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The Tenth Pennsylvania bore the brunt of the attack, and checked the Spanish advance until the Utah battery, the First California Volunteers, and two companies of the Third Artillery, fighting as infantry, could get up to strengthen the right of the line.
The Spaniards had, by a rush, gone 150 yards through and beyond the American right flank, when the regulars of the Third Artillery, armed as infantrymen, pushed them back in confusion, the Pennsylvanians and Utah battery aiding gallantly in the work.
August 1. After the attack on the right wing had been repulsed, the second Spanish attack at two in the morning was directed against the American left wing.
After thirty minutes of fighting the enemy was again beaten off, and the rain seemed to be so heavy as to make further attack impossible.
But at 3.50 A. M. the battle was resumed at longer range, Spanish sharpshooters firing from the trees, and the batteries working constantly, using brass-coated bullets. The Americans, smoked and powder-stained, stuck to their guns for fourteen hours without relief, and shortly after sunrise the Spanish retreated. The American loss was eight killed, ten seriously and thirty-eight slightly wounded.
August 4. The monitor Monterey and the convoyed collier Brutus arrived at Cavite.
August 7. Admiral Dewey demanded the surrender of Manila within forty-eight hours. The Spanish commander replied that, the insurgents being outside the walls, he had no safe place for the women and children who were in the city, and asked for twenty-four hours additional delay. This Admiral Dewey granted.
At the expiration of the specified time Admiral Dewey and General Merritt consulted and decided to postpone the attack.
August 13. The American commanders decided to begin hostilities on the thirteenth of August, and the navy began the action at 9.30 A. M., the Olympia opening fire, followed by the Raleigh, Petrel, and Callao. The latter showed great daring, approaching within eight hundred yards of the Malate forts and trenches, doing grand work and driving back the Spanish forces.
The firing from the fleet continued for one hour, the Spanish then retreating from Malate, where the fire was centred, and the American land forces stormed the trenches, sweeping all before them. The First Colorado Volunteers drove the Spaniards into the second line of defence. Then the troops swept on, driving all the Spaniards into the inner fortification.
The fighting in the trenches was most fierce. Fifteen minutes after the Spaniards were driven to the second line of defences, they were forced to retreat to the walled city, where, seeing the uselessness of resistance, they surrendered, and soon afterward a white flag was hoisted over Manila.
The total number of killed on the American side was forty-five, and wounded about one hundred. The Spanish losses were two hundred killed and four hundred wounded.
Captain-General Augusti took refuge on board the German ship Kaiserin Augusta, and was conveyed to Hongkong.
The following official reports were made by cable:
"MANILA, August 13, 1898.
"Secretary of Navy, Washington:—Manila surrendered to-day to the American land and naval forces, after a combined attack.
"A division of the squadron shelled the forts and entrenchments at Malate, on the south side of the city, driving back the enemy, our army advancing from that side at the same time.
"The city surrendered about five o'clock, the American flag being hoisted by Lieutenant Brumby.
"About seven thousand prisoners were taken.
"The squadron had no casualties, and none of the vessels were injured.
"August 7th, General Merritt and I formally demanded the surrender of the city, which the Spanish governor-general refused.
(Signed) "DEWEY."
"HONGKONG, August 20th.
"Adjutant-General, Washington:—The following are the terms of the capitulation:
"The undersigned, having been appointed a commission to determine the details of the capitulation of the city and defences of Manila and its suburbs and the Spanish forces stationed therein, in accordance with agreement entered into the previous day by Maj.-Gen. Wesley Merritt, U. S. A., American commander-in-chief in the Philippines, and His Excellency Don Fermin Jaudenes, acting general-in-chief of the Spanish army in the Philippines, have agreed upon the following:
"The Spanish troops, European and native, capitulate with the city and defences, with all honours of war, depositing their arms in the places designated by the authorities of the United States, remaining in the quarters designated and under the orders of their officers and subject to control of the aforesaid United States authorities, until the conclusion of a treaty of peace between the two belligerent nations. All persons included in the capitulation remain at liberty; the officers remaining in their respective homes, which shall be respected as long as they observe the regulations prescribed for their government and the laws enforced.
"2. Officers shall retain their side-arms, horses, and private property. All public horses and public property of all kinds shall be turned over to staff officers designated by the United States.
"3. Complete returns in duplicate of men by organisation, and full lists of public property and stores shall be rendered to the United States within ten days from this date.
"4. All questions relating to the repatriation of the officers and men of the Spanish forces and of their families, and of the expense which said repatriation may occasion, shall be referred to the government of the United States at Washington. Spanish families may leave Manila at any time convenient to them. The return of the arms surrendered by the Spanish forces shall take place when they evacuate the city, or when the Americans evacuate.
"5. Officers and men included in the capitulation shall be supplied by the United States according to rank, with rations and necessary aid, as though they were prisoners of war, until the conclusion of a treaty of peace between the United States and Spain. All the funds in the Spanish treasury and all other public funds shall be turned over to the authorities of the United States.
"6. This city, its inhabitants, its churches and religious worship, its educational establishments, and its private property of all description, are placed under the special safeguard of the faith and honour of the American army.
"F. V. GREENE, "Brigadier-General of Volunteers, U. S. A. "B. P. LAMBERTON, "Captain U. S. Navy. "CHARLES A. WHITTIER, "Lieutenant-Colonel and Inspector-General. "E. H. CROWDER, "Lieutenant-Colonel and Judge-Advocate. "NICHOLAS DE LA PENA, "Auditor-General's excts. "CARLOS REYEO, "Colonel de Ingenieros. "JOSE MARIA OLQUEN, "Felia de Estado Majors. (Signed) "MERRITT."
"HONGKONG, August 20th.
"Adjutant-General, Washington:—Cablegram of the twelfth directing operations to be suspended received afternoon of sixteenth. Spanish commander notified. Acknowledged receipt of cablegram same date, containing proclamation of President.
"MERRITT."
CHAPTER XVII.
PEACE.
On the twenty-sixth day of July, shortly after three o'clock in the afternoon, the French ambassador, M. Cambon, accompanied by his first secretary, called at the White House, the interview having been previously arranged and an intimation of its purpose having been given. With the President at the time was Secretary of State Day.
M. Cambon stated to the President that, representing the diplomatic interests of the kingdom of Spain, "with whom at the present time the United States is unhappily engaged in hostilities," he had been directed by the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs to ask on what terms the United States would agree to a suspension of hostilities.
The French ambassador, continuing, said that Spain, realising the hopelessness of a conflict, knowing that she was unable to cope with the great power of her adversary, and appreciating fully that a prolongation of the struggle would only entail a further sacrifice of life and result in great misery to her people, on the ground of humanity appealed to the President to consider a proposition for peace.
Spain, said the ambassador, had been compelled to fight to vindicate her honour, and having vindicated it, having fought bravely and been conquered by a more powerful nation, trusted to the magnanimity of the victor to bring the war to an end.
The President's reply showed that he was responsive to the appeal. He was evidently moved by the almost pathetic position which the once proud nation of Spain had been forced to take, but he had his feelings well under control and behaved with great dignity.
