smack, and who were in constant awe of the old
man-of-war's-man, who did not hesitate to enforce his orders with any
missile that came handy.

"Dis ship's on a war-footin', dat's sho'," he said, after one of these
characteristic scenes, and then, in a stage whisper, "so's de crew.
Dey's bofe cou'tin' de same gal in Key Wes'."

The Bull Pup, for such was her name, kept up her war-footing as long as
we knew her, and the dignity invested in her hulk, which had a strong
predisposition toward bilge, was, to say the least, extraordinary. Never
was better craft for the purpose; and during a long cruise among the
small keys that form the extreme end of the Florida peninsula, she
always showed a dogged determination, as indicated by her name, to
surmount all difficulties.

We had sailed down during the night from Marquesas across the Rebecca
shoals, and when caught by the squall were off Bush Key, one of the most
easterly of the group, which enjoys the distinction of possessing Dry
Tortugas,--why "dry" we know not. Our extraordinary entrance, almost
instantaneous, from rough to comparatively smooth water can only be
explained by a casual reference to the great reef. The group of
keys--Loggerhead, Bird, Long, Middle, East, North, Bush, Sand, and
Garden--are all within seven miles of each other, Garden, Bird, Bush,
and Long being in close proximity,--within swimming-distance, if the
swimmer be not nervous in regard to sharks. From these central keys a
great sandy shoal spreads away on all sides, cut up, however, by several
deep channels admitting vessels of the largest draught. To the east and
south the reef is two miles wide and rarely over four feet deep, covered
at intervals with great fields of branch corals, while here and there
clusters of enormous heads of astrea, porites, etc., have collected. The
edge of the reef is formed of dead coral rock, often beaten up by the
waves into a continuous wall several miles in extent, and a few steps
beyond this the water deepens quickly, until at the length of a vessel
from it no bottom is visible.

The one opening in this barrier on the side of our approach, so
formidable in a gale, is the passage through which the skill of Sandy
had safely brought us, being, as its name explains, five feet deep and
not many more in width, and used only at odd times by the few pilots and
fishermen of the reef who know the secret of its approach. But how old
Sandy found it when completely covered by