- 
 mined to move down the river, so as to reach the vessel the 
 following day, and had just struck the tents and loaded the 
 boats, when the capitan rode down to our party and told me 
 that a jaguar had killed one of his horses and dragged it several 
 hundred yards to a thicket j by noon, he said, the beast would 
 be hungry again, and would then come to eat more of the car- 
 
THE CAPTAIN IN HIS CUPS. 275 
 
 cass. Not wishing to be detained, I lent him a gun j and, as he 
 afterwards told me, he climbed the tree overhead at the spot 
 where the horse had been dragged, and some time before noon 
 shot the animal from his perch. 
 
 I took the boats down the stream until we found a good 
 camping-ground, with plenty of brushwood near by, then went 
 into camp and made good large fires to dry our clothing. The 
 next day we went out of the Santa Lucia and had a fine sail of 
 twenty miles to the vessel. We had been absent ten days, and 
 I got more than I had bargained for. I had not the least idea 
 that the hunt would also be a drunken frolic. 
 
 The Bainbridge was anchored close to the landing at Monte- 
 video, and was often aground in the soft mud for hours when 
 the wind blew the water out of the river, as it frequently 
 did. The Congress lay several miles out, where the water was 
 deep : owing to the distance and the rough seas, her officers 
 rarely came on shore, while the habit of the officers of the brig 
 was never to stay on board if they could get on shore. Pre- 
 vious to the Fourth of July the captain rarely went on shore ; 
 but after that date he took up his quarters at the Steamboat 
 Hotel, near the landing. It was the usual resort of captains 
 and mates of American merchantmen and their families. When 
 in port, Captain Smiley lived there. For a number of years 
 he had traded between Montevideo and Rio Janeiro at certain 
 seasons of the year, and visited the Falkland Islands and the 
 coast of Patagonia. Twenty years earlier he had commanded a 
 sealing-schooner and visited the Antarctic circle, and he was to 
 have been one of the pilots of our Exploring Expedition of 
 1838 that had been so long delayed and that finally sailed under 
 Wilkes. Smiley had no appearance of years ; he was small, 
 well knit, with sandy hair and eyebrows and a keen gray eye 
 and pleasant manner. He was a thorough seaman, and was 
 humorous and jovial, but not given to intemperance. Our 
 captain took a great fancy to him, and amused himself by read- 
 ing Smiley's log-books, which were writen in doggerel and 
 styled " poetry." Smiley went to the Falkland Islands while 
 we were at anchor for some purpose not approved of by the gov- 
 ernor, and returned in high dudgeon. His account of his treat- 
 
276 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 ment quite incensed our captain, and the flag-ship having sailed 
 left him free rein : he came on board one morning and announced 
 his determination to go directly to the Falklands and capture 
 the governor and take him to the United States. All that he 
 wanted was a written statement that Captain Smiley would 
 make to him of the treatment he had received. He ordered 
 that the vessel should be provisioned in haste, and all indebted- 
 ness settled, as he did not intend to return to Montevideo, but 
 would go directly to the United States with the governor as 
 soon as he had captured him. I thought this so serious a matter 
 that I went on shore and had a confidential interview with 
 Smiley. I told him that we were provisioning to sail for the 
 Falklands to capture the governor and take him to the United 
 States for trial, and that the captain looked for his warrant to a 
 letter from him stating the indignities to which he had been 
 subjected by the governor. I hoped, therefore, that in framing 
 his letter he would be exceedingly careful ; our captain had a 
 great many good qualities, and it would be a regret to all of us 
 who admired them to see him destroy himself by an unwarranted 
 action of the gravest import. Smiley promised me that he 
 would take care not to betray our captain into error ; and I had 
 entire faith in him, for he was a man of sense, and when you 
 treat with one you can count on his action. 
 
 The vessel was got ready for sea, and still we did not sail ; I 
 said to the captain one morning when he came on board that I 
 always had a desire to visit the Falklands since I was a small 
 boy, after reading an account of two sailors who had been cast 
 away there half a century before, and of the manner in which 
 they supported themselves until rescued. It was by trapping 
 pigs, and by killing wild fowls of many varieties that came in 
 vast numbers to nest, and were so tame as to allow themselves 
 to be knocked over with a club. They found an excellent anti- 
 scorbutic and vegetable food in the root of the tussac, which 
 they thought quite as good as celery. It grew in great clumps 
 in marshy land, and in passing over it was necessary to jump 
 from one clump to another ; the hogs ate the tops and grew fat. 
 Although at the Falklands it actually sleeted or snowed every 
 month of the year, still there was no very cold weather. 
 
WATER- WITCH FIRED ON FROM A PARAGUAYAN FORT. 277 
 
 The captain listened to my long dissertation with an air of 
 impatience, and said that he could not go to the Falklands at 
 all ; he had relied on the verbal statement of Smiley, and had 
 asked him to put it in writing, which he had just done, and he 
 saw nothing in it which would justify him in seizing the gov- 
 ernor and taking him to the United States for trial. Smiley 
 had behaved shamefully : had he given him a written statement 
 such as he had made verbally, he would be entirely justifiable, 
 but the statement he had made did not amount to anything, 
 and he could not visit the Falklands for his intended purpose. 
 
 I was aware that Smiley had been something of a " freebooter," 
 and doubtless had disregarded regulations or laws, which he did 
 not state to our captain. As nothing came out in the way of 
 complaint by Smiley to our government, we may suppose that 
 he had not been very badly treated, after all. I have not heard 
 of Smiley since ; had he been placed in a similar position he 
 would have made a second John Paul Jones. 
 
 A short time before the flag-ship sailed we received informa- 
 tion of the firing on the Water-Witch from a Paraguayan fort 
 up the Parana, which river the commander of the Water-Witch 
 had attempted to ascend without having secured the permission 
 of the President, the refusal being due to a lack of discretion in 
 ascending the Paraguay into Brazilian territory when he had been 
 permitted to ascend that river only under the implied coudition 
 that he would not go beyond Paraguayan territory. A man at 
 the helm of the Water-Witch had been killed, and the vessel 
 driven back. Our captain at once applied to be sent up " to set 
 things right." But the vessel had too much draught, and would 
 have been entirely helpless in the strong current of the river, and 
 even had she been a steamer her battery would have been inade- 
 quate to do any damage ; so Commodore Salter very properly 
 declined the application. He had no vessel under his command 
 that could be sent up the river, and the facts of the case, together 
 with another matter, caused, after some delay, an expedition to 
 be fitted out under the command of Commodore William B. 
 Shubrick, of which I have already made mention. The belief 
 of our captain that " he had been restrained from vindicating 
 the honor of our flag" in Paraguay, and the check he had re- 
 
278 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 ceived in not being able to seize the governor of the Falklands, 
 preyed so much upon his mind that he determined to execute 
 only in part the orders he had received from the commodore, and 
 to sail directly from Rio Janeiro for the United States, as he did 
 finally, touching at the island of Barbadoes for water. 
 
 We sailed from Montevideo on the 11th of October, and made 
 a passage of one week to St. Catherine's. Owing to his intem- 
 perate habits the captain's condition became such that I felt it 
 my duty to say to the first lieutenant then, I being the second, 
 that whenever he might regard it as necessary to the safety of 
 the vessel to assume command I should be entirely ready to 
 support his authority. If he assumed command we would be 
 obliged to put the captain in double irons, as otherwise we would 
 be shot. I hoped, however, that he would defer such action 
 until he thought the necessity imminent. 
 
 During the passage the captain came to me one afternoon when 
 I had charge of the deck, and said, " Do you know that Mrs. 
 Sewell is on board ?" I said, " Certainly not ; I don't see how 
 she can be on board." " Well," he said, " it's quite a strange 
 affair, but she is in the cabin." "Well," I said, "captain, I 
 think the doctor has been giving you morphine, and I suspect 
 that is the reason of your belief." He bridled up greatly, and 
 said, " Then I suppose you think that I have not seen her." 
 " Well, really, captain," I replied, " people who take morphine 
 see a great deal that is unseen by other persons." " Well," he 
 said, " when your watch is out, come down in the cabin and see 
 for yourself." 
 
 On being relieved I went into the cabin, and he went through 
 the formula of presenting me to the lady. Then he looked at 
 me with some surprise, and asked why I did not make some 
 remark. I then expressed my surprise and gratification at see- 
 ing her, and asked by what means she had come on board. I 
 ceased, and the captain looked at me with an expression of dis- 
 appointment and impatience, and asked why I didn't reply to 
 the lady. I said, " I have not heard anything that she has said, 
 nor have I seen her." " Why," said he, " is that possible ? she 
 said so and so ;" whereupon I answered in such terms as the 
 asserted expression of the lady warranted. He evidently felt 
 
ENTER ST. CATHERINE'S. 279 
 
 chagrined and disappointed, and after I left the cabin sent for 
 his clerk, who had assented to having heard her conversation 
 and to having seen the lady as asserted by the captain, before I 
 had been invited. The clerk no longer saw or heard her, much 
 to the disgust of the captain, who plainly informed him that, 
 young as he was, he had all the infirmities of an old man, just 
 like Ammen, who could see or hear nothing. 
 
 Notwithstanding this deplorable condition, he by the use of a 
 little chloroform and other remedies actually became rational 
 about the time we entered St. Catherine's, and we had the hope 
 that he would become a responsible officer, as he had been pre- 
 vious to the Fourth-of-July celebration. 
 
 Our anchorage was near the entrance of the beautiful, capacious 
 harbor, several miles from the town, where the water is shoal. 
 Although the harbor is grand, it does not compare with that of 
 Rio. The town has a few thousand inhabitants, the greater 
 number of whom — or at least of the women — are engaged in 
 making feather and shell-flower work, which navy men were in 
 the habit of presenting to their friends, although it had little 
 merit from an artistic point of view. We found the inhabitants 
 altogether the most agreeable Brazilians we had met. As a race, 
 the descendants of the Portuguese in America will not compare 
 favorably in appearance or agreeability with the descendants of 
 the Spaniards. Indeed, I do not know a more agreeable people 
 to hold personal intercourse with than those speaking the Spanish 
 language on this continent. The men, when educated, are well 
 bred and agreeable ; and the man who has never been off his 
 estancia is at least hospitable and considerate to every one who 
 enters his door-w T ay. Whatever is there, even though it be 
 but an ear of corn, roasted on the cob, is offered with as much 
 hospitality as though it were a delicacy. I have found many 
 of these people who wore sandals, a slit being cut in the sole 
 between the big toe and the one next it, to allow a raw T leather 
 bight of hide to come around the big toe, and who often were 
 without hats, and whose ponchos completed their full dress, to 
 be as courteous as though educated. Contrast these with our 
 usual " Pike County" gentry, and there is a very wide difference ; 
 the latter have an offensive self-assertion and vulgarity. The 
 
280 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Spanish- American women are not learned ; not one of them 
 would endeavor to instruct you in regard to the operation of a 
 steam-engine, nor have they any of the so-called accomplish- 
 ments supposed to be acquired at fashionable boarding-schools ; 
 yet if compared in a practical way they are none the less agree- 
 able for all that, and in the usual matters of domestic life are 
 in my belief the superiors of the greater number of our much- 
 vaunted " educated' 7 women. When they marry and have chil- 
 dren, there is no European race that exercises a more intelligent, 
 unremitting, and gentle care over them, such as would quite dis- 
 compose the ordinary American or English woman " up in all 
 the ologies." 
 
 The captain did not leave the vessel, or, if he did, only to 
 take a pull in his gig and to return after a short walk. After a 
 tarry of five days we sailed for Paranagua, lying in the bight of 
 land towards Rio. This port had been the favorite resort for 
 many years of vessels engaged in the slave-trade ; it had shoal 
 water and two entrances, and, being unfrequented by foreign 
 vessels, the traffic was not observed by them, and thus in a great 
 measure was not known to the outside world. The yellow fever 
 of Brazil, introduced only a few years before by the slavers, was 
 a supposed modification of typhus, and was very fatal, not un- 
 like the fevers that prevailed in Rio in 1889, which supply the 
 medical faculty of that region with a topic for animated discus- 
 sion. It was this type of fever that finally visited Montevideo, 
 where one might suppose yellow fever could find no foothold, 
 and Buenos Ayres, where the prevalence of it was traceable to 
 the pollution of the water by the sinks that had been accumu- 
 lating ever since the city had been located. It swept around to 
 the west coast of America, was quite fatal in Callao and Lima, 
 and finally found its way to Northern Mexico, along and near 
 the Pacific coast. Some six years ago it was fearfully fatal in 
 Guaymas and neighboring towns, a region that had been sup- 
 posed to be exempt from yellow fever. 
 
 We remained at anchor outside of Paranagua for two days, 
 and sent in boats to visit the town ; there were huge fitments 
 for the slave-trade, but that was of the past, and everything was 
 dilapidated. 
 
VISIT TO COUNT MEDEM AT PETROPOLIS. 281 
 
 After two days at sea, we reached Rio on the 1st of Novem- 
 ber. I found that Count Medem, mentioned in the account of 
 my voyage to California, was at Petropolis, and did not fail to 
 redeem my promise to pay him a visit. He was quite cordial, 
 expressed his gratification, and gave me an account of his ad- 
 venturous trip across the Andes a month or so after we had 
 parted company at Panama ; his Arab servant recognized me 
 as an old travelling-companion, and had me well taken care of. 
 The snows on the Andes had set in sooner than usual, and after 
 the count and his companion were near the summit, which is 
 more than twelve thousand feet above the sea, a heavy snow- 
 storm with a violent wind caught them. They were compelled 
 to crawl some miles on hands and knees to gain a shelter. 
 The violence of the wind would not permit them to stand, 
 and to stop would have been to perish with the cold. He 
 regarded their reaching a shelter as little short of a miracle. 
 The count spoke not less than six European languages, and 
 English quite as well as myself; he had been in Egypt and 
 Persia for seventeen years, and was well versed in Arabic and 
 its dialects. He knew Mehemet Ali, the slaughterer of the 
 Mamelukes, very well ; although when he knew him Mehemet 
 was more than eighty years of age, he still had much of the 
 vivacity of a young man, and, although he never read, the 
 count thought him one of the best-informed men he had ever 
 met. His method of gaining information was, when he received 
 a visit, to turn the conversation of his visitor in the direction 
 of his special knowledge. He had a remarkable memory, and 
 the count remarked jocularly that he had to take care that his 
 statements were always in accord. Mehemet was very fond of 
 hearing about Napoleon, and from various sources, so as to 
 eliminate the personal and race equations. The count one day 
 gave him an account of a conversation between Napoleon and 
 his physician, the Baron Larrey. From the familiarity of his 
 intercourse with Mehemet, he had quite lost sight of the fact 
 that the viceroy was an old man. He had told his story before 
 it occurred to him that it was entirely lacking in diplomacy, 
 and indeed as a fact was not applicable to Mehemet ; he was 
 awakened to a sense of his bUise by seeing his listener become 
 
282 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 suddenly angry and hearing him remark that " European phy- 
 sicians were great fools anyhow." The count suddenly dis- 
 covered that he had forgotten to attend to something at his 
 house, and making his excuse for an immediate retreat, left in 
 haste. 
 
 When I went to bed I told the count that my habit was to 
 get up early and walk over the country, and made some inquiries 
 as to what there was to see. After informing me on this point, 
 he said he would be up as soon as I, and would walk with me ; 
 but, as I did not think that was his habit, I left the house in 
 the morning without making a noise or informing him of my 
 movements, and at sunrise was on my way, over hills and 
 through the intervening valleys. The inhabitants of the labor- 
 ing class in these valleys were mostly Germans. I asked my 
 way of them, or had from them a word of greeting as I passed 
 along. After an hour or so, as I was returning over a higher 
 road, I met the count, who had gone in search of me. I ex- 
 pressed my surprise that he had not missed me ; he said he had 
 asked along the line of road as to my direction, and then took 
 the upper road, feeling sure that I would return by that road. 
 
 In the afternoon he ordered horses, and we passed over all 
 the roads and by-paths on the mountain-top. It was at the 
 time of the Crimean war, and we happened to come across the 
 British minister to Brazil, who was disposed to indulge in a 
 little badinage in relation to the waning of the Crescent, the 
 emblem of Mohammedanism, which the count took very good- 
 naturedly. The point of the joke was that the count was 
 making preparations to leave Brazil for other duties, and in 
 recognition of the services of his servant, who had been with 
 him for twenty years, had built him a very nice hotel of a dozen 
 or more rooms, and w r as then living with him. The sign of the 
 hotel was a crescent. 
 
 The count had the idea that he had been poisoned by taking 
 too much quinine at various times, and this idea had been in- 
 tensified or engendered by a German physician of note. He 
 had not eaten any other flesh than that of fowls or of fish for 
 more than twenty years, because, as he said, it did not agree 
 with him. In travelling his servant was always his cook, and 
 
VISIT TO COUNT ME DEM AT PETROPOLIS. 283 
 
 prepared his fowls in a peculiar way, which the count com- 
 municated to me in an impressive manner, first making me 
 promise that when the occasion arrived I would try it. He 
 said there was a popular belief that a young fowl was savory 
 and tender ; the latter it might be, but it lacked flavor and 
 nutritious qualities, and could not be in good condition ; whereas 
 a full-grown fowl, if properly fed, would be. It mattered not 
 how old the fowl was ; if in good condition, and properly pre- 
 pared, it would be nutritious and savory. After selecting the 
 best fowls obtainable, his man would cut off their heads, put 
 them in a vessel, place a weight upon them to keep them down, 
 and then cover them with water. If the weather was warm, 
 in twelve hours they would be in condition, which would be 
 indicated by the skin just tearing upon their being picked. In 
 cooler weather a day or more might be necessary. After being 
 picked, the fowl should be washed, and then cut up, if intended 
 to be cooked in that way, or prepared for roasting, if desired. 
 Putting a fowl in a basin of water as it was cut up deprived it 
 of its nutrition, and caused the flesh to harden. I have en- 
 deavored to have the count's ideas carried out in my household, 
 though with a good deal of difficulty, and despite the covert 
 sneers of cooks who did not know that the proper preparation 
 of food extends in the animal economy a good deal beyond 
 making it grateful to the appetite. Half the ailments in life 
 result from either ignorance or indifference in the preparation 
 of food, and the person who is sick and does not appreciate 
 what a proper dietetic treatment may effect in relation to his 
 ailment, suffers greatly from his obliquity of perception or lack 
 of knowledge. I bade farewell to the count one bright morning, 
 and regret to say that I never met him again. He went home, 
 and died some years after. 
 
 I have recently endeavored to ascertain the height of Petrop- 
 olis ; the best information obtainable gave it as three thousand 
 feet above the level of the sea. I had supposed it to be nearly 
 double that height. The count told me that the relay of horses 
 about half-way up was the highest point of development of a 
 case of yellow fever. 
 
 At the time of my visit we went up the harbor on board of a 
 
284 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 little steamer, with very considerable speed, some twelve miles 
 or more, then took a railroad on a level fertile plain to the foot 
 of the mountains, and then a stage-coach to the summit, over one 
 of the best macadamized roads I have ever seen. 
 
 When returning to Rio, I walked in advance of the stage- 
 coach to the ridge from which the descent began. Below, in the 
 distance, lay the harbor of Rio, and the city, and away on the 
 horizon, islands and the beautiful blue sea. In the foreground 
 was a steep descent clothed in the richest of tropical verdure. 
 The atmosphere redolent with the perfume of fragrant flowers, 
 and the sweet melody of many birds, added a zest to my appre- 
 ciation of one of the most charming pictures I have ever seen. 
 
 When I went on board of the vessel I found that the captain 
 had taken up his quarters on shore. The merchantman com- 
 manded by Captain Sewell had come to Rio to complete cargo, 
 and the skipper's dashing wife and nice little daughter were 
 again receiving the attentions of our captain, who wore top-boots 
 and other incongruities, with navy sword, etc. During the day- 
 time they were usually at Tejueo, a mountain-height of three 
 thousand feet, ten miles from Rio, access being had to it by a 
 street railway through a picturesque valley. The captain was 
 as lavish with costly presents as he was with his hospitality; 
 indeed, he seemed to have no rational idea of the value of money 
 so long as it could be procured on his written order. 
 
 He came on board one day bringing a very large ring-tail 
 monkey of grave aspect, that had the appearance of being quite 
 old. The animal's hair was long and generally black, except 
 that on his head, and the long side-whiskers, that seemed silvered 
 o'er from a lapse of years ; his eyes were small and bleared, his 
 figure gaunt, and his usual movements slow. When released on 
 board of the vessel he looked around a few moments, then went 
 up into the main-top slowly, and studied the situation ; then he 
 came down the rigging and seated himself on the hammock- 
 netting with a gravity of demeanor quite unlike that of an ordi- 
 nary monkey. His attention soon became riveted upon a fine 
 young setter that was lying on the deck, and this animal seemed 
 to occupy his attention and study for days. At last, one day 
 after we had gone to sea, he swooped down from the rigging, 
 
A SPIRITUALIST. 285 
 
 his usual lounging-place, wound his long tail partially around 
 the dog with the utmost rapidity, and jumped for the rigging, 
 endeavoring to carry the dog with him, but the weight of the 
 animal was too great, and he either released him, or his hold 
 gave way, after he had fairly raised him from the deck. I never 
 have seen a look of greater horror and surprise than that which 
 came over the face of that dog as he fell upon the deck. It was 
 as though he was looking at the arch-fiend. His countenance 
 settled into an expression of intense rage, which the monkey 
 fostered by seating himself just clear of the reach of the dog, 
 and looked around, apparently everywhere but at the dog, that 
 was jumping up wildly to seize his persecutor, but could not 
 quite reach him. It was the most curious instance of quiet 
 malice that I have ever seen exhibited by an animal. 
 
 Mrs. Sewell was a " table- tipper," more reverently styled a 
 " spiritualist." On one occasion a brother officer and myself 
 called to see the captain, probably before we left Montevideo, 
 and found him with Mrs. Sewell, her daughter, and some of their 
 friends. A " table-tipping" was proposed ; when the party was 
 made up it consisted of seven or eight persons. It was my first 
 and last experience, and seemed to me very surprising. Ques- 
 tions as to the movements of the vessel were asked by the captain 
 and answered ; among other questions, it answered that he was 
 going to the West Indies, which, so far as I know, was not his 
 intention at that time, although he had made up his mind to take 
 the vessel home. He wished to know whether his action would 
 be approved or sustained ; but to this the " spirit" made no re- 
 sponse. We remained three weeks in Rio, during which time 
 the captain rarely visited the vessel ; he lived at a hotel in the 
 city, spending part of the time at Tejuco. 
 
 On getting to sea we found the trade-winds quite to the north- 
 ward, blowing nearly along the coast, and very fresh too. Had 
 we stood off on the port tack and made sufficient easting to clear 
 Pernambuco, we might have spared ourselves at least ten days 
 of heavy battering against a head-wind ; as it was, we carried 
 sail heavily and made slow progress ; it was three weeks before 
 we weathered the coast, and then the captain did not enter Per- 
 nambuco, as he had been ordered to do, but kept on his way 
 
286 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 home. After we had reached the Windward Islands he made 
 up his mind to enter the delightful harbor of Bridgetown, on 
 the southwest end of the island of Barbadoes. This island has 
 a larger population in proportion to its surface than any other 
 agricultural district on or near this continent. Here I met my 
 agreeable acquaintance, Turner the chemist, who had left George- 
 town, Demerara, with his family and taken up his residence near 
 Bridgetown. 
 
 Only a few months before our arrival the cholera had paid a 
 visit to the island and swept off some fifteen thousand of the 
 inhabitants, mostly blacks, they forming the bulk of the popula- 
 tion. I was told of Turner's remarkable success iu the treat- 
 ment of the disease, and asked him as to his method. As stated 
 before, he was not a physician but a skilful chemist, and his 
 treatment was entirely gratuitous. He said that there being 
 very few physicians on the island, and none of them being will- 
 ing to come out of the city, he was called upon by the blacks in 
 their village near by, often when the patient seemed almost in a 
 collapsed state. If he found the attack began by spasms, he 
 administered camphor at once ; if it began by diarrhoea, he used 
 the other remedy employed by homoeopath ists in the United 
 States, with hot applications to the abdomen. He had treated 
 more than two hundred patients, and only five per cent, of them 
 had died. I asked what treatment he would adopt for yellow 
 fever. He replied that if I had asked him in Demerara when 
 I met him there, he would have said one thing, but now he 
 would say another ; he had been so successful in the treatment 
 of a very violent type of cholera by homoeopathy that, should 
 an occasion arise, he would adopt the same system of treatment 
 for yellow fever. 
 
 The day after our arrival was Christmas, and we were in time 
 for a grand " Dignity ball," such as that described by Marryat 
 years before, when slavery gave the festivity its impress. The 
 " Lady" of old was Mistress of Ceremonies at the time of our 
 visit, but it was said that the Dignity balls were not as of old, 
 and certainly the Directress was no longer attractive. 
 
 The cultivation of Barbadoes has been in sugar-cane pretty 
 much ever since it was inhabited ; and the excellence of the 
 
BARBADOES. 287 
 
 roads, the fine buildings for the making of sugar, and the very 
 comfortable dwellings of the owners of the plantations gave 
 token that it was still a profitable industry. The inhabitants 
 were very hospitable, as indeed they are usually in new countries, 
 when they have reason to believe that the persons who visit 
 them are worthy of hospitality. There are few trees, and only 
 some moderate elevations of several hundred feet in height on 
 the northern part, the other parts being moderately undulating, 
 and the whole of the island being occupied. It is fringed with 
 coral, and the trade-winds sweep over it almost constantly, being 
 partially broken up in August and a part of September, when 
 the belt of the earth north of the tropics is abnormally heated. 
 
 Not only is the land extremely fruitful, but the sea teems with 
 fish, — among them the flying-fish, one of the most delicious pan- 
 fishes of the sea. In the dark of the moon it is caught in any 
 desired quantity by pulling a short distance from shore, or rather 
 hoisting a sail and being blown there, and then lighting a torch. 
 By the use of scoop-nets the boats are loaded down to the gun- 
 wale in a few minutes ; the fish swarm around in such numbers 
 that they only require to be lifted into the boat. They are put 
 up in oil, and in salt, in earthen jars, and might well take the 
 place of the sardine as a relish. Were the necessities of the 
 islanders greater, these fish would undoubtedly be found in our 
 markets. 
 
 We left our hospitable friends on the 2d of January, 1855, 
 and six days after, when north of the island of St. Thomas, had 
 a gale that came near being our last to encounter. The wind 
 had been heavy for twenty-four hours, and three points abaft 
 the starboard beam ; we had gone along without shipping much 
 water, with the sails trimmed rather " fine," — that is, not to get 
 the full force of the wind. The brig steered very well, and that 
 w r as her only good quality. With the increasing gale the vessel 
 was very uneasy, and at two o'clock p.m. the captain directed 
 that she should be brought by the wind under short sail, or, as 
 seamen call it, " laid to." Of this the log-book says, " At 2.15 
 took in fore topsail ; at 2.30 brought by the wind under close- 
 reefed main-topsail, foresail, and fore-topmast stay-sail; car- 
 ried away the fore-topmast stay-sail sheet, and were boarded 
 
288 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 by a sea that came near swamping us ; hove to under the close- 
 reefed main-topsail, and at 3.30 close-reefed the main-try-sail, 
 set it, and took in the main-topsail." 
 
 Before attempting to bring by the wind we should have hauled 
 up and furled the foresail that was reefed, and set the main-try- 
 sail close-reefed, then taken in our main-topsail and brought 
 her by the wind. Had it not been for the parting of the fore- 
 topmast stay-sail sheet, and either the letting go of the fore- 
 sheet or its parting also, our cruise would have ended then and 
 there. The vessel was pressed down with the weight of canvas, 
 and when the heavy sea boarded her she lay over on her side to 
 such a degree that the water played back and forth over her 
 lee hammock-netting. It did not seem to me possible that she 
 would ever right again, and, standing just abaft the main-mast, 
 looking over the wide expanse of ocean, with nothing but the 
 weather side of the brig visible, I made up my mind that should 
 she go down I would not attempt to prolong my misery by seiz- 
 ing on anything that might be left afloat. I suppose, however, 
 that I would have done so nevertheless, for the instinct to main- 
 tain life as long as possible is so great that at the final moment 
 it exerts itself to its utmost, when even reason itself would assert 
 that the struggle was useless. 
 
 The captain, who rarely came on deck unless after night, 
 suddenly appeared on deck while the vessel was lying on her 
 beam ends, gave orders to take in the foresail and haul down 
 the stay-sail, and wound up by shouting that he could save the 
 ship if anybody could, and if she could not be saved " we would 
 all go to hell together." He was a very good seaman, and fully 
 appreciated the situation. When we had nothing but the main- 
 topsail on her, the pressure of the wind was so great that the 
 water stood nearly steadily over the sills of the lee gun-ports. 
 After that sail was taken in, under the close-reefed main try-sail 
 the vessel shipped very little water. 
 
 During the night the gale gradually died away, and the next 
 day saw us again under sail, pursuing our way to New York. 
 Several days later, we had another heavy blow, but laid the 
 vessel to properly, and the night before we got into port we had 
 a furious southeaster and went before it under a heavy press of 
 
SOME RETROSPECTIONS. 289 
 
 sail. Had we broached-to it would have been bad for all on 
 board. As it was, we overran our log, and at broad daylight 
 found ourselves off Rockaway Beach, with the wind canting 
 south and westward. It was lucky for us that the wind soon 
 after came in a jiffy from the northwest, and before it became 
 very strong we beat in, keeping the Jersey coast close aboard, 
 and by night had gained our port. 
 
 Our captain sent a special messenger to the Department an- 
 nouncing the return of the vessel to the United States. His 
 reasons for bringing her home without orders were so unsatisfac- 
 tory that he was immediately dismissed. He was an excellent 
 seaman, very generous in his disposition, and gentlemanly to 
 those around him under all circumstances. In spite of his dere- 
 lictions, the officers had a strong personal attachment to him. 
 
 I was detached from the wretched . vessel before she went to 
 sea : had I not been, it was my intention to resign and follow 
 whatever pursuit I was fitted for, rather than be subjected again 
 to so horrible a life. In August, 1864, when under the com- 
 mand of a volunteer officer, the vessel was capsized in a gale of 
 wind, only one man being left to tell the tale ; a small boat 
 remained afloat, and he happened to reach it, and was finally 
 rescued by a passing vessel. Four of the officers who served on 
 board at the time of which I write are yet living. One is a pay 
 director in the navy ; another, who became a Confederate general, 
 is now in Louisiana ; another, who went into the Southern army, 
 is now in Texas, engaged in the practice of law. All are "as 
 well as could be expected" after such a lapse of time and passing 
 through such scenes. 
 
 19 
 
290 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Ordered to Duty at the Naval Observatory, Washington, under Commandei 
 M. F. Maury — Observations on Commander Maury and other Officers on 
 Duty — "Duke" Gwinn — Jefferson Davis — Service on Board the Saranac, 
 on a Voyage to the Pacific — An Account of the Voyage from Philadelphia 
 — Incidents of the Voyage, and Mention of the Different Points touched — 
 Service on Board the Merrimac — Sail for Tumbez — Payta — San Lorenzo 
 — Callao — Eandolph Clay, Minister to Peru — Mummies — Gathering Skulls 
 — Ancient Temples. 
 
 After getting clear of this disgusting little brig, which one 
 of the officers very properly said tended to destroy not only 
 self-respect, but respect for anybody and everything, I paid a 
 visit to relatives in Ohio. Up to the last of January the 
 weather was exceptionally mild ; then the cold set in and until 
 the latter part of March snow lay on the ground in Washington. 
 At this period there was little shore-duty for young officers. 
 Usually a leave of three months followed a cruise, and, soon 
 after, orders to sea. With officers of rank the case was different 
 from the fact that the number of vessels kept in commission 
 was insufficient to give all of them sea-service save at consider- 
 able intervals of time. 
 
 I was ordered on duty to the Naval Observatory at Washing- 
 ton, under Commander M. F. Maury, widely known through 
 his wind and current charts, and as the author of the " Geog- 
 raphy of the Seas." He had been debarred from service afloat 
 by a broken and much shortened leg, the result of an upset of 
 a stage-coach. At times he would invite me into his office, and 
 would read or discuss something of interest. I recall his in- 
 dignation on one occasion over a paper published in the Southern 
 IAterary Review criticising an expression of his relating to the 
 Gulf Stream. He had described it as a river in the ocean, the 
 edges of which were subject to mutations by reason of the 
 winds, and said that it flowed " up-hill." The critic remarked 
 that every fresh-water creek having " bars" in it might in like 
 manner be said to flow " up-hill." The surface alone marked 
 
"DUKE" GWINN. 291 
 
 the plane and determined the flow, which could never be " up- 
 hill." Maury was able and agreeable, and was a pioneer in the 
 study of the seas, and aided greatly in establishing an intelligent 
 navigation of them under sail, which in his day was the only 
 motive power employed, save between Europe and America 
 and routes to and through the Mediterranean, where steam was 
 coming into use to some extent. 
 
 A dozen young officers were on duty at that time, most of 
 them engaged in examining log-books and tabulating the results 
 in geographical scales for every month in the year. Others 
 were engaged in calculations of different kinds, among the 
 number Lieutenant Cook, a quaint little North Carolinian 
 who had been at the head of the list of lieutenants for several 
 years, by reason of a " retiring Board" and a subsequent Board 
 restoring officers to the active list, thus overloading the number 
 allowed by law and stopping promotion until the number was 
 reduced to the limit of the law. He was naturally unhappy 
 and could not be patient ; had there been one more vacancy 
 before the action of the second Board, he would have been a 
 commander for half a dozen years, a grade he never reached. 
 He resigned in May, 1861, to "serve his State," and during the 
 civil war commanded a small steamer of the Confederate squad- 
 ron in Pasquotank River under Lynch, which was entirely 
 destroyed by Rowan. When at the Observatory, Cook was 
 often reminded of the honor he enjoyed in being the patriarch 
 of the lieutenants, many of whom were venerable in years. 
 He was disposed, however, to regard this as " chaff." 
 
 For some months when on this duty I lived in the same house 
 and sat at the same table with " Duke" Gwinn, who attained 
 his title through the Emperor Maximilian in Mexico, after the 
 close of our civil war. He was a large and distinguished- 
 looking man, and a typical Southern politician of that day. In 
 ante-bellum times he had been a Washington lobbyist, and he 
 resumed that occupation as soon as he could advantageously do 
 so after the termination of the war. He was a Lesseps' Panama 
 Canal man, but died before the canal was " finished." 
 
 My duties occupied me for the greater part of the day, and 
 long walks in the evening, usually up Rock Creek, were my 
 
292 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 recreation. In a walk to the Capitol one afternoon, I met 
 Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War. He greeted me cor- 
 dially, invited me to come and see him at any time, and rather 
 reproached me for not having called. I said he ought to regard 
 my not having done so as an especial mark of favor on my 
 part: he had onerous official duties, and a large number of 
 personal friends who demanded much of his time, to say nothing 
 of the many persons who would come to see him whether 
 welcome or not. He smiled pleasantly, and said those were 
 not the persons he wished to see, but those who, like myself, 
 never had anything to ask of him. 
 
 After a little more than two years of Observatory duty I was 
 ordered as second lieutenant of the Saranac, lying at Philadel- 
 phia, to make a cruise to the Pacific Ocean. Soon after joining 
 the vessel I realized that the executive officer was not an expert 
 in putting a ship in order. The captain was old, had never 
 served on board of a steam vessel-of-war, and had grown up in 
 a great degree in the merchant service. Although not cultured, 
 he had an honest purpose, good sense, and a kind heart. The 
 Saranac left Philadelphia on the 15th of October for the island 
 of St. Thomas, to coal, en route to our station. On the 28th, in 
 latitude 35° north, longitude 72° west, we had a heavy gale of 
 twenty- four hours' duration. The jib-boom was carried away, 
 and the cut-offs of the engines worked badly ; this caused us to 
 turn back after we had reached latitude 29° and longitude 63°. 
 When the captain called a council of the officers in relation to 
 returning, I was opportunely in charge of the deck. 
 
 The main-mast of the vessel was stepped on the berth-deck, on 
 account of the enginery-placement, instead of on the keelson as 
 usual; the leverage was great, and the enginery being partly 
 secured to the berth-deck served to throw it out of line. The 
 main yard was carried aloft at all times, because it looked " ship- 
 shape," when it should have been lowered and lashed at sea 
 until its use was required ; the weight of spars aloft with such 
 an insecure step of the mast could not fail to disarrange the ma- 
 chinery. When we turned back we were nearly head to wind, 
 and when we had a gale we always steamed head on, which, 
 in a short vessel like ours, served to strain and disarrange the 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. 293 
 
 engines. The Saranac was quite slow, and, being managed in 
 this way, her coal-consumption was enormous. At last we found 
 it worth while to send down our lower yards and lash them, 
 which we did in a heavy gale with some difficulty. 
 
 We reached Norfolk on the 1st of November, and remained 
 there three weeks, making repairs on the enginery, leaving on the 
 21st. One week out, in latitude 25° north, longitude 63° west, 
 we had a gale such as has been described as requiring several 
 men to " hold the hair of the captain on his head." Our senior 
 lieutenant, learned, but not in the lore of the sea, said when we 
 were taking tea that should the engines give out we should be 
 " in Davy Jones's locker" in five minutes. About ten p.m. the 
 engines ceased to turn over, the vessel fell off into the trough of 
 the sea, rolled heavily, and shipped a good deal of water. It 
 filled the launch hoisted and topped up on her davits on the 
 weather quarter, and I thought would carry them away. We 
 bored large holes through the bottom and saved her, and set the 
 main try-sail, which made the vessel easier. I had gone on 
 deck when the engines ceased to work, to do whatever might be 
 required. At midnight I took charge of the deck until four a.m., 
 and when relieved was tired enough to go below and sleep despite 
 the heat and vapor. About noon the enginery was adjusted, the 
 gale abated, and we steered for Bridgetown, Barbadoes, where 
 we anchored six days later. 
 
 The day after our arrival the captain went on shore to pay 
 his respects to the governor, who lived a short distance from the 
 town. On his return the horses attached to his carriage ran 
 away, and threw him out on the road, bruising him severely. 
 A young officer who accompanied him was also injured, but, 
 being young and strong, soon recovered. The captain did not 
 leave his cabin until we reached Valparaiso, two months later. 
 
 Our stay at Bridgetown was two weeks. The inhabitants 
 and the officers of the garrison were very hospitable and agree- 
 able, and the island was free from epidemics, with a delightful 
 trade-wind constantly blowing over it. Almost every part of 
 the island was under cultivation in sugar-cane, and the planta- 
 tions were models of neatness. It would seem as if there could 
 be no hold for an epidemic such as prevailed a few months before 
 
294 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 a former visit, when the island was decimated by the cholera. 
 During my absence of three years the yellow fever had also 
 prevailed, but in a mild form. 
 
 Soon after leaving the port we entered a strong current, the 
 continuation of the equatorial, banked between the northeast and 
 southeast trades in the Atlantic in a calm belt of several degrees 
 in width ; this " head" through the surface-friction of the winds 
 causes the waters to flow westward towards Cape St. Roque, on 
 the coast of Brazil, where they bifurcate, more or less flowing 
 southward towards Pernambuco, dependent on the season of the 
 year and the consequent change of direction and force of the 
 trade-winds. By far the larger volume pursues its way along 
 the northern coast of South America and sweeps in great part 
 through the Caribbean Sea, and is finally known as the Gulf 
 Stream from Cape Florida as far north and east as the Banks of 
 Newfoundland, although its continuous onflow reaches the west- 
 ern shores of Europe, and then trends south. 
 
 The strength of the current where the Saranac crossed it was 
 about three miles per hour, and the width of the stream was 
 probably one hundred miles ; wo had no means of ascertaining 
 its depth, which has since been done at various points with a 
 fair degree of accuracy. We escaped its force by getting well 
 in with the land and following the coast-indentations as far as 
 outlying shoals would allow. A fine young engineer, in order 
 to be more comfortable, was imprudent enough to leave his state- 
 room and lie under a windsail in the wardroom where the breeze 
 was quite fresh and loaded with a good deal of vapor. This 
 resulted in what is known as a "galloping consumption;" a 
 month later he was sent from Rio Janeiro invalided, and barely 
 reached home to die. Such cases are supposed by many persons 
 to be climatic, whereas they result simply from lack of knowl- 
 edge and imprudent exposure. 
 
 We reached Pernambuco on the 3d of January, 1858, and 
 for some days loitered at anchor outside of the natural mole of 
 coral, mentioned previously in the account of my visit when on 
 board of the Water- Witch. The water here could no doubt be 
 deepened by the use of modern explosives, at small cost and 
 with great benefit. 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. 295 
 
 We arrived at Rio on the 15th of January, and found yellow 
 fever of a fatal type prevalent there. As previously intimated, 
 our executive was not facile ; we spent some days in making 
 arrangements for coaling, but, when we did begin, Lieutenant 
 Harris, a very energetic and excellent young officer, and myself, 
 took charge of the operation and got the coal on board very 
 rapidly, the men working admirably in order to enable us to get 
 away, which we did after being eight days in port without con- 
 tracting the fever. It was near sunset when we left ; passing 
 out close to Fort Santa Cruz on the port hand, from which a reef 
 extends a short distance, the officer in charge of the deck, wish- 
 ing to go to starboard, which means to the right, said, "Star- 
 board" to the helmsman, which means " starboarding the helm." 
 The result of this order was to throw the head of the vessel to 
 the left, and directly towards a reef over which the water was 
 breaking heavily. The officer was either unmindful of the 
 swing of the vessel or not able to comprehend it. We were 
 quite close to the breakers, and no time was to be lost. I was 
 then officer of the forecastle, and, seeing that without prompt 
 action the vessel would inevitably be lost, sung out, " Hard-a- 
 port the helm." The helmsman at once answered by a loud 
 repetition of the order, and an immediate compliance in porting 
 the helm, which barely saved us from going on the reef. After 
 we had cleared it, I ordered the helm " a-starboard," and the 
 vessel was put on her course towards Raza Island, some ten 
 miles seaward. No conversation subsequently passed between 
 myself and the officer who had charge of the deck at that time 
 in reference to this occurrence. 
 
 We pursued our way with excellent weather and entered the 
 Straits of Magellan on the morning of February 5. The 
 entrance is quite wide, but, by reason of shoals and strong 
 currents and the absence of reliable landmarks, is not free from 
 danger. After narrowing considerably, which it does thirty 
 miles beyond, no dangers are encountered until reaching Eliza- 
 beth Island, a hundred or more miles from the entrance. With 
 the exception of two narrows which appear little more than a 
 mile wide, some of the bluffs near them on the Terra del Fuego 
 side stretching to the water-line, there is nothing of interest 
 
296 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 along this part of the Straits save the great strength of the 
 currents in the narrows at certain stages of the tides. On one 
 of the bluffs we saw, a mile away, a flock of guanacos, beautiful 
 little animals closely resembling the antelope in appearance and 
 size. They are destitute of antlers, and have long white hair 
 on the belly, and a beautiful fur under their soft hair. 
 
 It was near sunset when we anchored at Elizabeth Island in 
 order to sound out a passage near kelp floating on the surface 
 and growing on the rocks in five fathoms of water. I obtained 
 a boat and crew, and, accompanied by Dozier, the navigator of 
 the vessel, was soon on shore. The land rose in a succession of 
 long easy slopes, so easy, in fact, that when we had walked a 
 half-mile or more and looked back we found ourselves hundreds 
 of feet above the Saranac, almost without suspecting it. There 
 were some stunted trees in a depression in advance of us, and 
 just outside of the little clump stood a fine deer, utterly un- 
 conscious that unmounted men could be an object of danger. 
 We fired together at the word, and the deer fell in his tracks ; 
 we found on examination that either shot would have been fatal. 
 We disembowelled the animal, used our handkerchiefs to tie up 
 the forefeet, and commenced our haul of one hundred and fifty 
 pounds' weight ; luckily it was down-hill, and as soon as our 
 boat's crew saw us they came to our assistance. 
 
 The Patagonians always hunt deer mounted and use what is 
 known as the " bolas," an implement consisting of three thongs 
 of raw hide, each about a yard in length, tied together at one 
 end; at the other end of each thong is a small ball, two of 
 the balls being of wood and the other of lead. When used, 
 the thongs holding the two wooden balls are held in the hand, 
 and the leaden ball swung around the head, the rider going as 
 rapidly as possible, and let fly at a favorable opportunity. 
 They are thrown with great dexterity, often to a distance of 
 sixty yards. If successful the thongs wind around the hind 
 legs of the animal and tie them together, or around one leg, 
 embarrassing his movements greatly. Cattle as well as deer 
 are brought to a halt in this manner ; and the legs of deer and 
 guanacos are often broken by the violence of the blow from the 
 lead ball. The general appearance of the deer killed was sim- 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. 297 
 
 ilar to that of our own deer, except that the hair was several 
 inches long, probably due to the continuous moisture and to the 
 coldness of the atmosphere. 
 
 In the morning, after sounding out the channel, the Saranac 
 left for Sandy Point, where we arrived in two hours, and 
 anchored. It was then a new settlement, established by the 
 government of Chili some years before. The houses were of 
 frame, not at all of the style usual in Spanish America ; there 
 was a small garrison of soldiers, and perhaps a dozen families 
 other than those connected with the Chilian government. The 
 question whether potatoes would grow or not was then de- 
 bated; lettuce and some other vegetables had been planted 
 successfully. 
 
 A coal-seam was known twelve miles distant, the greater part 
 of the distance lying along the bed of a rocky mountain-stream. 
 I found a Chilian vaquero, a person corresponding to our " cow- 
 boy," who was willing to get a companion and myself horses 
 and to serve as guide to visit it. We set out about nine a.m., 
 and traversed an undulating plain for a mile or so, then entered 
 a sheltered valley heavily covered with a large growth of timber, 
 which the guide called roble, or oak, but altogether unlike our 
 oak in appearance. Many of the fallen trunks were four feet 
 in diameter, and there were many dead trunks of a tall slender 
 tree that had the appearance of pine or cedar, but I saw none 
 that were alive. The broad bottom of land was the wash from 
 the ravine which we soon entered. What surprised me greatly 
 was the sight of thousands of parrots, such as are found in the 
 Argentine Confederation, that come to nest in this cool region. 
 They appeared to be almost the only wood birds of that region. 
 Of course a little later in the season they migrate to their usual 
 habitat, which extends as far northward as Corrientes, high up 
 on the Paraguay River. These parrots are not endowed with 
 the faculty of speech save in their own language, and are sup- 
 posed to be cave-dwellers in the cliffs along the Paraguay River 
 and elsewhere. 
 
 In going up the ravine some eight miles, we crossed its rocky 
 bed fifty times. Here and there we would leave the bed and 
 clamber over rocks across points. The weather was cloudy, 
 
298 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 with occasional light showers, as is usual in that region. We 
 saw small lumps of coal lying in the bed of the stream, and 
 when we reached the deposit known to our guide we found a 
 seam not more than fifteen inches in thickness, with very little 
 exposed surface, and situated a few feet above the bed of the 
 stream. The vaquero had brought his dogs, and we our guns, 
 as we had been promised a chance of shooting a deer ; this would 
 have been more probable had we left the dogs at home. 
 
 The coal-seam is probably about fifteen hundred feet above 
 the sea ; from this point we found our way up the mountain- 
 side several hundred feet ; the tree-vegetation was small, but the 
 ground was covered with succulent shrubs and weeds, which we 
 were told remained almost unfrozen and green the winter 
 through, under a depth of several feet of snow, furnishing an 
 abundant food-supply for deer and guanacos. When we came 
 down we followed the spur of a mountain at places so steep 
 that the horses sat upon their haunches and dragged themselves 
 down with their forefeet, — my first and only experience of such 
 a manoeuvre. I would not have dared to attempt the descent 
 had not the vaquero taken the lead ; he was said to be one of 
 the best riders in Chili. 
 
 Although the latitude of Sandy Point is about 53° south, 
 and that of Cape Horn three degrees farther south, Terra del 
 Fuego and Southern Patagonia are so narrow and limited in 
 area that there is little accumulation of cold, and the huge vol- 
 canic masses covered with ice and snow serve to condense the 
 vapor almost constantly and thus raise the temperature. 
 
 After lying two days at anchor, we left Sandy Point, and, 
 after a run of fifteen miles, passed Port Famine, well known to 
 the ordinary reader ; the locality seemed to have a fair amount 
 of shelter, and wood in abundance, a thing quite unusual on the 
 shores of the Straits, and the hills, or rather mountains, had an 
 abrupt look. Not until Cape Froward is passed, twenty miles 
 from Sandy Point, does the desolate grandeur of the Straits 
 present itself, much added to in scenic effect by an almost con- 
 stant gale, lashing the waters into a battering sea and fiercely- 
 rolling white-caps. 
 
 At Cape Froward there is a bend of the Straits, and when 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. 299 
 
 quite near the base of its perpendicular cliffs, several thousand 
 feet in height on the western face, the whole scene is presented 
 as suddenly as the stage in a theatre on the rising of the drop- 
 curtain. So fierce are the winds and the driving sleet against 
 that face of the cape that nothing is seen but barren rocks, 
 seamed and scored by dashing mountain-torrents, white with 
 spray, stretching from the water's edge to a height painful to 
 look at when a vessel passes within a few hundred feet of the 
 base. 
 
 Across the Straits, on the Terra del Fuego side, there was 
 great obscurity, and rising out of many lofty peaks were columns 
 of black smoke, spreading out into a dark canopy thousands of 
 feet above the peaks. On the Patagonian side, looking to sea- 
 ward, were indentations between lofty mountains covered far 
 down their sides with snow and glaciers, as disclosed by the 
 green beds of ice and the white spray of the waters rushing down 
 the mountain-sides. 
 
 Far away over the land, at a height of thousands of feet, the 
 atmosphere was actually undisturbed, as could be seen by the 
 columns of volcanic smoke. Over the waters, driving in from 
 the ocean between shores barely visible, were fierce squalls, with 
 rain and sleet, known as " willy- waughs," that whistle as fiercely 
 as winds can. The desolate poetic grandeur of land and sea, 
 from Cape Froward to Cape Pillar, a distance of ninety miles, 
 is beyond anything that I have seen on the coast of Labrador 
 or elsewhere. 
 
 The force of the wind and the sea was so great that after a 
 few hours' struggle with them we hauled in to the right shore, 
 sheltered by a headland, and anchored in what is known to navi- 
 gators as Wood's Cove, from which we looked with interest and 
 composure at the elemental strife that continued to rage within 
 a few hundred yards of our anchorage. We were quite comfort- 
 able during the night, and the next morning got under way and 
 stood out j the wind was soon piping through our rigging ; we 
 tugged away under high steam until the sun was low, making 
 less than two miles per hour. The nervous lieutenant asked me 
 what I thought of going into Cordova Bay for the night ; I 
 replied that we might do so without disadvantage. Away he 
 
300 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 went to the executive officer to bring it about, and soon after, 
 with the wind and sea abeam, we were approaching a bay rarely 
 visited. It was described by Admiral Byron of the British 
 navy a century ago. After getting into smooth water, being in 
 charge of the deck, I pointed out to the executive officer some 
 shelving ground farther up, as offering an indication of a prob- 
 able anchoring-ground near by. The marine officer suggested 
 entering a little passage-way on our left between high mountains 
 seemingly hardly one hundred yards apart. His suggestion was 
 adopted, perhaps because he was a marine officer. After getting 
 into a very small basin, no bottom could be found with a line of 
 one hundred and twenty fathoms ; beyond was another opening, 
 somewhat wider ; passing in, we found ourselves in a circular 
 basin some two miles in diameter, with no bottom at a depth of 
 one hundred and twenty fathoms. The water was smooth, but 
 the wind blew furiously in squalls over the mountains, which 
 were several thousand feet in height. The executive officer 
 was greatly perplexed, and told me he thought of " placing two 
 lights on shore and steering for them." I replied that I did 
 not know how he would do that ; it seemed to me preferable to 
 take a kedge and hawser to the weather shore, plant the kedge 
 in the rocks and bring the hawser off as a " guess warp" by 
 which the vessel could ride at anchor during the night. He said 
 it would take all night to effect this ; I replied that if he would 
 give me charge of the vessel I would do it in an hour. He 
 assented. I called Lieutenant Harris to take charge of the deck, 
 lowered the cutter, passed in a kedge, and was passing in a hawser, 
 when the fussy man appeared and told us to hold on in the boat, 
 he intended to back the vessel. I asked him to be good enough 
 to leave the vessel in charge of Lieutenant Harris, as otherwise 
 I could not fulfil my promise. I had instructed Harris to keep 
 watch on my boat, and, when he saw me pulling out, to steam 
 in slowly, and avoid running us down, as the executive officer 
 would probably have done had he been in charge of the deck. 
 In a few minutes I reached the shore, planted the kedge in a 
 cleft of the rocks, and pulled out where Harris brought the 
 Saranac and took the hawser on board. It was then twilight ; 
 the days were quite long in that high latitude and twilight lasted 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. 301 
 
 until ten o'clock. As I stepped over the gangway the executive 
 officer was there ; and the man at the lead reported seventeen 
 fathoms of water. I said, " Now, sir, you can let go an anchor." 
 "No, sir," said he ; "were I to do so, if the vessel should tail in 
 she would go on shore." I made no reply to this hopelessly 
 inapt man. The vessel was actually lying at the end of a hawser 
 more than six hundred feet long, and had the wind set on shore 
 she would have swung to the anchor had that been let go, her 
 length being less than one-third the hawser's : a few revolutions 
 of the engine would have dragged the anchor into deep water 
 off the ledge, and we should have been entirely free from the 
 shore. 
 
 We rode by the hawser until about noon the next day, when 
 the continued swinging of the vessel over a large arc had 
 worked the kedge out of the cleft in the rock, and we found 
 ourselves drifting away from the shore. The hawser was hove 
 in and the kedge planted as before, but it was nightfall before 
 this was effected. We lay for another twenty-four hours in like 
 manner. 
 
 During our stay I got a boat and crew and visited the beach. 
 There were numbers of small black muscles growing on the 
 rocks, like those found at the Delaware Breakwater : these made 
 a very acceptable dish. We found several very small pearls in 
 them after they were cooked. We caught also many rock cod- 
 fish of a pound or so in weight, resembling those caught off the 
 New England coast, and quite as delicious. In the precipitous 
 rocky ravines worn by the falling waters were some beautiful 
 flowers and an exuberant vegetation, but wherever the winds 
 had full sweep there was nothing to be seen but barren rocks. 
 Doubtless in sheltered places in the interior guanacos and deer 
 would have been found, but the extreme roughness of the country 
 forbade the attempt to explore. It is well known that the in- 
 habitants of Terra del Fuego live almost wholly on shell-fish 
 and other fish and the eggs of birds. Although these animals 
 abound, they make no attempt to kill them. We saw only one 
 canoe in the Straits, and the two persons in it avoided us. 
 
 In the evening the captain sent for me ; his injury at Barba- 
 dos six weeks before had confined him to the cabin ever since. 
 
302 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 He asked if I thought the vessel in danger ; I replied no, but 
 that she would ride much better if an anchor were let go ; should 
 a change of wind then occur she would tail in and be pointed 
 fair, and a few turns of the engine would drag the anchor off 
 the ledge into deep water ; besides, it would prevent the vessel 
 from swinging on a great arc at the end of more than one hundred 
 fathoms of line, and thus work adrift again, as she had done 
 before. A heavy squall at that instant struck the vessel, and 
 we felt the shock and heard the noise of the chain running out 
 of the hawse-hole. I added that all had been done by letting 
 go the anchor that could be to insure the vessel against accident; 
 he might rest entirely content. On getting on deck I found that 
 the nervous lieutenant had let go an anchor, to prevent the vessel, 
 as lie said, from parting the hawser. 
 
 The heavy squalls came at intervals, with great force, the same 
 as when we had entered ; the clouds swirled over the almost 
 perpendicular mountain-tops near the bases of which we lay, and 
 the Scotch mist fell incessantly. 
 
 When tied up to the weather shore, our fires were banked, 
 and, by spreading them, in a few minutes we would be able to 
 control the vessel under steam in smooth water. Early in the 
 morning of the third or fourth day, in a heavy squall, the vessel 
 dragged the kedge and anchor, and we drifted from the shore ; 
 the awnings were furled, hawser and cable hove in, and we 
 steamed out through the passage we had entered. Keeping in 
 to the left shore, we made more progress in the sea reach than 
 we had done before. Late in the afternoon we were up with 
 Cape Pillar ; as we approached the cape either there was a gen- 
 eral or a local change in the weather ; the sun came out, and 
 after reaching the open waters of the Pacific the wind was no 
 longer violent; we could have gone northward sheltered for 
 several hundred miles, near to the island of Chiloe, within an 
 archipelago, but chose to go outside to buffet the seas. For 
 three days we had fair weather, and then a heavy gale nearly 
 ahead. The wind struck us on the port bow quite suddenly, and 
 so fiercely that only after hours of trial, and through counter- 
 bracing the after-yards, were we able to get the wind on the other 
 bow, so that the drift would be off instead of on shore. In the 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. 303 
 
 heavy sea and wind we cracked the cap of a pillar-block over 
 the shaft, which we found out the next morning and secured by 
 a stanchion as well as we could. We arrived at Valparaiso on 
 the 20th of February, with very little coal in the bunkers, and 
 were glad to get there. 
 
 A third of a century ago Valparaiso was an attractive, busy 
 little town, with a recently -completed railroad to the capital. It 
 had received a great impetus from the gold-mining in California 
 of 1850, through the exportation of wheat and other products that 
 were sold at fabulous prices. The native inhabitants, together 
 with many foreigners of different nationalities many of whom 
 married Chilenas, formed a very agreeable, intelligent society. 
 
 Approaching, and many miles from the coast when the shore- 
 line was far below the horizon, we saw the ranges of mountains 
 rising one above the other in colossal grandeur, and among them 
 the giant volcanic peak Aconcagua, seemingly at no great dis- 
 tance, but actually far away. The town at that time was almost 
 entirely below a line of cliffs near the circular beach that sur- 
 rounded the indentation, for, properly speaking, Valparaiso had 
 no harbor ; there was an anchorage in uncomfortably deep water, 
 quite exposed to the north, whence came at times violent gales 
 that strewed the beach with wrecks. The cliffs that lay back 
 of the city were known to sailors as the Fore, Main, and Mizzen 
 tops, where they are supposed to have had high old times aloft, 
 in years that have passed, some of the sailors tumbling down 
 the precipices after night with fatal or serious injuries. 
 
 After having gained the tops of the cliffs, some two hundred 
 feet in height, the ascent into the interior was gradual, but steep 
 withal, with here and there a small neat cottage by the roadside ; 
 in a mile or so the top of the ridge was gained, more than 
 one thousand feet above the sea. These mountain-ranges were 
 covered with bushes and shrubs, almost without exception resin- 
 ous, and many of them aromatic. At some distance from the 
 summit there was a fork in the road, the one to the right leading 
 to a height overhanging the quebrada, corresponding to gulch in 
 English, a narrow valley lying more then a thousand feet below, 
 with the slope so steep that once started downward by accident 
 man and horse would not bring up before reaching the bottom. 
 
304 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 There was a road partly cut in the earth on the side of the hill, 
 so narrow that two mules laden could not pass. The Saranac 
 remained at anchor in the roadstead for six weeks, during which 
 time when off duty I rode over the country within reasonable 
 distances; and I have kindly remembrances of the charming 
 people whom I had the pleasure of meeting. 
 
 We left for Coquimbo, where we arrived the next day. At 
 that time a considerable quantity of the copper of commerce, at 
 a price about four times its present market value, was smelted at 
 this locality. Instead of mountains there were hills, not covered 
 with trees, but pleasing withal, and at a distance of some miles 
 were vegas, or fertile plains, where irrigated alfalfa grew with 
 great luxuriance. Although our stay was short, it was long 
 enough for us to have two earthquakes ; they occurred almost 
 twenty-four hours apart, and to us on board the apparent feeling 
 was as if the vessel were being hauled over a sand-bar ; it is 
 difficult to conceive how an earthquake can communicate such 
 a sensation, yet the same has been observed on the high seas. 
 When the first one occurred, I happened to be on deck, and, 
 looking shoreward, observed a number of laden mules standing 
 near the copper smelting-works. As soon as the shock occurred 
 they bolted for the top of a hillock near by, and did not stop 
 until they reached it. There was no disturbance of the sea-level, 
 which on another occasion since that time destroyed the smelt- 
 ing-works. The air and sky were perfectly charming. There 
 is only one place on the face of the globe where these conditions 
 are almost perpetual, the intermissions being just sufficient to 
 delude the inhabitants into a sense of tolerable security and make 
 them pay a heavy penalty. That spot is Payta, of which I shall 
 have something to say. 
 
 After a short stay we left for the Chincha Islands, situated 
 nearly one hundred miles south of Callao and some twenty 
 miles off the coast of Peru. Probably one-half the guano de- 
 posit had been removed at that time, and a very large number 
 of ships were then engaged in carrying it, principally to Europe. 
 There is a heavy swell setting in almost constantly from the 
 southwest, yet perhaps there is no part of the globe so rarely 
 disturbed by heavy weather as that region. Vessels that were 
 
SERVICE ON BOARD THE MERRIMAC. 305 
 
 taking cargoes were anchored to moorings as near the rocks 
 as possible, and by means of chutes projecting over the cliffs 
 were loaded with great despatch. The middle island was half 
 cut away when we were there, and the escarpment was nearly 
 perpendicular and more than one hundred feet in depth. The 
 northern face was yet untouched, and was quite steep, and diffi- 
 cult to ascend when the heavy mists of the night had wet the 
 surface. Near the bottom the guano had been so compacted 
 through ages of time that when the pickaxes struck it the sound 
 had a dull metallic ring. Eggs of sea-fowl and carcasses of seal 
 were frequently found embedded where they had lain for cen- 
 turies ; walking over the surface of that part which was still 
 undisturbed by the pickaxe was no easy matter, the feet being 
 embedded several inches, and every short distance, on stepping 
 over the excavations of a sea-fowl, not unlike the rock-pigeon 
 in appearance, I found myself more than knee-deep in loose 
 guano by breaking through into the burrows of the birds. 
 After a visit to the island one became so permeated by the odor 
 that he could have been used as a walking advertisement for 
 our fertilizing industries. 
 
 AVe spent several days most agreeably in visiting the islands 
 and their rocky bases, and looking for shell-fish of curious 
 shape and appearance, then left for Callao, a day's run to the 
 northward. The island of San Lorenzo, which is some miles 
 in length and several thousand feet in height, lies six miles 
 from Callao, and serves to break in a great degree the heavy 
 swells along that coast, coming as they do over thousands of 
 miles of unbroken sea. We left this anchorage almost im- 
 mediately for Panama, where we arrived six days later. The 
 steam frigate Merrimac was there, and I was ordered to her to 
 fill the vacancy caused by sending home the second lieutenant. 
 The Merrimac was one of five vessels built by our government 
 a few years before, larger and with a better armament than any 
 vessels of that time of a frigate build. Her enginery and that 
 of the Roanoke, of which I had personal knowledge, were very 
 indifferent, yet on different designs. The Minnesota, of which 
 I knew something during our civil war, had probably the best 
 machinery ; the models differed little and they were well-built 
 
 20 
 
306 THE OLD NAVF AND THE NEW. 
 
 wooden ships. Their batteries were composed of forward and 
 after spar-deck ten-inch pivot-guns and broadside nine-inch 
 shell-guns, and were very effective against earthworks at even 
 two thousand yards' distance, but better at two-thirds that range. 
 Not one of such guns burst during our entire civil war, nor did 
 any of the eleven-inch, of which we had a great many afloat. 
 The battery of the Merrimac received a great deal of attention, 
 and was as effectively served as perhaps that of any other vessel. 
 On trial at the island of San Lorenzo, the after pivot-gun was 
 fired, then loaded and fired five times at a target eight hundred 
 yards distant, planted on the island. The time was three 
 minutes and forty-seven seconds, hitting a ten-foot target three 
 times out of the five, and the other two barely missing it. When 
 it is remembered that the long, heavy swell caused some delay 
 and had to be allowed for, this was certainly a very extraordi- 
 nary result, and showed great training and skill. 
 
 A week after I joined the Merrimac we sailed for Tumbez, 
 memorable as the landing-place of Pizarro when he reached 
 Peru. We lay some distance from the entrance to the river, 
 which has only a few feet of water on the bar ; there was a 
 long swell, but as it came in deflected it did not break violently, 
 as is usually the case in shoal water. The bar had great num- 
 bers of sharks upon it, waiting doubtless for something to turn 
 up. They would swim along not far from our boats, with their 
 triangular dorsal fins partly out of the water ; and here and there 
 a huge alligator would raise his head above the surface of the 
 water. It would have been an unfortunate place to be upset, 
 as there would have been lively competition between the sharks 
 and the alligators in picking up the people. There was a con- 
 siderable primitive town some fifteen miles up the river ; but 
 my visit extended only half that distance : on the sandy banks 
 of the river there were hundreds of alligators of enormous size, 
 which when we first passed along were indifferent to our presence. 
 A number were shot and either killed or wounded, but without 
 exception they got into the water. Our boats had passed along 
 only a few times subjecting them to this experience, when they 
 took in the whole situation, and were no longer to be seen on 
 the beach ; hearing the noise of the oars in the rowlocks they 
 
PAYTA. 307 
 
 got into the water and looked at us with comparative safety. 
 Any one who has seen the eye and the nostril of a large alli- 
 gator when he rises to the surface to make an observation will 
 not be likely to mistake him for another object. 
 
 The banks of the river were low, and covered with trees of 
 fair size, upon which we saw many nests of the frigate-bird, 
 trim-looking and black. I had never before seen them anywhere 
 than on the ocean, far away from land. The tail-feathers are 
 long, and end in a point like a marline-spike. 
 
 After a very short anchorage off Tumbez, we left for Payta, 
 and after a voyage of four days anchored in a bight half a mile 
 from a narrow sand-beach with perpendicular bluffs two hundred 
 feet in height close behind, and extending along the beach as far 
 as the eye could reach. This steep unbroken bluff is the edge of 
 a great plateau extending along the coast and far inland, rising 
 gradually from the coast, where the outlines of distant mountain- 
 ranges are visible. Fifteen miles to the northward is the mouth 
 of a considerable stream that comes from the mountains in the 
 interior. The water is used to some extent in irrigating broad 
 fertile lowlands on the borders of the stream, known as vegas. 
 The water-supply of Payta was brought on donkeys from this 
 stream, carried in kegs or calabashes lashed to a light framework 
 placed on the backs of the animals. They went in caravans of 
 twenty or more, guided usually by two persons. When the sun 
 heats the sandy plain traversed by these caravans, extraordinary 
 mirages are presented ; great fantastic monsters, ill defined and 
 constantly varying in outline, appear to be moving rapidly along ; 
 on a nearer approach, in a moment the phantom dissipates, and 
 at a distance of one or two hundred yards will be seen a number 
 of donkeys with their drivers. 
 
 The Payta of that day consisted of some two hundred bam- 
 boo houses built on the sea-beach beneath the cliff of sand. The 
 houses were covered with light mats, serving as a shelter from 
 the sun during the day, and from the Scotch mists that come 
 nightly. Rains visit this region only at intervals of years, but 
 when they do come they are often very heavy and do an immense 
 amount of damage, as noted by the newspapers a few years ago. 
 On the plateau no animal life is seen other than a small, dirty- 
 
308 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 looking lizard, which is not abundant, nor is there any vegetable 
 life save a small prickly plant which would scarcely be noticed 
 unless sought, and which has to be looked at closely to be 
 recognized as a living organism. The charm of Payta is in 
 the climate, which is the most delightful that I have found the 
 world over. There is no approach to its perfection elsewhere. 
 The visitor sails into the anchorage at noonday with a moderate 
 sea-breeze, and the vessel anchors in the clear blue water half a 
 mile from the shore-line ; light fleecy clouds float in the air, and 
 the temperature is delightful ; as the day advances, the breeze 
 freshens, and light caps crest the waves ; as the evening comes 
 on and the sun sinks below the horizon, the breeze dies away 
 into a zephyr and the stars come out one by one in the quiet 
 sky ; mists begin to gather, and soon after midnight the stars are 
 hidden ; then as morning approaches the clouds assume a threat- 
 ening appearance ; the sun rises with an appearance of a rainy, 
 disagreeable day ; when it is well above the horizon it peeps out 
 between the clefts in the clouds, and soon after they vanish or 
 float away, giving sunshine and shadow over the waters and the 
 land in rare perfection ; the breeze comes in again from the sea 
 and a day follows as bright as the one that preceded ; and so it 
 is, week after week and month after month, until, after a long 
 interval, down comes the rain in torrents for a few hours, destroy- 
 ing everything in the houses, and then again the sunshine in all 
 its glory, undisturbed by the changes of temperature that give 
 the sensation of disagreeable heat or cold. Of course back on 
 the plains it is disagreeably hot after the sun is well up, and it 
 remains so until the sun goes down. But the climate is the only 
 enjoyable feature of Payta. Among the many disagreeables are 
 the fleas, which hold high revel night and day. 
 
 We left on the 11th of July, and after the engines had banged, 
 as they always did, for six mortal days, we anchored off the 
 island of San Lorenzo, several miles outside the usual anchorage 
 of Callao, for target-practice, of which I have already made 
 mention. It was very gratifying to me, as this was the first 
 vessel to which I had been attached where target-practice was 
 satisfactorily carried out. In a few days we shifted our anchor- 
 age near to Callao, and were able to visit that city and Lima, 
 
CALLAO. 309 
 
 the latter seven miles distant by railroad ; seen from the anchor- 
 age over an inclined plane, it was quite picturesque. In the 
 background were parallel mountain-ranges, those in the interior 
 rising one above the other until the third or fourth range was 
 lost in the distance : they are without verdure, and have not the 
 fantastic forms that enchant the eye on approaching the coast of 
 Brazil. When on duty on board, I watched the large sea-birds 
 with great interest near the vessel ; they would dive in platoons 
 of fifty or a hundred and strike the water with the sound of a 
 volley of musketry, quite dumfounding the fish, and, having 
 seized their prey far below the surface, would reappear and 
 bear it away. Other platoons would follow in quick succes- 
 sion, for hours at a time, until the birds were satisfied with their 
 catch. 
 
 Looking at the senoritas in Lima as they gracefully walked 
 along the streets in the evening, clothed in the saya y manta, 
 with one bright eye peering out, was a joy in itself. A little 
 later in life they are less attractive, from the fact that the climate 
 is so damp that the functions of the skin are not active, which 
 gives the liver too much work, and they do not stimulate it by 
 exercise, as they should do to keep healthy. Before the railroad 
 was built, they were in the habit of backing horses astride and 
 riding to Callao or elsewhere, and it was a joke with them to 
 ride along at a good round pace, and, putting their foot under 
 that of some young incautious middie, with the rise of the horse 
 throw him out of the saddle or dismount him. They no longer 
 pay these attentions to their visitors, however. 
 
 Beneath the cathedral, in a vault, clothed in a gown of black 
 silk, were the mortal remains of that extraordinary man, Pizarro, 
 shown to visitors by persons in charge ; one of our officers went 
 into the vault, and, bribing the attendant, tore a part of the 
 gown and robbed the body of a toe. I tried in vain to establish 
 in the mind of that man a feeling of shame for the commission 
 of this act. I have to add, in justice to officers educated in the 
 service, that he was a medical officer, who, soon after reaching 
 the United States, Avent where he belonged. 
 
 In his personal narrative Humboldt remarks how deceptive 
 is the eye as regards levels ; he had ascended six hundred feet 
 
310 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 in going from Callao to Lima in a distance of about seven miles 
 without being conscious of making an ascent. 
 
 At the time of our visit, Mr. Randolph Clay was our minister 
 to Peru ; he and his charming Scotch wife were very hospitable. 
 At their house were frequent assemblies of persons of note, native 
 and foreign. At one of these receptions I had the pleasure of 
 meeting the Chevalier de Schurzer, an Austrian scientist who 
 had been the head of an Austrian scientific expedition around 
 the world on board of the frigate Astrolabe, then on her voyage 
 home. He was good enough to invite me to accompany him 
 on a visit to the ruins of Pachacamac, twenty-live miles from 
 Lima, on the sea-beach to the southward. We went on horse- 
 back, accompanied by a guide, and had the hospitality of a 
 country-house on a large sugar-estate known as Lurin, whose 
 owner was absent, and spent two days in the vicinity. 
 
 Before I left the United States, the editor of the Democratic 
 Review had asked me to write a paper for his magazine. In 
 fulfilment of my promise I wrote of this visit ; and I will here 
 give an extract from the fourth number, published in 1860. 
 The article is entitled " A Visit to the Ruins of Pachacamac." 
 
