THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 264 officer who stoodon the bridge of the New York beside the Admiral, andwatched,witha powerful telescope,the bursting shells,noted that noneof themhaddoneanyserious damagetothebattery, and the gunners at Maya kept up asteady fire all the time. None of their shells actually hit the Puritan, but all round her the flying jets of water showed that they were not far from their mark.

And now the batteries on the opposite point powerful guns as were now in action. The Spanish gunners were firing slowly- and deliberately, but not oneshot from thebatteries actually hit theships, though several fell close to them, or flew screaming high in air above the funnels andbetweentheir masts. The look-outs in the tops of the ships could see that on the other hand the American fire waswell directed. Shell after shell burstin theearthworks,and theflying showers of debris showed that the explosions THE rr.S. MONITOR " PURITAN."

joinedin the engagement. A shot from Rubal Caya struck the water just a hundred yards ahead of the New York, another from Punta Gorda flew high over her deck. Lying broadside on to the batteries, the New York replied with five of her 8-inch guns, two from each barbette and one from the starboard snonson amidships. All her smaller guns on that side joined in,and a signal to the Cincinnati called the cruiser up to lie to the westward of the flagship and assist her in hammering away at the batteries on Sabanilla Point, the Puritan devoting al! her attention to those onMaya.

For a few minutes the fire from the iliree American ships was very heavy. Wrapped in clouds of smoke, they were steaming nearerand nearer the batteries till the range was reduced to about 3,000 yards, a short distance for such were rapidly destroying the Spanish defences. The first shot hadbeen firedfrom Mayaat three minutes to one, at a quarter past the hour the batterieson bothpoints weresilent,and Sampson signalled to cease fire and resume station off the port. As the ships turned slowly with silent, smoking guns, Rubal Caya fired a last shot, which fell between the Puritan and the York. The monitorreplied with a 12-inch from her stern turret. It struck the battery and sent up a shower of rubbish sixty feet into the air. To those who watched the shot from the bridgeof the flagship, it seemed that a gun had been dismounted and all the gunnerskilled.

The first report of theMatanzasbombardment from Spanish sources admitted that a good deal of damage had been done to the batteries,and that several men had been killed. It was also