,
detectives employed by the U. S. Government as well as volunteer spies
were about me. Efforts were made to intercept telegrams and to tamper
with employees, but few of these attempts at stopping Confederate army
supplies were successful.

One success scored by the United States was the capture of the "Stephen
Hart," a schooner of American build, but purchased by an English house
and put under the British flag for Confederate use. The proof that she
was loaded with army supplies destined for the Confederate States was so
complete that no expense was incurred in defending the rights of the
quasi British owners. It was a mistake to ship such supplies by sailing
vessels, and there were other errors of judgment which were not
repeated.

After the "Stephen Hart" episode, all army supplies were carried by
steamer, either to a Confederate port direct, or to Nassau or Bermuda.
There was little difficulty in chartering steamers to carry supplies to
"The Islands." Generally both ship and cargo belonged in good faith to
British subjects; and, as the voyage was from one British port to
another, the entire business was as lawful as a similar shipment would
have been from London to Liverpool. But one of the most innocent
shipments was not only captured, but the capture was confirmed, and
there was not on board one penny's worth of property belonging to the
Confederate States or to any American citizen. The ship "The
Springbock," was loaded by a firm from whom I had purchased many
supplies; but in this instance, the cargo was to be sold in Nassau, and
there was nothing of a suspicious character on board, excepting some
brass buttons bearing the device "C. S. A.," and these buttons were put
on board the last day against the wishes of one of the partners who
feared they would be considered as tainting the whole cargo. And so the
United States Court decided. Everything else on board was likely to be
wanted in any country whose ports had been blockaded for several months,
but none of the articles were such as could be classed as _military_
supplies.

To get the supplies from "The Islands" to the main land required
sea-worthy steamers of light draught and great speed. Many such vessels
were purchased and sent out under captains who were equal to any
emergency, among whom were several former U. S. Navy officers. Some of
these steamers had been private yachts, as for example the "Merrimac;"
(there were two "Merrimacs"); some were engage