 " We rode for hours over rolling sandy plains, passing num- 
 bers of huacos (burial-places of long ago). They are consider- 
 able hillocks, without vegetation, and beneath their surface are 
 found numbers of human bodies, porcelain, and other relics of 
 the past. At length there was a curve in the road, which 
 brought in sight a few green trees, and soon afterwards the 
 eminence upon which are the ruins of Pachacamac, i which' [a 
 historian says] ' was the only one in all the country dedicated to 
 the Supreme Being, and for this reason it was visited by pil- 
 grims from the most remote regions to present their offerings 
 and to adore the Deity.' As we neared the trees, a few miser- 
 able thatched huts became visible ; dirty, long-haired, and almost 
 naked children peeped curiously out to see the strangers, whose 
 arrival was announced by the general barking of all the dogs. 
 Finally, the full-grown bipeds, male and female, came lazily 
 out to gratify their curiosity. We had no reason to think, from 
 their appearance, that the centuries of intercourse with civilized 
 races, and their Christianity, had exalted them mentally, morally, 
 
GATHERING SKULLS. 31 1 
 
 or physically above their possible progenitors, who may have 
 reared the city now roofless, voiceless, and desolate. After a 
 few minutes' conversation, we started on our way ; a long line 
 of adobes (unburned blocks of clay) lined the pathway, and 
 human skeletons and shreds of cotton cloths strewed the loose 
 sand ; hair once black, changed by the lapse of centuries to a 
 dull brown, hung in matted masses upon the skulls, and the 
 1 sightless orbs' were upturned in death to the broad rays of 
 their deity in life, — the sun. The sides of the hills are so 
 thickly covered with graves yet undisturbed that we had no 
 difficulty in obtaining mummies ; as the men dug with mattock 
 and spade, a fine impalpable dust and loose stones were thrown 
 out, and soon disclosed bodies tied so that the chin rests upon 
 the knees, and the heels against the upper part of the thigh- 
 bone, the arms folded close against the body, with the hand 
 resting against the lower part of the ear. The bodies are 
 swathed in cotton cloths, many of them of brilliant colors and 
 beautifully woven, then put in sacks or wrapped around with 
 coarser cloth and enclosed with a net-work of coarse meshes 
 made of a species of Sisal hemp, and fitting so closely as to 
 reveal at once the outline of the human figure, folded as 
 described. The bodies have dried without decay, and the cloths 
 and sacks are often unstained, as though but recently interred ; 
 this no doubt arises from the fact that there is no rainfall suffi- 
 cient to penetrate the earth ; the bodies were interred in dust, 
 and dust it has remained for at least three centuries. The earth 
 is highly charged with nitrate of soda, which perhaps has aided 
 to prevent decay. 
 
 " When our men had disinterred several mummies, my friend 
 was at a loss to know if his carrying off the skulls would shock 
 the paisanos (country people). On asking their views, they 
 replied, with a shrug of the shoulders, i Porque no llevarlos si 
 Ustedes gustenf aquellos no son nada mas que crdneos de 
 Gentiles' (' Why should you not take them if you wish ? they 
 are only the skulls of heathens.') 
 
 " We made a tour through long streets of the ancient and 
 now roofless city, between adobe houses of imposing size, over 
 the door-ways of which were found undecayed layers of small 
 
312 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 reeds which served as lintels. The absence of extreme heat and 
 cold, and the fact that they were never saturated by rains, must 
 account for their preservation for so many centuries. 
 
 " We ascended on horseback a steep pathway and stood upon 
 the site of the ancient temples of Pachacamac and of Con. 
 Their foundations are not visible, but, buried beneath the debris, 
 may be disinterred at some future time. The summit of the 
 hill covers nearly an acre of ground, and is about four hundred 
 and thirty feet above sea-level. The slope facing towards the 
 sandy plain is divided into three escarpments, which are walled 
 in part with stones and in part with adobes, and plastered with 
 clay and painted red : the color has withstood the vicissitudes 
 of the climate for centuries and bids fair to do so for some time 
 to come. These walled escarpments are each some twenty-five 
 feet in height and in the form of stairs, thus forming benches 
 which could be occupied by men defending the place. 
 
 " The side towards the sea is crowned by an adobe wall, built 
 with buttresses, and crenellated or niched, after the manner of 
 Moorish towers; the lower part of the hill on that side was 
 also cut perpendicularly and walled to a considerable height. 
 The hill itself, as well as the surrounding heights, appears to be 
 composed of a friable gneiss. . . . From the trees which skirted 
 the beautiful valley of Lurin came up the song of birds, and 
 ceaselessly the loud monotonous roar of the ocean, as it did in 
 the time of the Incas. In the distance, through the shifting 
 mists peered the majestic peaks of the Andes, blanched by the 
 eternal snows and glittering in the sunlight." 
 
 During our return from Pachacamac to Lima, on horseback, 
 we experienced an earthquake : it frightened the animals greatly. 
 
SANDWICH ISLANDS. 313 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Sandwich Islands— Acapulco— Leon— Kealejo— Nicaragua— A Tropical For- 
 est—Mr. Lamar, United States Minister— General Tomas Martinez- 
 Native Bum- A Trip to the Country— The Solteras— Hammocks— A 
 Shooting-Excursion— Alligators— Mr. Lamar's Archives— Visit from the 
 President— The Wardroom Steward and the Black Dog— The Decatur, 
 Yandalia, and Saranac — The British Minister — Panama — Valparaiso — 
 Reach Norfolk. 
 
 After spending some weeks at anchor at Callao, occupying 
 ourselves with what was interesting, it was with pleasure that 
 we tripped anchor for the Sandwich Islands, five thousand miles 
 away. The voyage was over the smoothest part of the Pacific 
 Ocean, and we literally " only had to sit down and let the wind 
 blow us along," which an old woman said was all that sailors 
 did at sea, besides " spinning yarns." The voyage occupied more 
 than a month, and it was the 23d of October when we dropped 
 anchor off the port of Honolulu, the depth of water not per- 
 mitting vessels of more than fifteen feet draught to enter. It is 
 a beautiful coral-protected harbor, and might readily be blasted 
 to a depth sufficient to admit heavy vessels. As we passed we 
 had a grand view of the island of Hawaii, and many were the 
 regrets that we could not pay it a visit. As we approached 
 Honolulu we saw in the bare volcanic rocks several small extinct 
 craters, known as the Devil's punch-bowls. They were very 
 much like those inside of Cape Pillar on Terra del Fuego. 
 
 It was rainy and muddy during the ten days that we were at 
 anchor off the port, and I saw little of the shore in that time. 
 I, however, rode on horseback across the island, ascending all 
 the time, and reached the line of cliffs more than a thousand feet 
 in height, which are almost perpendicular, and which overhang 
 a broad and apparently very fertile plain, near the level of the 
 water. I saw enough of the islanders to convince me that they 
 would soon be extinct, as they would have little chance in the 
 struggle for the " survival of the fittest." 
 
 We were glad to leave for Acapulco, not that it has any great 
 
314 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 charm, but to get letters from our friends and visit the coast of 
 Nicaragua, whither we were bound. We were thirty-one days 
 under sail when we entered the harbor. In the time of the 
 Spanish galleons Acapulco was one of the richest ports of the 
 world. The trade with the Philippine Islands was productive 
 of great wealth for that day, and it was only so lately as 1780 
 that Anson blockaded it with a pertinacy that seems wonderful. 
 I have in the preceding pages spoken of Anson's visit to the 
 islands of Tinian and Say pan of the Ladrone chain, a stopping- 
 place between Acapulco and the Philippines. The only thing 
 notable at this day at Acapulco is an immense escarpment of a hill 
 that was cutaway to allow the sea-breeze to enter, in the hope of 
 making the fevers that affected the town less fatal. At certain 
 seasons of the year a congestive fever has wrought serious 
 ravages among the crews of vessels-of-war lying at this port. 
 The inner and the outer harbor, and the low ground between 
 them covered with luxuriant cocoa-nut-trees, are beautiful. When 
 vessels-of-war visit Acapulco, they should, except there be some 
 good reason to the contrary, get under way as soon as the land- 
 breeze sets out, and when clear of the offing should remain there 
 until the sea-breeze sets in. This will assure a healthy crew and 
 an agreeable temperature, and will serve besides as a useful ex- 
 ercise. When in this port we made a compass-deviation card, 
 swinging ship by means of kedges and hawsers laid out for that 
 purpose. 
 
 After remaining ten days without contracting the fever, we 
 left for Corinto, known at that time as Realejo. The run along 
 the coast was very agreeable ; we had a bright moon and a good 
 breeze ; it was curious to observe the large fleecy clouds, as they 
 came down with the wind, grow less and less, and finally dis- 
 appear from the dryer atmosphere we were reaching. Our 
 voyage was short : on the 7th of December we anchored off the 
 port, and, after sounding out the entrance and the harbor, we 
 entered two days later and moored ship, the harbor being too 
 narrow to allow so long a vessel as the Merrimac to ride at single 
 anchor. 
 
 A few days after our arrival Captain Hitchcock, who com- 
 manded the Merrimac, invited me to accompany him to Leon, 
 
LEON. 315 
 
 about thirty miles distant from Realejo, a small village five miles 
 from our anchorage, situated up a small creek that was almost 
 dry at low water. Horses were to be provided by Pio Castellano, 
 the alcalde of the village, who was to accompany us as guide, 
 and we were to start early, so as to reach Leon before night. 
 We were at the village early enough, but it was afternoon before 
 Pio brought the horses and we set out by a pathway through the 
 wood which fell into a wagon-road some miles beyond. For a 
 time we were shaded by magnificent trees, from many of which 
 depended the long brandies of climbing vines, so that we had to 
 keep a bright lookout to avoid being dragged off our horses by 
 some of them. A densely-shaded tropical forest is usually quite 
 obscure from the matted vines that interlace and cover the tree- 
 tops. 
 
 When it grew dark, which occurs very suddenly in the 
 tropics, we were ten miles from Leon ; the rainy season, which 
 was just over, had cut the road into ravines; in narrow places 
 our horses would sometimes step down to a depth of two feet ; 
 in daylight this would not have been difficult, but in the dark 
 it was an uncertain operation, and we proceeded slowly from 
 necessity. It was ten o'clock when we arrived at the hotel 
 where our minister made his quarters. He was Mr. Mirabeau 
 B. Lamar, from Texas, gentlemanly in manner, rather small in 
 stature, poetic in expression, and, as I learned afterwards, had 
 written a book of poetry as big as a Bible, which I made 
 inquiry for on reaching home and did not find. There was 
 nothing aggressive about him, although he was one of Sam 
 Houston's braves in the taking of Texas ; nor was he a person 
 who would be regarded with any particular interest by a 
 stranger. He knew nothing of the lauguage of the country, 
 and, like many other of our diplomats and consular repre- 
 sentatives abroad, seemed to be indifferent to it on general 
 principles ; nevertheless he had an abiding faith in the honesty 
 of the native Nicaraguans and in the healthfulness of the liquor 
 of the country. I must add, to avoid a suspicion of malice, 
 that I never saw him tipsy, and feel sure that should he ever 
 have been so he would have " behaved like a gentleman." The 
 next day Mr. Lamar accompanied Captain Hitchcock to pay 
 
316 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 his respects to his Excellency General Tomas Martinez, the 
 President of Nicaragua, and I was invited to accompany them. 
 The President was quite a young man for that position, and 
 was handsome and agreeable. He had shown courage and 
 ability a year or two earlier in aiding to expel the filibuster 
 Walker, called by his admirers the " gray-eyed man of destiny." 
 
 After spending two days at Leon, and looking at a large and 
 costly cathedral built by the old Spaniards, we returned by way 
 of Chichagalpa and Chinendega, making the distance to Realejo 
 about forty miles. We set out in the afternoon while the sun 
 was still well up, and, riding fast, got over the fifteen or more 
 miles before night, and found a fairly comfortable posada, or 
 country hotel, at Chichagalpa. The road was dusty, and as 
 soon as we arrived I sent our guide to get a bottle of aguar- 
 diente, or native rum made from sugar-cane : this, diluted with 
 water, I applied externally in washing, and internally in clear- 
 ing the mouth and nostrils from dust. The captain came in, and 
 seeing me using some rum in the water, asked a taste, which I 
 gave hirn. He made a face, threw it away, and pronounced it 
 " awful stuff." I presented the remainder of the bottle to the 
 guide, who was soon in fine feather, and was still so the next 
 morning. 
 
 We set out early, to avoid the heat of the day, and made 
 twenty miles very agreeably. The whole distance traversed 
 from Leon to Chinendega was over a very fertile plain, with few 
 haciendas and residences ; to the north, at a distance of three 
 leagues, was a range of volcanic mountains, with five peaks 
 some four or five thousand feet in height; their flanks were 
 covered with foliage nearly to their summits. As we journeyed 
 towards Chinendega our guide was voluble and suggestive as to 
 our comfort on our arrival ; he said there was no posada that 
 was respectable, and proposed that we should go to the house of 
 some one of the several families whom he named, who would 
 be pleased to see us. We considered his proposition favorably, 
 and alighted at the house of a former Spanish consul, Navarro, 
 whose four daughters were known as solteras,the Spanish term 
 for "spinsters," — which, however, does not carry with it the 
 offensiveness that usually attaches to our term "old maids." 
 
THE SOLTERAS. 317 
 
 We were invited into a large airy room, presented with cigars, 
 and requested to seat ourselves in hammocks, which at that time 
 were always suspended in the sitting-rooms. The captain de- 
 clined, from a fear of seeming too familiar, but, as I had been 
 in Paraguay and other Spanish- American countries and knew 
 los costumbres del pais, I seated myself, lighted my cigar, and 
 entered into conversation with the solteras, bright women, though 
 no longer young. I wished to know how it happened that foui 
 such agreeable young ladies had not married, and was told, with 
 a smile, that they had had no offers. I pronounced this dis- 
 parate (nonsense), saying that I had too high an opinion of the 
 good taste of Nicaraguan gentlemen to believe this for a moment, 
 and that I knew ladies in my own country who, instead of 
 marrying and making one man happy, delighted in exciting the 
 admiration and love of all, and then maliciously refusing all 
 offers. The captain, who was naturally formal, fell in at once 
 with my jocularity, as did also the solteras. I was the inter- 
 preter with a not overburdened vocabulary, but had at least the 
 wish to say pleasant things, which does a great deal to bridge 
 over difficulties. I had at that time recently read "Eothen, 
 or Travels in the East," — afterwards known to be by Kinglake, 
 who had never been in the East, — and had in my mind a 
 graphic account of the presentation of an Englishman to the 
 Sultan, giving what the Englishman actually said, what he said 
 as interpreted by the dragoman, then what the Sultan actually 
 said, and what the interpreter gave to the Englishman as a 
 translation. After the interview the Sultan remarked that he 
 was pleased to have found one Englishman with some idea of 
 expression, and the Englishman said, " Why, God bless my 
 soul, that Sultan is a very sensible man : he talks just like an 
 Englishman." 
 
 The ladies had an excellent breakfast prepared for us, and 
 sent for two of their nieces, the one a bright young woman and 
 the other an agreeable chatterbox of a dozen years, who became 
 my particular and lasting friend ; the meal was served under an 
 interior tiled roofing extending around the patio, an enclosed 
 court-yard in which orange-trees are usually planted, sometimes 
 the papayo or banana. Everybody was amiable ; and the cap- 
 
318 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 tain and myself, after our long, dusty ride, thoroughly enjoyed an 
 excellent breakfast with such pleasant surroundings. 
 
 One who has acquired the art of sitting or lying in a grass 
 hammock such as they have in Central America has within his 
 reach an amount of ease and comfort to a tired restive person 
 such as is not to be obtained in any other way. I have found 
 it possible to go to sleep and rest soundly on a hammock of this 
 kind when I could not have done so on the most luxurious bed. 
 From practical experience I can commend a good grass hammock 
 to persons suffering from insomnia or from a condition of the 
 system in which every attempt to take an easy position ends in 
 a failure. 
 
 After the heat of the day had passed, our horses were brought, 
 and we took our leave. The ladies were invited to come on 
 board and breakfast with us and bring their friends ; a day was 
 appointed, and we had a grand reception and dance on board, 
 quite as acceptable to the officers as to the acquaintances we had 
 made by paying them a visit and becoming self-invited guests. 
 These kind relations continued during our stay of several months; 
 when off duty our officers visited Chinendega or went on shoot- 
 ing-excursions into the interior. On several occasions we had 
 the pleasure of receiving our friends on board ; at that time the 
 carriages of the country were carts with wooden hubs and wheels ; 
 as they passed along, drawn by four oxen when used for loco- 
 motion only, they made a shrieking noise that could be heard for 
 miles ; but the young ladies could not have been more charm- 
 ing had the carts been coaches and the oxen blooded horses. 
 
 Accompanied by a friend, I made a shooting-excursion of two 
 days to El Viejo, a volcanic peak two leagues from Chinen- 
 dega. Upon its sides, deer, peccary, two species of pheasant, 
 and various other beasts and birds, were abundant. On our 
 journey to the mountain we crossed on a substantial bridge a 
 small swift-running stream, that resembled a large mill-race, 
 fifteen feet wide and five feet deep; it was quite clear, and, 
 happening to look down into it, I saw a shark six feet in length 
 swimming up the stream. At that time I was not aware that 
 Lake Nicaragua was filled with sharks ; from the fact that Lake 
 Managua has none, although at times there is a water-flow from 
 
MR. LAMAR'S ARCHIVES. 319 
 
 it, the inference may be drawn that the shark of Lake Nicaragua 
 is not entirely a fresh-water fish, as was supposed by the late 
 Professor Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Our destination was a small cattle-farm about three miles dis- 
 tant from this stream, and probably fifteen hundred feet above 
 sea-level. Wherever cattle are found, a very minute tick, almost 
 invisible without a lens, is sure to abound in the dry season. I 
 soon found myself suffering from their bites, which are like coals 
 of fire ; in order to rid myself of the insects I stood on a rock 
 in the middle of a free-flowing mountain-stream and tried to 
 pick them off, but they appeared to fall from the trees so fast 
 as to render it a hopeless task. I did not know then that the 
 proper way to get rid of them was to carry a soft piece of bees- 
 wax and apply it over the arm or other afflicted part ; it has 
 quite a captivating quality and assuages the pain too. A native 
 came along while I was engaged upon the rock, and told me to 
 take care. I inquired, in some surprise, " Of what ?" In reply 
 he pointed to a hole of deep water near by, and said that a large 
 alligator lived there and might rush out and seize me. Nobody 
 would have suspected the presence of an alligator in such a place 
 high above the lagoons which form the reptile's usual habitat. 
 
 A species of guinea-fowl known as the chacalacca gave them- 
 selves more amusement than they gave me. They appeared to 
 understand the object of my visit, and would alight on the top 
 of a tree and set up a wild cry, as if of alarm. Then I would 
 set about stalking them in the most approved manner, and would 
 be allowed to come almost within gunshot, when they would fly 
 to a neighboring tree, to repeat the same manoeuvre, until, after 
 several failures, I desisted from my efforts. 
 
 A few days after our return from Leon we received a visit 
 from Minister Lamar. He arrived in the afternoon, and slept on 
 board of the vessel, where he was provided with a comfortable 
 state-room and bed in the captain's cabin. Soon after breakfast, 
 at his request, he was landed near the vessel, and when asked 
 by the officer of the boat when he should return for him, made 
 no definite reply. He bore under his arm a colored pocket-hand- 
 kerchief, which enveloped the archives of the Legation, as he 
 informed the captain. A native, who had established a small 
 
320 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 •posada near by, rendered his assistance in supplying the minister 
 with a box to sit upon, and two empty barrels with a plank to 
 place over them to serve as a table. This was arranged under 
 the broad spreading branches of a tree, and Mr. Lamar was soon 
 engaged in formulating a diplomatic letter or report to the State 
 Department, using the left hand to drive off the mosquitoes 
 when they sought to disturb him. When the hour of luncheon 
 arrived, a boat was sent for him ; he reluctantly rolled up the 
 archives in the pocket-handkerchief, intrusted them to the native, 
 and came on board, evidently annoyed at the interruption, or 
 at his return to the vessel. As soon as he could do so with 
 propriety he asked for a boat and returned to his laborious occu- 
 pation under the tree. At nightfall the boat was sent for him, 
 and he came on board, bringing his archives with him, but by 
 no means in a genial mood. He appeared to be oppressed with 
 the order and routine of the vessel. On his arrival he had been 
 received with the salute due to his rank, and every attention had 
 been paid him, but he seemed to be annoyed thereby, rather than 
 gratified. The next day he received a salute on landing, and 
 set out on his return to Leon ; and we saw nothing more of him 
 during our stay of several months. 
 
 A few days later, on the 18th of December, we had a visit 
 from President Martinez, accompanied by his staff. He was 
 received with attention, inspected the vessel, and seemed to enjoy 
 his visit. When he left, the vards were manned and a national 
 salute was fired in his honor. 
 
 During our stay, our wardroom steward, an Italian from the 
 borders of the Adriatic, became a shining star on shore. He 
 was a large, clumsy man, forty years of age, with a full round 
 face, at times as red as the rising moon. Blessed as he was at 
 all times with a fair amount of assurance, when his face was red 
 he thought he knew everything. Having a large mess to pro- 
 vide for, and a full purse, he became an authority with the native 
 population. Being told that a man was ill from an engorge- 
 ment of the liver, he went to see him, and said his case was not 
 serious; he could cure him by treating him as persons similarly 
 afflicted were treated in his country. All that he required was 
 a black dog. Great difficulty was experienced in securing the 
 
THE BRITISH MINISTER. 321 
 
 animal, the whole country being searched in vain, but the for- 
 tuitous arrival of a coasting-brig brought the much -longed-for 
 black dog. The captain of the vessel did not like to part with 
 him, but when informed that the doctor thought a black dog 
 was the only remedy that would save a sick man's life his 
 instinct of humanity prompted him to hand over the animal at 
 once. It was killed and his skin wrapped closely around the 
 body of the sick man over the region of the liver ; a dog soup 
 was made, also a dog stew, and dog steaks were prepared, and 
 the patient fed on this savory diet to repletion. The self-consti- 
 tuted doctor said that after eating freely of this food the patient 
 would vomit up the diseased liver, and a new one would form. 
 The man vomited freely, but some obstruction prevented the 
 liver from being thrown up, and the patient died notwithstand- 
 ing the physician's skill. While undergoing this treatment, the 
 man was surrounded by hopeful friends, who were sadly disap- 
 pointed at the result. This occurrence was narrated at our din- 
 ner-table, much to the chagrin of the steward who had assumed 
 the role of doctor. His practice on shore did not increase ; he 
 gained a title, but no other patients presented themselves. 
 
 On our arrival at Realejo we found the sloop-of-war Decatur, 
 and not long after the Vandalia and the Saranac came in, and 
 remained some time. The British minister, Sir William Gore 
 Ouseley, was then negotiating a treaty with the Nicaraguan gov- 
 ernment, which I think was never ratified. He came to Realejo 
 accompanied by his wife and daughter, and paid the Merrimac 
 a visit soon after President Martinez. His wife was a lady of 
 New York ; his daughter was just verging upon womanhood 
 and was quite tall and good-looking. 
 
 There was a considerable flat of sand some distance behind a 
 clump of mangrove-bushes, which, as it was overflown by very 
 high tides, was quite firm at other times. This was resorted to 
 for a battalion drill," which seems to delight the sea-officer of to- 
 day more than it did in the past and more than anything afloat. 
 Although it should serve as a part of a routine, it will rarely be 
 useful when operating against a civilized people. These demon- 
 strations gave the Nicaraguans at first misgivings that we medi- 
 tated an attack upon them, but after a long intercourse they 
 
 21 
 
322 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 became satisfied of our peaceful disposition, and all the people 
 with whom we came in contact were our friends, as they saw we 
 were not inclined to be filibusters or to treat them badly in any 
 manner. 
 
 We left our anchorage on the 26th of March, and five days 
 later anchored at Panama. After a first visit Panama is a very 
 uninteresting port ; our stay of five weeks was exceedingly tire- 
 some, but vessels-of-war have their resources, and going on shore 
 may serve no other purpose than that of a more satisfactory way 
 of taking exercise than is possible on board ship. We lay 
 several miles from the landing, a mile or so beyond where we 
 might have anchored ; and in addition to the distance there was 
 the annoyance of a great rise and fall of tide, which necessitated 
 either going on shore at high tide or walking long distances on 
 ledges of coral rock, varied by occasional encounters with pockets 
 of mud. An unusual occurrence while we were there was a 
 northern light as brilliant as any I have seen at Washington, — 
 something that I had never heard of before in that latitude. An 
 unusual drought prevailed during our stay ; this is not often a 
 subject of complaint at Panama, where showers very frequently 
 occur during the dry season ; the leaves on the trees were so 
 withered as to have the appearance of being dead. 
 
 We were very glad to leave, the more so as we were homeward 
 bound, with the reservation that we were to touch at Callao, 
 Valparaiso, and Rio Janeiro, each voyage bringing us nearer 
 home. When three days out, we were steaming along slowly, 
 not more than three knots, against a moderately fresh breeze, 
 when the engines gave a squeal and a grunt and then remained 
 in a state of " innocuous desuetude." Sail-loosers were sent aloft, 
 and in ten minutes we were under all plain sail, making eight 
 knots or more, close-hauled on the port tack. As w r e proceeded, 
 the wind headed us more and more off shore, so that when our 
 engines had been patched up we were so far from the coast that 
 Flag-Officer Montgomery, who had relieved Long, determined 
 to proceed directly under sail to Valparaiso. When I was in 
 charge of the deck he asked the probable length of time required 
 to make the voyage. I named thirty days, which would have 
 been exact had we steamed southeast instead of south after we 
 
VALPARAISO. 323 
 
 had run out of the trade-winds, and thus increased the distance. 
 We carried sail fairly and made the vessel feel her top-gallant 
 sails, often making eleven knots when braced sharp up and only 
 rap full. " Scanting the wind" is a kind of professional mean- 
 ness that deceives, but does not reward the care that is required 
 to do it. 
 
 Three hundred and fifty miles off the coast, in nearly the lati- 
 tude of Valparaiso, we passed the high volcanic island of Juan 
 Fernandez, upon which the scene of the story of Alexander 
 Selkirk is laid, although his shipwreck actually occurred on one 
 of the small islands of the West Indies. In that clear atmos- 
 phere, one hundred miles from the land, or even more, the 
 mountain-ranges of the interior are seen far above the horizon, 
 and the voyager sails hours and hours with a good breeze right 
 for the shore, before he comes in sight of the sea-beach. After 
 night it is perplexing to be running for hours towards visible 
 land without knowing with much certainty the distance to the 
 shore-line. 
 
 There is no city in South America that is visited by navy men 
 of all nations with more pleasure than Valparaiso ; the inhab- 
 itants, native and foreign, are hospitable and intelligent, the at- 
 mosphere is bracing, and the hills near by and the mountains in 
 the distance, particularly the volcano of Aconcagua, make the 
 view very enjoyable to persons who have made a long voyage. 
 In the markets is found an abundance of wholesome meats, 
 vegetables, and fruits, among which I was pleased to see some 
 cones of the Araucanian pine as large as the largest pineapple 
 cheese ; they contained one hundred and fifty seeds, each seed 
 about two inches in length and half an inch in diameter. I sent 
 a cone home ; the seeds were readily sprouted, but, not being 
 adapted to the dry and variable climate of Baltimore, they soon 
 died, from lack of the requisite care. Probably they would 
 grow well in the State of Washington, as well as on the islands 
 towards Alaska and in a part of that territory. The nuts when 
 boiled or roasted are very good. The tree is worth cultivating, 
 and, in a region suited for it, has a rapid growth. It grows 
 very large in Araucania, and from its shape is called the " club 
 of Hercules." 
 
324 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Very good saddle-horses were obtainable, and the hills in the 
 vicinity afforded ample occasion for pleasant rides. One of my 
 riding-companions was Lieutenant Schonmeyr, of the Swedish 
 navy, a very agreeable and intelligent gentleman, then serving 
 on the staif of the French admiral in those waters. 
 
 Before we left we gave an afternoon ball to our many friends 
 in Valparaiso ; the day was superb, the company large, and 
 nothing occurred to mar the enjoyment of the occasion. I have 
 not had the pleasure of revisiting Valparaiso, but I still retain 
 a pleasant recollection of it, as well as of the inhabitants, both 
 native and foreign. 
 
 We were -finally en route home, to touch at Rio Janeiro, and 
 soon on the broad waters of a high latitude, where, as the old 
 sea-song says, " the winds their revels keep." The vessel sailed 
 well ; on the ninth day out we were in the latitude of Cape 
 Horn. We ran several degrees south of the cape, to latitude 
 57° south. The nights were quite short, the sun having at that 
 season a high southern declination : the arch of light followed 
 along the course of the sun below the horizon, and, after dis- 
 appearing for a brief period as the twilight of the setting sun, 
 reappeared again as the dawn of the coming day. A succession 
 of snow- and wind-squalls from the southwest drove us along 
 grandly ; there is a feeling of satisfaction amounting to exulta- 
 tion when a fresh fair wind bears the mariner along homeward 
 bound, and one of actual depression when head-winds and 
 adverse currents detain him day after day on the solitude of the 
 ocean. I never tired of looking at the yellow western sky as 
 the sun peeped out for a moment from the rifts between the 
 clouds and gilded the crests of the majestic seas rolling on in 
 stately power in an unbroken line for miles ; when they reached 
 the vessel the stern was slowly lifted, and soon after the prow 
 would rise high above the ocean level as the stern would sink 
 into the valley between the long undulations; and thus we 
 drove on homeward around Cape Horn. The voyager between 
 Europe and America sees nothing comparable to this. At times 
 when I was officer of the deck the captain would come on deck 
 and stand near me, but he did not share my enthusiasm in the 
 grandeur of the scene, in the whistling winds and fierce snow- 
 
REACH NORFOLK. 325 
 
 squalls, and in the graceful movements of the albatross and 
 other large sea-birds sailing around the vessel so swiftly that 
 we seemed to be at anchor, coming so close to us at times that 
 we could see the whites of their eyes. They went along with- 
 out flap of wing, by some invisible mode of propulsion, which 
 I supposed to be due to a management of gravitation when they 
 were on the descending node. In this and other voyages I have 
 marked different birds by their particular appearance, and have 
 seen them day after day for a fortnight, during which we had 
 passed over thousands of miles, until we would reach a latitude 
 beyond which they did not wish to go. In the South Atlantic 
 they approach much nearer the equator than I have seen them 
 do in other seas. " The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" brings 
 the albatross actually to the equator, where one was never seen ; 
 but the weird poem required the albatross, and he had come for 
 the occasion. 
 
 We anchored at Rio Janeiro on the 17th of December, having 
 made the run in thirty-three days, notwithstanding that we had 
 passed several degrees south of Cape Horn without being bene- 
 fited thereby and of course with the disadvantage of having 
 had to sail the additional distance over a^ain on rounding the 
 cape. I have in former pages spoken of the peerless grandeur 
 of this bay and its surroundings. We had the startling news 
 from home of what was known as " the John Brown raid," at 
 Harper's Ferry, some fifty miles west of Washington. It was 
 deplored by all on board, and regarded as the unhappy culmina- 
 tion of the action of demagogues of both sections, who omitted 
 no opportunity to endeavor to embroil the country in a civil 
 war. One week after our arrival we left Rio Janeiro, and had 
 a pleasant run until we reached Norfolk, on the 5th of February, 
 1860. Ten days later the ship was put out of commission, the 
 men were discharged, and the officers granted a three months' 
 leave to visit their homes. 
 
326 THE 0LD NAVF AND THE NEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Changes in Norfolk — Meet Mr. E. C. Anderson in Washington, and Visit 
 Senators Toombs and Jefferson Davis — Service at the Naval ^Rendezvous 
 in Baltimore — Condition of the Slaves in Maryland — Talk of Secession — 
 Mr. Porcher — Remarks on the Beginning of the Civil War — Hon. A. H. 
 Stephens — Feeling of Naval Officers — Mrs. Mactavish — Mr. Anderson 
 discusses the Prospects of Secession and War — Lieutenant Powell — Visit 
 to Columbus — Governor Chase — Discuss the Organization of Ohio Troops 
 — Letter from Mr. Chase. 
 
 Norfolk presented signs of great perturbation : boys, from 
 the toddler in skirts to the user of bear's oil to promote the 
 growth of whiskers, were transformed into zouaves and other 
 military men, and the young ladies wore gold lace wherever it 
 was supposed to be the most becoming, to personate Joans or 
 simply vivandi&res or filles du rSgiment. It seemed to me an 
 unfortunate ebullition, that would soon subside : John Brown 
 and his followers were regarded at that time by the people of 
 the North and West generally as madmen, but of the kind 
 whose insanity would best be cured by a halter. 
 
 By agreement, on leaving the vessel I met in Washington my 
 life-long and intimate friend E. C. Anderson, of whom I have 
 made 'mention in the preceding pages. He had served in the 
 navy for seventeen years, and resigned in 1848, when an old 
 lieutenant. In civil life he was a cotton-planter, and for many 
 years was mayor of the city of Savannah, where he lived during 
 the winter season. His plantation was a model of comfort and 
 neatness, and his slaves were well cared for. I always felt when 
 on his place that he and his wife had much more to suffer from 
 slavery than their slaves had. An hour before the meeting of 
 the Senate, Anderson and myself went to the Senate-chamber, 
 he to see Toombs of Georgia, and I to see Jefferson Davis of 
 Mississippi. We found them side by side in their chairs, read- 
 ing the morning papers and discussing the news of the day. 
 Davis remarked that " there was another Richmond in the field/' 
 referring to another aspirant for the Presidency, but I have no 
 
TALK OF SECESSION. 327 
 
 recollection as to the name of the person alluded to. After an 
 agreeable conversation of a few minutes, we left. I never again 
 saw either of the Senators, nor did I re-enter the Senate-chamber 
 until some time after the close of the civil war. If there was 
 an apprehension at that time in the mind of my friend that a 
 year later we would be engaged in a civil war, it was not ap- 
 parent. Secession seemed to me so utterly suicidal, and my 
 belief in the ultimate triumph of reason was so firm, that I 
 almost dismissed from my mind the likelihood of a disruption ; 
 yet still I had a feeling of what the Germans call " unrest" as 
 to the situation. 
 
 In May I was ordered to the Naval Rendezvous at Baltimore, 
 Maryland, the only nominal shore-duty I have ever had during 
 my entire service in the navy. When attached to the Coast 
 Survey during the winters spent at Washington I always found 
 abundant work to do. At Baltimore, however, as few sailors 
 enlisted from that city, the officer on duty had little to do save 
 to sit in waiting at the rendezvous, read the morning newspapers, 
 and occasionally look at a sailor and decide upon his enlistment. 
 Baltimore was a hospitable city, and from a partial residence 
 there at different times I had a number of agreeable acquaint- 
 ances. The persons whom I knew were quite Southern in their 
 proclivities : in the city there were few slaves, and in the sur- 
 rounding counties, if many slaves were held on a few planta- 
 tions they were so comfortable and well taken care of that very 
 few wished to escape, — which would have been an easy matter 
 to any one possessed of good sense and a serious intention. It 
 was well known among the slaves that fugitives from any of 
 the border States had zealous friends within the free States who 
 gave them shelter and advice. 
 
 The political situation was at that time the sole topic of con- 
 versation, and after the nomination of Mr. Lincoln the declared 
 intention of the Southern and even of some of the border States 
 to "secede" was freely discussed. After the election of Lincoln 
 the expression was constantly heard, " Oh, yes, there will be a 
 separation of the States, but there will be no war." When the 
 Merrimac was on the Pacific coast, after the arrival of the mails 
 there was always an ebullition among our officers from the 
 
328 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Southern States and a good deal of badinage at the mess-table. 
 My young friend Porcher, from South Carolina, was notable on 
 such occasions for his good-humored claims of Southern superi- 
 ority. Once, after we had debated the matter for some time he 
 said to me, "You don't suppose we would ever allow the 
 Yankees to cross the Susquehanna River ?" I replied that if 
 it came to civil war, the Southerners would not reach that river, 
 and from the West an army would march over and drive them 
 from their miserable sand-hills into the sea. Porcher was a 
 gallant, genial gentleman, and two years later it was w T ith great 
 regret that I read of his loss at sea in a gale of wind off the 
 coast of Carolina, while in command of a blockade-runner. 
 
 I mention these facts to show that the John Brown raid served 
 to intensify the determination of many of the prominent Southern 
 leaders to break up the Union should a " black Republican" 
 be nominated and elected President. This supposed offensive 
 term of " black Republican" was applied to every one who was 
 opposed to the extension of slave-holding territory. It w r as 
 trumpeted at the time of the Kansas troubles that the State of 
 South Carolina uniformed and armed a company and sent it to 
 Kansas " to defend her rights" there. Although the States of 
 the North took no such action, yet armed men went from that 
 section to Kansas in sufficient numbers to dispose of the Mis- 
 souri and other ruffians whose object was to force Kansas to 
 become a slave State, — which it could have become only nomi- 
 nally, for it would have been impossible for it to be one in reality, 
 since in competition with the improved machinery and raising 
 the same crops as the free States adjoining, the slave-holders 
 would not have been able to feed and clothe their negroes. The 
 fact was then known that New Mexico as a territory had been 
 open for the immigration of masters and slaves for a number of 
 years, with an actual result of eighteen slaves, for the very good 
 reason that the master could not afford to support the slaves 
 when their work was in direct competition with free labor em- 
 ploying improved implements intelligently which the slave could 
 not do. Insanity attacks peoples as well as individuals, and the 
 force of active agents controls the aggregate, even when the large 
 majority are reasonable, if not wholly rational, as was the case 
 
FEELING OF NAVAL OFFICERS. 329 
 
 in North Carolina, Virginia, and some other portions of the 
 seceding States. The exposition of Alexander H. Stephens in 
 relation to the situation, made before a Convention at Milledge- 
 ville, Georgia, November 14, 1860, is clear and fair in relation 
 to the merits of the question between the sections and exposes 
 the utter lack of reason in the secession movement. Later on, 
 without any change in the situation except what was due to 
 Southern violence, and although the movement was entirely 
 against his advice and good judgment, we find Stephens Vice- 
 President of the Southern Confederacy until it collapsed. Ten 
 years later I had the pleasure of making his personal acquaint- 
 ance, and I have never met any one in public life who impressed 
 me more favorably. He was entirely national in his sentiments, 
 and looked at things from a statesman's point of view. 
 
 From December, 1860, when President Buchanan delivered 
 his last annual Message, until March 4, 1861, when his term 
 expired, in all history no more painful exhibition of weakness 
 or of betrayal of high trusts can be found than w^as presented 
 by the President and his Cabinet. Their endeavors were to make 
 the government of the United States as helpless as possible when 
 their term of office expired. It is not my purpose to dilate 
 upon this subject ; those who wish to see how the vessels of the 
 navy were disposed of at that time so as to render them ineffec- 
 tive will find a statement in the first chapter of " The North 
 Atlantic Coast," published by Scribners, New York. At that 
 time officers of the navy, almost without exception, were naturally 
 " conservative." They were grieved at the prospect of a civil 
 war ; in their opinion it would be a war of friend against friend, 
 of brother against brother, and of section against section ; it 
 would be the work of demagogues pure and simple, — those of 
 the South having able abettors in Northern agitators who called 
 themselves " patriots." These fomenters of dissension, whether 
 North or South, were rarely found facing the enemy when hos- 
 tilities broke out ; those yet alive, however, are patriotically 
 fighting all the time, like the scotched generals on both sides. 
 
 About the middle of February, 1861, I received a visit from 
 my friend Anderson, then mayor of Savannah, Georgia. He 
 found me at the house of Mrs. Mactavish, widow of the late 
 
330 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 British consul at Baltimore. She was the granddaughter of 
 Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and at that time owned fifty 
 slaves on her country-seat of one thousand acres twenty miles 
 from the city. Mrs. Mactavish was very much befogged through 
 the political jargon of persons who visited her ; being infirm, 
 she rarely went out ; she asked Anderson whether it was true 
 that the black Republicans wished to make her and others con- 
 tinue to support their slaves ; it was quite beyond her means to 
 continue to support them, and the demand was, she thought, 
 quite unreasonable. This was so novel a view of the slave 
 question to my friend that he could only reply in vague terms. 
 
 When we were alone, he told me that he had come from Georgia 
 to Charlottesville to the wedding of a relative, and thence had con- 
 tinued his journey to Baltimore to see me and to talk over the 
 situation. The people of the South had already established a 
 strong government, which would eventually embody all the old 
 slave States ; they would have nothing further to do with a miser- 
 able set of Abolitionists ; Lincoln had been elected, but would 
 never be inaugurated ; the war would never reach the Southern 
 States, for the reason that the cities of the North would in great 
 part be the field of contention, and their streets would run with 
 blood ; Great Britain and France needed the Southern cotton, 
 and if an attempt were made to blockade the Southern coast 
 those nations would not permit it, and would in fact break the 
 blockade within three months of the attempt to establish it. 
 After expressing himself in this fashion, he looked at me 
 earnestly, and, with a good-natured smile, asked what was the 
 matter with me. I said that when he began to speak I regarded 
 him as expressing in exaggerated terms his indignation at the 
 Abolitionists who did not obey the eleventh commandment, but 
 that as he went on I saw he was entirely in earnest : in my 
 view, he was utterly and hopelessly insane ; he had sailed as a 
 navy officer for seventeen years all about the world, and, that 
 being his view of the situation, we certainly had before us a 
 very serious time ; the North would doubtless suffer, but not a 
 tenth part of what would fall to the lot of the people of tne 
 South ; the people of the North were not at all inimical to those 
 of the South ; there was not one man in twenty who had even 
 
LIEUTENANT POWELL. 331 
 
 a wish that there should be any interference with their rights, 
 or with slavery as it existed. Lincoln had been elected, and 
 would be inaugurated, much as my friend might regret it, and 
 when it became a question of war between the two sections he 
 would find the people of the North quite as united as those of 
 the South ; England and France would not interfere, and would 
 gladly see us destroy each other, as did the Kilkenny cats, which 
 left after the fight nothing but their tails. When a war had 
 begun he would find that the nineteen out of twenty in the 
 North who were now actually friendly to the South would prac- 
 tically be converted into John Browns, and if the voluntary 
 conversion of friends iuto foes was not insanity, I did not know 
 what insanity was. 
 
 My friend had evidently expected a congenial response, know- 
 ing as he did that I sympathized with the maintenance of all 
 the rights of the South, which were in no degree menaced even 
 by the election of Lincoln, as will be seen from what Salmon 
 P. Chase wrote me, and as indeed is supported by every utter- 
 ance of Mr. Lincoln himself, up to the time of his famous 
 proclamation declaring free the slaves in all States in revolt 
 against the authority of the government of the United States 
 at a given date. Nothing, in fact, but the hostile attitude of 
 the South could have endangered slavery as it existed consti- 
 tutionally at that time. After a pause, my friend said that, 
 holding such opinions, it was probable I would be down on the 
 Southern coast in some vessel trying to blockade. I said, " God 
 forbid that we should have a civil war, but, should it occur, that 
 is just where I will be." It is a curious fact that in the fol- 
 lowing November, when I was in command of the gun-boat 
 Seneca, my vessel was the first bearing our flag that crossed 
 Tybee Bar, twenty miles below the city of which he was mayor 
 at the time of the conversation reported above. We differed 
 widely in our ideas on some points, but remained personal 
 friends — indeed, almost like brothers — until his death in 1883. 
 
 A few days after this conversation I received a letter from my 
 old shipmate and friend Lieutenant William L. Powell, of the 
 navy, stationed at the Observatory in Washington, urging me 
 to come over and see him, which I did without delay. There 
 
332 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 were then on duty under Commander M. F. Maury seven lieu- 
 tenants all safe for secession except one, who had a secession 
 wife, and the secession wives, as we all know, usually carried 
 the day. 
 
 Powell said to me that he did not think that Southern officers 
 should resign because Lincoln had been elected President. I 
 said that the political condition was due to demagogues of both 
 sections, and it seemed to me that we should remain true to 
 our government. The Superintendent of the Observatory had 
 already convinced the officers under him that we had then a gov- 
 ernment only in name, and that after the 4th of March it would 
 be one of pretension. He said the Southern States that had 
 seceded had actually a stable government, which would receive 
 accessions in all the slave States. Even though all the border 
 States did not go out of the Union, would they be willing to 
 fight their Southern brethren ? 
 
 One year earlier, on my return home on board of the Merri- 
 mac, Thomas H. Yeatman, a relative living near Cincinnati, had 
 sent me letters of introduction to prominent men in Columbus, 
 and urged me to present them as I came home. As suggested, 
 I spent several days in Columbus, and made the acquaintance 
 of Governor Dennison, ex-Governor Chase, afterwards Secretary 
 of the Treasury, and other prominent men. I was received 
 cordially by these gentlemen, and later had reason to believe 
 that they regarded me as more than an ordinary acquaintance. 
 For that reason, after my conversation with my friends Ander- 
 son and Powell it seemed to me worth while to communicate to 
 Messrs. Dennison and Chase the situation at Washington. It 
 was in my belief imperative that Ohio and other large and 
 wealthy States should guarantee in large amounts whatever the 
 general government required to replenish the exhausted Treasury, 
 and that Ohio should without delay proceed to organize one 
 hundred thousand men, one-third of whom should be equipped 
 immediately, and the others as soon afterwards as possible. I 
 received in reply very earnest letters from both of the gentlemen 
 named, and soon after a copy of Resolutions passed by the 
 Legislature of Ohio in view of the hostile attitude of all the 
 Southern States and the menacing expressions of many of the 
 
LETTER FROM MR. CHASE. 333 
 
 border States, whose governors threatened that any attempted 
 coercion on the part of the general government would lead to 
 resistance on their part ; in short, preparation for war on the 
 part of the government would in itself be considered a hostile 
 act, although large hostile forces were already equipped in all 
 the Southern States, most of whom were actually armed with 
 seventy thousand muskets sent South specially months before 
 by that arch-traitor Floyd, who when occupying the position of 
 Secretary of War removed all the arms and munitions of war 
 that he could to the Southern States, that they might be seized 
 and employed to destroy the government. Mr. Chase wrote me 
 that the fears expressed by Southern leaders that Mr. Lincoln's 
 administration would be hostile to them were pure pretexts ; 
 every one of them knew that if Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated 
 and no hostile action occurred, within six months no reasonable 
 man in the South would have cause of complaint ; hence the 
 haste to precipitate the country into a civil war. • Under these 
 conditions it was the duty of every officer of the army and the 
 navy to stand firmly by the government. Every utterance and 
 every act of Mr. Lincoln, both before and after his inauguration, 
 until his famous proclamation freeing the slaves in all the States 
 in rebellion after a given date, attest the truth of the assertion 
 of Mr. Chase in his letter to me, and were it necessary to 
 establish the truth that pretexts, and not injuries, brought about 
 the civil war, the reader has only to turn to the memorable 
 speech of Alexander H. Stephens, at Milledgeville, Georgia, 
 before referred to. 
 
 I showed Mr. Chase's letter to an influential friend in Balti- 
 more, who said he did not blame me for attempting to apologize 
 for the government ; that Maryland would doubtless go out of 
 the Union, and in his mind this would bar the passage of troops 
 to Washington. That city would be the capital of the Southern 
 Confederacy, and Baltimore would become the metropolis of the 
 South. I replied that the secession of Maryland, even if accom- 
 plished, would not impede the march of Northern troops to their 
 capital, which was Washington. An act of secession of Mary- 
 land and a forcible resistance in Baltimore might make that city 
 a pile of brick-bats, but certainly not the metropolis of the South. 
 
334 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Should Maryland pass an act of secession, doubtless many officers 
 from that State would resign, and although if promotion could 
 come only through civil war I should much prefer no higher 
 rank than I then held, nevertheless, should it occur, — which 
 seemed to me inevitable, — I should soon have all the rank I 
 could desire even were I ambitious. 
 
 A meeting of the resident navy officers in Baltimore was called 
 just after the fall of Fort Sumter, and probably was attended 
 by nearly all of them; I w r as not invited, nor would I have 
 been welcome. It was to " secure unanimity of action," equiva- 
 lent to resigning in a body, which was thus brought about, with 
 the exception of a few of those who attended, although Mary- 
 land did not " go out of the Union." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Beginning of the Civil War — The Sixth Massachusetts Kegiment jeered at 
 and stoned — Secession — Excitement in Baltimore — To Washington on 
 Horseback — Hon. John P. Kennedy — Bladensburg — Black Horse Cavalry 
 — Commodore Stringham — On Duty as Executive Officer at the Navy- Yard 
 — An Ohio Belle — Aspire to the Command of a Gun-Boat — Lieutenant 
 Nelson, of the Navy, appointed Brigadier-General of Volunteers — His In- 
 fluence in Kentucky — Colonel Jacob Ammen, commanding Brigade, re- 
 ports to General Nelson — Ammen's March to Savannah, Tennessee — Goes 
 in Advance, and his Command the First of Buell's Army to engage in the 
 Battle of Shiloh — The Killing of General Nelson by General Jefferson C. 
 Davis — General Kosecrans tells a Story of General Ammen — President 
 Lincoln, accompanied by Thurlow Weed, visits the Navy- Yard— Hand- 
 Shaking by the President — Ordered to the Koanoke — A Wrathy Captain. 
 
 On the 19th of April the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment 
 marched through Baltimore from the Philadelphia to the Wash- 
 ington depot, a distance of about two miles. It was abused, 
 jeered at, and attacked with sticks, stones, and fire-arms when 
 nearing the end of the march, and several of the men were either 
 killed or dangerously wounded. The regiment was directed to 
 fire on its assailants, and killed some of them, but not nearly as 
 many as should have been shot ; of course the mob then ran away 
 
TO WASHINGTON ON HORSEBACK. 335 
 
 and made no further trouble. The following night the railroads 
 leading out of Baltimore north and west were cut, and the com- 
 mon roads guarded by the secessionists of Baltimore. On Satur- 
 day, the day after this attack, secession flags were flying over 
 every section of the city on public and many private buildings, 
 and the Naval Rendezvous was entered and the flag hauled down. 
 On Sunday morning the streets of Baltimore north and west of 
 Mount Vernon Place presented a strange scene of activity, in 
 church-goers intermingled with hundreds of men armed with 
 shot-guns and other fire-arms, going, as they said, to meet and 
 repel a Pennsylvania regiment in camp at Cockeysville, that 
 had been held there from the railroad having been torn up in 
 advance of them. How far this mob went I did not learn, but 
 have the idea that only mounted scouts, and probably unarmed, 
 actually went into the camp of the regiment. In the evening 
 the current of the mob set the other way. It was said, apologet- 
 ically, that the regiment was composed of boys and was really 
 not worthy of being attacked. In a day or so the railroad-track 
 was relaid and guarded, and troops soon passed over it in such 
 numbers as were demanded. For some days the railroad to 
 Washington was also disabled. In the mean time, until the 
 railroads were repaired, troops were sent from Philadelphia to 
 Havre de Grace, and thence, in steamboats provided for the 
 purpose, to Annapolis, whence they marched to Washington. 
 
 As it was impossible for me to get North, I determined to turn 
 my face the other way, and on Tuesday morning mounted my 
 horse and went on my way to Washington. Owing to the late 
 hour of rising of some of my friends, it was eight o'clock, and 
 very hot, when I rode out of the city ; four miles out the turn- 
 pike passed over the railroad on a bridge, and at the farther end 
 I saw two men armed with pistols, who withdrew out of sight 
 to the side of the bridge as I advanced. I had a small pocket 
 revolver, and for convenience in carrying it had put the chamber 
 with the cartridges in one pocket and the other part of the pistol 
 in another. The railroad I knew had a deep cut for miles : had 
 there been a detour of even a considerable distance I should cer- 
 tainly have made it rather than face the men with the pistols, 
 who I supposed were put there to guard the bridge and inspect 
 
336 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 the passers. I was not willing to turn back, and the alterna- 
 tive was " to face the music." I rode on rapidly, and, when I 
 reached the far end of the bridge, turned abruptly towards the 
 men, and inquired in a tone of authority what they were doing 
 there with pistols, adding that I did not know that they were quite 
 safe, in the present disturbed condition of the country. I did 
 not wait for a reply, but turned abruptly and rode away rapidly, 
 much better satisfied when they were twenty yards behind me 
 than I had been when I first caught sight of them. 
 
 Notwithstanding the heat, I did not spare my horse, and went 
 as far as Contee's Station, where the railroad crosses the turnpike, 
 before I saw anything unusual. Here fifteen or twenty men 
 with muskets, in single file, were marching along a path like a 
 flock of geese, which I suppose was all their instructor could 
 teach them. After the civil war had ended I was told that after 
 going South they all got home again, which was not the case 
 with very many brave fellows who went South without knowing 
 exactly what they went to fight about. Here I recall the fact 
 that Captain Ransom, a fine-looking North Carolinian who be- 
 longed to the United States cavalry, had been detailed to instruct 
 cavalry companies that had been formed in Prince George and 
 the more southern counties on the peninsula. All this shows 
 that the rebellion had been long premeditated. Yet we hear 
 again and again the unwarranted assertion that the civil war was 
 forced upon the South ! 
 
 Two miles farther on, at Yansville, I looked down from an 
 elevation of one hundred feet on Beltsville, a mile away. It 
 was the spot where the Hon. John P. Kennedy had encamped 
 when serving as a volunteer and marching to Bladensburg to 
 participate in the famous battle humorously described in his 
 memoirs. The peach-trees were in bloom, but seemed to be 
 withering from the great heat. I rode on to Bladensburg, seven 
 miles distant, and dismounted at a dirty country tavern. There 
 were here a dozen of the Black Horse Cavalry company of 
 Prince George's County, who had been out the night before along 
 the Annapolis Railroad to intercept the Seventh New York Regi- 
 ment on its march to Washington, the track having been par- 
 tially torn up. Their conversation gave me the idea that their 
 
ON DUTY AS EXECUTIVE OFFICER AT NAVY- YARD. 337 
 
 skirmish had not been successful, and that the regiment was still 
 on the march, due in part, if not wholly, to a number of the 
 company being too drunk to be effective. After dining on what 
 I could get, I again mounted, and six miles' additional travel 
 brought me to the navy-yard, a good deal fagged from my ride 
 of forty miles in the hot sun. 
 
 I lost as little time as possible in reaching the Navy Depart- 
 ment, two miles distant, and presented myself to Commodore 
 Stringham, then in charge of the office of detail. I informed 
 him of the state of affairs in Baltimore, and that I had ridden 
 over in order to put myself within reach of the Department, to 
 obey any orders that might be given me. Years before I had 
 known him at the Brooklyn Navy- Yard, and therefore did not 
 mention my name. He said, " I know you very well, but cannot 
 recall your name." On my stating my name and rank, he said, 
 " God bless me, yes ! but you boys grow up so, it is hard to keep 
 the run of you." 
 
 I was given orders for temporary duty as executive officer at 
 the navy-yard, and reported forthwith, and was up and about that 
 night, although much fatigued. Bearing in mind the idea of 
 my youth, as seen through the eyes of an old officer, I went in a 
 few days to pay my respects to a famous Ohio belle who had 
 just come to Washington. She politely inquired if I had not 
 been to sea since my visit to Columbus the year before. I said 
 that I had been attached to the rendezvous in Baltimore ; she 
 remarked, half apologetically, that she supposed " my sea-going 
 days were about over." This was due to her idea of my weight 
 of years, with the natural infirmities that come with them, and 
 the consequent loss of usefulness afloat. I replied that I thought 
 my sea-going days were about beginning, as we had a civil war 
 on hand that had to be fought out. Her remark gave me the 
 unpleasant impression that her estimate of age differed widely 
 from that of the commodore. Six months afterwards I aspired 
 to the command of a gun-boat, and wrote to Secretary Chase, 
 laying before him the two opposing views as given above of 
 Commodore Stringham and of this bright young lady, and re- 
 marking that old commanders were striving for the command of 
 the "ninety -day gun-boats," and with Stringham's ideas of youth 
 
 22 
 
338 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NFAV. 
 
 they might get them ; if so, I had the belief that the commanders 
 would damn the gun-boats and the gun-boats would damn the 
 commanders, and little else would come of it. I realized the 
 fact that I was no longer a mere youth, and yet had the conceit 
 that I was not too old to command a gun-boat ; but I felt assured 
 that the chances were that I was rather too old than too young 
 for that work. Some months later I did command a gun-boat, 
 and did not become conscious either of the inexperience of youth 
 or of the infirmity of age in the performance of my duty. 
 
 Having no further use for my horse, I sent him by a servant, 
 offering him for sale at a low figure ; the horse was purchased by 
 Colonel Ellsworth, who five days later was killed at the Marshall 
 House in Alexandria. My quarters at the navy-yard were with- 
 out furniture other than a dining-table and a wash-stand and 
 basin. My bedding was a ship's mattress and hammock, ready 
 " to lash and carry" at any moment. All the officers of my rank 
 who came to the yard temporarily were invited to share my 
 quarters and my table. This hospitality was a necessity for the 
 well-being of those in transit or temporarily employed. Recently 
 I have learned that one of my young guests regarded my table 
 as that of a veritable gourmet. This was due perhaps to the 
 gentleman being young and strong, and, when with me, having 
 the sauce of San Bernardino, with which everything is good. 
 
 On one occasion when I dined with Secretary Chase, on the 
 16th of September, 1861, he told me he had that day had Lieu- 
 tenant Nelson, of the navy, commissioned a brigadier-general of 
 volunteers. I remarked that there would be a large number of 
 brigadiers who would be found inferior to Nelson. Little Miss 
 Nettie, eight or ten years of age, spoke up, and said " she did 
 not like Nelson ; he was not a gentleman ; he pinched her 
 arms." I told her I thought that an improper act, but never- 
 theless Nelson would make a good brigadier. Mr. Chase said 
 that Nelson's personal influence among his friends and relatives 
 in Kentucky had been greater than that of any other person 
 known to him in restraining that State from passing an act of 
 secession. 
 
 Two months later, about the last of November, 1861, Colonel 
 Ammen, a graduate of the Military Academy at West Point 
 
KILLING OF GEN. NELSON BY GEN. JEFF. C. DAVIS. 339 
 
 in 1831, and commanding a brigade of volunteers, reported to 
 Nelson at Louisville, Kentucky, and served immediately under 
 him until after the battle of Shiloh, April 7, 1862. On the 
 march of Buell's army to join General Grant at Savannah, 
 Tennessee, when a delay occurred at Duck River through the 
 Confederates burning a bridge, Nelson said to Ammen that 
 the water was falling and the next morning they would be able to 
 ford the stream and take the advance, and this they did the next 
 day. In the first encampment after crossing the river, General 
 Nelson said to Ammen, "We are not expected at Savannah 
 before [a given date named]/' — equivalent to saying that they 
 would be in the way, and added that a march of a certain num- 
 ber of miles daily would bring them there at the time stated. 
 Ammen said, " We have good roads and good weather now, and 
 when on the march the men can make one-half more distance 
 per day as well as not." Nelson replied, in the brusque manner 
 which was his habit, "You old rascal, you will always have 
 your own way." " Not at all," said Ammen : " if you are par- 
 ticular that the marches shall be just so long, I will have the 
 distances chained, and at the end of each march will pitch the 
 encampment on the top of a hill where there is no water, or in 
 a swamp where there is nothing but water and mud, as the case 
 may be." The advance division of Buell's army under Nelson 
 arrived a day or so in advance of the time they were " expected," 
 and on the Sunday morning of the battle Ammen's brigade was 
 marched up from Savannah through a swamp a distance of eight 
 miles, and taken across the river by a steamboat before sunset, 
 where its presence was more welcome to our forces than to those 
 of the enemy. The rainy weather the first night after crossing 
 over, and its continuance for several days, resulted in Colonel 
 Ammen's having to go into the hospital. 
 
 On the 29th of September, 1862, Nelson was shot at Louis- 
 ville, Kentucky, by General Jeiferson C. Davis, who was under 
 his command. The shooting was the outcome of an altercation 
 in relation to a requisition for arms or supplies which Davis had 
 presented for approval. Swearing in the old army and navy 
 was a vulgar habit rather than an intentional profanity, and 
 that habit cost Nelson his life little more than a year after he 
 
340 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 had entered the army, where he did admirable service and rose 
 to the rank of major-general. He was thirty-six years old, was 
 six feet in height, heavily built, but not fleshy, with bushy 
 black eyebrows and black hair, and a dark complexion, owing 
 in part to an out-door life. He was an industrious reader and 
 deep thinker, was gifted with an excellent memory, and was very 
 fluent in the use of language. He had an indomitable will and 
 energy, and was not addicted to drink or any other vice than 
 the use of profane language. His ambition was to be useful to 
 his country rather than to be great, and he had a thoroughly 
 honest purpose. He was a generous man in his instincts, and 
 deserved a better fate than to be shot down in a wretched per- 
 sonal quarrel. 
 
 After the end of our civil war, on some convivial occasion 
 I met General Rosecrans, whom I had known long before. 
 He told a good story about my brother, General Ammen, of 
 whom mention has just been made. Ammen, he said, had tied 
 a drunken captain to a tree and kept him tied all night. When 
 I met my brother I asked about the matter, and was told 
 that a volunteer captain whom he had promoted from the ranks 
 for gallantry and efficiency, and whom he called Curse, because 
 he used " curse-words," came to his tent one night and began to 
 swear at and abuse him for some fancied wrong. He was told 
 that he was drunk, and ordered to go to his tent. He refused 
 to obey, and continued his abuse. A corporal's guard was called, 
 and the captain was tied to a tree near by, where he spent the 
 night. In the morning he apologized in a manly way, and was 
 released. This treatment was far more expeditious, and was a 
 better settlement, than a trial by court-martial would have been, 
 at a time when people had a good deal more to do than sit on 
 courts. Everybody was satisfied with the proceeding; but it 
 could hardly be called military. 
 
 One Sunday morning, Captain Dahlgren, who was in command 
 of the navy-yard, told me that President Lincoln would be down 
 in an hour, and directed that the steamboat Philadelphia should 
 be ready to take him down the river. The President came 
 accompanied by Thurlow Weed, and both of them went on 
 board ; I had never seen either of them before. On casting 
 
HAND-SHAKING BY THE PRESIDENT. 341 
 
 loose, Dahlgren, on stepping on board, invited me to accompany 
 him. On our way down the river, just above Alexandria we 
 passed several steamers filled with troops bound for Washington. 
 The wharves at Alexandria were crowded with people, and every- 
 where on the buildings the secession flag was displayed. Our 
 war-vessel Pawnee lay at anchor not far off, and abreast the 
 principal wharf. On Mr. Lincoln hearing the name, he inquired 
 if she was not the vessel with the curious bottom having bilges 
 coming down below the line of the keel, and then drew roughly 
 on the marble top of a table, with a lead-pencil, a cross-section of 
 the vessel, and asked Dahlgren whether the bottom was not some- 
 what like that, and on receiving an affirmative answer he made 
 one of the humorous comparisons for which he was so famous. 
 
 Mr. Weed had something to say to me in relation to the per- 
 sonnel of the navy, and I told him briefly of my visit to friends 
 at the Observatory which I have chronicled on a preceding page. 
 I said they were very adroitly deceived ; the conviction had been 
 forced upon them that as a matter of fact we had no government ; 
 all that was virile was in the South. Before resigning they had 
 looked upon the situation from this illusory point of view ; with 
 an attachment for the Union, they had been adroitly beguiled ; 
 they were honest, and I had a great deal of sympathy for them. 
 Mr. Weed substituted the word " honorable" for honest, and I 
 suggested that the word had been so greatly abused as to have 
 lost its signification, and I therefore had called them honest. 
 Mr. Weed smiled, and said he quite agreed with me. He was 
 a large well-formed man for his years, with a large gray eye, 
 light complexion, and a heavy, beetling, reddish brow. A day 
 or so later I attended a Presidential reception : as I passed along 
 in the procession and Mr. Lincoln extended his hand, I remarked 
 that he was engaged in very laborious work ; he looked at me 
 inquiringly : I was unable to tell whether he recognized me or 
 not ; he smiled, and said, yes. Thirty years have passed since 
 then, the multitude at receptions has increased greatly, and yet 
 this senseless practice of the Presidential hand-shaking on such 
 occasions still continues. 
 
 Towards the middle of May the navy-yard was less chaotic, 
 and I was glad to be ordered as executive officer of the steam 
 
342 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 frigate Roanoke, fitting out at New York for blockading off 
 Charleston. 
 
 I was very busy during the day, about the yard in looking 
 up the outfits and seeing that they were proper, and at other 
 hours in preparing the blank watch, quarter, and station bills 
 that are now printed in form for all classes of vessels. When 
 the Roanoke was nearly ready to be put in commission I asked 
 the executive officer of the receiving-ship if he would be good 
 enough at some convenient time to have the draft of men 
 mustered, in order that I could see them and assign them 
 stations ; then when they went on board there would be no con- 
 fusion ; they would know to what part of the vessel and to what 
 mess they belonged. Somewhat to my surprise, this very 
 reasonable request was denied, partly because the executive 
 officer on a former occasion had been attached to the same vessel 
 with me and had not stationed the men for weeks ; he had no idea 
 of organization. I went to the officer in command of the station 
 and stated what I desired, and asked that he would give in- 
 structions to the officer in command of the receiving-ship to 
 give me a list of the men and their ratings who were to be sent 
 on board when the Roanoke would be put in commission, and 
 would have them " mustered' 7 at a convenient time, that I might 
 assign them their duties. In a day or so I received a message 
 from the captain of the receiving-ship that he wished to see me 
 without delay ; on going on board I was shown into his cabin, 
 and saw at once that he was in a towering passion. He in- 
 formed me that since he had been in the service he had never 
 heard of such a thing as an officer being permitted to select his 
 crew from a receiving-ship. I said, " Captain, I think, if you 
 
 will permit me " I was allowed to go no further, and 
 
 there was another denunciation. After several attempts to in- 
 form him that it was not my intention to select the men from 
 all those on board of the receiving-ship, but only to organize 
 those that might be assigned to the Roanoke, I grew impatient, 
 and said, " I understand, then, that I have authority to select 
 the crew of the Roanoke from all the enlisted men under your 
 charge." He said, "Yes, sir, and it is shameful." "Very 
 well, sir : if I have that authority, be good enough to have the 
 
CAPTAIN W. C. NICHOLSON. 343 
 
 men mustered, and I will exercise it without delay ;" and I 
 proceeded forthwith to organize the men. When they stepped 
 over the side of the Roanoke, several days later, every man 
 knew where to stow his hammock, what his duties were, what 
 mess he belonged to, etc., having been furnished with a slip of 
 paper containing this information before he left the receiving- 
 ship. 
 
 CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 Service on Board the Koanoke as Executive Officer — Captain W. C. Nichol- 
 son — Hampton Roads — Commodore Pendergrast — Blockade Duty off 
 Charleston — The Yandalia — The Seminole — Return of the Koanoke to 
 Hampton Koads — Assigned to the Seneca — Naval Life as an Officer in 
 Command of a Vessel — Admiral S. F. Dupont — Sail for Hampton Roads — 
 General T. W. Sherman — Port Koyal — Charleston — An Engagement with 
 Steamboats — Commodore Tatnall — General Horatio G. "Wright — Captain 
 John Rodgers — General Drayton — A Naval Engagement — The Confeder- 
 ates abandon the Fort at Port Royal — General Sherman — Admiral Dupont 
 issues a Proclamation — North Edisto — Burning Cotton — Rockville — Shell- 
 ing Port Royal Ferry — The Black Colony at North Edisto — Demonstra- 
 tion against Savannah — Hilton Head — General R. E. Lee. 
 
 The Roanoke was under the command of Captain William 
 C. Nicholson, a warm-hearted, gallant old officer, — altogether too 
 old to command effectively. On my reporting to him for duty 
 he looked at me fiercely, and said, " Very good, sir. I always 
 quarrel with my first lieutenants." I replied that I had not 
 applied for the vessel, and had reported in obedience to orders, 
 with no intention either to quarrel or not to quarrel ; he might 
 count upon my doing all in my power to make the Roanoke an 
 effective vessel-of-war, and beyond that I could promise him 
 nothing. A day or two after getting on board, we dropped 
 down and anchored off the Battery : the captain usually went 
 on shore in the evening and came off early in the morning, then 
 went on shore again and came off in the afternoon. After a 
 few days he said to me that he thought he could go on shore 
 without fear of disorder on board ship. I replied that I saw 
 no reason why he should not. He said, with much emphasis, 
 
344 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 " Why, sir, I could not do so when in command of a steam 
 frigate on the Asiatic station. Why, sir, when I would come 
 on board after night I would find the cabin full of drunken 
 officers." I assured him that in his absence no officer would 
 enter his cabin, and that should any disorder occur on board I 
 would report it without delay on his return. He was quite 
 cheerful thereafter, and left the ship at will, stayed as long as 
 he pleased, and I had no occasion to bring to his notice any 
 misconduct or disorder during his absence. 
 
 We left for Hampton Roads about the end of June, and a 
 day or so after our arrival hoisted the flag of Commodore Gar- 
 rett J. Pendergrast, which seemed to take the wind out of the 
 sails of our choleric but kind-hearted old captain. On the 10th 
 of July we sailed for blockade duty off Charleston, and on our 
 arrival lay a considerable distance farther from the bar than we 
 should have done, but the blockade nevertheless would not have 
 been more effective had we anchored closer. The sailing sloop- 
 of-war Yandalia was aiding us, and actually did capture a 
 prize, east of Rattlesnake Shoal, a brigantine whose captain was 
 quite stupid. The steam sloop Seminole or some other vessel 
 would put in an appearance to aid us occasionally, but they 
 spent most of their time in going to Hampton Roads for coal 
 and burning it on the passage to Charleston : it never occurred 
 to their commanders that a deck-load of coal might enable them 
 to reach Charleston with full bunkers. 
 
 In September the Roanoke went to Hampton Roads for stores. 
 We had not been inert when on the blockade ; the men were 
 well drilled at the great guns and at small-arms, and we frequently 
 got under way and took up another berth after sailing around 
 for some hours. In riding out several moderate gales at anchor 
 I gained my first experience as to the ease and safety with which 
 vessels may anchor in the open sea when properly provided and 
 cared for. When getting under way on one occasion in a heavy 
 sea-way, just as the anchor had been hove up the engines refused 
 duty. The captain was standing by my side on the bridge, and 
 as the condition involved danger I turned to him and inquired 
 if I should do a certain thing. He replied emphatically, " No, 
 sir," and did not state what he wished done. I extricated the 
 
HAMPTON ROADS. 345 
 
 vessel from the dilemma with more difficulty than would have 
 been the case had I been allowed to use the meaus suggested for 
 the approval of the captain. This experience left me unem- 
 barrassed afterwards ; I never asked the captain if I should do 
 this or that, when getting under way, and he never interfered. 
 
 During our absence from the North the Department had con- 
 tracted for the building of eight or ten gun-boats within a period 
 of ninety days, and they were about ready to be put in com- 
 mission when we got to Hampton Roads. The commands of 
 these vessels were sought by old commanders who had little or 
 no knowledge of steam vessels or of shell-guns, and who were 
 generally much afraid of shoal water. I urged my claim of 
 which I have already made mention, and was assigned to the 
 Seneca, soon to be completed in New York, and was detached 
 from the Roanoke on the 12th of September. 
 
 Several of these gun-boats and other vessels-of-war and 
 merchant-steamers converted to naval use, in all some twenty in 
 number, composed the expedition under the command of Rear- 
 Admiral S. F. Dupont, to effect a lodgement on the Southern 
 coast in order to establish a more effective blockade and to menace 
 or attack other points as occasion might serve. On the 17th of 
 October the steam frigate Wabash, the flag-ship of Admiral 
 Dupont, left New York, followed by eight or ten of his com- 
 mand, bound for Hampton Roads, where other vessels were to 
 join us, as well as a large army force, under the command of 
 General Thomas W. Sherman. We had a lot of coal-schooners 
 to accompany or follow us. Their orders were to be opened 
 only after reaching the anchorage off Tybee. When the fleet 
 left, there were forty-nine vessels all told, of which twenty were 
 vessels-of-war, the remainder being army transports of all 
 classes, and a bay steamer, called the Governor, that had a bat- 
 talion of marines on board. 
 
 Previous to sailing I got permission from the fleet-captain to 
 fill the coal-bunkers of the Seneca and carry as much on deck as 
 could be done with safety. He said there would be an oppor- 
 tunity after arriving in Southern waters to fill up before going 
 into action ; I urgedlhat it would lighten a heavily-laden vessel 
 and make her more sea-worthy, and we would be able to coal 
 
346 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 now without possibility of interference, and obtained a reluctant 
 consent. The Seneca was the only vessel that went into action 
 ten days later with bunkers nearly full ; and this was no mean 
 advantage, as officers who have served before an enemy can 
 testify. There was no reason why all the vessels should not 
 have done the same ; this would have served to make all the 
 coal- vessels better able to stand the heavy weather which they 
 had to encounter. 
 
