We satisfied ourselves that we were running along the sea coast by tasting the water in the streams we crossed, whenever we could get an opportunity to dip up some.

As long as the water tasted salty we knew we were near the sea, and hope burned brightly.
The truth was--as we afterwards learned--the Rebels were terribly puzzled what to do with us.

We were brought to Savannah, but that did not solve the problem; and we were sent down the Atlantic & Gulf road as a temporary expedient.
The railroad was the worst of the many bad ones which it was my fortune to ride upon in my excursions while a guest of the Southern Confederacy.
It had run down until it had nearly reached the worn-out condition of that Western road, of which an employee of a rival route once said, "that all there was left of it now was two streaks of rust and the right of way." As it was one of the non-essential roads to the Southern Confederacy, it was stripped of the best of its rolling-stock and machinery to supply the other more important lines.
I have before mentioned the scarcity of grease in the South, and the difficulty of supplying the railroads with lubricants.

Apparently there had been no oil on the Atlantic & Gulf since the beginning of the war, and the screeches of the dry axles revolving in the worn-out boxes were agonizing.

Some thing would break on the cars or blow out on the engine every few miles, necessitating a long stop for repairs.