the South proceeded to withdraw, and when the North insisted upon blocking the way, did the parties come to blows. In regard to slavery, which was merely incidental to the struggle, Mr. Lincoln, in his inaugural in 1861, pointedly said: "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so." And when on January 1, 1863, he issued his emancipation proclamation it was nothing more than a war measure, or, as he called it in the proclamation, a "military necessity," and the sentimentality we hear of now about the "apostle of freedom" and "striking off shackles with the stroke of a pen," etc., came afterwards. The North freed the slave not from sympathy for the slave, but as a military move to weaken and conquer the South.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE.

We spent most of our time at sea under sail. Melbourne, Australia, was really the only port at which the ship made a stay of any length. At the island of Tristan da Chuna, in the South Atlantic, she laid off long enough to land some prisoners, and at Ascension Island, in the Pacific, we only went into the harbor to burn' four whalers at anchor, in fact we were constantly cruising. After leaving Ascension on the 13th April, 1865, the Shenandoah did not anchor until she reached Liverpool on the 6th November, nearly seven months after, and in that time while running from Behring Straits, in the North Pacific, around Cape Horn to Tuskar light on the coast of Ireland, we were four months out of sight of land.

A VERY SMALL CREW AT THE START.

The Laurel's crew was intentionally much larger than she needed. It was expected that a number of them, and also most of the crew of the Sea King, would ship on the Shenandoah, but at the last moment, when about to part company, most of them declined to go with us. Under ordinary circumstances we might have appreciated the gravity of the situation of being left with a ship at sea without a crew, but the temper of the officers at that time would hardly have admitted of any delay. A fair complement for the Shenandoah was a crew of about one hundred and ten men, but in addition to the officers, only twenty-three men joined us, not quite twenty-five per cent. of what was needed. In time, however, the crew was increased by shipments from the prizes.

THE "SHENANDOAH'S" OFFICERS.

Lieut. James J. Waddell, of North Carolina, commanded her, with Lieuts. W. C. Whittle, Virginia; John Grimball, South Carolina; Sidney S. Lee, Virginia; F. T. Chew, Missouri; D. M. Scales, Mississippi; Surgeon, Charles E. Lining, South Carolina; Master, Irvine S. Bulloch, Georgia; Paymaster, W. B. Smith, Louisiana; Assistant Surgeon, T. J. McNulty, Maryland; Passed Midshipmen, O. A. Browne and J. T. Mason, both of Virginia, and Chief Engineer, M. O'Brien, Louisiana; and three Master's Mates, three Assistant Engineers, and four Forward Officers. With a few exceptions, the officers had been in the United States navy, from which they had resigned as their respective States seceded.

As soon as we cut adrift from the Laurel the officers and men turned in together and worked side by side to get things straight, for the guns, supplies, etc., had been to some extent dumped upon our decks. But with such working material it was not many days before the guns were mounted, port holes cut, magazine built and ammunition stored—and order took the place of confusion.

A METAMORPHOSED MERCHANTMAN.

The Shenandoah had been a merchantman at one time engaged in the East India trade. She was a full-rigged ship, 220 feet long, thirty-five feet beam, with iron masts and lower yards. She carried royal studding sails, and was rigged with patent reefing topsails (that is, you reefed the sail by lowering the yard), and her standing rigging was of wire. Her engines were small, and only intended to assist in case of calm. When not in use, her propeller could be hoisted out of the water and her smokestack lowered like a telescope flush with the deck. Under favorable circumstances, she could steam ten knots and sail sixteen. Her armament consisted of eight broadside guns, namely: four eight-inch shell guns, two thirty-two pound Whitworth and two twelve-pounders.

FIRST PRIZE CAPTURED.

We captured our first prize on the 30th of October. She was the bark Alina, loaded with railroad iron, bound for Buenos Ayres. It was her first voyage. The estimated value of the ship and cargo was $95,000. As all ports were closed against our prizes, we scuttled this one, and any grief or regret at seeing a new ship, complete in all of its appointments, suddenly sent to the bottom while on a peace

ful voyage, was suppressed by the thought that it was only one of the many hardships of war.

HOW CAPTURED MEN WERE TREATED.

We disposed of the crew of the Alina as we did the crews of all other prizes. As soon as the vessel was condemned, they were brought, with their chests and bags of clothes, on board the Shenandoah. The men and subordinate officers were put in irons; the captain on his parole. In the event of there being any women, they occupied a separate apartment, a part of our captain's cabin. The prize captain, with his female attachments, messed with the commissioned officers aft; all others forward.

As fast as we became loaded up with prisoners, they were either landed or transferred to some prize, which would be released upon giving bond to pay the Confederate government its estimated value a certain number of days after peace, or they would be transferred to any passing neutral ship who, for a consideration, agreed to take them as passengers.