 We had got well south of Cape Henry about noon ; then 
 signal was made to form line in double Echelon, the position of 
 every vessel having of course been previously assigned, includ- 
 ing army transports. With commanders of vessels without ex- 
 perience in forming lines, a good deal of time was wasted ; one of 
 the ninety-day gun-boats made signal of a disabled engine, and 
 was taken in tow. After forming, we went along slowly, on 
 account of a strong head-wind, and it was thirty-six hours before 
 we rounded Cape Hatteras, a distance of only one hundred and 
 ten miles, at midnight, with great danger to some of the heavy 
 transports, one of them striking on the outer shoal, which caused 
 us to haul off to the southeast. 
 
 There had been a heavy westerly set of current not unusual 
 in that locality ; a day later we encountered a heavy southeast 
 gale, which blew with great violence for twenty hours. The 
 bay steamer Governor went down in it, the battalion of marines 
 on board, with the exception of several men who were drowned, 
 being rescued with great difficulty by the frigate Sabine, aided 
 most effectively by the Isaac Smith j several other vessels were 
 disabled, and never reached their destination, but there was no 
 other loss of life. 
 
 I passed an anxious night on the deck of the Seneca, looking 
 to windward in a driving rain, the drops stinging like pellets of 
 hail, and the spray flying all over the vessel. The Seneca was 
 " laid to" on the port tack ; as a matter of safety, I should have 
 much preferred " lying to" on the other tack, as a southeast wind 
 invariably hauls to the westward in that locality, but the likeli- 
 hood of collision with some other vessel of the fleet would have 
 been much greater. 
 
 At about four a.m. I observed an arched cloud to the north- 
 
BLOCKADE DUTY OFF CHARLESTON. 347 
 
 west, and, as I expected, the wind soon after flopped to the south- 
 west. An hour later I went below to sleep, leaving orders to 
 call me at broad daylight if the Wabash was not in sight, as I 
 would then have to open my confidential orders. At eight a.m. 
 the wind had moderated, but the sea was still quite rough ; the 
 flag-ship was under sail about six miles southeast of us ; we 
 wore ship when she came up, and stood on in her wake. In the 
 afternoon several of the vessels-of-war joined us, and at sunset, 
 the wind having hauled to the northwest, the fleet tacked ship 
 and stood to the southwest, along the coast, which was not in 
 sight. I then knew that Bull's Bay was not the objective point; 
 the enemy knew it was Port Royal as soon as we had left Hampton 
 Roads. During the night other vessels of the fleet joined us. 
 
 At noon on Sunday the flag-ship made signal for the com- 
 manding officer of the Seneca to come on board j I was received 
 at the gangway by the fleet-captain, who inquired, "Do you 
 know where we are going ?" I replied, " No, but after tacking 
 yesterday evening I suspected to Port Royal." He was sur- 
 prised, and asked if I had not opened my confidential orders ; 
 I said no, that I had not been separated from the flag-ship. He 
 gave me a letter to deliver to Captain Lardner on board of the 
 Susquehanna, blockading off Charleston, and added, "Say to 
 him that I forgot to write that the vessels designated will not 
 leave the blockade before dark/' 
 
 I was soon on the deck of the Seneca and on our course for 
 Charleston ; two hours later the church-towers of the city were 
 in sight from aloft ; our appearance was signalled by cannon, as 
 the avant-courrier of a force that they would gladly not have 
 seen. Letters that we took from the Beaufort post-office several 
 days later gave expression to the hope that the vessels had been 
 lost in the heavy gale we had passed through. 
 
 It was four o'clock, and a delightful day, when I reached the 
 Susquehanna and was invited into the cabin. I gave the 
 captain the letter and verbal message, the fleet gossip, and news 
 in general from the North. On leaving I asked permission to 
 take the Seneca close up to the bar off the Swash Channel, the 
 range of which was St. Michael's Church over the northern 
 part of Sumter. I was familiar with the locality, as I had 
 
348 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 been on the survey of the bar ten years before. When I reached 
 my point of observation the sun was setting ; soon after I bore 
 away, made sail, and as we passed near the blockading vessels 
 saw that several of them were getting under way for Port 
 Royal. 
 
 A man was kept in the chains sounding occasionally during 
 the night, in order to keep near the seven-fathom curve; at 
 daylight we were off Martin's Industry Shoal, and soon after 
 sunrise a lookout aloft discovered a black barrel buoy, which 
 proved to be the mark of the entrance to the main channel of 
 Port Royal. 
 
 By eight o'clock the bright eastern horizon was flecked with 
 many sails, and by noon quite a fleet had anchored around the 
 Wabash. Not being able to make my signal understood, the 
 Seneca was got under way, and the fact communicated verbally. 
 At one p.m. several vessels, among them the Seneca, were sent 
 to sound and buoy the channel, and at four all of the fleet 
 except the flag-ship and several of the larger vessels, crossed 
 the bar and anchored in good holding ground some six miles 
 outside of the headlands of Bay Point and Hilton Head. The 
 Seneca, Ottawa, and Pembina anchored about three miles from 
 these headlands, upon which were seen the earthworks after- 
 wards known to us as Fort Walker on Hilton Head and Fort 
 Beauregard on Bay Point. 
 
 Near sunset three steamboats suddenly appeared around Bay 
 Point and came out under a heavy head of steam towards the 
 flat ground lying to the westward of our anchorage and opened 
 fire at us with rifled cannon at a distance of nearly two miles. 
 The three gun-boats named above got under way, and, opening 
 fire, steamed in to intercept their return, whereupon they turned 
 at once and entered the harbor. The leading vessel flew the 
 flag of a commodore, afterwards known to us as Tatnall's. 
 
 The next morning near sunrise the same manoeuvre was 
 repeated by the enemy ; signal was made by the Ottawa to 
 several vessels, among them the Pawnee, a vessel carrying a 
 heavy battery, and also the Pembina and the Seneca, to follow 
 her movements. The enemy retreated as we advanced, his pur- 
 pose being to draw us within the line of fire of the forts. As 
 
BLOCKADE DUTY OFF CHARLESTON. 349 
 
 we learned later, our object was to gain a more accurate knowl- 
 edge of the strength of the earthworks than we then possessed. 
 When we got near the line between the two forts, which were 
 two and five-eighths miles apart, both of them opened fire on 
 us, and cut the rigging considerably of nearly all the vessels, 
 without hitting the hulls. In the mean time our fire blew up a 
 caisson in Fort Beauregard, and, as we learned afterwards, 
 killed several men. Our object accomplished, we went out of 
 action and anchored. General Horatio G. Wright, on the staff 
 of General Sherman, and Captain John Rodgers, of the navy, 
 then on the staff of Dupont, had been on board of the Ottawa for 
 the purpose stated. About noon a steamboat came out on the 
 flats to the west of our anchorage and opened fire at long range 
 on the Seneca ; the sea was glassy smooth, and it was quite calm. 
 I directed the executive officer to call the crew of the eleven- 
 inch gun to quarters and fire a shell at ricochet. He answered 
 at once that he was ready, and asked permission to fire at an 
 elevation. I said that I would fire the gun myself, and, taking 
 hold of the lock-string, had the gun levelled and trained. The 
 shell skimmed along the water like a duck ; the man aloft said 
 he saw it strike the steamboat, and when we saw the vessel again 
 she had a white patch of plank on her side. On receiving the 
 shell she turned and steamed directly into port. I learned 
 afterwards that it was the flag-ship of Tatnall, and that in his 
 temporary absence, Captain Maffit, mentioned in earlier pages, 
 had gone out to have a little sport on his own account when 
 about " half-seas over." The shell had lodged in the hog- 
 braces, and had it exploded would probably have sunk the 
 vessel. 
 
 About noon of the 5th of November, at nearly high water, 
 the flag-ship crossed the bar and anchored a mile or so out- 
 side of us. Signal was made for officers commanding vessels 
 to come on board. Instructions were given those in the main 
 line headed by the Wabash, then to those commanding vessels 
 in the flanking line on the right. The Seneca was the second 
 in the flanking line, and the only vessel of the five that had been 
 built for war-purposes. 
 
 We had barely time to return to our commands before signal 
 
350 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 was made to get under way and form lines j before the latter 
 was effected the flag-ship grounded on Fishing Rip Shoal, and 
 stuck there for an hour or two, which made it necessary for the 
 whole fleet to anchor. The next day was so windy that we 
 remained at anchor. On the day following we made our attack. 
 I take my introductory sentence from the official report of Gen- 
 eral Drayton, who commanded the Confederate forces : " At last 
 the memorable 7th dawned upon us, bright and serene ; not a 
 ripple upon the broad expanse of water to disturb the accuracy 
 of fire from the broad decks of that magnificent armada about ad- 
 vancing in battle-array, to vomit forth its iron hail with all the 
 spiteful energy of long-suppressed rage and conscious strength." 
 
 At 8.30 the vessels were fairly in line ; the main column was 
 the Wabash, followed by the Susquehanna, Mohican, Seminole, 
 Pawnee, Unadilla, Ottawa, Pembina, and sailing-sloop Vandalia, 
 in tow of the Isaac Smith. The flanking column on the right 
 was the Bienville, followed by the Seneca, Penguin, Curlew, and 
 Augusta. The plan of battle as given us, and afterwards pub- 
 lished officially, was for the two lines in close order to pass in, 
 the main line directing its fire against Fort Walker on Hilton 
 Head and the flanking line on Fort Beauregard on Bay Point. 
 When well beyond the works the Wabash would turn towards 
 Hilton Head, followed by the main line, and would pass around 
 again and again, and when in face of the fort go very slowly, 
 delivering their fire. The flanking line was to dispose of any 
 force afloat, and then to take up an enfilading position north and 
 west of Fort Walker. When our orders were given verbally 
 by Dupont he said he knew Tatnall well, he was an officer of 
 courage and resources, and it was not unlikely that he would 
 endeavor in the confusion of battle to pass out for the purpose 
 of destroying the army transports that lay within the bar. The 
 senior officer of that line made no reply ; after a brief pause I 
 said that Tatnall could not do that ; if the Seneca got within 
 one thousand yards of his vessels he would be destroyed ; they 
 were very weak, and a ricochet fire could hardly miss them in 
 smooth water. The flag-officer said he was pleased to hear me 
 speak so confidently, and approved of my ricochet firing. 
 
 When we went in, Tatnall was on hand with four or five 
 
A NAVAL ENGAGEMENT. 351 
 
 steamboats, and opened fire from about the line between the two 
 forts ; but the Wabash yawed and fired a broadside at them, 
 which caused them to move off rapidly. 
 
 When the Wabash had passed well above Fort Walker and 
 turned towards Hilton Head, followed by the Susquehanna, the 
 Bienville, the head of the flanking column, turned also, instead 
 of pursuing and disposing of Tatnall and then taking up an 
 enfilading position north of the fort, as instructed j later on, she 
 passed into the main line ahead of the Mohican, and perhaps 
 so disturbed the equilibrium of Godon, who commanded the 
 Mohican, as to make him take up an enfilading position, which 
 caused the vessels following the Mohican to do the same. Their 
 fire was doubtless effective, but it was not as arranged in the 
 plan of battle. 
 
 While the Bienville joined the other line, and pushed in ahead 
 of the Mohican, the Seneca pursued Tatnall's vessels until they 
 were nearly abreast of Skull Creek, and fired several eleven- 
 inch shells at them ineffectively. The vessel was then turned 
 towards the fort, in order to carry out instructions as before 
 stated, but no sooner had she turned than Tatnall's vessels 
 turned also. It may be that he thought the vessels were in 
 retreat from the effects of the fire delivered from the forts. 
 The Seneca was again turned towards Tatnall's steamboats, and 
 he saw that he had to try conclusions if he kept on, and there- 
 fore thought it worth while to enter Skull Creek. 
 
 As soon as his vessels had disappeared behind a wooded point 
 the Seneca was again turned towards the fort, and as she was 
 passing along half a mile from the wooded shore-line, a body 
 of Confederate troops indiscreetly opened fire with small-arms. 
 A thirty-pounder rifle was directed at the smoke in the edge of 
 the wood, and, as we learned afterwards, several of the men 
 were killed or wounded. 
 
 We were soon delivering an effective enfilade fire, when the 
 Pawnee took position and fired right over us, a sabot flying on 
 board. The Seneca was then taken in as near the shore as the 
 depth of water would permit, and, drifting with an ebb tide, 
 was soon within effective range of an eight-inch bronze howitzer 
 in broadside. The eleven-inch pivot and the thirty-pounder 
 
352 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 rifle that had been in use throughout the engagement were active. 
 On a visit to the fort after its abandonment by the enemy I 
 could not but wonder that our fire had not blown up cartridges 
 and loaded shell that were exposed to our line of fire. 
 
 During the engagement a rifle on an angle of the fort that 
 was directed at us several times was finally disabled and then 
 we were actually let alone. The guns in the sand forts were 
 in great part disabled, and the traverses covered in partially 
 with sand. A concise account will be found in " The Atlantic 
 Coast," published by the Scribners, New York, 1883, and also 
 of whatever other operations may be mentioned in this writing. 
 
 The fort was abandoned at about one p.m., after having endured 
 the fire of the fleet for four hours. On leaving, the men marched 
 to Skull Creek Landing, a distance of six miles. Along the 
 road they left field-artillery and a considerable number of small- 
 arms. About four o'clock I went on shore, and when I was 
 looking over the works a black man approached from the hos- 
 pital buildings ; he informed me that he was the body-servant 
 of General Drayton, the commander of the Confederate forces 
 defending Port Royal. I took him to the flag-officer without 
 delay, and said that from the information it would be worth 
 while to send the Seneca into Skull Creek to intercept the 
 troops that were then embarking at the landing. The flag- 
 officer said that the entrance was intricate, and directed me to 
 take the Seneca over to Bay Point to communicate with the 
 Seminole, and in the event of the abandonment of Fort Beaure- 
 gard to hoist our flag over it at sunrise. The Seneca left as 
 directed ; it was growing dark, and when near the point I 
 looked in vain for the Seminole ; she had gone up Broad River, 
 as I learned the next morning. Not wishing to miss her, I had 
 steam lights placed, and stood in so near that the bow of the 
 vessel grounded on the Bay Point beach, which was abrupt ; the 
 traverses and embrasures of the fort were then seen outlining 
 the horizon one hundred yards distant. We had a strong flood 
 tide, and by sending the crew aft on a run, and backing the 
 engine, the vessel was got off, after which no time was lost in 
 reaching the flag-ship and stating the facts. I was directed to 
 get under way at early daylight, proceed to Bay Point, and, 
 
GENERAL T. W. SHERMAN. 353 
 
 should the Seminole not be found, to make a reconnoissance, 
 and if the fort was abandoned to land and hoist our flag. 
 
 Soon after sunrise, I landed with thirty armed men and 
 went to the flag-staff on the end of a small frame house a few 
 yards outside of the earthwork. I entered, and noticed several 
 official blank-books lying on a rough table, then passed out and 
 walked towards a strip of pine-trees lining the sea-beach several 
 hundred yards distant. A few minutes later I heard an ex- 
 plosion, and saw a huge volume of smoke ascend where the flag 
 had been hoisted, but flag and house had disappeared. A sailor 
 walking near by had struck a wire stretched along and ignited 
 a spur tube that had been placed in a quantity of loose powder 
 under the house. A similar arrangement had been prepared to 
 blow up the magazine, but was discovered on examination 
 through the warning given us by what had occurred. At noon, 
 under instructions, I turned the fort over to General I. I. 
 Stevens, and two hours later went up Beaufort River, with 
 General Thomas W. Sherman on board, the commander of the 
 ten thousand troops co-operating with the naval force. 
 
 The object in going up the river was to see if any defensive 
 works existed. Nothing was found; but when looking for 
 such works it is surprising to see how many natural features 
 here and there have similitude to them. The general was much 
 pleased with a fine barge towing at the boom that had belonged 
 to Tatnall and had been found by me on the marsh that morn- 
 ing : he said it was just such as he would have bought had he 
 not been hurried when leaving New York. I told him it was 
 at his service, and sent it to him the following morning, with 
 oars and complete in fitments. 
 
 The next morning the Seneca was sent to Beaufort, with the 
 Pembina and Penguin as backers ; the distance was about fifteen 
 miles, and no defensive works were found. On our reaching 
 the w r harf several mounted men rode away. Hundreds of 
 negroes were on the wharf and on the streets ; all the scows 
 w r ere in requisition, and were being loaded with furniture and 
 personal effects of all kinds, provisions, and lumber to erect 
 sheds elsewhere ; on the part of the negroes it was an exhibition 
 of wild confusion and great joy ;' they imagined that they were 
 
354 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 setting out on a picnic for life. Only one white man was 
 found ; he was sitting at the post-office, and was brought on 
 board of the Seneca. As directed, I gave assurances to him that 
 all white peaceable inhabitants who would remain at home would 
 be protected in life and property. The poor fellow seemed to be 
 utterly dazed, and hardly comprehended the import of my words. 
 He was sent on shore, and nothing more was seen of Mr. Allen. 
 
 We returned to Port Royal without delay, and reported the 
 facts to the flag-officer. The negroes said that all the whites 
 had left the island, and that many slaves had been shot by their 
 masters while making an attempt to escape when being driven 
 to Port Royal Ferry to be taken to the mainland. 
 
 Early the next day Admiral Dupont came on board of the 
 Seneca, and, accompanied by several gun-boats, went to Beaufort. 
 The head-quarters of General Drayton were visited, and a coast 
 chart found that proved of great value ; upon it were marked 
 all the defensive works in his department, and the guns in 
 position, in red pencil ; it would have been complete had it con- 
 tained the calibre of the guns and a description of the construc- 
 tion of the works. 
 
 The flag-officer employed all his available force in visiting 
 these localities as soon as possible ; nevertheless the enemy man- 
 aged to carry off most of the guns that were of use, except those 
 on Hilton Head and Bay Point, amounting, all told, to fifty-two, 
 as stated by General Sherman, to whom they were turned over. 
 He stated that eight or nine of them had been ruined or dis- 
 mounted by our fire. The enemy reported eleven killed on 
 Hilton Head, thirty-five wounded, and four missing j at Fort 
 Beauregard, thirteen wounded. On board of the fleet eight men 
 were killed and twenty-three wounded. 
 
 Admiral Dupont issued a proclamation stating that all peace- 
 able inhabitants who would remain at their homes would be 
 protected in life and property ; only one family, on Parry's 
 Island, remained, and that for but a few weeks, being then 
 compelled to leave by the threats of their Southern friends, 
 who regarded any contact with us as likely to produce serious 
 defection, inasmuch as we were not at all inimical to them as 
 individuals. 
 
COMMANDER RODGERS 'S VISIT TO WARSAW SOUND. 355 
 
 On the 24th of November, Captain John Rodgers, in command 
 of the Flag, accompanied by the Seneca and the Pocahontas, 
 was sent to the mouth of the Savannah River a to push his 
 reconnoissance so as to form an approximate estimate of the 
 force on Tybee Island and of the possibility of gaining an 
 entrance." On our arrival we found the bar quite rough, and a 
 fresh breeze from the sea. The ranges for entering having been 
 destroyed, Rodgers came on board of the Seneca, which had a 
 less draught than the Flag, and crossed the bar, the rough water 
 being an advantage in showing the shoaler parts of the bar. 
 When we got within range of the batteries the Seneca opened 
 fire, and found they had been abandoned. This surprised us, 
 as General Drayton's chart showed them to be favorably located 
 for defence, and with a sufficient number of guns to have made 
 a stout resistance. The Seneca was sent immediately to Port 
 Royal to report the facts, and Rodgers took the Flag and the 
 Pocahontas into Tybee Roads, where some of our vessels re- 
 mained until the close of the war. 
 
 The reader may recall a conversation of mine with the mayor 
 of Savannah in Baltimore the previous February. Either his 
 term of office had expired, or he had resigned ; and he had gone 
 abroad, purchased the Fingal, a large iron steamer, loaded her 
 with munitions of war, and brought her to Savannah by way 
 of the Ogeechee River, which he entered a few days after our 
 capture of Port Royal. 
 
 About the middle of December, Commander C. R. P. Rodgers 
 left Tybee Roads on board of the Ottawa, followed by the 
 Seneca and Pembina, to visit Warsaw Sound, where we found 
 an abandoned fort as marked on the chart ; the eight guns had 
 been carried away ; from' the mouth of Wilmington River, bear- 
 ing about west- northwest, three miles distant, we saw. a large 
 encampment, with five guns facing us, and one on another face. 
 We afterwards crossed Ossabaw Bar and examined the Ogeechee 
 and Vernon Rivers. We saw an incomplete earthwork on 
 Green Island, then mounting eight guns, with a derrick in place 
 for further construction. A large number of tents were seen 
 here also. The enemy threw a heavy shell from a smooth-bore 
 at the Pembina, which fell far short ; a large rifle shell thrown 
 
356 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 at the Seneca had admirable elevation, but the time of flight of 
 the shell put us far enough ahead of the projectile to insure our 
 safety. 
 
 Soon after our return to Port Royal the Seneca was sent with 
 the Pawnee, under Commander Drayton, a brother of the Con- 
 federate general, to pay a visit to North* Edisto, where ten years 
 before I had been engaged on the survey of the bar and harbor. 
 As we entered we shelled an earthwork that had been abandoned, 
 and on examination we found that ten guns had been removed. 
 It had two redoubts, well constructed, with a long covered 
 curtain connecting them. 
 
 No sooner had our guns been heard in the surrounding country 
 than we saw numbers of dense columns of white smoke going 
 up into the clear blue sky ; the stupid people were burning their 
 cotton-houses in localities that were never visited by our forces 
 during the war. The Seneca was sent up the river to White 
 Point, and in chasing a small sail got aground near high water, 
 and was held fast for thirty-six hours. The passing up of the 
 vessel greatly alarmed Colonel Branch, who abandoned his tents 
 and some other stores at their encampment a mile back of Rock- 
 ville. His report states, " It is needless to say that had no demon- 
 stration been made to cut us off from John's Island, no retreat, 
 save beyond the reach of the enemy's shells, would have been 
 ordered, unless a heavy force had been landed at Rockville." 
 
 The following day Drayton landed a force at Rockville and 
 captured forty- four Sibley tents and other stores. The negroes, 
 knowing of the hasty retreat of the two hundred and ninety 
 rifles, as Branch styled his force, doubtless possessed themselves 
 of all the provisions they could carry away and secrete. 
 
 A large number of slaves, men, women, and children, came 
 to Rockville and located finally on a belt of wood along the 
 sea-coast of North Edisto Island, having between it and the 
 solid land a broad marsh, which afforded them fair protection 
 against a raid from the Confederates. The Penguin, that had 
 been maintaining a blockade off the bar, was brought in and 
 given supervision of this colony. Later on I was sent for some 
 days to regulate matters at North Edisto, and on returning to 
 Port Royal, as instructed, found that an attack was to be made 
 
THE BLACK COLONY AT NORTH EDISTO. 357 
 
 on batteries the enemy were establishing on Whale Branch, and 
 near Port Royal Ferry, intending to come over and endeavor to 
 capture a regiment that General Sherman had placed on Port 
 Royal Island. A considerable force was sent from the fleet to 
 co-operate with General Sherman, and the Seneca was sent up 
 Whale Branch, seconded by the Ellen, a Brooklyn ferry-boat 
 converted into a war-vessel, and carrying heavy guns, to attack 
 a battery which was found under construction, but with no guns 
 in position. Captain Elliott, of the Seventy-ninth Highlanders, 
 who came from the island, was directed to co-operate with me. 
 He went over with a force of three hundred men and destroyed 
 platform and magazine. When this was effected, as directed, 
 the Seneca proceeded towards Port Royal Ferry, but at the 
 divide of the tides got aground, remaining there until the fol- 
 lowing day, when we got over and took part in shelling a con- 
 siderable force of the enemy that we saw from our mast-heads 
 some distance in the interior. A colonel whose name I cannot 
 recall was good enough to send me a box of wine in acknowl- 
 edgment of shells thrown where they had done the most good. 
 The enemy was driven oif with no great loss, and had carried 
 off all his guns save one. He made no further demonstration 
 against the island. 
 
 After this affair the Seneca was sent to North Edisto, to 
 regulate the black colony. It had increased to more than one 
 thousand, although transportation was given all who wished 
 to go to Port Royal by the passing gun-boats. They had a 
 number of scows, and local knowledge of where sweet potatoes 
 had been buried for winter use, and where cattle were to be 
 found, and had ample time to help themselves to all that could 
 be picked up. There was abundance of raccoon oysters, fish, 
 and the heart of the palmetto, which makes a very good substi- 
 tute for cabbage. They had made themselves shelter with 
 boughs of palmetto leaves, and until spring opened had abun- 
 dance of provisions, and then they went to Port Royal to work 
 on the abandoned plantations. 
 
 Ten days later the Seneca was one of half a dozen vessels that 
 had passed through Skull Creek close to the Savannah River, 
 and near where Mud Creek empties into that river. The army 
 
358 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 was planting a masked rifle battery on Venus Point, near by, 
 to command the river between Fort Pulaski and Savannah. I 
 was sent to ascertain whether we could get through Mud Creek 
 if we wished to enter the river, and found that we could do so 
 with a spring tide and southeast wind, when one can go almost 
 anywhere with vessels of light draught between the marshes in 
 that region. 
 
 The Seneca was recalled to Port Royal, and on the 26th of 
 January went under Fleet-Captain Charles H. Davis, who was 
 on board of the Ottawa, to make a demonstration against 
 Savannah, the object being to make the enemy evacuate Fer- 
 nandina and other points farther south. We had as a part of 
 the naval force the Smith, Potomska, Ellen, and Western World, 
 all insignificant in strength, and the army transports Cosmopoli- 
 tan, Delaware, and Boston, having on board the Sixth Connec- 
 ticut, Fourth New Hampshire, and Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania 
 Regiments, numbering two thousand four hundred men, under 
 General H. G. Wright. We entered Warsaw Sound the same 
 evening ; early the next morning General Wright and aide went 
 on board of the Ottawa, and two companies of the Sixth Con- 
 necticut were sent on board of the Ottawa and Seneca, and we 
 got under way and went into Tybee River. Owing to shoal 
 water, it was half-past eight before we got in, and half-past one 
 p.m. before we reached the point nearest Fort Pulaski on the 
 land side, two thousand yards distant. No heavy guns were 
 mounted on that side of the fort, and great preparations were in 
 progress to transport them to bear on us. On reaching that 
 part of the river nearest to the high land on Wilmington Island 
 our progress was temporarily prevented by a double row of 
 heavy piles across the channel. They were not difficult to 
 remove, however. 
 
 The vessels anchored, and sent boats to examine the upper 
 part of the river and the adjacent creeks. Observing a tele- 
 graph wire on Long Island, a long marsh lying between us and 
 the river Savannah, I went on board of the Ottawa and reported 
 the fact to the fleet-captain, who directed a junior officer com- 
 manding a gun-boat to cut it, and, turning to me, laughingly 
 remarked, " I suppose you are sorry now that you did not cut 
 
HILTON HEAD. 359 
 
 it." I said no ; I thought it proper to bring it to his notice 
 first. An hour or so later, I saw the officer returning who had 
 been sent to cut the wire, and hailed him to ask if he had cut 
 it. He replied he had not, — that he had not been able to get at 
 it. My gig was immediately called away, and an axe and shears 
 passed into the boat. I pulled along the marshy island until a 
 slough was found, then " poled" the boat in by means of the 
 oars as far as she would go, and then took to the marsh, on foot, 
 where the mud was knee-deep, and in fifteen minutes the wire 
 was cut in several places and the poles cut down. 
 
 I then went on board of the Ottawa aud reported that, having 
 been informed of the fact that the officer sent to cut the wire 
 had not succeeded in doing so, I had gone, and had brought pieces 
 of the wire. The destruction of telegraphic communication 
 with Pulaski greatly alarmed the people in Savannah. At five 
 p.m. Tatnall with five Confederate steamers anchored in sight at 
 the mouth of St. Augustine Creek, several miles above us, in 
 the direct water-way to Savannah, where we could have gone 
 had we been ordered to do so, as the removal of the piles was 
 easily effected. Tatnall's official reports show that nothing lay 
 in our way had we eudeavored to go to the city, except his 
 force, which could have opposed no effective resistance. General 
 Wright, as directed, made a reconnoissance of Wilmington Island. 
 
 Ever since the 8th of November the army had been com- 
 pleting a very well constructed intrenched camp on Hilton 
 Head Island, bordering on the deep water of the harbor for a 
 mile and extending a considerable distance in the interior. The 
 army had its orders from Washington, and either General Sher- 
 man had the belief that this was judicious or the War Depart- 
 ment insisted upon this being carried out, instead of making use 
 of the time, as might have been done with signal advantage. 
 Although after our taking Port Royal we had very few eleven- 
 inch shells, which were the vital force of the gun-boats, we still 
 had enough to enable us to go through Skull Creek and put the 
 army in possession of Savannah, had it desired our co-operation 
 in that matter. There would have been nothing in the way 
 but Fort Jackson, a little old brick fort that would have been 
 knocked down by half a dozen heavy shells. 
 
360 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 About eleven a.m. on the 28th of January five Confederate 
 vessels with scows in tow endeavored to pass down the river to 
 Pulaski. The low water prevented their vessels from being seen 
 from the decks of the gun-boats lying close to the marsh in a 
 narrow creek, and thus favored their safe passage. Captain 
 Rodgers's force of half a dozen gun-boats was three statute miles 
 distant from us, as measured on a good chart. 
 
 The object of the enemy was doubtless to carry necessary 
 supplies to the fort should we cut off further communication 
 between it and the city. On their return they chose dead low 
 water, which brought the gun-boats on both sides so far below 
 the marshes as to prevent the steamboats being fired upon with 
 effect. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 29th, the Ottawa, followed by 
 the Seneca and other gun-boats, got under way, and passed near 
 Fort Pulaski an hour or so later, and by early dawn to the 
 army transports we had left at anchor in Warsaw Sound. 
 
 Captain Rodgers with his gun-boats remained on the other 
 side of the river, and the army transports in Warsaw Sound, as 
 a menace to Savannah until we were ready to move on Fernan- 
 dina, our intended point of attack, agreed upon by the flag- 
 officer and General Sherman. For this purpose the flag-ship 
 Wabash left Port Royal on the 28th of February, and on the 2d 
 of March anchored off St. Andrew's Inlet, twenty miles north 
 of Fernandina, with an interior water-communication between 
 them known as Cumberland Sound, capable of passing vessels 
 at ordinary high tides of twelve feet draught. 
 
 The flag-ship had with her a large number of gun-boats and 
 army transports at anchor off the inlet. Admiral Dupont hoisted 
 his flag on board of the Mohican and entered the inlet, followed 
 by seventeen navy vessels and seven army transports carrying a 
 brigade under General H. G. Wright, a considerable part of the 
 force being that which had remained at anchor in Warsaw Sound 
 before mentioned, in our demonstration on Savannah. As they 
 entered the inlet these vessels presented a very formidable ap- 
 pearance, which was observed by the lookouts of the enemy, 
 telegraphed to Brunswick near by, and thence to Fernandina. 
 General R. E. Lee, who was in command of the Confederate 
 
FERNANDINA. 361 
 
 forces in that military division, had already brought to the 
 notice of the authorities in Richmond the fact that the forts on 
 St. Simon's and Jeckyl Islands had no value, inasmuch as St. 
 Andrew's Inlet permitted the entrance of our forces to the in- 
 terior water-ways to Fernandina and a large section of country ; 
 and by authority he had already removed the guns from the two 
 islands named, to increase the defences of Savannah. The news 
 of our arrival hastened the flight of the fifteen hundred troops 
 from Fernandina, who had been at work for four days and 
 nights dismounting and carrying off their heavy guns to defend 
 Savannah ; in that time they had succeeded in removing more 
 than half the number, principally those guarding the sea-entrance. 
 
 At daylight the Pawnee left, to pass through Cumberland 
 Sound, followed by nine navy vessels, of which the Seneca was 
 third in line. The Pawnee and Huron succeeded in crossing the 
 flats, or shoalest part, where the tides meet, but the remainder 
 of us were held fast until the next high water, when we got 
 through, with two transports, one having a battalion of marines 
 on board, and the other the Ninety- seventh Pennsylvania Regi- 
 ment. We were without pilots, and had to grope our way as best 
 we could. The Pawnee and Huron, which had cleared the flats, 
 ran aground three miles from Fort Clinch, and were held fast 
 until the next high water. 
 
 In the mean time the Ottawa had got over the flats, and, pass- 
 ing on towards the railroad bridge beyond Fernandina, had made 
 an ineffectual attempt to intercept two trains, by firing upon 
 them. They were the last, however, and Fernandina was thence- 
 forth cut off from railroad communication with the interior. 
 
362 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Pass through Cumberland Sound — Take Possession of St. Augustine — Occu- 
 pation of Jacksonville — White Flags — George Huston kills Lieutenant 
 Sproston, and is himself killed — Neils Jonson — A Desperate Man — A 
 Present of a Bear — Sounding Depth of Water at Charleston — Ossabaw 
 Sound — In Command of the Sebago— Henry M. Blue — The Water-Witch 
 — Believed from Command of the Sebago — Assigned to the Monitor Pa- 
 tapsco at Wilmington — An Engagement — On Sick-Leave — Port Sumter — 
 Attack on Ports Moultrie and Beauregard — A Scout — A Council of War — 
 Opinions in regard to the Monitors. 
 
 While our division was passing through Cumberland Sound, 
 the flag-officer had gone out of the inlet with the other vessels 
 that had entered the previous afternoon, and a few hours later 
 anchored as near the entrance to Fernandina as the depth of 
 water would allow, and awaited our coming. When we took 
 possession, which, as already stated, was done without a gun 
 being fired, the garrison had left, taking with them eighteen of 
 the thirty-three heavy guns that had been placed for the defence 
 of the city. 
 
 After turning over the defences and city to the army, the 
 naval force proceeded to St. Augustine and took possession with- 
 out resistance,' the two companies that had garrisoned the fort 
 having left. The smaller gun-boats had preceded the flag-ship 
 to the bar off the St. John's River ; the water over the bar was 
 so rough as to prevent any of them from crossing it, except 
 the Ellen, which had much less draught than the others. She 
 signalled that the enemy had abandoned the earthworks. 
 
 At high water on the afternoon of the 10th, the Ottawa, 
 Seneca, and Pembina went in, striking several times on the bar, 
 however. Every one of the three vessels named had a com- 
 pany of the Fourth New Hampshire Regiment on board. We 
 anchored off Mayport Mills, three miles up the river. That 
 night the whole western sky was illuminated by the burning of 
 several saw-mills below Jacksonville. In this and in similar 
 ways much more injury was inflicted on the Southern people 
 
WHITE FLAGS. 363 
 
 by their own forces than by us. As an instance of this, on 
 February 14 the Confederate general at Brunswick informed 
 General Lee that all the guns had been removed from St. Simon's 
 and Jeckyl Islands, and added, " Before fully evacuating this 
 position, I beg to bring to the consideration of the general the 
 question of burning the town of Brunswick, for the moral 
 effect it would produce upon the enemy." As the town was not 
 burned, it may be inferred that General Lee did not approve of 
 producing " a moral effect upon the enemy" at so great a cost to 
 the citizens of the Confederacy. 
 
 At daylight the four gun-boats were on their way to Jackson- 
 ville, thirty miles from the bar at the entrance of the river. As 
 we ascended the river, several Union flags were hoisted, and, in 
 default of them, at every house, with few exceptions, a white 
 flag was hoisted as a token that the occupants acknowledged our 
 presence and wished to proclaim their neutrality. This acknowl- 
 edgment was omitted on a pretentious house on the river-bank 
 two miles below Jacksonville. On inquiry, I learned that it was 
 the residence of a South Carolinian who had influence enough 
 to be allowed to stay at home, and who, in recompense, was an 
 ardent "whipper-in" of others, his poor neighbors. I thought 
 it worth while to send a letter to this obtuse individual inform- 
 ing him of the presence of Union gun-boats, and pointing out 
 the necessity of his hoisting either our ensign or a flag of truce, 
 as otherwise he would suffer a penalty. He complied at once 
 with my demands, and nobody from the gun-boats ever landed 
 on his premises. I venture the opinion that he did not molest 
 his neighbors or cause them to be molested for doing what I 
 compelled him to do. 
 
 We anchored at noon off the wharf, and sent our three com- 
 panies of troops on shore, who picketed the outskirts of the town. 
 Two heavy pieces of ordnance in transit from Fernandina were 
 found on the wharf. The Ottawa passed up the river as far as 
 her draught of water would permit, which was Orange Mills, 
 some sixty miles above Jacksonville, and found and raised the 
 famous yacht America, which had been sunk in a creek. 
 
 The Seneca was kept in charge of St. John's River several 
 months, with nominally a supporting force of five gun-boats, but 
 
364 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 rarely with more than two or three, to patrol the river and prevent 
 arms or military stores that had been landed in some of the numer- 
 ous inlets on the Florida coast from being brought to Savannah. 
 
 A number of the poor people of this region had either avoided 
 being drafted by taking to the woods, or had deserted from the 
 army. A band of " Regulators" persecuted them, the leader being 
 one George Huston, a Pennsylvanian who had lived in Florida 
 for a number of years. It was supposed that this man's capture 
 would secure the tranquillity of peacefully-disposed persons in 
 that region. For the purpose of capturing him, a detail was 
 made of forty men from the Seneca and thirty from the Patroon, 
 and put under the command of the executive officer of the Seneca, 
 Lieutenant John G. Sproston. The party landed at daylight, 
 and proceeded to Huston's house. When still at some distance, 
 their approach was discovered by a negro woman, who gave the 
 alarm. On the arrival of our men at the house, several shots 
 were fired from it, and, no precautions having been taken to 
 guard the rear, the parties escaped in that direction. Huston 
 made his appearance at the front door, armed with a double- 
 barrelled gun, two pistols, and a bowie-knife. Sproston raised 
 a pistol and demanded his surrender, and was immediately shot 
 dead by Huston, who fired the other pistol and both barrels of 
 the gun, slightly wounding a sailor. He was instantly shot and 
 bayoneted, but did not die for two days. He was taken on board, 
 and transferred to the Smith, where there was plenty of room. 
 His wounds were necessarily fatal ; he was a desperado, and died 
 bewailing his hard fate in having killed only Sproston. The 
 officer he had shot was able, courageous, and zealous, and an 
 excellent, admirable gentleman. 
 
 When patrolling the river the Seneca was fired upon from 
 Yellow Bluffs, some fifteen miles below the city, where the 
 channel passes close to the bluffs. Two men were dangerously 
 wounded, one a lookout at the foremast-head, and the other on 
 the forecastle. At the time, I was standing on the horse-block 
 with the pilot and an officer, and, although the hammock-rail 
 netting that protected us to above the hips was well riddled, as 
 well as the inside of the bulwark beyond us, we escaped injury 
 from the dozen or more guns that had been aimed at us. 
 
A DESPERATE MAN. 365 
 
 A few days later I learned that a Swede named Neils Jonson 
 had been present when two field-pieces were thrown into a creek 
 near by. I had him brought on board, and told him he would 
 be held prisoner until he should agree to point out the spot 
 where those field-pieces had been sunk ; he feigned to be silly, 
 but was told that he was wasting his time and mine. Then he 
 wept and said he could not do what I desired, for the " Regu- 
 lators" would kill him if he did. A compromise was effected, 
 resulting in the recovery of the guns, Jonson being given a 
 paper stating that he informed us where they were in order to 
 avoid being shot. 
 
 When the Seneca was lying off Jacksonville, I received 
 frequent visits from Colonel Titus, a native Pennsylvanian who 
 had lived in Florida for years. He was the son-in-law of Colo- 
 nel Hopkins, then in command of the Confederate forces in 
 the vicinity of Jacksonville. Titus was about thirty-five years 
 of age, six feet in height, strongly built, with a tendency to 
 obesity that showed a lack of sufficient exercise. He said he 
 was a Union man who had been let alone, and lived some dis- 
 tance from the town. He was reputed a " desperate man," a 
 character held in such repute in the old South that on one 
 occasion a Savannah newspaper proposed the ending of the war 
 by enlisting " ten thousand desperate men," who should start 
 North and hew down everything in their way until peace was 
 made. It was asserted that nothing would be able to impede 
 the march of these ten thousand " desperate men." The same 
 faith existed on the part of some of our people in the raga- 
 muffins that were the terror of cities before their enlistment. A 
 city bully is rarely a good soldier ; it is wonderful how soon 
 he sobers down in the presence of an enemy who is willing 
 to shoot him. Whether Colonel Titus was a " desperate man" 
 or not, I do not know. He was disposed to be amiable when I 
 saw him, and brought me a young bear, perhaps as a peace- 
 offering, which I accepted ; he also offered to take me on a bear- 
 hunt. This I declined with thanks, as I could not very well 
 leave my duty of patrolling the river, however enticing a bear- 
 hunt might be. The bear became a great pet on board of the 
 Seneca, and proved very useful in licking up great masses of 
 
366 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 "blind mosquitoes," — small black insects that came in clouds 
 and actually formed drifts at times on the vessel, as snow would 
 on falling; in a fresh breeze. Thev seemed to be a sweet morsel, 
 and the bear never tired of licking them up. After my break- 
 fast hour he would wait patiently until I came up the hatchway, 
 and then would put himself on his hind legs and throw his fore- 
 paws around me until given some lumps of sugar that I always 
 brought with me when I came on deck in the morning. I gave 
 the animal to the captain of the Wabash, who told me after- 
 wards that when they were at anchor off Philadelphia he would 
 climb to the main-top-gallant mast-head and there remain for 
 hours, looking over the city. It seems extraordinary that so 
 heavy and apparently clumsy an animal should go aloft and 
 hang on there for any length of time. He had nothing to sit 
 upon ; nothing but his claws and muscle to support him. The 
 death of this animal was tragic : had he been a human being he 
 would have been called " too high-strung." On the return of 
 the Wabash to Port Royal, as usual on Sundays the sailors were 
 permitted to take boats and go on shore for recreation. They 
 asked that the bear should accompany them, and the request was 
 granted. It required much coaxing and lavish promises of 
 sugar to get the animal to go over the ship's side and into a 
 boat. As they neared the shore it became wild with excitement, 
 and the men, in order to restrain it, passed the end of the boat's 
 halliards around its neck. When they reached the beach they 
 held the line, and on getting to the pine-trees near by they 
 secured the end around a tree. The animal for a time walked 
 around wildly in a circle, then lay down gently with his head 
 between his paws and apparently went to sleep. When the 
 sailors came to arouse it they found it was dead. 
 
 Soon after our return from the St. John's River the Seneca 
 was sent off Charleston to blockade. On taking leave of the 
 flag-officer at Port Royal, he said it was supposed the enemy 
 was fortifying the southern end of Morris Island, as numerous 
 tents were seen, and he would like to know whether it was a 
 fact. I said if he would give the senior officer instructions to 
 permit me to cross the bar he would soon learn the facts. On 
 reporting for duty off Charleston I mentioned this conversation 
 
OSSABAW SOUND. 367 
 
 to the commanding officer, and said that with his permission I 
 would take soundings off Light-House Inlet and go in the next 
 day, to which he assented. I took charge of the boat, sounded, 
 took ranges, and dropped buoys. 
 
 I was not surprised to find a greater depth of water than 
 Charleston bar had ever had before, owing to the sinking of the 
 " stone fleet" the previous January, which was accredited abroad 
 as an act of barbarism and as inflicting a permanent injury upon 
 the harbor. The next day I took the Seneca in, and followed 
 up the Morris Island beach, until within easy range of a house 
 upon which a range-light had been placed, about half the length 
 of the island north and south. East and west the island was 
 not more than three hundred yards in width of solid ground. 
 I opened fire with an eleven-inch shell-gun on this house, and 
 thereby set a large number of men in motion who were en- 
 camped in the neighborhood. The shelving sand-spits favored 
 their protection. I have never consulted the official records, to 
 ascertain whether I did any injury. The Seneca passed on 
 towards Fort Sumter until within easy rifle-range, and then 
 turned, with a full head of steam, to get out of range as soon 
 as possible. The fort opened fire on us with probably the only 
 rifle in position ; but before they had a proper elevation we had 
 got beyond effective range. There were no guns in position on 
 Morris Island at that time except those placed to breach Sumter 
 by the " sovereign State of South Carolina." 
 
 In blockading, I asked the senior officer to allow me to take 
 up position after night near the beach, inside* of Rattlesnake 
 Shoals, where the blockaders came in, but he refused. He looked 
 upon the vessels being near the beach as dangerous, whereas it 
 would only have been so after it became light, by which time I 
 should have taken care to get out of range. 
 
 Three weeks later the Seneca was transferred to Ossabaw 
 Sound ; the flag-officer had information that led him to suppose 
 that the Atlanta, an iron-clad built on the hull of the Fingal, 
 was approaching completion at Savannah, and when ready to 
 raid the coast would probably come out by way of Ossabaw 
 Sound, as the Fingal, when running the blockade, had entered 
 there. He sent the Sebago, the first of the "double-enders" 
 
368 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 that had been completed, to Ossabaw Sound, and transferred me 
 to the command of that vessel on August 8, 1862. The " double- 
 enders" had rudders on both ends and side-wheels, more than 
 ordinary speed, little draught of water, and heavy batteries. The 
 Sebago had been in commission seven or eight months, under 
 the command of various indifferent officers, who took no care of 
 the men. A crew can soon be reduced by neglect to inefficiency 
 and an unhappy condition of mind and body. Personally the 
 transfer was not agreeable, but I felt gratified at the mark of 
 confidence shown by the flag-officer. Lieutenant-Commander 
 Henry M. Blue was ordered as executive officer a few days later, 
 and proved an excellent one. I applied for and obtained four 
 additional nine-inch broadside guns, with " contrabands" equal 
 to the complement of men for them. In six weeks the men 
 were anxious to go into a fight. Their food, clothing, comfort, 
 and instruction at great guns and small-arms had been attended 
 to, and " they felt their oats," as horsemen say. 
 
 The Pawnee was sent to support the Sebago, being the strong- 
 est vessel available at the time. When we arrived in Ossabaw 
 Sound I sent to Port Royal a sailing bark that was employed 
 on the blockade, and wrote the flag-officer that if the Atlanta 
 made her appearance I would stand out from shore, and after 
 reaching deep water would signal the Pawnee to engage her 
 closely, and then I would endeavor to run her down with the 
 Sebago. My idea met with the flag-officer's approval. 
 
 When blockading alone in these waters I would get under 
 way when the .sun went down and anchor just inside the bar, 
 and early in the morning would return within the headlands to 
 smooth water. On the 23d of September a small steamer was 
 seen approaching, and signalled the number of the Water-Witch : 
 I had served on board of that vessel, and recognized her. We 
 beat to quarters for action, spread fires, unshackled the chain to 
 slip it, and awaited her coming. When she came closer I rec- 
 ognized her commanding officer, Pendergrast, and then beat the 
 retreat, which means putting things to rights and the men leaving 
 their guns. Pendergrast came on board to fulfil his orders, and 
 said dryly, "You seem to have been somewhat afraid of the 
 Water-Witch." I replied good-naturedly that I had not been 
 
ASSIGNED TO THE PATAPSCO AT WILMINGTON. 369 
 
 frightened, but I thought the people on board of the Water- 
 Witch would have been had she fallen into the hands of an 
 enemy who was endeavoring to effect an entrance. It was my 
 business to guard the entrance against the tricks of an enemy. 
 Eight months later, the Water-Witch, under the command of 
 the same officer, in those very waters, was captured by the enemy. 
 Instead of exercising caution in getting under way in the even- 
 ing and anchoring just within the bar, where he would have had 
 a fair view all around, he lay at anchor close to the shore-line, 
 where the shadows of the trees obscured the surface of the water. 
 One dark squally night in June, 1863, he was boarded by one 
 hundred and fifty men who came in seven cotton-barges and 
 killed or captured every one on board except a " contraband'' 
 who jumped overboard and escaped. Had the Water- Witch 
 been at anchor within the bar after night, as the vessel under 
 my command had been, she would have been unapproachable by 
 cotton-scows, and had the manoeuvre been attempted the result 
 would have been bad for the people in the scows. 
 
 When I was blockading the Ossabaw, aided by the Pawnee 
 and a small gun-boat, I was more gratified that the Atlanta 
 did not appear than I would have been had she hove in sight. 
 Nevertheless we would have made the best fight in our power. 
 She did not make her appearance until the following April, 
 when she was captured by Captain John Rodgers in the monitor 
 Weehawken, after he had fired the third fifteen-inch shell. The 
 Huron, also a monitor, had not the opportunity of getting in a ] A C<* Wl 
 shell. Yet the Atlanta would probably have been able to clean 
 out a whole fleet of such vessels as were employed in blockading, 
 and even of those built for vessel s-of- war. At the time of her 
 capture I was in command of the Patapsco, in North Edisto 
 harbor. 
 
 Late in the fall I was glad to be relieved from the command 
 of the Sebago and sent North to take command of one of the 
 monitors then building. I was assigned to the Patapsco at 
 Wilmington, Delaware. 
 
 At that time the art of handling even one-inch iron plates 
 was in its infancy with us. The vessel was not ready to be put 
 in commission until January 2 : she left the Delaware break- 
 
 24 
 
370 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 water on the 7th, under tow of the tug America, and entered 
 Hampton Roads on the 8th, having been assigned there to guard 
 those waters against an apprehended attack from iron-clads at 
 Richmond said to be ready for service. 
 
 The battery of the Patapsco consisted of a fifteen-inch shell- 
 gun, and one one-hundred-and- fifty-pounder rifle ; the carriages 
 having been made for two fifteen-inch shell-guns necessitated a 
 casting called a "yoke," which was fitted into the sockets de- 
 signed for the trunnions of a fifteen-inch shell-gun, to narrow the 
 distance, and to receive the trunnions of the rifle. On target- 
 practice the yoke soon ruptured, and was replaced by one made 
 of bronze, which stood the test of firing. 
 
 We remained at Newport News until the 28th of January, 
 1863, when, the monitor Lehigh having taken our place, we 
 dropped down to Hampton Roads under orders to proceed to 
 Port Royal, which we did on the 30th, in tow of the Pawnee. 
 We passed within the Hatteras shoals, which our pilot thought 
 entirely safe with our draught, and struck twice slightly, greatly 
 to my annoyance. The weather was threatening when we were 
 off Beaufort, North Carolina, and we entered that port on the 
 2d of February in consequence. For several days we had a 
 heavy gale, all around the compass. On the 8th, when the 
 weather had settled, we went to sea, and reached Port Royal on 
 the 10th, passing near enough to the vessels blockading Charles- 
 ton to communicate with them. 
 
 We remained at Port Royal until the 26th, drilling the men 
 and getting them up to their work. On the 27th we left for 
 Ossabaw Soimd, in tow of a steamer, and arrived on the fore- 
 noon of the next day, to take part in the bombardment of Fort 
 MacAllister. Worden had bombarded it, in command of the 
 Montauk, several days before. He afterwards destroyed the 
 blockade-runner Nashville, while it lay aground up the river, 
 twelve hundred yards from his position. The flag-officer wished 
 to test the mechanical appliances of the monitors, so as to ascer- 
 tain and if possible remedy any defects before the attack on 
 Fort Sumter, for which they had been specially constructed. 
 The monitors engaged, in addition to the Montauk, were the 
 Passaic, Captain Percival Drayton, the Patapsco, Commander 
 
FORT SUMTER. 371 
 
 Ammen, and the Nahant, Commander Downes. Three mortar- 
 schooners were in the distance, and several gun-boats carrying 
 eleven-inch shell-guns. We made a bombardment on the 3d of 
 March for eight hours, damaging the traverses and embankments, 
 but they were repaired the following night, although the mortar- 
 schooners kept up their fire. Owing to the slowness of our fire, 
 the enemy never exposed himself when a shell was on its way. 
 Two of his guns were disabled, but that was about all the harm 
 we did. 
 
 All the monitors left Ossabaw Sound on the 6th for Port 
 Royal, in tow, as usual, but, of course, using their engines, the 
 object of the tow being to keep them on a straight course, and 
 also to help them along a little. 
 
 On the 31st all the vessels of the monitor class left Port 
 Royal for North Edisto, a snug little harbor eighteen miles 
 southwest of Charleston bar, where they lay until the evening 
 of the 5th, when they were towed up and anchored off Charles- 
 ton bar. At sunset the flag-ship New Ironsides, at anchor off 
 the bar, made signal for the Patapsco to go across the bar, which 
 had just been buoyed. She was followed by the Catskill j the 
 vessels anchored a little to the north of the Light-House entrance, 
 where we crossed, in mid-channel towards Charleston. The 
 weather was quite hazy, and soon after anchoring a tug of the 
 enemy came down to reconnoitre, but disappeared before we were 
 able to throw a shell at her. Early the next day all the monitors 
 came over the bar, and the New Ironsides followed when the 
 tide was nearly full. It was still hazy ; the ranges could not be 
 seen, and, in consequence, the admiral had to forego his wish to 
 attack Sumter on that day. We could make out the outlines of 
 a small earthwork, afterwards known to us as Fort Wagner, on 
 Morris Island, two thousand five hundred yards from Sumter. 
 
 The morning of the 7th was clearer. Signal was made at 
 noon to get under way. In doing so, the Weehawken's chain 
 fouled the grapnels attached to the " torpedo-catcher" which she 
 had on her bows, and this delayed us more than an hour. Two 
 of these " torpedo-catchers' ' had been built North and towed 
 down : they were fifty feet in length, and were fitted to the bows 
 somewhat like a boot-jack to a shoe, and then secured by chains. 
 
372 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 The one attached to the Weehawken was quite heavy, and, 
 having a different wave-motion from that of the hull of the 
 vessel, it battered her heavily, and actually loosened the armor 
 plating on her bows. The Weehawken led the line, with the 
 idea of clearing the way by exploding torpedoes or grappling 
 the wires and detaching them to prevent their explosion from 
 batteries on shore. Following the Weehawken came the Passaic, 
 Montauk, and Patapsco, in line ahead, then the New Ironsides, 
 a broadside iron-clad with fourteen eleven-inch guns and t\yo 
 one-hundred-and-fifty-pounder rifles, and after her the Catskill, 
 Nantucket, Nahant, and Keokuk, the last-named a so-called iron- 
 clad that was riddled by every projectile that struck her. 
 
 I confess to having felt great impatience at the delay in form- 
 ing the line, and at our slow progress, owing to the " torpedo- 
 catcher" on the bow of the leading vessel. In the forenoon I 
 said to some of the officers that nobody could say who would 
 go under through torpedoes or otherwise, but I felt quite con- 
 fident that when the sun went down Sumter would be a pile of 
 brick-bats, — which, however, was not verified. Notwithstanding 
 the few shells that struck it, no sooner had the vessels withdrawn 
 than preparations were made to remove all the guns from the 
 embrasures and fill the casemates with bags of sand. 
 
 General Beauregard, in charge of the defences, was an able 
 engineer and artillerist, and a day or so before our arrival had 
 planted small buoys along the channel by which we approached 
 and thus got the ranges in a practical way for all the heavy guns 
 that bore on that channel ; and there was a large number of 
 them. As soon as our vessels came on a line with the buoys 
 they encountered an accurate and overwhelming fire, which, 
 owing to the lack of endurance of the monitors, their very slow 
 fire, and the defects in working their guns, made the reduction 
 of Sumter with the force we then possessed impossible. 
 
 I had previously ascertained the position of the magazine, in 
 the southeast corner of Sumter, and had employed the hundred- 
 and-fifty-pounder rifle on that angle when we came within range ; 
 on the fifth discharge the cap-square bolts were carried away, 
 and the rifle was disabled for the remainder of the action : in 
 one way or another the batteries of almost all the vessels were 
 
FORT SUMTER. 373 
 
 disabled. While in action the hull and turret of the Patapsco 
 were struck fifty-two times, and some of the blows were quite 
 heavy. It may be well to inform the unprofessional reader that 
 the " cap-squares" are iron bands passing over the trunnions to 
 hold them down to the carriage, and that the " trunnions" are 
 the arms, or pivots, upon which the gun rests and is elevated 
 or depressed. 
 
 During the action the Patapsco was fifth in line, following 
 the Montauk ; she turned when near a line of buoyed nets, and 
 from some obstruction was held fast until backed. She was 
 about fifty minutes under a heavy fire from the enemy. A con- 
 cise account of this action is published in volume iv. of the War 
 series of the Century Magazine by Rear- Admiral Rodgers. In 
 " The Atlantic Coast" will be found a statement of the number 
 of shells fired at Sumter, and of the damage done by them ; 
 also the number of shot and shell fired by the enemy. 
 
 The morning after the attack the Patapsco was sent to Port 
 Royal to guard against the Atlanta, which was then ready to 
 come out. Four days later all the vessels of the monitor class 
 were sent to Port Royal to effect repairs, many of them being 
 very badly battered. The Weehawken and the Nahant were 
 sent directly from North Edisto to Ossabaw to meet the Atlanta, 
 with the result as already stated. On the 21st all the monitors 
 save the two last-named were again towed to North Edisto by 
 orders from the Navy Department, Drayton, in command of 
 the Passaic, being the senior officer. He was ordered North on 
 the 10th of May, and I then became the senior. 
 
 Two days later, a man was seen at sunrise making signals 
 from the end of a marsh nearest the vessels. A boat was sent, 
 and he was brought on board. He told us that Captain William 
 H. Parker, of the iron-clad Chicora, in Charleston harbor, was 
 in our waters with eight small row-boats fitted with spar tor- 
 pedoes, for the purpose of attacking the monitors. He said the 
 boats were in a neighboring creek, which we soon after block- 
 aded, but the sluices between the salt-water creeks are so numer- 
 ous as usually to admit of the escape of boats. The enemy, 
 from the lookout on the church-tower at Rockville, had seen 
 the deserter brought off, and knew that the chances of a successful 
 
374 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 attack with such means as he then possessed were gone. A day 
 or so later, the enemy observed from the same church-tower 
 that the monitors had spars rigged out over the bows and sides, 
 and lighter ones between their ends, with casks floating them at 
 the surface of the water. In fact, they were fenced in, so that 
 a row-boat could only reach their sides abaft the turret. The 
 torpedo-boats thereupon returned to Charleston without attempt- 
 ing to attack us. 
 
 I suffered greatly from an attack of rheumatism in the back 
 part of my knee-joints, the sensation being that of burning, as 
 of fire, and preventing sleep. I asked a medical survey, and 
 on the 8th of June was ordered North on sick-leave. I went 
 to Richfield Springs, where I rode a great deal on horseback 
 and took the water, and was soon quite well, or at least free 
 from great pain. I was ordered late in August to return and 
 report to Rear- Admiral Dahlgren without command, and not 
 on his staff proper, with some other officers of my rank also. 
 Dahlgren had the idea that it was worth while to keep several 
 spare commanders on hand, as he would have kept spare spars 
 that might possibly be required. I had reason to congratulate 
 myself that I arrived on the morning of the 9th of September 
 instead of the day before ; otherwise I should probably have been 
 taken prisoner in what was called an assault on Fort Sumter. 
 
 Within the previous six weeks Sumter had been reduced to a 
 pile of brick-bats from Morris Island, at a very long range, 
 greatly aided by the cross-fire from the monitors, especially those 
 provided with heavy rifle guns. After this destructive fire was 
 opened the enemy removed nightly his heavy guns, except a few 
 on the inner face .commanding that part of the channel. When 
 Morris Island was evacuated he had less than a company of 
 men in Sumter ; the shelter for troops from the fire of an enemy 
 was limited, and there was no object in maintaining a force in 
 the fort. 
 
 Immediately on the evacuation of Morris Island, Admiral 
 Dahlgren sent a formal demand to General Beauregard for the 
 surrender of Sumter, and was informed that " he could have 
 Sumter when he could take and hold it." The following day 
 numbers of boats towed in from the vessels at anchor beyond 
 
ATTACK ON FORTS MOULTRIE AND BEAUREGARD. 375 
 
 the bar left no doubt in the mind of Beauregard that an assault 
 was meditated : he therefore put a large garrison into the fort 
 as soon as it was dark, and the batteries of Forts Moultrie and 
 Beauregard awaited an attack j when the alarm was given that 
 the boats were nearing Sumter the water was literally swept by 
 the projectiles of the enemy, and all those that had got on shore 
 were invited into the fort and sent to prison. Of the four hun- 
 dred who were in the boats, ten officers and one hundred and four 
 men were taken prisoners, and three were killed. If after this 
 formal demand for the surrender of the fort, and the ostentatious 
 towing in of boats filled with armed crews, had the men been 
 sent back to their vessels after dark, and our batteries on Morris 
 Island and those of the monitors opened fire on Sumter, the 
 enemy would have suffered terribly from the lack of shelter for 
 the large force thrown into the fort under the impression that 
 an assault would actually be made after giving formal notice to 
 him and thus rendering its success impossible. 
 
 About this time the admiral had two boats with officers called 
 "scouts," a novel term afloat, who were supposed to go within 
 the harbor nightly and inform him of obstructions to the en- 
 trance. One of the officers, who was smilingly drunk at the time, 
 pretended to have been up to Charleston and on the wharves. 
 The admiral said to me that he had the idea of sending in 
 a strong little chartered side-wheel steamer to ruu down the 
 obstructions previous to making an attempt to enter with the 
 monitors. I had already informed him of the observations I 
 had made from the north end of Morris Island and from the 
 deck of a monitor well up towards the entrance of the harbor : 
 these points made a fair base for plotting lines of piling that had 
 been intact in April when the monitors attacked Sumter, but 
 now had large gaps from piles having been washed out. I had 
 also plotted two lines of black barrel buoys which I supposed 
 to be imperfectly moored, as at certain times of the tides they 
 seemed to come together at two centres, like flocks of ducks. 
 No floating obstructions were visible, and had there been booms 
 made of logs and moored in the main channel, as stated by the 
 scouts, from the many times I had observed the buoys and the 
 rows of piles and plotted them, I should have seen some indi- 
 
376 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 cations, as a ripple of water, or break. If he wished reliable 
 information as to the character of actual obstructions in the 
 main ship channel above Sumter, and would authorize my exami- 
 nation of that part of the harbor, I would get a suitable boat 
 from some vessel in the fleet, and at the first favorable oppor- 
 tunity would go in from the Ironsides as a base, she being near 
 the entrance. The admiral seemed pleased with the proposition, 
 and gave me the requisite authority. My preparations were 
 soon completed, among them being a light on the north end of 
 Morris Island to prevent my becoming confused should the 
 night be cloudy and my boat be chased. General Terry was 
 good enough to have the light placed as requested. A little 
 before midnight on the 22d of September I left the Ironsides in 
 a six-oared boat with muffled oars ; there was a light breeze, 
 and, although the stars were visible, there was a haze. After 
 getting up near Sumter a light grapnel was thrown overboard 
 and dragged with about fifty feet of line out, in order to catch 
 any submerged obstruction that might be in the channel. After 
 getting pretty well in, and the head of the boat had been turned 
 towards Fort Johnson and we had passed in sufficiently to see 
 the light General Terry had put on Morris Islaud, to the west- 
 ward, or right, of Sumter from our position, we lay on our 
 oars, and the boat drifted slowly in, the tide being no longer 
 strong ; after it had almost ceased we pulled out slowly, keeping 
 a little farther from Sumter than when we entered. I had the 
 idea that we saw a small tug lying against the wall. Passing 
 out slowly, a black object appeared quite suddenly on our port 
 bow, some thirty yards distant. On approaching it, we found 
 a number of barrel buoys blackened by a coating of coal-tar, 
 huddled together, as I had observed from the shore at certain 
 stages of the tide. We cut some of the rotten ropes that hung 
 as pennants from the head-rope connecting the buoys, and took 
 a quantity of it on board of the Ironsides. The next morning 
 I went to the flag-ship and informed the admiral, who seemed 
 incredulous ; I told him that I was an old hydrographic sur- 
 veyor, and knew just where I had been and what I had seen, 
 especially as the position of the light on the north end of Morris 
 Island affirmed my position. If he wished to enter the harbor 
 
A COUNCIL OF WAR. 377 
 
 at any time with the monitors, I would guarantee to cut all the 
 barrel buoys from the ropes and they would sink where they 
 were, and would not foul anything. The object in placing these 
 ropes was to foul the propellers of vessels entering the harbor. 
 He still suggested "running down the obstructions" with the 
 side-wheel steamer, and I insisted that there were no obstruc- 
 tions in the main channel other than the ropes supported by the 
 buoys, although there might be, and probably were, torpedoes to 
 explode by contact, or by wires from the shore. We afterwards 
 learned that there were heavy boom obstructions in the Hog 
 Island channel, close under Mount Pleasant, linked together by 
 railroad iron. They subsequently broke adrift in a heavy gale 
 and high tide, and were thrown up on Morris Island. 
 
 As stated in the memoirs of Admiral Dahlgren, he held a 
 council of war on the 22d of October. Of this he says, " There 
 were eight captains of iron-clads and two staff officers. The 
 object was not to have the advice myself, but to comply with 
 the request of the Secretary, who asked for the opinion of these 
 officers. It began at eleven and finished at five. The four 
 junior officers voted for an attack with seven iron-clads. The 
 six seniors were averse. The intelligence was largely with the 
 latter. ... So my views were sustained. The majority were 
 for waiting till reinforcements arrived in December." 
 
 Dahlgren had been ordered to the command with the implied 
 obligation of taking Charleston with the iron-clads. In speak- 
 ing to me privately of entering the harbor, about the time of 
 the council mentioned, he clung to the idea of anchoring near 
 the little fort, Ripley, only half-way between Sumter and the 
 city. I insisted that the monitors, if anchored there, would be 
 exposed to an all-round fire within damaging distance. If they 
 entered they should go up Cooper River and into Town Creek, 
 to cut the railroad communication with the interior. It seemed to 
 me an injudicious move even with an increased force, on account 
 of the probable loss of some of them by grounding, and of others 
 through torpedoes and by capture, in which case, when repaired 
 they would have furnished the enemy with the means of breaking 
 the legality of our blockade, a condition that would have been 
 gladly acknowledged by both Great Britain and France. 
 
378 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Sent North by the Admiral — Rumors of relieving Admiral Dahlgren of his 
 Command — Report of Officers under Admiral Dahlgren to the Navy De- 
 partment — Courts-Martial and Courts of Inquiry — Ordered to Temporary 
 Command of the Shenandoah — She goes to Philadelphia to be put out of 
 Commission — Lieutenant-General Grant visits Rear- Admiral Lee, on the 
 Minnesota, at Hampton Roads — Leaves an Invitation for Commander 
 Ammen to visit him at Culpeper — Letter from General Grant — Yisit Mrs. 
 Grant — Yisit General Grant at Culpeper — Details of Yisit — Talk of Boy- 
 hood Days — Ride over the Country — General Grant's Opinion of Generals 
 Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, and Bragg — Present of a Meerschaum Pipe — 
 Return to Baltimore. 
 
 A few days after the council the admiral sent me on a 
 visit North to state verbally to the Department the condition 
 of affairs. There were rumors of an intention to relieve him 
 of his command ; but he still held it up to the evacuation of 
 Charleston. On January 11, 1864, Dahlgren' s diary states, 
 " Among the letters was one from the Secretary and one from 
 Fox, both prodigiously flattering, and asking for a good char- 
 acter for the monitors." The Department published at that 
 time a large volume entitled " Armored Vessels," made up from 
 newspaper correspondence and other authorities, but said nothing 
 of a report made in common by all the officers who had com- 
 manded them up to that time, with the exception of Drayton 
 and Worden, who afterwards read the report and entirely con- 
 curred in its statements. There were minor differences of opin- 
 ion in relation to the monitors. Commander G. W. Kodgers 
 thought the ground-tackle insufficient, from the vessel under 
 his command dragging several times when at anchor in Edisto, 
 and I thought we could anchor within Charleston bar and re- 
 main there, which was dissented from by the other commanders, 
 and really only became practicable by having high coamings 
 to the hatches and leaving the hatches off when lying at anchor. 
 The report, written at the request of the Department, and never 
 hitherto published in full, is as follows : 
 
REPORT OF OFFICERS TO THE NAVY DEPARTMENT. 379 
 
 North Edisto Harbor, S. C, May 15, 1863. 
 
 Sir, — We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the request of 
 the Department, through Rear-Admiral Dupont, that we should report 
 frequently with regard to the qualities of the vessels we command, and 
 make any suggestions which experience may dictate for their improve- 
 ment. 
 
 Believing that it would better serve the purposes of the Department to 
 make a report in common, as far as there was no difference of opinion, we 
 beg leave to submit the following : 
 
 1st. The ventilation does not appear to be sufficient. This subject is 
 one of much importance, and deserves great consideration. 
 
 2d. In the greater number of the vessels, in rough weather, the leakage 
 of water under the turret is a serious defect ; wetting the blower-belts, it 
 causes them to stretch, stopping or retarding the blowers, with great 
 injury to health, if not with actual danger of suffocation, causing reduc- 
 tion of steam, with detriment to management of vessel. 
 
 3d. The groove of the keel appears to be insufficient to carry off any 
 considerable volume of water from leaks which may occur forward or 
 elsewhere ; thus great danger may arise to the vessel from the water not 
 reaching the pumps. We would recommend that a hand-pump of as 
 great lifting power as possible should be conveniently fixed for use when 
 the boilers are not in operation. 
 
 4th. The compass is so sluggish as not to indicate the position of the 
 ship's head until some time after being on a given point, making its use 
 quite unsatisfactory, and, as a guide, quite unreliable, — indeed, at sea 
 without an object ahead, almost useless. This is believed to be caused by 
 its nearness (four feet) to heavy masses of iron. In some states of the 
 atmosphere the mirrors used for reflecting the compass are almost 
 useless. 
 
 5th. We would recommend a spare grapnel-anchor, such as now used 
 in this class, with the bolted or screwed arms unscrewed, to enable it to be 
 stowed below, and when required it could be speedily fitted for use. This 
 would require for working it a fish-davit of sufficient length to clear the 
 side, with a gin-block capable of taking the chain. 
 
 6th. It is regarded as desirable, if not absolutely necessary, that the 
 means for heaving the lead in a sea-way should be provided, and, as of 
 the highest importance, that the soundings can be obtained when under 
 the fire of the enemy. 
 
 7th. When the vessel is prepared for action the galley-pipe is removed, 
 and, as this is necessarily the case in the presence of an enemy, difficulty 
 in cooking food for the men is experienced. As this may be the case for 
 a considerable length of time, it is suggested that the galley smoke-pipe 
 should be run into the smoke-stack below deck. This would make it 
 necessary to change the place of the galley, to an after coal-bunker per- 
 haps, and to supply it with a proper ventilation. 
 
380 THE 0LD XAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 8th. The liability of the turret to cease to revolve after receiving heavy 
 blows has given us much solicitude ; other damages from the same cause 
 have been received, tending to destroy our aggressive power, as breaking 
 the inside ring which supports the end of the gun-rails, thus allowing 
 them to settle and disabling the gun. In another case a blow on the 
 turret jammed a port-stopper, preventing entirely the use of the gun 
 during the action. 
 
 A few small slits in the turret to enable the officer fighting the guns to 
 see the horizon at different points, would do much to render the fire 
 quicker than at present. If the space admitted of it, a means of passing 
 ammunition without the necessity of laying the turret on particular 
 angles, and of communicating by voice and otherwise with the turret- 
 chamber from the pilot-house without making noise and delay, would 
 render the fire quicker, and passing orders far less liable to mistake. 
 
 9th. The sight-holes of the pilot-house do not give the view actually 
 necessary to judge of distances, observe the effect of the fire, make a 
 proper reconnoissance, or to manoeuvre with other vessels under fire ; 
 narrow horizontal slits, sufficient in length to give an extended view over 
 considerable arcs, appear necessary to these objects. 
 
 10th. The deck-plating should be thicker, and the top of the turret and 
 of the pilot-house stronger, than at present. 
 
 11th. The great loss in speed of iron vessels in salt water from fouling 
 the bottom is well known. Already these vessels have little more than 
 half the speed with the same number of revolutions that they had when 
 put in commission. 
 
 12th. In regard to the armament, we speak with more diffidence. At a 
 distance of about eight hundred yards, thought necessary for effective 
 practice against brickwork, we found the vessels liable to such injuries 
 as would in a short time disable them 5 indeed, a part of them were 
 rendered unserviceable for the time. 
 
 The average time required to load, point, and fire the fifteen-inch gun 
 in action does not vary much from seven minutes ; it must be remembered 
 that this controls the fire of the lighter piece, or, if that be fired oftener, 
 it retards further the slow firing of the heavy gun. We regard a smaller 
 calibre with a larger proportional charge of powder as desirable, at least 
 when used against brickwork or stone. 
 
 13th. The gun-carriage is easily worked, but quite liable to get out of 
 order, nor do we suppose it possible in a sea-way to work the guns with 
 the present arrangements, even bearing in mind Mr. Ericsson's suggestion 
 that it was expected that under such circumstances the guns should be 
 laid fore and aft. 
 
