THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 258 afternoon the lighter ships extended in a long line east and west, the flagship and the two big ironclads in the centre heading direct for Havana, and the torpedo boats keeping up connection between them and the rest of the squadron. Before nightfall the United States warships were thus in position to watch the whole of the coast from Bahia Honda on the west to Cardenas on the east. It was afterdark when the ships under Sampson's immediate command came in sight of the entrance to HavanaHarbour.

from Morro and Santa Clara were only signal guns loaded with blank cartridge,conveyingto the garrison of Havana the tidings that " the Yankees" were at last in sight. All day from the seaward forts anxious eyes had watchedfor the arrival of Sampson's ships It was even anticipated that they might open fire upon the harbour andcity in the courseof the afternoon. The sun wentdown, and still there was no sign of their approach. At last the searchlight of Morro,sweeping the sea,revealed their presence.

The alarm rangout, and the guns weremanned in the forts andbatteries, the troops wereunder arms on their parades, strong patrols appeared in the streets. Itmight be that the approach of the enemy wouldbe the signal for an attack by the rebels from the landside,orfor an outbreak in the city. But there was no attempt at a hostile movement on shore. And the enemy's ships kept well off from the harbour mouth, drifting with silent guns, and looking, to the crowds that linedthe shore,like a whiteghostly fleeton the dark sea, as the glare of the searchlights revealedtall funnels,tapering masts with their fighting-tops andsignal-yards, and below, the long rifled guns thatprojected from turrets and barbettes. It was a night of wild excitement on shore;but aftermidnight theAmerican ships were seen to be moving out seaward, perhaps anxious about a possible torpedo attack.

The first alarm was o\er, and soon Havana became used to the novel sensation of seeing from time to time the enemy's cruisers far out upon the sea, watching the harbour mouth.

The shore on that part of the coast is high and rocky,and fringed in places with outlying reefs of coral,and rugged ledges indicated only by the surf that breaks over them. But the water a mile from the shore is a hundred fathoms, deep, so that a blockading fleet has neither anchoring ground nor shelter. The land-lockedharbour of Havana is approached by a narrow cleftin therocky coast not more than a quarter of a mile wide. On the easternpoint of the entrance stands the old weather-beaten fortress known as the Morro Castle, with a tall lightli.use tower behind its seaward bastion, and below a casematedbattery of heavy modern guns. A smaller work,the Punta Fort, stands on the opposite point,with the town behind it running along the coast and the shore of the harbour. Right and left of the entrance other batterieslook out to the sea. Powerfulelectric searchlights had been mounted on Morro and on some of the other forts, and soon afternightfall these revealed the New York and her two consorts, thebattleships, standing in towardsthe shore under easy steam.

In the first days of the blockade, Admiral Sampson's fleetmade severalcaptures. Some of them weresmall coasting craft picked up off the north coast of Cuba ;others, steamersbound for Havana. On board of one of these were a number of Spanish officers on their way to join Marshal Bianco's army. The blockade ol southern coast as far as Cienfuegos was not attempted tillthe second week of the war, and thanks to this delay a veryvaluable pri theUnited States squadron. The Spanish liner Monserrai, Captain Deschamps. hadleft Cadi:in the middle of April, and wasmore than halfway across the Atlantic when her commander heard from a passing steamer that war had begun and the Americans wereblockading Cuba. Hi bound for Havana, and had on board a thousand soldiers, treasure for the army to the amoi overhalf amillionsterling,and a cargoof quickfiring guns,rifles, and ammunition. He decided that to try to enter Havana Harbour would be At once thelights in the lanternof the lighthouse were extinguished, and six guns roared out from Morro, six more from the Santa Clara battery away to the westward. On board the American ships the flashes from the batteries and the report ofgun after gun booming over the sea suggested the idea that the Spaniards had opened fire on the fleet;but the ships were nearly five miles off the shore,and as no shells were heard whistling through the air, it was supposed that the enemy had misjudged the distance, and that his shot were falling short.

Some of the eager young officers were anxious to open fire in reply, but Sampson forbad, it, and the Spanish guns were soon silent. Only their powerful searchlights still played upon the fleet at intervals.

As a matter of fact, no shotted gun had been sued from the shore that night. The shots