ccasionally, as a precaution against
dampness. De Saussure's men imagined that these strings were arranged
with a view to blow up the guns the moment any one attempted to
interfere with them, and each soldier, as he passed, avoided the
supposed danger.

The South Carolina officers, at this period, spent much of their time
in discussing military problems. One of these, which was afterward
referred to us for solution, occasioned us much amusement. All
cannon-balls used in the army, and exposed to the weather, are coated
with a varnish of coal-tar, to protect them from rust. Many of those we
left behind were in piles near the guns, and when the carriages were
burned, the tar melted, ran down in streams, and coagulated in lumps. It
was immediately reported that before leaving we had taken great pains to
tar the balls, to render them useless. The problem which puzzled the
military _savans_ of Charleston was, to determine in what way
cannon-balls were ruined by tar. Some months afterward, when we
evacuated Fort Sumter, one of the officers who had been much interested
in this subject took Seymour aside, and asked him confidentially if he
had any objection to tell him why we tarred our balls, assuring him most
earnestly that they could scrape it all off.

Upon occupying Fort Sumter, we found it was in a very unfinished
condition, and that it would require an immense amount of labor to
render it safe against an assault. It had no flanking defenses
whatever. Three or four hundred men, with short ladders, could easily
have taken it; for no guns were mounted, except a few on the gorge, and
all the embrasures were open, there being no efficient means of closing
them. On the gorge side, where the wharf was located, there were two
sally-ports and numerous windows to be guarded. In the second story the
embrasures were nothing but large unfinished openings, slightly boarded
up. Three or four blows of an axe would have made a broad entrance for
an escalading party. The form of the fort was a pentagon. Retaining a
small force as a reserve in the centre of the work, we could only
furnish eight men to defend each side and guard all the numerous
openings.

Fortunately no assault was made. It was thought the fort was almost
impregnable, and that there would be no difficulty in inducing Buchanan
to order us back to Fort Moultrie. This occasioned a delay, and gave us
time to strengthen our position. We were hard at work, mounting guns,
prep