 14th. It is said that decks of logs, to be covered with half-inch plate- 
 iron, are now being fitted for these vessels, without the intention of cut- 
 ting openings (to be taken out when deemed desirable) over the air-ports 
 or the hatches. If such is the case, we do not doubt the result will be 
 
REPORT OF OFFICERS TO THE NAVY DEPARTMENT. 381 
 
 most unfortunate, involving the loss of life and of health to those serving 
 on board. 
 
 15th. Bulwarks of boiler-iron, sufficiently thick to protect from rifle- 
 shots, appear to be necessary when these vessels are employed on rivers 
 whose banks furnish ambuscades; without them, the crews would be con- 
 fined below, and suffer the inevitable consequence of a loss of health, or, 
 if allowed to come on deck, without effecting an object, many would fall 
 victims to the fire of sharp-shooters. 
 
 We have confined ourselves to indicating such points as appear to us 
 worthy of consideration : in relation to the remedies, no doubt a diversity 
 of opinion must exist. 
 
 In relation to the qualities of the vessels, we would remark that they 
 have been exaggerated into vessels capable of keeping the seas and making 
 long voyages alone. Some of us have been in heavy gales in them, and 
 indeed, from the amount of water in them, have had grave apprehensions 
 of their loss. A gale of wind in them is by no means free from appre- 
 hension, even when the material is new and before the vessel has been 
 weakened by working in a sea-way ; the strength of material must always 
 be severely tested in rough weather by the overhangs and the submerged 
 guards. If a leak is sprung from this cause, a very short time will elapse 
 before the vessel goes down. Before the wind in a heavy sea, these 
 vessels are comparatively very easy ; if caught near a lee shore in a 
 heavy gale, even in tow of a powerful steamer, their loss would be almost 
 a certainty. 
 
 When employed against vessels of any class known to us, in smooth 
 harbors, they will hardly fail to be in the highest degree effective, and, 
 when their bottoms are clean, would prove powerful rams against vessels 
 of low velocity, or against vessels of greater velocity when embarrassed 
 in intricate or narrow channels. 
 
 Possessing the advantage of a secure harbor, and choosing their time 
 of exit, these vessels can, in our opinion, greatly harass a blockading 
 force, making it necessary for wooden vessels to withdraw to such dis- 
 tances from the entrance of the harbors, especially after night, as would 
 make the blockade very ineffective against the entrance of steamers. 
 We have the honor to be, very respectfully, etc., 
 
 Jno. Rodgers, Captain Weehawken. 
 
 Dan'l Ammen, Commander Patapsco. 
 
 Geo. W. Rodgers, Commander Catskill. 
 
 D. M. Fairfax, Commander Montauk. 
 
 Jno. Downes, Commander Nahant. 
 Hon. Gideon Welles, 
 
 Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 My time, and that of several other spare officers, was princi- 
 pally taken up in courts of inquiry and courts-martial, held on 
 
382 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 board of the Wabash, outside of the harbor bar, five miles from 
 the Philadelphia, the flag-ship, a river-steamer lying in Light- 
 House Inlet, which had from three to six feet of water at the en- 
 trance, according to the state of the tide. At eight o'clock in the 
 morning we would be taken across Light-House Inlet bar in a 
 small boat, then transferred to a tug, in which we crossed the 
 bar of the harbor, and finally taken alongside of the Wabash in 
 a ship's boat. As the vessel was anchored in the open sea, we 
 would have to watch our chance in rough seas, with the vessel 
 rolling, to get up her side without injury. After getting on 
 board we were seated in a cabin that was kept insufferably hot, 
 until the time of re-embarkation, usually after sunset, when, 
 with the reverse operation, we would reach the Philadelphia, 
 cold and wet from the spray breaking over the gunwale of the 
 boat in crossing the bar. This exposure soon brought on my 
 rheumatism again, and on application I was ordered North, and 
 applied for duty on the off-shore blockade, where I would not 
 be so much exposed as immediately along the coast-line. 
 
 In February, 1864, I was ordered to the temporary command 
 of the Shenandoah, then undergoing repairs at the Norfolk 
 Navy- Yard, with the expectation of going to sea on the off- 
 shore blockade between the Bermudas and Wilmington : but the 
 repairs were of such a nature that the vessel did not get to sea 
 at all until about the 20th of April, when I took her to Phila- 
 delphia to be put out of commission for further repairs. 
 
 Grant had been made lieutenant-general, and on the 17th of 
 March had taken command of all our armies, with head-quarters 
 at Culpeper Court-House, Virginia. A month later he paid a 
 visit to Rear- Admiral Lee, on board of the Minnesota, lying in 
 Hampton Roads. He inquired after me, and expressed a desire 
 to see me then, but, as his time was limited, said to the admiral 
 he hoped I would pay him a visit at Culpeper as soon as possible. 
 A few days later, when on my way to Philadelphia in command 
 of the Shenandoah, the admiral gave me this message, and I 
 showed him a letter from General Grant, as follows : 
 
 Nashville, Tennessee, February 16, 1864. 
 Dear Ammen, — Your letter was duly received, and advice fully appreci- 
 ated, particularly as it is the same I would give any friend : i.e. } to avoid 
 
VISIT MRS. GRANT. 383 
 
 all political entanglements. I have always thought the most slavish life 
 any man could lead was that of a politician. Besides, I do not believe any 
 man can be successful as a soldier whilst he has an anchor ahead for 
 other advancement. I know of no circumstance likely to arise which 
 would induce me to accept of any political office whatever. My only de- 
 sire will be, as it has been, to whip out the rebellion in the shortest way 
 possible, and to retain as high a position in the army afterward as the 
 administration then in power may think me suitable for. 
 
 I was truly glad to hear from you. I was once on leave of absence at 
 the same time you were, and went from Clermont County to Cincinnati 
 more to see you than for any other purpose. When I got there, found 
 you had gone to Ripley by river. I believe the last time we met was in 
 Philadelphia, in 1843. We have both grown older since, though time sets 
 very lightly with me. I am neither gray nor bald, nor do I feel any 
 different from what I did at twenty-five. I have often wished that you 
 had been selected to command the Mississippi flotilla. I have no fault to 
 find, however, with the naval officers who co-operated with me. I think 
 Porter, Phelps, and some of the younger officers as clever men as I ever 
 fell in with. I cannot complain of them, certainly, for I never made 
 a request of them that they did not comply with, no matter what the 
 danger. I know I caused Porter to lose one gun-boat against his judgment, 
 and he never found fault. 
 
 Remember me to Mrs. Vandyke's family, and any other friends of 
 mine in Cincinnati. I will be very glad to hear from you again. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 After the admiral had read the letter I remarked how ap- 
 preciative the general was of Porter's co-operation, and asked if 
 I might say, in case I visited him at Culpeper, as I would do if 
 convenient, that all the admiral's available forces would be sub- 
 ordinated to the movements of the army against Richmond. 
 The admiral replied, " Certainly : I will do all that I can to 
 aid him." 
 
 In a day or so I reached Philadelphia and delivered the Shen- 
 andoah at the navy-yard. Before leaving the city for Baltimore, 
 I made a short visit to Burlington, New Jersey, to pay my 
 respects to Mrs. Grant. The occasion was opportune, as it was 
 the 27th of April, the birthday of the general. I wrote to him 
 of my visit to his household, and told him that I would be in 
 Baltimore for a few days ; if he would send a pass I would hope 
 to pay him a visit. The pass arrived without delay, and I left 
 
384 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 the next morning for Culpeper. On my arrival in the afternoon, 
 the general received me very cordially, remarked that it was 
 nearly twenty-one years since we had met at Philadelphia, and 
 turned me over to Colonel Badeau, an old acquaintance, sug- 
 gesting that he should take me to Pony Hill. We were soon 
 mounted, and, accompanied by several officers, rode to the top 
 of the hill, some three miles distant to the southwest, and saw 
 the field-works of the enemy across the Papidan. About ten 
 o'clock the general sent for me, and we were alone until some 
 time after midnight ; he spoke of our boyhood, of the persons 
 whom we knew in common, and, later, concerning army move- 
 ments. 
 
 An important object of my visit, although not at all official, 
 was to assure an effective co-operation of our naval forces. I 
 told him that I had been authorized by Admiral Lee to say 
 that, apart from the force requisite for the maintenance of the 
 blockade on the coast of North Carolina, all other vessels under 
 his command would be subordinated, as far as desired, to sup- 
 port army movements in any manner suggested. 
 
 Breakfasting the following morning with the general and his 
 staff, he proposed a ride with me. We were accompanied by 
 one orderly only. The course chosen was first to the northeast, 
 and after passing over some miles we turned to the right. The 
 country was an undulating plain, almost denuded of wood, and 
 wholly destitute of fences. Here and there were encamped the 
 different army corps that composed the principal part of the 
 force that was about to cross the Papidan. The general rode 
 the finest horse, as he told me then and afterwards, that he had 
 ever mounted, — a large, powerful bay. He was a half-brother 
 of the famous Lexington, and was named Cincinnati. The gen- 
 eral spoke of his intended movement on Richmond, and said 
 that our army in the valley was already on the march, and that 
 on the following day as I returned to Washington I would meet 
 Burnside's corps ; he did not feel at liberty to state the number 
 of his army, but it was as large as he thought himself able 
 to command, bearing in mind the difficulties of transportation. 
 Were the troops with their supply-trains to be placed along the 
 line of road to Richmond, which I think he said was seventy 
 
RIDE OVER THE COUNTRY. 385 
 
 miles, the head of the army would be there before the rear had 
 crossed the Rapidan : he added, humorously, that he did not 
 expect to reach Richmond in that order. 
 
 In reply to my inquiry, he said he supposed he had very reli- 
 able information as to the force of General Lee. As I remember, 
 he reckoned it at one hundred and twenty thousand men, in- 
 cluding the local forces in Richmond and Petersburg. He did 
 not regard General Lee as the ablest general of the South ; he, 
 however, possessed the entire confidence and indeed affection of 
 every one under his command, and such a man could not be an 
 indifferent commander to meet. He considered General Joseph 
 E. Johnston as a very able commander. Bragg, regarded simply 
 in the light of a soldier, he thought very able ; he was, however, 
 so thoroughly detested by the people of the South that he would 
 never prove a formidable adversary. 
 
 After a ride of three hours, having passed over more than 
 fifteen miles, we approached Culpeper from the general direction 
 of Pony Hill. As we passed another army corps, the general 
 remarked, with something akin to enthusiasm, that he had the 
 most thoroughly equipped army for field-work that he thought 
 could be found on the globe ; he would do the best he could 
 with it ; according to the newspapers, certain officers had said, 
 give them this or that number of troops, and they would do 
 this or that, but he would only promise to do his best. Some 
 of our officers after a battle thought it impossible to move again 
 until they were again thoroughly prepared, apparently forgetful 
 that the enemy w r as making the best use of his time also ; the 
 result of an engagement was often only a question of relative 
 exhaustion of resources ; if the enemy's forces were worse off 
 than his own as the result of a battle, he saw no reason why 
 the enemy should not be pressed at once, notwithstanding any 
 deficiencies in his own preparation. 
 
 That evening, which was Saturday, I was with the general at 
 an earlier hour than the preceding ; he had a meerschaum pipe 
 which he was smoking, and which he presented me, stating that 
 it had been purchased in Germany for him by request, but that 
 it was too cumbersome for the field. 
 
 I left Culpeper in the morning train on Sunday, and the same 
 
 25 
 
38 Q THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 evening reached Baltimore, where I had a neuralgic attack for 
 several days, followed by a badly-swollen face. Ten days after 
 reaching Baltimore, I received a telegram from the Navy Depart- 
 ment directing me to take charge of a draft of seamen on board 
 of the Panama steamer Ocean Queen, off the Battery, New 
 York, on the 13th of May. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 In Charge of a Draft of Men on board the Ocean Queen— Boatswain Bell 
 reports for Duty with Two Hundred and Twenty Men— The Steamer gets 
 under Way— At Midnight the Commander is sent for by some of the Men 
 
 They complain of having to sleep on Deck — Assault upon the Captain 
 
 and Chief Engineer— Statement of Commander Ammen— Justice Field, of 
 the United States Supreme Court, a Passenger— Desertions at Aspinwall— 
 Eeturn in the Ocean Queen to New York from Panama, and make a Full 
 Keport to the Navy Department— Pvem arks on the Mutiny— The Court- 
 Martial — Courts-Martial organized, one to acquit and one to condemn — 
 Decline to employ Counsel— Letter from General Grant— In command of 
 the Mohican— A Clerk— A Swiss Steward who receives more Pay than the 
 Commanding Officer. 
 
 I had barely time to reach New York at the hour named, 
 and, either from having lost my satchel or from having checked 
 it, I went on board of the Ocean Queen without other clothing 
 than that in which I stood, and was indebted to a fellow-passen- 
 ger for a change of linen. On my reaching the Ocean Queen, 
 or soon after, a tug came alongside, and Boatswain Bell reported 
 to me for duty : he was in charge of two hundred and twenty 
 men, the greater number of whom had been serving in the army 
 and through a recent order had been allowed to volunteer for 
 the navy if they were seamen. Many worthless fellows called 
 themselves seamen, and " Liverpool wharf-rats" formed a not in- 
 considerable part of the number : a more audacious and criminal 
 set it would, as a whole, have been difficult to assemble outside 
 of the walls of a prison. Perhaps half the number of the draft 
 had some actual knowledge of sea duties. As soon as the men 
 were mustered over the snip's side the Ocean Queen got under 
 
STATEMENT OF COMMANDER AMMEN. 387 
 
 way. The evening was cold and wet as we got to sea. At mid- 
 night I was called by the officer who had been relieved from 
 watch : he said that several men of the draft wished to see me on 
 deck. I inquired what they wished, and was informed that he 
 did not know. I dressed hastily, and, going on deck, was met 
 by four men. I asked them why they -wished to see me. A 
 man about thirty years of age, more than six feet in height, and 
 well built, was spokesman. Their complaint was of the hard- 
 ship of being compelled to sleep on deck, although they were 
 entirely sheltered from the weather by the hurricane-deck. Call- 
 ing me at that hour was iu fact only for the purpose of seeing the 
 man they had to deal with in carrying out an intended mutiny. 
 A meeting had already been held by them to ascertain who among 
 them could run the engines after they had taken possession of 
 the vessel. Thirty-six hours later, fifteen or twenty of the 
 leaders were in the port gangway of the Ocean Queen, and two 
 of the four men who had me called at midnight had the captain 
 and chief engineer actually by their throats, and were thrusting 
 them back from the gangway, when I gave the order to fire on 
 them, and shot the spokesman, who was the leader in the attack. 
 In order to place the occurrence before the reader more concisely 
 and clearly than I could otherwise do, I give the statement made 
 by me on my trial by court-martial, following it with such 
 further explanations as seem necessary to a clear comprehension 
 of the aifair. 
 
 The evidence in my case is now before you. It is ample, and, I trust, 
 has convinced you that my conduct in the matter was justified by the 
 circumstances, and that, in connection with the steps taken by Captain 
 Tinklepaugh, it prevented a fearful scene of disorder, and possibly of 
 national reproach and disgrace. 
 
 I have no desire or design to avoid, in the slightest degree, the responsi- 
 bility which rests upon me. I acted as my convictions of duty prompted ; 
 I could not have done less than I did without self-reproach ; and, whatever 
 the event, I shall always be sustained by an inward consciousness that I 
 did my duty, — my whole duty. 
 
 In order to enable you the better to appreciate the circumstances under 
 which I acted, I propose now to give you a clear and connected statement 
 of the facts as they appeared to me. 
 
 I was ordered by the Navy Department to take passage on board the 
 Ocean Queen, on Friday, May 13, to receive on board that vessel and take 
 
388 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 charge of a draft of two hundred and twenty men, intended for the Pacific 
 Squadron, to accompany them to Panama, and, after delivering them to 
 the senior officer present at that point, to return to New York. 
 
 Boatswain Thomas G. Bell, of the navy, was ordered to assist me. No 
 marine guard or other assistants were assigned. The draft came from 
 Philadelphia, and (although it was not in evidence) was principally com- 
 posed of men who had been transferred from the army a short time before. 
 
 The Ocean Queen left the wharf at New York at about one o'clock p.m. 
 She had on board (as Captain Tinklepaugh has informed you) about one 
 thousand and forty passengers, excluding the draft ; about one-third were 
 women and children. It had been arranged that the draft should be 
 received on board after the steamer left the wharf, and it was so done. 
 
 It is proper here to explain that on board that steamer the steerage and 
 cabin passengers are divided from each other by means on the starboard 
 side of a fixed bulkhead, and on the port side by a lattice, in which there 
 is a gateway ; and, by the rules of the vessel, all steerage passengers are 
 forbidden to come abaft these bulkheads. The men composing the draft 
 were steerage passengers. Owing to the crowded state of the steerage, 
 the starboard side of the spar-deck, under the hurricane-deck, was appro- 
 priated exclusively to the men under my charge. Although uncomfortable 
 and crowded, I should have much preferred, at that season of the year 
 and for that voyage, living and sleeping there, to occupying a berth in the 
 steerage. 
 
 About midnight that night I was called and told that my people wished 
 to see me. I at once dressed and went on deck, where I was met by four 
 men, two of whom I remember as John Kclley and Alfred Bussell, sea- 
 men (the deceased), who told me they were uncomfortable, had no place 
 to sleep, and therefore had to wander about the decks ; they finally said 
 that whiskey would make it all right. 
 
 I replied that I knew they were uncomfortable ; that in a day or two 
 we would be in a pleasant latitude ; and that, in the mean while, I would 
 see what could be done to make them less uncomfortable ; but that whiskey 
 was quite out of the question, as it would make all wrong. 
 
 They left without any manifestation of disappointment or anger, — per- 
 haps impressed with the idea that the interest I had expressed was the 
 result of intimidation, and not of the disposition I have to care for the 
 comfort and well-being of those under my command, and which I regard 
 as a not unimportant part of the duty of all officers under whom men are 
 placed. 
 
 The following morning (Saturday) all of the draft that I asked expressed 
 themselves satisfied with their breakfast, although I found on inquiry that 
 no vegetables had formed a part of it. I soon made a request to Captain 
 Tinklepaugh on this subject, which he at once agreed to. 
 
 In the afternoon, at dinner, there was dissatisfaction, — at least on the 
 part of twelve or fifteen, who threw overboard a number of pots and pans 
 
STATEMENT OF COMMANDER AMMEN. 389 
 
 containing food, and beat and abused the servants of the ship until they 
 refused to do duty. Chief among these twelve or fifteen were Kelley and 
 Bussell (the deceased) ; the object probably was to prevent the better-dis- 
 posed men from getting anything to eat, and thus to make the dissatisfac- 
 tion more general. 
 
 I at once detailed a number of the blacks belonging to the draft to 
 reset and replenish the tables, and thus prevented the well-disposed from 
 suffering. 
 
 The captain of the vessel was, not without cause, seriously concerned 
 on account of this mutinous conduct and the very menacing and disre- 
 spectful expressions of my men, and told me he felt much disposed to put 
 into Hampton Roads and put on shore at least twelve or fifteen, if not all, 
 of the draft. 
 
 While I had to admit that the conduct and language of some of them 
 were very mutinous and disrespectful, I told him I hoped he would not 
 do this ; that the delay would be great, and that I felt satisfied we could 
 control the men. 
 
 The following morning (Sunday, 15th) the men appeared to be entirely 
 sober, — the supply of liquor obtained through the steerage passengers hav- 
 ing probably given out. Their breakfast consisted of hard bread, boiled 
 salt beef of good quality, tea or coffee, and hominy and molasses. I was 
 in the act of inspecting their breakfast, when I was asked to do so by 
 Alfred Bussell, seaman (the deceased), in the most disrespectful terms and 
 manner. After my inspection I became convinced that the object of the 
 men was a difficulty irrespective of any treatment which it was in my 
 power to have bestowed upon them. 
 
 Soon after breakfast I heard John Kelley and Alfred Bussell (the 
 deceased) in conversation with Boatswain Bell, — my assistant in charge 
 of the draft. They declared that they had eaten nothing since they had 
 been on board ; and that, if their dinner that day was not such as they 
 wished, they certainly would go aft into the cabin and get what they 
 desired. Kelley said he had once aided on board of a vessel-of-war to 
 knock down a sentry over a spirit-room, and that they intended to do as 
 well on board of the Ocean Queen ; that he knew there was liquor on 
 board, and they intended to have it. 
 
 The conversation, though addressed to Mr. Bell, was loud enough, and 
 evidently intended for my ear. I replied that I hoped their dinner would 
 be all they could ask; that I had spoken to the captain on that subject; 
 but that their proposition to go aft and help themselves was quite out of 
 the question ; and if there was an attempt of that kind they would cer- 
 tainly be shot. They contemptuously replied that they were quite ac- 
 customed to being under fire, and felt no alarm whatever ; and Kelley 
 said that they regarded me as a very well disposed person ; that he felt 
 satisfied I would do anything in my power for their comfort, and therefore 
 I had not been harmed. 
 
390 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 I ask the court to weigh well this conversation, as given by Mr. Bell ; 
 as also the conversation about seven o'clock that morning between him 
 and the same men ; as also what Chief-Engineer Phelps has said in re- 
 lation to the endeavors of the men to find some one capable of running 
 the engines. 
 
 The conversation and manner of the men convinced me that they were 
 bent on making serious trouble ; it conveyed to me deep meaning, and 
 revealed, or rather confirmed my belief in, the existence of a plot and 
 purpose, too apparent to be doubted, save by a person without sufficient 
 nerve to meet the crisis when it came. 
 
 I did not reply to the last remark, so insulting to my position and to 
 the obligations which belong to the service ; but I felt that by this total 
 forgetfulness of their obligations the existence of the many passengers on 
 board the vessel was seriously menaced. I turned to many of the men 
 ■who composed the draft, and told them that if there should be violence 
 on board the vessel I hoped all the well-disposed would absent themselves 
 from the immediate scene, and that none should appear unless they 
 •wished to be participants : that they would communicate what I had just 
 said to the other men, as I would regret very much if any of them should 
 be killed by accident. 
 
 I have to congratulate myself upon this forethought, as my advice was 
 implicitly acted upon, not only by those who had no evil design, but I 
 think also by ten or fifteen of those who were willing to abet the leaders 
 as far as they could do so without encountering the perils inseparable 
 from a violent contempt of my authority, and of their obligations to 
 society. 
 
 Shortly after this, Captain Tinklepaugh stated to me that the attitude 
 of some of my men convinced him that he would be obliged to shoot 
 some of them in order to insure the safety of his command and of the 
 passengers intrusted to his care, and that he wished my presence when 
 it became necessary. I told him that, if the necessity arrived, I thought 
 it belonged to me to recognize it by giving the order to fire, to which he 
 assented, but added that he hoped I would not defer it until the men over- 
 powered us and had actual possession of the vessel. I told him I would 
 guard well that point, and he appeared satisfied, although deeply con- 
 cerned for the safety of his vessel. 
 
 This occurred about noon of May 15, — the date of the occurrences 
 about to be narrated. Had Captain Tinklepaugh been less judicious in 
 making his arrangements, or less considerate in his whole conduct, I 
 could not answer for what the result might have been. The necessary 
 preparations were made to meet an emergency. 
 
 Dinner-time (about two p.m.) came. I sat upon the hurricane-deck for- 
 ward, overlooking the steerage passengers, and would have been blind 
 indeed had I not seen that a crisis was at hand, from the manner of the 
 people, who, huddled together with the draft, as they necessarily were, 
 
STATEMENT OF COMMANDER AMMEN. 391 
 
 could not have failed to overhear somewhat the plans and expressed in- 
 tentions of my men. 
 
 "When the dinner of the men was reported, the boatswain (Mr. Bell), 
 whom I had previously instructed so to do, called the principal malcon- 
 tents to look at and pronounce upon it. It consisted of very good fresh 
 roast beef, boiled potatoes, hard bread of excellent quality, and tea or 
 coffee. John Kelley and Alfred Bussell (the deceased) pronounced the 
 dinner satisfactory, and added " perfectly so." Will the court mark well 
 their words? for they prove that they had nothing to complain of, and 
 that all their dissatisfaction had been but a pretext for the evil conduct 
 intended, and which they now proceeded to try to accomplish. 
 
 These men now proceeded to the port gangway, for the purpose of forcing 
 the gateway. On attacking the man placed to guard the gateway abaft, 
 where steerage passengers are forbidden to go, they found Captain Tinkle- 
 paugh near at hand, supported by Chief-Engineer Phelps, Dr. Gibbs, of 
 the vessel, Dr. Woodward (a passenger), Mr. Bell (boatswain), and some 
 others, who had been made aware of the position of affairs. I was sent 
 for by Captain Tinklepaugh, and, passing over the hurricane-deck, I arrived 
 in time to see John Kelley, seaman, who was probably six feet three 
 inches in height, and strongly built, struggling with Captain Tinkle- 
 paugh. Alfred Bussell, seaman, was also struggling with Engineer 
 Phelps. A third man, who first tried to prevent an immediate attack, 
 seeing that it could not be done, joined ferociously with the others. 
 
 On arriving, I saw that the authority of the vessel, as well as my own 
 in the person of Mr. Bell, was violently assaulted. 
 
 Section 1st of Article 3d of the "Act for the better government of the 
 Navy" is as follows: " The punishment of death, or such other punish- 
 ment as a court-martial shall adjudge, may be inflicted upon any person 
 in the naval service who, being witness to, or present at, any mutiny, 
 shall not do his utmost to suppress it.''' Here was the mutiny, and I did 
 the duty the law imposed upon me. I did not hesitate to give the order 
 to fire upon the mutineers. 
 
 Immediately upon reiterating the order, I fired with a revolver twice at 
 John Kelley. On the instant half a dozen shots were fired by some of the 
 other persons named as present. The immediate death of Alfred Bussell 
 and of John Kelley within two or three minutes was the result. 
 
 I passed almost immediately over the hurricane-deck, and informed the 
 men under my command that I had a word to say to them. When they 
 had assembled, I stated that an attempt at violence had been met by force, 
 and two or three of their number had been killed, which was perhaps more 
 a matter of regret to me than to any one of them ; that I had to thank all 
 but a small number of them for their excellent conduct, — the more gratify- 
 ing because it implied that they felt that they owed a duty to their country 
 and to their flag. Three loud and spontaneous cheers greeted me, ap- 
 parently from every man composing the draft. I trust that this honorable 
 
392 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 court will not regard them as without meaning. The men were now directed 
 to go to their dinner ; they obeyed', without excitement or confusion. 
 
 I had previously requested Captain Tinklepaugh to have the dead men 
 decently laid out for burial, and sent some of their shipmates to assist; 
 and the prayers of the burial service were said over them when their 
 bodies were committed to the deep. 
 
 After dinner, without any aid or support, I went among the principal 
 men who had shown a mutinous disposition, and ordered five of them upon 
 the hurricane-deck, stating that I wished to have them put in irons. Four 
 made no reply ; the fifth said he would not obey my order, but changed 
 his mind when I told him that he would obey instantly, or I would shoot 
 him. The five were ironed, and kept on bread and water one or two days. 
 We had no further trouble during the voyage ; but when we met the con- 
 voy (the U. S. steamer Neptune), I obtained a few marines, and the follow- 
 ing day put the prisoners on board that vessel. I asked Captain Sanford, 
 of the Neptune, to receive them, not because I had any apprehension of 
 further trouble, but because Captain Tinklepaugh requested it. 
 
 I have thus, in as few words as possible, stated the facts in the case as 
 they appear to me. You have the opinions of every witness asked, that 
 no more was done than was necessary, and that any attempt to arrest the 
 malcontents and confine them would have resulted in our own death. You 
 cannot but be convinced of the purposes of Kelley and Bussell, and that, 
 if they had not been completely foiled, no limit to their violence could well 
 be assigned. 
 
 The honorable court will not doubt that, if a defiant and premeditated 
 attack upon and personal violence to the captain of the vessel and those 
 supporting him had been met in any other manner than it was, scores of 
 the men whose conduct was unexceptionable would have been emboldened 
 into contempt, if not into open mutiny. In that event, who can say what 
 would have been the result? 
 
 Pardon me a word or two upon what constitutes the offence of murder. 
 It is a malicious, deliberate, purposed, and premeditated killing of a person. 
 Manslaughter is unlawful killing ; but it has never been unlawful for an 
 officer of the law to use such force, even to the extent of killing, as seemed 
 to him at the time necessary, to enable him to do his duty, — the circum- 
 stances of the case afterwards showing that his opinion was reasonable, 
 even though erroneous. Of the extent to which the naval or military 
 officer may go in the just performance of his duties, it is not necessary for 
 me to speak, as that is the province of this court. 
 
 This honorable court will bear in mind that of all the witnesses ex- 
 amined, there has been none who did not regard my action as of impera- 
 tive necessity, and they have also stated that they have the same belief 
 still. Captain Tinklepaugh also states emphatically that, had it not been 
 for the agreement that, if the necessity existed, I was to give the order, he 
 would have fired on the men before my arrival. 
 
STATEMENT OF COMMANDER AMMEN. 393 
 
 I ask an acquittal at your hands upon three grounds : 
 
 1st. That my duty required me to act as I did. 
 
 2d. The necessity of the case required it. 
 
 3d. Self-defence permitted it. 
 
 I beg the court to weigh well the facts presented in the evidence. I not 
 only hope a full acquittal, but trust the evidence is of such a character as 
 to show that the confidence the Department placed in me, by giving me 
 charge of so many men, without other assistance than that of one officer, 
 was not misplaced. 
 
 If the men failed to respect my authority in the beginning, they re- 
 spected it in the end. 
 
 I have no regrets except that such a necessity ever came to me. Had I 
 failed in my duty, had I done less than I did, this court, in common with 
 my brother officers and the whole country, would have' had to lament a 
 fatal imbecility, and the narrative of the Ocean Queen might have been 
 added to the book of horrors. 
 
 As for the dead, their desperate and determined character has been given 
 in the testimony. They had forfeited their lives to the law ; and they died 
 only before the sentence of the law instead of after it ; and the necessity 
 of the case was such that no one of my brother officers could have failed 
 to do his duty on that occasion, had it been his lot instead of mine. 
 
 I have not entered into an argument, nor do I consider it proper on this 
 occasion that I should do so. I have endeavored fairly to present the case, 
 and I believe the evidence is ample to convince the honorable court that 
 I had but one course to pursue ; that I did but my duty ; and, painful as 
 that duty was, the manner in which I performed it I trust will meet your 
 sincere and entire approval. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Daniel Ammen, Commander. 
 
 Brooklyn Navy-Yard, August 10, 1864. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM CAPTAIN TINKLEPAUGH'S EVIDENCE. 
 
 Question by the Court. — Did you, or did you not, believe, at the time of 
 the firing, and before it, that the safety of the ship, and possibly of the 
 passengers, would be endangered unless the movements of the mutineers 
 were forcibly arrested? 
 
 Answer. — I did so believe. I became fully satisfied in my own mind of 
 the fact. 
 
 Question by the Court. — Was it, or was it not, in your judgment, then 
 and now, necessary, in order to arrest the progress of the mutineers, to 
 resort to the use of fire-arms? 
 
 Answer. — It was necessary, in my opinion. It became necessary. I am 
 still of the same opinion. 
 
 Question by the Court. — If an attempt had been made to arrest and con- 
 fine the mutineers at the gate, instead of firing upon them, what, in view 
 
394 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 of the state of feeling shown by the other men, do you think would have 
 been the result? 
 
 Answer. — I think the result would have been that they would have taken 
 the ship from us. 
 
 Question by the Accused. — Did you observe, at any time, malicious con- 
 duct on the part of the accused to the men under his charge? 
 
 Answer. — None whatever. On the contrary, he addressed them and 
 treated them at all times in a mild and gentlemanly manner. He told 
 them repeatedly, in my hearing, that whatever could be done for their 
 comfort should be ; that he was sent there for that purpose, to see to their 
 rights and comfort, and it should be done. 
 
 Question by the Accused. — Was the conduct of Commander Ammen cool 
 and collected at all times, when you were present, especially during the 
 attack in the port gangway, on the afternoon of Sunday, May 15? 
 
 Answer. — It was unusually so, — unusually cool and determined. So 
 much so that I changed my mind ; because he was so mild at first that I 
 didn't expect when the time for action came he would be prompt. I found 
 him, however, very cool and determined, prompt to act. Prior to that I 
 thought he was very mild and easy. 
 
 Question by the Accused. — Would you have felt obliged to shoot the men 
 who made an attack on you at the gateway on the port side of the Ocean 
 Queen, in order to insure the safety of your command, had I not arrived 
 the moment I did, or very soon thereafter, on the afternoon of Sunday, 
 May 15? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, sir. I should have fired myself before he arrived, had it 
 not been for the understanding that I was to act under his orders. I saw 
 the necessity of doing it before he arrived there. 
 
 Question by the Accused. — Do you remember whether I expressed regret 
 that it was necessary to shoot two or three men, when I addressed the 
 draft of men ? 
 
 Answer. — Yes, I heard Captain Ammen express himself so when he 
 addressed the men. He expressed regret that he had been compelled to 
 use force. 
 
 Justice Field, of the Supreme Court, was a passenger, and at 
 my request took the sworn statements of all the officers and 
 others on board who were cognizant of the facts. On the 
 arrival of the steamer at Aspinwall, I asked Captain Sanford, 
 of the Neptune, who had convoyed us into port, to place sentries 
 on the wharf to prevent the desertion of the draft ; this he did, 
 but he refused to send an officer and marines with me to guard 
 the men to Panama. After the cars left Aspinwall, when the 
 train was running slowly, ten or a dozen of the men jumped 
 
RETURN TO NEW YORK. 395 
 
 from the cars and took to the woods ; although they were shot 
 at, so far as I know none of them were hit. Boatswain Bell 
 and myself could not prevent the escape of the men from the 
 five cars occupied by them. 
 
 Before leaving, I had sent a telegram to Commander Law, of 
 the Levant, to have marines stationed around the depot on our 
 arrival at Panama. This arrangement was a very disagreeable 
 surprise to many of my draft, who would have preferred to 
 desert there rather than along the road. A tug was in waiting, 
 and an hour later the men were on board of the Levant and 
 mustered around the capstan, when I told Commander Law the 
 character of many of them. The men who had deserted along 
 the line of road were all apprehended and brought on board, as 
 I was afterwards informed by Commander Law. 
 
 As directed by my orders, on the delivery of the draft to the 
 commanding officer at Panama I returned in the Ocean Queen 
 to New York, leaving Aspinwall three days after our arrival. 
 I made a full report to the Navy Department, covering nine 
 pages of official paper, detailing every occurrence on board of 
 the Ocean Queen from the time the draft was received until it 
 was turned over to Commander Law at Panama, and enclosed 
 with my report the sworn statements taken by Justice Field 
 the day after the occurrence. 
 
 I awaited the action of the Navy Department in Philadel- 
 phia ; more than a week passed, and not even an official acknowl- 
 edgment of my report was received by me. On a brief visit to 
 Admiral Dupont, living near Wilmington, he inquired what I 
 had heard from the Department, and was informed that it had 
 not deigned even to acknowledge the receipt of my report. He 
 asked whether it would not be preferable for me to ask a court- 
 martial, in order to free myself not only from odium, but also 
 from a legal prosecution in some civil court, which otherwise 
 would always hang over me as a possibility and might be 
 brought about at any time by some sharp lawyer who wanted a 
 case or to black-mail. I replied that I had come to that con- 
 clusion, and the next day I sent a second letter to the Depart- 
 ment, asking a court-martial, and giving my reasons for the 
 request. The admiral asked who I intended to get to defend 
 
396 THE OLD NAVF AND THE NEW. 
 
 me ; I said I would not have a lawyer, for the reason that he 
 would regard it as his duty to take all the points of the law in 
 my defence, and at the end of the trial I would appear as having 
 been acquitted through his cleverness rather than on the merits 
 of the case. At this the admiral seemed much disturbed, and 
 remarked, "In my judgment, you should have one of the ablest 
 lawyers in the country to. defend you." I replied that I recog- 
 nized the fact that the Department was unfriendly, though with- 
 out reason, but that I knew all the facts in connection with the 
 affair ; that any other conduct on my part would have been 
 highly culpable, and this would appear from the sworn state- 
 ments and be fully substantiated by all the testimony before the 
 court when I was tried. 
 
 No reply was received to my second letter to the Department ; 
 a few days later, however, I received a visit from a gentleman 
 who, after asking if I was Commander Ammen, said he had a 
 very disagreeable duty to perform, as judge-advocate of a court- 
 martial, in presenting charges to me. I replied that I was glad 
 to see him, and would give the charges my attention. At that 
 time the Department kept two courts-martial running, the one 
 supposed to acquit, and the other to condemn those on trial. I 
 was brought before the latter court, supposed to be like the 
 Dutch judge who asked, "If he is not guilty, why bring him 
 to trial ?" Early in August, on the arrival of the Ocean Queen, 
 I was brought before the court convened at the Brooklyn Navy- 
 Yard ; on being asked if I objected to any member of the court, 
 I said no. I was then asked if I wished counsel, I replied that 
 I only wished permission to consult with Commander James 
 Parker, of the navy, during the progress of my trial. This 
 disturbed the repose of the court somewhat, and I had half an 
 idea that there would be a disposition to assign me counsel 
 whether I wished it or not. The president of the court was a 
 rear-admiral of good sense and character, with whom I had 
 served as midshipman when he commanded a sloop-of-war on 
 the coast of Labrador. He told me, weeks before, that he 
 was ordered to hold me in close confinement, to which I 
 replied that he knew me personally ; I would not venture to 
 express any opinion in relation to his duties, but I would say 
 
NOTICE OF ACQUITTAL 397 
 
 that he could not get rid of me by any possibility before I was 
 tried. 
 
 All those belonging to the Ocean Queen who were cognizant 
 of the facts appeared as witnesses. The testimony was that 
 before the men had called me up at midnight just after going to 
 sea, a meeting had been held by them and a canvass made as to 
 who among them could run the engines. It was supposed, 
 though never ascertained to be a fact, that one of the draft 
 who had opposed the piratical project had been thrown over- 
 board, perhaps on the presumption that a man who had been 
 mustered on board the preceding evening was not found on 
 board afterwards ; but he may have changed his clothing and 
 gone on board of the tug again before she cast off from the 
 vessel. 
 
 I was indebted to Commander James Parker, now a lawyer 
 of note in New York, for his advice and assistance during the 
 progress of the trial ; he did not propose to take all the points 
 of the law to clear me, but presented all the facts for the con- 
 sideration of the court. The malice of the Department arose 
 from my personal friendship for Admiral Dupont, and could 
 extend no further than in releasing me from arrest in terms that 
 implied that I had crawled through the meshes of the law. It 
 was as follows : 
 
 Navy Department, Washington, August 15, 1864. 
 Sir, — The Naval General Court-Martial by which you were recently 
 tried, at New York, acquitted you of the charges preferred against you. 
 After pronouncing this judgment, the Court proceed to state that "it 
 appearing from the evidence, and not denied by the accused, that Com- 
 mander Daniel Ammen, at the time and place mentioned in the specifica- 
 tions, was concerned in the killing of John Kelley and Alfred Bussell, 
 seamen, the court do find that the same was done in the lawful discharge 
 of the duty of the said Commander Daniel Ammen, as an officer of the 
 United States Navy, and to suppress an attempted mutiny, and in the 
 opinion of the court the same was justifiable homicide." 
 I am respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 (Signed) Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 Commander Daniel Ammen, U.S.N. 
 
 A few days after my release from arrest I received a letter 
 from General Grant, dated August 18, relating to occurrences 
 
398 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 of great interest to the public at that time. It was as follows : 
 " Several times we have had decisive victories within our grasp, 
 but let them, through accident or fault, slip through our hands. 
 Our movement from Cold Harbor to the south side of the James 
 was made with such celerity that before the enemy got a single 
 regiment across the river our forces had carried the fortifications 
 east of Petersburg. There was nothing, not even a military 
 force, to prevent our walking in and taking possession. The 
 officer charged with this work, for some unaccountable reason, 
 stopped at the works he had captured, and gave the enemy time 
 to get in a garrison and intrench it. On the 30th of July, again, 
 by a feint north of the James, we drew most of the enemy on 
 that side of the river, and whilst he was there (with my troops 
 quietly withdrawing during the night) a mine, judiciously pre- 
 pared, was exploded, burying a battery and some three hundred 
 of the enemy, and making a breach in his works into which our 
 men marched without opposition. The enemy was completely 
 surprised, and commenced running in all directions. There was 
 nothing to prevent our men from marching directly to the high 
 ground in front of them, to which they had been directed to go. 
 Once there, all the enemy's fortifications would have been taken 
 in reverse, and no stand would have been made. It is clear that 
 without a loss of five hundred men we could have had Peters- 
 burg, with all its artillery and many of its garrison. But our 
 troops stopped in the crater made by the explosion. The enemy 
 was given time to rally and reoccupy his line. Then we found, 
 true enough, that we had the wolf by the ears. He was hard 
 to hold, and more dangerous to let go. This was so outrageous 
 that I have obtained a court of inquiry to sift the matter. We 
 will peg away, however, and end this matter if our people at 
 home will be but true to themselves. If they would but reflect, 
 everything looks favorable. . . . 
 
 " The hope of a counter-revolution over the draft, or the Presi- 
 dential election, keeps them together. Then, too, they hope for 
 the election of a ' peace candidate/ who would let them go. ' A 
 peace at any price' is fearful to contemplate. It would be but 
 the beginning of war. The demands of the South would know 
 no limits. They would demand indemnity for expenses incurred 
 
IN COMMAND OF THE MOHICAN. 399 
 
 in carrying on the war. They would demand the return of 
 all their slaves set free in consequence of war. They would 
 demand a treaty looking to the rendition of all fugitive slaves 
 escaping into the Northern States, and they would -keep on 
 demanding until it would be better to be dead than to submit 
 longer." 
 
 I met the general three months later, when he made some 
 humorous remark about my having been tried for murder, to 
 which I replied that the men I had charge of had been drafted 
 from the army, and I had the idea that they were accounted 
 sailors and drafted to the navy because they could not make 
 soldiers out of them. 
 
 A month later I was ordered to the command of the Mohican, 
 a steam vessel of seven guns, fitting out at the Brooklyn Navy- 
 Yard to join Admiral Porter's force in the intended attack on 
 Fort Fisher, known at the time to be a very strong sand fort. 
 The enemy knew as well as w r e did that we would attack it as 
 soon as we had the requisite force. I can bear testimony to the 
 laborious exertions of the men building it up to the time of 
 attack : wheeling barrows of sand, they followed one another in 
 row r s, going and returning, from " rosy morn to dewy eve." As 
 I watched them from a distance, I thought how easy it would 
 be for us to level the traverses and embankments that had cost 
 them so many months of labor and which they were still add- 
 ing to. 
 
 Soon after I had received orders to command the Mohican a 
 friend asked if I had yet appointed my clerk ; I said no, that I 
 did not intend to be bothered with one; he said he regretted 
 my intention, because a son of one of his intimate friends was 
 desirous to go with me, and, as he had made several long voy- 
 ages before the mast, was accustomed to sea life, and was also 
 conversant with the duties of a clerk. I expressed a willingness 
 to conform to his wishes, and, after talking over the matter, it 
 was agreed that the young gentleman should mess and live in 
 the cabin with me, which was allowed by Regulations. I had 
 seen previously on board of some of the gun-boats some fancy 
 clerks messing with the commanding officers, when there was a 
 suspicion that they were on board quite as much to divide the 
 
400 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 mess-bill as for any other purpose : so I insisted that the young 
 gentleman should pay in the cabin only the same mess-bill that 
 he would pay were he messing in the steerage. 
 
 My cabin steward was a very slow, stupid Swiss, who had been 
 the steerage steward on board of the Seneca when I commanded 
 that vessel. When he enlisted for the Mohican he received a 
 large bounty to be credited to some State, and this bounty, with 
 his pay and the value of his commuted ration, made his emolu- 
 ments considerably more than my own during the seven or eight 
 months that I commanded the Mohican. What added to the 
 drollery of the situation was the fact that the father of the 
 young gentleman who was my clerk and messmate was one 
 of three partners who at that time paid an income-tax on half 
 a million yearly, in the business of a large sugar importing 
 house. He proved to be very intelligent and useful, and an 
 agreeable messmate. At that time I paid fifty cents a pound 
 for ham, and for other stores in proportion, and certainly did 
 not serve my country during that period with great pecuniary 
 benefit to myself, as my pay barely met my personal expenses ; 
 but taking it altogether, my command of the Mohican was a 
 very satisfactory professional experience. 
 
 When the Mohican was undergoing repairs at New York the 
 executive officer came to call my personal attention to the placing 
 of bow timber frames on rotten ends beneath them. I told him 
 that the government was desirous of having as large a force as 
 possible to attack Fort Fisher, and I was not willing to look at the 
 character of the repairs, lest I might consider it a duty to make 
 a report that would prevent the Mohican from taking part in 
 the bombardment. This may seem a specious way of quieting 
 the conscience, but it was the best that occurred to me, and I 
 have never been troubled over this dereliction. 
 
 The Mohican was put in commission on the 7th of October, 
 and on the 28th left for Hampton Roads, arriving two days 
 later. We found Admiral Porter and a considerable number of 
 vessels under his command in the roads. Early in November 
 we learned of the destruction of the iron-clad Albemarle, by 
 Cushing, on the 30th of October, at Plymouth, North Carolina. 
 When the news reached us I was on board of a transport with 
 
AT CITY POINT. 401 
 
 General Grant, leaving for City Point, his head-quarters. I 
 spent two days with the general, and was sent out under the 
 guidance of General Babcock on the staff to take a look at the 
 lines in front of Petersburg. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 At City Point — Meet General Grant— The General's Horse Cincinnati — 
 Return to Hampton Roads — Beaufort — Bombardment of Port Fisher — 
 General Butler— Re-embark for Fortress Monroe— General Terry reaches 
 Beaufort ready to co-operate with the Navy — Generals Terry and Comstock 
 visit the Commander — Dressing the Ship with Green — The Mohican 
 anchors at Port Royal — Message from Admiral Porter to General Sherman 
 — News of the Capture of Wilmington— Return to Savannah — Call on 
 Mrs. Anderson before leaving Savannah — Hardee escapes with his Army — 
 Letter from Mr. Anderson — The Ogeechee — Hampton Roads — Washing- 
 ton Navy-Yard — Boston — Surrender of Lee's Army. 
 
 There was a railroad from City Point j we were sent out on 
 a box-car, and our horses were in another car. It was curious 
 to note the intelligence of the horses : on seeing a plank laid for 
 them to walk into the car, they did so without further invitation 
 or the least apprehension, and as we passed along they looked 
 at the surrounding country with an apparent interest. The 
 railroad had been laid to carry supplies to the troops on that 
 part of the lines, and was up hill and down, on the grades that 
 nature had established, very much as with common roads. The 
 loads hauled were, of course, quite light, or the road would not 
 have been practicable. 
 
 On our arrival at the terminus, the plank was placed, and 
 our horses walked down and stood quietly awaiting our mount- 
 ing. The general had done me the honor to send his horse 
 Cincinnati, already mentioned in the account of my visit to 
 Culpeper. It was the afternoon of a cold, raw day when we 
 rode along that part of our lines usually visited in making an 
 inspection, at some places within reach of small-arms. After- 
 wards we went to the head-quarters of General Hancock, whom 
 I had previously met in Philadelphia when he was on leave 
 
 26 
 
402 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 from wounds. After a smart ride over the country we went to 
 the cars and were taken to City Point. When I met General 
 Grant he asked how I liked the horse; I replied that I had 
 ridden horses in parts of each of the four quarters of the globe ; 
 in Patagonia, at the Cape of Good Hope, in Chili, in California, 
 in Central America, and in many of our States, from Maine to 
 Mississippi, and had never backed a horse at all comparable to 
 Cincinnati in stride, action, and docility ; he was perfect. The 
 general remarked again that he had never ridden his equal. 
 
 A day later I returned to Hampton Roads, and got permission 
 from the admiral to shorten the wheel-ropes of the Mohican, in 
 order to increase the battery by two more nine-inch shell-guns 
 in broadside. We did all the work required with our own men. 
 On the 10th the Mohican was sent to convoy a very valuable 
 prize to New York. On seeing her within Sandy Hook we 
 bore away for Hampton Roads, as instructed. At that time my 
 face was very much swollen from neuralgia or rheumatism, and 
 my limbs were very stiff, also : I had a fear that I might become 
 incapacitated for duty before our bombardment came off. On 
 the 24th the Mohican left Hampton Roads for the blockade off 
 Wilmington until the arrival of the admiral, which did not 
 occur as soon as he had hoped. 
 
 On getting into heavy weather at sea I found that the spars 
 aloft were working the rotten frame of the ship, and took down 
 the yards and topmasts on the main- and mizzen-masts ; after- 
 wards, by permission of the admiral, I sent them on shore for 
 stowage in Beaufort, North Carolina, until the vessel was sent 
 North, when I went into that port to get them. While block- 
 ading off Fort Fisher I anchored at different points, and by 
 means of plotting the vessel from angles taken on tangents of 
 coast-lines, or on points known, got the distance from the Mound 
 battery at different times, and the vertical angle from base to 
 summit, by which I calculated its height, my result being within 
 two feet of what the height was stated to be after we had 
 captured the fort. 
 
 Notwithstanding the activity of the admiral, it was the 18th of 
 December when we left the anchorage off Beaufort, with by far 
 the largest naval force that had ever been assembled under our 
 
EXPLOSION OF THE POWDER-BOAT. 403 
 
 flag. We formed awkwardly, and then proceeded to the in- 
 tended anchorage, twenty-five miles east of Fort Fisher, in the 
 order of sailing directed. When we arrived, we found the army 
 transports at anchor, and General Butler present in command of an 
 army of ten or twelve thousand men. The next day the weather 
 was not supposed to be favorable for landing the troops, and we 
 remained at anchor. On the next day we had a heavy southwest 
 gale. The army transports were said to be short of water, and 
 got under way for Beaufort. We were anchored in seventeen 
 fathoms of water, with hard sandy bottom. Nearly all the ves- 
 sels dragged, some of them over a distance of miles ; but when 
 the gale moderated they steamed into position again and anchored. 
 The wind had changed to the westward, making the sea smooth 
 in-shore, and favorable for landing the troops north of the fort, 
 as had been intended, but the transports were not at hand. At 
 half-past ten on the night of the 23d, a powder-boat that had 
 been prepared for the purpose was sent in and anchored off Fort 
 Fisher at a supposed distance of three hundred yards from the 
 beach. Fuses that were carefully laid were set on fire, and 
 those employed in this work left in a boat for a steamer in 
 waiting, and came off to the fleet. It was supposed by the 
 projectors that the effect of this explosion would wreck the fort, 
 whereas it was so slight that persons in the fort who witnessed 
 it supposed that a blockader had blown up off the coast. I was 
 awake when the explosion occurred, and saw through the bull's- 
 eye in the side of the vessel the flash, resembling that of distant 
 lightning. A dull sound reached us after a lapse of time, and 
 two hours later we were enveloped for more than an hour in a 
 dense powder-smoke, borne by a gentle westerly breeze. 
 
 As no information had been received from General Butler, 
 and as the weather was favorable for landing troops and for a 
 bombardment, the admiral had determined to explode the pow- 
 der-boat and go in to attack the fort, as favorable weather could 
 not be counted upon at that season. At daylight the different 
 divisions of the fleet were under way, and steamed in towards 
 Fort Fisher, the Ironsides leading, followed by the double- 
 turreted monitor Monadnock and the single-turreted monitors 
 Canonicus and Mahopac. They anchored in the positions as- 
 
404 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 signed them in the plan of battle, and by noon opened fire on 
 Fort Fisher, delivering their fire as directed. The Minnesota 
 led the second line, followed by the Mohican, and the vessels 
 anchored in reverse order, as did those following, the frigate 
 Colorado being the next in line. The two other lines got into 
 position with less success, but the fort was soon enveloped in 
 bursting shells, the fire of the entire attacking fleet being directed 
 at the guns in the particular parts of the fort assigned them. At 
 sunset the wooden vessels withdrew from action, and anchored 
 as directed by signal. About the same time General Butler's 
 flag-ship and several other army transports made their appear- 
 ance. On Christmas morning all the army transports had 
 arrived, and General Weitzel, chief of General Butler's staff, 
 went on board of Admiral Porter's flag-ship for the purpose of 
 arranging " the programme for the day." Seventeen gun-boats 
 were detached to aid in the debarkation of the troops, without 
 any other means, however, than the boats usually carried by 
 vessels of that class. 
 
 About eight o'clock that morning the admiral had signalled 
 for officers commanding vessels to come on board of the flag- 
 ship. As I had already breakfasted, and as the Mohican lay 
 near, I was the first to obey the summons. The admiral asked 
 what I thought of the bombardment of yesterday ; I replied 
 that it was fair ; he said he considered it first-rate. I said that 
 I saw a good deal of white water from the shells falling short, 
 and that I had taken care to secure a proper elevation of the 
 guns of the Mohican by sending an officer to the main-top to 
 watch the striking of our shell and get a proper range, and had 
 found the distance several hundred yards greater than I should 
 have preferred. 
 
 The Ironsides and monitors had remained in position during 
 the night, and fired slowly, from time to time. Soon after our 
 return from the flag-ship, Commander Rhind was sent in a boat 
 to sound ahead of the Minnesota, and when a depth of water 
 was reached that would barely keep her off the bottom, she 
 anchored, and the line was formed on her. The flag-captain 
 came within hail in a tug and directed the Mohican to go in and 
 make fast astern of the Ironsides, an order which was very 
 
RE-EMBARK FOR FORTRESS MONROE. 405 
 
 gratifying to us. And there we were firing slowly the whole 
 day, aiming actually at the guns of the enemy. When we had 
 thrown the last shell on board, from a distance of less than one 
 thousand yards from the fort, we cast off from the stern of the 
 Ironsides and went to a supply- vessel, where we filled and fused 
 our shells, and took as many as could be stowed below, and were 
 then ready for further operations. 
 
 The morning, which had been lovely, had changed into a 
 sombre day ; late in the afternoon the effect of our fire seemed 
 to paralyze that of the fort. It was a magnificent sight for us, 
 but for those in the fort it must have been something akin to 
 what was enjoyed by the enemy in our attack on Fort Sumter 
 previously mentioned. 
 
 Some three thousand men of our army force had been landed 
 by three or four o'clock, and two bodies of the enemy, the one 
 of seventy men occupying the Flag-Pond battery, and the other 
 of two hundred and eighteen men and seven officers, manning 
 what was known as the Half-Moon battery, both works being 
 near where our forces had been landed, came in and surrendered. 
 They could just as readily have gone up the sand-spit and on to 
 Wilmington. Later in the day a reconnoissance had been made 
 behind the curtain of the fort, and a Confederate flag that had 
 been shot away from the pole by the fire of the fleet had been 
 picked up and carried away by our troops, when General Butler 
 came to the conclusion that the works were practically uninjured 
 by our fire, and that he would re-embark his troops and proceed 
 to Fortress Monroe, which he did. 
 
 The sea had become rough in the mean time, and when night 
 came on the embarkation was suspended. Seven hundred of 
 Butler's army were left on the beach under our protection, and 
 their embarkation was not effected until noon of the 27th, owin^ 
 to the roughness of the water. During the night of the 26th, 
 had the enemy in the fort been " in feather," he would have 
 come up the beach and captured these men, inasmuch as the 
 gun-boats could not have rendered them any assistance. 
 
 On Christmas night the Mohican was at anchor three miles 
 from the fort, and rolling so heavily that in writing I found it 
 necessary to hold on to the table with one hand and to the 
 
406 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 inkstand with the other. I was describing to General Grant, 
 the proceedings up to date, from my point of view. I said 
 it was apparent to me that we could control the fire of the 
 enemy. Whether the work could be carried by assault was 
 a different affair. If it could not be so carried, a force could 
 intrench north of the fort on the sand-spit, and on their flanks 
 gun-boats could sweep the beaches ; our torpedo-launches could 
 either enter the river through the channels or be hauled over 
 the spit, and, with calcium lights on the beach, the force in- 
 trenched on the spit, aided by the torpedo and other launches 
 with guns, could prevent any blockade-runner from reaching 
 "Wilmington. So far as Fort Fisher was concerned, it would 
 then serve the enemy no better purpose than if it were miles 
 away at sea. It would be practically cut off from receiving 
 any large amount of supplies, and would necessarily be aban- 
 doned. After the termination of the war General Grant told 
 me that this letter had much to do in determining him to re- 
 invest Fort Fisher, which was done as soon as the force could 
 be brought down again. 
 
 After Butler left, all the fighting vessels of the fleet sailed for 
 Beaufort, to take in a fresh supply of ammunition and make 
 ready for another attack. On the 31st of December the Secre- 
 tary of the Navy wrote Admiral Porter that " Lieutenant- 
 General Grant will send immediately a competent force, properly 
 commanded, to co-operate . in the capture of the defences on 
 Federal Point." On the 8th of January, General Terry, in 
 command of this force, reached Beaufort, and was ready to 
 operate at once. Coaling and taking in ammunition off Beaufort 
 harbor in the face of a great deal of rough weather was a slow 
 operation with the many large vessels that could not cross the 
 bar. We had a very heavy gale for forty-eight hours, part of 
 the time blowing directly on a lee shore, where we could see 
 very heavy breakers not a mile away. In this gale the berth- 
 deck of the Mohican, from her rotten frame, would sway to and 
 fro one inch and a half over a given point of the enginery. We 
 kept constantly a heavy head of steam on, our try-sails reefed and 
 the sheets led aft, ready to try to claw off the shore, for it would 
 have been impossible for us to steam head to sea and wind. 
 
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT FISHER. 407 
 
 While in the harbor, General Terry was good enough to pay 
 me a visit. The wind was very fresh at the time, and his boat 
 was coming up astern. I went to the gangway to meet him, 
 and, not seeing him there, was informed that he was coming up 
 the Jacob's ladder at the stern of the vessel, where I went to 
 receive him and his aide, General Comstock, both of them old 
 and valued friends. Terry had the idea that it was too rough 
 to come alongside, and chose to climb up a rope-ladder astern 
 rather than have the annoyance of a heavy sea alongside. I 
 expressed my great gratification at meeting them again, especially 
 considering the purpose we had in view. After a pleasant con- 
 versation of an hour, they left, and I did not have the pleasure 
 of seeing either of them again for years, as the Mohican was 
 sent the morning after the taking of Fort Fisher to Port Royal, 
 to carry a message to General W. T. Sherman, who had estab- 
 lished himself in Savannah, three weeks before, after his march 
 to the sea. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th of January, 1865, one hundred 
 vessels (in round numbers) were at anchor twelve miles east of 
 Fort Fisher. About three-fourths were vessel s-of- war of all 
 grades; the remainder were army transports, carrying twelve 
 thousand men, under the command of General Terry. About 
 sunrise they all got under way, — the iron-clads to attack the 
 fort, and the wooden vessels-of-war and the transports to land 
 the troops, with as much despatch as possible, some five miles 
 north of the fort, on an open sand-beach. 
 
 The Ironsides led four vessels of the monitor class, — the 
 Monadnock, with two turrets and four guns, and the Canonicus, 
 Mahopac, and Saugus, with two guns each, making ten fifteen- 
 inch spherical-shell guns. The Ironsides carried in broadside 
 seven eleven-inch guns and an eight-inch rifle in broadside, a 
 formidable battery against a sand fort, making, with the moni- 
 tors, eighteen available guns. As soon as they were within 
 eighteen hundred yards, the fort opened fire on them, which was 
 quite disregarded until they anchored as near the beach as their 
 draught would permit. The Ironsides was then about one 
 thousand and the nearest monitor seven hundred yards from the 
 fort. Then a shell or so was throw r n from each vessel with a 
 
408 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 carefully -studied elevation : as soon as they obtained the range 
 they opened fire, which was actually maintained by some of 
 them, without cessation, for three days and two nights. 
 
 In the mean time, the wooden vessels-of-war and the army 
 transports had anchored near the beach, and the process of 
 debarkation went on rapidly. A few shells had been previously 
 thrown into the brushwood, to arouse any lurking enemy. At 
 once a large herd of cattle, frightened at the bursting shells in 
 the wood, rushed wildly to the beach. They had been provided 
 for the garrison of the fort, but surrendered unconditionally, 
 and were doubtless found useful auxiliaries. 
 
 At two p.m. half of the army force had landed. The second 
 line of vessels, led by Alden in the Brooklyn, and followed by 
 twelve gun-boats, left soon after, and anchored in position out- 
 side of the iron-clads and a little to the northward, so as to 
 destroy the guns on the land face, — the intended line of approach 
 of the land force in making an assault. The arrival of our 
 line was the cause of increased activity in the batteries of the 
 enemy : they had sobered down a good deal under the discipline 
 of the iron-clads since the morning. The heavy vessels-of-war 
 left the landing of the troops and got into position only a little 
 before sunset, having been delayed an hour by the fouling of 
 the screw of the Minnesota, the leading vessel, commanded by 
 Lanman. The third division and the reserve line, composed of 
 the weaker vessels, remained to complete the landing of the 
 troops and all the stores, which was effected by noon of the 
 next day. 
 
 I recall no sight during the war more superbly grand than 
 the bombardment of that evening. As the sun went down and 
 the shadows fell upon the waters, the waning light made the 
 bursting shells flash out in the obscurity, as did the guns of the 
 enemy, — so far as they were served against such odds. Far 
 above, on the fleecy clouds, rested the rosy hues from the 
 departed sun ; and underneath, in heavy masses, not high above 
 the fort, lay the smoke-clouds of battle. It was superlatively 
 grand. But soon the shadows darkened into obscurity, and the 
 wooden ships were withdrawn from action. All that livelong 
 night did the iron-clads send their shells, slowly and effectively, 
 
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT FISHER. 499 
 
 and, as found necessary, they were supplied with ammunition 
 from tugs, during that and the following night. 
 
 In the forenoon of the next day the wooden vessels of all 
 classes came in on the lines assigned them, the frigates about a 
 mile from the fort, and the double-enders forming another line, 
 stretching away towards the entrance of the river, where the 
 Mound and Buchanan batteries were located. The fleet, as 
 before, directed their fire at the particular guns assigned them. 
 The commanders of the vessels were satisfied and gratified at 
 the effect of the shells on parapets, traverses, and the guns of 
 the enemy. Fifteen-inch shells with bursting charges of thirteen 
 pounds, eleven-inch shells with bursting charges of six pounds, 
 did their work superbly, and even nine-inch shells with bursting 
 charges of only three pounds were not to be despised, and, 
 besides, there were a great many of them. Where the shells 
 fell a crater would appear, and the ability of the enemy to fight 
 the guns was in a large degree destroyed by the masses of sand 
 continually thrown around them. Asa result, some of his guns 
 were feebly served, and the greater number were silent. When 
 the fort no longer replied, the guns of the fleet would be made 
 to fire slowly ; one gim at a time from every vessel would then 
 be directed, as at target-practice, against the particular object. 
 The enemy at times would be induced by this slow firing to 
 open fire again, but only to receive such a storm of shells in 
 return as to squelch him. One of my Confederate friends who 
 was in the fort told me recently that the effect of the fire was so 
 damaging and overwhelming that they literally could do nothing ; 
 great logs of wood, fifty feet in length, on the parapet, would 
 be thrown from their beds and tossed in the air by a shell that 
 had buried itself in the parapet. When nightfall of the second 
 day came, and the wooden vessels were again withdrawn, cer- 
 tainly the fort had a sorry appearance, and many of the guns 
 had been rendered useless. 
 
 In an interview that night, Admiral Porter and General 
 Terry agreed upon an assault at noon on the next day. A 
 naval contingent of sixteen hundred blue-jackets and four hun- 
 dred marines was to assault the sea face ; the movement was to 
 be made from the northward along the beach to the northeast 
 
410 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 bastion. The third day, until the time of the assault, which 
 was about three o'clock, the fleet maintained a slow but constant 
 fire on the fort, without being favored with a reply. During 
 the night the army had made an extended line of pits close up 
 under the stockade of the fort on the land side, and occupied 
 them. When the assault came the movement was begun from 
 them. The troops were managed in the most courageous and 
 dexterous manner, and carried the seven most westerly traverses 
 with little loss ; then followed the most stubborn fighting from 
 traverse to traverse, the huge shells of the iron-clads clearing 
 the spaces between the traverses as the troops advanced, and 
 thus the battle raged when daylight no longer served for firing 
 shells ; our troops had then carried the bastion and a traverse, 
 or more, on the sea face. It was not until ten o'clock that the 
 enemy laid down his arms. 
 
 The blue-jackets and marines under Breese moved as soon as 
 the army began the assault ; a certain number, as a skirmish- 
 line, had dug trenches and pits at some distance from the north- 
 east bastion, and occupied them in the forenoon. The body of the 
 naval force landed later and advanced over a considerable stretch 
 of open beach, and, of necessity, in masses ; the loss was heavy, 
 and although a part of the force actually reached the stockade at 
 the bastion, its greatest use, unhappily, was to divert a very con- 
 siderable number of the enemy from the land face, upon which 
 the army attack was made. The fort was gallantly taken, 
 although the naval assaulting column did not reach the parapet. 
 
 All that night, in the distance, the sky was lurid with the 
 flames of the burning works, abandoned by the enemy. Al- 
 though the battle was over, the hand of the destroyer yet 
 lingered. At sunrise on the 15th the main magazine of the 
 fort exploded, burying two hundred or more persons, friends 
 and foes alike, beneath the falling masses. The explosion is 
 supposed to have occurred from some drunken men entering the 
 magazine with a light, expecting to find liquor. The army loss 
 in killed and wounded is given at seven hundred, and the navy 
 loss at three hundred and eighty-three, including twenty miss- 
 ing, supposed to have been blown up by the explosion. 
 
 Fort Fisher was regarded as one of the strongest earthworks 
 
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT FISHER. 4H 
 
 ever constructed as against ships. It mounted some forty guns, 
 almost without exception of heavy calibre : fifteen of them were 
 permanently disabled, generally on the land face. In the first 
 bombardment a number of our Parrot guns burst, causing a 
 serious loss of life. In the second bombardment the admiral 
 issued an order forbidding the use of rifles. Against earth- 
 works, when employed within two thousand yards, spherical shells 
 serve a more effective purpose, in my belief, than the same 
 weight of projectiles from rifles ; the latter have too much pene- 
 tration, and the bursting charges are too small to form craters. 
 
 There were thrown by the fleet into Fort Fisher twenty-two 
 thousand spherical shells, containing heavy bursting charges, 
 and weighing no less than two million two hundred thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 As we all know, a brick or stone fort can soon be destroyed 
 by rifled guns of inconsiderable power at a distance of four 
 thousand yards or more. Nevertheless, the superiority of spheri- 
 cal-shell guns against earth or stone works, when within a mile, 
 is established in the belief of most naval men, and they would 
 say the more guns brought against the earthwork the better. 
 We have reason to believe that such batteries as we fought are 
 quite within the control of the number of guns that can readily 
 be brought against them by even an insignificant naval power. 
 Perhaps for this reason naval officers of high rank in our 
 service, without exception, so far as I know, regard favorably 
 for land defence revolving turrets of large dimensions, known 
 popularly as the " Timby system." Had our forts such appen- 
 dages there would be no enfilading them, nor would it be possi- 
 ble to cover the guns with sand by shelling them, as can be 
 done with sand-batteries. To insure satisfactory working of the 
 turrets, it seems to me that they should be water-borne, which 
 would be the least expensive foundation possible for such great 
 weights. 
 
 Soon after the explosion of the powder-magazine, so fatal 
 alike to friend and foe, I landed near the Mound battery, which 
 was the most distant from the direct sea face, and also from the 
 guns looking up the sand-spit over which our assaulting force 
 had to advance. 
 
412 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 Accompanied by my boat's crew, and passing along between 
 the traverses in a sheltered spot, we came suddenly upon a woe- 
 begone little officer of a North Carolina regiment, who was 
 slightly wounded in the arm. He, in fact, disclosed himself, 
 and was in a most indignant mood, by reason of a pointed order, 
 not intended for his ears, that my boat's crew should not pick 
 up clothing lying around. He informed me, with great empha- 
 sis, that he was not half as lousy as that fellow General Butler, 
 that we had sent down there on the first bombardment to take 
 the fort, and he hadn't done it. An indignant man is always 
 honest, however unreasonable, in his belief, and, as I had not 
 come there to argue abstract questions, I simply told him to 
 join the procession, in order to deliver him over to the provost- 
 marshal as a prisoner of war. We soon fell in with Admiral 
 Porter and joined him, passing northward along the sea face, 
 and afterwards the face looking towards the sand-spit and the 
 sea lying northward of the fort. I fully subscribed to the con- 
 tinuous remarks of the admiral : " Well, this gun could not be 
 served," etc. It was a scene of actual desolation. After we 
 reached the bastion between the sea face and that looking land- 
 ward, we saw lying between the traverses many brave, stalwart 
 fellows in the sleep of death. Leaning against one traverse, 
 in an easy sitting posture, was a handsome youth, who in 
 life must have been a gentleman ; his features were so natural 
 that nothing but the glassy eye revealed the fact that he was 
 dead. 
 
 For a month before our first bombardment the vessel I com- 
 manded had been blockading off the fort, and I had watched 
 the continuous lines of wheelbarrows carrying sand to place on 
 the casemates or bomb-proofs and build up traverses that we in 
 a few hours of bombardment scattered and reduced to a purpose- 
 less mass. This labor, and the campaigns of the war, plain food, 
 and the abnegation gone through, whether forced or otherwise, 
 had built up splendid specimens of manhood, such as now 
 covered the spaces between the traverses. 
 
 In relation to the bombardment, my friend Captain John 
 Pembroke Jones, of the Confederate navy, of whom I have 
 already made mention, wrote as follows : 
 
DRESSING THE SHIP WITH GREEN. 41 3 
 
 " Thank you for the interesting notice of the Fort Fisher 
 fight, As far as my experience went, that was your ablest effort 
 in the great war. It was the triumph of pluck and persistence 
 to take such a fortress from the open ocean in midwinter and so 
 near the gales of Hatteras. I did not think the weather would 
 permit you to succeed, but it remained calm and pleasant as if 
 ordered for your benefit. The fire from the fleet was magnifi- 
 cent and fearful. I was in a bomb-proof on the sea face that 
 w T as made of heavy gauging timber covered with sand, and I 
 saw the whole fight face to face. After my bomb-proof was 
 crushed by the continuous heavy shot and shells, I retreated on 
 foot across the entire inner area of the fort, a Ions distance, and 
 exposed to a shower of shell and fragments, indelibly impressed 
 on my memory for life. There was in my path such a mass of 
 smoking shot, shell and fragments mixed with the same just 
 arriving, some rolling, some squealing over my head, some 
 ricocheting, some bursting, and many smoking at the fuse as if 
 about to burst as I stepped over them, that it looked like a 
 section of Dante's Inferno." 
 
 When the Mohican was lying off Beaufort harbor, just before 
 our leaving for the first bombardment of Fort Fisher, I went in 
 and out of the harbor in my gig, through a boat-channel that 
 passed close to the head of Shackleford Island, across which I 
 would walk and get into the boat from the outer beach. On 
 my last return to the Mohican, Sweeny, the coxswain, and one 
 or two of the crew, asked permission to accompany me across 
 the island. As we passed a spot where cedar-bushes abounded, 
 Sweeny said, " Captain, when Farragut went into Mobile all the 
 ships were dressed with evergreens : do you think Mr. Marvin 
 would let us dress ship if we would take the bushes on board ?" 
 I said I thought he would, — that Marvin was a very good fellow. 
 The bushes were cut and taken on board in the bows of the 
 boat, and when I stepped over the ship's side I was received, as 
 is usual with commanding officers, by the executive officer. I 
 told him of Sweeny's request, and said lie should permit the 
 bushes to be kept on the quarter-deck until we were ready to go 
 into action, when Sweeny would be sent for to display his taste 
 in decorating the ship. 
 
414 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 When off the fort and standing in to attack it, I told the 
 executive officer to send for Sweeny and say he could set about 
 dressing ship, which he and his assistants did, much to their 
 satisfaction. I did not quite credit Sweeny's story about the 
 ships being dressed when they went into Mobile, looking upon 
 it as merely a diplomatic way of bringing his wish to my favor- 
 able consideration. We went through both bombardments with- 
 out a scratch, while several of our fleet double the distance from 
 the fort suffered from boilers exploded from the enemy's shells 
 or from other casualties. 
 
 After the second bombardment, on the morning of the assault, 
 Sweeny said to me, " Captain, you will not go on this assault 
 without taking your gig's crew with you ?" I said, " No, 
 Sweeny : if I go, you will not have to volunteer : you shall go 
 too." Younger offieers than myself led the naval part of the 
 assault, in which my gallant coxswain fell, with eleven others 
 belonging to the vessel. 
 