The President frankly admitted that he was desirous of peace, that he would welcome a cessation of hostilities, but he delicately intimated that if Spain were really desirous of peace she must be prepared to offer such terms as could be accepted by the United States. The President asked the French ambassador if he had been instructed to formally propose terms, or make any offer.
M. Cambon replied that he had not been so instructed, that his instructions were to ask on what terms it would be possible to make peace.
Mr. McKinley said the matter would be considered by the Cabinet, and a formal answer returned at the earliest possible moment. The French ambassador thanked the President for his courtesy, and, with expressions of good-will on both sides, the historical interview was brought to a close.
On the thirtieth day of July the ultimatum of the United States was delivered to the ambassador of France, and, in plain words, it was substantially as follows:
The President does not now put forward any claim for pecuniary indemnity, but requires the relinquishment of all claim of sovereignty over or title to the island of Cuba, as well as the immediate evacuation by Spain of the island, the cession to the United States and immediate evacuation of Porto Rico and other islands under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and the like cession of an island in the Ladrones.
The United States will occupy and hold the city, bay, and harbour of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines.
If these terms are accepted by Spain in their entirety, it is stated that the commissioners will be named by the United States to meet commissioners on the part of Spain for the purpose of concluding a treaty of peace on the basis above indicated.
August 12, 1898, peace negotiations were formally begun between the United States and Spain.
A few minutes before four o'clock, in the midst of a drenching rain, M. Cambon, the French ambassador, attended by his secretary, entered the White House. They were immediately ushered to the library, where the President, Secretary of State Day, and Assistant Secretaries of State Moore, Adee, and Cridler were awaiting them.
The President cordially greeted the ambassador, who returned the salutation with equal warmth, and then shook hands with Secretary Day and the Assistant Secretaries. While the President, Judge Day, and the French ambassador were discussing the weather,—and Washington has seldom known such a rain-storm as that which engulfed the city while peace was being signed,—M. Thiebaut and Assistant Secretary Moore were comparing the two copies of the protocol to see that they corresponded, and were identical in form.
The protocol is on parchment, in parallel columns in French and English. In the copy retained by the American government the English text is in the first column; in the other copy, which was transmitted to Madrid, the French text leads the paper.
The two Secretaries having pronounced the protocol correct, Judge Day and the French ambassador moved over to the table to affix their signatures. Mr. Cridler lit a candle to melt the sealing wax to make the impression on the protocols.
The striking of the match caused the French ambassador to stop, feel in his pocket, and then remember that he had come away from his embassy without his seal. Here was a contretemps. It would never do to seal such an important document with anything else but the ambassador's personal seal.
A note was hastily written, and one of the White House messengers dashed out into the rain, and went to the French embassy. Until his return the distinguished party in the White House library continued to discuss the weather, and wonder when the typical Cuban rain would cease falling. In a few minutes the messenger returned. The ambassador drew from a small box his seal, and the two plenipotentiaries turned to the table. The American copy of the protocol was placed before Judge Day, who signed it, and then handed the pen to the ambassador, who quickly affixed his signature and seal.
The second copy was then laid before the ambassador, who signed, and in turn handed back the pen to Judge Day.
Thus Judge Day signed the two documents, first and last, and with the last stroke of his pen hostilities ceased.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, by a protocol concluded and signed August 12, 1898, by Wm. R. Day, Secretary of State of the United States, and His Excellency Jules Cambon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of France, at Washington, respectively representing for this purpose the government of the United States and the government of Spain, the governments of the United States and Spain have formally agreed upon the terms on which negotiations for the establishment of peace between the two countries shall be undertaken; and,
Whereas, it is in said protocol agreed that upon its conclusion and signature hostilities between the two countries shall be suspended, and that notice to that effect shall be given as soon as possible by each government to the commanders of its military and naval forces;
Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, do, in accordance with the stipulations of the protocol, declare and proclaim on the part of the United States a suspension of hostilities, and do hereby command that orders be immediately given through the proper channels to the commanders of the military and naval forces of the United States to abstain from all acts inconsistent with this proclamation.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington this twelfth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-third.
WILLIAM MCKINLEY. By the President, WILLIAM R. DAY, SECRETARY OF STATE.
THE END.
APPENDICES
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX A.
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
The number of islands in the Philippine group are believed to be upwards of fourteen hundred, with an aggregate land area (estimated on Domann's map) of not less than 114,356 miles, situate in the southeast of Asia, extending from 40 deg. 40' to 20 deg. north latitude, and from 116 deg. 40' to 126 deg. 30' east longitude.
The archipelago was discovered by Magellan on March 12, 1521, and named by him the St. Lazarus Islands. The discoverer was a Portuguese, who had sought service under Charles V. of Spain because he was ignored by the court of his own country.
By the bull of Pope Alexander VI., of May 4, 1493, which was then universally recognised as law, the earth was divided into two hemispheres. All lands thereafter discovered in the Eastern Hemisphere were decreed to belong to Portugal; all the Western to Spain.
The St. Lazarus Islands were well within Portugal's rights, but as the use of the log and the variation of the compass were unknown, an error of fifty-two degrees in longitude was made, and to Spain the islands were given on the basis of that error.
By whom the name of Philippines was given to the archipelago it is impossible to say. In 1567 it appears to have been used for the first time.
The manufactures of the islands consist of silk, cotton, and pina fibres cloth, hats, mats, baskets, ropes, coarse pottery, and musical instruments.
The northern islands of the archipelago lie in the region of the typhoon, and have three seasons,—the cold, the hot, and the wet. The first extends from November to February or March, when the atmosphere is bracing rather than cold. The hot season lasts from March to June, and the heat becomes very oppressive before the beginning of the southerly monsoon. Thunder-storms of terrific violence occur during May and June. The wet season begins with heavy rains, known by the natives as "collas," and until the end of October the downpour is excessive.
"Earthquakes are sufficiently frequent and violent in the Philippines to affect the style adopted in the erection of buildings; in 1874, for instance, they were very numerous throughout the archipelago, and in Manila and the adjacent provinces shocks were felt daily for several weeks. The most violent earthquakes on record in the Philippines occurred in July, 1880, when the destruction of property was immense, both in the capital and in other important towns of central Luzon."
Though situated in the equatorial region, the elevations of the mountains give a range of climate that allows the production of a great variety of valuable crops. Tobacco, sugar, hemp, and rice are the chief staples produced. The swamps and rivers are infested with crocodiles, and the dense woods with monkeys and serpents of many species. Rich deposits of gold are known to exist, but have been little developed.
To quote from the Revue des Deux Mondes of Paris:
In the same district are found Indians, Negritos, Manthras, Malays, Bicols, half-breed Indians and Spaniards, Tagalas, Visayas, Sulus, and other tribes. The Negritos (little negroes) are real negroes, blacker than a great many of their African conquerors, with woolly hair growing in isolated tufts. They are very diminutive, rarely attaining four feet nine inches in height, and with small, retreating skulls. This race forms a branch equal in importance to the Papuan. It is believed to be the first race inhabiting the Philippines, but, as well as everywhere else, except in the Andaman Islands, it has been more or less absorbed by the stronger races, and the result in the archipelago has been the formation of several tribes of half-breeds numbering considerably more than half a million. Side by side with them, and equally poor and wretched, are the Manthras, a cross between the Negritos and Malays and the degenerate descendants of the Saletes, a warlike tribe conquered by the Malayan Rajah Permicuri in 1411. Then come the Malay Sulus, all Mohammedans and still governed by their Sultan and their datos, feudal lords who, under the suzerainty of the Spaniards, have possessed considerable power.
