ning, we crossed the harbor, and were
soon lost in the meanderings of the creeks behind Morris Island. _Lost_
is appropriate, for, once in these creeks, you know nothing, you see and
hear nothing, and, if you change your course, must do so by mere guess.
But the most annoying thing is, after an apparent advance of a quarter
of a mile, to find yourself not twenty yards from your starting-point,
so tortuous are the windings of the creeks.

By dint of hard rowing (in the wrong direction, as we soon found), then
by walking across Morris Island to Light-House Inlet, and still harder
rowing from there to the wharf of Long Island, we succeeded in securing
sixty spiders; but now arose a furious storm of wind and rain, which not
only compelled our retreat, but drenched us to the skin, blew us back
faster than we could row, and threatened to overturn our boat if we
hoisted the sail; so slow was our progress, that it was eleven o'clock
at night before we reached Mt. Pleasant. Thus ended my last and only
successful raid upon Long Island.

It may seem that I have dwelt longer than was necessary upon the
circumstances attending the discovery of this spider and its silk. If
so, it is not merely because at that time both were new to myself and
all to whom I showed them, and everything concerning them was likely to
be impressed upon my mind, but also because I then hoped that the idea
of obtaining silk directly from a living insect might be found of
practical importance, as I still hope it may. The incidents illustrate,
too, the nature of the obstacles daily encountered and overcome by our
troops; for no one who has never seen or stepped into a Sea-Island marsh
can realize how difficult it was for our forces to obtain a foothold in
the vicinity of Charleston. This was appreciated by the old freedman
whom we left in the boat while crossing the mud. "No wonder," he said,
"the Yankees whipped the Rebels, if they will do such things for to
catch _spiders_."

The sixty spiders so obtained were kept for several weeks in the little
boxes in which they had been deposited when caught. Every day each box
was opened, the occupant examined, and its condition, if altered, noted
on the cover. They generally spun a few irregular lines on which to
hang, and so remained quiet except when the boxes were opened: then, of
course, they tried to escape. Half a dozen of the larger ones were
placed on the window-seats and in corners of the room, where they