se upon a range of broad, flat, sunny roofs, such as children
love to play on, I thought how that place might have been loved by yet
Innocent hearts, and I mourned anew the sacrilege of war.

I had visited the flag-ship Wabash ere we left Port Royal Harbor, and
had obtained a very kind letter of introduction from Admiral Dupont,
that stately and courtly potentate, elegant as one's ideal French
marquis; and under these credentials I received polite attention from
the naval officers at St. Simon's,--Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Budd, of
the gunboat Potomska, and Acting Master Moses, of the barque Fernandina.
They made valuable suggestions in regard to the different rivers along
the coast, and gave vivid descriptions of the last previous trip up the
St. Mary's undertaken by Captain Stevens, U.S.N., in the gunboat Ottawa,
when he had to fight his way past batteries at every bluff in descending
the narrow and rapid stream. I was warned that no resistance would be
offered to the ascent, but only to our return; and was further cautioned
against the mistake, then common, of underrating the courage of the
Rebels. "It proved impossible to dislodge those fellows from the banks,"
my informant said; "they had dug rifle-pits, and swarmed like hornets,
and when fairly silenced in one direction they were sure to open upon us
from another." All this sounded alarming, but it was nine months since
the event had happened; and although nothing had gone up the river
meanwhile, I counted on less resistance now. And something must be
risked anywhere.

We were delayed all that day in waiting for our consort, and
improved our time by verifying certain rumors about a quantity of new
railroad-iron which was said to be concealed in the abandoned Rebel
forts on St. Simon's and Jekyll Islands, and which would have much value
at Port Royal, if we could unearth it. Some of our men had worked upon
these very batteries, so that they could easily guide us; and by the
additional discovery of a large flat-boat we were enabled to go to work
in earnest upon the removal of the treasure. These iron bars, surmounted
by a dozen feet of sand, formed an invulnerable roof for the magazines
and bomb-proofs of the fort, and the men enjoyed demolishing them far
more than they had relished their construction. Though the day was the
24th of January, 1863, the sun was very oppressive upon the sands; but
all were in the highest spirits, and worked with the greatest zeal. Th