The soil is fully sufficient—indeed, more than sufficient—to support this population, whose wants are of the most limited character. The land is exceedingly fertile and bears in abundance all tropical products, particularly rice, sugar, and the abaca, a variety of the banana-tree. The fibres of the abaca are employed in making the finest and most delicate fabrics, of which from three to four million dollars' worth are exported annually. The exports of sugar amount to about four millions and a half, of gold to two millions and a half, and of coffee and tobacco close on to a million and a quarter each. The rice is consumed at home. It forms the staple food of the people, and nearly three million dollars' worth is imported yearly. The husbandman cannot complain that his toil is inadequately rewarded. A rice plantation will yield a return of at least fifteen per cent.; if he plant his farm with sugar-cane he will realise thirty per cent., if not more. On the other hand, the price of labour is very low. An adult who gains a real fuerte (about thirteen cents) a day, thinks he is doing well.
In this archipelago of the Philippines, where races, manners, and traditions are so often in collision, the religious fanaticism of the Spaniards has, more than once, come into conflict with a fanaticism fully as fierce as that of the Mussulman. At a distance of six thousand leagues from Toledo and Granada, the same ancient hatreds have brought European Spaniards and Asiatic Saracens into the same relentless antagonism that swayed them in the days of the Cid and Ferdinand the Catholic. The island of Sulu, on account of its position between Mindanao and Borneo, was the commercial, political, and religious centre of the followers of the Prophet, the Mecca of the extreme Orient. From this centre they spread over the neighbouring archipelago. Dreaded as merciless pirates and unflinching fanatics, they scattered everywhere terror, ruin, and death, sailing in their light proas up the narrow channels and animated with implacable hatred for those conquering invaders, to whom they never gave quarter and from whom they never expected it; constantly beaten in pitched battle, they as constantly took again to the sea, eluding pursuit of the heavy Spanish vessels, taking refuge in bays and creeks where no one could follow them, pillaging isolated ships, surprising the villages, massacring the old men, leading away the women and the adults into slavery, pushing the audacious prows of their skiffs even up to within three hundred miles of Manila, and seizing every year nearly four thousand captives.
Between the Malay creese and the Castilian carronade the struggle was unequal, but it did not last the less long on that account, nor, obscure though it was, was it the less bloody. On both sides there was the same bravery, the same cruelty. It required all the tenacity of Spain to purge these seas of the pirates who infested them, and it was not until after a conflict of several years, in 1876, that the Spanish squadron was able to bring its broadside to bear on Tianggi, that nest of the Suluan pirates, land a division of troops, invest all the outlets, and burn up the town and its inhabitants as well as its harbour and all the craft within it. The soldiers planted their flag and the engineers built a new city on the smoking ruins. This city is protected by a strong garrison. For a time, at least, it was all over with piracy, but not with Moslem fanaticism, which was exasperated rather than crushed by its defeat. To the rovers of the seas succeeded the organisation known as juramentados.
One of the characteristic qualities of the Malays is their contempt of death. They have transmitted it with their blood to the Polynesians, who see in it only one of the multiple phenomena and not the supreme act of existence, and witness it or submit to it with profound indifference. Travellers have often seen a Canaque stretch his body on a mat, while in perfect health, and without any symptom of disease whatever, and there wait patiently for the end, convinced that it is near, and refuse all nourishment and die without any apparent suffering. His relatives say of him, "He feels he is going to die," and the imaginary patient dies, his mind possessed by some illusion, some superstitious idea, some invisible wound through which life escapes. When to this absolute indifference to death is united Mussulman fanaticism, which gives to the believer a glimpse of the gates of a paradise where the abnormally excited senses revel in endless and numberless enjoyments, a longing for extinction takes hold of him and throws him like a wild beast on his enemies; he stabs them and gladly invites their daggers in return. The juramentado kills for the sake of killing, and being killed, and so winning, in exchange for a life of privation and suffering, the voluptuous existence promised by Mahomet to his followers.
The laws of Sulu make the bankrupt debtor the slave of his creditor, and not only the man himself, but his family also are enslaved. To free them there is only one means left to the husband, the sacrifice of his life. Reduced to this extremity he does not hesitate, he takes the formidable oath. From that time forward he is enrolled in the ranks of the juramentados, and has nothing to do but await the hour when the will of his superior shall let him loose upon the Christians. Meanwhile the panditas, or priests, subject him to a system of enthusiastic excitement that will turn him into a wild beast of the most formidable kind. They madden his already disordered brain, they make still more supple his oily limbs, until they have the strength of steel and the nervous force of the tiger or panther. They sing to him their rhythmic impassioned chants, which show to his entranced vision the radiant smiles of intoxicating houris. In the shadow of the lofty forests, broken by the gleam of the moonlight, they evoke the burning and sensual energies of the eternally young and beautiful companions who are calling him, opening their arms to receive him. Thus prepared, the juramentado is ready for everything. Nothing can stop him, nothing can make him recoil. He will accomplish prodigies of valour. Though stricken ten times he will remain on his feet, will strike back, borne along by a buoyancy that is irresistible, until the moment when death seizes him. He will creep with his companions into the city that has been assigned to him; he knows that he will never leave it, but he knows also that he will not die alone, and he has but one aim,—to butcher as many Christians as he can.
An eminent scientist, Doctor Montano, sent on a mission to the Philippines by the French government, describes the entry of eleven juramentados into Tianggi. Divided into three or four bands, they managed to get through the gates of the town bending under loads of fodder for cattle which they pretended to have for sale, and in which they had hidden their creeses. Quick as lightning they stabbed the guards, then, in their frenzied course, they struck all whom they met.
Hearing the cry of "Los juramentados!" the soldiers seized their arms. The juramentados rushed on them fearlessly, their creeses clutched in their hands. The bullets fell like hail among them. They bent, crept, glided, and struck. One of them, whose breast was pierced through and through by a bullet, rose and flung himself on the troops. He was again transfixed by a bayonet; he remained erect, vainly trying to reach his enemy, who held him impaled on the weapon. Another soldier had to run up and blow the man's brains out before he let go his prey. When the last of the juramentados had fallen, and the corpses were picked up from the street which consternation had rendered empty, it was found that these eleven men had, with their creeses, hacked fifteen soldiers to pieces, not to reckon the wounded.
"And what wounds!" exclaims Doctor Montano; "the head of one corpse is cut off as clean as if it had been done with the sharpest razor; another soldier is almost cut in two! The first of the wounded to come under my hands was a soldier of the Third Regiment, who was mounting guard at the gate through which some of the assassins entered. His left arm was fractured in three places; his shoulder and breast were literally cut up like mince-meat; amputation appeared to be the only chance for him; but in that lacerated flesh there was no longer a spot from which could be cut a shred."