 Soon after the explosion of the powder-magazine, when walk- 
 ing around the ruins of Fort Sumter I met Admiral Porter, 
 as mentioned on a preceding page ; before we parted he said, 
 " On going on board of the Mohican you w r ill find orders to 
 proceed without delay to Port Royal and report to Admiral 
 Dahlgren for duty. I have orders from the Department to send 
 all the force no longer required to him. You will say on your 
 arrival that I wish you to communicate personally with General 
 Sherman with respect to my further movements against Wil- 
 mington. It will take one or two tides, or more, to get all the 
 vessels intended across the inner bar of the river, and a day or 
 so to drag for torpedoes as we go up the river, but in a very 
 few days I will occupy Wilmington." I went on board, signed 
 and sent to the flag-ship a report of our dead and wounded, and 
 had to leave to our comrades of the other ships the duty of bury- 
 ing our dead left on the sea-beach in the assault. Those who 
 wish to read of the desperate defence of Fort Fisher during 
 and after its second bombardment, and of the heroic assault and 
 capture of that work by our forces, will find a full account in 
 " The Atlantic Coast," before referred to. 
 
 The next forenoon the Mohican was at anchor in Port Royal, 
 
CALL ON MRS. ANDERSON. 415 
 
 and I went on board of the flag-ship to report the arrival of the 
 vessel to Admiral Dahlgren for duty under his command. I 
 stated the request of Admiral Porter that I should communicate 
 personally with General Sherman in Savannah and give him 
 a confidential message. It was thought more convenient to send 
 me in a tug through Skull Creek than for me to take the Mo- 
 hican around by sea and anchor in the river below the obstruc- 
 tions some miles from the city. I left early the next morning, 
 and was eight hours reaching Savannah ; the tug was miserably 
 slow, from her boiler-power being worn out and from her having 
 a foul bottom. On reaching the head-quarters of General 
 Sherman I told him that Admiral Porter had requested that I 
 should see him to say that several days would probably pass 
 before he could reach Wilmington, owing to the difficulty of 
 getting his vessels across the inner bar, and additional time 
 necessary to drag the river for the torpedoes that the enemy had 
 probably planted in it. The general told me a message had just 
 been flagged from Port Royal that Wilmington had been taken. 
 I told him I felt sure it was a mistake, as I doubted even the 
 arrival of any vessel from off Wilmington since I had brought 
 the Mohican in, about thirty-six hours before ; at all events, the 
 vessels could not have got into the river and dragged it for tor- 
 pedoes since I had left. The general said good news would keep, 
 and he would not give it publicity until it should be confirmed. I 
 sent the tug back immediately on my arrival at Savannah, and 
 returned to Port Royal on board of the Leary, an army trans- 
 port, thirty-six hours later. On my taking leave, General 
 Sherman told me to say to Admiral Dahlgren that he intended 
 to move as soon as the rains ceased, and that his march would 
 cut off Charleston and insure its evacuation ; so really there 
 would be no advantage in taking Charleston, however ample his 
 force might be. 
 
 Before leaving Savannah, I went to see the wife and family 
 of my friend Anderson, who for many years before the war had 
 been mayor of that city. After the taking of Fort McAllister, 
 General Sherman was on the point of investing the city, when 
 General Hardee, commanding the Confederate forces, escaped 
 across the river into South Carolina with twelve or fifteen thou- 
 
416 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 sand men to join General Johnston, Anderson's command being 
 a part. With Mrs. Anderson were her three daughters, the 
 eldest perhaps twenty years of age, the second fifteen, and the 
 third eight or ten, and a son, still younger. On my being 
 announced, the children came down pell-mell to see me, and 
 greeted me in the most affectionate manner ; the younger ones 
 inquired when I had last seen them. I replied, " Never : you 
 were born several years after I was last in this city." Mrs. 
 Anderson came in after a time, and was a little stiff, although I 
 saw she felt rather uncomfortable in that attitude. She soon 
 taunted me by saying, " This is a nice business you are engaged 
 in, coming along our coasts to rob us of our slaves." I said 
 that was not at all the object of our visit ; the slaves leaving 
 them was a mere incident : besides, I was quite surprised at her 
 expression in regard to the slaves ; I recalled the fact that when 
 I was last under her roof she had said that she wished Anderson 
 did not own a slave, — that it imposed upon her not only great 
 labor, but great disgust. I at that time consoled her by saying 
 that nobody was a free agent, and they had to accept and bear 
 it as a burden for which they were not responsible. Now, in 
 her mind, the negro seemed to be a great comfort and a blessing, 
 whereas years before she had regarded him as an annoyance and 
 a sorrow. 
 
 Before I left the city I called again. I told Mrs. Anderson 
 that she knew well the affectionate relation that had existed for 
 so many years between her husband and myself, and, although 
 I knew nothing about their financial affairs, I knew that war 
 generally impoverished everybody whose property was within the 
 march of armies, and if I could assist her financially it would 
 be a great pleasure for me to do so. She was aware, too, that 
 nobody was dependent on me, nor had I any obligation in life 
 that demanded a call on my purse, which, although not large, 
 was ample, I hoped, to meet her wants and those of her children. 
 She thanked me, and said she thought they could get along very 
 well without assistance ; that she had in her house as boarders 
 several officers of our army who were gentlemen, and she hoped 
 she would be able to meet the family expenses. I told her it 
 was my belief that her boarders would profit more from the 
 
TEE OGEECEEE. 417 
 
 association than she would, from a pecuniary point of view. 
 After my return to the Mohican at Port Royal it occurred to 
 me that the very natural pride of Mrs. Anderson had caused 
 her without sufficient reflection to refuse to accept what she 
 actually needed, and for that reason I sent by express several 
 hundred dollars to her, with a note saying that perhaps she might 
 really need it, and, if so, she should keep it as a loan : if Ander- 
 son could repay me afterwards, very well j if not, it would 
 make no difference, as I would not need it. In return, I 
 received a very affectionate note of thanks, saying that she 
 would gladly accept, and that she really needed the money. 
 Before I went North I sent her as much more, and wrote that 
 on my arrival North I should arrange for sending a monthly 
 allowance sufficient to support her and her children until Ander- 
 son got home j virtually the war was over, and his marching 
 around the country as a soldier under Hardee was pure nonsense ; 
 he would far better come home and take care of her and the 
 children. 
 
 Two months later, and before I had made arrangements to 
 carry out my expressed intentions, I received a letter from 
 Anderson in Savannah, he having gone home on the disbanding 
 of the army. He thanked me warmly for my kindness to his 
 family, but expressed a doubt as to his ever being able to repay 
 me, — which, however, he did a year or so later. I would not 
 have accepted the face value of what I had sent, as I wrote 
 him, had he not been one of the men who had aided in depreci- 
 ating the currency, which in round numbers was two hundred 
 and fifty for gold, and, when returned to me, perhaps one hun- 
 dred per cent, discount. 
 
 On my return to Port Royal the admiral put the Mohican to 
 towing coal -schooners to Charleston to supply the monitors and 
 other vessels blockading. After some ten days and nights had 
 been spent in this work, he ordered the vessel to the blockade 
 of the Ogeechee River, to go as high up as possible. Owing 
 to shoal water and piling, the vessel could get no higher than the 
 vicinity occupied by the monitors when they shelled McAllister. 
 As our forces were then in occupancy of Savannah, there could 
 be no advantage to us in destroying a railroad bridge above us 
 
 27 
 
418 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 which General Sherman would have destroyed had he wished, 
 when he was there, and this destruction would have been neces- 
 sary to the literal fulfilment of my order. The enemy had 
 placed a great many torpedoes in the river, to explode by con- 
 tact, one of which had done so under the bottom of the Montauk, 
 and would have sunk her had not circumstances favored her 
 being kept afloat. Nearly one year after I had left the Ogeechee, 
 I read in a newspaper of a schooner passing in those waters 
 that had struck a torpedo and been sunk by it. It had probably 
 been placed there more than two years before it had shown its 
 efficacy. 
 
 In landing troops north of Fort Fisher at the time of the 
 first bombardment, forty boats belonging to vessels-of-war were 
 capsized, several men were drowned, and many were maimed, 
 and the ammunition wetted, from the lack of adaptation of such 
 boats to land troops on an exposed sand- beach in a rough sea. 
 I designed a cask raft, went on one of the islands, selected the 
 best timber available, cut it, brought it on board, whip-sawed 
 it into planks, and constructed what is still known in the navy 
 as the Ammen balsa. It served at least as a pattern to make 
 others capable of landing troops and munitions on exposed 
 beaches in surfs which would be impracticable with the boats 
 which vessels-of-war usually carry. 
 
 The Mohican was kept in the Ogeechee until the 9th of 
 March, as uselessly employed as ever vessel was. In washing 
 ship around, the crew of a boat punched a hole through the 
 side-planking a foot or more in length and several inches in 
 width, through which a very fair view of the berth-deck could 
 be had. This damage was effected by means of an ordinary 
 boat-hook having a knob at the end of the spike part. I made 
 an official statement and application for a survey on the vessel, 
 and, as ordered, proceeded to Port Royal, where a survey was 
 held and the vessel was directed to proceed to Hampton Roads, 
 via Beaufort, to obtain the spars that I had left on shore there 
 several months before. We sailed two days later. Off the 
 capes of the Chesapeake we saw one of the most remarkable 
 refractions that I have ever seen ; vessels appeared that were 
 below the horizon, and over them their inverted images, the 
 
SURRENDER OF LEE'S ARMY. 419 
 
 mast-heads touching. Such sights are rare : I suppose I have 
 seen much the same perhaps half a dozen times in my twenty- 
 one years passed afloat. 
 
 We entered Hampton Roads on the 15th, and received orders 
 to take the vessel to Washington Navy- Yard. After lying 
 there until the 2d of April, we were ordered to the Boston 
 Navy- Yard, where we arrived on the 10th. The news of the 
 surrender of Lee's army on the following day made the people 
 absolutely wild with excitement; every one seemed filled to 
 overflowing with liquor, and many unmistakably were so. 
 Knowing the thoroughly rotten condition of the ship, I had 
 felt a great deal of apprehension in bringing her North at that 
 season of the year. Had we encountered a heavy gale, the 
 chances of weathering it would have been much against us; 
 but I said nothing about this to any one on board. On the 
 25th of April the vessel was put out of commission and the 
 officers granted the usual leave. I left in the store-room under 
 the cabin a small trunk, which was broken open before the next 
 day, and my official and other papers taken : they were of no 
 value to the thief, but their loss was a great inconvenience to me. 
 The civil war was over; we had a respite, with nothing to 
 disturb the even tenor of our way. War is a sad thing; 
 humanity justly shudders when well-meaning men, men without 
 enmity, are pitted against one another, without any just cause 
 for combat. There seems to be no explanation why wars are 
 waged, and will be waged to the end of time, other than the 
 unhappy fact that the prejudices of men far outweigh their 
 reason. 
 
420 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 In Command of the Miantonomah — Description of the Vessel — She is sent 
 abroad — The Author detached — Consult with General Grant as to the Prac- 
 ticability of a Ship-Canal across the Isthmus — Proposed Visit to Secretary 
 Seward — Discuss the Ship-Canal — Acquisition of Alaska — Visit to Francis 
 P. Blair — An Unruly Horse — General Grant tells a Story of being thrown 
 by a Colt, when a Boy — Visit to the United States of Admiral Tegethoff, 
 of the Austrian Navy — The French in Mexico — General Grant " swing- 
 ing around the Circle" with President Johnson and Admiral Farragut — 
 Am appointed on a Board to examine Volunteer Officers of the Navy — 
 General Grant as Secretary of War — He discourses of President Johnson — 
 Governor Swann, of Maryland— Am ordered in Command of the Flag- 
 ship Piscataqua. 
 
 During the civil war our naval force was constantly increas- 
 ing; and at its close we were just completing a class of steam- 
 frigates fast for the time, and several improved vessels of the 
 monitor type, among them the Miantonomah. That vessel was 
 put in commission at the Brooklyn Navy- Yard in October, 1865. 
 She was to be a show-ship at Washington, and I was ordered 
 to the command. In speed, strength of hull, and comfort, the 
 Miantonomah was a great improvement over any of the turret- 
 ships built previously. She had no "overhang," as had the 
 monitor class, and, as bilge-keels were not then in use with us, 
 she had none ; I was agreeably surprised, on getting to sea, to 
 find that she did not roll so deeply as I had feared. Her steam- 
 power was small for her displacement, and we were content to 
 go along at the rate of eleven knots an hour in the Potomac 
 on our voyage to Washington, where we arrived in November. 
 Somebody in the Brooklyn Navy- Yard who wished the vessel 
 to go down at sea had placed a quantity of wire in the valves ; 
 but his malice was ineffective, as it only caused them to leak. 
 On our arrival, tens of thousands of people came on board to 
 look at the vessel. At that time, in my belief, she was the 
 strongest vessel-of-war afloat, being armed with four fifteen-inch 
 guns, with relatively rapid and easy methods of serving them, 
 as compared with other vessels of that time. The monitors 
 
PRACTICABILITY OF A SHIP-CANAL. 421 
 
 designed by Ericsson were singularly deficient in model and in 
 steam-power. No one was better able to appreciate the factors 
 that permit speed than he ; in his mind, doubtless, the exact 
 amount of flotation to carry the guns and the steam-power 
 requisite to take them in and out of action at a low rate of 
 speed constituted all that was necessary to their efficiency. 
 
 In the early part of 1866 the Navy Department determined 
 to send the Miantonomah abroad. General Grant exerted him- 
 self in vain to prevent this unwise action. Her voyage furnished 
 an incentive to European powers to compete in the construction 
 of armored ships, which has continued in force to the present 
 time, to the end that the last one built should be in point of size, 
 armor plating, and battery more formidable than any that had 
 preceded. 
 
 About the middle of April, on my application, I was detached 
 from the command of the Miantonomah. A month later she 
 left, accompanied by the Augusta, and visited most of the ports 
 of Europe. She was received by the Russians at Cronstadt 
 with special favor. From the newspaper accounts published in 
 England at the time, the vessel was an astonishment to the 
 British, and her superiority in power to any vessel afloat was 
 acknowledged. At present, she would be a mere pygmy in size, 
 armor plating, or armament, in comparison with almost every 
 vessel that Great Britain would rely upon in the event of war. 
 
 During this winter in Washington, when in command of the 
 Miantonomah, I saw much of General Grant, and brought to 
 his notice the great importance of ascertaining whether a ship- 
 canal was practicable across the American isthmus. It was a 
 question that had to be settled, as Humboldt had suggested, by 
 extended surveys before the United States could have a deter- 
 minate policy, recognized by Jefferson in 1788, a third of a 
 century later by Clay, and later still, in 1833, by Jackson, who 
 sent a special agent to Central America to look into the matter. 
 Yet some self-styled " Jeifersonian Democrats" consider the 
 construction of the canal of little moment, and express entire in- 
 difference as to whether if constructed it shall be under American 
 or European control. I shall have more to say on the subject 
 in the following pages. 
 
422 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 In February, 1866, General Grant proposed that I should go 
 with him to see Mr. Seward ; and, in order not to trench upon 
 his official time, we made our visit in the evening at his resi- 
 dence. The general stated his belief in the great advantage of 
 making a thorough reconnoissanee of the isthmus, and remarked 
 that the route that offered the greatest advantages having been 
 determined, the survey should be as perfect as possible, and, if 
 the canal should be found commercially practicable, its construc- 
 tion should be forwarded. Before we left, General Grant sug- 
 gested that we should pay Mr. Seward a visit at the Department 
 at any time he might name. The Secretary named a day which 
 General Grant said would not permit his attendance, as he was 
 obliged to be in New York just then on official business, and 
 he suggested that I should go, which was assented to. At the 
 time named, I sent my card to Mr. Seward, and was informed 
 that, owing to the death of Mr. King, of New York, who had 
 committed suicide by jumping from a ferry-boat, he was in con- 
 sultation with friends and could not see me. I left a message 
 that at any time he might wish to see me I should be entirely 
 at his service. Later on, the general told me that he would not 
 go to see Mr. Seward again ; for that should he do so he felt 
 satisfied he would hate him. I did not ask what had occurred, 
 but had no doubt that he had seen Mr. Seward, and with that 
 very result. Yet we see it stated of Secretary Seward that he 
 was the ardent promoter of the canal inquiry, and the advocate 
 of forwarding its construction. 
 
 One morning, on my going into General Grant's office, he 
 asked if I had heard the news of the acquisition of Alaska by 
 treaty. I expressed my surprise and gratification. The general 
 remarked that he had not thought of it at all ; it had never 
 been presented to him one way or the other. I said that there 
 was little doubt in my mind that the deep-sea fisheries would be 
 found very valuable, and, if so, they would attract a large 
 population inured to the sea, which would secure to us the con- 
 trol of the Pacific, by having proper vessels-of-war on the west 
 coast to dominate those seas, should we have a war. No nation 
 would be disposed to dispute our supremacy of those seas when 
 our advantages were so obvious. We alreadv knew that the 
 
AN UNRULY HORSE. 423 
 
 salmon-fisheries were profitable, and there was reason to believe 
 that the timber for knees on the Yukon River would prove of 
 great value. I was not then aware that iron knees had already 
 taken the place of wooden ones in ship-construction abroad, and 
 were on the point of doing so with us. 
 
 General Comstock, chief of staff, came in, and had something- 
 to say depreciatory of the Alaskan acquisition. General Grant 
 said that I thought very highly of it, and had given reasons 
 worth considering. There are many obvious reasons to-day 
 sustaining the advantage of that acquisition, but they will only 
 be fully appreciated after the opening of the Nicaragua Canal, 
 when the vast timber-supply of that region will be brought into 
 requisition. 
 
 I had known the family of Francis P. Blair for a number 
 of years. His third son, James, and myself were classmates 
 and shipmates on board the frigate Macedonian when I" entered 
 the navy. The first person pointed out to me in Washington by 
 my friend Hamer, who got me my appointment and brought me 
 on, as already stated, was Mr. Blair. He said, " Look at that 
 man riding so fast along the avenue : his political enemies call 
 him ' Death on the Pale Horse.' You have heard of that picture, 
 have you not?" For a considerable number of years before 
 the civil war Mr. Blair had lived during the summer at Silver 
 Spring, a locality six miles north of Washington, aud later, he 
 lived there the year round. He was a gentleman of rare humor 
 and agreeability, always willing to laugh if the occasion war- 
 ranted it. The only means of reaching Silver Spring at that 
 time was by carriage or on horseback, and the latter was always 
 my mode of going anywhere, in the region round Washington. 
 Mentioning to General Grant that it was my intention to pay 
 a visit to Mr. Blair, either he or General Comstock proposed 
 that I should ride the latter's horse. At the hour named the 
 horse was brought to my door, and I mounted. The animal 
 was a powerful gray. On the road out, he did not seem to wish 
 to go directly ahead, but would go sideways, and of course 
 crossed the road again and again all the time, and pranced, so 
 that when I had dismounted at Silver Spring, a distance of six 
 miles, I reckoned that the horse had gone double that distance, 
 
424 THE OLD NAVF AND THE NEW. 
 
 and I one-half more. Although the day was cold, his exertions 
 had thrown his neck into a lather and wetted the reins, and 
 when I mounted to return to Washington he carried me a good 
 deal faster than I wished to go. 
 
 At Mr. Blair's there were several Southern gentlemen who 
 had come out in a carriage. We dined with Mr. Blair, and 
 it was late when we got ready to return. There was snow 
 on the ground, and after the gentlemen had got some start 
 into the main road, which, although macadamized, was very 
 muddy, I mounted, and soon found that the humor of my 
 horse had entirely changed ; he no longer pranced nor wished 
 to go sideways, but went straight ahead, and as fast as he 
 could tear. I passed my Southern friends like a shot; they 
 yelled after me to know why I rode so fast. It was quite in- 
 voluntary on my part. Had I been able to hold the horse I 
 should have told them it was his whim, not mine. The wetted 
 reins slipped through my fingers, and he had it all his own way ; 
 and for a mile or two we went at a breakneck speed, much to 
 my chagrin. On reaching the top of a considerable hill, with a 
 steep slope before me, I wheeled the horse into the recess of a 
 high board fence on the right, so that he had either to restrain 
 himself, or to break his neck against it. My object in this 
 manoeuvre was to dismount, lead him down the hill, and re- 
 mount at the foot of it, where a considerable up grade would 
 give me an advantage in controlling him. This I did, but I 
 had no sooner mounted again than he tore furiously up the hill, 
 and on reaching the summit his wind was hardly impaired ; 
 away we went down the next slope at such a pace that a looker- 
 on would have wondered what inspired the rider to such reck- 
 lessness. We were on the Seventh Street road, and, seeing a large 
 open plain on my right made bare by a recent large encampment 
 of troops, I directed our course over it. The nearly full moon 
 was sufficiently high to light the surroundings, and as I sped 
 over that plain upon that powerful horse, I thought of the story 
 of the Wild Huntsman that I had read as a boy, and smiled at 
 it ; but then came in a flash a sense of the reality ; it was a 
 question whether at any moment I would not have my brains 
 knocked out. I lost my cap in my rapid flight ; a ravine was 
 
GENERAL GRANT THROWN BY A COLT. 425 
 
 near at hand, worn in the clay, and I put the horse into that, 
 and sped onward without abatement. On my right was Co- 
 lumbia College, and in front of it hundreds of army-wagons 
 parked. I turned the horse among them to bring him up, 
 either by breaking his neck or demanding his exertions in 
 abating his speed. On his coming to a stand I dismounted, and 
 found that my efforts to restrain him had sprained my right 
 hip-joint ; and yet, rather than ride him into the city I led him 
 more than a mile, to his stable, of course without a covering for 
 my head, for I had left my cap miles away. It might well 
 have been called an unconditional surrender, and that horse was 
 the only one that ever got the " weather-gage" of me. 
 
 When I told General Grant of this ride, tears came into his 
 eyes, not tears of sympathy with a friend who has been in im- 
 minent peril, but of irrepressible enjoyment of the ludicrousness 
 of my situation. Indeed, I may say of such a ride, that the 
 man who made it is the only one who would not be amused at 
 it. On a subsequent visit Mr. Blair " pumped it out" of me, 
 and enjoyed it as much as General Grant. I never attempted 
 to ride that horse again. General Grant said that my mistake 
 was in not carrying an anchor and letting it go at the proper 
 time and veering away cable to bring him up with a round 
 turn. 
 
 The general then told me that when he was a boy and I had 
 gone to sea he went to my father and asked the loan of a small 
 sorrel colt that I had been in the habit of riding. My father 
 said his only objection was that he feared the horse would throw 
 him, that he threw my brother, who was eight years older than 
 I, and every one who attempted to ride him, except myself. He 
 replied that he was not at all afraid of being thrown. So the 
 horse was bridled, and a saddle blanket strapped on, which was 
 the way we rode as boys ; he mounted, the colt went off at a 
 gallop for some distance until he came to a small stream ; when 
 in the middle of it in an instant he threw his forefeet forward, 
 and his head down, and the rider vaulted over his head into the 
 mud and water. Having disposed of his load, the colt turned 
 and ran home at full speed. Young Grant met my father com- 
 ing in haste, fearing he had sustained some injury. On meet- 
 
426 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 ing him my father expressed his gratification that no further 
 mishap had occurred than his being wet and muddy. 
 
 In my riding since that time I have frequently been thrown 
 by mules and donkeys, but, until two years ago, never by 
 a horse. I was mounted on an animal that I had broken as 
 a colt, very quick in its movements, but withal well disposed. 
 As a colt it would kick at everything, and only quit that vicious 
 habit from my always giving it sugar when it was brought up 
 for my ride. The horse wished to turn, as usual, on a road, 
 and I wished to go straight ahead, and, as the animal insisted 
 on its movement, I drew the reins smartly around, and batted 
 him with a whip, which caused him to rear and plunge and set 
 to bucking in rough ground covered with high grass that con- 
 cealed the ruts. In these irregular movements my hat flew off, 
 and in an attempt to recover it I threw my right hand so far 
 out as to lose my balance and fall over the neck of the horse 
 into the grass, some distance ahead. I feared he would become 
 frightened and in running step upon me. Instead of starting 
 to run, however, he put his head down and began to crop the 
 grass with great avidity ; he had no idea that I had been thrown j 
 in his idea I had only taken an unusual way of dismounting. 
 
 During the winter, Admiral Tegethoff, of the Austrian Navy, 
 paid a visit to Washington. At his request I went with him to 
 a reception of General Grant. We went early, and he had an 
 agreeable interview ; when it came to getting out it was found 
 difficult ; an immense crowd set steadily in, and after a fruitless 
 endeavor for some time I suggested another mode of exit. We 
 went through a back door and gained the street, much to the satis- 
 faction and amusement of the admiral. Pie gave me a graphic 
 account of the battle of Lissa, in which he gained a victory over 
 a superior force. I shall have more to write in relation to this 
 battle. 
 
 The presence of the French in Mexico was very distasteful to 
 General Grant. He asked me whether in the event of a war 
 with France our navy would be able to hold the ports of Mexico 
 in the Gulf. I replied, " Yes ; for the most part it is made up 
 of rattle-traps, but we have vessels that will be able to do that 
 work." Some months later, he told me that Mr. Seward had 
 
APPOINTED TO EXAMINE VOLUNTEER OFFICERS. 427 
 
 written demanding the withdrawal of the French troops from 
 Mexico, and was very much surprised at the ready compliance 
 of the French government. He said Sheridan was on the Rio 
 Grande with seventy thousand troops, ready to cross over, and 
 if the French were not willing to go he had the force to drive 
 them out. Their being in Mexico was in itself an insult to us, 
 and was based upon the false idea that we could not maintain 
 the integrity of the Union. 
 
 After I left Washington I did not meet General Grant until 
 he was " swinging around the circle" with President Johnson, 
 accompanied by Admiral Farragut. When he passed through 
 York, Pennsylvania, where I was then living, he sent me a 
 telegram to meet him at the railroad station. Perhaps on no 
 other occasion have I seen General Grant discomposed. He did 
 not like " swinging around the circle." I lived until the autumn 
 at York on leave of absence, and had the sympathy of Father 
 Murray, who told me " he hoped I would soon get employment." 
 I remarked that the Navy Department knew where I was, and 
 I had great confidence that I would not be forgotten. Much to 
 his relief, early in the winter " employment" was given me as a 
 member of a board of officers appointed by a law of Congress 
 for the examination and admission of such volunteer officers of 
 the navy as were found adaptable. The Board was convened at 
 Hartford, Connecticut, and had been sitting for several months 
 without having examined many, owing to the length of time 
 occupied in the examination of each one, and the fear inspired 
 among the volunteer officers that it would prove of such a nature 
 as to forbid their success. With an increase of the number of 
 the Board a division of labor was made, and with a less ex- 
 penditure of time a much larger number appeared and were 
 passed upon. These examinations resulted in the admission into 
 the navy of some fifty volunteer officers, who with a very few 
 exceptions have proven themselves in every way worthy, and in 
 many cases especially so. The following spring the Board con- 
 vened at intervals in Washington as batches of officers arrived 
 from abroad, or, if honorably discharged, obtained the requisite 
 authority from the Department to be examined. When in 
 Washington I had the pleasure of meeting General Grant fre- 
 
428 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 quently. I usually was his guest aud was invited almost daily 
 to a drive over the country in a buggy, a recreation that he did 
 not wish to forego. In the early autumn, owing to the perturbed 
 condition of the political situation, he spoke freely to me. He 
 is known as the " silent man," as the "sphinx" to interviewers, 
 and to persons who approached him in whom he had no confi- 
 dence; he knew well that they were not disposed to present 
 what he said as he said it, — unless it suited their purpose, but 
 to misrepresent all that he said to suit their ends ; he had learned, 
 too, that it was idle to attempt to contradict what these irresponsi- 
 ble men uttered as coming from him ; therefore in their presence 
 he was silent. At the time of his appointment as acting Secre- 
 tary of War through the dismissal of Stanton, I was his guest ; 
 on coming home, he said to me, " I am now acting Secretary of 
 War. I accepted the position reluctantly, and would not have 
 done so at all, were it not to protect the Treasury against unjust 
 cotton claims. Were an unscrupulous man Secretary of War, a 
 mere scratch of his pen could defraud the country of many 
 millions of dollars, and it was to avoid the possible appointment 
 of such a man that I accepted the position." At a subsequent 
 time he said that quite two hundred millions of dollars could 
 have been stolen ; a case which he had examined previously, and 
 knew all about as fraudulent, had come before him so admirably 
 hedged around with legal testimony that it could not have failed 
 to pass ; he sent for the applicant, who, upon being confronted 
 with proofs that were undeniable, was forced to admit that the 
 claim was fraudulent. 
 
 In October, 1867, on one of these drives, General Grant said 
 that he believed that Mr. Johnson meditated a violent subversion 
 of the government, and to that end Governor Swann, of Mary- 
 land, was his abettor. Swann was organizing his militia, and had 
 made requisitions for field-artillery to which, under recent laws, 
 the State was entitled, but he had "pigeon-holed" this requisition. 
 He had sent General Emory over the State, and was well in- 
 formed as to the organization ; he had felt disposed to write 
 Governor Swann that " he had his eye upon him," but had de- 
 termined, on a full consideration of the situation, to write nothing, 
 but simply to be prepared. 
 
ORDERED IN COMMAND OF FLAGSHIP PISCATAQUA. 429 
 
 In October I went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to the 
 flag-ship Piscataqua, bound to the Asiatic station. A mutual 
 friend of Rear-Admiral Rowan and myself had previously 
 written me to inquire if I was willing to be ordered, and I re- 
 plied certainly, that I did not think an admiral should go beg- 
 ging for a captain, but should name any one on the list eligible, 
 and the Department should order him. In my belief " belong- 
 ing to a service" implies an obligation to serve; and I have 
 always endeavored to fulfil this obligation. It was, however, a 
 disappointment to me, as I had hoped to get command of a 
 vessel to go to the coast of Alaska, to ascertain the existence of 
 cod and halibut fishing-grounds, and of timber suitable for 
 naval purposes, which I thought from my reading would be 
 found of especial value along the banks of the Yukon River. 
 Even then, the time for the profitable use of wooden knees in 
 large vessels had passed, but I had not become aware of the fact. 
 On the other hand, the existence of immense forests of yellow 
 cedar and of firs of several species was not known to me or the 
 public. These forests extend from Puget Sound to the north- 
 west for hundreds of miles, covering the islands of an immense 
 archipelego, quite accessible to transportation, and without res- 
 ervation the finest timber on the globe for utilization. The 
 yellow cedar grows perhaps to larger dimensions on Princess 
 Charlotte's Island than in any other locality, although it abounds 
 in immense tracts everywhere north of Puget Sound in the region 
 referred to. The Indians on that island make canoes by digging 
 out the trunks of these trees, and sell them to other Indians on 
 that coast. Such a canoe may be seen in the National Museum 
 in Washington fifty-nine feet in length and of eight feet beam; 
 another in the city of New York, at the Museum near Eighty- 
 first Street and the elevated road, seventy feet in length, and of 
 ten feet beam. The wood is easily worked, is very durable, does 
 not warp, and when polished is as beautiful as maple. These 
 timber lands will prove of immense value to Europe as well as 
 to our Atlantic coast as soon as the Nicaragua Canal is completed, 
 an event much nearer at hand than many intelligent persons have 
 any idea of. The economy of its construction and maintenance 
 is so satisfactory that were its traffic to be confined by law to the 
 
430 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 products of the Pacific coast lying north of it, and to supplying 
 the inhabitants with their commercial wants, it would even then 
 be amply remunerative to the constructors. Although I had to 
 forego a personal examination of this region twenty years ago, 
 Commander Tanner, one of the volunteer navy officers already 
 referred to, has recently examined the fishing-banks, with very 
 satisfactory results. When the canal is once opened the Banks 
 of Newfoundland, the coast of Labrador, and the Bay of Fundy 
 will have little value relatively, and will sink into insignificance 
 as political factors. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 In Command of the Flag-Ship Piscataqua — Objectionable Smoke-Stacks — 
 Sail for New York, and go into Dock — Proceed to Washington — Meet 
 General Grant — An Unsatisfactory State of Affairs — President Johnson 
 and General Grant — General Grant speaks of the Ship-Canal — A Drunken 
 Hospital Steward — Desertions — Kio Janeiro — Mr. James Watson Webb, 
 U.S. Minister — Consul Monroe — Visit to Corcovado — Simon's Bay — 
 Description of the Country and City — Meet an Old Acquaintance, and 
 commit a Faux Pas— Singapore — A Buddhist — The Eleventh Command- 
 ment — A Prodigal Son treated in a New Way — Manila — Lightning with- 
 out Thunder — Cholera. 
 
 As I have already stated, much to my distaste, I was booked 
 by a sense of obligation to go to the Asiatic Station, where I 
 had been more than twenty years before, as navigator of the 
 Vincennes. There are few officers who would have regarded a 
 cruise in Alaskan waters at that time as being attractive in any 
 degree, or as preferable to duty on the Asiatic Station. 
 
 The Piscataqua was put in commission October 24, 1867. I 
 had previously inspected her, and had called the attention of the 
 Department to the fact that she had " standing" smoke-stacks, 
 instead of " telescopic" ones, such as are usual on board of ves- 
 sels-of-war having a ship rig. I stated that this precluded the 
 use of the main-sail, the name of which indicated its relative 
 value ; that in a voyage more than half around the globe, to 
 reject the aid of the winds that a Creator has given to waft 
 
OBJECTIONABLE SMOKE-STACKS. 431 
 
 people hither and thither, and to use steam instead, would sub- 
 ject us, and justly, to the ridicule of the naval world, and I 
 asked why the smoke-stacks should not be made telescopic, like 
 those on many of our vessels. I was told that the difficulty lay 
 in making tight joints on the housing parts. I replied, " Give 
 the vessel telescopic smoke-stacks, and I will make the joints 
 tight by the use of a little clay and a canvas band." The change 
 was made in rather a bungling manner, however, the smoke- 
 stack when housed being so high that a great u roach" to the 
 main-sail was necessary. I leave to the reader to find out what 
 " roach" means, if the object does not explain it. A sister ship, 
 the Guerriere, was then on the coast of Brazil, with standing 
 smoke-stacks, the wonder of the naval world, doubtless ; for no 
 nation can afford to reject nature's gifts, — and we had just then 
 passed through a civil war and were burdened with a debt of 
 three thousand millions of dollars. 
 
 In the employment of sails without the use of steam at the 
 same time, there was still a more serious defect, which I did not 
 fully appreciate until after I had got to sea and made calcula- 
 tions, and had noted the retardation due to having to turn about 
 one hundred feet of the shaft of the propeller, or " screw," as 
 our English friends call it, which might just as well have been 
 uncoupled one hundred feet farther aft, or just forward of the 
 " dead-wood" at the stern. 
 
 On taking command, I had said to the engineer, " It seems to 
 me that this will be a great retardation." " Very little," replied 
 my scientific friend, " when the vessel has headway the shaft 
 will turn, and after the revolutions commence it will turn almost 
 without friction." I found the reverse to be the case, however, 
 and thought of what the blocks said of the boatswain when they 
 creaked. At a time when there were no friction rollers in blocks, 
 if the latter were not carefully oiled there was great friction, and 
 when they made a noise the sailors would say they were " damn- 
 ing the boatswain." So when at sea the vessel made a frightful 
 thumping in turning over one hundred feet of the shaft, and I 
 saw that she made only seven knots when otherwise she would 
 have made ten, I could not help thinking that the thumps were 
 damning the engineer who had made it necessary to turn a large 
 
432 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 part of the shaft that could have been kept quiescent by un- 
 coupling it as far aft as possible. 
 
 On the 7th of November we sailed for New York ; when at 
 sea in a fresh breeze I tacked ship, an evolution which every 
 nautical reader will understand. If the reader is ignorant in 
 this matter, he is under no moral obligation to learn. A short 
 sermon could have been preached while the vessel was " in stays," 
 but she got around, despite the drag of her propeller and her 
 length. 
 
 We were docked in New York for some purpose not now 
 remembered, and during that time I was ordered to Washington, 
 to take part in closing up the proceedings of the Examining 
 Board for the admission of volunteer officers into the Navy. 
 This was about the 8th of December, 1867. I specify the date, 
 as what follows is of historic interest. I met General Grant on 
 the steps of the War Department, — he was still acting Secretary 
 of War, — and he invited me to his office. In our conversation 
 I expressed the hope that things were in a more satisfactory 
 shape than when I had last seen him. " On the contrary," he 
 said, " I do not know what we are coming to. A few days ago 
 I had a visit of an hour or more from President Johnson, Avho 
 spoke on indifferent subjects until just before leaving, when he 
 said, ' General, there is one question in which I feel a great deal 
 of interest ; and that is, in the event of an open rupture between 
 myself and Congress, on which side you will be found. ' I 
 replied, " That will depend entirely upon which is the revolu- 
 tionary party." Of course I regarded this as strictly confiden- 
 tial, and until my return to the United States, sixteen months 
 later, made no mention of it, unless in a vague and general 
 way. The general invited me to dine with him that day, and I 
 accepted provided I should be permitted to leave on the evening 
 train. After dinner, he was good enough to drive me to the 
 depot, and on our way thither said that he greatly regretted that 
 thus far he had not been able to advance the progress of the 
 Canal question. I said it was a matter of no moment, as I felt 
 sure he would be able to do so at some future time. 
 
 On my return to New York the Pi scat aqua was ready to 
 leave the dry-dock, and as soon as possible we dropped down 
 
DESERTIONS. 433 
 
 from the navy-yard and anchored off the Battery, ready to sail 
 for the Asiatic Station. The season was unusually severe; 
 about the 13th the ice running in the river was so heavy as to 
 make it troublesome for vessels at anchor; there were heavy 
 snows, and the thermometer stood at 15° during the time. A 
 drunken hospital steward gave us a great deal of trouble through 
 his taking a large quantity of laudanum or some other narcotic : 
 he was treated on board, and briskly walked up and down the 
 deck between two attendants. He died nevertheless, and it was 
 necessary to send for the coroner and to take his body on shore 
 in very rough weather. The next day we dropped down to the 
 " Horseshoe," to avoid the ice, and lay there a day or so until 
 an easterly gale spent itself. Near us lay some European 
 steamers in quarantine, having the Asiatic cholera on board at a 
 season of the year when we suppose ourselves exempt from it, 
 but during which in some parts of Russia it then prevailed with 
 great fatality. Before leaving the anchorage off the Battery I 
 had been directed by the rear-admiral to discharge an apprentice 
 from confinement at the solicitation of his mother, who came on 
 board for the purpose. On complying with this order, I had 
 all the men in confinement brought to the mast, and said that 
 we were about going to sea, and that all of them would be 
 released with a " clean bill," but that if they had the idea that 
 this Avould continue during the cruise they would find them- 
 selves wofully deceived. Just before we got under way off the 
 Battery, I sent my aide on shore in the gig for the pilot, who 
 had not come down at the hour named. I told the aide that he 
 was sent to prevent desertion, as that would make a further 
 report to the Department necessary ; he was therefore not to 
 leave the boat, but if he could manage to buy the morning's 
 newspapers for me I should be glad if he would do so. Know- 
 ing that the boat's crew had always been sent without an officer, 
 he thought he could go a few steps from the landing, where he 
 knew there was a news-stand, without risk of a desertion ; 
 nevertheless two of the crew availed themselves of the oj)por- 
 tunity and left. On the facts being reported, I took no im- 
 mediate action, as I wished to spare the parents of my young 
 aide a disagreeable suspense in relation to him. After the 
 
 28 
 
434 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 pilot was discharged I suspended him from duty. A week 
 later I sent for him, put him on duty, and said that I was aware 
 he had left the boat to oblige me personally, which he had no 
 right to do, in disobedience of orders. If he wished to continue 
 as my aide, I had no objection ; if he preferred that I should 
 select another, I would do so : he preferred continuing, and 
 remained in the position until I left the command of the 
 ship. 
 
 Our voyage to Rio Janeiro was without incident. The Pis- 
 cataqua being a steamer allowed our making an arc of a great 
 circle as nearly as possible, not fearing to fall to leeward of 
 Cape San Roque. When we got into the trades we hauled fires, 
 and on reaching the southern limit of the northeast trades, in 
 about 8° north latitude, we steamed across the calm-belt of one 
 hundred miles more or less, and on entering the southeast trades 
 hauled our fires again, making the voyage of more than five 
 thousand five hundred miles in thirty days with a very small 
 expenditure of fuel. 
 
 After a voyage of a month nobody could fail to appreciate 
 the beauties of the approach to Rio, however many times he 
 might have visited the port. They are exquisite and unequalled. 
 At Petropolis, forty miles away, on a mountain-top, we found 
 our minister, James Watson Webb, and his agreeable family, 
 and on the opposite side of the harbor, known as Praya Grande, 
 Mr. Monroe, of Ohio, our consul. We had the pleasure of a 
 visit on board from him and his family. We gave the men a 
 run on shore, and I invited the "young gentlemen," as mid- 
 shipmen were styled, whose duties would permit, to accompany 
 me to the top of Corcovado, a peak of three thousand feet, that 
 overhangs the Botanic Gardens, in the beautiful valley and 
 indentation known as Botafogo. Half a dozen of them accepted 
 my invitation. We rode horses as high as practicable, perhaps 
 within three hundred feet of the summit. 
 
 The horses were sent back under care of keepers, and after 
 spending some time on the peak we scrambled down the southern 
 face, which, although steep, indeed precipitous, is not dangerous 
 to young and active men, as most of us were. The vegetation 
 gave ample opportunity to hold on in descending. We were 
 
VISIT TO CORCOVADO. 435 
 
 soon in the Botanic Gardens, where I saw for the first time 
 what is known in British India as the " jack-fruit" tree. It has 
 a straight clean stem to a height of thirty feet or more, and fruit, 
 shaped much like a pineapple, of forty pounds' weight, hangs 
 from the body of the tree by a short strong stem. It does not 
 grow in clusters like the cocoanut, but half a dozen or more are 
 found here and there, hanging to the body of the tree, in various 
 degrees of growth, from the embryo to the ripened fruit. It is 
 a species of bread-fruit; but the bread-fruit (proper) has no 
 seeds, while the jack-fruit has a large number of good size, that 
 are boiled and eaten, and are more prized than the pulpy sub- 
 stance that is eaten as a substitute for bread. I have not tasted 
 it, as I have the bread-fruit proper, which I consider very 
 wholesome and agreeable, and a good substitute for bread. 
 After a luncheon at one of the cafes that abound in the vicinity 
 of Rio, where they serve "Carnerona omelette" and have a 
 delicious light red wine from Portugal that is, or was in times 
 past, quite pure, — in this being unlike the fabricated French 
 wines, — we took a stroll along the broad streets flanked by 
 houses with ample porticos and gay with tiles of many colors, 
 embowered in the most superb verdure. We walked down to 
 the wharf, where we took a small steam ferry-boat with side- 
 wheels and feathering paddles of English make, and of great 
 speed, and were soon at the wharf at Rio. The streets of tiiat 
 city are so narrow that it would be impossible for two carriages 
 to pass each other, and consequently all the corners of the 
 streets have arrows painted upon them, showing the direction 
 that carriages may take. It was a city of abominable smells 
 and neglected hygiene, which has paid the inevitable penalty, in 
 the establishment of deadly fevers of many types so related and 
 yet so varied as to allow physicians little opportunity to diagnose 
 the disease before the patient is dead. Fifty years ago the 
 yellow fever was unknown in Rio ; now it is rarely absent ; and 
 in pernicious and other fevers the city seems within the past 
 ten years to have become almost as much a pest-hole as the 
 Isthmus of Panama. At the time of our visit it was compara- 
 tively healthy, but a fortnight was too long to stay, and we were 
 soon again at sea, to touch at Simon's Bay, on the south side 
 
436 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 of the Cape of Good Hope, of which I made mention in my 
 account of the cruise of the Vincennes. 
 
 The South Atlantic, both within the region of the trades and 
 up to the fortieth degree of south latitude, is one of the most 
 agreeable seas that I have visited. Calms are rare aud of short 
 duration, the temperature is delightful, and although rains and 
 mists are found near the island of Tristan d'Acunha, heavy 
 weather and squalls are infrequent. We sighted this island, 
 where, years ago, whale-ships touched to get potatoes and other 
 vegetables. It has no harbor, but the water is usually smooth 
 under its lee. After a pleasant run of ten days almost entirely 
 under sail, we anchored in Simon's Bay. It is a bight in a sandy 
 coast, without a tree in sight, but the promontory of the cape, 
 five thousand feet in height, and ranges of hills in the distance, 
 relieve the appearance of sterility. All along the beach are the 
 bones of whales in numbers, and years ago the " Golden Farmer," 
 as he styled himself, had his fences made of the huge ribs of 
 whales. Why he had a fence I could not see ; there was no 
 living beast to fence in or out. Why he called himself a 
 " farmer," nobody could tell, as there was no arable land in sight. 
 He had a sign in doggerel in alternating lines in four languages, 
 informing the passers-by between Cape Town and Simon's Bay 
 that he had all kinds of liquor for sale ; and selling them was 
 all the Golden Farmer did. 
 
 After a few days in port, and getting things in order, I sent 
 word to the midshipmen that the next day I intended visiting 
 the Constantia vineyards, starting from the vessel in the fore- 
 noon, and that I would be pleased to have any of them go with 
 me who had no duties. Half a dozen of them accepted my 
 invitation. After getting on shore we were all fairly mounted : 
 the horses being brought in from a wide region of undefined 
 limits where they were bred. They were well built and kept in 
 good condition. Some two miles out we had to cross a broad 
 sand-plain over which the tide ebbed and flowed, and the 
 discharge of a considerable water-shed, but the rainfall is in- 
 considerable in that region. We were told that there were quick- 
 sands on it that were dangerous, but there was nothing to mark 
 them. After passing this sandy plain the road leads over some 
 
MEET AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE. 437 
 
 rocky hills with steep slopes, and winds along into the interior 
 on the way to Cape Town. In daytime the road is not danger- 
 ous, but after night it is not safe. The ride was some fifteen or 
 eighteen miles, and we arrived at the vineyards about two o'clock. 
 Soon after sending in my card, I had the pleasure to see a fine- 
 looking young lady enter the room. With the appreciation of 
 the fair sex which had distinguished me long ago, I advanced 
 and told her that I had had the pleasure of her acquaintance 
 twenty years before, when the Vincennes was homeward bound 
 from the coast of China. She received this intended compli- 
 ment somewhat disdainfully, and remarked that perhaps I had 
 met some of her elder sisters at that time. I did my best to 
 apologize for my stupidity, but I felt that my attempt to recog- 
 nize her as an old and long-cherished acquaintance had met with 
 such disfavor that even the introduction of my half-dozen proteges 
 did not free me from her resentment. We were taken to the 
 vineyard by the gentlemen of the house, and to the wine-cellar, 
 and two hours before sunset we were ready to set out, in time to 
 pass the dangerous part of the road and the quicksands before 
 dark. The young lady, however, insisted that we should stay 
 to dine, — that dinner would soon be on the table ; and of course 
 we stayed. The sun was near the horizon before we left, and no 
 moon to light us on our way. I had a half suspicion that the 
 young lady revenged herself in this manner, and that she may 
 have felt a shade of disappointment when there was no news of 
 any mishap to the leader of the party. Since that time I have 
 never told a young lady that I knew her twenty years before, — 
 which shows that I was not even then too old to learn some things. 
 We passed along over the rough road, over the treacherous quick- 
 sand, and then on board in half a gale of wind, in a rough sea, 
 without damage. Old seamen long ago chanted, " There's a 
 sweet little cherub that sits up aloft/' — a sentiment that is now 
 no longer heard, or believed in, — except by a few of the ancients. 
 I gave the crew liberty to go on shore, and, although all the 
 luxuries known to seamen were to be found at Simon's Bay, 
 some of them drifted over to Cape Town, and I had to get them 
 back with some little delay, and a cost of two pounds per man, — 
 which they paid. I had an old quarter-gunner, a shipmate on 
 
438 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 board of the Bainbridge, the ablest man that I ever came across 
 in getting " the weather-gage" when it was a question of liquor 
 and of breaking liberty. After thirty hours on shore, he would 
 come on board, and, as is usual when the conditions warrant, 
 would be marked " clean and sober." He would then say, " I 
 have not come off to stay, but only to briug these things off 
 that I have bought ; my liberty is not out until sunset," and the 
 officer of the deck would let him leave the vessel a^ain : he 
 would then get drunk and stay on shore until he was apprehended 
 and brought off. He had done this to my knowledge on several 
 occasions, and in consequence I told the executive officer that 
 when English came off he was not to allow him to go on shore 
 again. This was either forgotten or not carried out, and the 
 neglect of it cost the man his life. He went on shore again, 
 got drunk, stayed over his liberty, and had tumbled off a high 
 stoop and bruised himself considerably, which resulted in ery- 
 sipelas, that killed him before we reached Java Head. I buried 
 him at sea, off the island of Krakatao, which a few years ago 
 was rent in twain by a volcanic explosion. 
 
 After nearly a fortnight in port, we sailed, hoping to find 
 the " brave west winds" for which the high latitudes of the 
 Indian Ocean give such promise. They did not come, and, 
 although we got well south, we had actually head-winds and 
 calms, and for several days when south of the Mauritius an 
 exceptionally high barometer. At last we had a " brave west 
 wind" and an enormous sea : the wind lasted twelve hours, and 
 then we had a calm with a heavy sea, very distressing to a 
 vessel with long spars. On reaching port we learned that one 
 of the severest hurricanes that had been known for years on the 
 Mauritius had prevailed over that island for several days, blow- 
 ing down houses and even stone fences. Usually in other seas 
 the centre of a storm progresses from ten to thirty miles per 
 hour, in that manner changing the direction of the w T ind and 
 lessening the duration of the gale. We had crossed just ahead 
 of it when it had turned to the south, to curve to the eastward 
 farther along and pursue its way towards Kerguelen's Land. 
 In consequence of these head-winds we were forty-four days in 
 reaching Singapore, ten of which were passed after we entered 
 
SINGAPORE. 439 
 
 Anjier Straits. We anchored at Anjier Point ; it was gratifying 
 to learn that a large filter had been established to give vessels 
 pure water, instead of the foul water that we had got there on 
 board of the Vincennes that had led to our frightful loss of life 
 from dysentery. The supply of monkeys, of green turtle, and 
 of cocoanuts seemed undiminished, and we obtained here that 
 most delicious of fruits, the mangosteen ; it is fouud in perfec- 
 tion only in a few localities on the globe. After entering we 
 were in an archipelago all the way to Singapore, with little 
 depth of water, rarely over twenty fathoms. The currents are 
 variable and strong, depending on winds far away, and there 
 are many hidden dangers in coral-patches. The water is usually 
 so clear that by keeping a man at the topmast-head coral-patches 
 and reefs can be seen and avoided. We anchored after night 
 when we wished to do so, and found the voyage very pleasant. 
 
 Singapore is on a perfectly flat surface ; the heat is consider- 
 able, but from the abundance of the vegetation and the even 
 temperature all the year round it is as healthy as any tropical 
 region known to me. The most delicious fruits of the tropics 
 are found here in abundance, and the foreign population is 
 hospitable and intelligent. We had the pleasure of making the 
 acquaintance of the officers of the garrison and of many British 
 navy officers attached to the several vessels in the harbor. A 
 very agreeable acquaintance was known to us as Whampoa, 
 probably because he came from that town, on the Canton River, 
 thirteen miles below the city of Canton. He was wealthy for a 
 small community, and had such a fine collection of trees in a 
 large ground that the city bought it from him for the use of the 
 public. He then located two miles from the town, on a very 
 rich alluvium with several deep ditches and canals running 
 through it and small buildings spanning them. In the canals 
 were numbers of fish of various kinds. He took me to see his 
 animals, — among them an enormous boar with his tusks bent 
 around almost in a circle, an evidence of great age. I remarked 
 that we thought it more economical to kill a hog before he was 
 two years old, upon which he made me an amiable bow. The 
 pig-pens were as clean as possible ; they had a floor of small 
 trees, and were partly over the water, and a Chinaman was there 
 
440 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 to wait on the pigs, monkeys, and an enormous baboon, who 
 looked at us gravely as we passed in review a considerable 
 number of beasts, birds, and fishes, the latter brought to the 
 surface by throwing food that floated on the top of the water. 
 I can conceive the feeling of pity that Whampoa probably felt 
 towards his visitor at my remark that a hog should not be 
 allowed to reach the age of two years, when these animals were 
 maintained in comfort as a token of gratitude to his Creator for 
 the' blessings which he and his family enjoyed. He was a 
 Buddhist, and the Buddhists' eleventh commandment is that 
 they must not harm the animal creation ; his peace-offering was 
 in the care of these animals. I was taken into his house, and 
 cold tea without sugar and some sweetmeats were brought in, 
 and his nice little children neatly dressed were presented to me, 
 but he did not introduce the ladies of his household. He had 
 a son, as I learned afterwards, whom he had educated near 
 Boston, Avho knew so much that he cut off his " pig-tail" and 
 put on our clothing, expecting when he reached his father to 
 produce a stunning effect, — as he did, but it was in the nature 
 of a recoil. He was put in a state of banishment and penance 
 until his " pig-tail" grew, and when that was accomplished he 
 appeared before his father with regulation bamboo splits an inch 
 in length lashed to his finger-nails to protect them from being 
 broken, and clothed in out-and-out Chinese toggery. The young 
 man promised to sin no more, and he has kept his promise, 
 although the father has been buried for more than ten years. 
 
 After a very agreeable ten days in port, we left for Manila 
 on the last day of April. The sea was quite calm during the 
 greater part of the voyage, and the water at a temperature of 
 eighty-seven degrees, which made everything as hot as Tophet. 
 A day or two out the admiral directed me to have the men 
 exercised at sending up and down spars, which was extremely 
 fatiguing. After the day's exercise I went to him and said that 
 I had some experience in those waters, and that men could not 
 exert themselves in such a temperature without a large sick-list 
 and loss of life. He said that the men needed training of that 
 kind. I answered that it could be given them when we got to 
 Japan, where they could exert themselves without detriment, 
 
CHOLERA. 441 
 
 just as on our own coast, and I hoped he would be good enough 
 to defer the exercises until the conditions should be more favor- 
 able, to which he assented. 
 
 A low rate of speed brought us to Manila in ten days ; not 
 only are the harbor and its approaches beautiful, but also the 
 vast inclined plane lying to the westward, cultivated with care, 
 and as variegated as a rich carpet. The mountain-peaks, at 
 considerable distances apart, in the daytime are hidden by clouds, 
 but after night the clouds disappear, and the peaks do not 
 become obscured usually before eight o'clock. I was very much 
 interested in the electric displays of nightly occurrence ; the 
 lightning appeared to leap from peak to peak, and there was no 
 sound of thunder. It did not occur to me then that perhaps 
 the great elevation of these peaks prevented the sound from 
 coming down into an atmosphere of much greater density. 
 Sound is known to follow the lines of least resistance. Perhaps, 
 indeed, the lightning seen was simply a reflection from invisible 
 masses of clouds. 
 
 We had been in port only four days when we had eighteen 
 cases of cholera under treatment ; there was but one thin^ to do, 
 and that was to get under way and go to sea. The symptoms 
 are the same as those of Asiatic cholera, and so is the treatment, 
 and it is hardly less fatal, if people remain in port, than Asiatic 
 cholera; nevertheless there is a marked difference, — that it is 
 not propagated by contact or clothing, as is the Asiatic cholera. 
 Through our prompt action all our patients recovered, although 
 there was every appearance of dying with Chaplain Bittinger 
 and several of our men. Many of them would doubtless have 
 died had we not gone to sea ; but with the gun-deck ports open, 
 and under favorable conditions and careful treatment, they all 
 recovered. Within the past ten years Manila had in one year 
 three inflictions, — the true Asiatic cholera, which raged with 
 extreme fatality, an earthquake that shook down many of the 
 low buildings, and a hurricane that did much damage. 
 
 It is worth while to remark that of the industry on the 
 Philippine Islands much the greater part is Chinese, and the 
 same is the case at Singapore, and indeed pretty much through- 
 out that very fruitful region known as the Indian Archipelago. 
 
442 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Arrival at Hong-Kong- -Changes in Twenty-One Years — Amoy — Nagasaki 
 — Description of the City — Measure Height of Island — Yokohama — A 
 Biting Stallion — Tattooing — Take Admiral Kowan on the Piscataqua to 
 visit Mr. Van Valkenburg, the American Minister — Description of the 
 Capital City — A Visit from Admiral Ennomotto, of the Japanese Navy — 
 Something of the Admiral's Subsequent History — Yokohama — Hiogo — 
 Admiral C. H. Bell — Mr. Consul Mangum — A Doubtful Compliment as 
 to One's Age — Nagasaki — Shanghai — The Foreign Merchants — Dining 
 with the Governor of the Province — Description of the Dinner. 
 
 A pleasant run of four days under low steam-power brought 
 us to the harbor of Hong-Kong, filled with shipping, and the 
 mountain-side covered with houses. It had been more than 
 twenty-one years since I was there, and the transformation 
 from hastily-erected sheds for traffic and indifferently-built 
 houses to large well-built warehouses and elegant residences, 
 covering a water-front of two miles and extending up the steep 
 hill-side to an elevation of more than twelve hundred feet, was 
 very striking. The outlines of the summit ridge were still un- 
 broken, peak Victoria having only a signal-tower upon it, with 
 a small house for the officer's attendants. On my first visit it 
 would have been difficult to get up, but fair roads, and steps at 
 various points, had been made, so that, barring the exertion inci- 
 dent to climbing, the road was quite convenient. At that time 
 the elevation was not known to the public, or at least I could 
 not obtain it through inquiry, and I therefore determined to 
 calculate it trigonometrically, and to test the accuracy of an 
 aneroid by comparing it with that measurement. I turn to my 
 book and give the results : from Channel Rooks measured as 
 a base of 5115 yards, the top of signal-house was 1861 feet. 
 From nearest corner of Kowloon Fort, taken as a base of 3465 
 yards, 1846 feet. Two aneroid measurements agreed-^of course 
 by accident — to within two feet, and gave 1855 feet. An aneroid 
 is not a toy, and 1 would say that every gentleman of leisure 
 not pinched financially might buy one and not only amuse 
 
CHANGES IN TWENTY-ONE YEARS. 443 
 
 himself but obtain satisfactory results in measuring heights. 
 In a careful reading of my aneroid at the foot and the upper 
 platform of the Washington Monument in Washington City, the 
 result was five feet short of the exact height. 
 
 On my last ascent to peak Victoria in company with my aide, 
 we found a large number of men — perhaps one hundred — follow- 
 ing us up the mountain-side in great haste. We were near the 
 head of the depression that leads over to the workshops at Aber- 
 deen when they overtook us. A gentleman told me if I did not 
 wish to see a horrible sight I would better not go on. On in- 
 quiry I was told that an English officer had been murdered only 
 half an hour before, at one o'clock, on an open road on the moun- 
 tain-top, on a great thoroughfare, where hundreds of persons 
 passed daily. The murderers were never caught j they got no 
 booty except their victim's watch, and the chain, which was 
 broken, leaving the bar at its end within his vest. The officer 
 was a major; he had with him a very fierce bull-dog, which he 
 doubtless thought ample protection, and so he proved so far as 
 the robbery of his body was concerned, the few shillings in his 
 pockets being undisturbed from the guard the dog kept over his 
 dead master. 
 
 Some years earlier, the number of persons that disappeared 
 after being taken into boats to reach their vessels after night 
 became so great that it was found necessary to establish a very 
 strict system of responsibility. The boats before had been 
 licensed, but that did not serve ; it was necessary for the police- 
 man to call a particular number in, to see that the passenger got 
 into the boat, and to hand a paper to the boatman which had to 
 be signed by the officer in charge of the ship, acknowledging the 
 safe arrival of the passenger ; and this had to be returned to the 
 policeman. There is a marked contrast in the character of the 
 Japanese and that of the Chinese in regard to the instincts of 
 humanity. 
 
 After a stay of more than three weeks the Piscataqua left 
 Hong-Kong for Amoy, a short run of a day. We barely looked 
 in for two days ; what will be written of that city will appear in 
 the account of a later visit. When we left, it was for Nagasaki, 
 a port which I had never visited, and one of the most pictur- 
 
444 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 esque harbors on the globe. Proceeding under low steam and 
 sail, we reached the offing on the 18th. It was blowing very 
 fresh and squally, but I had been too long on the Coast Survey 
 to be timid about the approach. There was a heavy press of 
 sail on the ship as we stood in with the land, with a " soldier's 
 wind," — that is, a wind in which a vessel may head the reverse 
 course without difficulty. We soon had a pilot alongside, and 
 in we went as fast as breeze and steam could carry us. 
 
 The admiral was anxious to reach Yokohama at an early day, 
 which accounts for our brief stay of two days. In the voyage 
 to Yokohama we kept so near the coast that the bays and prom- 
 ontories and mountain-ranges were within our field of vision 
 without the aid of glasses. As we ran along under a fresh 
 breeze, I saw a very beautiful small rocky island to seaward of 
 us, the name of which I do not now recall, and I said to an 
 officer, " Mr. B., be good enough to measure the height of that 
 island." Although a graduate of the Naval Academy, he looked 
 bewildered. I thereupon called my aide to my assistance, and, 
 getting my sextant, we took compass bearings and speed, and 
 did the work ourselves. My aide greatly enjoyed the perplexity 
 of the officer, who was very desirous of finding out our results. 
 I kept a chronometer in the cabin for the benefit of the midship- 
 men and myself, and when it w r as a question of verifying the 
 position of the vessel I relieved the navigator from all fear of 
 an error in his reckoning, which any one observer is liable to 
 make. My sextant was always at the service of young officers, 
 and my assistance, if desired, in making time comparisons or 
 otherwise. Thus they had an opportunity of becoming practical 
 navigators, and they greatly profited by it. As we approached 
 Yedo Bay the wind was quite strong, and this increased the 
 strength of the " Kuro-Siwo," or black water, corresponding to 
 our Gulf Stream. I thought it probable that there would be a 
 great increase of the current, and noted a danger, in that case, 
 of the " Redfield rocks." I was on deck from two a.m. until 
 daylight, and kept a bright lookout for them ; although the 
 sea was very rough, I suppose they would have been seen and 
 avoided had they appeared immediately in our course. I knew 
 afterwards, on sighting Green Island, that we had passed very 
 
YOKOHAMA. 445 
 
 near them. The barometer was very low, full an inch below 
 the normal, and with the wind on the quarter we carried sail so 
 heavily that the mizzen-topsail sheets parted, — a fact which will 
 indicate to a seaman that the wind was strong. The centre of 
 the typhoon, as cyclones are called in those parts, did not pass 
 over us, and we made our way at the rate of fifteen miles an 
 hour up to the anchorage of Yokohama, some twenty miles above 
 where the Columbus and Vinceunes anchored when they visited 
 Japan in July, 1846. 
 
 Yokohama was the outgrowth of the visit of Commodore 
 Perry to this part of the bay eight years after the visit of the 
 Columbus aud Vincennes. Perry was an officer of rare merit, 
 whose acts had more to do with the present relations of the 
 Japanese and, incidentally, of the Chinese, with European nations 
 than diplomacy and all other causes combined. I only mention 
 this fact so that the reader, if he chooses, may look up Perry's 
 Expedition to Japan, to be found in all libraries of note. In 
 this expedition, too, he did more to educate our navy men afloat 
 than any school of practice known to me. 
 
 The flat part of Yokohama was an extensive rice-field, very 
 little above the level of the wide bay upon which it is situ- 
 ated, twenty miles below the great city of Yedo of that day, 
 now known as Tokio. The Japanese have a singular habit of 
 changing the names of cities, — the object, as I understand it, 
 being to mark some epoch or changed condition. So early as 
 July, 1868, when we arrived, the tops of the spurs of hills a mile 
 in the interior and three hundred feet in height were covered with 
 comfortable buildings occupied by merchants of all European 
 nationalities, especially British and German. A considerable 
 amount of grading had been done at various points to make 
 broad and excellent roads to the hill-tops, and there was also a 
 fine drive of some miles around, one part of the road overlooking 
 "Mississippi Bay," a large shoal indentation below Yokohama. 
 The whole country, far and near, was broken into low grounds 
 of inconsiderable extent, with ranges of mountains varying in 
 elevation from hundreds to thousands of feet. The peak of the 
 volcano of Fusiyama, almost a perfect cone, fifty miles distant, 
 and partly covered with snow for a considerable part of the 
 
446 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 year, was a beautiful feature in the landscape. The aspect of 
 the country was that of an almost unbroken woodland, with 
 here and there a field in cultivation. The different varieties of 
 the bamboo give the appearance of woodlands, and cover all the 
 country not cultivated or already wooded. There are in Japan 
 and China some fifty or sixty varieties ; what is known in Japan 
 as the " mountain bamboo" grows to a diameter of eight inches, 
 and some sixty or seventy feet in height. Growing in clusters 
 of twenty or more stems, beautifully green and waving grace- 
 fully in the breeze, the effect of the bamboo on the landscape is 
 charming. The shoots come out of the ground like huge pikes, 
 and from the time that they are three feet in height, until they 
 are forty, the daily growth is marvellous, — probably not less 
 than two feet in every twenty-four hours for a fortnight. In 
 Maryland a smaller variety has grown, under my own observa- 
 tion, one foot per day for ten consecutive days ; it attains a 
 height of only twenty feet in this locality, which is hot enough 
 for it in summer, but has not the dampness necessary to give it 
 growth. In the escarpments near Yokohama I observed masses 
 of black earth and roots of bamboo ten feet in depth, the accu- 
 mulations, doubtless, of centuries. 
 
 When at Yokohama an appreciative countryman gave me the 
 use of a small, well-built bay stallion, which would hardly weigh 
 more than five hundred pounds, and was not more than thirteen 
 hands high, — almost a pony, in fact, but not such as one would 
 wish to put a child upon. I found him disposed to bite, kick, 
 and inflict any other possible injury to every human being who 
 came near him. He was hard-mouthed, and wished to go at a 
 breakneck pace, and that I indulged him in, so that we got along 
 very well together. He was sure-footed, and would walk over 
 a narrow plank with a firm step. One day when I was riding 
 with Robeson, now a captain in the navy, the horse thought his 
 chance was fair to seize Robeson by the leg ; I felt the animal's 
 thrust, and restrained him. Robeson seeing his nose quite near, 
 gave him a blow with a heavy riding-whip, which he did not 
 relish. On another occasion, being ridden by another officer who 
 was careless, he seized Dr. Rhoades of the navy by the thigh, 
 reared, and endeavored to throw him, and only after a vigorous 
 
TA TTOOINO. 447 
 
 beating did he let go. Rhoades was taken to a tea-house, and 
 afterwards carried on board ship, where he was confined to his 
 bed for weeks. I learned afterwards that this vicious beast had 
 killed two " bettos" In Japan none but men of high rank ride 
 on horseback, and a betto, or attendant of the horse, always 
 accompanies the rider on foot, and gets over the ground as rapidly 
 as any professional runner. Indeed, even in that hilly country 
 he will cover his fifty or sixty miles a day with ease, keeping just 
 a little behind the horse to care for him whenever the rider 
 wishes his services. The betto has a singularly light suit of 
 clothing : it consists of a good strong bamboo hat, which protects 
 his head from the sun and rain ; and a garment without sleeves, 
 that falls down to somewhat above his knees and is confined around 
 his body by a girdle. His arms and legs are elaborately tattooed 
 by a skilful artist, at a cost of say sixty or more dollars, a large 
 sum where a laborer's daily pay does not exceed ten cents. In 
 one sense this clothing is economical ; it will last as long as the 
 man does, and will never become ragged or dilapidated. To my 
 personal knowledge, tattooing inflicts great pain ; but we all 
 know that delicate ladies will endure any amount of pain if 
 they have the idea that it will make them look even a little 
 prettier, and why should not the betto? I must not omit to 
 mention his sandals, which are made of straw ; a thong comes 
 up between his big toe and the next one, and is tied to two other 
 thongs that hold the heel and the sandal firmly to the foot. The 
 dress is light and airy, and does not embarrass him in his 
 vocation j he can travel almost as well with it as though he had 
 no dress, and it is decent. 
 
 On the 4th of July I buried one of the marines, who had had 
 phthisis when we left the United States ; he and the old sailor 
 were the only two who died on board of the Piscataqua during 
 the seventeen months that I commanded her, manned by four 
 hundred and fifty men and officers. A well-cared-for and well- 
 regulated vessel-of-war makes a wonderful improvement in the 
 crew, as every one knows who has gone on board of a vessel 
 about to sail and has observed the shabby-looking set, many of 
 them without much else than a frame to build upon, and who 
 has seen the same men on the return of the vessel after a three- 
 
448 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 years' cruise, well set up and cheery. What the fast cruisers 
 and modern battle-ships will do for them I shall not venture 
 to say. 
 
 Admiral Rowan had an invitation to pay a visit to our excellent 
 minister, Mr. Van Valkenburg, accompanied by his staff, and 
 he directed me to take the vessel up the bay to Yedo, which was 
 done on the 10th of September. The admiral was good enough 
 to ma e me one of the party, and I was two days on shore in 
 that interesting city. The Daimios, or Lords, had in former 
 times been obliged to spend a certain portion of their time at 
 the capital of the Tycoon, and they had extensive grounds and 
 grande tenue. The city looked in great part like an assemblage 
 of country-seats enclosed in magnificent hedges of many kinds 
 and separated by villages closely built, with residences and shops 
 of artisans. As we passed along in the region of the official 
 buildings, Ave met a body of twenty or thirty military officials, 
 who when near us drew their revolvers and cocked them. Ner- 
 vous people might have been shaken by this action, but we 
 passed them and saluted in return, though not in the same manner, 
 as though it had been a military presentation of arms ; and per- 
 haps it was so intended ; if so, it certainly was an odd way of 
 presenting arms. 
 
 After an absence of two days, I returned to the Piscataqua, 
 lying about three miles from the shore, the water being barely 
 deep enough to float the vessel over the muddy bottom. On 
 getting on board, my aide informed me that he and some other 
 of the young gentlemen had been on board of the Japanese 
 flag-ship, and had been invited into the cabin and received 
 politely ; he added that the captain had asked whether I was on 
 board, and had been told that I was not, but that I was expected 
 the next day. I sent him soon after my arrival to present my 
 compliments to the captain and say that I would be happy to 
 see him whenever he might feel disposed to come on board. On 
 the return of my aide I received a message that he would be on 
 board at a given hour ; at that time a boat left the Japanese 
 flag-ship, and it was apparent, from the honors paid, that the 
 rank of the officer coming on board was higher than that of 
 captain. I received him at the gangway, and, after expressing 
 
A VISIT FROM ADMIRAL ENNOMOTTO. 449 
 
 my satisfaction at his visit, said I should be pleased to know 
 his rank, so that I might have the pleasure of firing the proper 
 salute. He was Admiral Ennomotto, a thoroughly educated 
 and agreeable gentleman, and he spent a couple of hours with 
 me. I told him the salute that he named consisted of several 
 guns more than was accorded a naval officer of any rank in any 
 European navy, but in a Japanese port I could do no less than 
 give him the salute given him by his countrymen. In our con- 
 versation he informed me that he had been educated in Holland, 
 and that the frigate he commanded had been built in that 
 country. She was a trim little steam vessel, with rifled battery 
 and admirable small-arms, had fire-extinguishers of approved 
 types, and, in short, was more thoroughly fitted out than the 
 flag-ship that I had the honor to command. He spoke Dutch, 
 French, and English very well ; his English utterance and ex- 
 pression were very good. On his leaving I gave him his grand 
 salute, and in reply received only the salute that was due to the 
 flag of a rear-admiral by our Regulations. I was about having 
 my gig lowered to send on board to say that in an exchange of 
 salutes between European nations the same number of guns was 
 always returned that had been given ; but before the boat was 
 lowered our flag was again run up on board of the Japanese 
 flag-ship and the additional number of guns fired. On the 
 return of our admiral I gave him my statement, which per- 
 plexed him ; he was a stickler as to guns, and had he been on 
 board would perhaps have ungraciously given the number of guns 
 required for the salute of a Japanese admiral : so I was glad he 
 was out of the ship. He was an admirable officer and gentle- 
 man, and I do not write this in any spirit of condemnation. 
 Had he gone on board of the flag-ship of a Chinese admiral 
 and been limited to the salute of that official, he would have 
 received a salute of three guns, and I am sure he would not 
 have been satisfied with that. I suppose I might as well con- 
 fess here to a certain amount of indifference, bordering on con- 
 tempt, for the custom of burning condemned powder in this 
 way, — which is universal among all maritime powers. The 
 next day I had the pleasure of paying my respects to Admiral 
 Ennomotto, and spent some hours on board of his vessel. At 
 
 29 
 
450 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 that time a civil war was in progress, and he belonged to the 
 party of Satsuma, a daimio in the southwestern section of Japan, 
 in hostility to the Tycoon, off whose capital he was lying at 
 anchor. He did not interfere in any manner with the traffic 
 that was carried on in native boats. Several years later, in an 
 engagement in another part of Japan, his force was destroyed 
 and he was taken prisoner. It was said that the captains and 
 many of the officers under his command were beheaded, and 
 that he was offered service under the Tycoon, which he declined ; 
 he said that his head belonged to the Tycoon, but not his ser- 
 vices. He was kept in prison for several years, and when Rear- 
 Admiral John Rodgers was in command of our Asiatic Station 
 I asked his kind offices in relation to Ennomotto's release, which 
 was effected, whether through that or other influences I know 
 not. Ennomotto is now, or has been up to a recent date, Minis- 
 ter of Instruction in Japan, and I doubt not has been able and 
 honest. He wrote me a very earnest and kind letter after his 
 release from prison. 
 
