d expedition. He actually shed tears as he narrated
the train of circumstances which led to the capture. "She would have
gone in by herself," he said, "if they had only let her alone;" for
indeed it was evident to all on board the morning of her capture, that
she had been close in to the shore within a few miles of the New Inlet
Bar. She had not reached the bar, however, so that the pilot's course in
refusing to take charge was justifiable; but the fatal error was
committed by not making a good offing before daylight. At the time of
her capture, she was not more than twenty miles from the land, and in
the deep bay formed by the coast between Masonborough Inlet and the Cape
Lookout Shoals.

The arrival of so large a party of Confederates in Halifax attracted
attention, and it was essential to the successful execution of the
project, that all suspicion should be allayed. The party, therefore, was
divided into groups of three or four individuals, who were directed to
report, in person, at Montreal, each one being strictly enjoined to
secrecy and discretion; for although the precise object of the
expedition was only known to three of its members, Lieutenants R. Minor,
Ben. Loyall and myself, every one belonging to it was quite well aware
that it was hostile to the United States Government. They were a set of
gallant young fellows, with a single exception. Who he was and where he
came from, none of us knew; but he had been ordered by the Secretary of
the Navy to report to me for duty. We believed him to be a traitor and a
spy; and succeeded in ridding ourselves of him the day after our arrival
at Halifax, by advancing him a month's wages. No member of the
expedition ever saw him again.

The most officiously zealous friend and partisan whom we all
encountered in Halifax was Mr. "Sandy" Keith, who was facetiously called
the Confederate Consul. By dint of a brazen assurance, a most obliging
manner, and the lavish expenditure of money, "profusus sui alieni
appetens"--he ingratiated himself with nearly every southerner who
visited Halifax although he was a coarse, ill-bred vulgarian, of no
social standing in the community. It is true that a worthy member of the
same family had risen from obscurity to high honors, but Sandy was a
black sheep of the flock. He was employed at first by many of our people
to purchase for them on commission, and afterwards by the Confederate
Government. He profited by so good an opportunity for swindl