However, after considerable difficulty, General Taylor procured a pilot for large wages, who professed a thorough acquaintance with the Texan waters, and a particular knowledge of his destination at Aransas bay. This individual was immediately put in charge of one of the transports loaded with troops, and under his lead, the commander in chief sailed from New Orleans with three ships and two steamers in search of the port of his disbarkation. The blundering pilot grounded his vessel among the breakers where it would inevitably have been wrecked, had it not been extricated by timely assistance, while the captain of another transport coasted the low shores of the gulf for several days, in sight of land, seeking an inlet, and when his ship was at length anchored off St. Joseph's, he asserted that it was the island of Espiritu Santo.[75] This bay of Aransas was perhaps one of the most unsuitable for the disbarkation of troops on the coast of Texas, and was selected in utter ignorance of the country. Indeed we seem to have committed two great and often fatal errors in warfare when we contemplated hostilities with Mexico--first, in despising our foe; and secondly, in failing to inform ourselves of his country's geography. Aransas bay lies between the south end of St. Joseph's and the northern point of Mustang island, quite close to the latter, and almost at right angles with the coast. It has a narrow but shifting sand bar at its entrance, upon which the depth of water varies according to the action of the winds. The bay is about twenty-five miles in length and twelve in width, but is obstructed by a shoal and a range of islands that traverse it.[76]