MET NO DECIDED RESISTANCE.

I can recall no instance in which we met with any decided resistance; the officers of the captured vessels readily accepted the situation, and seemed anxious to give as little trouble as possible. Possibly they really thought as one of them expressed it-that there were too many ships in the whaling fleet to thrive; that they needed thinning out. On one of the ships taken at the same time with several others the boarding officers found her Captain dressed in his Sunday clothes, grip-sack in hand. He had seen a prize on fire and, having taken the whole thing in at a glance, was quite ready with his crew to submit to the inevitable without any unnecessary talk.

HELPED TO FIRE THEIR OWN VESSEL.

Often in getting a prize ready to be fired those of her crew who happened to be still on board of her appeared to take pleasure in knocking down bulkheads to insure a good draught, and in collecting and preparing the most combustible materials for a first-class fire. There seemed to be no very great attachment for any particular flag; in most cases, soon after coming on board, whenever we wanted them they shipped with us, and served under our flag obediently to the very end.

PRISONERS' MONEY NOT INTERFERED WITH.

The amount of money belonging to the prizes was very small, possibly a few hundred dollars. The private funds of the prisoners were not interfered with. Most of the ships' cash had probably been converted into "trading stock," as being a much better circulating medium among the Esquimaux, the Fijians, and other tribes usually visited by whalers. A gallon of whiskey or a yellow handkerchief went much farther in purchasing the skin of a seal or fox than any amount of gold or silver.

The capture of the Alina was followed by that of several other vessels in rapid succession. Nearly every sail sighted, with her long sky poles and white cotton canvas, betrayed her American nationality before she ever hoisted her colors.

She was

On the 4th of December we burned the bark Edward. at the time engaged in cutting up a whale. After landing her crew on one of the Tristan da Chuna Islands, about 1,500 miles west of Cape Town, we ran down to about 42° south latitude to strike the westerly winds, which could be increased or decreased in force by either increasing or decreasing our latitude, the prevailing winds in those latitudes being strong and from the west.

THE SHENANDOAH IN A GALE.

At Christmas, 1864, we had rounded Cape Hood Hope and were nearly due south of the Island of Madagascar, when the Shenandoah was put upon her mettle in a very heavy gale. I find the following entry in the log on that day:

"From 4 to 8 A. M. fresh gales from the southwest; very heavy sea running; shipped several seas; 5:20 wind increasing, close-reefed main topsail; 5:30 battened down hatches.

Which meant a state of utter discomfort-no fires, nothing cooked. This gale appears to have commenced on the 24th, and lasted to some part of the 26th of December.

A SKIPPER'S PLUCKY WIFE.

On the 29th we captured the bark Delphine, from Bangor. The captain had his wife on board, and there was so much sea on that we had to hoist her over the side. She was a woman of some culture,

attractive in appearance and very decided. Probably if she had been in command the Delphine would have escaped-she said so. There was a stiff breeze blowing and I think the Delpine was the faster ship. As it was she declined to respond to the conventional blank cartridge and only luffed up when a shot from one of our Whitworths passed between her fore and mainmast.

DESOLATE ISLES IN THE INDIAN OCEAN.

In the Indian Ocean, about three thousand miles due south of the Island of Ceylon, by themselves, are the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul's. We sighted St. Paul's on the 2d of January. A boat with some of the officers made an excursion ashore. It returned with a quantity of fish caught in a very short time, also a penguin, a curiosity at close quarters, to most of us. This was the only land we had seen since leaving Tristan da Chuna on the 4th of December. The harbor reminds one of the crater of a sunken volcano.

It was a desolate looking place, occupied by three Frenchmen. It seemed so far away from everywhere. The effect was oppressive. It was a relief when the boat was hoisted and the ship filled away on her

course.

JOHN BULL COULD NOT SCARE CAPTAIN WADDell.

In about three weeks we came to anchor in the harbor of Melbourne, Australia. Our machinery needed repairs and the supply of coal was low. While at this port, party feeling about our war ran up to fever heat. Captain Waddell received a number of anonymous letters threatening the safety of the ship, and other letters warning him to be on the lookout for torpedoes, etc. Many of our crew deserted, and great inducements were offered for all of them to do so. However, we were not at all embarrassed by this, for about forty "stowaways" appeared on deck when we got to sea and more than made up for our losses. At one time things looked very squally, as if the end had come then and there. While in the dry dock, the government insisted upon searching the ship, it having been reported that we had increased our crew by the shipment of men since our arrival (which was untrue), and when the permission to search was refused, all work was suspended, leaving us with our machinery in pieces, high and dry in the dock. Captain Waddell at once informed the government that unless we were permitted to complete our repairs, he would abandon his ship to them and take his officers