It is easily seen how precarious and nominal has been Spanish rule on most of the islands of this vast archipelago. In the interior of the great island of Mindanao there is no system of control, no pretence even of maintaining order. It is a land of terror, the realm of anarchy and cruelty. There murder is a regular institution. A bagani, or man of might, is a gallant warrior who has cut off sixty heads. The number is carefully verified by the tribal authorities, and the bagani alone possesses the right to wear a scarlet turban. All the batos, or chiefs, are baganis. It is carnage organised, honoured, and consecrated; and so the depopulation is frightful, the wretchedness unspeakable.
The Mandayas are forced to seek a refuge from would-be baganis by perching on the tops of trees like birds, but their aerial abodes do not always shelter them from their enemies. They build a hut on a trunk from forty to fifty feet in height, and huddle together in it to pass the night, and to be in sufficient numbers to repulse their assailants. The baganis generally try to take their victims by surprise, and begin their attack with burning arrows, with which they endeavour to set on fire the bamboo roof. Sometimes the besiegers form a testudo, like the ancient Romans, with their locked shields, and advance under cover up to the posts, which they attack with their axes, while the besieged hurl down showers of stones upon their heads. But, once their ammunition is exhausted, the hapless Mandayas have nothing to do but witness, as impotent spectators, the work of destruction, until the moment comes when their habitation topples over and falls. Then the captives are divided among the assailants. The heads of the old men and of the wounded are cut off, and the women and children are led away as slaves.
The genius of destructiveness seems incarnate in this Malay race. The missionaries alone venture to travel among these ferocious tribes. They, too, have made the sacrifice of their lives, and, holding life worth nothing, they have succeeded in winning the respect of these savages in evangelising and converting them. They work for God and for their country, and the poorest and most wretched among the natives are not unwilling to accept the faith and to submit to Spain; but the missionaries insist on their leaving their homes and going to another district, to which, for many reasons, the neophytes gladly consent. After several days' journey a pueblo is founded. These villages have multiplied for many years past, forming oases of comparative peace and civilisation amid the barbarism by which they are surrounded, and are open to all who choose to seek a shelter in them. The more neophytes the pueblo holds, the less exposed it is to hostile incursions. Doctor Montano gives a very striking account of one of these daring missionaries, Father Saturnino Urios, of the Society of Jesus, who, in a single year, converted and baptised fifty-two hundred people.
There are thirty-one islands of considerable size in the Philippine group. Their area exceeds that of Great Britain. Pine and fir-trees are abundant. Large areas are suitable for wheat. There are eight ports open to commerce. The principal exports are hemp, sugar, rice, tobacco, cigars, coffee, and cocoa. Previous to the rebellion the annual value of the sugar output was $30,000,000. Now it is almost nothing.
The population of the islands is about eight million, of which more than three million are in Luzon, the insurgent stronghold.
"Under the administration of Spain the Philippines were subject to a governor-general with supreme powers, assisted by a 'junta of authorities' instituted in 1850, and consisting of the archbishop, the commander of the forces, the admiral, the president of the supreme court, etc.; a central junta of agriculture, industry, and commerce (dating from 1866), and a council of administration. In the provinces and districts the chief power is in the hands of alcades mayores and civico-military governors. The chief magistrate of a commune is known as the gobernadorcillo, or captain; the native who is responsible for the collection of the tribute of a certain group of families is the cabeca de barangay. Every Indian between the ages of sixteen and sixty, subject to Spain, was forced to pay tribute to the amount of $1.17, descendants of the first Christians of Cebu, new converts, gobernadorcillos, etc., being exempted. Chinese were subject to special taxes, and by a law of 1883 Europeans and Spanish half-castes were required to pay a poll-tax of $2.50."
The largest island in the archipelago is Luzon, with an area of 40,885 square miles, and on which is situated the city of Manila.
The population of Manila, as given in the consular reports for 1880, is in the walled town 12,000, and in the suburbs from 250,000 to 300,000.
The city was founded in 1571, and is situated on the eastern shore of a circular bay 120 nautical miles in circumference. It looks like a fragment of Spain transplanted to the archipelago of Asia. On its churches and convents, even on its ruined walls, overturned in the earthquake of 1863, time has laid the brown, sombre, dull gold colouring of the mother country. The ancient city, silent and melancholy, stretches interminably along its gloomy streets, bordered with convents whose flat facades are only broken here and there by a few narrow windows. But there is also a new city within the ramparts of Manila; it is sometimes called the Escolta, from the name of its central quarter, and this city is alive with its dashing teams, its noisy crowd of Tagala women, shod in high-heeled shoes, and every nerve in their bodies quivering with excitement. They are almost all employed in the innumerable cigar factories whose output inundates all Asia.
Here all sorts of nationalities elbow one another,—Europeans, Chinese, Malays, Tagalas, Negritos, in all some 260,000 people of every known race and of every known colour. In the afternoon, in the plain of Lunetto, carriages and equipages of every kind drive past, and pedestrians swarm in crowds around the military band stand in the marvellously picturesque square, lit up by the slanting rays of the setting sun, which purples the lofty peaks of the Sierra de Marivels in the distance, unfolds its long, luminous train on the ocean, and tinges with a dark reddish shade the sombre verdure of the city's sloping banks. This is the hour when all the inhabitants hold high festival, able at length to breathe freely after the heat of the noontide.
The primary cause of the Philippine rebellion was excessive taxation by Spain to raise money to carry on the war in Cuba. The islands were already overburdened with assessments to enrich Spanish coffers and to support the native poor. The additional money required for Cuba was the last straw.
Extreme cruelties began when General Aguirre arrived from Spain with reinforcements. He did not undertake to penetrate the mountains, but massacred the native population in the towns. When he took Santa Clara del Laguna he spared neither man, woman, nor child. The people in the mountains heard of this. They were almost wild with fury, but they were helpless.
It is stated, on what seems to be good authority, that ten thousand dead prisoners had been taken from prison in a year.
Three years ago it cost the government a little more than half a cent to collect every dollar of taxation. In Luzon, it now costs ninety-five cents. The only taxes that can be profitably collected are those in Manila. The rich islands of Leyte and Mindanao contribute practically nothing.
The first islands to revolt were Luzon, Mindanao, and Leyte. About one year and a half ago, agents of the insurrectionists appealed to the government at Washington to interfere in their behalf. The petition was received and filed.
In the hot season, during the greater part of the day, the heat is so intense that Europeans frequently fall with heat apoplexy. Even the Spaniards do their business in the early hours, whiling away the heat of the day in sleep. Late in the afternoon Manila begins to awaken.
The Escolta, or principal street, is crowded with loungers of all ranks and colours, each with a segarito stuck pen-like behind his ear. Caromattas, a species of two-wheeled hooded cabriolets peculiar to the natives, crowd the roadway, together with the buggies and open carriages of the foreign element.
