The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-01-22

their homeward passage as comforta-
bic as their frame of mind would allow.
There was not man amongst us, too,
who lamented not the fall of the indi-
vidual, for part Of whose wardrobe he
was now bidding. Yet passing OBJ
server would have scarcely discovered
this; so little in accordance with the
sentiments of our hearts, were our out
ward manner and conversation. Let
me not, however, be misunderstood.
Nothing was said or done on these oc-
casions calculated to give pain to the
nearest relative of the deceased, had he
stood by; on the contrary, every man
felt that the drama in which he now
took part, might, before long, be rep
resented again in consequence of his
own dissolution; and with this feeling
upon his mind. it was not impossible
f,r him to act otherwise than he should
desire his comrades to act, were that
event to take place on the morrow.
Matters continued thus till an early
hour on the morning OF the 9Th. when
a signal was made to We, h anchor;
the whole fleet got under sail, and,
guided by gentle breeze in their
sterns, stood majestically towards the
bay. do not know that l ever beheld
a more striking marine spectacle than
this general movement presented. At
moderate computation, there could
not be fewer than seventy sail of YES
sells, of all classes and sizes, in the fleet;
they lay within roadstead, which ex-
ceeded not a gunshot from one extrem-
ity to the other; and lifting their an
chors, and shaking out their canvass,
all at the same moment, they gave to
the river an appearance of life and bus
tie, such as it has probably never ex-
hibited before, and will not speedily
exhibit again. Nor was it by looking
to the ships alone that we idlers found
an ample fund Of interest and amuse-
ment. The sun began. before long, to
shine brightly upon the banks, and a
shifting panorama Of the most eXqui-
site beauty presented itself, piecemeal,
as it were, to our observation. have
hitherto a5stained from saying any
thing of the extreme loveliness of this
district, partly because its most strik-
ing features have been described al
ready, and partly because l am quite
conscious that no words can do it JUS
tice. But it may be permitted me to
observe, that though | have visited
many countries. and beheld almost
every variety of national scenery, /
have never beheld any more picturesque
than that which the banks OF the Pa
tuxent displayed. There was nothing
grand, it is true:-no rocks, no noun
tains. no castles, converts, or even
lordly seats. were in view; but if slop-
ING downs, studded with the modest
houses of settlers, intersected by lux
uriant corn fields, and closed in by for
ests, dark as night, and perfectly
trackless, entitle the banks of a river
to the appellation of beautiful, the ap-
pellation may surely be bestowed here.
1t was scene of peace, and perhaps
of humility; but it was probably not
the SIS attractive on that account, in
the eyes ofone whose business was war.
We reacle the hay little after
II oon, and were met by the ''Tonnant,"
which had sailed day or two before,
and seemed now to be returning.
Whittier we were going. or what the
service on which we were about to be
employed, no one appeared to know;
but feeling of surprise became gen.
eral amongst us, when, instead of TAX
ing advantage of wind which blew
directly up the Chesapeake, signal
was hung out for all ships to cast an
chor. We had battered ourselves that,
now we had fairly begun our observa-
tions. not an hour would be wasted in
carrying them on. Baltimore, Anna
polls, and other towns, were all within
our reach we confidently anticipated
that each would, in its turn, receive Il
visit. But whatever our wishes might
be, there remained but one course for
us to follow. We obeyed the signal,
and anchored Immediately.
No great while elapsed, however, be-
fore we became satisfied that every
thing had been done for the best. AS
soon rs he had got his fleet well about
him, the Admiral began to hold a cor
respondence with the other ships of
war. which, as we CHANGED to be in
possession Of a signal-book, we were
enabled to decipher. Each vessel was
required to send in return of the
number Of seamen, independently of
marines. which it could afford to land
with small arms; and it was farther
ordered, that no time should be lost in
drilling them to the use of their wea-
pom. There was something exceeding
ly cheering in such Il communication
Not only were we quite satisfied that
Jack, however awkward he might be
upon parade, would prove, in the hour
of a trial, a most efficient ally; but we
concluded, from the anxiety displayed
to increase the land force to the ut
most, that some mOmentOus scheme