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374 Nortu Carotina Troops, 1861-665.

ineffectual. On our return to the deck we saw in the ep
of our companions that something had gone wrong in our ‘ =
sence. While Messrs. Bell and Craig were quietly esdieed
ulating each other upon the apparent success of their —
they saw approaching them the pilot, who had come a 28
to take the Keystone State into Beaufort harbor, and who,
to their consternation, proved to be George F. Bowen, a Cape
Fear pilot who had been decoyed on board a Federal gun-
boat in the early part of the war and induced to remain in
the service until the close. They naturally feared exposure
by Bowen’s recognition, or by his information to the Fed-
eral officer, but were reassured by his apparent indifference as
he passed them. A few minutes later Mr. Bowen repassed us
and looking furtively at our party, said in a low voice, to pee
intense relief: ‘Don’t recognize me; you are safe. I wil
not betray you.” :

The Lilian in the meantime had been temporarily re-
paired and sent for adjudication to Philadelphia, where she
was subsequently fitted out as a gun-boat, and took part in
the bombardment of Fort Fisher. For several days our life
on board the Keystone State was pleasant enough, chasing
blockade-runners, picking wp cotton which had been thrown
overboard by a hard-pressed Confederate, and communicat-
ing with other vessels of the Federal squadron, of which was
the Monticello, commanded by the celebrated Lieutenant
Cushing, who was nearly sunk by Colonel Lamb’s batteries
while in our company, a large ragged hole in his hull ousain
wind and water proving the accuracy of Fort Fisher’s gun-
ners.

Our easement was soon ended, however, for one unlucky
morning we were transported to a casemate inside of Fort
Macon, North Carolina, then oceupied by a battalion of
North Caroliniaris, known by the Confederates as “Buffa-
loes,” who had joined the Federal army. Our treatment at
the hands of these people was the reverse of that received on
the Keystone State. There was not sufficient space in our
quarters for us all to lie down at once, and consequently I
slept nightly for several weeks with my head upon my neigh-
bor on one side and my legs over another. Our food was

pete tire omni gags Cem EER RE: et ne renee cheat oe

BiockapDe RunnING. 375

served twice daily and was of the coarsest description, but
we were permitted to buy butter, crackers, sardines and the
like at high prices from the sutler.

We were allowed to march out upon the parapet for an
hour daily, under guard, from which we gazed with longing
eyes upon the opposite shore in Dixie’s Land. From Fort
Macon we were transferred to an old tub still sailing out of
Boston, which shall be nameless. This vessel was com-
manded by a volunteer captain of the United States navy; a
character unspeakably different from that of the gentlemen of
the regular navy. I was at once confined between decks, de-
nied any liberty, and forced to mess with our sailors and fire-
men upon salt pork and mouldy hardtack, with the bare deck
for a bed and rats for companions. How I loathed that ship
and its beastly commander during the long, miserable days
and nights, rolling and pitching on the Atlantic, without the
least hint of our destination or fate! It seemed an age be-
fore we were ordered out of our hold and were transferred to
Fortress Monroe, where we were again mustered and some
of our number sent to Fort Delaware and others to Point
Lookout.

Upon our release from confinement as prisoners of war at
Fortress Monroe, I joined a small party of the Lilian’s of-
ficers and, by the help of one of our number who had dis-
creetly hidden several twenty dollar gold pieces under his
shirt, we proceeded to Boston—a dangerous place for South-
erners at that time—where we found a steamer bound for St.
John, New Brunswick, via Eastport, Maine, by which we
hurriedly embarked, and in a few days landed again upon
British soil. The tide at St. John’s rises more than forty
feet, owing to the extraordinary formation of the Bay of
Fundy, and having occasion to return to the steamer a few
hours after our arrival, I was astonished to find the vessel
above the level of the wharf, upon which we had required a
ladder to debark.

From St. John we travelled by train to Halifax, Nova
Scotia, where we reported to the Confederate agent, Alexan-
der Keith, Jr. This person, the son of an eminent gentle-
man, said to be a member of the Provincial Parliament, was