Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1857-10-15
M(istellaneous 8eabmg
From the Marion American.
THE PALMETToEs IN MEXICO.
BY ONE OF THE TWO HUNDRED.

THE PALMETTOES IN MEXICO.
BY ONE OF THE TWO HUNDRED.
NEW sERlEs-No. VI.
Adieu adieu! my native shore
Fades Ger the waters blue
The night winds sigh, the breakers roar
And shrieks the wild sea new.
Yon sun that sets upon the seq
We follow in his fight
Farewell a while to him, and thee
My native land-good night!
On the 18th of January the Palmettoes
embarked from Mobile for an unknown des.
tination. Major GLADDEN., with three COM
panies embarked on the ship Ellerslie on the
26th of January; on 18th Lieut.. Col. Dick
enson with three companies embarked on
the ship Oregon, and on the same evening
Col. Butlerand the remaining four companies
embarked on the old Alhambra. The Ore
gon and Aihambra laid that night in Mobile
Bay. Early on the morning of the 10th
under bright sky, and a stiff freshening
breeze, we weighed anchor, unfurled our
sails, and soon were far out on the stormy
bosom of the Gulf of Mexico.
I will not attempt to describe the swelling
emotions of our hearts as We stood with
ste.dfast eyes, gazing on the faint, blue crest
of our native land as it faded into indistinct-
ness, and finally sank beneath the watery
horizon. We were now out on the wide
and stormy Gulf; beneath US only the blue
waves-above us only the blue skies, and
around us waste of watcrs-the sun went
down in a bed of crimson glory, the stars
came out from the quiet sky, We bade our
native land "good night" and retired to our
first sleep upon the bosom of the deep, if
the thronging, fond memories of home, and
friends and native land, and the strange,
wild, forebeding visions of the future per-
mitted US to sleep.
We were going, we knew not where
We had embarked under sealed orders, which
were not to be opened until We were out at
sea. When opened We were informed that
Vera Cruz was our destination, and We knew
that in few days we would have stern work
to do.
We started with the old Alhambra as our
companion, but the greater speed Of the
Oregon, in few hours left the slow, lum-
bering old Albambra, lost in the distance
The sun of the second day rose clear and
bright, and with favoring breeze we sped
ga'ly on. We passed the mouth Of the
Mississippi, which freshens the gulf for
hundred miles with its turbid waters. 1t
will not mingle with the waters Of the gulf.
At the distance of sixty miles from its
mouth, I could have put my finger on the
line of distinctness and separation between
the salt blue of the gulf water, and the
muddy green of the Mississippi All was
we'll, until the evening of the third day,
when fierce, terrific norther came upon us
with suddenness which almost snapped the
masts, and capsized the vessel. Through
the speaking trumpet the captain gave his
quick, prompt, telegraphic commands, the
sailors merrily climbed the masts, and with
every rag of sail taken down, under bare
poles, the ship was prepared to ride out the
fury of the storm. A chilling rain drove
US below deck, where in darkness, and gloom
and terror, amid noise and confusion in
describable, in sickening, fetid, loathsome,
pent up air, we passed night of suffering
whose horrors no language can portray. All
of US were suffering the first throes and
qualms of sea sickness, whose hearings res.
ponded to the heaving waves. The bowling
winds kept fit music to that night of horrors
Our stomachs were churned to gall, our heads
almost bursting with sea-sick agony, as we
tossed, and turned that night upon our hard
beds, wooing sleep which came not, as a
brief respite to our suferings. The morning
came, but it brought little mitigation of our
sufferings. The mountain waves, still
dashed with terribly fury against our ship,
she tossed, and heaved and pitched, while
every timber creaked and groaned with the
shocks, and the waves dashed over her brow,
and swept down her decks. 1t was fearful
and an awful scene. We could not stand on
deck without imminent danger of being
thrown overheard, and the few who braved
it, were seen hugging the masts, and cling
ing on to the ropes, to save them from being
dashed to death against the vessels sides, or
thrown over into the gulf Another night
of horror came and the storm still ragged in
its fury. Two or three times the vessel
caught on fire. So reckless had become
that when at night the cry was heard, that
the ship was on fire, never rose from my
bed Let it burn was my answer, for death
will be reliefto US. Such is the desperation
or sea-sickness. 1t makes men pray for
death, and I believe the veriest coward, un-
der violent sea-sickness would welcome
death.
For three days and nights the storm spent
its fury upon US without abatement, after
which it gradually subsidized, and the fourth
day broke on us as calm, as quiet as an in-
fant's slumber. 1t was dead calm. Not
breeze stirred, the sails hung dropping
with their weight, and the bosom of the gulf
was placid and waveless asthe blue sky above
US.
Such was the scene on the Oregon. From
the narrative, of brother soldier, who was
on the Alhambra, will give description
of the storm, and its effects on the Alhambra.
"The Regiment embarked under sealed
orders, to be opened at sea, the purpose be-
ing to prevent newspaper publication con-
cerning the object of the expedition. All
were eager to learn their destination, and as