semi-lunar basin of tin, with chambermaids hurrying to and fro, themselves worn down by constant service; the brave resistance to sea-sickness by our room-mate, who had weathered the storms of Lake Erie and Michigan, until the heavy sea of Thursday morning obliged him to succumb; how he rushed into the state-room where we were writhing in superlative wretchedness, divested himself, in a twinkling, of his outer and nether integuments, plunged into his berth with the expressive declaration, "Whew! I'm as dizzy as a bat," until we of the lower berth writhed again with irrepressible laughter-these few distinct recollections come floating through the vagueness which gathers over those darksome days, and may serve as hints for those who desire to treasure up the more ludicrous incidents of the voyage.

But the meetings went on, with diminished numbers, it is true, but with no abatement of interest. On Tuesday evening, Edward A. Lambert, Esq., presided. We were told that the Rev. A. P. Putnam made the opening address, fully equaling the occasion in impressiveness and power; that the Rev. J. L. Corning spoke pointedly and pleasantly; that Charlton T. Lewis, Esq., of New York, delighted the audience with the clearness and force of his thought, and the graceful finish of his rhetoric; that Rev. H. M. Gallaher again scintillated with increasing popularity; and Rev. Dr. Leavitt gave weight and dignity to the occasion by his narrations of personal experience, and forceful utterances of practical truth, while music and applause and laughter filled up all the interstices of the hastily-fleeting hours.

We were indebted, on each of these occasions, to Miss Phoebe B. Merritt and Miss Mary Bowen for some excellent piano solos.

Wednesday passed with little of special interest. The sea was calmer. Cape Hatteras had been cleared without inconvenience additional. We were experiencing a marked modification of temperature. State-rooms became uncomfortably close. It was said that the sea outrivaled the sky in the depth and infinity of blue; that a school of porpoises rolled their black backs above the waves in merry gambols around the steamer, and that those who had "oil on the brain" looked with stoical indifference upon a whale. It was also averred that the culinary and dietetic arrangements were becoming more and more satisfactory, and that the number gathered about the board was upon the increase.

A third meeting was held in the evening, presided over by Hon. A. M. Wood, of Brooklyn.

The first speaker upon this occasion was Mr. A. M. Powell, a correspondent of the Tribune. His address was thoughtful, earnest, radical, and convincing.

Col. Howard, Hon. Edgar Ketchum, Dr. J. Allen, Revs. T. L. Cuyler and H. M. Gallaher, with others, continued the interest of our former gatherings. At the close, several of the colored waiters, whose choruses upon the lower decks had attracted much attention, were invited to sing for our company. Coming modestly into so august a presence, they rendered the "John Brown" song with peculiarly fine effect.

Throughout the afternoon of Wednesday, and part of the night, we were enveloped in an impenetrable fog. But the morning of Thursday was clear and beautiful, with no other motion for our vessel than that imparted by the long roll of the sea. But this was now excessive. The steamer, being a propellor, had nothing with which to overcome the trough of the sea, in which we were fearfully rocking. She would make from four to six heavy lurches, then, for a few seconds, all would be comparatively quiet; then as many more rolls, and all things not lashed down, including men and women, pitch across the cabin. Some of the stoutest and bravest had to show the white feather this morning. The rear cabin again became a hospital. It was thought that we must be very near Charleston. We were promised the sight of its spires by eight o'clock A. M., but we did not see them. All day long, until three o'clock, the steamer's course was laid nearly due west. How could it be that we were so far from land? At last it was ascertained that during the night we had been borne to the eastward by the Gulf stream, and this distance was now being recovered.

At length, not far from three o'clock, the joyful shout, "Land ho!" quickened the languid pulses, dissipated the ennui, called out of their seclusion the pallid and bilious-tinted, and crowded the deck with eager-eyed searchers, through opera-glasses, for the coveted terrafirma. The light-ship was plainly visible, upon whose side, the most clear-sighted could read the suggestive

name, "Rattlesnake Shoals." Beyond could be descried the low reach of land: a dim pile, which we were assured was Fort Sumter, and still further, the spires of the once proud, but now humbled, Charleston. The arrival on board of the pilot completed our satisfaction, and the welcome he received was unfeigned.

He was a short, stout man, dressed in army blue, with which the color of his large, flat eye precisely corresponded. His face was nut-brown, from the tinting of Southern breezes. He was born and brought up in Charleston. He at once informed the captain that the bar could not be passed until high-tide, at six o'clock. Accordingly, the anchor was dropped, and we gently rocked for two hours "in the cradle of the deep." This pilot is now in Government employ. When asked if all the people of Charleston were loyal, he shrugged his shoulders, and made no reply.

One said: "We are going down to make you loyal." "You won't make me loyal," said the old tar, "for I always have been."

We afterwards learned that his testimony concerning himself was true.

2

CHAPTER III.

THE scenes which greeted the passengers of the Oceanus, as we slowly steamed toward and through the harbor of Charleston, not even the most stolid and impassable will ever forget.

At precisely six o'clock, anchor was weighed. The entire company was upon the decks, with glasses ready for observation. The band took its position upon the very bow. Previous to starting from the anchorage, there had been a brief shower, giving a delicious freshness to the air, and leaving the western heavens overspread with heavy, breaking clouds of gray. Suddenly a sign appeared before us, of singular and portentous interest. The rays of the sun smote a circular opening in the murky clouds, hemming their edges with a band of light, and, just for a moment, poured down a flood of glory upon the jagged walls of Fort Sumter, and the waters of the harbor.

The pilot stood at the window, from which, besides giving his directions to the helmsman, he announced the various points of interest, as we approached and passed them.

The first object of note was a line of low earthworks