stationed, there she stayed, to
meet the fury of the wind and waves by putting out more anchors, and
riding out at her cables storms that would have blown the blockader of
1812 hundreds of miles from her post.

In the earlier years of the war the blockade-runners were nearly all
sailing-vessels, schooners, and brigs, that were easily captured. But
when the supplies of the South became exhausted, and the merchants of
England began building ships especially for this purpose, the duty of
the blockading squadron became exciting and often very profitable. The
business assumed such proportions that half the shipyards in England
were engaged in turning out fast steamers to engage in it. At first it
was the custom to send goods in regular ocean-steamers from England to
the blockaded port; but this was soon abandoned, as the risk of
capture on the long run across the Atlantic was too great. Not until
the plan was adopted of shipping the goods to some neutral port along
our coast, and there transferring the cargo to some small, swift
vessel, and making the run into the Confederate port in a few hours,
did the business of blockade-running become very extensive. Goods
shipped for a neutral point were in no danger of being captured by our
cruisers, and therefore the danger of the long trans-Atlantic passage
was done away with.

[Illustration: Nassau: The Haunt of the Blockade-Runners.]

Of these neutral points which served as way-stations for the
blockade-runners, there were four on or near our coast,--the Bermuda
Islands, which lie about seven hundred miles east of Charleston; Nassau,
which is off the coast of Florida, and a little more than five hundred
miles southeast of Charleston; Havana; and the little Mexican town of
Matamoras on the Rio Grande, opposite Brownsville, Texas. The Bermudas
were to some extent used, but their distance from the coast made them
inconvenient as compared with Nassau or Matamoras. Their chief trade was
with Wilmington, which became a favorite port during the latter years of
the war. Havana was popular for a time, and at first sight would appear
to be admirably placed for a blockade-runners' rendezvous. But, though
the coast of Florida was but one hundred miles distant, it was
surrounded by dangerous reefs, its harbors were bad and far apart, and
there were no railroads in the southern part of the State to transport
the contraband goods after they were landed. Besides, Key West, the
naval station o