 After the admiral had spent a week on shore, we dropped 
 down to our anchorage off Yokohama. The skies had become 
 bright and clear, since our arrival at Yokohama. In the even- 
 ing a street known as the " Benton-dore" was much frequented 
 by the officers of all nations. Tables were spread along the 
 fronts of the houses and out into the street, barely leaving room 
 for passers-by, who always went in the same direction ; these 
 tables were covered with lacquer- ware, and bronzes, and what- 
 ever else the dealers had that they thought might be prized by 
 foreigners. As stated before, the country was suffering from a 
 civil war, and the rich had to sell their works of art aud what- 
 ever other superfluities they had in order to obtain money to 
 buy food. When anything struck the fancy of an officer he 
 would inquire the price, and would then either pass along or 
 make a purchase, in which latter case, when the article was paid 
 for, a hand from a man behind him would be thrust forward 
 and would take the package, and both the purchaser and his 
 self-constituted porter would pass on until they reached the end 
 of the street, with a like occurrence, perhaps, at several places. 
 Turning, they would pass out, and through another street, and 
 
HIOGO. 451 
 
 on reaching the boats the porter would hand over the articles to 
 the coxswain of the boat, receive a quarter of an itzebu (about 
 nine cents), say " sayonare" (" good-by"), and go on his way. 
 In many years I have never heard of one dishonest porter, 
 although they are all self-constituted, and are not even looked 
 at with a view to identification. In the years that have elapsed 
 since our visit I have never heard of a single case of murder of 
 a foreigner in Japan from a mercenary motive, although there 
 have been several from persons being rude and insulting, — in 
 fact, from being ill-bred. 
 
 Returning from my rides often in the dusk of the evening, I 
 would see small buildings in the ravines beneath the line of road, 
 and the smoke rising from their chimneys; the inmates were 
 reducing to ashes the bodies of the dead, a common custom in 
 Japan, as also in China, where the burial of the dead would 
 seriously affect the health of the living, as it certainly does with 
 us in and near populous cities. 
 
 On the 29th of September we left our anchorage, and three 
 days later were at Hiogo, in the Inland Sea of Japan, one of the 
 most beautiful bodies of water on the globe. I recall its pic- 
 turesque islands, bold promontories, and wooded heights with a 
 sense of enjoyment of the vision in the past. Near Hiogo was 
 a bold high peak, and upon it a temple which I reached with 
 considerable physical exertion, and when there I looked far and 
 wide over land and water of charming variety. Hiogo was 
 the seaport of Osaka, the most opulent and beautiful city of 
 Japan, with its broad canals, superb bridges over them, and 
 paved shore-lines. It had been for centuries the residence of the 
 Mikado, who was once the temporal ruler of the land as well as 
 the spiritual, until virtually deposed by an ambitious Tycoon, 
 who made his capital at the city of Yedo. A few years before 
 our visit our rear-admiral Charles H. Bell endeavored to cross 
 the shoal bar at the entrance of the river upon which the city is 
 situated, some miles above. His barge was capsized, and he and 
 several other persons were drowned on February 19, 1875. 
 
 Hiogo had already become a smart trading town in teas, 
 bronzes, and other products of Japan. The bronzes of the city 
 of Osaka, both ancient and modern, are simpler in design but 
 
452 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 not less pleasing in effect than those of Tokio and of a city near 
 Nagasaki, the name of which I cannot now recall. So, too, 
 with their porcelain. The most expensive, and of rare beauty, 
 was known to foreigners as Kagosima ware. A very gaudy ware ? 
 and some of it very striking, we saw at the town of Simonisaki, 
 near the entrance of the Inland Sea. We remained four days 
 at Hiogo, and gave ourselves five to pass through the sea into 
 the open water on our way to Nagasaki and had practice at 
 a target moored in open water to avoid accident. We had 
 a pilot who was a Swede, and they are usually seamen : he 
 surprised me by taking only a single bearing to put down 
 his position on a chart. I endeavored in vain to teach him 
 that another bearing, as nearly at right angles as convenient, 
 would define his position on his line of bearing, but he evidently 
 regarded that as altogether too complicated a proceeding, looking 
 at me with a broad grin, such as a man gives who wishes to in- 
 form you " that he knows it all." In the narrow passage-way, 
 where the tides were strong and irregular in set, near the town 
 of Simonisaki, we met two British steamers, and when I was 
 looking at something else I found that the idiot of a pilot had 
 put the helm a-starboard, and that the vessel had already swung 
 considerably ; when a long vessel " has the swing" on her, it is 
 very much the same as when a horse has the bit in his teeth. I 
 therefore laid her broadside across the channel and stopped the 
 engines, the pilot yelling at me that we would run on some rocks 
 ahead. The captains of the vessels coming in were justly in- 
 censed at our disregard of " the rules of the road," but at all 
 events they were fully informed as to our movement, and could 
 have no excuse for running into us, as they would have had to 
 go out of their way to do so. As soon as the vessels had passed, 
 and I had the ship on her course, I called the pilot down out of 
 the rigging, where he had ensconced himself, and asked him 
 what had possessed him to leave the right shore-line to pass across 
 the bows of the two steamers. He told me that we had no room 
 on that side, whereupon I informed him, using other words, how- 
 ever, to convey my meaning, " that he was not one of the wise 
 men of the East," and that very soon, if he did not take my 
 advice, he would come to grief, as he did in fact some years later, 
 
MR. CONSUL MANGUM. 453 
 
 by running down a vessel and sinking either her or the vessel 
 that he was piloting. We kept on our way, and at eight o'clock 
 were in the open water, running along the coast-line for Nagasaki, 
 with a fresh breeze and a fair current driving us on our course. 
 We averaged more than sixteen knots hourly, carrying a fore- 
 topmast studding-sail until the sun went down, when the numbers 
 of fishing-boats off the coast made it necessary for us to shorten 
 sail and reduce speed to avoid running over them. After night- 
 fall, the whole sea near us was lighted up by the torches in the 
 fishing-boats ; I kept my watch on the forecastle, and found a 
 mechanical contrivance of a " helm-indicator" of great value in 
 preventing our running over the boats that covered the waters. 
 Although the night was quite dark, and there were no harbor 
 lights, the bold outlines of the narrow entrance, and of a small 
 island, enabled us to enter with entire security and find our way 
 up to an anchorage. In the forenoon we had to shift our berth 
 on account of the length of the vessel interfering with other 
 vessels in swinging. 
 
 We were very much pleased to meet our excellent consul, Mr. 
 Mangum, and his refined and intelligent wife, with both of whom 
 we enjoyed long walks over the beautiful surrounding country, 
 and an occasional visit to the islands lying off the entrance, — upon 
 one of which there is a noted temple, reached by a long line of 
 steps cut into the rocks. The whole surroundings of the harbor 
 are picturesque in the extreme. On the right near the entrance, 
 and extending for two miles, is the town, built on ground of 
 moderate elevation, and beyond is a steep hill, with many beau- 
 tiful trees on its side, which has been a burial-spot probably for 
 thousands of years. I frequently walked or rode to the sum- 
 mit of this hill, and was much gratified at the polite attentions 
 always paid to me by those whom I met. These " heathen" 
 have the humanizing habit of visiting the graves of their parents 
 and relatives and adorning them with plants and flowers. Thev 
 take with them all the family and a nice luncheon, and seated 
 under the trees enjoy the beautiful landscape. I was invited at 
 times to join a family circle, with the kindliness that belongs to 
 well-bred people of whatever race. Going up a flight of stone 
 steps several hundred feet in height on horseback seemed some- 
 
454 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 what hazardous. It would have been bad for the rider, as 
 well as for the horse, had the latter stumbled, — going down 
 especially. 
 
 There are many customs of Asiatics which are diametrically 
 opposite to those of Europeans, as is well known to most readers 
 of travels. In the Japan of the past, the visitor left his shoes 
 at the door, and kept on his hat ; it would have been an un- 
 warrantable liberty for him to take off his hat in making an 
 ordinary visit. If a Japanese or a Chinaman of rank inquired 
 your age, it would be a particular mark of interest and respect, 
 and if informed that you were sixty, he would feign surprise, 
 and say he had supposed that you were quite seventy or older, 
 just as we would pretend to be surprised and assign ten years 
 less age by way of compliment. A friend cannot manifest his 
 regard more acceptably than in presenting a camphor-wood 
 coffin, but that applies to the Chinese rather than to the Jap- 
 anese. An old man is always treated with respect, and, if he be 
 a relative, or a man of rank, with veneration, — the reverse of 
 Young America's usual treatment of age. 
 
 We passed the month of October delightfully in Nagasaki, 
 and then left for Wusung, just within the entrance of the Yang- 
 tse-Kiang River, the large watershed of which may be seen on 
 any ordinary school atlas. It is probable that the waters of 
 this river drown more human beings in a decade than those of 
 any other river on the globe. The approach to the mouth of 
 the Yang-tse-Kiang would be dangerous were it not that Gutz- 
 laff Island affords an excellent mark for entering, and if kept 
 on a line of bearing, affords the means of getting well within 
 the shoal grounds in smooth water, where excellent anchorage is 
 found. The tides are very strong, and sweep along the coast 
 almost at right angles to the mouth of the river. After a day's 
 detention in the Yang-tse-Kiang, we reached what is known as 
 the Wusung, on the 7th of November. There is a town here 
 which has no European traffic; but Shanghai, twelve miles 
 above, now an opulent city, had sprung into existence since my 
 visit of twenty-one years before. The hospitality of the foreign 
 merchants was unbounded, and, in my belief, was the cause of 
 more deaths than the climate, which is malarial, with a bad type 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE DINNER. 455 
 
 of fever. While at anchor I frequently went on shore to shoot, 
 aud found in a thickly-populated region a considerable number 
 of hare, and the " copper pheasant/' which, as far as I can see, 
 is very much like the English pheasant. The inhabitants do 
 not live in villages, as in some other parts, but are usually 
 separated ; a considerable clump of bamboos invariably marks 
 the site of a house, and at the same time conceals it. 
 
 One day we observed a Chinese boat with a crew and passen- 
 gers of some twenty persons capsize in the river near us ; there 
 were dozens of other boats passing, going up or down the river ; 
 not one of them took the least notice of the mishap, but sailed 
 by without pity. Had it not been for us, perhaps all on board 
 of the capsized boat would have perished. I had boats called 
 away, the people rescued, and, as I remember, the boat towed 
 into shoal water, so that she should not drift to sea. Mention- 
 ing this circumstance to one of the merchants, he told me that 
 three of his acquaintances who had a fine sail-boat had on one 
 occasion gone up the river on a shooting-tour. Two of them 
 were below, and the third was lying on the deck ; a flaw of 
 wind caused him to fall overboard, but the Chinaman did not in 
 the least concern himself; when his friends came up from below 
 they looked around with some alarm, and asked the Chinaman 
 what had become of him : he coolly replied, " He go top-side," 
 meaning that he had fallen overboard. The wretch had not 
 even thought it worth while to inform his friends. There is a 
 belief with the Chinese that when any one rescues a person from 
 death he becomes responsible for the rescued person's future 
 misdeeds, which otherwise would not have occurred. 
 
 The admiral was good enough to invite me to accompany him 
 as one of a numerous suite of officers to dine with the Tou-ti, 
 or governor of the province, which, by the way, has half as 
 many inhabitants as the United States. The dinner was entirely 
 Chinese in its menu, beginning with fruits, and ending with a 
 lacquered pig. I had the bill of fare, but I regret to say that it 
 has been lost. The pig is the only roast the Chinese make ; it 
 is often fifty or more pounds in weight, and is always served cold. 
 Their only alcoholic drink was samshoo, a species of rum made 
 from rice, very strong, and said to be very injurious. But one 
 
456 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 plate, whether a stew or a vegetable, was served at a time, and 
 cold tea without sugar or milk was handed round frequently. 
 Many persons may have observed that navy men who have 
 served on the Asiatic station rarely take cream in tea ; this 
 abstinence has become a habit through the fact that after they 
 were weaned as children they had a prejudice against taking 
 milk from a woman, which is the usual source of supply in 
 China. We bade our friends good-by with the belief that their 
 lavish hospitality had not inflicted on us any permanent injury. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Sail for Amoy — The Admiral's Cabin-Ports stove in — General Legendre — 
 Malodorous Amoy — Bengal Tigers — Visit to a Spanish Catholic Missionary 
 — Keturn to Hong-Kong — Leave in the Steamer Great Kepublic for the 
 United States — Yokohama — Measuring the Height of Fusi-yama — Arrive 
 at San Francisco — Great Changes noted in San Francisco— Dr. A. J. Bowie 
 — Arrive at Washington, and am assigned to Duty as Chief of the Bureau 
 of Yards and Docks — Assigned to Duty as Chief of the Bureau of Navi- 
 gation — Admiral Porter — The Isthmian Surveys assigned to me — A Com- 
 mission appointed, General A. A. Humphreys President, Professor Peirce, 
 and, later, Captain C. P. Patterson — Colonel Hopkins calls, at the Bequest 
 of Cyrus W. Field, in Regard to Deep-Sea Soundings in the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 We left our anchorage on the 15th of December, for Amoy. 
 The northeast monsoon had fairly set in, as we found a day or 
 so later. As we approached the Formosa Channel the short 
 battering seas stove in the stern-ports in the admiral's cabin and 
 flooded it with water. We were under sail only, and the admiral 
 directed me to bring the vessel by the wind with as little delay 
 as possible. It was about ten p.m., and there was a beautiful 
 moon. I had no sooner settled the top-sails on the cap and 
 hauled out the reef-tackles than I brought her by, and such 
 another cracking I have never heard on board ship. The violent 
 rolling actually unshipped many of the ladders leading from the 
 spar-deck to the gun-deck, owing to the working of the frame 
 of the ship. What surprised me greatly, afterwards, was the 
 
GENERAL LEG END RE. 457 
 
 fact that the copper lining of the magazines or shell-rooms, so 
 near the line of keel, was badly cracked and split, from the work- 
 ing of the frame. After we had secured the stern-ports we bore 
 away, and went along quite comfortably : we should not have 
 known what a fierce little sea we had passed through had we not 
 brought the ship by the wind. The powerful breeze sent us on 
 our way rapidly, and in three days we were at anchor in the 
 superb little harbor of Amoy, with rocks all around us, in shore- 
 lines and hills almost destitute of vegetation. 
 
 Here we found General Legendre, who had been very kindly 
 spoken of by all our officers who had visited that port. He had 
 lost an eye, and was otherwise very much injured by the many 
 wounds he had received in battle during our civil war. Not 
 only was he able officially, but he was also a most agreeable and 
 hospitable host. He had much to do with breaking up the 
 infamous coolie trade carried on at that time, or a little later, 
 principally between Macao and Soo-Chow and Peru, and later on 
 was most useful to humanity in aiding the Japanese to conquer 
 the wild tribes on the south of the island of Formosa and in 
 forcing the Chinese to become their sponsors. This, of course, 
 was after he had left the consular service. 
 
 The years that I had been absent from Amoy had apparently 
 wrought no change in that city of strong and diverse smells ; 
 it seemed to me I could tell the streets by the different mal- 
 odors. The same kinds of soiled silk-embroidered garments 
 were brought on board for sale, as well as carved wood-work. 
 It had not then occurred to me what a means of spreading all 
 sorts of epidemics these garments might become. Typhus fever, 
 scarlet fever, smallpox, and many other diseases may lie dormant 
 in such garments for years. Had I thought of this I should 
 have forbidden the traffic on board of the vessel. The wood- 
 carving of Amoy is of a superior order ; at Ningpo they have a 
 method of sawing a log in cross-sections, then drawing patterns 
 upon the blocks and punching the figures out. Every one of 
 the ports at that time had some specialty not found elsewhere. 
 
 I was surprised to learn that in the rocky region not fifty 
 miles distant Bengal tigers were sufficiently numerous to do a 
 great deal of harm. I knew that these animals abounded on 
 
458 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 the Amoor River beyond the fiftieth degree of latitude, as I had 
 seen skins from that region upon which the hair was several 
 inches long. The Bengal tigers, like the jaguars, take to the 
 water naturally. They swim over the strait between the Malay 
 peninsula and the island of Singapore, and are still numerous, 
 notwithstanding the Chinese trap a considerable number. 
 
 Accompanied by Fleet-Surgeon Maccoun, I paid a visit to 
 a Spanish Catholic missionary, Nicolas Guisa, a native of Bar- 
 celona, who had been sent to Manila and afterwards to Amoy, 
 where he had now been for several years. He was much grati- 
 fied at our visit, and told me he went frequently some fifty miles 
 into the country to several missionary stations that had been 
 established. I invited him to come on board and dine with me 
 the following Sunday, and at the time appointed sent my gig to 
 bring him. Before leaving he thanked me warmly, and said that 
 my visit would free him in a great degree from petty annoyances 
 to which he had hitherto been subjected by the Chinese. I 
 asked how long he expected to remain ; he replied, during his 
 lifetime. He received letters only once a year from his family 
 in Spain, who he told me were persons of rank. He was a 
 remarkably intelligent and handsome man, and had the manners 
 of a well-bred Spaniard, the best type of European courtesy. 
 In the wilds of South America I have had occasion to remark 
 the courteous and dignified bearing of men of the Spanish race, 
 though intermixed with Indian blood, who wore sandals, a hat, 
 and a poncho, with as little other clothing as was compatible 
 with decency. 
 
 After fifteen days in port, we left for Hong-Kong, and arrived 
 there the next day. During the prevalence of the northeast 
 monsoon the climate of the coast of China is delightful. If you 
 go to sea and have to beat to windward you find that there is 
 too much of it, and you have a toilsome task ; but that is a 
 thing of the past. Steaming against it is not difficult, where 
 the navigator is sensible enough to keep in along the coasts, 
 sheltered by the headlands, and aided in some degree by counter- 
 currents. We arrived at Hong-Kong on the 1st of January, 
 1869, and had the pleasure of meeting several old friends, our 
 countrymen and others. On the 18th of February I left in the 
 
GREAT CHANGES NOTED IN SAN FRANCISCO. 459 
 
 Pacific Mail steamer Great Republic for the United States. 
 The admiral had previously received instructions by telegram to 
 send me home ; this was done by the Navy Department at the 
 request of General Grant, who had been elected President of the 
 United States the previous November. 
 
 The Great Republic was a large and comfortable steamer, and 
 perhaps the last of side-wheel-steamers intended for long voy- 
 ages in the open sea. We arrived at Yokohama on the 4th 
 of March, the day upon which General Grant was inaugurated, 
 and witnessed the unusual spectacle of snow lying on the ground 
 for several days, while the volcano Fusi-yama stood out some 
 fifty miles distant, snow-clad from summit to base. I could not 
 forego an attempt to measure its height, which I had neglected 
 to do previously ; turning to my note-book, I find it entered 
 that our charts gave the height as 12,450 feet, and my calcula- 
 tions made it 12,409 feet, in which allowance was made for the 
 rotundity of the earth. We sailed the next day, and were 
 twenty days in reaching San Francisco. I did not fail to write 
 my old friend Allan McLane, Esq., then President of the 
 Pacific Mail Steamship Company, that he would have to give 
 up old ways and take to the new ; it would not answer to have 
 to slow down in the run, over this wide sea, especially at the 
 moment when heavy seas came along, in order to allow the 
 vessel to roll, so as to avoid breaking the shaft, one wheel being 
 almost in the air and the other buried almost to its centre in the 
 water. The course followed was not the arc of a great circle, 
 nor an approximation to it, but a parallel of calms just outside 
 the trade-winds, where the huge seas rolling in from the west- 
 ward were unbroken at the surface and yet were so large as to 
 prevent the steamer from exerting her full steam-power without 
 endangering the shaft. A broken shaft on a side-wheel steamer 
 in a wide ocean, to say the least, makes her a very " lame duck." 
 One of the steamers of this line actually broke her shaft on her 
 voyage. 
 
 On arriving at San Francisco, where I had not been since 
 1852, I noted the marvellous changes that had occurred, and 
 had the satisfaction of meeting my old friend and shipmate Dr. 
 A. J. Bowie, who had been a prominent physician of that city 
 
460 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 for many years. It was late when I left his house, as he said, 
 when I first proposed going, " Don't go yet j we will never meet 
 again ;" and, although he died only four years ago, Ave never 
 did. The overland mil road had not then been completed ; there 
 was still a gap of more than one hundred miles, — though it was 
 completed while I was coming home by way of Panama. 
 
 There was nothing of particular interest in the voyage home, 
 and about the 1st of May I arrived at Washington, and was 
 assigned to duty as Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks. It 
 was not without misgivings that I took charge of that Bureau, 
 and I said so to the President, adding that if I found I was not 
 able to fulfil the duties I could resign. When I was ordered 
 home the intention had been to send me to the Isthmus to make 
 hydrographic surveys in connection with topographic work by an 
 army officer, to determine upon the practicability of a ship-canal, 
 if the physical conditions admitted of a commercial solution ; 
 but other officers had in the mean time been assigned to that 
 duty, and I remained a fixture in Washington for a good many 
 years. 
 
 Admiral Farragut died in August, 1870 ; the following De- 
 cember, at the time Vice- Admiral Porter was nominated to fill 
 the vacancy, I happened to be at the White House. Mrs. Grant, 
 who had doubtless heard of a letter of Admiral Porter's, here- 
 after mentioned, asked me what I thought of him. I said that 
 professionally I regarded Porter as the ablest officer we had ever 
 had afloat in command of a large force. I went on to say that in 
 the opinion of most navy men John Paul Jones was the embodi- 
 ment of a great sea-captain, yet that perhaps had he been asked 
 for his own estimate of his qualities he would have admitted 
 that he thought well of himself as a sea-captain, but would have 
 added, with pride, that his genius lay in writing love-sonnets and 
 letters such as he addressed to Lady Selkirk. In like manner, if 
 any one had the confidence of the vice-admiral, and could elicit 
 his opinion of himself, it would be found that he thought well of 
 himself as a sea-captain, but that he considered his strong point 
 to consist in his ability to write despatches and letters. Presi- 
 dent Grant was engaged at the moment in taking leave of some 
 visitors, but had overheard my remarks ; after the visitors left, 
 
ASSIGNED TO DUTY AS CHIEF OF YARDS AND DOCKS. 4Q\ 
 
 he turned to me with a humorous smile, and said, " Ammen, 
 you know all about Porter ; I have exactly your estimate of 
 him afloat ; he co-operated with me on the Mississippi, and I 
 regard him as exceptionally able." 
 
 A day or so later, my duties called me to St. Louis ; I had 
 barely reached Cincinnati when I read the astounding private 
 letter written by the vice-admiral to Mr. Welles, Secretary of 
 the Navy, just after the taking of Fort Fisher. It occurred to 
 me instantly that some inkling of this had caused Mrs. Grant's 
 inquiry. It had been conveniently brought to light to prevent 
 the vice-admiral from being confirmed after he was nominated 
 for admiral to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Farragut. 
 I groaned both inwardly and outwardly on reading it, and con- 
 gratulated myself that I was not in Washington and would not 
 return before the miserable gossip was over. On reaching St. 
 Louis I read a second letter, written by the vice-admiral in 
 relation to the first. Then I lamented that I had not been in 
 Washington, thinking that I might have prevented its publica- 
 tion. On my return the President told me that the vice-admiral 
 had shown him the letter and asked his permission to publish 
 it, and that he had said, " Certainly, if you wish to do so." I 
 had served under the vice-admiral in the bombardments of Fort 
 Fisher, satisfactorily to him and to myself, and although I had no 
 particular intimacy with him, from my official status, and other- 
 wise, I had the idea that I might have demonstrated to him 
 the lack of logic and the utter impropriety of the second letter. 
 
 In 1886 Admiral Porter published his "Naval History of 
 the Civil War." In order to impress upon a youth the great 
 interest I took in his learning to write short-hand, I began the 
 reading of this book to him, marking in pencil our daily prog- 
 ress. On looking at my marks I find it was laid aside on the 
 seventy-fourth page, on account of .the great number of errors 
 and inaccuracies that I found in it. I should not have touched 
 on this subject had it not been that I desire to palliate what 
 seems to me to have been an unhappy idiosyncrasy of the ad- 
 miral. From my personal intercourse with him I feel assured 
 that he never wrote what he did not believe to be true ; but 
 what he believed he did not thiuk worth while to inquire into, 
 
462 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 as a matter of fact. He had the conviction that the earnestness 
 of purpose of himself and others afloat, and their actual services, 
 were not sufficiently regarded. He was a man of indomitable 
 energy and courage, knew how to organize and command men, 
 and, what is quite as important, saw to it that he had the neces- 
 sary supplies and munitions, without which a force soon becomes 
 inefficient. He was generous in his instincts, and desirous of 
 doing justice to every one under his command, — a feeling which 
 in fact is almost universal with great leaders of men, whether 
 afloat or on shore. 
 
 As a broad criticism, more for the benefit of young officers 
 than for other readers, I may say that I have had no personal 
 acquaintance with any man of rank, and no recollection in my 
 readings of any one who has commanded successfully, who 
 imagined that he was made of other flesh and blood than the 
 men under his command, and who thought that their hardships 
 should not be his own. 
 
 On the promotion of Commodore Alden, I was assigned 
 as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, in his place. On the 
 occurrence of the vacancy, my old and valued friend Vice- 
 Admiral Rowan had said to me, " Now you will apply for that 
 Bureau." I replied that I had never applied for a Bureau, and 
 never would ; yet on some accounts I should be pleased to be 
 appointed, for I would then ask to be placed in special charge 
 of the Isthmian surveys at that time in progress, under the Navy 
 Department, and I would endeavor to bring about the survey 
 of the North Pacific Ocean and have special charge of that. 
 Notwithstanding that no application was made by me, either 
 directly or indirectly, I was appointed, and a few days later 
 received the congratulations by letter of an old and valued 
 friend ; in reply I wrote that I did not consider it a subject of 
 congratulation, feeling sure, as I did, that I would lose many 
 old friends, and would gain no new ones, in making the assign- 
 ments to duties that pertained to the Bureau. In his reply he 
 assured me that this would not occur, it being the general belief 
 that I would be just in recommending assignments. In less 
 than six months he and myself spoke only as gentlemen do in 
 meeting ; he desired that I would protect him from a fancied 
 
A COMMISSION APPOINTED. 463 
 
 " indignity" that I had been willing to pass through, as I wrote 
 him, when Chief of a Bureau. 
 
 In the discharge of the duties of this Bureau for a term of 
 seven years, until I was made rear-admiral and then asked to 
 be retired under existing laws, I am not conscious of having 
 endeavored to visit the displeasure of the Department upon any 
 individual as a mere exercise of power from personal considera- 
 tions, nor am I conscious of having assigned duty to any one 
 of my personal friends at the expense of the just claims of any 
 brother officer. At that time it was a difficult position to fill, 
 and perhaps is so still. I said to the Secretary of the Navy 
 when I entered upon that duty that I would not make any 
 nomination from personal considerations, and that when I sub- 
 mitted my list, if he chose to alter it, I would in good faith 
 execute his instructions, for written above my signature was the 
 phrase " by order of the Secretary of the Navy," in all orders 
 issued to officers. 
 
 I had the satisfaction of having the conduct of the Isthmian 
 surveys assigned to my special direction, until March 13, 1872, 
 when a commission was appointed by the President under a joint 
 Congressional resolution, of which the President was General A. 
 A. Humphreys, Chief of Army Engineers, Professor Peirce, 
 Superintendent of the Coast Survey, and, later, Captain C. P. 
 Patterson, when he became Superintendent, with myself, as Chief 
 of the Bureau of Navigation. As junior member, I acted as 
 secretary, and formulated orders or instructions for the surveys, 
 which were discussed, often modified, and then submitted to the 
 Secretary of the Navy with the information that they had been 
 framed by the commission. They then received his approval 
 and were issued over his signature. 
 
 Although I was able to get a preliminary force at surveying 
 work in the Pacific, the classes of vessels were not suitable, and, 
 the attempted survey lacking the favorable endorsement of a 
 Senator from California, my very moderate estimates for vessels 
 were stricken out of the appropriation bill. The survey beyond 
 the coast was abandoned, but that of the coast itself was prose- 
 cuted beyond our southern boundaries along the peninsula of 
 California and in the Gulf, and it has been continued along that 
 
464 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 coast, though with insufficient means and inferior vessels, with 
 very fair results and with credit to the navy. 
 
 The Secretary of the Navy sent for me one day and introduced 
 me to Colonel Hopkins, who came at the request of Mr. Cyrus 
 TV. Field to ask that deep soundings in the Pacific Ocean be taken 
 with the view of facilitating the laying of cables from our coast 
 to Japan and elsewhere. The Secretary added, in a compliment- 
 ary manner, that anything I would agree to he would endeavor 
 to have executed. Colonel Hopkins went with me to my desk 
 and explained briefly what was wished. He was informed that 
 our appropriations did not include estimates for dynamometers, 
 necessary for sounding in deep seas, but that the Bureau could 
 properly furnish sounding-lines and other appliances to carry out 
 the proposed objects. If Mr. Field would supply a dynamom- 
 eter, the other necessary outlays would be met by the Bureau, 
 and I would recommend to the Secretary of the Navy the detail 
 of a vessel to make the soundings. An inquiry was made as to 
 where a dynamometer could be found, to which I replied that I 
 had no exact information in relation to such matters, but that if 
 Mr. Field would furnish one such as was used on board of a 
 Coast Survey steamer that had recently been sent to the Pacific, 
 I should regard that as perhaps the best obtainable. In a month 
 or so I was requested to inspect the instrument, on Greenwich 
 Street, New York. At an early day I went on, and, upon stating 
 my object at the machine-shop, was shown two small oscillating 
 engines of beautiful action. I said they were all right, but that 
 my object in coming on was to inspect a dynamometer, where- 
 upon I was informed that the steamer referred to had no other 
 fitments than two such engines, admirably adapted to haul up 
 a line, but without any pretension to fitness for measuring the 
 strain on the line, which of course is the only function of a dyna- 
 mometer. As this left me in a dilemma, I had a steam engineer 
 detailed who had been employed in laying marine cables for 
 telegraphy, to design a suitable instrument for sounding, and 
 make estimates of the cost, and requisition was made for a con- 
 siderable amount of sounding-line of the best Italian hemp to 
 meet the contingency of a failure in the use of wire, which, as 
 I in the mean time had learned from the public prints, had been 
 
DEEP-SEA SOUS DINGS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 4(35 
 
 successfully employed by Sir William Thomson off the coast of 
 Scotland in considerable depths. 
 
 A short time before, Professor Baird, the Regent of the 
 Smithsonian, had dropped into my office on a brief visit, and, 
 on being informed as to my intentions, had suggested that I 
 should write to Sir William, who was his personal acquaintance, 
 and who he felt assured would render all the assistance in his 
 power ; this suggestion was acted upon without delay. I received 
 a reply in a brief time, and, as requested, Sir William ordered 
 two dynamometers and a supply of 22-gauge piano-wire, such 
 as he had employed in the soundings above referred to, and sent 
 me a published memorandum relating to the apparatus he had 
 employed and the soundings he had made off the coast of Scot- 
 land. I observed that he employed a sinker of lead of twenty- 
 seven pounds weight, and hauled it up, and, noting the tensile 
 strength of the wire, saw that it would sustain eight times the 
 weight of his plummet. I directed the officer charged with 
 making the soundings to double the weight of the plummet em- 
 ployed by Sir William and fit it with the Brooke or some other 
 detaching apparatus, as there could be no advantage in hauling 
 it up, but necessarily would be a great loss of time, with greater 
 liability to break the wire. 
 
 I had previously asked authority to detail Commander Bel- 
 knap, then in the Pacific in command of the Tuscarora, to make 
 these soundings, and had furnished him with all the information 
 possessed by me in relation to such matters. On his arrival in 
 San Francisco I wrote him, stating my ideas as to the very many 
 theoretical advantages the wire had over hemp line, adding that, 
 as I was not willing to see a failure on theoretical conditions, 
 however satisfactory they might seem in every particular, I had 
 sent also a dynamometer for the use of hemp line, which he was 
 not to use, however, until he had exhausted every means to make 
 the use of wire a success. 
 
 The advantages of the use of wire, in my judgment, were 
 briefly as follows. • With a weight of fifteen pounds per nautical 
 mile, at a depth of even four miles the weight of the sinker and 
 shaft would be as great as that of the w T ire used in sounding to 
 that depth. Compared with hemp line it would have no surface- 
 
 30 
 
466 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 friction, and no elasticity on the plummet's touching the bottom, 
 which would in the use of a long hemp line be of such a nature 
 as to prevent a dynamometer from indicating at once when the 
 bottom was reached, and this difficulty would be greatly increased 
 through ocean currents drifting bights of the line here and there 
 at various depths, and through the slow descent of the plummet, 
 from the same cause. Then the rapid deterioration of the hemp 
 line, the great loss of time necessary in making a sounding, and 
 the probable uncertainty of obtaining a satisfactory result in 
 great depths, made it desirable that he should not employ the 
 hemp line until he had exhausted all reasonable efforts at making 
 the use of wire in sounding a success. 
 
 Very soon we had a telegram from Belknap, who had made 
 very successful tentative soundings off the mouth of the harbor 
 of San Francisco in a depth of eighteen hundred fathoms. To 
 the ability of this officer is due the successful employment of 
 wire from that time on, notwithstanding the minor difficulties, 
 all of which he overcame as they presented themselves. A year 
 or so later, I received a letter from Sir William, to whom we 
 were so much indebted, informing me that he was about design- 
 ing another dynamometer, as the one he had sent me was not a 
 success ; he, however, had entire faith in wire instead of a hemp 
 line in effecting soundings. It was a great gratification to me 
 to be able to inform him that what he had sent us had proved 
 entirely successful. Subsequently I sent him the few modifica- 
 tions that had been found necessary. In his lectures Sir William 
 was good enough to state that he had furnished his dynamometer 
 to our navy, and that his apparatus had been perfected by us. 
 The work done by Belknap was a line via the Sandwich Islands 
 to the coast of Japan, and from the coast of Japan to Paget 
 Sound, by way of the Aleutian Islands. As supposed by me, 
 this chain of islands forms a bulkhead, holding up on its north- 
 ern side a great plateau of moderate depth, while south of it the 
 sea is quite deep, and, so far as known, the soundings are very 
 regular in depth. About east-southeast of the southeast cape of 
 Nipon, the principal island of Japan, the greatest depth of water 
 then known was reached, — about five and a quarter statute 
 miles, — and a specimen of the bottom obtained. An attached 
 
DETERMINING LONGITUDES BY TELEGRAPHY. 4(J7 
 
 thermometer was literally crushed. At a later period, one of our 
 vessels found a small pocket in the Caribbean Sea of about the 
 same depth. Other nations subsequently took up the use of the 
 apparatus of Sir William, and, with the various modifications, 
 or improvements, made by some of our officers and perhaps by 
 those of other navies, it is so effective and in such general use 
 that the bottoms of frequented seas are now fairly known. 
 
 Belknap also ran an open traverse off the coast from Puget 
 Sound to San Diego from shore soundings to what are called by 
 scientists true ocean depths, — about two thousand fathoms. In 
 doing this work off Cape Mendocino, he put his plummet on 
 bottom six thousand feet above that of the surrounding water, 
 which was double that depth. Subsequent work led to the sup- 
 position that a submerged mountain-range exists off our west 
 coast, parallel to the mountains on the land. 
 
 This traverse along the coast resulted from a visit of the elder 
 Agassiz to the Navy Department and his expressing a desire that 
 the true continental outline of our west coast should be deter- 
 mined to a depth of two thousand fathoms. He was informed 
 at the time that it could not be immediately carried out, but that 
 when a favorable opportunity occurred the work would be done. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Commodore Wyman — Determining Longitudes by Telegraphy — Method of 
 Signalling — Lieutenants Yery and Wood — Coast Defence— Calculations 
 of Weights and Displacements — Ram designed by the Author — Delayed 
 on Political Grounds — "It will come by and by" — Admiral Tegethoff — 
 The Battle of Lissa — Ironclads — Advantages of Rams over Armored Ships. 
 
 Commodore Wyman, then Hydrographer, laid before the 
 Secretary of the Navy a comprehensive plan for the determi- 
 nation of longitudes by telegraphy. This work had its inception 
 at that time, and a considerable development while I was Chief 
 of the Bureau. I shall not enter into the amount of labor 
 involved, but it may surprise the reader to learn that the exact 
 
468 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 longitude of Lisbon was not known when these observations 
 began and was determined by our parties. As a final result, in 
 a verification of two lines of many thousands of miles, I may 
 mention that the line from Greenwich, via Lisbon, the Canary 
 Islands, Rio Janeiro, Buenos Ay res, to Cordova, in Tucuman, 
 was connected with a line from Greenwich to Washington, 
 thence to the west coast of America to Valparaiso, and thence to 
 Cordova. The agreement in longitude of the two lines was 
 within one yard in distance. When it is borne in mind that 
 four minutes in time correspond to a degree in longitude, the 
 result is surprising. Were this a solitary result, it might be 
 considered accidental, but it is only one of a number of that 
 nature that may well surprise the educated man. Now, although 
 the longitude of Cordova, where Professor Gould connected these 
 two lines of telegraphic determination, is of no importance to a 
 navigator, it is of great importance that the coast-lines of the 
 world should be known, and also that the great observatories 
 should be connected with the utmost accuracy attainable. 
 
 When I took charge of the Bureau, the need of a good signal- 
 book and a satisfactory method of night-signalling was well 
 known, and both these objects were attained through the detail 
 of competent officers. Prior to that time, night-signals were 
 exceedingly confusing, and, until the introduction of what is 
 known as Coston signals, were quite unreliable. The navy is in- 
 debted to Lieutenant Edward W. Very, who afterwards resigned, 
 for the idea of using Roman candles in signalling, and to Lieu- 
 tenant M. W. Wood, for the employment of a reversible pistol- 
 barrel in firing them, as also for the use of a calcium light in a 
 lantern triced up, and for manipulating the signalling from the 
 deck by means of india-rubber tubing, and balls or cylinders, 
 by which the flashes could be readily and properly produced, so 
 as to be as intelligible as any code of signalling. 
 
 Not being satisfied with the manner of blinding signals pro- 
 posed by the officer preparing the signal-book, I took that 
 matter in hand myself, and, without knowing it at the time, 
 adopted that of the Larrabee system, which cannot be ascertained 
 by any number of recorded observations, — for the reason that the 
 equivalents represent first one figure and then another. Should 
 
CALCULATIONS OF WEIGHTS AND DISPLACEMENTS. 469 
 
 the enemy obtain the "blind," until that fact was known he 
 would of course be able to read the signals, but the substitution 
 of another "blind," printed on paper of a different color to 
 prevent mistakes, would keep him as much in the dark as ever. 
 
 For more than twenty years I have looked with great con- 
 cern upon our very feeble means for the defence of our coasts. 
 During that period, too, all the nations of the earth, except the 
 United States, have been untiring in the construction of vessels- 
 of-war, many of which are of enormous size, armed with guns 
 of large calibre and throwing projectiles that seem of almost 
 fabulous weight. Newspaper reports state that the heaviest 
 guns made by Great Britain are now regarded with distrust, 
 and much of the armor plating of her vessels-of-war is supposed 
 to be inferior in quality. Should we pursue the same line of 
 development at any reasonable cost we should find ourselves 
 greatly inferior to several powers, any one of whom might be 
 our adversary. 
 
 The appendix of the Report of the Secretary of the Navy of 
 1883 contains a letter from me on coast defence, which had the 
 concurrence of General H. G. Wright, then Chief of Engineers. 
 A month later General Sheridan read it, and was appreciative 
 enough to have it copied in the archives of the War Department. 
 Military men will agree with the statement that a proper coast 
 defence requires a supplementary relationship between the land 
 and the naval forces. 
 
 Twenty years ago I made tentative calculations of weights 
 and displacements looking to the construction of an armored 
 torpedo-boat with such thickness of armor, favored by the best 
 practicable lines for deflection, as might give a fair immunity 
 from projectiles. Little calculation sufficed to show that when 
 enough plating was employed, the weight of the vessel would be 
 sufficient to make her a formidable ram, provided a high speed 
 were given her. For that reason I laid aside the idea of an 
 armored torpedo-boat and took up the design for a ram, looking 
 to favorable lines for speed, facility of turning, and the greatest 
 practicable immunity from projectiles with a minimum of metal, 
 through the use of such lines of deflection as were supposed prac- 
 ticable in a vessel capable of going to sea in heavy weather. 
 
470 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 In 1881 I laid before a Naval Advisory Board calculations, 
 plans, and specifications that had been carefully revised by the 
 late John Lent hall, who had been our ablest Chief Naval Con- 
 structor for a number of years. In a final report the Board 
 stated, — 
 
 " It is the opinion of the Board that a type of fast and handy 
 marine rams would be especially valuable for such auxiliary 
 defence. In determining the details of such a type, however, 
 the Board was obliged to act entirely upon its judgment with 
 regard to the possibilities, since experience with this type of 
 vessels is entirely lacking throughout the world. But two 
 actual types of such vessels are available on which to base a 
 judgment : the first, a type designed by Rear- Admiral Ammen, 
 U. S. Navy, whose correctness of details has never been tested 
 by actual construction ; and the second, designs of the British 
 ram Polyphemus, now afloat, and whose main principles corre- 
 spond with those of the American ram. 
 
 " After mature consideration, the Board is of the opinion that 
 five rams of the general design proposed by Rear-Admiral 
 Ammen should now be built, that these rams should be of about 
 two thousand tons' displacement, and that they should be con- 
 structed of steel." 
 
 But politics entered into naval appropriations at that time, 
 and, although the construction of one or more rams was recom- 
 mended by the Department, no attention was paid to the subject 
 by the Naval Committee of the House, whose majority belonged 
 to the party in opposition to the Administration. 
 
 Some years later I met Mr. Lenthall on the Avenue ; he was 
 then in bad health, and died soon after. He said, " What about 
 the rams ?" I replied, " Nothing whatever." " No ?" he said, 
 with a faint smile : " wait ; they will come by and by." 
 
 In pursuance of law, a ram embodying my design is now 
 under construction at Bath, Maine. Not having heavy guns, 
 the officer who may command will not be diverted from running 
 down the enemy. Provided amply with rapidly-firing guns, 
 the ram would be able to deal with several of the best torpedo- 
 boats that have yet been constructed, until they are capable of 
 resisting rapidly-firing guns throwing twenty-pound projectiles ; 
 
ADMIRAL TEQETHOFF. 471 
 
 such torpedo-boats will have to be carried "on their own 
 bottoms," and will be difficult to maintain on the coasts of an 
 enemy provided with rams. 
 
 If we regard the question of actual impregnability of con- 
 struction against projectiles as the eventuality, it is apparent 
 that five rams can be built at the cost of two of our battle-ships 
 as now constructed, when fitted for sea with cost of batteries, 
 and that the expense for maintenance of the five will be less 
 than that for one battle-ship. The rams will long outlast the 
 battle-ships, if hauled upon ways under shelter when not in use. 
 Five rams would be able to patrol our coast in the face of any 
 naval force that might be sent against us, but of course an able 
 commander will always attack whenever the occasion is most 
 advantageous to him, and most disadvantageous to the enemy. 
 When the ram now building is completed we shall be able to 
 proceed in further constructions on several lines that will make 
 the armored ship of to-day unable to cope with her future 
 adversaries. We can, in my belief, protect ourselves with very 
 great economy against any fleets that might have for an object 
 the destruction of our cities or the demand of a ransom. Rams 
 can be built speedily and in any number required ; in this they 
 are quite unlike battle-ships. 
 
 As designed, the vessel now building has an elliptical keel, 
 which will give great facility in turning, and also better lines 
 for propulsion. When she was designed there were no large 
 vessels-of-war known to me with a curvature of keel. Now, I 
 believe, they are common, if not indeed universal. The cross- 
 sections are elliptical, sponsoned out so as to make good lines 
 for the deflection of projectiles, and sharp edges, which will 
 serve to rip out the forward part of the vessel struck on the 
 side, and crush in the fulcrum, when the vessel struck has head- 
 way. The ram is built on longitudinal girders, and in fact, as 
 a whole, is a well-constructed girder. Four several calculations 
 for speed give a common result, in every regard assuring as 
 compared with that of any vessel of the same displacement and 
 horse-power. 
 
 Not long after the battle of Lissa, Admiral TegethoflT, who 
 commanded the Austrian force, gave me a graphic account of it. 
 
472 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 His flag-ship was very slow, but coming down with a fair wind 
 increased her ordinary speed. In ramming the Re d'ltalia he 
 actually ran through her ; the most horrible sight that he ever 
 saw, he said, was the severed parts sinking, with hundreds of 
 men struggling in the water, most of whom were drowned. 
 Persano, the Italian admiral, had left the Re" d'ltalia at the 
 beginning of the engagement and gone on board of the Affon- 
 datore, a vessel armed with two three-hundred-pounder casemated 
 rifled guns. That vessel neither rammed nor used her battery 
 effectively; so far as I have been able to ascertain, Persano 
 " fell between two stools," — not an uncommon occurrence. If 
 a ram has no heavy gun there is obviously only one thing for 
 the commander to do ; and that fact cannot be forgotten. 
 
 A critic in Colburn's Magazine of September, 1866, concludes 
 his discussion of the battle in these terms : 
 
 " If the battle of Lissa were to be taken as a criterion of 
 what guns can do in an encounter between ironclads, it would 
 be worth considering whether it would not be advisable to build 
 ironclads for the express purpose of ramming, and instead of 
 arming them with guns, putting the metal on their sides, so as 
 to render them entirely impregnable to shot, since, if destruc- 
 tiveness be the desideratum of warfare, it can hardly be worth 
 while to send a fleet of ironclads to sea carrying five hundred 
 and thirty-one guns for the purpose of killing eight men and 
 wounding forty." 
 
 This writer supposes that the great weight of an armored 
 ship is necessary to make an effective ram, when in fact it 
 would lessen her effectiveness. She could not be handled with 
 the same celerity, which is everything in ramming. 
 
 A critic of the ram proposed by me said that all battle-ships 
 had ram bows : he might as well have said that all men who 
 carry swords are to be considered equally effective in their use, 
 when the sword is the weapon to decide the combat. 
 
 Armored ships have repeatedly had their sides crushed in ; 
 the Re d'ltalia was actually cut in two and went down, and 
 quite as readily as though she had been unarmored, for the 
 reason that neither have an effective backing nor an arch forma- 
 tion, in which my ram construction differs. Besides, the curva- 
 
ADVANTAGES OF RAMS OVER ARMORED SHIPS. 473 
 
 ture of keel will favor the fore or after body pivoting on the 
 stem of the ram bows of an armored vessel should she be 
 rammed. Great speed is doubtless a requisite for an effective 
 ram, not, in my belief, either to overtake or to sink au enemy, 
 but to get rapidly in and out of action. When an enemy 
 appears on a coast, a fleet of rams opposing armored ships has 
 as much in its favor as regards opportunity, as an attempt to 
 supplement the defensive operations of a land force by the use 
 of battle-ships, has of disadvantage, especially over a long line 
 of coast. A fleet of rams in readiness to attack an armored 
 fleet would not have long to wait ; a moderately rough sea, a 
 fresh breeze, with a bright moon, or the early dawn, would 
 offer advantages of attack that would not exist were it to be 
 made by battle-ships. A good light is necessary to sight guns, 
 and very little to run into a vessel ; the huge hulls would be 
 plainly in sight from the rams a mile away, and the latter would 
 be invisible until quite near. They would have their steam at 
 its best, and the armored ships would have theirs as it might 
 happen. Nor could the ships hoist out their torpedo-boats with 
 celerity and make use of them under such conditions. 
 
 After a ram attack would come the opportunity for the 
 effective use of an inferior number of battle-ships and other 
 vessels acting as a reserve, capable of completing a victory by 
 towing into port the disabled vessels of the enemy. With fleets 
 of rams of great speed at various points, it would be a bold and 
 imprudent enemy that would enter Long Island Sound or one 
 of our bays, with the ship-canals constructed as proposed in my 
 paper so favorably regarded by General Sheridan. Let any one, 
 expert or inexpert, figure to himself the number of battle-ships 
 that would be required to make a fair defensive supplement to 
 our land forces from Maine to Texas on the Atlantic, and from 
 Puget Sound to San Diego on the Pacific. When could they 
 be completed ? what would they cost ? and could they be as 
 numerous at any one point of attack as a concentrated force of 
 the enemv ? 
 
474 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 The Nicaragua Canal — Keport of the Commission — President Hayes approves 
 in his Message — M. de Lesseps desires a Convocation of Engineers and Rep- 
 resentatives from All Countries to meet in Paris and discuss the Isthmian 
 Canal Question — President Hayes requests the author to go as Represen- 
 tative from the United States — I prepare in Writing what I propose to say 
 — The Secretary of State approves it — Mr. Menocal goes with me — General 
 Grant consents to place himself at the Head of a Movement to construct 
 the Canal — He is prevented from Action by Various Considerations — A 
 Concession from the Nicaraguan Government — The Eads Ship-Railway — 
 History of Progress in obtaining a Charter for the Nicaragua Canal, with 
 an Account of the Obstructions, both Open and Covert — The Matter men- 
 tioned to President Cleveland and General McClellan— The Ship Railway 
 — General Remarks on an Isthmian Canal. 
 
 The reader is already informed that in 1872 I was the junior 
 member of a commission appointed by the President to examine 
 into and report upon the canal question. At that time our 
 government had several surveying parties on the Isthmus. After 
 a lapse of nearly four years from the time of organization, during 
 which it formulated orders unofficially, signed by the proper 
 authority, directing the surveys then in progress, the commission 
 made its final report February 7, 1876, one sentence of which is 
 as follows: 
 
 " That the route known as the ' Nicaragua route' possesses, both for the 
 construction and maintenance of a canal, greater advantages, and offers 
 fewer difficulties from engineering, commercial, and economic points of 
 view, than any one of the other routes shown to be practicable by surveys 
 sufficiently in detail to enable a judgment to be formed of their relative 
 merits, as will be briefly presented in the appended memorandum." 
 
 / The Presidential succession soon after that time was a disturb- 
 
 / ing element, and no action was taken by General Grant during 
 
 / his term of office, which expired soon thereafter. Previous to 
 
 : his going abroad he called on President Hayes and urged action 
 
 " towards the construction of the Nicaragua Canal, and asked me 
 
 Must before leaving the United States to remind the President 
 
 !of the very great importance of bringing it about under the 
 
MR. MENOCAL GOES WITH ME. 475 
 
 control and the auspices of our government. No action, how- J 
 ever, was taken by President Haves. It was a question beset 
 with many difficulties ; it had many enemies, honest and dis- , 
 honest, many who were covert, and many who were outspoken. 
 I have reason to know that President Hayes fully appreciated 
 the importance of the question, and when the time arrived for 
 giving the canal-construction his endorsement it was done in his 
 message in the most earnest and emphatic manner. 
 
 In February, 1879, M. de Lesseps informed our government*/ 
 that he desired a convocation of engineers and representatives of 
 all nationalities to meet at Paris on the 15th of May, to discuss 
 the American Isthmian Canal question. President Hayes sent 
 for me a month later and said he wished me to attend this so- 
 called "Congress" under instructions from the State Department. 
 After listening to several reasons from me why I should not go, 
 
 he said that he regarded my going as important to our national 
 
 interests. I replied that I had not looked at it in that light, and 
 that, in deference to his wishes, I would at once make my prep- 
 arations to go. With his permission I would write out what I 
 proposed saying, on presenting the surveys that had been made 
 by our government, and would ask that the Secretary of State 
 make modifications if he desired to do so, and that I hoped this 
 would receive his personal attention also ; then I would feel 
 assured that nothing would be said at the Paris Congress which 
 would incur the disapproval of the Executive department of our 
 government. This proposal received his assent and was carried 
 into effect. I write with some degree of vanity that no changes 
 were made in what was submitted for revisal. A translation was 
 made into French, and copies in both languages were furnished 
 to such delegates as wished them when the government surveys 
 were presented by me to the Congress. I represented to the 
 President, also, the necessity of Mr. Menocal's going to Paris, 
 whether I went or not. I was not an engineer, as I had stated 
 to him when giving my reasons for not wishing to go to Paris ; 
 and even were I capable of presenting the subject in a technical 
 form, Mr. Menocal's presence would still be necessary, for he had 
 made the surveys and had local knowledge of both the Nicaragua 
 and Panama routes, without which a mere presentation of pro- 
 
476 THE 0LD NAVF AND THE NEW. 
 
 files, maps, plans, and estimates would be of little value. The 
 President agreed to my proposition, and Civil Engineer Menocal, 
 of the navy, was ordered to accompany me. The Secretary of 
 State wrote our instructions, and we proceeded to Paris, arriving 
 there just one day in advance of the sitting. Soon after our 
 return, the State Department published in pamphlet form " In- 
 structions to Rear- Admiral Ammen," etc., in which will be found 
 our reports. 
 V, At this time there are few well-informed persons who do not 
 know that, clever as M. de Lesseps was as a diplomatist, he 
 nevertheless quite overreached himself in the " Paris Congress." 
 It was supposed that Mr. Menocal and myself were very much 
 chagrined at the decision, when it was, in fact, a subject of gratu- 
 lation. The decision in favor of a sea-level canal at Panama 
 was really momentous, and unfortunate for M. de Lesseps and 
 his future stockholders, although that decision was his own 
 procurement and brought about by him with difficulty. It was 
 whether the French should control the only practicable route, 
 which was through Nicaragua, or should waste hundreds of 
 millions of dollars in vain efforts to construct a sea-level canal 
 at Panama. Lesseps had already secured a pre-emption on an 
 onerous Panama canal concession, and that doubtless blinded 
 him. Had he chosen Nicaragua, in all probability at that time he 
 could have obtained a concession, and ere this would have com- 
 pleted the canal and his stockholders would have been the envy 
 of the world. Even M. de Lesseps cannot successfully " buck 
 against nature," and that he had to learn at a cost of some 
 three hundred million dollars of his too ignorant and credulous 
 stockholders. 
 
 On my return from Paris I wrote an earnest letter to General 
 Grant, then in Japan, stating that it seemed to me of the utmost 
 importance to our national interests and welfare that we should 
 construct the canal, and expressing the hope that he would send 
 me a telegram without delay announcing his willingness to place 
 himself at the head of a movement to construct it. A telegram 
 of assent was received by me, and in due time two letters from 
 him written before he left Japan, expressing more fully his 
 intentions in relation to forwarding, as far as he could, the con- 
 
PREVENTED BY VARIOUS CONSIDERATIONS. 477 
 
 struction of the Nicaragua Canal. He arrived at San Francisco 
 on the -2&th of September, 1879, and from that time on was 
 beset by a number of influences all calculated to draw him away 
 from his cherished purpose of contributing to the extent of his 
 ability to the construction of the Nicaragua Canal. There is 
 but one description of man known to me who may be regarded 
 as a " free agent." It is not the Czar, nor the emperor of any 
 land ; it is not the banker, nor the railroad " magnate," nor the 
 farmer who is supposed to be exempt from prairie-fires and floods 
 and to reap his harvest independent of all conditions of wind 
 and weather, nor the more humble tiller of the soil whose farm 
 lies on a hill-side embowered in fruit-trees and vines. It is the 
 mildly insane man, whom nobody fears, and who walks around 
 bestowing a benevolent smile on everybody. General Grant was 
 not a free agent ; the politicians said to him, " Do not desert us 
 in our extremity ;" the Southern man who had fought against 
 him in a manly way said, " Be a candidate for the Presidency, 
 and we will support you ; we understand you now ;" the banker 
 said, " General, don't have anything to do with the Nicaragua 
 Canal ; you know Lesseps is all-powerful in France and will 
 certainly build the Panama Canal ; you know it is the short route, 
 and nothing but a sea-level canal will satisfy the demands of com- 
 merce;" and the railroad magnates said, "If you will only go 
 to Mexico and promote the construction of international rail- 
 roads, you will achieve the greatest possible good." He was 
 induced to go to Mexico, as much to thwart the construction of \/ 
 the Nicaragua Canal as to promote the railroad constructions. 
 Previous to his going to Mexico, a " railroad magnate" assured 
 General Grant that very soon they would carry wheat over the 
 Southern Pacific Railroad and deliver it at as cheap a rate in 
 Galveston and New Orleans as it could be brought by water were 
 the Nicaragua Canal completed; yet after all these years we 
 see no ship's cargoes of wheat brought over this road as promised 
 — by way of discouragement. Need we wonder that General 
 Grant was forced to succumb to the multiplicity of antagonisms / 
 to his desire to forward the construction of the Nicaragua Canal ? 
 Thus constrained, the general abandoned for the time any in- 
 tended active participation in the project, although in a note to 
 
478 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 me, written from the island of Cuba, he approved of the action 
 of General Beale of Washington and myself, — namely, inviting 
 a gentleman to form an initiatory society to ask a concession from 
 the government of Nicaragua. For this purpose an agent was 
 sent, after considerable delay, who arrived at Managua only two 
 days in advance of M. Blanchet. The previous March this 
 gentleman had agreed upon a concession with the Executive 
 of Nicaragua, which afterwards failed of confirmation in their 
 Senate by only one vote. Had that vote been cast the other 
 way, or had not an agent been sent by our initiatory society, we 
 should now find the French astride of the American Isthmus at 
 Nicaragua. At that time M. Blanchet was the agent of M. de 
 Lesseps. 
 
 The Paris Canal Congress, although obedient to the behest 
 of M. de Lesseps, was unsuccessful in gaining a moneyed sup- 
 port for the Panama Canal, for the reason that very many able 
 French engineers, and among them personal friends of Lesseps, 
 could not see any merit in the Panama sea-level canal, — in fact, 
 were keenly alive to its impracticability. Failing in his moneyed 
 support, to set aside all doubt, as he said, in relation to the Pan- 
 ama sea-level canal, M. de Lesseps announced that he would set 
 out in November for Panama, "see for himself," and then be 
 able to inform the French people just what the canal would 
 cost. On his arrival at Panama he stated that the floods of the 
 Chagres River were not an impediment, that the country was 
 quite healthy, and that the facilities for constructing the canal 
 were so satisfactory that he was enabled greatly to reduce the 
 estimates of the Paris Canal Congress. He presented his views 
 in the North American Review of January, 1830, and had this 
 paper quoted and widely circulated in France. He had the 
 temerity to write, " I do not hesitate to declare that the Panama 
 Canal will be easier to begin, to finish, and to maintain, than the 
 canal of Suez." 
 
 Soon after my return from the Paris Canal Congress, the 
 editor of the North American Review requested me to write a 
 paper on the Congress, which I declined, stating that I had a 
 report to make to the State Department, and did not intend to 
 write further in relation to it. In December the editor informed 
 
THE EADS SHIP-RAILWAY. 479 
 
 me that M. de Lesseps would have a paper in the coming num- 
 ber, which he felt assured would be at variance with my ideas 
 in relation to the Panama Canal, and wished to know whether, 
 if advance proof-sheets were sent me, I would be willing to pre- 
 sent my ideas. I assented, and should the reader be interested 
 he will find in the number of that magazine for February, 1880, 
 what I wrote on that subject. More than ten years have passed, 
 and the lapse of time has established the truth of what I then 
 and there asserted. 
 
 Captain Eads, not an engineer, except in the popular esti- 
 mation, had settled upon the practicability of the Tehuantepec 
 ship-railway, and on the occasion of General Grant's visit to 
 Mexico, accompanied him with Mr. Jesse Grant, the youngest son 
 of the general, who the captain had discovered was remarkable 
 in his talent for engineering, and in consequence he had made 
 him an associate. Under such favorable auspices in Mexico, 
 Captain Eads could not fail to obtain a concession, though 
 coupled with much that was uninviting. He and his associates 
 were guaranteed all the rights of Mexican citizens, but were 
 denied the right to appeal to their minister for any supposed 
 violation of their rights guaranteed by the concession. At the 
 same time that Captain Eads was in Mexico and M. de Lesseps 
 at Panama, an agent of the association that General E. F. Beale 
 and myself had initiated obtained an excellent concession for . 
 the construction of the Nicaragua Canal. 
 
 The following winter (1880-81) the initiatory society had 
 filed its concession in the State Department, published the full 
 text of the concession, and asked of Congress simply an act of— 
 incorporation. 
 
 A favorable report on this act of incorporation, without pro- 
 posing any subsidies or guarantees of any character, was not 
 made until the " Special Committee" was supposed to be willing 
 to report the Eads ship-railway bill favorably also, with an 
 attached guarantee of fifty million dollars. 
 
 It was near the close of the session when these conditions 
 were supposed to exist. When the chairman reported the bill 
 to incorporate the Nicaragua Canal Company it was received 
 without dissent; but when he attempted to report the Eads 
 
480 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 ship-railway bill with a munificent subsidy a storm of indigna- 
 tion arose that was only quieted when, at the motion of the 
 Honorable 8. S. Cox, the bill was tabled. 
 
 This action of the House on the Eads bill caused him to act 
 ^covertly for years, but he was none the less inimical and obstruc- 
 tive in preventing the incorporation of the Nicaragua Canal 
 (Company, and equally covert and intent on the same object was 
 ft the munificently endowed American Panama Canal Syndicate, 
 with its two and a half millions of francs yearly for five years, 
 " to preserve American neutrality." These and other influences 
 that I shall not name were effective in preventing the bill for 
 the incorporation of the Nicaragua Canal Company from being 
 brought up in the House, — an easy matter at that time. 
 
 In the mean time, M. de Lesseps was gaining his experience 
 from the operations at Panama, and the conviction was forced 
 upon him, or upon others whose opinions had weight with him, 
 that the engineering difficulties at Panama were far more for- 
 midable than had been anticipated in making a canal, whether 
 at the level of the sea or with any lockage that might be pro- 
 posed. Then we find M. Blanchet in Nicaragua again, of whom 
 mention has been made before as an emissary of Lesseps in 
 Nicaragua. He was wandering around, und descanting in the 
 Nicaraguan newspapers upon the advantage of joining Lakes 
 Nicaragua and Managua by a canal following the bed of a small 
 stream which at rare intervals empties a slight surplusage of 
 Managua into the other lake, lying at a level of about fifteen 
 feet below it. In the newspapers sent me I read his glowing 
 presentations of the practicability of this canal between the 
 lakes, promising that ere long he would open to their view a 
 .more extended prospect. He was hinting at what he would 
 (propose after the expiration of the concession held by the Amer- 
 ican initiatory association of which mention has been made; 
 then he would propose again the project of the canal from sea 
 to sea, which, as the reader is aware, had been agreed upon with 
 him in March, 1879, and came within one vote of confirma- 
 tion in the Senate of Nicaragua. I translated these published 
 writings of Blanchet and took them to Mr. Frelinghuysen, who 
 sent for Captain Phelps, then President of the Association hold- 
 
THE EADS SHIP-RAILWAY. 481 
 
 ing the concession. As its duration was brief, action was taken 
 by sending Commander Lull, of the navy, to Nicaragua. He 
 had charge of the parties when the government surveys were 
 made, and was favorably known j he secured a considerable ex- 
 tension of time for the concession, much to the gratification of 
 Mr. Frelinghuysen, but which, unhappily, he did not know how 
 to utilize. 
 
 There were many reasons at that time for my belief that M. 
 Blanchet was in Nicaragua as a covert agent of M. de Lesseps v 
 After Lull had gained his point M. Blanchet lefl Nicaragua. 
 Had Lull been unsuccessful and the concession expired, M. de Les- 
 seps would probably have come out in the role of a conciliating 
 diplomatist, and perhaps would have said, " The Americans have 
 a prejudice in favor of a lock-canal ; but they don't know how 
 to make canals. We will make a lock-canal to gratify them. . 
 For the present we will suspend our operations at Panama, and 
 will make the canal by way of Lake Nicaragua. It will pay 
 very well, and with a part of the proceeds from the tolls received, 
 which will be large, and from our other resources, we will then 
 complete our grand sea-level canal at Panama." But never 
 afterwards would any work have been done at Panama, simply 
 because the engineers on the work had learned, after some years 
 of labor and a large expenditure of money, that all their efforts 
 to make a sea-level canal would be futile, and that a lock-canal 
 there would cost several times the amount that it would at 
 Nicaragua, aud besides, would be far inferior in every respect. 
 
 No sooner had Lull obtained an extension of time than 
 Frelinghuysen became importunate for the Association to make \ 
 a transfer of the concession to the government, notwithstanding"' 
 the fact was pointed out to him that the attempt to do so would 
 work its forfeiture by its own terms. Then he set about bully- 
 ing the Nicaraguan government as to that, and proposed enter- 
 ing into a treaty to construct the canal in the joint interests of 
 the two peoples, and to the exclusion of other nationalities, 
 which the Nicaraguan government would not listen to for a 
 moment. He then awaited the expiration of the concession to 
 the Association, with the view of making a treaty with Nica- 
 ragua for the construction of the canal, and a special Envoy was 
 
 31 
 
482 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 sent by that government, an Ex-President of that republic, 
 General Zavala, a gentleman of marked ability and character, 
 and, as is well known, a treaty was negotiated empowering our 
 government to construct the canal. This treaty was confirmed 
 by the Legislative authorities of Nicaragua, and was withdrawn 
 from onr Senate, after the inauguration of President Cleveland, 
 for further consideration, and never placed before that body 
 again, when the fact was well known at that time that had it 
 remained before the Senate it would have been confirmed by a 
 three-fourths vote of that body. 
 
 In the belief of Captain Eads, a promising future was opened 
 up to him by the inauguration of President Cleveland. His 
 assistant, Civil Engineer Corthell, went over the whole country 
 delivering a lecture which he called the "Scientific Solution 
 of the Inter-oceanic Problem," and doubtless demonstrated to 
 many persons, by means of a stereopticon, the great ease, safety, 
 speed, and economy with which a great ship and cargo could be 
 taken out of the water and carried across what he called " the 
 easy grades of Tehuantepec," which on the south face are more 
 than one hundred feet per mile for more than five consecutive 
 miles. He neither made any allusion to the elevation to be 
 passed over, or troubled himself with presenting a profile. 
 There was an audacity in this which I suppose grew out of 
 Captain Eads's having convinced persons in authority of the 
 great superiority of the plan of taking a ship on wheels and 
 carrying her over five times the elevation and five times the 
 linear distance of the prism required in the construction of the 
 Nicaragua Canal, besides encountering many other difficulties 
 which I shall not now mention, having detailed them in two 
 pamphlets published by me. Captain Eads was a man of rare 
 plausibility ; yet, with the surveys of Nicaragua just then exe- 
 cuted showing a superior location, as he found out in time, he 
 had taken up a heavier load than he was able to carry. 
 
 Two months after the inauguration of President Cleveland I 
 was one of more than a hundred callers who in our turns passed 
 before him. I stated briefly the object of my visit ; for more 
 than twenty years I had felt an interest in the Isthmian transit 
 question, and I was the only living member of a commission 
 
THE SHIP-RAILWAY. 483 
 
 that had been appointed by President Grant in 1872 to examine 
 into and report upon that question, which was done in 1876, 
 after nearly four years of patient examination, based on accurate 
 information, since which time, through further surveys, a much 
 more advantageous location had been determined upon. I had 
 been sent by President Hayes in 1879 to the Paris Canal Con- 
 gress, and had ever since been in controversy with different 
 parties. I held myself at his service at any time he might 
 appoint, and thought that in an hour's time I might be able to 
 give him all the information essential to making an intelligent 
 study of the subject. The President smiled benevolently, and 
 said that really he " found himself so occupied that until he had 
 had his outing and returned to the city he would not be able to 
 see me." I had been in correspondence with General McClellan 
 on this subject ; for years he had kept himself informed in rela- 
 tion to all Isthmian surveys as they progressed. 
 
 Not long after Mr. Frelinghuysen had obtained for our gov- 
 ernment, by treaty with Nicaragua, the right to construct the 
 Nicaragua Canal, he had sent Mr. Menocal to make further 
 examinations of part of a new location previously supposed 
 practicable, but the practicability of which could not be absolutely 
 assured until every foot of the route had been examined properly 
 with instruments of precision. The supporters of Captain Eads V^ 
 in the Senate violently opposed allowing this further location of 
 the Nicaragua Canal to be made, but their number was insig- 
 nificant, and it was made, giving the route a distinctive feature 
 ofclevelopment, one of free navigation from sea to sea, with 
 the exception of some twenty-eight miles of canal prism actu- 
 ally required, half of which distance can be dug by dredging- 
 machines without any impediment. 
 
 General McClellan and Colonel John G. Stevens, of Trenton, 
 New Jersey, then President and Chief Engineer of the New 
 Jersey Eailroad and Canal Company, made an appointment 
 to come to Washington to examine the recent surveys. Un- 
 fortunately, the business affairs of General McClellan compelled 
 him to go to Boston at the time appointed : he telegraphed 
 to Stevens to go to Washington, and he would follow at the 
 earliest opportunity. Colonel Stevens came to Washington, and 
 
/ 
 
 484 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW: 
 
 examined the data very carefully. They were entirely satisfac- 
 tory to him, the more especially as an interior valley parallel to 
 the left bank of the San Juan River and above the proposed 
 dam at Ochoa would actually become a part of the free naviga- 
 tion in the transit of vessels, thus greatly lesseniug the amount 
 of excavation required in construction. He then accompanied 
 one of the ablest Democratic Senators to see the President, and 
 stated clearly his ideas : he offered to make a technical exposition 
 of the canal as located, and send it to the President, which pro- 
 posal was accepted with thanks. A fortnight later I Avrote to 
 General McClellan suggesting that he should either write me or 
 send me a telegram the day before he proposed coming to Wash- 
 ington, in order that he might be subjected to no delay in making 
 his examinations of the surveys. The following morning I was 
 shocked at learning of the sudden death of the general at his 
 home, from either heart-disease or apoplexy. 
 
 Two or three weeks later, General William B. Franklin, who 
 was the intimate personal friend of General McClellan, and had 
 likewise a very full knowledge of Isthmian surveys, was in 
 Washington. He was good enough to make a thorough exami- 
 nation of the new location, and, after satisfying himself fully in 
 relation to its many advantages, went to see the President with 
 the same Democratic Senator that had accompanied Colonel 
 Stevens. As we neared the White House I wished to take my 
 leave, but both the Senator and the general insisted on my going 
 with them. When we saw the President the general spoke very 
 emphatically and earnestly upon the subject ; no doubt existed 
 in his mind as to the very favorable conditions that assured the 
 success of the canal on a commercial and very remunerative basis. 
 The President appeared to listen with attention, but it was evident 
 to me that what entered one ear passed at once out of the other. 
 Two weeks later his first annual message appeared. It con- 
 tained a brief mention of the Nicaragua Canal, but not one word 
 of comment as to its practicability, notwithstanding the expres- 
 sions of Franklin and Stevens above referred to, and this was 
 followed by a very favorable expression of opinion as to the 
 practicability of the Eads ship-railway, which was supposed to 
 ave satisfactory endorsements by experts and men of science. 
 
THE SHIP-RAILWAY. 485 
 
 In reply to a letter from me, I had one of some length from 
 John Bourne, of London, so well known the world over that it 
 seems superfluous to say he has no superior in Great Britain on 
 such subjects. He regarded the ship-railway proposed at Te- 
 huantepec as entirely impracticable, even had the conditions been 
 far more favorable for construction than they were known to be. 
 This letter was not received by me in time for publication in a 
 pamphlet containing many letters from eminent practical men, 
 all of whom regarded the ship-railway as wholly impracticable. 
 
 In the Cosmopolitan for July, 1890, 1 have seen the plan of a 
 ship-railway now under construction in Nova Scotia, the condi- 
 tions for which are very favorable as to grades and general solidity 
 of land, with a promise of completion in the early part of 1892. 
 The platform is to be placed upon two hundred and fifty wheels, 
 similar, as far as shown, to ordinary car-wheels. An observer 
 might regard every wheel as a pedestal, when in fact it is simply 
 a tangent that will bear an equal weight upon an imaginary 
 perfectly level road-bed, an utter impracticability if it is to ex- 
 tend over miles of distance and to be subject to all the conditions 
 of rainfall and atmospheric changes. Should the outer rails be 
 but one-sixteenth of an inch too high, and the inner ones that 
 much too low, very insignificant differences in such constructions, 
 it needs no scientist to recognize the fact that the outer wheels 
 would bear the weight and the inner ones would not touch the 
 rails. The same conditions of contact or suspension of wheels 
 would obtain when considered longitudinally. We read of 
 " springs and rams to equalize weights" in such cases, and in a 
 year or so we will see how they do their work. It is with much 
 pleasure that I see others than my countrymen trying this plan 
 of transportation. The failure of this project under such favor- 
 able physical conditions would demonstrate how visionary is the 
 idea of the railway across Tehuantepec if intended for the trans- 
 portation of ships. There is an immense difference between the 
 transportation of weights, considered distinctly, and the trans- 
 portation of a mass of great weight, as is clearly shown by that 
 distinguished bridge- and railroad-builder, the late "W. W. Evans, 
 in a letter written to me and published in one of my pamphlets. 
 
