SS Se = oo —~— ———————EEEE——————— Bat ae Se ey eee we Ses us Sine era le ~ reser ea a I aaa = ta 3S Se = 440 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River not, but we ran through the lot without being seen or without having a shot fired at us. “Our anxieties, however, were not yet over, as our pilot (a new hand) lost his reckoning and put us ashore on the bar. Fortunately, the flood tide was rising fast, and we refloated, bumping over stern first in a most inglorious fashion, and anchored off Fort Caswell before 7 p. m.—a record performance. “Soon after anchoring and while enjoying the usual cocktail, we saw a great commotion ainong the blockaders, who were throwing up rockets and flashing lights, evidently in answer to signals from the cruiser which had so nearly chased us into their midst. ‘When we came out we met with equally good luck, as the night was pitch dark and the weather very squally. No sooner did we clear the bar than we put our helm aport, ran down the coast, and then stood boldly straight out to sea without inter- ference; and it was perhaps as well we had such good fortune, as before this I had discovered that our pilot was of a very indifferent calibre, and that courage was not our captain’s most prominent characteristic. The poor Wild Dayrell deserved a better commander, and consequently a better fate than befell her. She was lost on her second trip, entirely through the want of pluck on the part of her captain, who ran her ashore some miles to the north of Fort Fisher; he said in order to avoid capture—to my mind a fatal excuse for any blockade-running captain to make. ’Twere far better to be sunk by shot, and escape in the boats if possible. I am quite certain that if Steele had commanded her on that trip she would never have been put hat she would have come through “I never forgave myself for not unshipping the captain on my return to Nassau; my only excuse was that there was no good man available to replace him, and he was a particular protegé of my chief. But such considerations should not have weighed, and if I had had the courage of my convictions it is probable the Wild Dayrell would have proved as successful as any of our steamers. “About this time I had two other new boats sent out, the Stormy Petrel and the Wild Rover, both good boats, very fast, and distinct improvements on the Banshee No. 1 and the Will- o-the-Wisp. The Stormy Petrel had, however, very bad luck, as, after getting safely in and anchoring behind Fort Fisher, Blockade Running 441 she settled, as the tide went down, on a submerged aera? = fluke of which went through her bottom, and despite all eltor . she became a total wreck; this was one of the most — = unlucky losses I had.. The Weld frover was more successtu 2 a she made five round trips, on one of which I went in her. She survived the war, and I eventually sent her to South America, where she was sold for a good sum. “We had in the early part of the war a depot at Bermuda as well as at Nassau, and Frank Hurst was at that sg brother agent there. I went there twice, once In = first = shee, and once from Halifax, after a trip to Canada in ae to recruit from a bad attack of yellow fever; but — - 28 Bermuda, and later on we transferred Hurst and his _—* Nassau, which was more convenient In many ways an scent Wilmington. Moreover, I had to face the PS ED sane afterwards occurred, of the Atlantic ports ae close amie being driven to the Gulf. The Bermudians, oe —_ kind, hospitable lot and made a great deal of us, eo passant a eal larger naval and military society statione . ?