At sunset the various tobacco stores close, and their thousand of employees turn out into the streets. They form a motley yet effective feature among the wayfarers. The Malay girls are usually very pretty, with languishing eyes, shaded by long lashes, and supple figures, whose graceful lines are revealed by their thin clothing. In fine weather their bare feet are thrust into light, gold-embroidered slippers. In wet weather they raise themselves on high clogs, which necessitates a very becoming swinging of the hips.
There is not a bonnet to be seen. Women of the better classes affect lace and flowers, those of the lower wear their own hair flowing down their backs, in a long, blue-black wave. Jewelry is profusely worn. Every woman sparkles with bracelets, earrings, and chains. Many of the males are similarly attired. Everybody smokes. Cigarettes at fifteen for a cent are in chief favour with the natives. Cigars at $1.50 a hundred are in favour with the foreigners. The handful of Englishmen resident in Manila are mostly bachelors, eager to make their pile and return to pleasanter surroundings. These take up their quarters in a large house at Sampalog, which is club and boarding-house combined, or in "chummeries," established in adjacent buildings.
The Spaniards classify all the Philippine islanders under three religious groups,—the infidels, who have held to their ancient heathen rights, the Moors, who retain the Mahometan religion of their first conquerors, and the infinitely larger class of Catholics.
An important, though numerically small, element in the population of the larger cities are the mestizos, or half-breeds, the result of admixture either between the Chinese or the Spanish and the natives. These mestizos occupy about the same social position as the mulattos of the United States. But they are the richest and most enterprising among the native population.
The most important personage is the cura, or parish priest. He is in most instances a Spaniard by birth, and enrolled in one or other of the three great religious orders, Augustinian, Franciscan, or Dominican, established by the conquerors. At heart, however, he is usually as much, if not more, of a native than the natives themselves. He is bound for life to the land of his adoption. He has no social or domestic tie, no anticipated home return, to bind him to any other place.
Next to the church, the greatest Sunday and holiday resort in a Philippine village is the cock-pit, usually a large building wattled like a coarse basket and surrounded by a high paling of the same description, which forms a sort of courtyard, where cocks are kept waiting their turn to come upon the stage, when their owners have succeeded in arranging a satisfactory match. It is claimed that many a respectable Malay father has been seen escaping from amid the ruins of his burning home bearing away in his arms his favourite bird, while wife and children were left to shift for themselves.
The diet of the Philippines has something to do, undoubtedly, with their gentle and non-aggressive qualities. They eschew opium and spirituous liquors. Their chief sustenance, morning, noon, and eve, is rice. The rice crop seldom fails, not merely to support the population, but to leave a large margin for export. Famine, that hideous shadow which broods over so many a rice-subsisting population, is unknown here. Even scarcity is of rare occurrence. In the worst of years hardly a sack of grain has to be imported. It is this very abundance which stands in the way of what the world calls progress. The Malay, like other children of the tropics, limits his labour by the measure of his requirements, and that measure is narrow indeed. Hence it is often difficult to obtain his services in the development of the tobacco, coffee, hemp, and sugar industries, which might make the archipelago one of the wealthiest and most prosperous portions of the earth's face.
Manila has been once before captured from Spain. The English were its captors, although they held it only a few months. It was in 1762, a few weeks after the English capture of Havana. Spain had been rash enough to side with France in the war usually known in this country as the French and Indian war. She was speedily punished for it.
The expedition against Manila was the plan of Colonel William Draper; he was made a brigadier-general for the expedition and put in command, with Admiral Cornish as his naval ally. There were nine ships of the line and frigates, several troop-ships, and a land force of twenty-three hundred including one English regiment, with Sepoys and marines.
On September 24, 1762, these forces were disembarked just south of Manila. The Archbishop of Manila, who was also governor-general of the island, collected and armed some ten thousand natives, as a reinforcement to the Spanish garrison of eight hundred. During the progress of the siege some daring attempts were made by the British to prevent the further construction of defences, but the assailants were repulsed with great slaughter.
A desperate sally was made by a strong body of natives, who "ran furiously on the ranks of the besiegers and fought with almost incredible ferocity, and many of them died, like wild beasts, gnawing with their teeth the bayonets by which they were transfixed."
On October 6th a breach was effected in the Spanish works, the English carried the city by storm, and gave it up for several hours to the ravages of a merciless soldiery. The Archbishop and his officers had retired to the citadel, but this could not be defended, and a capitulation was agreed upon, by which the city and port of Manila, with several ships and the military stores, were surrendered, while for their private property the Spanish agreed to pay as a ransom $2,000,000 in coin, and the same in bills on the treasury at Madrid. This last obligation was never paid.
APPENDIX B.
WAR-SHIPS AND SIGNALS.
There are ten principal classes of vessels in the United States navy, distinguished one from another by the differences in their uses and by their strength and speed. The general principle underlying their construction is that a vessel which is not strong enough to fight one of her own size must be fast enough to run away. Any vessel which is inferior in armament, and has no compensating superiority in speed, is outclassed. The same is true of any vessel which is equal in armament, but inferior in speed to an adversary.
The size of a vessel is measured by its displacement. This displacement is the number of tons of water she will push aside to make room for herself. A vessel of ten thousand tons will take engines of a certain weight and power to drive her at a given speed, and the larger the engine the larger the boilers and the greater the supply of coal required. Now, if it is necessary to give this vessel heavy protective armour and big guns, the additional weight of this equipment must be saved somewhere else, and usually in the engine-room, reducing the speed of the vessel. Following out this principle, it will be found that the fastest ships carry the lightest armament, and that those which carry the biggest guns in their batteries and the thickest armour on their sides are comparatively slow, the extreme variation among vessels of the same displacement being about eight or nine miles an hour.
In the matter of attack and defence, vessels are distinguished by the number and weight of the guns they carry, and by the distribution and thickness of their armour. Protective armour is of two kinds, that which surrounds the guns, so as to protect them from the enemy's fire, and that which protects the motive-power of the ship, so as to prevent the engines from being rendered useless.
The maximum of guns and armour and the minimum of speed are to be found in the first-class battle-ship, which is simply a floating fortress, so constructed that she need never run away, but can stand up and fight as long as her gun turrets revolve. The general plan of construction in a battle-ship is to surround the engines, boilers, and magazines with a wall of Harveyized steel armour eighteen inches or so thick, and seven or eight feet high, which extends about four feet below the water-line and three feet above it. This armour belt is not only on the sides of the ship, but is carried across it fore and aft, immediately in front of and behind the space occupied by the engines and magazines, and the whole affair is covered with a solid steel roof three or four inches thick. Outside this central fortress, and extending from it clear to the bow and stern at each end, is a protective deck of steel, three inches thick, which is placed several feet below the water-line. Everything above this deck and outside this fortress might be shot away, and the vessel would still float and fight.
On the roof of the fortress are placed the turrets containing the big guns. The largest of these guns, 13-inch calibre, weigh about sixty tons each, and will carry a shell weighing eleven hundred pounds about twelve miles. The turrets are circular, as a rule, large enough to hold two guns, and are made of face-hardened steel from fifteen to eighteen inches thick. They revolve within a barbette or ring of steel eighteen inches thick, which protects the machinery by which the guns are trained. Farther back on the roof of the fortress are other and lighter turrets made of 8-inch steel and carrying 8-inch guns, and at other places are stationed rapid-fire guns of lighter calibre, protected by thinner armour than that of the main belt.
