For the first twenty-four hours we saw nothing to alarm us, but at daylight the second day there was a large American cruiser not half a mile from us, right ahead, who, before we could turn round, steamed straight at us, and commenced firing rapidly, but very much at random, the shot and shell all passing over or wide of us.
Fortunately, according to orders to have full steam on at daybreak, we were quite prepared for a run; and still more fortunately a heavy squall of wind and rain that came on helped us vastly, as we were dead to windward of the enemy; and having no top-weights we soon dropped him astern.

He most foolishly kept yawing, to fire his bow-chasers, losing ground every time he did so.

By eight o'clock we were out of range--unhit; and by noon out of sight of anything but smoke.
Luckily, the chase had not taken us much off our course, as the consumption of coal during a run of this sort, with boilers all but bursting from high pressure of steam, was a most serious consideration--there being no coal in the Confederate ports, where wood was only used, which would not suit our furnaces.
We were now evidently in very dangerous waters, steamers being reported from our mast-head every hour, and we had to keep moving about in all directions to avoid them; sometimes stopping to let one pass ahead of us, at another time turning completely round, and running back on our course.

Luckily, we were never seen or chased.

Night came on, and I had hoped that we should have made rapid progress till daybreak unmolested.
All was quiet until about one o'clock in the morning, when suddenly, to our dismay, we found a steamer close alongside of us.