 During that winter Captain Eads was permitted to place on 
 
486 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 exhibition in the basement of the Capitol what he called his 
 model of the Tehuan tepee Ship-Railway. It was a lifting-dock, 
 no doubt well fitted to place a vessel on a cradle and raise her to 
 the level of a railway, but there was nothing of the one hundred 
 and fifty miles of railway to be built, for a good many miles 
 over a low swampy region, where, as Corthell said in his " Solu- 
 tion," a good solid road-bed would have to be made of at least 
 two feet of broken stone. Had there been a model of the route, 
 there would have been up and down grades, and steep ones at 
 that, and cuts such as have never been made in railroading, and 
 several " turn-tables" to change the course of the ship, as there 
 were to be no curves, and, the summit having been reached, the 
 steep grades on the southern slope of more than one hundred feet 
 per mile, already mentioned. 
 
 Captain Eads brought forward Sir Edward Reed, for a time 
 the architect of the British navy, and the designer of the Auda- 
 cious class of armored ships, which when grounded on a smooth 
 bottom, if left a foot or two below the line of flotation by a fall- 
 ing tide, would suffer a breaking of bracket-plates or other injury 
 to their frames. Years before, he had stated before a Parlia- 
 mentary commission that many merchant-ships with cargoes 
 when grounded in the Clyde or the Mersey would be greatly 
 injured almost as soon as they were no longer fully water-borne. 
 Now he came prepared to say that the Eads ship-railway was 
 just the thing to carry them from sea to sea ; but the ideal vessel 
 for such a transit he described as follows : 
 
 "I should say, as an American, if our ships are not adapted 
 for this purpose at present, let them be made so, because the 
 great problem you have to deal with is to transport this easily 
 carried produce of grain ; I would say, fling away for a moment 
 the idea of a ship, and make a floating grain-car which you can 
 take over a railroad ; regard it simply as a big car for carrying 
 grain ; make it as strong as you like for railway purposes ; make 
 it whatever shape you like for railway purposes ; and when you 
 have quite satisfied yourself that you can carry your own grain 
 in your own cars across the Isthmus, then I will undertake to 
 make that go as a ship to California on the one side or to New 
 York on the other." 
 
THE SHIP-RAILWAY. 487 
 
 Such vessels as Sir Edward proposed for us to navigate the 
 ship-railway would certainly not compete with British bottoms 
 on the high seas. 
 
 I examined Captain Eads's bill for the incorporation of the 
 ship-railway company, and found it marvellously framed. Its 
 provisions would give him and his associates ample reward with- 
 out other act on his part than carrying a ship and cargo having a 
 dead weight of three thousand tons from sea to sea. Indeed, this 
 would not have to be done to secure them great benefits, as the 
 sections were pronounced acceptable for transit, which included 
 a considerable distance of supposed improved river navigation, 
 and perhaps, on the west coast, of lagoon navigation. I reviewed 
 CorthelFs " Scientific Solution" and Captain Eads's bill in a 
 small pamphlet entitled " The Certainty of the Nicaragua Canal 
 contrasted with the Uncertainties of the Eads Ship-Railway." 
 He proposed a series of guarantees operative in sections as they 
 should be accepted by government inspectors, amounting to a 
 total of thirty-seven million five hundred thousand dollars, the 
 entire amount conditioned upon transporting the vessel as above 
 from sea to sea, the natural and intended inference being that 
 other vessels engaged in traffic would necessarily present them- 
 selves for transit. Fifty per cent, was proposed as the working 
 expenses of the railway for the transportation of ships. I pro- 
 posed in lieu of guarantee that our government should pay on 
 all vessels under our flag, having a dead weight of two thousand 
 five hundred tons or more, as a bonus, an amount equal to the 
 toll-rate paid by the vessel, until the railway should have re- 
 ceived thirty-seven million five hundred thousand dollars. Of 
 course this did not suit Captain Eads and his associates. I stated 
 that four years earlier I had read to Alexander H. Stephens, of 
 Georgia, a letter of General Grant to Captain Eads, dated Jan- 
 uary 13, 1882. Stephens at once said, " Now I understand it all. 
 Captain Eads would, under his bill, construct his ship-railway 
 without any cost, — nay, with a very considerable endowment, — 
 and then, without ever attempting, or indeed intending, to pass 
 a ship from sea to sea, have several lines of railway and harbors 
 for small vessels and a very profitable traffic in grain and other 
 merchandise." 
 
488 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 The following is a paragraph from General Grant's letter 
 above referred to : 
 
 " But I now have your bill No. 430 before me, and its pro- 
 visions are so entirely at variance from what I had been led to 
 suppose you intended to ask, that I feel it my duty to notify 
 you that I shall oppose it in its present form with all my ability. 
 I do this because I feel that I have been deceived as to what 
 you intended to ask, and also believe that if your present bill 
 passes the government will be made responsible for six per cent, 
 interest upon a large bonded indebtedness even should your 
 enterprise prove a total failure." 
 
 In a pamphlet published by Corthell and Eads in relation to 
 my pamphlet, a memorandum of a letter to Mr. Jesse R. Grant 
 is given, from which I quote a paragraph : 
 
 " I regret it [the publication of General Grant's letter] be- 
 cause, having assured me in his last letter that he would throw 
 no obstacle in the way of my measure, this use of his name 
 by Admiral Ammen keeps in its way the most serious obstacle 
 which it has to encounter, and furnishes to Ammen the only 
 possible means with which he can hope to defeat my bill. He 
 totally disregards the advice of your father, and is determined 
 to use his name as long as he will permit it." 
 
 On page 48 of Eads's pamphlet is a letter from himself to 
 General Grant, from which I quote : 
 
 " Will you kindly advise me by early mail whether, if the 
 
 bill BE AMENDED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SUGGESTIONS 
 
 herein contained, you will not be willing to withdraw all 
 opposition to it ?" 
 
 This letter is followed by the assertion that General Grant 
 had written to Senator Miller explaining his [the general's] 
 error in relation to the bill he criticised, and the statement that 
 I necessarily knew of this letter and of General Grant's reply, 
 which he does not produce. I have never heard of either of 
 these letters, save through the publication of Captain Eads. It 
 was found convenient to consider my pamphlet so grossly per- 
 sonal as to be unworthy of reply on the several points of objec- 
 tion that I presented, — though I had made use of no personality 
 whatever. Nor did they believe one word that I attributed to 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON AN ISTHMIAN CANAL. 489 
 
 Mr. Stephens. All this, however, gave me little concern. I was 
 held as an " ingrate" because I totally disregarded the advice of 
 General Grant, who they asserted was my " benefactor." 
 
 While indifferent to the contents of their pamphlet so far as 
 it related to myself, I was not willing that mis-statements in 
 relation to the actual location of the Nicaragua Canal should go 
 uncontradicted, and therefore at my leisure published another 
 pamphlet, entitled "The Errors and Fallacies of the Inter- 
 Oceanic Transit Question : to whom do they belong ?" In this 
 pamphlet will be found an exposure of these mis-statements, 
 and an explanation of the character of the opposition to the con- 
 struction of the Nicaragua Canal. These pamphlets were sent 
 to many public libraries and given a wide publicity. A few 
 months later I received a letter from President Cardenas, of 
 Nicaragua, acknowledging the receipt of them, and thanking 
 me for the interest I took in the canal, as he was aware I had 
 no private interests in connection with it. He stated that the 
 Minister of Hacienda had forwarded me a bill of credit for five 
 hundred dollars to meet my expenditures, and said that if more 
 was required I was to let him know and he would see that they 
 were covered. In my reply I stated that I was unwilling to 
 take a dollar out of the treasury of Nicaragua, but would have 
 no objection to a "repayment of the money spent by me, in gov- 
 ernment lands on the island of Ometepe at their market value. 
 My expenses had not yet reached five hundred dollars, but I 
 supposed it likely that they would do so before my discussion 
 ended. I tore the signature from the bill of credit and respect- 
 fully returned it to the Minister of Hacienda, with a letter of 
 explanation as to my motives in doing so. I was not willing 
 that a futile attempt at the construction of a ship-railway should 
 throw the Nicaragua Canal construction into European hands, 
 to our great humiliation as a people, — that we should grasp at 
 shadow and lose the substance. 
 
 In February, 1887, Eads, with his associates, was active in 
 endeavoring to prevent the granting to our citizens of an act of 
 incorporation to construct the Nicaragua Canal, for which at the 
 time they had only a promise of a concession, and, aided by other 
 hostile influences, he was successful. The captain was much 
 
490 THE 0LD XAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 disappointed at meeting no opposition to the passage of an act 
 of incorporation for his ship-railway shorn of any guarantee 
 of bonds, but in defeating the passage of the Nicaragua bill 
 'his own was not brought up. From 1881 until the collapse 
 of the Panama Canal project, the American syndicate, endowed 
 with an annuity of a half million of dollars for five years, was 
 active in preserving "American neutrality." In February, 1887, 
 M. Coln6, the secretary of that disreputable " combine," was 
 in Washington, doubtless to prevent the passage of the act 
 of incorporation for the Nicaragua Canal Company; he then 
 published a telegram from M. de Lesseps, who " hoped the 
 Nicaragua Canal would be made ; the water being fresh, would 
 serve for irrigation, but no vessel would ever pass through it." 
 Months, if not years, before, Lesseps had abandoned the sea- 
 level canal plan as hopeless, and considered favorably a " plan" 
 for pumping water up thirty-three feet to the proposed summit, 
 some one hundred and fifty feet above the sea-level. He set 
 out with the erroneous idea that nothing but a sea-level canal 
 would serve the traffic of the world ; he ended with the absurd- 
 ity of proposing to pump up water thirty-three feet to the sum- 
 mit, one-half higher above the sea than the proposed summit of 
 the Nicaragua Canal ! 
 
 Notwithstanding all the powerful influences that have stood 
 in the way of the construction of the Nicaragua Canal, and the 
 consequent delays, the continued surveys have made the project 
 of its development highly satisfactory. 
 
 No water-way on the globe is so munificently supplied with a 
 constant water-level or so well protected against the damaging 
 effects of floods, through weirs to discharge the surplusage, and 
 all this, too, will be effected with a greatly reduced cost in con- 
 struction. The canal prism is reduced by these means to a 
 length of less than twenty-eight miles, one-half or even more 
 of which can be dug by dredging-machines. This admirable 
 location has been secured by the untiring efforts of Civil Engi- 
 neer Menocal and his assistants. In order to perfect it between 
 Grey town and Ochoa Dam, no fewer than eighty miles of transit 
 and level have been run recently, for every mile of location. 
 Along the line forest-trees of enormous size, their tops covered 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON AN ISTHMIAN CANAL. 49 1 
 
 with vines, form a canopy that shuts out in great part even the 
 light of the noonday sun, and the undergrowth is so dense that 
 often to see twenty feet in advance a vista has to be cut which 
 may disclose a steep ascent, or a swamp whose depth or width 
 is a mystery that has to be solved by running a transit-line. 
 
 When I was Chief of Bureau of Navigation, and had official 
 charge of the surveys, then run by young navy officers, I 
 endeavored, in an annual report, to pay a just tribute to the 
 ability and indomitable energy of those officers. All their labor 
 was performed without a word of complaint, and, what was 
 very satisfactory, not one officer or man, to my knowledge, lost 
 his health in making surveys in Nicaragua, while many who 
 were engaged on the Panama and Atrato-Napipi surveys became 
 invalids, — one of whom was Lieutenant Frederick Collins, who 
 had no superior known to me in the service. 
 
 As an illustration of the difficulty of penetrating these dense 
 forests, I will mention what was told me by an English gentle- 
 man whom I met some months ago. He had been engaged in 
 gold-mining in the Chontales district, some sixty miles east of 
 Lake Nicaragua. A French gentleman purchased a gold-mine 
 near him, and sent to Europe to get suitable machinery to work 
 his mine. It was bought and shipped at considerable cost, and 
 from the borders of the lake was transported over the rough 
 mountain-roads with great difficulty and expense. When it 
 was being set up, in cutting a line of sight with a machete, — a 
 species of cutlass, in the use of which the natives are very 
 dexterous, — a fine mountain-stream was discovered with abun- 
 dant fall to answer all his purposes. Had he been a little more 
 enterprising in prospecting he would have saved himself the 
 expenditure of tens of thousands of dollars. The Nicaragua 
 Canal Company cannot be reproached for a like neglect j nothing 
 would satisfy Mr. Menocal but the best possible location, and 
 that he has secured, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of 
 dollars, it is true, but with an economy of tens of millions in 
 the construction of the canal, which will be the admiration of 
 coming ages, and the greatest work that man has ever achieved 
 for the benefit of his fellows. 
 
 The possibility of constructing a ship-canal across this conti- 
 
492 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 nent lias been the dream of enthusiasts and an object of research 
 with scientists for centuries. Among the latter was Alexander 
 von Humboldt, who wrote, " It would be imprudent, I here 
 repeat, to begin at one point without having examined and 
 levelled others ; and it would be above all to be regretted if the 
 work were undertaken on too small a scale ; for in works of 
 this description the expense does not augment in proportion to 
 the section of the canals or the breadth of the water-channel. 
 . . . The position of Nicaragua, by the position of its inland 
 lake, and the communication of that lake with the Atlantic by 
 the Rio San Juan, presents several features of resemblance with 
 that neck of land in the Scotch highlands where the river Ness 
 forms a natural communication between the mountain-lakes and 
 the Gulf of Murray." 
 
 Had Baron Humboldt lived until his ideas had assumed a 
 tangible form in the actual location of the Nicaragua Canal, he 
 would have seen that great lake, one hundred and ten feet above 
 the sea-level with a considerable part of its bottom below the 
 level of the sea, spread out to within less than four miles of the 
 free waters of the Pacific, and within about ten miles of the 
 Atlantic, with low ground intervening, — not in the valley of 
 a stream, but simply a flat land, — presenting no obstacle to 
 dredging, nor any difficulty in keeping the channel clear when 
 the work should be completed. 
 
 Long before these expressions of Humboldt, in his personal 
 narratives, published in London in 1826, Jefferson, in 1788, 
 being then in Paris, wrote to a friend in the United States, 
 "With respect to the Isthmus of Panama, I am assured by 
 Burgoyne that a survey was made and a canal appeared very 
 practicable, but the idea was suppressed for reasons altogether 
 political. He had seen and examined the report. This report, 
 to me, is a vast consideration, for reasons political and philo- 
 sophical." 
 
 Almost coincident in time with the expression of the ideas of 
 Humboldt, Henry Clay was endeavoring to bring about an 
 ascertainment of possibilities in relation to canal-construction, 
 
 / s 
 
 Is and in 1835 Jackson was no less earnest. 
 
 In a letter dated July 7, 1866, to Admiral Davis, then Super- 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON AN ISTHMIAN CANAL. 493 
 
 intendent of the Naval Observatory, General Grant wrote, " I 
 regard it as of vast importance to this country that no European 
 government should hold such a work. For this reason I have 
 endeavored for the last year to get such a thorough survey made 
 by the government of the United States through the territory 
 of the Columbian government as would fully determine whether 
 such a project is feasible, not doubting that, on the presentation 
 of such feasibility, American capital and an American company, 
 under some treaty that could be easily arranged between the two 
 governments, would undertake it." 
 
 Through the surveys of our government subsequently made, 
 the ideas of Humboldt were carried out, — namely, that it would 
 be imprudent to begin a work of such magnitude without in ad- 
 vance making sufficient surveys to ascertain the topography of the 
 whole Isthmus; and this was accomplished through years of labor. 
 
 At the Paris Canal Congress in May, 1879, I was authorized 
 by President Hayes to say, — 
 
 " The long period of time over which the surveys of the 
 United States have been prosecuted, designed to elucidate the 
 problem of a ship-canal, indicates a persistent interest in this 
 subject. I am happy to add that the present Chief Magistrate 
 and his Cabinet are fully alive to the benefit to be derived from 
 a full consideration of the construction of an inter-oceanic ship- 
 canal, now that further researches of the topography of that 
 region no longer promise commensurate rewards. 
 
 " In the consideration of a great work, such as the construc- 
 tion of a ship-canal across the American continent, we may well 
 suppose that its permanency should be regarded as important as 
 the selection of the route itself, involving the least cost of con- 
 struction with the minimum of problems of doubtful cost in the 
 execution of the work. With these points assured, the question 
 becomes fairly debatable whether the physical conditions are to 
 be considered too formidable to admit of the execution of the 
 work, — in fact, whether a grand idea for the amelioration of the 
 great commerce of the world can be put in execution, or must 
 be perforce abandoned through the existence of difficulties too 
 formidable in their nature to admit of an endeavor to overcome 
 them." 
 
494 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 When the treaty with Nicaragua as agreed upon between 
 Frelinghuysen and Zavala was found not acceptable to the Ex- 
 ecutive branch of the incoming Administration, even with any 
 modifications that Nicaragua might be willing to concede, since 
 none were proposed, — such, for example, as rehabilitating the 
 association of our citizens that had previously obtained a con- 
 cession and actually held it more with a view to secure a national 
 necessity than for personal gain, — on the expiration of the time 
 agreed upon in the treaty a concession by the government of Nic- 
 aragua was open to the world, and especially, so far as the United 
 States was concerned, to the subjects of Great Britain, or any 
 other European power, from the terms of the Clayton-Bulwer 
 treaty. The government of the United States could not have 
 made a valid protest had the subjects of Germany possessed 
 themselves of a concession to construct that canal. Had such 
 an event occurred, we may suppose that the citizens of the United 
 States would not have regarded it with satisfaction ; and yet 
 neither in law nor in equity could they have found a just cause 
 for complaint, — a protest, even, would have been puerile, — and 
 thus we might have seen our coasting trade dominated by a foreign 
 power through a canal which, when completed, would be found 
 neutral just so far as that power should agree to its neutrality, 
 beyond the free transit of vessels on equal terms in time of peace. 
 
 Under these discouraging conditions, a number of intelligent 
 citizens of the United States formed an association, and, with a 
 proper degree of secrecy, sent an agent to ask another concession 
 for the construction of the ship-canal, which was obtained by 
 them, despite Panama Canal agents and other adverse influences. 
 The money and the time of our citizens were given to obtain 
 success, we may believe with a considerable desire to promote our 
 national welfare, while a munificent reward would result in the 
 construction of the canal should they obtain a concession. As 
 before, the obtaining of a concession was doubtful, and a failure 
 to obtain it would have entailed a considerable loss of time and 
 money. Nor has the company been idle since obtaining a conces- 
 sion and an act of incorporation. The thorough surveys already 
 mentioned have given admirable results, illustrating a well- 
 known fact, that in carrying out any grand undertaking the first 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON AN ISTHMIAN CANAL. 495 
 
 thing to do is to ascertain in advance just what has to be done. 
 Nor has this been all that has thus far been accomplished. The 
 efforts in progress for the restoration of the harbor of Grey- 
 town already yield tangible results, and with some eight or ten 
 dredging-machines on hand, ready to operate, the harbor will 
 soon be deepened and the canal prism dug to the first lock, some 
 ten miles distant, so broad and deep that it may fairly be re- 
 garded as a harbor extension. Already a railroad is half built 
 and operative along this line, and water-pipes are being laid to 
 convey water from a reservoir in the hills to the workmen along 
 the line and to the inhabitants of the harbor, as well as for the 
 vessels that will soon visit that port in numbers. 
 
 The construction of a canal under an American company 
 seems no less necessary to the peace of Europe than it is to the 
 peace of Central America and a large part of this continent. 
 The sudden and frequent " war-clouds'' that threaten Europe 
 should not be allowed to disturb the great water-route of the 
 future, more important to us on this continent than to Europeans. 
 Had the Panama Canal proved a success under French auspices, 
 it would have been a bone of contention between France and her 
 neighbors, and the toll-rates agreed upon in the concession would 
 have made it a question whether anything would be gained by 
 passing through the canal rather than around Cape Horn or 
 through the Straits of Magellan. Thus we might have had an 
 Isthmian canal without any great commercial advantage, and at 
 a great military disadvantage, had the Panama route been practi- 
 cable. Constructed by our citizens, under an act of incorpora- 
 tion from Congress, and fortified in such a manner through our 
 government as to preclude pecuniary embarrassment during its 
 construction, or foreign interference in the future, it may, when 
 constructed, possess neutrality in a proper sense of the word, 
 altogether different from the neutrality which would attach to it 
 were it constructed by German subjects under an incorporation 
 from his Imperial Majesty, or were it under the protection of the 
 government of France. Authorized by the Executive Department 
 of our government, I said at the Paris Canal Congress of 1879, — 
 
 " The people of the United States are not disposed to consider 
 the construction of the canal solely with reference to the degree 
 
/ 
 / 
 
 V 
 
 496 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 in which the commerce and interests of the United States will be 
 relatively benefited through its construction, as compared with 
 the advantages that may accrue to other nations. Such a ship- 
 canal cannot fail to be a great and common benefit, and especially 
 in opening a rapid and easy transit between the Atlantic coasts 
 of Europe and America with the western coast of America, and 
 the speedy development of Australia. Regarding this inter- 
 oceanic ship-canal, when constructed, as the greatest artificial 
 highway that can be constructed, conferring benefits on all nations 
 and peoples, the people of the United States consider its con- 
 struction a matter of common interest, and the guarantee of its 
 neutrality a duty common to all nations." 
 
 The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, since the meeting 
 of the so-called " Paris Canal Congress" in May, 1879, has given 
 the subject of an Inter-Oceanic Canal attentive consideration. As 
 is well known, this committee is chosen from the best-informed o£ 
 both parties, especially as relates to our " foreign policy," — if we 
 may flatter ourselves that such a thing exists as a practical fact. 
 
 For the last two years that committee has wished to secure to 
 this government the control of the Nicaragua Canal route, and 
 to make the work an accomplished fact, economic in construc- 
 tion, and its peaceful use equal in all respects to all the nations 
 of the earth. For the furtherance of these purposes, on the 
 10th of January, 1891, the committee submitted to the Senate a 
 unanimous report in favor of the bill, which it earnestly recom- 
 mended for consideration. Briefly, the bill provided as follows : 
 
 1. For a first (and only) mortgage of all the company's belong- 
 ings, of every name and nature, to secure a loan of one hundred 
 million dollars, the interest on which was to be guaranteed by 
 the United States. 
 
 2. For the hypothecation to the government of seven-tenths 
 of the Canal Company's stock. 
 
 3. For the issue and sale of the remaining stock in the event 
 only of the proceeds of the bonds being insufficient to complete 
 the canal. 
 
 4. For the appointment outright of six of the Board of Direc- 
 tors, with, by virtue of control of a majority of stock interests, 
 authority to choose the remaining directors. 
 
THE NICARAGUA CANAL BILL. 497 
 
 5. For the bi-monthly progress payments to the company in 
 bonds for work done in construction, on certification of govern- 
 ment engineers, and for payment in similar securities, on same 
 proof, for work already done. 
 
 6. For the acquirement by the United States, in its option, 
 after the completion of the canal, at par value of the ownership 
 of the hypothecated stock, paying for the same by retirement 
 and cancellation of the guaranteed bonds. 
 
 No more bonds were to be issued than would be required to 
 provide funds to complete the canal, and this sum, in the opinion 
 of competent judges, would not exceed from eighty to ninety 
 million dollars. In this case the government would possess 
 itself of a majority of stock, and would become, practically, 
 the owner of the canal, without other cost than the lending of 
 its credit. 
 
 Should the work fail under this government direction, then 
 the mortgage would be foreclosed, and the government would 
 possess itself of what had been accomplished, the franchise, and 
 all the accessory rights. 
 
 When this bill was presented to the President of the Canal 
 Company, he stated that, while he regarded its provisions, from 
 a commercial point of view, as very unfavorable to the interests 
 of the shareholders, yet, as the company existed as a corporation 
 by virtue of a law of Congress, which could, at its discretion, 
 be altered, amended, or repealed, at will, and as the Committee 
 on Foreign Relations were unanimously of opinion that the 
 terms of the original act ought to be modified, as recommended 
 in their report, to secure to the government great national inter- 
 ests, he would advise the acceptance of the conditions imposed. 
 This was finally agreed to by his associates, and by the Board 
 of Directors of the Canal Company. 
 
 The bill as reported by the Committee on Foreign Relations 
 has been discussed at length in the Senate, and its opponents 
 have denounced its provisions as in effect the "granting of a 
 subsidy." It soon became apparent that a fair and full consid- 
 eration of the measure could not be had before the adjournment 
 of Congress, and it was therefore withdrawn by the chairman 
 of the committee. 
 
 32 
 
498 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 The Canal Company is now free to proceed in the execution 
 of the work in its own interest, with well-ascertained facts in 
 relation to physical and commercial questions. 
 
 The company generously accorded to the government the 
 terms proposed by the Committee on Foreign Relations, although 
 the bill virtually placed the execution of the work in the hands 
 of the government. 
 
 Whatever the outcome, the company cannot be justly accused 
 of having selfishly delivered over the control of this grand 
 work to British or other foreign capital, should such be the 
 result. 
 
 The canal will certainly be completed, and under this confirmed 
 concession. The opposition in Congress is injurious only to the 
 interests of the government, and to the traffic, whether belong- 
 ing to us or to other peoples, for the reason that the Canal 
 Company will necessarily incur heavy expenses in raising the 
 capital, and the interest thereon will be much greater than it 
 would be were there a government guarantee. This increased 
 cost will be paid by the traffic, and the tolls will probably be 
 double what they would be were the work constructed under 
 the bill proposed by the Committee on Foreign Relations. The 
 traffic will be sufficient to yield fifteen per cent, on two hun- 
 dred million dollars capital, should that amount be required to 
 complete the canal. 
 
 It is very expensive to any country to have a body of legis- 
 lators who have little knowledge of external affairs, and who 
 denounce what they know little about. The so-called " subsidy," 
 which has been so much condemned, would have been a fifteen- 
 per-cent. government investment on seventy million dollars, 
 with a half-rate of tolls, due to the government guarantee. 
 
 What the " control" of the Nicaragua Canal may eventually 
 cost, no human being can tell. It may be a thousand million 
 dollars and a hundred thousand human lives. Whatever it 
 may be, it cannot be attributed to the indifference of the Canal 
 Company to our national interests. 
 
 The construction of the canal is in able hands, the ablest that 
 our country can produce, and failure to construct it I regard as 
 impossible. 
 
BENEFITS OF HORSEBACK-RIDING AND EXERCISE. 499 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Desultory Observations on Men and Things — Choose a Country-House — 
 Benefits of Horseback-Hiding and Exercise — Francis P. Blair — George 
 Bancroft — Observations on the City of Washington — Its Great Improve- 
 ment, Advantages in Climate, Health, Location, etc. — The City Gov- 
 ernment — " Boss" Shepherd — Ex-Governor Dennison — The Presidential 
 Keceptions — A Present of a Carriage from General Grant — Frequent Visits 
 to him — The Ferry Story — Scurrilous Newspapers — Senator Conkling — The 
 Cause of his Death — Mr. Colfax — General Beauregard — General Grant's 
 Annoyances — Appointments in Louisiana — The Treaty with Santo Do- 
 mingo — Fred Douglass — Pace Prejudices not entertained by Naval Men — 
 Senator Sumner and his Course on the San Domingo Matter. 
 
 In the discharge of my duties as Chief of Bureau in Wash- 
 ington I found my time so much occupied that I chose a country 
 home, where I could have my evenings for considering or pre- 
 paring my work, and a horse to ride, which I consider almost 
 indispensable to the health and well-being of every one having 
 responsible duties. An old Latin proverb says that a sound 
 mind requires a sound body. My whole experience goes to 
 show that there is no means of insuring physical vigor compar- 
 able to exercise on horseback. If you wish to assure yourself 
 what that exercise is doing for you, when riding lay your hand 
 on your abdomen, whether your horse is walking, trotting, or gal- 
 loping, and you will find that you are undergoing a "massage" 
 treatment just where nature requires most assistance. Look 
 around among your acquaintances and see if you can find one 
 who rides on horseback who is not more vigorous than those of 
 the same age who are content with an occasional or daily long 
 walk, or who make exercise easy by a drive on a smooth road 
 in a carriage carefully designed to lessen jolts. 
 
 As historic figures and illustrative of the efficacy of horseback- 
 riding, I will recall to the memory of old Washingtonians the 
 late Francis P. Blair and Mr. George Bancroft, both of whom 
 for half a century took their daily rides in or near the city. 
 Emperor Wilhelm of Germany, who died three years ago, at 
 the age of ninety-one, rode on horseback almost daily to the 
 
500 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 day of his death. It was said that in his last years the horse 
 had to be brought between two platforms, upon one of which 
 the Emperor stood in order to mount. He lived long and use- 
 fully, and will be a grand personage in all history. 
 
 In 1869 the city of Washington was called a "mud-hole," 
 and certainly not without reason. During the winter season 
 there were few streets that were not almost impassable at times 
 from the mud, and during the summer the dust was intolerable. 
 The Washington of to-day is surpassed by few cities in the 
 world in the attractiveness of its construction, its adornments, 
 and its advantages to visitors and residents, and year by year it 
 will become still more attractive. Lying as it does fifty miles 
 distant from the Blue Ridge, with the higher Allegheny range 
 from fifteen to twenty miles beyond, the cold northwest winds do 
 not readily descend to the lower grounds around Washington. 
 They rarely last twenty-four hours, and then the southwest 
 wind, blowing along the southeast face of the Ridge, comes from 
 a milder climate. There are few cloudy days in Washington 
 during the winter season ; this fact was brought to my notice 
 years ago by Mrs. Washington McLean, then living in Cincin- 
 nati, who had observed the remarkable difference between the 
 two cities in this respect. During my boyhood days in Ohio I 
 was often grievously disappointed from cloudless nights appear- 
 ing to promise a fair day, when no sooner would the sun rise 
 than clouds and snow or rain would come. 
 
 After a residence of twenty years in the vicinity of Washing- 
 ton, a'nd some study of the weather maps of the United States, 
 I have come to the conclusion that there is no locality between 
 the Alleghenies and the Rocky Mountains where the climate is so 
 good as that of Washington, especially during the winter season. 
 
 It required an able man and a bold effort to get Washington 
 out of a mud-hole. " Boss Shepherd," as his enemies called 
 him, was the man, and the bold effort consisted in laying down 
 Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the Treasury 
 Department in wooden blocks, which was followed by a grand 
 celebration. The inhabitants walked with conscious pride a full 
 mile without encountering a mud-hole ! This was glory enough 
 for one day. 
 
THE CITY GOVERNMENT. 501 
 
 Then the city was "parked," as the process was called of 
 narrowing the carriage-ways in the streets, by which means the 
 residences were enabled to have a broad ornamental grass front- 
 age, with shrubbery or trees planted at will. Other streets were 
 paved with wooden blocks, and as the blocks decayed they were 
 replaced with asphalt, or heavy blocks of stone, with improved 
 methods of laying, and an improved solidity of road-bed that 
 makes the ordinary visitor of to-day look with satisfaction, and 
 even pride, on the capital of our country. 
 
 The city government was taken out of the hands of its in- 
 habitants, many of whom were transient and had no personal 
 interests which would insure an honest and intelligent expendi- 
 ture of money in the improvement of the city ; indeed, previous 
 experience had established the fact that there was a considerable 
 number of persons of little character to lose, who were antago- 
 nistic to honest expenditures. Under provisions of law, com- 
 missioners were appointed by the President to determine upon 
 improvements in the District j and it is the general impression 
 of the tax-payers that no city in the United States has as much 
 to show for the money expended, especially in streets and roads, 
 as the city of Washington. Ex-Governor Dennison, of Ohio, 
 was one of the early commissioners. In a conversation with me 
 he said that he had accepted the appointment with the view 
 of studying the problem of making municipal expenditures 
 economical and honest, which he regarded as the most difficult 
 problem of a popular government, by which is meant a govern- 
 ment where persons are allowed to vote in relation to making 
 expenditures who do not contribute through taxation to the 
 funds required. Congressional legislation has imposed heavy 
 taxes on the tax-payers of Washington for an expensive failure 
 in water-works, and yet has put the execution of such works 
 beyond the control of the city government; it has also pro- 
 vided for a large park, very ornamental, and very attractive to 
 visitors, and for a zoological garden, to which the representatives 
 of the people will point with pride as showing the liberality of 
 Congress, and yet at the same time the tax-payers are made to 
 meet one-half the expenses. There is a broad distinction be- 
 tween the tax-payers and the inhabitants of Washington; I 
 
502 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 belong neither to the one nor the other, and on that account am 
 the better able to write of a manifest meanness and injustice. 
 
 A few days before General Grant left for Mexico, in Decem- 
 ber, 1879, I was one of twenty persons, among whom were a 
 number of Senators, the late Chief-Justice Waite, and other 
 persons of distinction, at a dinner given the general. Among 
 those present on this occasion there was entire unanimity of 
 opinion that the city of Washington owed a debt of gratitude to 
 " Boss Shepherd" which could be discharged in no more suitable 
 way than by erecting in his honor a statue of heroic size. Mr. 
 Shepherd was a man of fine personal appearance, and resembled 
 in a marked degree the statue of General Ethan Allen, of Ver- 
 mont, in the Capitol " Walhalla." He is now at Batopilas, 
 Mexico, engaged in silver-mining, and, with his ability and 
 energy, should make a fortune, if he has not already done so. 
 
 On the occasion of the dinner above spoken of, I left the 
 house in company with the Chief-Justice Waite, and a distin- 
 guished gentleman who I had reason to believe was not favor- 
 able to the Nicaragua Canal project. As we walked along, the 
 latter said, " Admiral, you make very good wine : wine-making 
 is certainly more satisfactory and less laborious than canal- 
 digging ; I would suggest the advantage of pursuing that as the 
 more profitable occupation." I of course thanked the gentleman 
 for his good opinion of my wine. I did not meet him again, 
 except for a few moments on one occasion on Pennsylvania 
 Avenue, until after my return from Nicaragua in the summer 
 of 1890, when I called to see him at his residence in Washing- 
 ton, and had the pleasure of telling him how favorable the 
 physical conditions seemed to me on passing over the canal 
 location. He asked if I continued to make wine; I replied 
 that unhappily my grape-crops had failed, and that I had not 
 the genius of the French, who could make wine without 
 grapes. 
 
 One of the attractions to the inhabitants of Washington, as 
 distinguished from its residents in the proper sense, consists in 
 the Presidential receptions, particularly the night receptions, 
 which have been literally crowded since the civil war. Presi- 
 dent Grant told me that some villanous fellow had tried on two 
 
THE FERRY STORY. 503 
 
 occasions to dislocate his arm at the shoulder by a peculiar twist 
 and violent jerk in shaking his hand, and had immediately 
 dodged into the crowd and disappeared. This hand-shaking 
 was not onerous when the number of persons attending recep- 
 tions was small, but now when tens of thousands present them- 
 selves the observance of such a custom is incomprehensible, not 
 to say ridiculous. Many of the inhabitants of Washington go 
 on all occasions "to pay their respects to the President," as 
 they call it, — when once a year should suffice. 
 
 A year after I had established myself in the country on the 
 line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, General Grant was 
 good enough to offer me a two-horse carriage which he had used 
 since his residence in Washington up to the time of his inaugu- 
 ration as President. I made use of it for a time, but found it 
 too cumbersome, and placed it under shelter, where it remained 
 for sixteen years. It has recently been put in the National 
 Museum. Steel plates now form the bottoms of carriages, 
 doing away with the " couplings" in ordinary use a quarter of 
 a century ago, when this carriage was new, and one of the best 
 manufactured at that time. 
 
 Up to the time that General Grant left Washington, I went 
 to the city frequently on Sundays, and had a standing invitation 
 to dine with him on that day when I found it convenient. On 
 my arrival, which was usually two hours or more before the 
 dinner-hour, it was his habit to take with me a long walk in a 
 northwesterly direction, often five or six miles. One day we 
 met two gentlemen, one of whom knew the President and intro- 
 duced the other, who said, " General, I knew you when you 
 kept Knight's Ferry near Stockton." The general smiled quiz- 
 zically, and said that he had met a great many people who had 
 known him when he kept that ferry. Ten years later, when 
 he was returning East, after making his tour of the globe, he 
 visited Stockton and made a few humorous remarks to the 
 persons who received him. He said he had met thousands of 
 people who informed him that they had been personally ac- 
 quainted with him when he kept Knight's Ferry near by. It 
 was an unaccountable mistake, however, as he had never been 
 there except on one occasion before the present visit, and then 
 
504 THE 0LD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 he was detained over-night by an accident. On one of the 
 many Sundays that I walked with him the weather was raw 
 and windy. On coming into the house the general proposed a 
 glass of liquor, and, going into the dining-room, we were waited 
 on by the steward. That was the only occasion on which I ever 
 drank liquor in the White House or ever saw General Grant 
 take it ; and yet the vile newspapers denounced him as a sot ! 
 The Sunday press of that day was lying and depreciative in the 
 extreme. During the last winter of his administration they 
 were particularly abusive. They announced that the nation was 
 disgraced by the Chief Magistrate reeling around the streets of 
 the capital in a drunken condition. To my personal knowledge, 
 at that time General Grant was actually abstemious, not taking 
 even one glass of wine at his own table, which was amply 
 supplied ; and in years before, when he took wine, it was very 
 sparingly, one or two wineglasses and no more. At these Sun- 
 day dinners he had naturally only his personal friends or those 
 of Mrs. Grant. A frequent visitor was Senator Conkling, who 
 was a stanch friend of the general, and the general was no less 
 attached to him. The conversation was rarely political, unless 
 in a brief way, and never malicious gossip, which is at some 
 tables the essence of society talk. The Senator had a vein of 
 quiet sarcastic expression that was interesting, sometimes relat- 
 ing to legislation and at other times to his political opponents. 
 After General Grant left the White House I saw Mr. Conkling 
 on one occasion only, at Wormley's, in Washington, some seven 
 years ago. He had then retired from public life, aud was suffer- 
 ing from chronic rheumatism ; his magnificent physique had 
 been impaired in a perceptible degree. I called upon him with 
 my friend Ex-President Cardenas of Nicaragua in relation to 
 forwarding the Nicaragua Canal construction. Mr. Conkling 
 was no hypocrite, and it did not take long to discover that he 
 w r as not favorably disposed towards the project, although he was 
 perfectly courteous, as I always found him. He was doubtless 
 well informed in relation to the indisputable merits of the route, 
 as known even at that time. I formed the idea that the " rail- 
 road magnates" or the American Panama Canal syndicate had 
 employed him as an attorney to oppose the Nicaragua Canal, 
 
MR. COLFAX. 505 
 
 which he could do in a passive way without difficulty or inter- 
 ference with his large and remunerative law practice. 
 
 Mr. Conkling fell a victim to the blizzard of March 12, 1888. 
 One can hardly conceive how so many thousands could succumb 
 to the violence of that fierce storm, and that, too, in the great 
 cities, surrounded on every side by persons who would have been 
 only too glad to take wayfarers into their houses and shelter them. 
 The loss of life grew out of the attempts of many thousands to 
 reach their homes when all public conveyance was suspended 
 by reason of the impossibility of transit. The streets were 
 filled with enormous wet snow-drifts, that soon became impass- 
 able even to a strong man. The greater number of those who 
 struggled through the snow-drifts, like Mr. Conkling, died after- 
 wards, victims to disease brought about through their exposure. 
 My residence was near the southern limit of the blizzard. In 
 the forenoon we had a steady heavy rain ; near noon it turned 
 to sleet, and later to snow falling so heavily that one could see 
 through it only a few yards. There was a howling gale all the 
 day and nearly throughout the night. Before night the roofs 
 of houses were loaded with heavy masses of frozen snow ; in 
 the morning the snow was a foot deep on the ground and the 
 thermometer with us stood at ten degrees. The four lines of 
 telegraph-poles along the turnpike leading to the post-office 
 were all blown down. The next day, mounted on a strong 
 horse, I got to the post-office, a mile distant, by either riding 
 around the butts of the poles or over them, as was found most 
 convenient. It was a fortnight before the roads were open to 
 wagons, and nearly a week before the wires were in operation 
 to New York. South of Washington the storm was not of 
 much force, and did little damage. 
 
 On one occasion I met at the White House Mr. Colfax, who 
 was then Vice-President. I had met him but once before, when 
 lie delivered a lecture in York, Pennsylvania. The conversa- 
 tion turned on the Nicaragua Canal, when Mr. Colfax remarked 
 that he hoped the President would not make its construction an 
 administration measure ; it seemed to him that the canal if built 
 would injure the overland railroads, and therefore he did not 
 look upon it with favor. The President said he had no idea of 
 
506 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 making it a party measure, but in his opinion it was a ques- 
 tion of great moment to the people of the United States. On 
 another occasion I met General Beauregard, who was altogether 
 an attractive acquaintance: he gave me some ideas in relation 
 to mattressing the banks of the Mississippi River, where a 
 crevasse was threatened, by means of Mississippi " canes" as 
 they are called, a species of bamboo, and the only kind that I 
 know of in the United States, although there are fifty or more 
 varieties in China and Japan, many of them superior in strength 
 and usefulnesss to our variety. 
 
 I was sufficiently intimate with President Grant to be made 
 aware of the many annoyances to which he was subjected politi- 
 cally and otherwise, in reference to which he might have ex- 
 claimed, as Jackson is said to have done, " God protect me from 
 my friends ; I can guard against my enemies." He said to me 
 in relation to making appointments in Louisiana, that if he 
 knew Democrats who were capable and honest he would appoint 
 them, but that the mere fact of their being Democrats did not 
 make them honest. I named a native Louisianian with whom 
 he was acquainted, and said that gentleman had told me some 
 years before there was no political honesty in his State, in either 
 party. The President found it advisable after a time never to 
 listen to verbal recommendations of any applicant for an ap- 
 pointment, requiring all recommendations to be made in writing. 
 On several occasions these papers were a source of great annoy- 
 ance and confusion to persons who denied being the sponsors of 
 men who had been appointed partly at least on their recommen- 
 dation. The President said that if Senator Conkling recom- 
 mended any one he felt satisfied he had ascertained his fitness in 
 
 advance , but if Senator gave a recommendation, he was 
 
 inclined to believe, from a long experience with the Senator, 
 that the man recommended was unfit for the place. 
 
 About the year 1872 a treaty was entered into between our 
 government and the government of San Domingo making pro- 
 visions for the annexation of that country to the United States. 
 In order that Congress should be fully informed as to the merits 
 of the question, a commission was appointed by President Grant 
 to visit Santo Domingo and report. The gentlemen appointed 
 
FRED DOUGLASS. 507 
 
 belonged to both political parties, were known as representative 
 men, and were supposed to be without bias in relation to the 
 question. Although these gentlemen had originally diverse 
 views, I believe they returned to the United States of one mind 
 as to the expediency of annexing Santo Domingo, regarding the 
 project with much favor. I noticed a statement in one of the 
 speeches of Senator Sumner during their absence that Hayti 
 and Santo Domingo being at war at the time, should the Com- 
 mission fall into the hands of the former power they would, 
 under the laws of nations, be treated as enemies. I had noted 
 in other matters, perhaps in the Alabama claims arbitration, 
 that his utterances were not supported by Vattel, or by any 
 other authority known to me. On the return of the Commis- 
 sion I happened to meet " Fred Douglass," as he was called by 
 the public; his face had been familiar to me for years, his 
 physiognomy being one indicating great intellectual power, but 
 I had never before had an opportunity to speak to him. I 
 introduced myself, and said that I hoped his visit to Santo 
 Domingo had been agreeable and interesting j I remarked that 
 one had to get accustomed to the sea before a voyage became 
 free from discomfort. Since that time I have met Mr. Douglass 
 on several occasions, and have always been impressed by his 
 ability, his manners, and his ideas in general. During our civil 
 war Mr. Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury, was good enough 
 at times to invite me to take a family dinner with him ; in 
 conversation, on one of these occasions, he said that Douglass 
 was the ablest speaker he had ever heard. A few days after 
 the unveiling of the statue of Lincoln on East Capitol Street, 
 April 14, 1876, the eleventh anniversary of Lincoln's assassina- 
 tion, on one of my visits to President Grant I said I had just 
 read the oration of Douglass with great interest, and mentioned 
 what Mr. Chase had said of him some twelve years before. 
 The President said he had stood bv the side of Douglass on 
 that occasion ; what I had read he had uttered, but what stamped 
 him as an orator was actually an inspiration of the moment, and 
 was not to be found in print. He had never heard the equal 
 of Fred Douglass as an orator. 
 
 As we all know, there are race prejudices, and those of color 
 
508 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 are stronger than any other. The habit of navy men, from 
 travel and association with other races, naturally weakens or 
 destroys this prejudice per se, in a great measure. When Com- 
 modore Tatnall visited the coast of Africa, at Liberia he invited 
 the President of that republic and our minister to dine with 
 him on board of the Cyane, and no doubt treated his guests 
 with as much courtesy as if they had been white and of long 
 lineage. Although Tatnall was a Georgian, and doubtless as a 
 youth had the prejudices of those who surrounded him, as a 
 man developed by contact with the world he would have re- 
 garded it as puerile to treat with depreciation any one whom he 
 had invited to sit at his table. It does not alter the case to say 
 that he would not have had such guests had he not been brought 
 in contact with them officially. He was a gentleman in the 
 true sense of the word, a character that is not borne out by the 
 conventional gentleman of any period who might think himself 
 grievously wronged should he find himself by accident, or in 
 travelling, seated at table with a " nigger/' no matter if the 
 latter were cleanly in his person, refined in his tastes, and 
 enlarged in his ideas. 
 
 After the return of the Commission from Santo Domingo, 
 President Grant laid the facts before Congress for its action, and 
 about that time paid a visit to Senator Sumner, who posed as 
 the especial champion and friend of the negro. The object of 
 the President was to discuss the advisability of the measure of 
 annexation. Some time after, Senator Sumner delivered one of 
 his many great speeches, the pith of which was that after a long 
 conversation with President Grant he had been clever enough to 
 make the President believe that he would support the annexa- 
 tion of Santo Domingo, when from what he had actually said 
 the President should not have come to that conclusion. In his 
 great speeches he would proclaim that as a " patriot" he could 
 not do this or that, which at the time reminded me forcibly of 
 what Johnson said of an asserted " patriotism." 
 
ANNEXATION OF SANTO DOMINGO. 509 
 
 • CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 President Grant mentions the Advantages to be derived from the Annexation 
 of Santo Domingo — The Marked Features of General Grant's Individuality 
 — The Craze to be President — A Quotation relating to the Death of Charles 
 the Fifth of France — The Epizooty — Chlorate of Potash as a Kemedy — 
 General Sherman's Criticism on a Koad — Commodore Guest — A Rattle- 
 snake — Surgeon-General Wood bitten by a Snake — How he was Cured — 
 Attend the Reunion of the Army of the Cumberland at Columbus, Ohio — 
 Meet General Sheridan for the First Time — Meet General, afterwards 
 President, Hayes — A Visit to the Institution for Mutes — The Fate of 
 General Grant's Horse, Cincinnati — Nicaraguan Ministers to the United 
 States — Don Emilio Benard — Don Max Sonnestern — Hon. Alex. H. 
 Stephens — Dining with Mr. George W. Childs — General Grant advised to 
 get some " Lawyers" when he should reach the Island of Penang — Outcome 
 of this Advice — A visit to Ohio with General Grant — General Grant's Trip 
 abroad — The Author becomes a Rear- Admiral and is retired — Endeavor 
 to promote the Construction of the Nicaragua Canal — Kindly Feelings 
 between Comrades of the Old Army — The Motives of Actors in the Civil 
 "War to be considered, not the Objects — Closing Remarks. 
 
 President Grant spoke to me of the advantages which would 
 accrue from the annexation of Santo Domingo. He thought it 
 would lead to a considerable emigration of blacks, especially 
 from those districts where they were maltreated. The discon- 
 tented, the sick, and the lazy would naturally drift or be sent 
 there, and the production of the island would be greatly increased. 
 Northern capital would go there, and we should be supplied ere 
 long almost entirely with sugar from that island, instead of from 
 Cuba, which gave us an indifferent market in return. 
 
 There was no love lost between the President and Senator 
 Sumner, either in the Santo Domingo affair or otherwise. The 
 latter denounced the President as a brutal soldier who had trans- 
 formed the White House into an army head-quarters and was 
 surrounded with aides and orderlies. On the other hand, the 
 President said little, even to those who were near him, in rela- 
 tion to the Senator, who regarded the country as lost on the re- 
 election of Grant, whose majority was overwhelming, although 
 the Senator had predicted his utter defeat. 
 
510 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 The most marked features of the individuality of General 
 Grant, in my opinion, were his patience, and an apparent lack of 
 a sentiment of revenge, so prominent a feature in the character of 
 weak men. He would scarcely give expression to any sense of the 
 disgust that must, in some degree at least, be in the mind of any 
 one when he sees himself traduced and has every reason to believe 
 that not only is the object malicious, but also that lying, pure and 
 simple, has been employed without stint. 
 
 In a conversation within the past few years with a distin- 
 guished Senator from a Southern State, I was not surprised to 
 find that he was in accord with the views of General Grant in 
 relation to the annexation of Santo Domingo, and, so far as I 
 can judge, in practical humanity and in sympathy with the 
 colored race he was far the superior of the late Senator Sumner, 
 whose vocation would have been gone in great part had there 
 been no grievance of the negro to parade. In the South 
 generally, neither the old master nor his sons are disposed to 
 treat the colored man with injustice or violence ; but men known 
 as the " crackers," who can neither read nor write, and who are 
 not willing to learn, damn and otherwise abuse the " niggers," 
 principally because as a race they use every endeavor to school 
 themselves, perhaps in the vain hope that they will then not 
 have to labor. They wish to learn any and every thing, with 
 very little discrimination as to how useful it may be in gaining 
 living. There is a very great difference between " schooling" 
 and " education." Learning will not make a man useful unless 
 he has the capacity to apply it, nor will it free its possessor from 
 vice, or even crime of the deepest dye, even without the acces- 
 sory pitfalls of drunkenness and other debauchery. Education 
 I regard as that knowledge which best fits a man to pursue the 
 vocation in life that the Creator has destined him for, and that 
 circumstances will permit him to pursue. 
 
 What has always seemed to me a " craze," particularly after I 
 witnessed the many annoyances that General Grant had to bear 
 when President, is the intense desire of men in political life to 
 become President of the United States. I find in my notes 
 transcribed when in command of the Piscataqua in the Indian 
 Ocean, a translation from some history not noted at the time, 
 
THE EPIZOOTY. 51 1 
 
 and now forgotten. It relates to the death of Charles the Fifth 
 of France. 
 
 "After having placed under his feet his perishable crown, the 
 sacred crown of kings, he said, O crown of France, how precious 
 thou art, and yet at the same time how vile ! — precious as the 
 symbol of justice, but the vilest of things if one considers the 
 labor, the anguish, the perils of the soul, the pains of the heart, 
 of the conscience, and of the body, into which thou throwest 
 those who bear thee ! He who should know these things well 
 would leave thee to lie in the mud, rather than lift thee up in 
 order to place thee on his head." 
 
 When death came to Charles the Fifth of France, as sooner 
 or later it will come to all, whether princes or peasants, this was 
 the estimate he placed upon the worth of having " been born a 
 kiug and ruling by divine right." If we add to what he en- 
 dured, all that we may suppose to come from the importunities 
 of political friends, who insist that " without their influence the 
 President could not have been elected," and the demands for 
 office for their friends, often of bad repute, accompanied by an 
 intimation that if their recommendations are not complied w T ith 
 "they will no longer support the Administration," even in 
 measures deemed of great import, and, further, the lying vitu- 
 peration of political enemies simply because he is the President, 
 it becomes a mystery to the common mind why any one should 
 give his heart and soul to the strife to be President. Better, like 
 Henry Clay, say, " I would sooner be right than be President," 
 and remember Pope, who writes, — 
 
 " Honor and shame from no condition rise : 
 Act well your part; there all the honor lies." 
 
 Two or three years after I had taken up my residence in the 
 country the epizooty broke out in the North and ravaged that sec- 
 tion, with a gradual progression to the South and West. It was 
 a violent horse influenza, and had reached Washington about 
 the middle of March. If animals were worked or uncared for, 
 it was very often fatal. As usual at that season of the year, the 
 weather was wet and cold, and one morning when I went into 
 
512 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 the city I found not a horse-car running. In my walk to the 
 Navy Department I passed a druggist's, and inquired as to 
 remedies for the epizooty, and bought a bottle which I was told 
 was in use at the North. I found myself suffering with very 
 much the same symptoms as those under which the horses were 
 laboring, — a violent cough, sneezing, and a running at the nose, 
 — and sent a messenger to the dispensary for chlorate of potash 
 lozenges, my usual remedy at that time for such symptoms. 
 There being no lozenges on hand, some crystals were sent in- 
 stead. On reaching the country in the evening I had another 
 mile to walk from the station to my house, and, while plodding 
 along in the mud, I observed the very speedy effect of the chlo- 
 rate of potash crystals in stopping a running at the nose, and 
 coughing and sneezing. By the time I reached my stable I had 
 made up my mind that my symptoms were so similar to those 
 of the horses suffering from the epizooty that I would prescribe 
 for mine in advance of their attack, since its prevalence was so 
 universal. On handing the medicine that I had bought of the 
 druggist to the man at the stable, I gave him also the chlorate, 
 and directed him to dissolve a teaspoonful of the crystals in a 
 bucket of water and give one-third of it to each horse, with a 
 teaspoonful of the mixture that I had bought, administering the 
 dose twice a day. In a few days all the horses of my neighbors 
 were suffering with epizooty, but mine were not attacked. A 
 fortnight later I received a note from a friend, Surgeon-General 
 Wood, of the navy, then just retired, in which he stated casually 
 that his farm-work was much delayed from his horses being 
 down with the prevailing epidemic, but that he found it yielded 
 very readily to a treatment of chlorate of potash. This led me to 
 pay a visit to General Grant, and state the facts, knowing that 
 he had a considerable number of horses in the West, and also 
 to General Sherman, there being in the army a large number of 
 horses at that time. A month later I met General Grant, who 
 said to me, with a smile, that I had caused him to be abused in 
 the newspapers. I said that I had no recollection of having 
 said or done anything that should cause him to be abused. He 
 was quite indifferent to the abuse now, he said : it happened to 
 be because his sixty-four horses near St. Louis had not had the 
 
A RATTLESNAKE. 51 3 
 
 epizooty, while all the other horses in the county had it, and 
 they said it was Grant's good luck again, when it was because 
 he had written to the man in charge of his horses to adopt my 
 preventive treatment. Later on, I saw the chlorate of potash 
 treatment, as given by me, published as the army epizooty treat- 
 ment. 
 
 General Sherman drove out to spend the day with me about 
 that time, and met Commodore Guest, my brother, General 
 A in men, and myself, in a hollow, on our way towards Vans- 
 ville on the top of the hill. From long habit in army life 
 General Sherman took in the topography of the country at a 
 glance : he asked what fool had laid out this road to take people 
 up a hill just to make them go down on the other side and then 
 up another hill again. I told him that the road had been laid 
 out sixty years before, when it was supposed there was no cor- 
 ruption in politics ; at the request of two distinguished lords of 
 the soil the turnpike between Baltimore and Washington had 
 by law to pass through Belleville near the Agricultural College, 
 and Vansville, on the top of the hill he had just passed, and in 
 consequence over half a dozen hills in succession to a large oak, 
 to be seen on the crest of a hill nearly two miles distant. By 
 passing around the hill he had ascended, and following up a 
 valley, an excellent road location could have been secured to 
 near that tree, instead of passing over a succession of ridges 
 sixty or eighty feet in height, and making the distance greater 
 than had the road been properly laid out. 
 
 In the afternoon we went to the house of Commodore Guest, 
 and, returning, General Sherman noticed a pair of setter pups 
 of mine who had their attention fixed on a spot in a brier-patch 
 by the roadside. He asked what it was that they were looking 
 at. I said I supposed they were after field-mice. He said no, 
 and on looking closely saw they were gazing at what he took to 
 be a rattlesnake. He told me to get a stick to kill it, and he 
 would keep his eye on it in the meantime. The stick was 
 brought, and the snake killed, — a large viper, which has yellow 
 and black spots quite like those of a rattlesnake. It is venomous, 
 but rarely fatal, from having weak fangs and withdrawing them 
 quickly on striking. I have never known of more than two 
 
 33 
 
514 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 persons who have been bitten by them, although they are com- 
 mon in this region ; one of these persons was my friend Surgeon- 
 General Wood, of whom I have just made mention, and the 
 other was a colored man of whom he wrote me. Wood went 
 into his garden, and was picking some vegetables, when he felt 
 a sharp prick in the palm of his hand. He supposed it to be 
 from a brier or a species of weed that is quite prickly and very 
 common here, botanical ly of the potato family. He paid no 
 attention to it, until his hand and arm began to swell greatly, 
 and then on an examination he saw the marks of four teeth in 
 the palm of his hand. He had the garden searched at the spot 
 where he had received his bite. The viper was found under a 
 cabbage- plant. These reptiles are extremely sluggish, and I 
 suppose often pass a whole season without getting one hundred 
 yards from their place of hibernation. Wood suffered intensely, 
 and his remedies seemed of little avail until he adopted a sug- 
 gestion of his daughter, which was to burn woollen rags and 
 hold his hand over them, so as to get the smoke. From this 
 he derived the greatest relief: he wrote me that he thought he 
 would have died without this accessory treatment. In his let- 
 ter to me he described the agony he suffered, and the fantastic 
 dreams caused by the poison. A few months later he saw a 
 pleasant-featured negro man who had lost a leg, and, feeling 
 some interest in him, inquired how he had lost it. He was 
 informed that it had been by the bite of a viper : he had lain 
 down on a brush-heap and had been bitten, and it had been 
 found necessary to cut off his leg to save his life. The man de- 
 scribed his sensations with such accuracy, and they so resembled 
 those that had been experienced by Dr. Wood, that the latter 
 was quite startled by the narration. 
 
 In September, 1874, on the invitation of General Sherman, I 
 attended one of the annual reunions of the Army of the Cum- 
 berland, held at Columbus, Ohio, and for the first time had the 
 pleasure of meeting General Sheridan, also General Hayes, who 
 afterwards became President of the United States. 
 
 The attendance of the survivors of the Army of the Cumber- 
 land was quite large, several thousand in number. We were 
 shown the public buildings, and visited, among other points of 
 
THE FATE OF GENERAL GRANT'S HORSE, CINCINNATI. 515 
 
 interest, an exhibition at the Institution for Mutes, which was 
 an entire revelation to me. Ever since I have rejected the 
 ordinary name of " Deaf and Dumb Asylums." The Institu- 
 tion was admirably kept, and the faces of the inmates were 
 quite attractive. A mute about twenty-five years of age gave 
 in pantomime a comical exhibition, alternating ^in character, 
 between a patient who had been grievously wounded in his leg, 
 and the physician who attended him. Finally the leg was 
 sawed off", and the patient hobbled out on the other leg with the 
 aid of crutches, and a look of supreme satisfaction on his face. 
 Several of the mutes recited in sign-language " Sheridan's Ride," 
 with wonderful effect on the audience, whether mutes or persons 
 who knew nothing of the sign-language, doubtless in great part 
 from the visitors looking at the audience of mutes. 
 
 On my return home, some days later, I found that General 
 Grant's famous horse Cincinnati, mentioned in the account of 
 my visit to Culpeper, had either broken a fore-leg by accident in 
 a field where it seemed impossible that such an accident should 
 occur, or else it had been designedly broken by some fiend. 
 This latter supposition, however, I was not willing* to credit. 
 The poor animal had walked around all the night of the 18th, 
 almost in a circle, and in the morning my brother, seeing his 
 hopeless plight, had him shot to spare him further suffering. 
 
 These reunions of old soldiers and officers in times past were 
 joyous occasions, but as the years have rolled on and the ranks 
 have greatly thinned, and age and infirmity have come upon 
 many, they are now rather like meetings of sympathy and of 
 sorrow. Such seemed to me an immense assemblage at Colum- 
 bus two years ago, perhaps fifty thousand men, many of them 
 crippled, who had come from all over the country to meet their 
 old comrades, as many of them said, for the last time. It was a 
 meeting of the Grand Army of the Republic, an institution that 
 does much good in taking care of the families of those who 
 belong to the organization who stand in need of aid, and on 
 account of this feature, I became a companion. 
 
 I dropped in to see General Sheridan after one of his visits 
 to the Far West in 1884. After speaking of other matters, he 
 said that the Indians would no longer be formidable. Instead 
 
516 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 of relying on ponies to transport their families and tepees, they 
 had adopted modern improvements and possessed themselves of 
 light wagons, buggies, and anything they could tie their ponies 
 to by means of ropes, thongs, or harness if they had it. Then 
 the vehicles would be piled full of squaws and pappooses and 
 away they would go over the country in grand style. Should 
 we have difficulties with them it would now be an easy matter 
 to put our finger on them ; they would be powerless, incapable 
 of flight or of finding a refuge where they could not be readily 
 reached. 
 
 Ever since our government Isthmian surveys began, Nica- 
 ragua has at various times sent able men as ministers to our 
 government. One of the earliest of these was Don Emilio 
 Benard, a gentleman of French parentage who received a con- 
 siderable part of his instruction in Europe. He was in every 
 respect a most attractive and agreeable gentleman. He died in 
 October, 1879, universally regretted, and a great loss to his 
 country. His assistant was Don Max Sonnestern, a German 
 by birth, and a civil engineer by profession, who had gone 
 to Central America when no longer young, and there learned 
 Spanish and perhaps English. His sympathies were world-wide, 
 and his language composite, using the word of any one of the 
 three languages that came uppermost. This peculiarity pre- 
 vented persons who understood but one language from having a 
 clear comprehension of what he wished to express, but with a 
 linguist his ideas as expressed were comprehended and valued. 
 A few days before he was to leave for Nicaragua he paid me a 
 visit, and said partly in English and partly in the other two 
 languages that he was about leaving, and had not seen the 
 President ; should he return to Nicaragua without having seen 
 him, he would be asked what good had come of his visit to 
 Washington. "Very well," said I; "do you wish to see him 
 now ?" He said the sooner the better, as he would leave the 
 city in a day or two. We went immediately to the White 
 House, sent in our cards, and were received by the President, 
 who asked us to take seats, and began a jocular conversation 
 with me, as was his habit. We passed an hour or more very 
 pleasantly, and then took our leave. When we got into the street 
 
HON ALEXANDER H STEPHENS. 51 7 
 
 Don Max was in a superlative mood. He said, " Now I have 
 seen the President, I can go back to Nicaragua ! I wish to have 
 the honor of taking you to the depot," where he knew I went 
 daily to go into the country. I told him the train would not leave 
 for some time, and I would go as I usually did, — in the street- 
 cars. Don Max was importunate, and would not hear of it ; 
 he called a cab, and insisted upon my getting in, that he might 
 have the honor of taking me to the depot. On our arrival he 
 took formal leave of me ; and as I sat half an hour waiting 
 for the train to leave, I thought of the man who, after having 
 been ridden on a rail, gravely said that he was grateful to his 
 fellow-citizens for the attention they had shown him, but had it 
 not been for the honor of the thing he would have preferred 
 walking. 
 
 Don Max had made the acquaintance of Captain McRitchie, 
 who commanded the Tallapoosa. McRitchie had spoken at 
 times of his boy, and Don Max determined to present him with 
 the most stunning suit of clothes that could be found for sale, 
 which he sent with his compliments as a token of recognition of 
 the attention McRitchie had shown him. The clothing was for 
 a ten-year-old boy, when the " boy" was actually larger than his 
 father. Long live Don Max ! Everybody knows him in Nic- 
 aragua, and nobody knows him who does not admire his generous 
 nature. 
 
 Several years before my retirement, I made the acquaintance 
 of Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, and subsequently during 
 his residence in Washington I was a frequent and welcome visitor 
 at his house. Every one who knew Mr. Stephens well had a 
 strong personal attachment for him. Physically, he was quite 
 small and weak : the wonder to me was that he could last a 
 month from the time I first knew him ; and yet he lived for 
 years ; his was not a listless existence, either, but one of a mental 
 activity that was truly wonderful. He had been paralyzed for 
 years when I first met him ; I always found him seated in his 
 wheel-chair, which he turned and managed in transit with great 
 dexterity. He was affectionately attached to General Grant 
 personally, and admired him greatly. He told me that his 
 Southern friends would come to him during the period of great 
 
518 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 anxiety prior to the inauguration of President Hayes and say, 
 "Is General Grant bringing these troops here to inaugurate 
 Hayes ?" " No," said Mr. Stephens ; " he is bringing troops 
 here, if at all, for the prevention of disorder, and nothing else." 
 General Grant was no less attached to Mr. Stephens, and fre- 
 quently spoke of first meeting him at the Peace Conference at 
 Hampton Roads. He was all wrapped up in clothing, and over 
 all an ulster that reached to his heels. Mr. Lincoln on seeing 
 him remarked that " he had never seen so small an ear that had 
 so large a shuck." 
 
 Mr. Stephens, like myself, looked upon the construction of the 
 Nicaragua Canal by our people as of vital importance to us, and 
 only ten days before his death he wrote me a long letter, from 
 Atlanta, Georgia, when Governor of his State, in which, after 
 stating the whole question in a very able manner, he said that 
 his only regret was that he could not be in Washington to for- 
 ward the measure. 
 
 About the middle of November, 1875, 1 was in Philadelphia, 
 and called to pay my respects to Mr. George W. Childs, to whom 
 I was indebted for courtesies when at Long Branch on a visit to 
 General Grant. He was good enough to invite me to dine with 
 him on that or the following day, which I was pleased to do. I 
 went a few minutes in advance of the hour named, in order to 
 have a little chat with Mr. Childs, and when I went into the 
 room I found Vice-President Henry Wilson in conversation 
 with him. I complimented Mr. Wilson on his ruddy appear- 
 ance ; he seemed the picture of health, and likely to live many 
 years. I had the pleasure of an introduction to Lord Houghton, 
 as well as to several distinguished countrymen of our own, and 
 was seated at dinner directly opposite Mr. Wilson. The occa- 
 sion was a very pleasant one and the conversation animated. 
 Two days later, I read with great regret that Vice-President 
 Wilson had been stricken with paralysis in the Capitol build- 
 ing in Washington ; he never rallied, and died a few days 
 later. 
 
 Some months before President Grant left the White House, 
 when discussing his intended travels, I said, " When you get to 
 the island of Penang, in the Straits of Malacca, don't forget to 
 
A VISIT TO OHIO WITH GENERAL GRANT. 51 9 
 
 get some lawyers ; indeed, I shall be very much obliged if you 
 will bring me one." 
 
 " Lawyers/' said the general : " have we not enough lawyers 
 already ?" 
 
 " Yes," said I, " such as they are ; but the Penang lawyer is 
 different : it is a very tough cane, with a knob on the end. I 
 suppose they call them lawyers because if one is used against an 
 adversary, the one with the lawyer gets the best of the argu- 
 ment. Indeed, it may be called a knock-down conclusion." 
 
 After the return of the general from his travels, although I 
 met him on several occasions, he made no allusion to Penang, 
 and the conversation was lost sight of by me. A month after 
 his death, Harrison Terrell, his body-servant, brought me a 
 bundle wrapped in canvas, in which I found five Penang law- 
 yers, which General Grant had told him to give to me when he 
 returned to Washington. 
 
 On the 4th of March General Grant's second term as Presi- 
 dent expired. For a year or more prior to that time, he fre- 
 quently said, with a smile of satisfaction, that he counted the 
 days when he would leave, like a school-boy looking forward to 
 the holidays. He had told me of his intended visit to Ohio 
 before going abroad, and asked me to accompany him, which I 
 did in the early part of April. He was accompanied by Mrs. 
 Grant and myself only. We went first to Cincinnati, where we 
 were the guests of Mr. Washington McLean, a gentleman well 
 known for his hospitality and cleverness. 
 
 The weather continued raw, and Mrs. Grant preferred to re- 
 main in the city while the general and myself paid a visit to 
 Georgetown. We left early in the morning on the 10th of April 
 in a light carriage with two wiry young horses. The roads were 
 fairly good until we reached Batavia, a distance of some twentv 
 miles, arid were not very bad until we left Bethel, a distance 
 of about fifteen miles from our destination. As a choice, the 
 general drove around by New Hope. As we descended a muddy 
 hill-side the .carriage was nearly up to the hub in a tenacious 
 clay, and we should have stuck fast had we been going up- in- 
 stead of down-hill. Our arrival was expected ; it was an event 
 for a quiet village. It was near sunset, yet we were received 
 
520 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 with distinguished honors, and were the guests of Aunt Betsy 
 King, who was a woman of thirty-five when we were some six 
 and eight years of age, I being about two years the senior of the 
 general. The next day there was a brass band in attendance ; 
 and the court adjourned to allow the general to have a reception 
 on the spot. Our hostess yet lives, venerable in years and gifted 
 with the affection of all who know her. Even then there were 
 few whom we had known as children ; some of these were poor 
 and helpless, and were made glad with the charity that was 
 bestowed by the general. 
 
 I preceded the general to Washington, having my official 
 duties to perform. When he arrived he discussed his itinerary 
 for an intended absence of two years. He left Philadelphia in 
 May ; and had he been a monarch, and arranged a grand occasion 
 without regard to cost, nothing more enthusiastic in the way of 
 a popular demonstration would have been possible. Shortly 
 after the Navy Department extended to him an invitation to 
 make use of our vessels-of-war in the Mediterranean, a circum- 
 stance which caused a great deal of low abuse from vile news- 
 papers. Later on, when it was a question of the general's going 
 to British India, and thence to China and Japan, the Navy De- 
 partment wrote him, as I was told under instructions from the 
 President, after a Cabinet meeting. The general was informed 
 that the flag-ship Richmond would probably sail about the 10th of 
 December and would reach Ceylon about the middle of January. 
 The letter states, " If it is your purpose to visit British India, 
 China, and Japan, it is possible that this vessel, being a flag-ship, 
 will afford you more facilities and conveniences of travel than 
 you will be likely to obtain by any other conveyance ; and if 
 you consider it desirable to join her en route to her station, upon 
 notification of the fact the Department will immediately issue 
 the necessary orders to carry out your wishes. . . . 
 
 " This route would undoubtedly furnish to you many oppor- 
 tunities of interesting observation and research, and if you shall 
 conclude to avail yourself of the advantages of travel offered 
 by the Richmond, the Department feels assured that, apart from 
 the personal gratification to yourself of observing the tastes, 
 customs, and wants of the inhabitants of the countries visited, 
 
GENERAL GRANT'S TRIP ABROAD. 521 
 
 your intercourse with them would lead to more extended and 
 intimate commercial relations between them and the United 
 States. It is believed that your presence on board of a man- 
 of-war in the ports visited by the Richmond will so arrest 
 public attention as to bring prominently into view not merely 
 the character and extent of our commerce, but the nature and 
 extent of our institutions." 
 
 As clearly appears from the above, it was the intention of 
 the President so to arrauge the visit of General Grant to the 
 East as to make it one of importance diplomatically and com- 
 mercially, and it is a well-known fact that his visit to China 
 and Japan did more to bring us into confidential relations with 
 the people of those countries than any other event in our past 
 history, save the opening of the ports of Japan through the 
 ability of Commodore Matthew C. Perry. 
 
 During General Grant's tour he wrote me fifteen or twenty 
 letters, some of them of six or eight pages, and all of them 
 describing the countries he visited. Extracts from several of 
 them are to be found in my "Recollections of Grant/' in the 
 North American Review for 1885. They all show acute powers 
 of observation, and give expression to his ideas in relation to 
 the different peoples of whom he wrote. In one of them he 
 said that before a half-century we should have more of the 
 Chinese than we could conveniently handle. In a subsequent 
 conversation he said that the Chinese would soon import ma- 
 chinery for the fabrication of cotton, and soon after the opening 
 of the Nicaragua Canal they would require more raw cotton 
 from us than our entire crop then grown, which was some five 
 millions of bales, and added that there was not such another 
 cotton-producing region on the globe as that of Arkansas, and 
 the adjacent cotton-growing lands. 
 
 In one of his letters from Southern Europe he wrote me that 
 he had abandoned the idea of going around the world, and 
 would return home the following spring or summer. A day or 
 so after the receipt of this letter I met General Sherman, and 
 told him the contents of the letter, and that I had written at 
 once and urged the general not to give up his voyage as origi- 
 nally intended. General Sherman told me that he had received 
 
522 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 a letter of the same tenor, and had written him immediately, as 
 I had done, not to abandon his original intention. A month 
 later, I received another letter from the general, stating that 
 when he had abandoned the idea of his long voyage he had 
 destroyed the itinerary for his guidance, and that he wished me 
 to send another without delay. In preceding pages relating to 
 the Nicaragua Canal I mention a telegram and letters received 
 from General Grant when in Tokio. The photo-lithograph of 
 one of them, given in the Appendix, cannot fail to interest the 
 reader. 
 
