ilmington, inasmuch as at the latter place there was a considerable
amount of poverty and distress, and men's minds were weighted with many
troubles and anxieties; whereas, at Nassau, everything at the time I
speak of was _couleur de rose_. Every one seemed prosperous and happy.
You met with calculating, far-seeing men who were steadily employed in
feathering their nests, let the war in America end as it might; others
who, in the height of their enthusiasm for the Southern cause, put their
last farthing into Confederate securities, anticipating enormous
profits; some men, careless and thoughtless, living for the hour, were
spending their dollars as fast as they made them, forgetting that they
would 'never see the like again.' There were rollicking captains and
officers of blockade-runners, and drunken swaggering crews; sharpers
looking out for victims; Yankee spies; and insolent worthless _free
niggers_--all these combined made a most heterogeneous, though
interesting, crowd.

The inhabitants of Nassau, who, until the period of blockade-running,
had, with some exceptions, subsisted on a precarious and somewhat
questionable livelihood gained by wrecking, had their heads as much
turned as the rest of the world. Living was exorbitantly dear, as can be
well imagined, when the captain of a blockade-runner could realise in a
month a sum as large as the Governor's salary. The expense of living was
so great that the officers of the West India regiment quartered here had
to apply for special allowance, and I believe their application was
successful. The hotel, a large building, hitherto a most ruinous
speculation, began to realise enormous profits. In fact, the almighty
dollar was spent as freely as the humble cent had been before this
golden era in the annals of Nassau.

As we had to stay here till the time for the dark nights came round
again, we took it easy, and thoroughly enjoyed all the novelty of the
scene. Most liberal entertainment was provided free by our owner's
agent, and altogether we found Nassau very jolly: so much so, that we
felt almost sorry when 'time' was called, and we had to prepare for
another run. In fact, it was pleasanter in blockade-running to look
backwards than forwards, especially if one had been so far in good luck.

CHAPTER XII.

A VISIT TO CHARLESTON.

All being ready, we steamed out of Nassau harbour, and were soon again
in perilous waters. We had a distant chase now and then--a mer