t ship, suited for
an armed cruiser. "It has been impossible to get the regular battery
intended for her on board," wrote Capt. Bulloch; "but I have sent out
four seven-inch rifled guns, with all necessary equipments, in the
steamship 'Bahama,' bound for Nassau."

So here were the naval officers and their ship, but the guns were yet
to come; and, when they did come, some shrewd planning would be
necessary to get the guns mounted without alarming the British
authorities. By the time the "Bahama" arrived, the plans were all
made. As the steamer came up to the dock, a small schooner slipped
alongside, and eight or ten heavy cases were transferred from the
larger vessel's hold to the deck of the coaster. Then the little
vessel sailed over to Green Cay, a desert island about sixty miles
from Nassau, where she was soon joined by the "Oreto." There the work
of changing the peaceful merchantman "Oreto" into the war-cruiser
"Florida" began.

The work of transferring the armament, and mounting the guns, was very
laborious. The hot sun of August at the equator poured down upon
them. Exposure and general discomforts told heavily upon them; and
before long the yellow-fever, that most terrible scourge of the West
Indies, broke out among the men. There was no surgeon on board, and
the care of the sick fell upon Capt. Maffitt. Two United States
men-of-war were hunting through the West Indies for the vessel they
knew was fitting out somewhere amid the coral reefs and sandy,
desolate keys. But Maffitt kept up his courage, and before long found
himself at sea, with a good stanch ship and crew, that, though
short-handed, was made up of the very best material. But he had hardly
cut loose from civilization, and started out upon his cruise, when he
discovered, that, in the worry and haste of his departure, he had put
to sea without rammers or sponges for his guns. He was in a desperate
plight. Had the smallest United States man-of-war met the "Florida,"
the Confederate could not have offered the slightest resistance. She
could not have even fired a gun. Capt. Maffitt ran his vessel into
Havana in the hopes of being allowed to refit there; but the fortunes
of the Confederacy were waning fast, and all nations feared to give it
aid or comfort. Seeing no hope, Maffitt determined to dare all things,
and make a dash for Mobile through the very centre of the
blockading-fleet.

When the "Florida" put out from the harbor of Havana, only four or
f