CHAPTER I. 



ASSUME COMMAND OF THE ENTERPRISE. 



VOYAGE TO CAPE TOWN VIA CAPE DE VERDE ISLANDS. 



On the 4th of December, 1882, while in command of 

 the monitor Montauk at League Island, orders were 

 received detaching me from that vessel and directing me 

 to proceed " without delay " to Norfolk, Va., to take 

 command of the U. S. S. Enterprise. On the 8th of 

 December I assumed command, relieving my old friend 

 and classmate Commander E. M. Shepard, U. S. N. 



The Enterprise had already been in commission 



about one year and had proved herself one of the fastest 



and most efficient vessels on the North Atlantic Station. 



She was a bark-rigged steam corvette of 1375 tons 



displacement. Her maximum speed under steam alone 



was 1 1.7 knots an hour, while under sail with a fair breeze 



and propeller uncoupled she could make from 7 to 10 



knots according to the force of the wind and the state 



of the sea. Her battery consisted of one 150-pdr. rifle 



pivot ; one 60-pdr. rifle, on topgallant forecastle ; four 



9-inch Dahlgren smooth-bore guns ; one 3-inch B. L. 



rifle ; one Gatling gun ; two howitzers for use in boats 



and for saluting purposes. She carried 195 officers, 



sailors, and marines. 



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