accommodation of officers and crew, and the main deck renewed and
strengthened to carry the heavy 8-inch shell-gun, mounted on a pivot
between the fore and mainmasts, and the four 24 pounder howitzers of 13
cwt. each, to be mounted as a broadside battery. Additional coal-bunkers
were also constructed, and a magazine and shell-room built in a suitable
position, and these and a few other less important changes effected, the
transformation was complete, and the little Sumter ready to proceed upon
her work of devastation.

It must not, however, be imagined that all this was done without many
and vexatious delays. The emergency had found the new Confederation
altogether unprepared, and trouble and confusion were the inevitable
result. Hitherto, everything had been done by the North. Up to the very
last moment it had been believed that the separation of the two sections
would be peaceably effected; and now the necessary works had to be
hastily carried out by civilian workmen, under the direction of a
department, itself as yet but provisionally and most imperfectly
organized.

Sorely tried by the delays consequent upon this condition of affairs,
Captain Semmes commences his Diary as follows:--

"_New Orleans, May 24th_.--A month has elapsed since I began the
preparation of the Sumter for sea, and yet we are not ready. Leeds
and Co. have not given us our tanks, and we only received the
carriage of the 8-inch gun to-day. The officers are all present,
and the crew has been shipped, and all are impatient to be off. The
river is not yet blockaded, but expected to be to-morrow. It must
be a close blockade, and by heavy vessels, that will keep us in.
Troops are being collected in large numbers in the enemy's States,