ination in making this appointment! The base renegades are many
degrees worse even than the unprincipled adventurers from the North who
have so long preyed upon the South. The latter are only thieves and
robbers; the former are, in addition, unnatural monsters, who hate their
own people and are guilty of the crime of Judas, who betrayed his Lord
for thirty pieces of silver.

CHAPTER X.

The Confederate States Steamer "Florida."--Short Supply of
Coal.--The "Florida's" Decks.--Tea and Costly China.--Narrow Escape
from Capture.--Miss Lucy G.--Arrival at Bermuda.--Our uneventful
Trip inward.--The Johnson's Island Expedition.--Another Narrow
Escape.--"Pretty Shooting."--Arrival at Halifax, N. S.

During the latter part of July, 1863, the "Lee" was lying in the harbor
of St. George's, when the Confederate States steamer "Florida" arrived
there in want of coal, of which there happened to be a very limited
supply on hand. The most suitable coal was procured with difficulty
throughout the war, all of the British coals, although excellent for
raising steam, making more or less smoke, and objectionable on that
account Exportation of the American anthracite, which would have been
almost invaluable, was prohibited by the Government. This is, I believe,
the only accessible, or at least available nonbituminous coal in the
world; but the best substitute for it is the Welsh semi-bituminous coal,
and this was chiefly used by the blockade-runners.

The Florida was in greater need of coal than ourselves, for the United
States steamer Wachusett came into port a day or two after the former,
and Maffitt, in command of the Florida, wished to get to sea first. When
belligerent rights were accorded to the Confederate Government by
foreign powers, the Confederate cruisers were admitted into their ports
upon equal terms with the United States men of war, except that there
was no interchange of _official_ courtesies. In order to preserve strict
neutrality toward the contending powers, a man of war under either flag
was not permitted to follow out of a neutral port a ship under the
enemy's colors within twenty-four hours of the sailing of the latter;
and it was an equal violation of neutrality for a ship of war under
either flag to cruise within a marine league of neutral territory.

When occasion required no one could be more resolute than Maffitt, as he
had repeatedly shown in the management of the Florida; and