tial article for the rest of the
day, I hurried into the _salle-a-manger_, where two long tables were
furnished with all the luxuries then to be obtained in Charleston, which
luxuries consisted of lumps of meat supposed to be beef, boiled Indian
corn, and I think there were the remains of a feathered biped or two, to
partake of which I was evidently too late. All these washed down with
water, or coffee without sugar, were not very tempting; but human nature
must be supported, so to it I set, and having swallowed a sufficient
quantity of animal food, I went off to my room to take a pull at a
bottle of brandy which I had sagaciously stored in my carpet-bag. But,
alas! for the morals of the beleaguered city. I found, on arriving
there, a nigger extended at full length in happy oblivion on the floor,
with the few clothes I had with me forming his pillow, and the brandy
bottle rolling about alongside of him, empty.

I first of all hammered his head against the floor, but the floor had
the worst of it; then I kicked his shins (the only vulnerable part of a
nigger), but it was of no use; so pouring the contents of a water jug
over him, in the hope that I might thus cause awful dreams to disturb
his slumbers, I left him, voting myself a muff for leaving the key in my
box.

Having letters of introduction to some of General Beauregard's staff, I
made my way to headquarters, where I met with the greatest courtesy and
kindness. An orderly was sent with me to show me the top of the tower, a
position that commanded a famous view of the besieging army, the
blockading squadron, and all the defences of the place. A battery had
just been placed by the enemy (consisting of five Parrot guns of heavy
calibre) five miles from the town, and that day had opened fire for the
first time. At that enormous range the shell occasionally burst over or
fell into the city, doing, however, little damage. The elevation of the
guns must have been unusually great. I am told that every one of them
burst after a week's, or thereabouts, firing. Poor Fort Sumter was
nearly silenced after many months' hammering, but its brave defenders
remained in it to the last, and it was not till a few days before
Charleston was abandoned that they gave it up. At the time I speak of
the whole of the western beach was in the hands of the enemy, Battery
Wagner having succumbed after one of the most gallant defences on
record. While it remained in the hands of the Southerners