If all this secondary battery is stripped off, leaving nothing but the turrets with the big guns, and these are brought down close to the water, and the armour belt is reduced to seven or eight inches in thickness, the type of vessel known as the monitor is reached. It is simply a battle-ship on a reduced scale. Such vessels are very slow and cannot stand rough weather, on account of their low freeboard. The speed of the monitors is seldom more than twelve or fourteen miles an hour, and they are intended to act in coast defence, usually in connection with shore-batteries. The best types in the navy are the Terror and the Puritan.
The speed of a battle-ship is about eighteen miles an hour. The best specimen in the navy is the Indiana, declared by its admirers to be the most powerful battle-ship afloat. Second-class battle-ships, like the Texas, are smaller vessels, usually about seven thousand tons, and they have a much lighter armour belt, about twelve inches, and do not carry so heavy an armament as ships of the first class. The Maine was a second-class battle-ship. Her largest guns were of 10-inch calibre; her armour was twelve inches thick, and her turrets were eight inches thick only.
The first step in reducing the armament from that of the battle-ship proper, at the same time increasing the speed, produces the armoured cruiser. This type of vessel may carry no guns of more than 8-inch calibre, and the armour belt is reduced to three or four inches in thickness. Instead of the roof over the armour belt, the protective deck is carried all over the ship, but it is not flat, nor is it of equal thickness, as in a battle-ship. On the top and in the middle it is three inches thick, but the sides are six inches and they slope abruptly to below the water-line. Between these sloping sides and the thin armour belt coal is stored, so that a shell would have to penetrate the outer belt, six or eight feet of coal, and a sloping belt of steel six inches thick, the total resistance of which is calculated to be equal to a solid horizontal armour plate fifteen inches thick.
A cruiser is not supposed to fight with a battle-ship, because it could not accomplish anything with its 8-inch guns against the 18-inch armour of its heavier rival, while one well-directed shot from the 12-inch guns of a battle-ship or monitor would probably sink any armoured cruiser afloat. For this reason the cruiser must be faster than the battle-ship, so that she can run away, and the weight that is saved in the armour belt and big guns is therefore put into the engine-room. The average speed of an armoured cruiser is about twenty-four miles an hour, and the best types of this class in the navy are probably the Brooklyn and New York.
Some vessels, like the Spaniard Vizcaya, are about half way between a battle-ship and a cruiser, having the heavy guns of the former and the speed of the latter. The Vizcaya, although a cruiser, carried 11-inch guns with a 12-inch armour belt, and had a speed of twenty-three miles an hour.
The next step in reducing armament and increasing speed, produced the protected cruiser, which carries no armour belt, but retains the protective deck, upon the sloping sides of which is stored the coal. The turrets disappear altogether, and there is usually only one 8-inch gun, the battery being principally made up of 4-inch rapid-fire guns and 6, 4, and 1-pounders. As this class of vessel is not able to cope with the armoured cruiser, it must be faster, for the general principle holds good that the weaker the vessel becomes in point of offensive weapons or defensive armour, the greater the necessity that she should be able to run away. The best types of the protected cruiser in the navy may be found in the Columbia and Minneapolis, which have a speed of about twenty-seven miles an hour.
The weakest class of all is composed of the unprotected cruisers, which have neither armour-belt nor protective deck, and carry only light batteries of rapid-fire guns. When these vessels are slow, like the Detroit, they are intended for long voyages and for duty in foreign countries, and are of little use in a sea fight. The very fast unprotected cruiser, like the American line steamers, St. Paul and St. Louis, attach little importance to their armament, and rely for protection upon stowing the coal behind the place occupied by the armour belt in other vessels. All the beautiful wood-work, which was so much admired in these vessels, was ripped out to make room for these coal-bunkers, which are sufficient to protect them from anything but the heaviest guns. On account of their extreme weakness as fighters, these cruisers are necessarily the fastest of all the large vessels, and can run away from anything. For this reason no concern was felt for the Paris by those who knew the principles which govern the safety of modern vessels.
The various types of cruisers are not expected to fight with any but vessels of their own class, which they may encounter in the discharge of similar duties, such as scouring the seas as the advance guard of the slower line of battle-ships, preying upon or escorting merchant vessels, blockading ports, and acting as convoys for troop-ships. Gunboats are simply light-draught cruisers, and are intended for use in shallow waters and rivers.
Torpedo-boats, as their name implies, depend entirely upon the torpedo as the weapon of attack, and they carry no guns except a very few light-calibre rapid-fires to keep off small boats. Their success depends on their ability to approach a vessel very rapidly, launch their torpedo, and retreat before they are detected and sunk. Speed is their great requisite, and a torpedo-boat like the Porter can speed thirty-two miles an hour. Naval experts consider their bark worse than their bite, because, with the modern system of lookouts and search-lights, and the accuracy and rapidity of the secondary batteries, it is impossible for a torpedo-boat to get within range without exposing itself to instant destruction, and after a torpedo-fleet has once met with a serious repulse, it is believed that it would be almost impossible to get the crews to go into action again.
The torpedo-boat destroyer, contrary to general belief, does not carry any heavy guns, but depends on its great speed and its ability to cripple a torpedo-boat with its 6-pounders while keeping out of range of the enemy's tubes. All torpedo-boat destroyers carry torpedo tubes themselves, so that they can be used against the enemy's battle-ships or cruisers if the occasion offers. The fastest boat in the United States navy is the destroyer Bailey, which can steam thirty-four miles an hour.
In a naval battle the success or failure of a fleet may depend on keeping open communication between the different vessels of the squadron engaged. Owing to the fact that the surface of the sea would often be obscured by the smoke of battle, the difficulty of this is apparent, and naval experts have been kept busy devising some method by which the flag-ship can communicate with the other vessels of the squadron at all times and under all conditions. So far nothing has been put in general service which meets this demand, but lately there have been experiments with the telephone, which, it is said, can be used without wires, by which signals can be projected by a vibrator on one vessel against a receiver on another. The Navy Department is keeping the details of this new system carefully to itself, as it desires to have the invention for the exclusive use of our own ships of battle.
The present method of communication is by the use of flags representing numerals which are displayed in the rigging; by the use of the Ardois system of lights for night work; by the Myer code of wigwag signals, and by the use of the heliograph. As it is of the utmost importance that the enemy should not read the message, the signal books on board a vessel are protected with the greatest care, and are destroyed along with the cipher code whenever it is seen that capture is inevitable. The semaphore system in use in the British navy was tried for a time aboard some of our vessels, but it never became popular, and has been abandoned.
