after the name of the vessel, cargo, number of passengers, etc. The
astounded captain was then informed that his vessel was a prize to the
United States ship--then at anchor near him!

Charleston was now the only harbor on the Atlantic coast at all
accessible, and that must evidently soon fall; but a cargo might be
landed there before that inevitable catastrophe, and fully appreciating
the exigency, I determined to make the effort. Even after the
occupation of Wilmington by the United States troops, there would remain
an interior line of communication between Charleston and Virginia. The
facts of history prove that the importance of carrying in a cargo of
provisions was not exaggerated, for the army of northern Virginia was
shortly afterwards literally starving; and during their retreat from the
position around Petersburg the country adjacent to their line of march
was swarming with soldiers who had left the ranks in search of food.

But it was the part of prudence to ascertain, positively, before
sailing, that Charleston was still in our possession. This intelligence
was brought by the "Chicora" which arrived at Nassau on the 30th of
January; and on February 1st, the "Owl," "Carolina," "Dream," "Chicora"
and "Chameleon" sailed within a few hours of each other for Charleston.

The condition of affairs throughout the Confederacy was far more
desperate than we, who were abroad, had any idea of. Despondency and
demoralization had advanced with gigantic strides within the past two or
three eventful months. Admiral Semmes, in his "Memoirs of Service
Afloat, etc," gives the following account of an interview with General
Lee: "As soon as I could command a leisure moment, I paid General Lee a
visit at his head-quarters near Petersburg, and spent a night with him.
I had served with him in the Mexican War. We discussed together the
critical state of the country and of his army--we were now near the end
of January, 1865, and I thought the grand old chieftain and Christian
gentleman seemed to foreshadow in his conversation, more by manner than
by words, the approaching downfall of the cause for which we were both
struggling. I had come to him, I told him, to speak of what I had seen
of the people, and of the army, in my transit across the country, and to
say to him that unless prompt measures could be devised to put an end to
the desertions that were going on among our troops, our cause must
inevitably be lost. He did not seem to