ding about him,--all
relapsing into vague gloom again at the withdrawal of the glass,--it
gave a feeling of childish delight. Yet it seemed only in keeping
with the whole enchantment of the scene; and had I been some Aladdin,
convoyed by genii or giants, I could hardly have felt more wholly a
denizen of some world of romance.

But the river was of difficult navigation; and we began to feel
sometimes, beneath the keel, that ominous, sliding, grating, treacherous
arrest of motion which makes the heart shudder, as the vessel does.
There was some solicitude about torpedoes, also,--a peril which became
a formidable thing, one year later, in the very channel where we found
none. Soon one of our consorts grounded, then another, every vessel
taking its turn, I believe, and then in turn getting off, until the
Norwich lay hopelessly stranded, for that tide at least, a few miles
below Jacksonville, and out of sight of the city, so that she could not
even add to our dignity by her visible presence from afar.

This was rather a serious matter, as the Norwich was our main naval
reliance, the Uncas being a small steamer of less than two hundred tons,
and in such poor condition that Commander Duncan, on finding himself
aground, at first quite declined to trust his consort any farther alone.
But, having got thus far, it was plainly my duty to risk the remainder
with or without naval assistance; and this being so, the courageous
officer did not long object, but allowed his dashing subordinate to
steam up with us to the city. This left us one naval and one army
gunboat; and, fortunately, the Burn-side, being a black propeller,
always passed for an armed vessel among the Rebels, and we rather
encouraged that pleasing illusion.

We had aimed to reach Jacksonville at daybreak; but these mishaps
delayed us, and we had several hours of fresh, early sunshine, lighting
up the green shores of that lovely river, wooded to the water's edge,
with sometimes an emerald meadow, opening a vista to some picturesque
house,--all utterly unlike anything we had yet seen in the South, and
suggesting rather the Penobscot or Kennebec. Here and there we glided
by the ruins of some saw-mill burned by the Rebels on General Wright's
approach; but nothing else spoke of war, except, perhaps, the silence.
It was a delicious day, and a scene of fascination. Our Florida men were
wild with delight; and when we rounded the point below the city, and saw
from afar its lo