In signalling by the navy code, the sentence to be sent is looked up in the code-book and its corresponding number is obtained. This number is never more than four figures, on account of the necessity of setting the signal with the least delay. The number having been obtained, the quartermaster in charge of the signal-chest proceeds to bend the flags representing the numerals to the signal halliards, so as to read from the top down. These flags represent the numerals from one to nine and cipher, and there is a triangular pennant termed a repeater, which is used in a combination where one or more numerals recur. The numbers refer to those found in the general signal-book, in which are printed all the words, phrases, and sentences necessary to frame an order, make an inquiry, indicate a geographical position, or signal a compass course. Answering, interrogatory, preparatory, and geographical pennants form part of this code; also telegraph, danger, despatch, and quarantine flags.
The signal, having been prepared, is hoisted and left flying until the vessel to which the message has been sent signifies that it is understood by hoisting what is called the answering pennant. If the number hoisted by the flag-ship is a preparatory order for a fleet movement, it is left flying until all the vessels of the fleet have answered, and then is pulled down, the act of pulling the signal down being understood as the command for the execution of the movement just communicated.
It is often necessary for a man-of-war to communicate with a merchant vessel, or with some other war-ship belonging to a foreign country. For this purpose the international code is also carried in the signal-chest. These signals are those in general use by all the merchant navies of the world for communication by day at sea. There are eighteen flags and a code pennant, corresponding to the consonants of the alphabet, omitting x and z. The code pennant is also used with these signals.
If a message is to be sent at night, the Ardois system of night signals, with which all our vessels carrying an electric plant are fitted, is employed. These signals consist essentially of five groups of double lamps, the two lamps in each group containing incandescent electric lamps, and showing white and red respectively. By the combination of these lights letters can be formed, and so, letter by letter, a word, and hence an order, can be spelled out for the guidance of the ships of the squadron. These lamps are suspended on a stay in the rigging, and are worked by a keyboard from the upper bridge.
On the smaller ships of the service, those which are not fitted with electric lighting, Very's night signals are used. This set includes the implements for firing and recharging the signals.
The latter show green and red stars on being projected from pistols made for them. The combination in various ways is used to express the numbers from one to nine and cipher, so that the numbers, to four digits, contained in the signal-book, may be displayed. The Myer wigwag system is employed either by day or by night. Flags and torches are employed. The official flag is a red field with a small white square in the centre; the unofficial flag is the same with the colours reversed. The operator, having attracted the attention of the ship which is to be signalled by waving the flag or torch from right to left, transmits his message by motions right, left, and front, each motion the element of a letter of the alphabet, the letter being made up of from one to four motions.
When circumstances permit, the heliograph is sometimes used. The rays of the sun are thrown by a system of mirrors to the point with which it is desired to communicate, and then interrupted by means of a shutter, making dots and dashes as used in the Morse telegraph code. This system is used only when operations ashore are going on, as the rolling of the ship would prevent the concentration of the sun's rays.
The present systems of flag signalling are products of experience in the past, and are the natural growth of the cruder flag system in use during the War of 1812, and in the Civil War. There have been some changes in the construction of flags, and the scope of communication has been enlarged, but otherwise our forefathers talked at sea in much the same way as we do now. Of course the Ardois light signal is something very modern. In old times they communicated at night either with coloured lights or by torches, and, as there was no alphabetical code in those days, the process was by means of flashes (representing numbers in the signal book), and it was long and tedious.
APPENDIX C.
SANTIAGO DE CUBA.
Santiago is the most easterly city on the southern coast of Cuba, second only to Havana in its strategic and political importance, and is the capital of the eastern department, as well as its most flourishing seaport.
The harbour, now become famous as a theatre of action where American heroism was displayed, is thus described by Mr. Samuel Hazard, in his entertaining work on Cuba:
"Some one now remarks that we are near to Cuba; but, looking landward, nothing is seen but the same continuous mountains which we have had for the last twelve hours, except where, low down on the shore, there seems to be a slight opening in the rocky coast, above which stands, apparently, some dwelling-house. However, time tells, and in a half hour more we discover the small opening to be the entrance to a valley, and the dwelling-house to be the fort of the Cabanas. Still, no town and no harbour; and yet ahead we see, high upon a rocky cliff, a queer-looking old castle, with guns frowning from its embrasures, and its variegated walls looking as if they were ready to fall into the waves dashing at their base. That is the Morro Castle, which, with the battery of Aguadores, the battery of the Estrella, and the above named Cabanas, commands the approaches to the harbour and town of Cuba.
"The rocky shore above and below the castle has scattered along it the remains of several vessels, whose captains, in trying to escape from the dangers of the storm, have vainly sought to enter the difficult harbour, and the bleaching timbers are sad warnings to the mariner not to enter there except in the proper kind of weather. And now we are up to the castle, and a sharp turn to the left takes us into a narrow channel and past the Morro and the battery adjoining, whose sentry, with a trumpet as big as himself, hails our vessel as she goes by; and soon we find ourselves in a gradually enlarging bay, around which the mountains are seen in every direction. As yet we have seen no town, and no place where there will likely be one; but now a turn to the right, and there, rising from the water's side almost to the top of the mountains, is seen Santiago de Cuba, with its red roofs, tall cathedral towers, and the green trees of its pretty Paseo, lighted up by the evening sun, forming a brilliant foreground to the hazy blue mountains that lie behind the city....
"Rising gradually from the bay, upon the mountainside, to the high plain called the Campo del Marte, the city of Santiago reaches in its highest point 160 feet above the level of the sea, and commands from almost any portion superb views of the bay at its feet and of the majestic ranges of mountains that surround it. With a population of about fifty thousand inhabitants, it has regularly laid out streets and well-built houses of stone in most portions of the city; though being built as it is on the side of a hill, many of the streets are very steep in their ascent, and from the constant washing of the rains, and the absence of side-walks, are anything but an agreeable promenade.
"The town was founded in 1515, by Diego Velasquez, considered the conqueror of the island, who landed here in that year on his first voyage; and it was from here that Juan de Grijalva, in 1518, started on his expedition for the conquest of Yucatan, being followed by Hernando Cortes, who, however, was compelled to stop at Havana (as it was called then), now Batabano. In 1522 the distinctions of 'City' and 'Bishopric' were bestowed upon the town, having been taken from the older town of Baracoa, where they had been bestowed in honour of that place being the first European settlement; and in 1527 Fr. Miguel Ramirez de Salamanca, first bishop of the island, arrived and established here his headquarters.
"In 1528 Panfilo de Narvaez set sail from here on his expedition for the conquest of Florida, where he met his fate and found a tomb.
"In 1528 Hernando de Soto arrived here with nearly one thousand men, having been authorised, in addition to the command of his Florida expedition, to assume that of the whole island of Cuba.
"In 1553 the city was captured by four hundred French arquebusiers, who took possession of it until a ransom of $80,000 was paid, the invaders remaining nearly a month in the city, and as late as 1592, so frequent were the attacks of pirates on this town, that it is related the place was almost depopulated by the inhabitants taking refuge at Bayamo, some distance in the interior.
"In 1608, the cathedral having been ruined by an earthquake, the Bishop Lalcedo removed his residence to Havana, and almost all the diocesans, as well as the ecclesiastical chapter, did the same, which action created great excitement, the superior governor and chief of the island opposing it.
