this; and,
turning to one of the negroes who had taken refuge on the gunboat, he
asked what it was. "It's nuffin' but willows, sah," he replied. "When
de water's out of de bayou, den we cuts de willows to make baskets
with. You kin go troo dat like a eel."

Satisfied with this explanation, the admiral ordered the tug which
led the column to go ahead. Under a full head of steam, the tug
dashed into the willows, but began to slow up, until, after going
about thirty yards, she stopped, unable to go forward or back.
Undaunted by this unexpected resistance, Porter cried out that the
"Cincinnati" would push the tug along; and the heavy gunboat,
withdrawing a short distance to gain headway, hurled herself forward,
and dashed into the willows with a force that would have carried her
through any bridge ever built. But the old fable of the lion bound
down by the silken net was here re-enacted. The gunboat did not even
reach the tug. The slender willow-shoots trailed along the sides,
caught in the rough ends of the iron overhang, and held the vessel
immovable. Abandoning the attempt to advance, the gunboat strove to
back out, but to no avail. Then hooks were rigged over the side to
break away the withes, and men slung in ropes alongside vigorously
wielded sharp cutlasses and saws; but still the willows retained their
grip. Matters were now getting serious; and, to add to Porter's
perplexity, reports came in that Confederate troops were coming down
upon him. Then he began to lose confidence in his iron-clads, and wish
right heartily for Sherman and his soldiers, of whose whereabouts he
could gain no knowledge. The enemy did not leave him long in doubts as
to their intention, and soon began a vigorous fire of shells from the
woods. Porter stopped that promptly by manning his mortars and firing
a few shells at a range measured by the sound of the enemy's cannon.
The immediate silence of the hostile batteries proved the accuracy of
the admiral's calculations, and gave him time to devise means for
escaping from his perilous position.

How to do it without aid from Sherman's troops, was a difficult
question; and in his perplexity he exclaimed aloud, "Why don't Sherman
come on? I'd give ten dollars to get a telegram to him." The admiral
was standing at the moment on the bank of the bayou, near a group of
negroes; and an athletic-looking contraband stepped forward, and,
announcing himself as a "telegram-wire," offered to carry the note