comedy is played. Branchville, Columbia, and Charleston fell, but we see no Derry, no Saragossa, no Puebla, in their defence. Lame and impotent conclusion indeed from such bravado of prologue! The chance of becoming the sepulchre of the Confederacy will be taken from South Carolina."

But let us walk over Charleston after its occupation by our troops. The flames shoot up on every hand, and the firemen rush to the centres of conflagration. Thousands of bales of cotton and many buildings are consumed, amid the frantic distress of the people, who are principally the poorer classes, left in the wake of retreat. The depot of the Northeastern Railroad became the arena of new horrors.

"In this building a quantity of cartridges and kegs of powder had been stored by the rebels, and as they had not time to remove it they left it unprotected. A number of men, women, and children had collected to watch the burning of a quantity of cotton in the railroad yard, which the rebels had fired, and during the conflagration a number of boys, while running about the depot, had discovered the powder. For the fun of the thing, and without realizing the danger they incurred, they began to take up handfuls of loose powder and cartridges and bear them from the depot to the mass of burning cotton on which they flung them, and enjoyed a deal of amusement in watching the flashes of the powder and the strange

effects on the cotton as it was blown hither and thither by the explosion of the cartridges. Quite a number of boys soon became engaged in this dangerous pastime, and speedily the powder running from their hands formed a train upon the ground leading from the fire to the main supplies of powder in the depot. The result is easily conjectured. A spark ignited the powder in the train, there was a leaping, running line of fire along the ground, and then an explosion that shook the city to its very foundations from one end to the other. The building was in a second a whirling mass of ruins, in a tremendous volume of flame and smoke. A report rivalling Heaven's artillery followed, and then a silence ensued that made every one tremble and hold his breath. The cause of the tremendous explosion soon became known, and a rush was made for the scene of the catastrophe. Such a sight is rarely witnessed. The building was in ruins, and from the burning mass arose the agonizing cries of the wounded, to whom little or no assistance could be rendered by the paralyzed spectators. Many, wounded by the flying fragments of the building were removed from the additional danger of the fire, but those in the depot or immediately about it were irretrievably lost. One by one was reached by the furious flames, the supplicating voices and the fearful, agonizing groans, that appalled the stoutest heart, died away and ceased, and charred remains only were left by the devouring element

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as it moved on to new victims, who soon passed amid that horrid scene from life to death. Language cannot adequately describe the terrible nature of the scene. The cries for aid and rescue from the wounded within fell upon willing ears, but nothing could be done to assist them or even to alleviate the final pangs. The flames, like a fabled monster, strode on, licking up every thing inflammable, and enveloping its victims in its fiery and deadly embrace. Fortunately the sufferings of the unfortunate creatures were not prolonged. The work was done quickly, and soon every voice was silenced, every moan hushed, and every spirit gathered to its Maker. The horrors of the scene will never fade from the minds of those who were so unfortunate as to witness it. Over one hundred and fifty are said to have been charred in that fiery furnace, and a hundred men were wounded more or less seriously by the explosion or were burned by the fire."

Then came the destruction of the rebel fleet. Very fittingly the Palmetto State first flew into fragments with a loud report, which signalled well the fate of the home of secession, and over it soon swept the free waves. The Chicora and Charleston followed in the work of ruin. Cotton, rice, tobacco, locomotives, etc., fell into our hands.

"The reports of the Charleston editors that the city experienced but little damage from our shells, like nearly

all others emanating from the same source, were essentially false. It requires no very extended examination in the lower streets of the city-those near the bay-to satisfy the most sceptical of the fact that our shells were working most serious injury to the town, and that the continuance of the bombardment would make it a mass of ruins, as it had already rendered it untenable to the most courageous resident. But two persons resided in 'Shell-town,' as some wag named that portion of the city east of the two-mile post, visited by our shells, and they clung to their firesides with a tenacity of purpose that the most demonstrative and aggressive Parrott shell failed tc relax. Though their beds were torn to pieces while they were engaged in their domestic affairs-both being females-by impertinent shells, and their culinary affairs seriously damaged by projectiles, their roofs perforated, and ventilators put in front of their dwellings, they would not move, but endured the bombardment with a coolness and equanimity rarely found. Even the rebel officers, who ordered them away from the dangerous ground, failed to call a third time to ascertain whether or not the order had been obeyed. They lived through the entire bombardment, became accustomed to the howl of the rushing shell and its sharp explosion, and paid no rent, although the buildings they occupied suggested heavy rents. Now that quiet and safety are insured they propose to repair and live comfortably once more.

"On landing you observe that the wharves are in a very dilapidated condition, that tell very plainly that they have not been much in use the past four years. The palmetto logs that form the cribs are covered with grass, and the planking is much decayed, full of man-traps, and about worthless so far as cartage is concerned. Advancing up the rickety docks, you come to a parapet of sand, over which peer the muzzles of heavy guns, bearing down the channel, for home defence; then around or over the batteries into the silent streets, covered with the débris from shattered stores and dwellings, and bearing at points a tolerably good crop of grass-the same kind of grass that was to have sprung up in the streets of New York when King Cotton exercised his potent sway. Not a building for blocks here that is exempt from the marks of shot and shell. All have suffered more or less. Here is a fine brown-stone bank building, vacant and deserted, with great gaping holes in the sides and roof, through which the sun shines and the rain pours, windows and sashes blown out by exploding shell within, plastering knocked down; counters torn up, floors crushed in, and fragments of mosaic pavement, broken and crushed, lying around on the floor, mingled with bits of statuary, stained glass and broken parts of chandeliers. Ruin within and without, and its neighbor in no better plight. Here a great shell has struck the chimney and crushed a large portion of the roof in; then exploding, distributed its