d, and so many sacrifices cheerfully made, was
about to perish at last!

CHAPTER XV.

Sad News via New York.--Consternation among Speculators in
Nassau.--Departure from Nassau via Bermuda.--Arrival at
Liverpool.--The End.

Arriving at Nassau on the 8th, we found many blockade-runners in port,
waiting for news from Charleston; and on the 10th, the Owl returned,
after an unsuccessful attempt to enter Charleston, during which she
received a shot through her bows; and intelligence came also of the
capture of the "Stag" and "Charlotte." On the 23d, the "Chicora," which
had succeeded in getting into Charleston, arrived with the fatal news of
its evacuation, and the progress of General Sherman through Georgia and
South Carolina. This sad intelligence put an end to all our hopes, and
we were now cut off from all communication with the Confederate
Government authorities.

In this dilemma, Maffitt and I consulted with Mr. Heyliger, the
Confederate agent at Nassau; and it was decided that the Chameleon
should be taken over to England. Whatever might be the course of
events, our duty appeared to be to turn our vessels over, either to the
agent of the Navy Department in Liverpool, or to the firm of Messrs.
Fraser, Trenholm & Co. there. We learned afterwards, indeed, that
Captain Pembroke Jones, of the Confederate Navy, was at that time on his
way to us via Galveston or Mexico, with orders from the Navy Department.
All of us were directed to take in cargoes of provisions to a specified
point on the Rappahannock River, under the protection of Confederate
artillery to be stationed there in readiness. The steamers were to be
burned after landing their cargoes, but Jones could not reach us in
time.

The bottom of the Chameleon being quite foul, divers were employed to
scrub it preparatory to her long sea voyage. These people are
wonderfully expert, remaining under the surface nearly two minutes; and
the water in the harbor of Nassau is so clear that they can be
distinctly seen even at the keel of a vessel. Our cargo of provisions
was landed, and an extra supply of coal taken on board. The vessel being
under Confederate colors and liable to capture wherever found, except in
neutral waters, it behooved us to be prepared at all times to show our
heels to a stranger Some of our crew who wished their discharge, for the
purpose of rejoining their families at the South, were paid off; the
rest of them shipped for t