ark the
troops at daybreak. We also found that, during our absence, some of the
'chiefs' had come off from shore, one of whom, named Neal Kerrigan, was
destined to attain considerable celebrity in the rebel army. He was a
talkative, vulgar, presumptuous fellow, who, without any knowledge or
experience whatever, took upon him to discuss military measures and
strategy with all the assurance of an old commander.

Singularly enough, Humbert suffered this man to influence him in a great
degree, and yielded opinion to him on points even where his own judgment
was directly opposed to the advice he gave.

If Kerrigan's language and bearing were directly the reverse of
soldierlike, his tawdry uniform of green and gold, with massive
epaulettes and a profusion of lace, were no less absurd in our eyes,
accustomed as we were to the almost puritan plainness of military
costume. His rank, too, seemed as undefined as his information; for
while he called himself 'General,' his companions as often addressed
him by the title of 'Captain.' Upon some points his counsels, indeed,
alarmed and astonished us.

'It was of no use whatever,' he said, 'to attempt to discipline the
peasantry, or reduce them to anything like habits of military obedience.
Were the effort to be made, it would prove a total failure; for they
would either grow disgusted with the restraint, and desert altogether,
or so infect the other troops with their own habits of disorder, that
the whole force would become a mere rabble. Arm them well, let them have
plenty of ammunition, and free liberty to use it in their own way and
their own time, and we should soon see that they would prove a greater
terror to the English than double the number of trained and disciplined
troops.'

In some respects this view was a correct one; but whether it was a
wise counsel to have followed, subsequent events gave us ample cause to
doubt.

Kerrigan, however, had a specious, reckless, go-a-head way with him that
suited well the tone and temper of Humbert's mind. He never looked too
far into consequences, but trusted that the eventualities of the morrow
would always suggest the best course for the day after; and this alone
was so akin to our own general's mode of proceeding, that he speedily
won his confidence.

The last evening on board was spent merrily on all sides. In the general
cabin, where the staff and all the _chefs de brigade_ were assembled,
gay songs, and toasts, and speeches s