"The Parroquial Church of Havana was about to be made into a cathedral, through the efforts of the prelate, Armen Dariz, but these were opposed by the captain-general, Pereda. The bishop then excommunicated said chief and all in his vicinity, all the clergy even going in procession to curse and stone his house.
"In 1662 there was a serious attack made upon the place by a squadron of fifteen vessels under Lord Winsor, whose people landed at the place now known as the 'Aguadores,' and to the number of eight hundred men marched without opposition on the city, of which they took possession, after repulsing a small force sent out to meet them. The invaders, it appears, partook freely of the church-bells, carried off the guns from the forts, took charge of the slaves, and not finding the valuables they anticipated, which had been carried off by the retreating inhabitants, they, in their disappointment, blew up the Morro Castle, and destroyed the cathedral, remaining nearly a month in possession of the city.
"It was not until 1663, therefore, that the castle now known as the Morro was rebuilt, by order of Philip I., and at the same time the fortresses of Santa Catalina, La Punta, and La Estrella.
"In July and August, 1766, a large portion of the city was ruined by earthquakes, more than one hundred persons being killed.
"The town has the honour of having for its first mayor, or 'alcalde,' Hernando Cortes; and it is said that the remains of Diego Velasquez, the first explorer and conqueror, were buried there in the old cathedral. It is related in corroboration of this fact, that on the 26th of November, 1810, on digging in the cemetery of the new cathedral, the broken slab of his tomb was found, seven and a half feet under ground, the inscription upon which is illegible, with the exception of a few Latin words giving name and date."
APPENDIX D.
PORTO RICO.
Porto Rico was discovered by Columbus in November, 1493. In 1510 Ponce de Leon founded the town of Caparra, soon after abandoned, and now known as Pureto Viejo, and in 1511, with more success, the city of San Juan Bautista, or better known simply as San Juan. The native inhabitants were soon subdued and swept away. In 1595 the capital was sacked by Drake, and in 1598 by the Earl of Cumberland. In 1615 Baldwin Heinrich, a Dutchman, lost his life in an attack on the Castello del Morro. The attempt of the English, in 1678, was equally unsuccessful, and Abercrombie, in 1797, had to retire after a three days' strife. In 1820 a movement was made toward the declaration of independence on the part of the Porto Ricans, but Spanish supremacy was completely reestablished by 1823. The last traces of slavery were abolished in 1873.
San Juan is the ideal city and spot of the whole island, saving that it is well fortified, for it is the coolest, the healthiest port, with thirty-eight feet of water in the harbour, and twenty-eight feet of water alongside the coal wharves. It is the only port on the island with fortifications. There are barracks in a few of the larger towns, but outside of the eight thousand or ten thousand troops there are very few fighting men on the island.
The volunteers are not looked upon as a great factor in fighting by those who know them, and are almost all Spaniards. The Guardia Civil is made up of the best of the Spanish army, and commands great respect. The Porto Rican civilians do not have to enter the army service unless they please, and very few of them please.
The defences of San Juan are good. San Felippe del Morro fortress is at the entrance of the harbour. It is the principal defence from the sea, and has three rows of batteries. It is separated by a strong wall from the city, which lies at the back of it, but communication between the city and fort is had by a tunnel.
The roads of Porto Rico are, for the most part, bad. There are some notable exceptions. There is a splendid road built by the Spanish government from Ponce to San Juan. It is about eighty-five miles long, and a young Porto Rican told the writer that he frequently went over it on his bicycle, and it was splendid all the way. Another road from Guayama, meeting the Ponce road at Cayey, has been recently finished. The scenery is the most beautiful in the West Indies, for tropical wild flowers are all over the island, and large tree ferns and magnificent plants everywhere abound. There are no venomous snakes nor wild animals of any kind in Porto Rico. Oranges and other tropical fruits thrive in Porto Rico, but they are not specially cultivated.
Some years ago a railway around the island was projected, but only three sections have been built. There is one to the north from San Juan to Camuy, one on the west from Aguadilla to Mayaguez, and one on the south from Yauco to Ponce. Any one wishing to travel around the coast from San Juan to Ponce would be obliged to continue their journey by stage-coaches, one from Camuy to Aguadilla, and one from Mayaguez to Yauco.
San Juan has about forty thousand inhabitants, and Ponce has almost thirty thousand. There are many towns of between twelve thousand and thirty thousand people. The buildings are low and are of wood. There are a few three-story buildings in Ponce, and these are the latest examples of modern construction.
APPENDIX E.
THE BAY OF GUANTANAMO.
On the extreme southeastern coast of Cuba, some distance east of Santiago, is Guantanamo, or Cumberland Bay. It is an exceedingly beautiful sheet of water, with a narrow entrance, guarded by high hills. It extends twelve miles inland, with a level coast-line to the westward, and high hills on the north and east.
Five miles from the entrance is the little town of Caimanera, from which runs a railroad to the town of Guantanamo, twelve miles distant, with its terminus at the town of Jamaica. There are two and one-half square miles of anchorage, with a depth of forty feet, so far inside as to be fully protected from the wind. For vessels drawing twenty-four feet or less there are about two more square miles of harbourage.
FOOTNOTES
1 See Appendix, Part A, for general description of the Philippine Islands and their inhabitants.
2 See Appendix B for types of war-ships and methods of signalling while in action.
3 See Chapter X.
4 See Chapter X.
5 See Chapter X.
6 See Chapter X.
7 See Chapter X.
8 See Chapter X.
9 See Chapter X.
10 See Chapter X.
11 See Chapter X.
12 See Chapter X.
13 See Chapter X.
14 See Chapter X.
15 See Chapter X.
16 See Chapter X.
17 See Chapter X.
18 See Chapter X.
19 See Chapter X.
20 See Chapter X.
21 See Appendix A for description of Manila.
22 See Chapter X.
23 See Chapter X.
24 See Chapter X.
25 See Chapter X.
26 See Chapter X.
27 See Chapter X.
28 See Chapter X.
29 See Chapter X.
30 See Chapter X.
31 See Chapter X.
32 See Chapter X.
33 For types of war-ships see Appendix B.
34 See Appendix C for description of Santiago Harbour.
35 See Chapter XVII.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
The illustrations, which were printed on separate pages in the original edition, have been placed between paragraphs near the original positions, which can be seen in the list of illustrations.
The following changes have been made to the text:
page 19, "last of March" changed to "last days of January" page 22, "Viscaya" changed to "Vizcaya" page 51, "procotol" changed to "protocol" page 80, italics added to "Baltimore's" page 80, "San Juan de Austria" changed to "Don Juan de Austria" page 81, "Valasco" changed to "Velasco" page 85, quote added before "Capt. Frank Wildes" page 89, "flagship" changed to "flag-ship" page 133, double "the" removed before "gunboat" page 158, "first class" changed to "first-class" page 166, "Albermarle" changed to "Albemarle" page 194, "armored" changed to "armoured" page 264, double quote removed after "dying.'" page 270, "of" changed to "off" page 309, "organized" changed to "organised" page 321, "flag-staff" changed to "flagstaff" page 370, "WARSHIPS" changed to "WAR-SHIPS" page 383, "Mono" changed to "Morro"
Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling of names in citations has not been changed.
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