The National tribune., 1890-07-17
We wait an instant in sickoning suspense.

! We wait an instant in sickening suspense.
Try the pumps !" comes down an order.
minutes pause with the sound of moving
! levers
Pumps all right, SIR" reports the Engineer.
| No harm done yet. sir" After a moment
later we feel the ship rising with the wave, and
| moving forward.
How are the pumps2" comes again from
| the deck.
Pumps all right. sir" reports tho Engineer.
little later we struck again, but less heavi-
| ly, and the trial of the pumps showed that
again we sustained no injury to our hull.
The pitching became less violent and in a
few minutes we heard the incxprossibly well
| come cry:
We're all right now. We're through"
Cheers rang out deck and wo answered
them from below We could hear the troops in
the vessels around us hurrahing over our sue
ccsslul passnge, and when we were allowed to
come OH deck we found our vessel moving up to
place in the middle of 10 or 20 others, of all
kinds, which were gathered in what was called
The Pocket" little bay of calm water
lying behind the long, narrow strip of sand
called Hatteras Island.
All around us were evidences Of how hardly
the proud fleet we had seen assembled in Chesa-
peake Bay had Jared in its warfare with the
might of the ocean. Every ship had suffered
more or less and several had sunk after getting
inside. Some were hard and fast on reefs of
the inside bar, called the Swash7 and which
yet lay between us and the still, calm waters of
Croatan Sound. Others had been more or less
injured by collisions with each other during
tho gale when they were crowded together in
The Pocket"
In front of us, DO miles away, lies Roanoke
Island, upon which is the enemy we are TO
attack. Its Importance is that IL controls the
navigation of all the sounds aud rivers of North
Carolina, except those which come in at Will
mington. / send you a tracing have made
from map, which will explain our position,
and the Importance Of Roanoke Island.
A more desolate looking country you cannot
Imagine than that around us. The islands be-
tween which we passed to come in here look
like slices out of the Desert of Sahara. They
are only few feet above the sea- and every
ilttlo while the pcntup waters Of tho sounds
or the great waves of the ocean break gap
through them and form new inlet. such MS
that we had SO much trouble in getting through
Sometimes, we are told, ship will get grounded
IN one of these inlets. the sand will pile mp
around her and close the inlet, and another
VIII form somewhere else. Tho one we camo
through was formed by great storm Ia years
ago Only q scraggy, storm beaten pine tree
appears here and there, and few miserable
poverty stricken people get what is called a
living by fishing and wreckiug
The mainland aud Roanoke Island are made
up OF similar sand barrens, aud swamps
covered with dense Jungle
AS soon rs the rest of the feet can get through
we are to move up aud attack the rebels and
my Eext letter, if ! live to write il, will,
ardcntly hope, tell yon Of great victory. If
do not live through it you will know that
died doing my uttermost TO help save our be-
loved country. Ny darling mother, hope for
the best for me, aud for this army.
lour loving sou, TRACY.
Ito be eoutfnuadl