were poured upon the Spanish ships as they came by and turned to the westward. Then it was that the Maria Teresa and the Oquendo received their deathwounds. Then it was that a 13-inch shell from the Indiana struck the Teresa exploding under the quarterdeck; and that the broadsides of the Iowa, flung on each cruiser as it headed her in turn, and of the Oregon and Texas, tore the sides of the Oquendo, the Vizcaya, and the flag-ship. The Spanish fire sank under that of the American gunners, shooting coolly as if at target practice, and sweeping the Spanish decks in a manner which drove the men from the guns. On went the Spanish ships in their desperate flight, the American ships firing rapidly and steadily upon them, always closing in, and beginning now to gather speed. The race was a short one to two of the Spanish ships, fatally wounded in the first savage encounter. In little more than half an hour the flag-ship Maria Teresa was headed to the shore, and at quarter past ten she was a sunken, burning wreck upon the beach at Nima Nima, six miles from Santiago. Fifteen minutes later, and half a mile further on, the Oquendo was beached near Juan Gonzales, a mass of flames, shot to pieces, and a hopeless wreck. For these two, flight and fight were alike over.

At the start, the Brooklyn as has been said putting her helm to port, had gone round, bearing away from the land, and then steamed to the westward, so that, as she was the fastest in our squadron, she might be preserved to head off the swiftest Spanish ship. In the lead with the Brooklyn was the Texas, holding the next position in the line and checked temporarily

by the Brooklyn's movement. But the Oregon was about to add to the laurels she had already won in her great voyage from ocean to ocean. With a burst of speed which astonished all who saw her, and which seemed almost incredible in a battle-ship, she forged ahead to the second place in the chase, for such it had now become. The Teresa and the Oquendo had gone to wreck, torn by the fire of all the ships. The Vizcaya had also been mortally hurt in the first outset, but she struggled on, pursued by the leading ships, and under their fire, especially that of the Oregon, until, at quarter past eleven, she too was turned to the shore and beached at Asseraderos, fifteen miles from Santiago, a shattered, blazing hulk. Meantime the two torpedo-boats, coming out last from the harbor, about ten o'clock, had made a rush to get by the American ships. But their high speed availed them nothing. The secondary batteries of the battle-ships including that of the New York as she came driving past were turned upon them with disastrous effect, and they also met an enemy especially reserved for them. The Gloucester, a converted yacht, with no armor, but with a battery of small rapid-fire guns, was lying inshore when the Spaniards made their break for liberty. Undauntedly firing her light shells at the great cruisers as they passed, the Gloucester waited, gathering steam the while for the destroyers. The moment these boats appeared, Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright, unheeding the fire of the Socapa battery, drove the Gloucester straight upon them at top speed, giving them no time to use their torpedoes, even i if they had so desired. The fierce, rapid, well-directed fire of the Gloucester swept the decks of the torpedo

boats, and tore their upper works and sides. Shattered by the shells from the battle-ships, and overwhelmed by the close and savage attack of the Gloucester, which fought in absolute disregard of the fire from either ships or shore, the race of the torpedo-boat destroyers was soon run. Within twenty minutes of their rush from the harbor's mouth the Furor was beached and sunk, and the Pluton had gone down in deep water. At the risk of their lives the officers and men of the Gloucester boarded their sinking enemies, whose decks looked like shambles, and saved all those who could be saved. There were but few to rescue. Nineteen were taken from the Furor, 26 from the Pluton; all the rest of the 64 men on each boat were killed or drowned. It is worth while to make a little comparison here. The Furor and Pluton were 370 tons each, with a complement together of 134 men. They had together four IIpounders, four 6-pounders, and four Maxim guns, in addition to their torpedoes. The Gloucester was of 800 tons, with 93 men, four 6-pounders, four 3-pounders, and two Colt automatic guns. The Spanish boats were fatally wounded by the secondary batteries of the battle-ships, but they were hunted down and destroyed by the Gloucester, which, regardless of the fire of the Socapa battery, closed with them and overwhelmed them. There is a very interesting exhibition here of the superior quality of the American sailor. The fierce rapid, gallant attack of the Gloucester carried all before it, and showed that spirit of daring sea-fighting without which the best ships and the finest guns are of little avail, and which has made the English-speaking man the victor on the ocean from the days of the Armada.