The runs from Wilmington to Nassau were made in forty-eight to fifty-two hours, and to Bermuda in seventy-two to eighty hours, and the sick or wounded received scant attention until they reached port. It therefore devolved upon the purser or the chief officer to attend such cases, and my very limited knowledge of medicine restricted the treatment of our alleged sick men to compound cathartic pills and quinine. A majority of the cases of "pains all over them" were malingerers, some of whom dodged their duty during the entire voyage. Captain Hobart, of the _Don_, told us of such a case on his ship interviewed by his chief officer, C----, as follows: C.: "Well, my man, what's the matter with you?" Patient: "Please, sir, I've got pains all over me." C.: "Oh, all over you, are they? That's bad." Then during the pause it was evident that something was being mixed up, and I could hear C---- say: "Here, take this, and come again in the evening." (Exit patient.) Then C---- said to himself: "I don't think he'll come again; he has got two drops of the croton. Skulking rascal, pains all over him, eh?" "I never heard the voice of that patient again," said Captain Hobart; "in fact, after a short time we had no cases of sickness on board." C---- explained that what he served out, as he called it, was croton oil; and that none of the crew came twice for treatment. The ship's discipline was generally well maintained at sea, but instances of insubordination in port were of almost daily occurrence. These were dealt with usually by the first mate, or, as he was designated, the chief officer. But some of the incorrigibles were brought before the commander for treatment and something like this colloquy, which I take partly from _Punch_, would ensue: Commander: "What is this man's character apart from this offence?" Petty Officer: "Well, sir, this here man, he goes ashore when he likes, he comes aboard when he likes, he uses 'orrible language when he's spoke to. In fact from his general behavior he might be taken for the captain of this ship," which exactly fitted the case of our skipper at that time, who was an expert in the use of 'orrible language. EXPERIENCES IN QUARANTINE. Eluding the blockading fleet at the Cape Fear Bar was not the only adventure in those perilous days. It was quite within the range of possibility that a steamer would run into a harbor and find the town, hitherto perfectly healthy, withered under the malign spell of some scourge like yellow fever or smallpox. Sometimes the plague would break out in the town while the steamer was loading, sometimes it would break out among the crew of the steamer, and this is what was alleged of the _Lilian_ on the occasion I am about to relate.