 After his arrival in California, where he visited several points 
 of interest, coming East, lie tarried a few days in Galena and in 
 Chicago. He wrote me briefly from both places, and named a 
 day when he wished me to meet him in Philadelphia. His 
 reception on his arrival at that city, about noon, was the most 
 extraordinary I have ever seen, and after night there was a 
 torchlight procession that seemed, as it passed under an archway 
 thrown across Chestnut Street at the Continental Hotel, as 
 though it would have no end. 
 
 On their arrival the general and Mrs. Grant were in excellent 
 health and spirits, notwithstanding the fatigues of travel and 
 receptions journeying eastward. In a private conversation he 
 told me his son in business had been quite successful, and by 
 judicious investments had increased his means some fifty thou- 
 sand dollars. This was gratifying to me, because, although the 
 general was extremely simple in his personal wants, his family 
 expenses were considerable. I observed at dinner and on other 
 occasions that he abstained entirely from wines or liquors, as he 
 had done during the last year or more of his Presidency. He 
 had a high opinion of the Japanese, chatting, when dining, 
 about their many good qualities. He had been in a village of 
 fifteen thousand inhabitants, and, observing that there were no 
 fastenings on the doors and windows of the houses, asked the 
 reason, and was told, of course, that there was no necessity for 
 them. My wife said, " Ammen tells me that Japanese babies 
 don't cry, but I say he would know better if he had lived in a 
 house with them." " No," said the general, with a droll smile, 
 " Ammen is quite right : Japanese babies don't cry." That was 
 
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NICARAGUA CANAL. 523 
 
 the last social occasion upon which I met the general and Mrs. 
 Grant. 
 
 During General Grant's absence I had reached the rank of 
 rear-admiral, and at my request, under the provisions of a 
 general law, was placed on the retired list, five years before it 
 would have been compulsory, for reasons that may be inferred 
 from what I have said in these pages. Ever since my retire- 
 ment I have endeavored to promote naval efficiency and national 
 interests through the construction of the Nicaragua Canal under 
 the tacit or actual control of our government, as our legislators 
 might prefer. 
 
 Some two or more years ago, Mr. Whitney, Secretary of the 
 Navy, convened a Board to provide life-boats for the navy, 
 which made a report that was not satisfactory to him. I then 
 thought it opportune to call his attention to what is known in 
 the navy as the " Ammen Balsa," already mentioned as in use 
 in the navy for more than twenty years. I suggested modi- 
 fications which in my belief would make it the best life-raft 
 known to seamen. The " balsa," was designed to land field- 
 artillery, ammunition, and troops on an exposed beach, as was 
 found necessary to be done north of Fort Fisher, during our 
 civil war. 
 
 This letter was placed in the hands of the Chief Clerk of 
 the Navy Department, but I never received an official notice of 
 its receipt. Although busily engaged in matters of interest, I 
 turned my attention to a practical development, not only in 
 relation to the construction of the raft, but also as to the means 
 by which it could be launched and passengers be safely and 
 speedily " chuted" upon it, a matter of equal moment in the 
 case of passenger steamers, where under ordinary conditions all 
 the passengers would go down with the vessel if she should 
 sink from collision or other cause. This is not a mere assertion 
 of mine, but was truly and forcibly stated by Colonel Richard- 
 son, a correspondent of the Baltimore Sun, some time ago, on 
 his return home after a trip across the Atlantic. After pro- 
 voking delays, I have just now (November, 1890) had com- 
 pleted by Mr. Waters, of Troy, New York, at my own expense, 
 a life-raft which I have reason to believe will fulfil its pur- 
 
524 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 pose in a satisfactory manner and will be less expensive than 
 the inefficient life-boats, as they are styled, with which ocean- 
 steamers are now provided. 
 
 It is gratifying to believe that I have aided some of my 
 worthy friends of the South to better their fortune, and I am 
 willing to regard it as a fact that the virtues of myself and 
 many others who served our flag during the civil war were 
 rather geographical than inherent in us as individuals. It is 
 self-evident that had we been under other influences geographi- 
 cally, and had our antagonists been subjected to those that in a 
 great degree controlled us, our roles during the civil war would 
 have been reversed in almost every individual case ; yet I take 
 it as established that the success of our arms was no less neces- 
 sary to the interests of the people of the South than it was to 
 those of the people of the North. 
 
 It is well known that among the comrades of the old army 
 and navy a kindly feeling has existed ever since the end of the 
 civil war, and this has extended to endeavors at various times 
 to aid our Southern friends. On the death of Captain Patter- 
 son, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, a dozen years ago, 
 Rear- Admiral John Rodgers drew up a paper of recommenda- 
 tion of John M. Brooke, then Superintendent of the Virginia 
 Military Institute, which was signed by all the navy officers of 
 rank who knew Mr. Brooke. Unhappily for the appointing 
 power, this recommendation was unheeded. Years before the 
 civil war at times I visited General Joseph E. Johnston, then a 
 captain of engineers, and I have always had a high appreciation 
 of his character as a man and a soldier. Some years ago, meet- 
 ing him in a street-car in Washington, I was pleased to observe 
 that, notwithstanding the weight of eighty-odd years which he 
 bore, he was still hale and active. On expressing my pleasure 
 at meeting him, he said, with a smile, that a man a few days 
 before had addressed him as Admiral Ammen, and he had given 
 him a quarter of a dollar. I replied that the man was unfor- 
 tunate in my not being near at hand at the time, as I certainly 
 would have given him another. 
 
 In considering the civil war, were the motives of individuals 
 on both sides regarded, and not the objects in view, in my belief 
 
CLOSING REMARKS. 525 
 
 there would be a more kindly feeling in the minds of many per- 
 sons. I may say that I have met but one intelligent individual 
 who fought against us with whom I could not honestly fraternize. 
 I have the honor to belong to the Loyal Legion of the United 
 States, an organization which Companions may regard with 
 pride. In the different assemblages for conviviality, and with 
 the higher motive of fostering a broad and earnest sentiment of 
 nationality, I have never heard expressed ideas that would have 
 been objected to by any reasonable man who fought against us, 
 and I feel sure that the large majority of the Companions of 
 that Order have done quite as much as myself, and many of 
 them much more, in advancing the interests of those who fought 
 against us. 
 
 It is my belief that it would be agreeable to a very large 
 majority of the Companions of the Loyal Legion to see formed 
 of Southern men an extended Association having a common 
 head and common objects with those of the Loyal Legion, and 
 I doubt not were the members as carefully self-constituted there 
 would be an earnest feeling of fraternization between the two 
 organizations. Our great leaders, Generals Grant and Sherman, 
 and others whom I need not name, have done all in their power 
 to advance the fortunes of our late opponents, whose motives we 
 should not question, yet whose object we may believe to have 
 been illusory and baneful. 
 
 In the future we may hope from those who fought against us, 
 and from their descendants, an earnest desire to promote the wel- 
 fare of our common country, and a sentiment of broad nation- 
 ality. The unhappy past was not of their seeking, nor of ours ; 
 they fought out gallantly and unselfishly the solution of the 
 issues that were presented, and have added another to the nu- 
 merous historic disproofs of that extraordinary fallacy that " the 
 pen is mightier than the sword." During our civil war Captain 
 Percival Drayton, a South Carolinian, of great professional and 
 personal merit, pointed out to me the absurdity of this generally 
 accepted aphorism. He said that the pen actually provoked all 
 the great contests that had to be settled by the sword. At the 
 end of our civil war our great leader said, " Let us have peace/' 
 and had it depended upon the leaders in the field, and their fol- 
 
526 THE OLD NAVY AND THE NEW. 
 
 lowers, peace would have existed from the time the forces hostile 
 to the Union had laid down their arms. 
 
 Now that I have come to the end, many memories, extending 
 over half a century, rise before my mental vision, of like import 
 to those found in the preceding pages, and with them, all un- 
 schooled in Latin though I am, comes, quite unbidden, Quantum 
 sufficit. 
 
F. e'JUKUNST, PRINT. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 For several years I have been anxious that the following letters should 
 be published in some form that might enable the public to become 
 acquainted with the impressions General Grant had of the various peoples 
 and countries he had visited in his tour around the world, as well as the 
 deep interest he felt in the project of the construction of the Nicaragua 
 Canal by an American company, under such governmental control as 
 should free it forever from the malign influences of " bulls" and " bears," 
 and be a warrant that the company could not drift off into devious ways. 
 
 In October last the very generous concession granted by the Nicaraguan 
 government was definitely confirmed, the company having complied with 
 the demands of the grant. The expenditures already made have yielded 
 the most gratifying results ; and thus far the company has not asked the 
 public to invest in what might by uninformed persons be regarded as not 
 an assured commercial success. No intelligent man, however, can ex- 
 amine the very thorough data now obtainable on every point involved in 
 the construction of the canal, sanitary, engineering, or commercial, and 
 have a doubt as to the success of this great work, and the munificent 
 reward it will yield as soon as operative, — which may well be within five 
 years from this date. 
 
 My anxiety to have these letters published grew out of the fact that, 
 despite all my care, some of them had disappeared, and one of those that 
 remained had been mutilated in order to obtain the autograph of the 
 general : it is a silent witness to the fact that some individual was willing 
 to break the seventh commandment to possess himself of the coveted 
 signature. I began to fear that should I die before the publication of 
 these letters they might be scattered or lost. Brief as they are in ex- 
 pression, they give well-defined ideas of men and things as General Grant 
 saw them. 
 
 It may interest the public to know of my early and later personal 
 relations with General Grant, which began in 1828, when I was eight 
 years of age, he being two years my junior. Our intimacy continued 
 until I left home on the 20th of November, 1836, in charge of Thomas L. 
 Ilamer, our member of Congress, to enter the United States navy. Three 
 years later Mr. Hamer got an appointment for Ulysses S. Grant to the 
 Military Academy at West Point. On his graduating, in June, 1843, he 
 wrote me that he would be at Jones's Hotel in Philadelphia at a given 
 
 527 
 
528 APPENDIX. 
 
 time, and there I met him accordingly, and we spent several hours 
 together. 
 
 In February, 1864, he was commissioned lieutenant-general of our 
 armies. He was then at Nashville, Tennessee. I had been relieved from 
 sea-duty, and was on my way from New York to Ohio, and stopped off at 
 Baltimore a few days to visit friends, among others, the wife of Jerome 
 Bonaparte, the son of Mrs. Patterson of that city. Mrs. Bonaparte was 
 an out-and-out "Union woman," and there were few of that class in 
 Baltimore at that time. She was very clever, and remarked that already 
 the newspapers were proposing to make Grant a political general, which 
 if accomplished would destroy his usefulness in the field. I told her that 
 the general and myself had been playmates as children, twenty-eight 
 years before, and that we had met seven years later for a few hours, and, 
 although there had been no correspondence between us in all these years, 
 I felt sure that he had a kind regard for me, and that he would not be 
 offended should I write him a warning not to allow himself to be destroyed 
 by injudicious friends, who were endeavoring to inspire him with political 
 ambition. I accordingly wrote to that effect after reaching Ohio, and the 
 first letter given in the following pages is the general's reply. Its text 
 follows very closely my line of presentation of the subject. 
 
 Six weeks later, General Grant was at Hampton Roads to arrange a 
 plan of action against Richmond with Rear-Admiral Lee, commanding 
 our naval vessels in those waters. He said to the admiral that he was 
 very desirous of seeing me, but that his time was so limited that he could 
 not await my arrival from Norfolk, although the admiral offered to send 
 a tug immediately. He hoped, however, I would pay him a visit at Cul- 
 peper, and, if I determined to do so, I should not delay, as he would move 
 as soon as his forces were ready. 
 
 On the Friday preceding his crossing the Rapidan and his advance into 
 the "Wilderness, I paid him a visit and spent thirty-six hours with him. 
 I left on Sunday at noon, two days before he crossed the river. In 
 relation to his movement against Richmond he wrote me a long and inter- 
 esting letter, which requires no explanation. 
 
 The following November General Grant came from City Point to visit 
 Admiral Porter, and remarked that he would have been pleased to see me, 
 but that I was in New York. The admiral told him that I had arrived 
 the previous evening, in command of the Mohican, and sent a tug for me. 
 After the general had spent a few hours on board of the flag-ship, it was 
 arranged that I should accompany him to City Point the following morn- 
 ing. I spent two days with him, and, at his suggestion, was sent out to 
 look at the lines in front of Petersburg, with General Babcock as my 
 guide. Our horses were taken some nine miles in the cars with us, and 
 I had the famous horse " Cincinnati." On our return, General Grant 
 asked how I liked my horse. I replied that I had never backed his equal. 
 M Nor have I," said the general. 
 
APPENDIX. 529 
 
 A few days after my return to the Mohican I sailed for blockade duty 
 off Fort Fisher. On the night of the second day of the first bombard- 
 ment, Christmas, I wrote General Grant my ideas in relation to the situa- 
 tion, which he told me afterwards in a measure determined him to make 
 a second attack. His third letter relates in general to this affair. 
 
 I did not meet the general again until the end of the civil war, nor did 
 I even then meet him frequently until the winter of 1865-66, when I was 
 in Washington in command of the double-turreted monitor Miantonomah. 
 Then we discussed the necessity of surveys to ascertain the practicability \ 
 of an Isthmian ship-canal, and we paid Mr. Seward, the Secretary of 
 State, a visit. Later on, the general informed me that he had paid other j 
 visits to Secretary Seward, and that he would do so no more, from a fear J 
 that he would hate him, and he did not wish to hate any man. 
 
 In April, 1866, I went to York, Pennsylvania, to reside ; when I visited 
 Washington, which I did from time to time, I was the guest of General 
 Grant. He had hoped to go abroad after the civil war in a vessel under 
 my command, but Mr. Johnson's unhappy embroilment with Congress 
 made it necessary for him to remain at home, much to his regret. 
 
 In the fall of 1867 I went to the Asiatic station in command of the 
 Piscataqua, the flag-ship of Admiral Rowan. Previous to leaving I was 
 frequently in Washington to settle up some unfinished business. At such 
 times I was the guest of the general, who spoke to me earnestly and 
 confidentially of the very grave situation and the probable intentions of 
 Presiflent Johnson, all of which is detailed in my memoirs. 
 
 During my absence, General Grant became a candidate for the Presi- 
 dency, much against his inclination, and after his election I was ordered 
 home at his request, but did not arrive until two months later than he 
 desired. 
 
 During the eight years of his Presidency I saw much of him. My 
 residence was thirteen miles in the country, and, having a standing invi- 
 tation to dine on Sundays at the White House, I did so frequently, usually 
 going in early, and taking a walk of half a dozen miles with the general 
 before dinner. On leaving the house on one of these occasions, he re- 
 marked that had I not pulled him out of the water more than forty years 
 before he would have been spared a great deal of misery. I said that the 
 American people had great reason to be thankful that he had had to endure 
 it. He remarked that he would not be willing to live his life over again, 
 were it a matter of volition ; and, in reply to a question from him, I said 
 I should not be willing to do so either, had I to start life again under the 
 conditions that had fallen to my lot, as I should fear it would be a failure. 
 On the expiration of his Presidential term, at his request I accompanied 
 him on a ten days' visit to Ohio. We drove some forty-five miles from 
 Cincinnati to Georgetown, where we spent two days with several of our 
 old friends. I know that the general's charities to some of the poor whom 
 we had known as children were very acceptable at that time, and that 
 
 34 
 
530 APPENDIX. 
 
 they were continued afterwards. Some time after the death of the gen- 
 eral, an old lady in straitened circumstances wrote me that during the 
 lifetime of the general she had " wanted for nothing." He was silent 
 and generous in his charities. 
 
 Soon after he came East he went abroad. During his absence* he wrote 
 me frequently. In my letters to him I suggested that a traveller had 
 much to interest and occupy his time, and that I did not expect him to 
 write me frequently, if he wrote at all. Nevertheless, he was good enough 
 to send me letters from many points, on men and things, giving his ideas 
 in a briefer and more candid manner than is usual when writings are in- 
 tended for the public eye. I feel sure that the reader will thank me for 
 giving him the opportunity of perusing them. 
 
 It will be apparent from these letters that I was intimate with General 
 Grant, and that he honored me with his confidence in a great degree. 
 And I feel much satisfaction in the reflection that I never abused this 
 confidence. I have never met a kinder friend than General Grant was to 
 those whom he deemed worthy, nor a man who had a more honest and 
 unselfish purpose in life. So far as I can judge from history, and so far 
 as I know of men through association, General Grant should be considered 
 in all time among the few great men in the history of the world. The 
 military man will look upon him as a man of genius ; the statesman of 
 the future will regard with surprise the neglect of the many wise sug- 
 gestions contained in his messages; the historian will feel assured that 
 whatever errors there may be in his writings are not of his volition, — 
 that what he wrote was conscientiously written, and that nothing was 
 omitted knowingly, or with an intention to deceive. He never asked 
 either military or political advancement, directly or indirectly, as he 
 frequently assured me ; and where in the world's history will be found 
 another man of whom that can be said? 
 
 Nashville, Tenn., Feb'y 16th, 1864. 
 Dear Ammen, — 
 
 Your letter was duly received, and advice fully appreciated, particularly 
 as it is the same I would give any friend, — i.e., to avoid all political en- 
 tanglements. I have always thought the most slavish life any man could 
 lead was that of a politician. Besides, I do not believe any man can be 
 successful as a soldier whilst he has an anchor ahead for other advance- 
 ment. I know of no circumstances likely to arise which could induce me 
 to accept of any political office whatever. My only desire will be, as it 
 always has been, to whip out the rebellion in the shortest way possible, 
 and to retain as high a position in the army afterwards as the administra- 
 tion then in power may think me suited for. 
 
 I was truly glad to hear from you. I was once on leave of absence at 
 the same time you were, and went from Clermont County to Cincinnati 
 more to see you than for any other purpose. When I got there, I found 
 
APPENDIX. 531 
 
 you had gone to Ripley by river. I believe the last time we met was 
 in Philadelphia, in '43. We have both grown older since, though time 
 sets very lightly with me. I am neither gray nor bald, nor do I feel any 
 different from what I did at twenty-five. 
 
 I have often wished that you had been selected to command the Missis- 
 sippi flotilla. I have no fault to find, however, with the naval officers 
 who have co-operated with me. I think Porter, Phelps, and some of the 
 younger officers as clever men as I ever fell in with. I cannot complain 
 of them, certainly, for I believe I never made a request of them they did 
 not comply with, no matter what the danger. I know I caused Porter to 
 lose one gun-boat, against his judgment, and he never found fault. 
 
 Remember me to Mrs. Van Dyke's family, and any other friends of mine 
 in Cincinnati. I will be very glad to hear from you again. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Head-Quarters Armies op the United States, 
 City Point, Va., Aug. 18th, 1864. 
 Dear Ammen, — 
 
 Your letter of the 2d inst. was duly received. I regret not having made 
 better progress in whipping out the rebellion, but feel conscious of having 
 done the best I know how. This army has fought desperately since leaving 
 Culpeper, and has gained this substantial advantage : the enemy is afraid 
 to fight it on an open field, whilst the Army of the Potomac feels confident 
 of success whenever the terms are anything like equal. Several times we 
 have had decisive victories within our grasp, but let them, through accident 
 or fault, slip through our hands. Our movement from Cold Harbor to the 
 south side of the James was made with such celerity that before the enemy 
 was aware of it, and before he had got a single regiment across the river, 
 our forces had carried the fortifications east of Petersburg. There was 
 nothing — not even a military force — to prevent our walking in and taking 
 possession. The officer charged with the work, for some unaccountable 
 reason, stopped at the works he had captured, and gave the enemy time to 
 get in a garrison and to intrench it. On the 30th of July, again, by a 
 feint north of the James, we drew most of the enemy to that side of the 
 river, and whilst he was there (with my troops quietly withdrawn during 
 the night) a mine, judiciously prepared, was exploded, burying a battery 
 and some three hundred of the enemy, and making a breach in his works 
 into which our men marched without opposition. The enemy was com- 
 pletely surprised, and commenced running in all directions. There was 
 nothing to prevent our men from marching directly to the high ground in 
 front of them, to which they had been directed to go, and there all the 
 enemy's fortifications would have been taken in reverse, and no stand 
 would have been made. It is clear that without a loss of five hundred 
 men we could have had Petersburg, with all its artillery and many of the 
 
532 APPENDIX. 
 
 garrison. But our troops stopped in the crater made by the explosion. 
 The enemy was given time to rally and reoccupy his line. Then we found, 
 true enough, that we had the wolf by the ears. He was hard to hold, and 
 more dangerous to let go. This was so outrageous that I have obtained a 
 court of inquiry to sift the matter. We will peg away, however, and end 
 this matter, if our people at home will but be true to themselves. If they 
 would but reflect, everything looks favorable. The South now have every 
 man in the ranks, including old men and little boys. They have no longer 
 means to replace a man lost ; whilst by enforcing the draft we have abun- 
 dance of men. Give us half the men called for by the draft, and there 
 will hardly be any resistance made. The rebellion is now fed by the 
 bickering and differences North. The hope of a counter-revolution over 
 the draft or the Presidential election keeps them together. Then, too, they 
 hope for a Peace candidate who would let them go. A "peace at any 
 price" is fearful to contemplate. It would be but the beginning of war. 
 The demands of the South would know no limits. They would demand 
 indemnity for expenses incurred in carrying on the war. They would 
 demand the return of all their slaves set free in consequence of the war. 
 They would demand a treaty looking to the rendition of all fugitive slaves 
 escaping into the Northern States, and they would keep on demanding 
 until it would be better to be dead than to submit longer. 
 
 My staff officers generally have been sick. I am the only one at head- 
 quarters that has escaped entirely. General Rawlins, Col. Badeau and 
 Rowley are now absent, sick, and three others of the staff have been absent, 
 but have returned improved. The health of the troops, however, is gen- 
 erally good. 
 
 I will be glad to hear from you at all times. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant, 
 Lt.-G'l. 
 
 About the time I received this letter, one of similar import was pub- 
 lished, which I think had been written by General Grant to Senator Wash- 
 burn. 
 
 Head-Quarters Armies of *he United States, 
 City Point, Feb. 4th, 1865. 
 Dear Ammen, — 
 
 Your letter of the 16th of January is just received. You have no doubt 
 seen by the papers that the very thing you so strongly hoped had already 
 taken place. I mean, Butler had been removed at my request. The 
 failure at Fort Fisher was not without important and valuable results. 
 
 I have long thought from the representations of army officers that the 
 change you suggest in naval commander in South Atlantic should also be 
 made. I do not, however, feel myself authorized to suggest changes of 
 naval commanders, so long as their duties are confined to blockading. 
 
APPENDIX. 533 
 
 When it comes to co-operation with the army in an attack, I do not 
 hesitate. 
 
 Everything now seems to be progressing favorably. I am sending an 
 additional force of about twenty-eight thousand effective men to Cape Fear 
 River and New-Berne. These troops, or part of them, sailed this morn- 
 ing, and so far their destination does not seem to have been suspected even 
 by our own people. Before the enemy are aware of it, I hope to have 
 Wilmington, and, before they can prevent it, Goldsborough. This will 
 make a formidable force to co-operate with Sherman. I shall also have 
 the railroad in working order from Wilmington to New-Berne out as far 
 as we occupy, and supplies thrown out for Sherman's use. 
 
 I have been a little negligent about answering your very welcome let- 
 ters, but I am none the less glad to receive them. I will be very much 
 pleased to hear from you whenever you can find time to write, and will 
 answer when there is anything to say. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 You will see that Terry has been made a full major-general of volunteers 
 and a brigadier-general in the regular army. I have also recommended 
 him for the command now held by Foster. 
 
 In my letter to which the above is a reply, I stated that the navy had 
 shown itself fully able to suppress the fire of Fort Fisher. Whether the 
 fort could or could not be carried by assault under this condition, I would 
 express no opinion. In case it could not be carried, however, a permanent 
 lodgment of troops could be made on the sand-beach north of it, and 
 intrenched north and south. An inferior force could be maintained, with 
 intrenchments flanked by gun-boats, against any force the enemy could 
 bring against it. Steam launches with howitzers could be got into the 
 river, and with them on the watch, and batteries established sweeping the 
 river, and calcium lights thrown over the water, no steamer that had run 
 the blockade would be able to reach Wilmington. Fort Fisher would then 
 be of no more use to the enemy than if it were located twenty miles out 
 at sea, and the keeping up of supplies from Caswell, on the opposite shore, 
 would be so difficult that Fisher would soon be abandoned by the enemy. 
 
 Head-Quarters Armt of the United States, 
 November 6th, 1866. 
 Dear Ammen, — 
 
 Your letter was duly received. Of course I read your article in the 
 Army and Navy Journal, and was delighted with it. Fearing that Grand- 
 father Welles might not get up to the Journal of the 28th ult. during his 
 term of office if left to his ordinary course of reading, I had the article 
 cut out and sent to him. Knowing our intimacy, he will judge you to be 
 the author, but it will take him until the 4th of March, '69, to draw his 
 
534 APPENDIX. 
 
 inference. As he will likely cease to be Secretary of the Navy about that 
 time, you are secure. 
 
 Mr. Dent was delighted with your invitation to him, and he may be 
 able some time to make you a visit for a few days. We will not go away 
 without providing him a home, however, with one of his children. 
 
 I shall not be able to leave Washington this winter. It is a great dis- 
 appointment to me, but affairs have taken such a turn as to make this 
 course necessary. 
 
 I cannot explain in a letter the reasons for this course. My going to 
 Europe next spring — in fact, going at all during this administration — will 
 depend on the course affairs take this winter. 
 
 My family, including Mrs. Dent, all send love to Mrs. Ammen. When- 
 ever you come to this city we will expect you and your wife to stop with 
 us. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 The following is the article spoken of by the general in the opening 
 sentences of the above letter. It was written, to pass the time, during a 
 steamboat journey down the Ohio from Wheeling to Cincinnati. 
 
 THE NAVAL COCKED HAT AND SWALLOW TAIL. 
 
 To the Editor of the Army and Navy Journal. 
 
 Sir, — Ominous sounds come from Washington that a strong deputation 
 of influential tailors and hatters, whose works are sometimes regarded as 
 the " chief end of man" by those who are not conversant with the " New 
 England Catechism," aided perhaps by a few navy men, and particularly 
 by that class who have dim recollections of foreign shores and keep up 
 their nautical knowledge by an occasional visit to Hampton Roads or to 
 Newport, have prepared and proposed having adopted as the naval uni- 
 form a cocked hat and swallow-tail coat, the likes of which have not been 
 seen before for a long time. 
 
 It has been supposed by far the greater number of the quiet and passive 
 souls who go to sea in the naval uniform that the pomp and glory of a 
 cocked hat had definitely passed away ; that the uncherished memory of 
 it existed as an infliction of the past ; that the " beauty of fitness" did 
 not pertain to it even in the mind of the most sanguinary, and that here- 
 after it would appear only in old pictures or show-cases, as a pleasing 
 evidence of the ameliorated condition of naval men. 
 
 But no sooner have the horrors of war fairly passed away than the 
 horrors of dress seem to rise up to affright and to fill the mind with terrors 
 as of the Inquisition. Can there be a class of men in the naval service 
 who think that the high-road to all perfection is to endure? If so, let 
 them inflict upon themselves the coarse hair undershirts worn by certain 
 
APPENDIX. 535 
 
 orders of monks, instead of ostentatiously parading to the world what 
 they are willing to endure, at least in dress. 
 
 If there are other naval men who give a tacit or an active support to 
 the noble army of martyrs referred to, from a belief in the proverb u il 
 faut souffrir pour etre beau" they may hope in the end to attain to the 
 sublime abnegation of the first class, and in the mean time to have the 
 gratitude and the admiration of the tailors as well as the fabricators of 
 the chapeaux bras. There is another, a native and a homely proverb, per- 
 haps forgotten since childhood ; if the reminder should bring them back 
 to their sweet infantile ways, then I shall feel recompensed in making 
 the quotation, " pretty is as pretty does." Would it be possible to do 
 anything in a cocked hat except to suffer ? 
 
 If there are others who thoughtlessly would place upon officers a burden 
 more than they can bear, let them pause and reconsider this gratuitous 
 act of cruelty toward men who, as a whole, deserve well of their country. 
 Let them picture to themselves a lengthy ceremonial within the tropics, 
 and at the head of a devoted and woebegone-looking procession of officers 
 of different ages and ranks, and in all the varied stages of exhaustion, an 
 old fellow, red as a lobster, wet with perspiration, as though he had just 
 emerged from the depths, his eyes almost closed to shield them from the 
 sun, and evidently suffering enough to excite compassion in the breasts of 
 the humane. Yet this man has done nothing, — that is, nothing to make 
 it necessary to dress him without the least regard to health or to comfort 
 and — m ay it not be added ? — to elegance or taste. To be easy or graceful, 
 a dress has to be habitual, in cut at least, as proof of which look at the 
 awkward appearance made by laboring men when dressed in their " Sun- 
 day clothes j" nor does the officer appear in any but a ludicrous light when 
 dressed in what he does not wear habitually. Of all the specimens that 
 the reader may have seen in full dress, has he seen one, or one in a hun- 
 dred, who has seemed easy or improved by his trappings? injudicious 
 friend, if you are one, pause and think what you propose inflicting if you 
 have had aught to do in this matter ! 
 
 Mr. Bumble the beadle wore a cocked hat. What sort of a fellow was 
 he ? Who knows what Mr. Bumble might have been had he not been edu- 
 cated in a cocked hat, or if in the pride of his heart he had not received 
 it as the crowning glory of his exalted rank? How many naval Bumbles 
 have become so through the instrumentality of the cocked hat, and the 
 weighty paraphernalia which fosters the utterly impracticable and the 
 useless ! 
 
 If cocked hats have to be, then let them be placed on a pole and borne 
 solemnly along by a messenger-boy, somewhat in the manner that the 
 three-tailed bashaws parade their insignia of rank. The three tails would 
 be quite as convenient, ornamental, and useful a head-dress as any cocked 
 hat that has heretofore formed a part of our naval uniform ; yet we have 
 no account that the bashaws have ever worn them thus. 
 
536 APPENDIX. 
 
 The swallow-tail coat, too, is far from being graceful or useful, yet it 
 is less burdensome in every sense than the cocked hat. If left to the 
 officers themselves, certainly not one in five would wish it. If these pro- 
 posed changes are the result of the deliberations of a Board, let us suggest 
 that the members composing it should visit the various naval stations 
 dressed as proposed, for the purpose of eliciting the expression of a gen- 
 eral opinion as to its fitness, and above all as to the advantage of a 
 change. They could also have their photographs taken, back, front, and 
 side view, and distributed to the various squadrons, such of them wear- 
 ing a mask as wished to assert strongly that their personal vanity was 
 not at all concerned. 
 
 By means of a cocked hat, big epaulets, a swallow-tail coat, and a big 
 round belly, due to a want of sufficient exercise, many an officer that would 
 have " passed muster" in ordinary clothes has been transformed into a 
 ludicrous resemblance of a robin, while his ungracefulness of movement 
 showed plainly that if he was " a bird" (in appearance) he could not hope 
 to fly unless on the balloon principle. 
 
 mighty shades of departed heroes, spare us the cocked hat, and, if 
 possible, the swallow-tail coat! humane men, members of societies for 
 the suppression of cruelty to dumb brutes, cast one look of pity on the 
 naval officer in full dress when he appears as it is said he will shortly 
 do. You will not fail to extend your sympathy, and will wish him well, 
 although you may not be able to aid him in this dire extremity. 
 
 Head-Quarters Army op the United States, 
 Washington, D.C., Nov. 23d, 1868. 
 Dear Ammen, — 
 
 Your welcome and very interesting letters, up to September, have been 
 received. Since that date the Presidential election has taken place, and 
 the result before this reached you. The Democracy made the most des- 
 perate and unscrupulous effort of their lives to change the result, but 
 without effect. Now there seems to be a general acquiescence, North and 
 South, in the result. Appearances now are about what they were in '65. 
 I would write you a long letter on public and home affairs, but that I hope 
 you will be on your way home soon after the receipt of this, if you are not 
 before. I am not on speaking-terms with your venerable Chief, therefore 
 cannot ask him to relieve you from your present duties. I did, however, 
 some ten days since, write to Admiral Porter, asking him to effect your 
 release. Immediately on writing that letter I went North, and have but 
 just returned ; so I do not know what success he met with. I know, 
 however, the admiral came to Washington a day or two after the receipt of 
 my letter. If you are not relieved by orders from the Navy Department, 
 I hope your immediate commander will take the liberty to relieve you 
 himself in time to reach here by the 4th of March, 1869, and trust to 
 orders then justifying his action. I am anxious that you should be here 
 at that time. 
 
APPENDIX. 537 
 
 Mrs. Grant received a letter from Mrs. Amrnen yesterday, from which 
 we learn your family are now well. We hope to have a visit from her 
 soon, when Mrs. Grant and myself will do what we can to make her time 
 pass agreeably. 
 
 My family are all well. The children were much pleased with the 
 presents received from you. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 This letter was written when I was in command of the Piscataqua, and 
 was not received until our arrival at Hong-Kong on the 18th of February, 
 1869. Admiral Rowan then ordered me to return to the United States, 
 and two days later I left for San Francisco in the American steamer Great 
 Republic. My duties from that time forward having been in Washington, 
 I have no correspondence of interest to the public until General Grant 
 wrote me from London in relation to home affairs and a short visit to 
 Switzerland, as follows : 
 
 Bristol Hotel, Burlington Gardens, London, W., 
 August 28th, 1877. 
 My dear Commodore, — 
 
 I arrived here from the Continent yesterday, after a most pleasant visit 
 of about seven weeks there, most of the time in Switzerland. There is 
 no more beautiful scenery or climate for summer travel than Switzerland 
 presents. The people are industrious and honest, simple and frugal in 
 their habits, and would be very poor with all this, if it were not from the 
 travel through their country. I wish their surplus population would 
 emigrate to the United States. On our arrival here I found but few letters, 
 but among them were yours and one from our mutual friend Borie. 
 During my absence I will be glad to hear from you as often as you feel 
 like writing. It is always interesting to me to get home news, and par- 
 ticularly from a friend. For the last eight weeks I have seen but few 
 American papers, and am consequently behind in home news. The for- 
 eign papers, however, have been full of the great railroad strike, and no 
 doubt exaggerated it, bad as it was. The United States should always be 
 prepared to put down such demonstrations promptly and with severe con- 
 sequences to the guilty. I hope good may come out of this, in pointing 
 out the necessity for having the proper remedy at hand in case of need. 
 " An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." One thing has 
 struck me as a little queer. During my two terms of office the whole 
 Democratic press, and the morbidly honest and "reformatory" portion of 
 the Republican press, thought it horrible to keep U. S. troops stationed in 
 the Southern States, and when they were called upon to protect the lives 
 of negroes — as much citizens under the Constitution as if their skins were 
 w^hite — the country was scarcely large enough to hold the sound of indig- 
 nation belched forth by them for some years. Now, however, there is no 
 
538 APPENDIX. 
 
 hesitation about exhausting the whole power of the government to suppress 
 a strike on the slightest intimation that danger threatens. All parties 
 agree that this is right, and so do I. If a negro insurrection should arise 
 in South Carolina, Mississippi, or Louisiana, or if the negroes in either 
 of these States — where they are in a large majority — should intimidate 
 the whites from going to the polls, or from exercising any of the rights 
 of American citizens, there would be no division of sentiment as to the 
 duty of the President. It does seem the rule should work both ways. 
 
 How long my stay abroad may be prolonged is somewhat problematical. 
 I shall remain on this side of the water, however, all of next winter, and 
 will avail myself of the Secretary's kind offer of a naval vessel to visit 
 the seaport towns on the Mediterranean. I received a letter from Admiral 
 Worden stating that he had received his orders in this respect, — giving 
 me a copy of his instructions, which I had seen before, — to which I 
 replied stating my plans. I wrote to the Secretary thanking him for the 
 courtesy of his tender of a vessel, which letter I hope he received. 
 
 During the strike you must have been compelled to stay in the city, 
 leaving the little Ammens to take care of themselves, or have resorted to 
 private conveyance. In either case you have been taught the value of 
 railroads to the country. 
 
 Mrs. Grant sends her love to Mrs. Ammen and the children, and asks 
 me to say that she will miss you very much during our travels on board 
 naval vessels. 
 
 Please present my kind regards to Mrs. Ammen and the children, and 
 believe me, 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Commodore D. Ammen, U. S. Navy. 
 
 Hotel de France, Nice, December 10th, 1877. 
 My dear Admiral, — 
 
 On Thursday, day after to-morrow, we go aboard the Vandalia to make 
 our examination of the Mediterranean. How much I wish you were in 
 command to unfurl for the first time your admiral's flag ! We breakfasted 
 the other day with Admiral Le Roy, and saw all the officers then in port 
 here. They seem to be a nice set of youngsters. They were not all at 
 the breakfast, of course, but they came aboard the flag-ship, and I had the 
 pleasure of meeting them. It would be pleasant to you to know how they 
 all spoke of you. There was quite an expression of opinion among them 
 placing you in the highest place in the profession. Of course I told them 
 I owed you an old grudge as being responsible for the many trials and 
 difficulties I had passed through in the last half-century, for nearly that 
 length of time ago you had rescued me from a watery grave. 
 
 I am of a forgiving nature, however, and forgive you ; but is the feeling 
 universal ? If the Democrats get into full power, may they not hold you 
 
APPENDIX. 539 
 
 responsible ? Bat, as you are about retiring, I hope no harm will come to 
 you for any act of kindness done to me. 
 
 Our trip thus far has been most agreeable. The weather in Paris was 
 most atrocious, but I got to see much of the people. My opinion of their 
 capacity for self-government has materially changed since seeing for my- 
 self. Before coming here I did not believe the French people capable of 
 self-government. Now I believe them perfectly capable, and that they 
 will be satisfied with nothing less. They are patient, " and of long suffer- 
 ing," but there will not be entire peace and quiet until a form of govern- 
 ment is established in which all the people have a full voice. It will be 
 more republican than anything they have yet had under the name of a 
 republic. 
 
 Give all our love to Mrs. Ammen and all Of the children. Write to me 
 often, and don't be disappointed if I do not answer each of your letters as 
 received. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Rome, Italy, March 25th, 1878. 
 My dear Admiral, — 
 
 I have received three interesting letters from you since my last to you. 
 You must excuse this, and continue to write, because I am always glad to 
 receive your letters, as are all the family, — and they all read them ; and 
 then I am writing to so many persons that I cannot be prompt in my 
 replies. 
 
 The winter's trip has been the most pleasant of my life. It has been 
 entirely out of the usual course of travellers abroad, and has opened a new 
 field. My whole family — or at least those with me — are such sailors that 
 a home on shipboard was as comfortable as if on land, even when it was 
 rough weather. The officers, without exception, were agreeable and did 
 all they could to make us feel at home. Captain Ilobeson, the commander, 
 was most attentive both to his guests and to his duties. I judge a more 
 safe commander to a ship could not be found. The second officer, Lieu- 
 tenant Caldwell, is a very superior man in education and acquirements, 
 and especially so in all scientific subjects, and professional ones too. He 
 is very much such a man as Comstock, who served on my staff, and whom 
 you remember. If you do not remember him, you do his horse at least. 
 The other officers are nice fellows, and some of them I think would make 
 their mark if occasion presents itself. The third officer, Lieutenant Strong, 
 is from the volunteers, and commands the respect of all others, from the 
 captain down. It would be hard to convince any of them that a more 
 thorough navigator is to be found in or out of the service. 
 
 Mr. Young, of the New York Herald, accompanied us during our naval 
 experience, and to this place, and wrote very good and very descriptive 
 letters. You have no doubt read them, so that I will leave out all account 
 
540 APPENDIX. 
 
 of places. But my impression of peoples are that in the East they have 
 a form of government and a civilization that will always repress progress 
 and development. Syria and Asia Minor are as rich of soil as the great 
 Northwest in our own country, and are blessed with a climate far more 
 suitable to production. The people would be industrious if they had en- 
 couragement, but they are treated as slaves, and all they produce is taken 
 from them for the benefit of the governing classes and to maintain them 
 in a luxurious and licentious life. Women are degraded even beneath a 
 slave. They have no more rights than the brute. In fact, the donkey is 
 their superior in privileges. 
 
 I was in Constantinople at a very interesting time historically. The 
 Russian army was but a few miles outside, and there was no barrier to 
 their entrance. But the stolidity of the people is such that in the five 
 days I spent in Constantinople I should never have discovered from the 
 manner of the people, outside of the Sultan and a few of the high officials, 
 that anything unusual had happened. 
 
 We spent five days in Athens on our way here. It is a beautiful city 
 now. It is well built, well paved, and very clean. Considering that there 
 was not a house where the present city stands, forty-five years ago, and 
 that the opposition of the Turks has kept them from communication with 
 the balance of Europe except by sea, they have certainly made wonderful 
 progress. I hope they may have their territory increased as one of the 
 effects of the present war, so as to give them more Greek population, more 
 space, and a full chance to develop. It seems to me England, and the 
 balance of Europe, except Russia, is interested in seeing such a consum- 
 mation. But I am much more interested in home affairs. I have read 
 the home papers much more attentively this winter than during the 
 earlier part of my travels. Since the meeting of Congress I have felt 
 almost discouraged at times. The legislation and the proposed legislation 
 almost convinces me that, if the North does not rally, we who were so 
 unfortunate as to serve on the Union side, from a false sense of right, 
 might yet be required to get one of Andy Johnson's pardons to relieve us 
 from responsibility as murderers, robbers, and illegal and unjustifiable 
 invaders of the sacred soil of the South. I believe there is a settled 
 determination to destroy the army and navy, and to reorganize it so as to 
 bring back, with their lost rank, those who saw better than we did the 
 right, and quit the service to follow it. Poor fellows ! what a pity they 
 were not successful ! They would have such an opportunity now of 
 showing their chivalry — by putting us all in State's prison. 
 
 The passage of the silver bill is very discouraging. It is dishonest in 
 the extreme, although practically it may not work the harm contemplated 
 by its main supporters. But it shows a willingness on the part of a 
 majority of our present legislators to repudiate a portion of public and 
 private indebtedness. The crime would be only greater in magnitude if 
 they should repudiate the whole. The man who would steal your lamb 
 
APPENDIX. 541 
 
 would not be a safe custodian of the old sheep. But let us hope that 
 wiser counsels will prevail. Mr. Hayes, it seems to me, exercises but 
 little influence with the legislation. This I suppose is partly due to the 
 very slight majority he had in the Electoral College, and more to the 
 Utopian ideas he got, from reformers, of running a government without a 
 party. The Democrats have deceived him. I hope he will return to those 
 who elected him. I believe he is a perfectly sincere man, purely patriotic, 
 and a good Republican. But he has been wofully mistaken, — or I am, 
 from a distant point of view. Give Mrs. Grant's love to Mrs. Ammen 
 and the children, and mine too if you will, and write to me often. My 
 address is Drexel, Harjes & Co., Paris. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 Admiral D. Ammen, U. S. Navy. 
 
 The quiet humor of the general is seen in his allusion to Comstock's 
 horse, which I rode on a visit to Mr. Blair at Silver Spring, and my ex- 
 perience with which was a subject of far more merriment to others than 
 it was to me during the actual time of the riding. 
 
 Paris, France, May 25th, 1878. 
 Mr dear Admiral, — 
 
 Since my last letter to you I have received two or three from you, the 
 last one containing a copy of your reply to the two French gentlemen in 
 regard to Inter-Oceanic Canal matters. I have been pestered, or rather 
 refused to be pestered, by adventurers who desire to get me interested 
 with them in an enterprise to build such a canal. Before I left "Washing- 
 ton I called on Mr. Evarts specially to interest him in the matter of a 
 canal by the Nicaragua route. I was in hopes he would take the matter 
 up. I told him all about the surveys that had been made, the reports 
 upon the surveys, how he could get access to them, etc., and that he could 
 get fuller information at any time by sending for you. I advise that you 
 call on the Secretary and bring the subject up. Edmunds is the only 
 Senator that I know of who takes an interest in the subject. But he 
 wouToTThTerest others if the subject could be brought up in a- tangible 
 shape. ^/ 
 
 We have now been here for three weeks, will remain about three weeks 
 more, and then go north through Holland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, 
 back east to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Vienna, then visit Berlin and a 
 few other Prussian places, and then find winter quarters either here, at 
 Nice, or in Southern Italy. In June of next year I shall be in my Long 
 Branch house, if spared to that time, when we will hope to have a visit 
 from you and Mrs. Ammen. 
 
 I have visited the Exposition several times. It is quite a success, but, 
 I think, no improvement on our Centennial show. The buildings and 
 
 / 
 
542 APPENDIX. 
 
 grounds are far inferior to ours. Jesse sails for home on the 4th of June. 
 Mrs. Grant joins me in love to Mrs. Ammen and the children. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 Admiral D. Ammen. 
 
 St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 13th, 1878. 
 My dear Admiral, — 
 
 After spending two days at this place I went to Moscow, where I stayed 
 five days, and returned this noon. On arrival found a large mail, in which 
 was one from you, enclosing a paragraph about Murphy's bankruptcy and 
 my losses in real estate. So far as I am concerned, there is not one word 
 of truth in the statement. I never owned or purchased a piece of real 
 estate in New York City in my life. I never owned any property in New 
 Jersey — except the two houses at Long Branch which I now own — in my 
 life. I never held a piece of property in my life, that I remember of, on 
 which I owed anything. What I have — not much — is paid for. I have 
 sold nothing to pay up debts. My farming experience in Missouri, while 
 so far away myself, was expensive, and I sold out, and gave away stock, 
 and rented the farm. That was several years ago. Had I gone out of 
 office at the end of four years, when my salary was twenty-five thousand 
 dollars a year, I would have been compelled to sell something— quite an 
 amount — to have carried me out of Washington. But with my private 
 income and increased salary, I came out at the end of eight years free 
 from debt and without having incurred any loss anywhere in speculation. 
 
 I am very sorry to hear what you say about . I always thought well 
 
 of him. In fact, I could never bear to think illy of any one whom I had 
 selected for responsible positions, unless proven guilty. Calumny has 
 been so rife since the war that it is unsafe to be prejudiced by what you 
 see in partisan papers. But we will talk this matter over within a year. 
 
 I do not remember where my last letter to you was from. Since leaving 
 Paris, however, I have travelled through Holland, North Germany, Den- 
 mark, Sweden, Finland, and a portion of Russia. The New York Herald, 
 which comes by the same mail as your letter, gives an account of a por- 
 tion of my visit to Germany. The statement is given very correctly, 
 though from accounts I see in other papers the correspondent has fallen 
 into some errors in regard to what I said about military matters. I never 
 said, for instance, that my losses from the Rapidan to the James River, 
 including killed, wounded, and missing, was less than forty thousand ; 
 that thirty-nine thousand would cover the whole. What I did say was 
 that since Taylor's and Welles' letters, the public seem to have fallen into 
 the idea that I lost one hundred thousand men in getting to the south side 
 of the James, where I could have gone by boat, without loss, and ignore 
 the fact that Lee sustained any loss ; that while the returns given after 
 battle, when every captain, colonel, and brigade commander would like to 
 see our aggregate loss as small as possible, he did not wish to diminish his 
 
APPENDIX. 543 
 
 importance in the fray by reducing his OAvn losses : in fact, the greater his 
 " killed and wounded and missing," the more his command might have 
 been considered to have been hotly engaged. In this way every man not 
 at the first roll-call after an engagement was reported in one of the above 
 categories. In this way many men have been reported wounded two, 
 three, or four times, in different engagements, but never lost a day, and 
 now live to tell this honorable experience. In the same way many men 
 are missing after an engagement, some turning up afterwards for duty 
 and some as prisoners in the hands of the enemy. We captured and 
 buried more of their men than they claim to have lost. I stated as my 
 recollection that our actual losses before crossing the James River in 
 actual killed or totally disabled was less than forty thousand, — probably 
 thirty-nine thousand would cover it, but that Badeau's forthcoming book, 
 which was taken from actual records, would show the figures with the 
 greatest attainable accuracy. But it is only just to the Herald corre- 
 spondent to say that I have not seen his letter, but only the criticisms in 
 the New York World. Possibly he has been correct in his statement. I 
 have seen his Berlin letter — sent, I think, from Hamburg — giving an 
 account of the receptions, dinners, reviews, Bismark conference, etc., and 
 they are correctly stated. There might be a question about the propriety 
 of some things stated, but they are nevertheless correct so far as my memory 
 could verify them. I hope I will find the other letter equally correct. 
 
 I have been very much pleased with the people of Holland, Denmark, 
 Norway, Sweden, and Finland. They are a free, intelligent, honest, and 
 industrious people. My reception among them was the most cordial, as 
 indeed it has been everywhere. Here, in Russia, I have been surprised 
 at the cordiality ; though there has always existed a traditional friendship 
 between the two countries. 
 
 To-morrow we start for "Warsaw ; from thence to Vienna. We will rest 
 in Austria until about the right season for visiting Spain and Portugal. 
 These latter states "done up," I will have been in every country in 
 Europe, in Egypt, and Africa, and a little bit of Syria and Asia Minor, in 
 Asia ; not much for an " old tar," but a good deal for a " landsman." 
 
 I am glad that Mrs. Ammen is to keep you at home for the future. I 
 believe your determination to retire was a wise one. If you had been an 
 "old fogy," with a family of children all over thirty, I can see why you 
 might want to be retained on the active list. But with five young children, 
 — no telling how many to follow, — and the retirement being entirely vol- 
 untary, I look upon your course in the matter as entirely wise. I have 
 had a number of letters from you since my last, and am always glad to 
 receive them. Mrs. Grant sends her love to Mrs. Ammen and the children. 
 Please present my regards also. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 I forgot that I wrote to you from here before going to Moscow. 
 
544 APPENDIX. 
 
 Gibraltar, Nov. 15th, 1878. 
 My dear Admiral, — 
 
 On my arrival here, three days ago, I found your letter of the 21st of 
 October, and the very kind letter of the Secretary of the Navy tendering 
 to me the use of the Richmond for an Eastern tour. I wrote to the Secre- 
 tary at once, and said that I should have cabled, only that I had previously 
 sent a message to you saying that I had determined on not going home by 
 way of China and Japan, at least for this winter, and that no doubt you 
 had communicated the message. I received your previous letter of the 
 15th of October, also. It seems a long journey to go from here to San 
 Francisco by water for so little as there is to see along the coast. If I 
 was alone, or with a party of gentlemen that could penetrate the interior 
 of countries passed through, I should not hesitate. 
 
 "We came here making our first stop, in Spain, at Victoria. The young 
 king, hearing that I was on my way to Madrid, invited me to stop there 
 where he was inspecting and reviewing some twenty-six thousand troops. 
 I stopped two days. The Spanish troops make a splendid appearance. 
 The next stop was at Madrid, for a week. Madrid is improving rapidly, 
 and has evidently improved much in the last few years. It is now a 
 beautiful city, with horse-cars running to every part. I saw but little 
 evidence of improvement, however, elsewhere than in Madrid. It is hard 
 to foretell the future of Spain. The people are good enough if, as you 
 say, they could see any return for their labor. But, as it is, there seems 
 to be no integrity among the ruling class. Those who do work receive 
 but the barest subsistence. If a man raises a pig he cannot kill and eat 
 it without paying an equivalent to five dollars of our money. The revenue- 
 officers are so abundant that there is no chance of escaping any tax 
 except by bribery, which is resorted to, to the extent of depriving the 
 government of a very large percentage of its revenues. There is the 
 greatest discontent, and the least thing would start a revolution. I have 
 no idea that the existing state of affairs can last long. It will not be long 
 before the experiment of a republic will be tried again, and probably with 
 more success than the last time. 
 
 From Madrid we went to Lisbon, being in the cars two nights and a 
 day. The country passed through is highly uninteresting. There is no 
 place of interest to stop to break the journey, and, if there was, one 
 would have to take up his travel at the same hour of the day, or night, 
 he left off. It is two nights and a day between Madrid and Lisbon, 
 whether you take thirty-six hours to make the journey, or a whole year. 
 
 Coming here, we made stops at Cordova, Seville, and Cadiz. All of 
 them are places of interest. On Monday we will have a run, by an 
 English man-of-war, for Malaga, will visit Granada, and return to the 
 sea-coast and go by steamer to Barcelona. From the latter place we will 
 in all probability make our way to Paris, and remain quiet until about 
 six weeks before the time to sail for home. I want to spend about a 
 
APPENDIX. 545 
 
 month with Nellie before going back, and want to make a run through 
 Ireland. 
 
 Mrs. Grant sends her love to Mrs. Ammen and the children, and her 
 very kindest regards to yourself. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 Admiral D. Ammen, U. S. Navy. 
 
 On the receipt of this letter I wrote the general immediately that I 
 hoped he would reconsider his determination to come home without having 
 gone around the world. I said he would find Japan particularly interest- 
 ing, and his visit to China and Japan would have an excellent result, in 
 placing our people and our government in excellent relations with them ; 
 therefore it seemed to me very desirable that he should go around the 
 world. I happened to meet General Sherman within a few days, and 
 mentioned the above to him. He said he had received a similar letter 
 from General Grant, and had written him almost in the same terms. 
 
 Later on, when the Richmond did not sail for two months after the 
 
 time named to General Grant, I wrote him that he should not wait for 
 
 her, as the season in British India would not wait for him. Let the 
 
 Richmond catch up with him if she could, — which she did at Hong-Kong 
 
 or Shanghai. 
 
 Pau, France, December 6th, 1878. 
 My dear Admiral, — 
 
 On my arrival here, last night, I found a very large mail, and in it two 
 letters from you. This is my first mail since leaving Gibraltar, from 
 where I wrote you. At that time I had fully determined not to go by 
 India, China, and Japan, and so wrote the Secretary of the Navy, saying, 
 however, that if I determined otherwise before the departure of the Rich- 
 mond from America, I would cable him. This morning I. sent him a 
 despatch that I would accept his offer of a passage on that steamer. I 
 could not say much in a despatch, but I hope we will be able to join the 
 steamer on the north side of the Mediterranean, somewhere between 
 Marseilles and Palermo. This will extend my trip and make my arrival 
 in America some months later than I had expected, probably extending 
 the time into the late fall. Of course going by San Francisco I shall 
 want to spend at least a month going over old ground with which I was 
 familiar a quarter of a century ago. That quarter of a century does not 
 seem half so long as the one which preceded it, and passed, since you and 
 I first received instruction under John D. White, and a long beech switch, 
 cut generally by the boys for their own chastisement. 
 
 Mrs. Grant wants me to say now that she regrets your retirement, 
 because you might accompany us, and she has every confidence in you on 
 your native element. I believe you are a first-class farmer besides. 
 
 I have not yet received your paper on the "Inter-Oceanic Canal," but \ 
 will read it with great interest when it reaches me. 
 
 35 
 
546 APPENDIX. 
 
 I have preserved with great care a letter you wrote me as much as nine 
 months ago, giving the route and places to visit on naval vessels, after 
 leaving the Red Sea, until since leaving Gibraltar. But I destroyed it a 
 few days ago. I would be very glad to get a repetition of it now. 
 
 I am very sorry, with Mrs. Grant, that you cannot be the commander 
 of our proposed trip, and that Mrs. Ammen is not to be with us. Mrs. 
 Grant sends her love to Mrs. Ammen, Mrs. Atocha, and the children. 
 Regards to Mrs. A., Mrs. Atocha, and yourself. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Admiral D. Ammen. 
 
 Singapore, April 2d, 1879. 
 Dear Ammen, — 
 
 Since my letter of yesterday I have been thinking if I have been in 
 any way remiss in not informing the Secretary of the Navy of my deter- 
 mination to proceed in advance of the Richmond. In thinking the matter 
 over, I have come to the conclusion that if there has been any neglect to 
 complain of I am the one to complain. The Secretary was kind enough 
 to voluntarily offer me a passage on the Richmond, which his letter said 
 would leave the States for the Mediterranean on the 10th of December. 
 I accepted, and was quietly waiting in Paris until I should hear of her 
 passing Gibraltar before starting. I remained there until home papers 
 of a later date than the 10th of December reached me, and, seeing no 
 notice of her departure, I got Mr. Harjes to cable to Drexel to find out 
 whether she had yet started. By this means I found that she would not 
 leave until the 10th of January. If there is punctilio in the matter, 
 why was I not informed? I also telegraphed to Admiral Pattison, who 
 replied that he had not a word from the Richmond. I wrote to Le Roy 
 three times, the third letter because so long a time had elapsed without a 
 reply to my second that I feared he had not received it. An answer came, 
 however, from a hotel in Nice, written evidently by his secretary and 
 sent through Stevens in London, stating that he had been relieved, and 
 that Captain Davis was in charge and would no doubt forward my desires 
 in any way he could, if I would write to him, — or words to that effect. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Peking, China, June 6th, 1879. 
 My dear Admiral, — 
 
 I have now been in Peking three days, and have seen all there is of 
 interest to see in this forsaken city. Since our arrival we have received 
 an American mail, and with it your two letters of the 6th and 17th of 
 / April. I am delighted that you consented to be our representative at the 
 Congress to discuss the question of the Inter-Oceanic Canal, because I do 
 not believe there is another American who understands the relative ad- 
 \ vantages of the one feasible route over all others, nor who can state the 
 
APPENDIX. 547 
 
 advantages and obstacles in the way of other routes as clearly as you can. 
 If any of the officers who made surveys of any of the proposed routes for 
 the canal had been sent, they would have been mere representatives of the 
 particular route they had surveyed. It might have done to have sent all 
 of them, as witnesses to testify to their work, but under one who had 
 examined the whole field impartially. 
 
 I have found China and the Chinese much as you have often described 
 it and them. It is not a country nor a people calculated to invite the 
 traveller to make a second visit. But they are a people of wonderful 
 shrewdness and industry, and are rapidly monopolizing the trade, aa 
 carriers, merchants, mechanics, market-gardeners, and servants, from 
 Bombay eastward. Then, too, their leading men seem to have a thorough 
 appreciation of the necessity for internal improvement, such as railroads, 
 etc., but have a horror of introducing them with foreign capital and under 
 foreign control. Their idea seems to be rather to educate a sufficient 
 number of their own young men abroad to fit them as engineers, machinists, 
 soldiers, sailors, etc., and then to make their improvements with their own 
 men and means. My belief is that in les3 time from now than the half- 
 century since you and I first went to J. D. White's school in Georgetown 
 elapses, Europe will be complaining of the too rapid advance of China. 
 
 Mrs. Grant joins me in love to you, Mrs. Ammen, and the children, and 
 also to Mrs. Atocha. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Admiral D. Ammen, TJ. S. Navy. 
 
 Tokio, Japan, July 16th, 1879. 
 My dear Admiral, — 
 
 I have received several letters from you since I wrote last, the last one 
 from Paris. I had previously read in the New York Herald the result of 
 the Paris Conference on the Inter-Oceanic question, and of your triumph 
 over deeply-seated prejudices. In my judgment it was very fortunate that 
 you were selected to go, and consented. 
 
 We have now been nearly a month in this interesting country and 
 among these amiable people. The changes, however, have been very great 
 since you were here last, and there is much that you would not recognize. 
 They have now a very perfect school system which enables all classes, 
 male and female, to get a fair education. They have a Military and Naval 
 Academy, both on a better basis than ours were for many years after their 
 establishment. They have colleges for the higher branches, both for those 
 going into the public service and those who wish to obtain the highest 
 education attainable, for their own gratification. The gentlemen connected 
 with the government in any way, and many merchants and other people, 
 dress in European style, and not unfrequently the ladies do also. The 
 Japanese are altogether the superior people of the East. I think I see, 
 however, dawning a new era for China. They have been learning two 
 
. 
 
 548 APPENDIX. 
 
 things from the experience of other Eastern countries ; first, they must 
 
 not mortgage themselves to European powers by borrowing their money ; 
 
 the second, the necessity of advancement with their own means and the 
 
 employment of as few foreigners as possible as instructors. Their advance 
 
 will therefore be slow until their own people are instructed sufficiently to 
 
 become teachers. I see by the latest home papers that the Sultan of 
 
 Turkey has carried out his design and sent me two Arab horses ; I wish 
 
 you would say. to Beale, after giving him the respects of myself and Mrs. 
 
 Grant, that I hope he will take care of them until I return. If he chooses 
 
 to send one to any one having a brood farm, he is at liberty to do so. 
 
 With kindest regards of Mrs. Grant, Fred, and myself to Mrs. Ammen 
 
 and the children, 
 
 I am yours truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 Admiral D. Ammen. 
 
 San Francisco, Cal., Sept. 28th, 1879. 
 My dear Ammen, — 
 
 We arrived here on the 20th, after a most pleasant and smooth sail of 
 nineteen days from Yokohama. On my arrival I found a letter from you, 
 and have received one since. But the kindness of the people here has 
 prevented me from writing a single letter to any one until to-day. This is 
 Sunday, and I have gone to another room, and consequently am " out." 
 
 I have had no time to read the Eastern papers since my arrival, and 
 there are many that I have not seen ; hence I do not know the present 
 prospects of the Inter-Oceanic Canal. I approve, however, what you 
 have done in the matter, and if the people of the United States will take 
 hold of the Nicaragua route in earnest — the only practicable route, com- 
 paratively — I will give all the aid in my power. 
 
 I start for the Yosemite on Tuesday, and after my return go to Oregon, 
 so that I shall not start East before about the 27th of November. Even 
 then I do not expect to go east of Chicago before the holidays ; but if I 
 could do any good for the canal enterprise by doing so, I would go earlier. 
 
 The papers have told you of my reception here. It has been exceed- 
 ingly friendly, and apparently by the whole people. I appreciate it, of 
 course, very highly, but it makes hard work. 
 
 Give Mrs. Grant's love to Mrs. Ammen and the children, and remember 
 me most kindly. If you see Beale, tell him that I shall write to him in a 
 
 few days. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Chicago, Illinois, Nov. 16th, 1879. 
 My dear Admiral, — 
 
 Your letter of the 12th is just received, and the despatch referred to I 
 have only just seen, although it was probably promptly delivered at the 
 "house while I was out. 
 

 
 
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APPENDIX. 549 
 
 I do not expect to be east as far as Philadelphia before the 16th of 
 December, — cannot well be, because I have promised to stop a day at 
 Indianapolis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Pittsburg, by the way, 
 and have set December 9th for being in Indianapolis. If Mr. Franco 
 desires to see me before I go East, and it is not too much trouble for him 
 to do so, he might come West and meet me in Chicago. I will be back 
 here as early as the 6th of December. I would be glad to meet him in 
 Galena; but my accommodations there are small and the public accommo- 
 dations are not attractive. 
 
 In regard to the Nicaragua Canal : It seems to me the concession should 
 be made by a treaty between the United States and the Nicaraguan govern- 
 ments, and that there should be an act of incorporation by Congress. The 
 former could be had without trouble or delay. The latter, I think, also 
 might be obtained without trouble, and conditional subscriptions might 
 be taken up without waiting for the concession. 
 
 The latter should amount to $100,000,000 before any work is commenced. 
 My idea is that subscribers should receive bonds, interest payable semi- 
 annually, as the money is called for, and on completion of the work should 
 receive stock to the full amount of the bonds. But all this would be 
 determined after the organization of the company. 
 
 It is not certain now that I will be in "Washington this winter, but make 
 my head-quarters in Philadelphia during my stay in the East. 
 
 Mrs. Grant joins me in kindest regards to Mrs. Ammen and the children. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Chicago, Illinois, Dec. 5th, 1879. 
 My dear Admiral, — 
 
 I have received all of your letters, and noted their contents. Pierre- 
 pont has also written me in connection with Canal matters. He probably 
 informed you of my answer. I have not heard whether I am to expect 
 Mr. De Franco here or not. I rather hope now I will not ; my time will 
 be so taken up with engagements from this until Tuesday morning — when 
 I leave here — that I fear I should be able to give him little time. How- 
 ever, if he comes I will manage to see him. I presume nothing can be 
 done this winter to prevent my carrying out my plan of visiting Cuba 
 and Mexico. The charter for a canal, and subscriptions can be raised 
 without my presence. These obtained, a thorough survey of the route, 
 and estimates of labor and costs, are the next things. I agree with you 
 that a thorough survey of the Panama route should be made at the same 
 time. If it should be the best route, it should be adopted. If it is not, 
 it will be worth while to have the fact demonstrated, to stop all 
 
 [This part of the note was on the back of the signature of General 
 Grant, which was torn off and appropriated.] 
 at first. One million seems to me enough to commence the surveys with. 
 
550 APPENDIX. 
 
 The government, too, should furnish facilities from the navy, — in vessels, 
 etc., — to reduce the cost of surveys very materially. 
 
 I think now I will not go to New York before my return in the spring. 
 This will give me time for work, if any should be necessary, in Philadel- 
 phia, before my departure. 
 
 [This part of the note, containing some other writing, and the signature 
 of the general, was torn off by some unscrupulous lover of autographs.] 
 
 On the top of the note was written, in pencil, — 
 
 P.S. — Since writing this, I have received yours of the 3d of December, 
 hence retain your draft of incorporation. 
 
 Havana, Cuba, February 8th, 1880. 
 My dear Admiral, — 
 
 When I last wrote you I neglected to say that I received the North 
 American Review containing your article on the Lesseps canal. I had 
 read the article while in Florida, together with some criticisms on it, char- 
 acterizing it as more personal than argumentative. I could not see, for 
 the life of me, that the criticisms had any foundation. Now that Congress 
 has taken the matter up, there is more reason to hope that something may 
 be done towards the solution of an Inter-Oceanic canal. Eads writes me 
 in favor of his ship-railroad project, predicting for it success and a hasty 
 completion when once commenced. Of course the route for such a road 
 would be Tehuantepec. I never like to predict that a thing can't be done ; 
 but it seems to me that a ship with full cargo making a long land-voyage 
 might prove unseaworthy when she got in the water again. 
 
 We leave here for Mexico when the steamer Alexandra — which sailed 
 from New York yesterday — passes here. It is not my expectation to 
 reach Galena before about the middle of May, nor the Eastern States 
 until time to occupy my Long Branch house, — say about the first of July. 
 
 The authorities here have been extremely hospitable, as have been the 
 people also. Last night there was a beautiful fancy ball given to us by 
 one of our citizens. But Mrs. Grant and I could not have it in our hearts 
 to go, having just heard of the death of my dear old friend, associate in 
 the Cabinet, and travelling-companion, Mr. Borie. I knew he was weak, 
 but hoped he had many years before him. 
 
 Mrs. Grant sends her love to Mrs. Ammen, Mrs. Atocha, and the chil- 
 dren. With best regards to all of them, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 Galena, Illinois, May 8th, 1880. 
 My dear Ammen, — 
 
 I have your letter of May the 4th, and received duly all your letters. 
 I received probably about the time you did the proceedings of the Board 
 of Trade of San Francisco on the subject of an inter-oceanic canal, and 
 read it with great interest. I was going to send it to you, but supposed 
 
APPENDIX. 551 
 
 from your known interest in the undertaking that you would likely receive 
 it without my sending. 
 
 I shall not go East, unless something changes my mind, before breaking 
 up here for the winter, — say about the 1st of December. My mind is not 
 made up yet where to spend the winter, but probably in Washington and 
 Florida. 
 
 My visit to Mexico was the pleasantest in all my travels, except possibly 
 to Japan, and of the greatest interest to me. I feel that we may help both 
 countries and help ourselves at the same time. Mexico is ripe now for 
 improvements that will develop her great resources. If we do not take 
 advantage of it and establish friendly and commercial relations, worth 
 millions annually to each country, it will be our own fault. It takes me 
 six to ten hours a day to read and answer my correspondence ; otherwise I 
 would prepare, with some cave, articles on both Japan and Mexico. But 
 I lack the time and the industry. Has Beale returned ? Mrs. Grant has 
 had several letters from Emily, but he had not returned at last accounts. 
 
 Please present Mrs. Grant's and my kindest regards to Mrs. Atocha, 
 Mrs. Ammen, and the children. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 New York Citt, Oct. 17th, 1880. 
 My dear Admiral Ammen, — 
 
 I received your letter a week ago, and have wanted to answer it ever 
 since. But the fact is I have not been allowed a minute to myself, from 
 the hour of rising to a late hour at night, since I arrived in this city. I 
 am now writing with company in the room, simply to say that I received 
 your letter, and to ask you to say to Captain Phelps that I received one 
 from him also. Say to him that I will aid the Canal enterprise in any 
 way that I can, and that I will at least act as a director, subscribing 
 enough to make me eligible for the position, and that I may accept the 
 position of president if it is tendered, and with prospects of success. 
 But as to the latter I must leave myself free for the present, because I 
 must either reside in a cheap place or do something to give me immediate 
 income. While this Presidential campaign lasts, it seems as if it will be 
 impossible for me to do more than to see people. After that I hope to 
 have more time for the real purposes of my coming East ; that is, to 
 interest capitalists in the construction of railroads in Mexico, and the 
 building of an inter-oceanic canal. The latter is embarrassed by Eads' 
 ship-railroad scheme and the Parisian scheme. 
 
 I hope to see you soon. I shall probably go to Washington for a day 
 or two before long. Please present Mrs. Grant's and my compliments to 
 Mrs. Ammen and the children. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
552 APPENDIX. 
 
 New York City, Oct. 11th, 1881. 
 My dear Admiral Ammen, — 
 
 We have now been in our new house nearly three weeks, and are begin- 
 ning to get things in shape to receive all our worldly goods. Fred and 
 his family will constitute a part of our family, and for the winter we 
 expect Nellie and family. The other two boys are keeping house, Buck 
 in his own house, and Jesse in a rented one. Buck has taken the " farm- 
 ing fever," and has purchased about two hundred acres on the Harlem 
 Kailroad, in Westchester County, about an hour from the city. He was 
 fortunate enough to purchase from a city merchant who has recovered 
 from the fever, and was able to purchase cheap. The farm is improved 
 with fine stone fences around nearly all the fields, with barns for fifty to 
 one hundred head of horses and cattle, a fine stone house with twenty- 
 one rooms, all furnished, and large and small fruit already bearing. The 
 house was rented out for the summer for one thousand dollars, and the 
 land to a farmer on halves. Buck got one-half the rent for the house, and 
 all the rent for the land, and got the whole for twenty-seven thousand five 
 hundred dollars, less than the house and furniture would cost to replace. 
 He is already beginning to stock up, and will no doubt be much pleased 
 for a few years at least. 
 
 We are now ready to receive our goods from the navy-yard, Washing- 
 ton. May I ask if you will be kind enough to have them shipped to me 
 at No. 3, E. 66th Street, by express ? I enclose you the receipts for the 
 goods, with the numbers on the boxes. In addition to the goods receipted 
 for, there was a large family portrait sent some time after the other goods, 
 and for which we have no receipt. Will you be kind enough to have all 
 the pictures sent to care of Goupil, corner 22d Street and Fifth Avenue? 
 
 I wrote to you some days ago, saying that the buggies and harness at 
 your farm might be sent to McDermot for sale, but asking you to accept 
 the light buggy with harness, for your use about the farm. 
 
 With kind regards to all your family, very truly yours, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 New York City, October 17th, 1881. 
 My dear Admiral Ammen, — 
 
 The articles you were kind enough to have shipped for me all came to 
 hand, in good order, on Saturday last. If you will be kind enough to 
 have the balance of my goods at the navy-yard shipped as freight, I will 
 be very much obliged. 
 
 With kind regards to all your family, very truly yours, 
 
 U. S. Grant. 
 
 I met General Grant for the last time in Washington, in October, 1881. 
 His residence in New York was distant from the part of the city visited 
 by me at intervals. He was surrounded by new friends, and many of 
 them, and it seemed to me that I would not be missed should I not call. I 
 
APPENDIX. 553 
 
 have never had other than the most affectionate regard for him, and if in 
 his illness he had sent a message that he wished to see me I would have 
 been at his bedside at once, and have remained as long as he desired my 
 presence. I never go to New York, when the weather and my time will 
 permit, that I do not stand at an early hour in front of that lonely tomb ; 
 and I am sure that there is not one of all his old friends and comrades who 
 does not wish to see his remains removed to Arlington. The memory of 
 such a man belongs to a great people, — no less to those of the South than 
 to those of the North. His resting-place should be there, surrounded by 
 the tens of thousands who have fallen in battle, and by the sturdy com- 
 panions of the war, as General Sheridan, and many others, and by those 
 who in the near future will be gathered to their old companions in arms, 
 who now rest at this burial-spot, which will be visited in coming centuries 
 by multitudes who love their country, and who will wish to honor the 
 remains ot the illustrious men and the unnamed thousands who in a dire 
 extremity aided in maintaining the life of a nation. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. 
 
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