inst Frank amounting to about ten thousand dollars and sue
the estate; he went security to pay the amount in five years
and thus got the property in his hands.

I seized from his house the double barrelled gun and the horse
equipments.

I arrested Mr. McWilliams and brought him to this city as I
thought him too dangerous a man to occupy the position he does
on the Maryland shore. His remarks were made voluntarily
without my making much effort, apparently, to ascertain his
actions.

I am, Colonel,
Very respy. your obdt. servt.,
H. B. SMITH,
Lt. & Chief.

I remember the following incident which occurred on this trip: I tried
to qualify as a deck hand. Leaning over the vessel's waist, I tried the
difficult trick of scooping up a pail of water while the boat was in
motion, and while so engaged my watch slipped out of my pocket, and into
the water. We were then just below Fort Carroll, mid-stream. The watch
is there yet, unless some mermaid has carried it off. I would not have
lost it had I not divested it of the chain, to help appearances. On
these trips one could not discover that we were not ordinary helpers
"before the mast."

Many of the crews on such vessels were of the class called by the
negroes "poor white trash," and they were ignorant beyond belief; to
test which I once pointed out land to the east as being Ireland, to
which they assented. The captains and mates, of course, were not so
ignorant.

A strange picture presented itself to me one moonlight night. We were
laying in St. Mary's river when a cunna (canoe) came along side, and
three or four black men crawled upon our deck and hid themselves down
behind the boat's waist. They wanted to go away with us, telling a
pitiful tale of oppression, but slavery was yet in vogue there, and so
we forced them to go away home.

FILE XVI.

Captain Bailey makes a capture--Sinclair introduces me (as Shaffer) to Mr.
Plyle.

The following report was of another capture, by Captain Bailey:

Headquarters, Middle Department,
8th Army Corps.
Baltimore, June 29, 1864.

Col. Woolley,
Provost Marshal.

Colonel.--I have the honor to report that Capt. Wm. Bailey
returned to this city this morning bringing three prisoners,
and their skiff. They were first seen near James Point, and
afterwards were taken on board the schooner "Thos. H.
North