R.S.

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Muffled the windlass.  Getting on board some water.  Last night, between eight and nine o’clock, the engineer being on shore, near the north end of the town, saw two of the Iroquois’ touts, and heard one of them say to the other, “Harry, that’s she—­I see her:”  in allusion, doubtless, to the presence of this vessel.  We were all very anxious as the night approached as to the state of the weather; and lo! for the first time in five or six days, we had a beautiful star-light night, without a speck of cloud anywhere to be seen.  The enemy continued plain in sight, and our black smoke, as it issued from the stack, would have betrayed us at a distance of five miles.  We were therefore reluctantly compelled to give up the attempt.

Saturday, November 23rd.—­Beautiful clear morning, with every appearance of settled weather.  Fine starlit nights and clear settled days, though very pleasant to the lover of nature, are not quite such weather as we require for running a blockade by a ship which keeps herself in plain sight of us, and which has the heels of us.  But we must have patience, and bide our time.  Several sail have come in and departed during the last twenty-four hours.  The enemy in the offing as usual.  Towards noon it began to cloud up, and we had some rain, and I had strong hopes that we should have a cloudy, dark night.  The moon would not rise until seven minutes past eleven, and if we could be aided by a few clouds we should have sufficient darkness; for be it known that in these tropical climates, where almost every star is a moon, there is no such thing as darkness when the firmament is clear.  But my hopes began to fade, with the day, for one cloud disappeared after another, as the sun went down, until the night promised to be as serene and bright as the last.  Venus, too, looked double her usual size, and being three hours bright at sunset, poured forth a flood of light, little less than that of the moon in a northern latitude.  Notwithstanding all these discouragements, however, I resolved to attempt the run, and having made all the necessary preparations silently, so as not to awaken the suspicions of the townspeople, who were always on the alert, at about five minutes before eight o’clock gun-fire, I directed the chain to be slipped, and the fasts to the shore cut, and put her under steam.  The enemy being on my starboard bow, and apparently standing towards the north point of the roadstead, I headed her for the south point, giving her full steam.  So much on the qui vive were the townspeople, that we had scarcely moved twenty yards when a shout rent the air, and there was a confused murmur of voices, as if Babel had been let loose.  As we neared the French steamer of war, Acheron, signals were made to the enemy by means of blue lights from one of the Yankee schooners in port:  perceiving which, and knowing that the signals were so arranged as to designate our direction, after moving a few