THE FIRST SHOTS. 275 twenty-five wide at its broadest part. The mouth of the bay is about twelve miles across, but it is divided by the high rocky island of Corregidor into two entrances— the northern, about two miles wide, and the southern or "great entrance" (the Boca Grande),nearly ten miles from shore to shore. The depth of water in both entrances makes defence by submarine minesverydifficult evenif the materialhadbeen available. Montojo had mounteda few guns in a battery on Corregidor Island, some of them beingtaken from oneof his ships for thepurpose. But although the material could have been obtained from the electric lighthouses of the harbour, the steamers in port, and the arsenal and observatory, no effort seems to have been made to equip the battery with searchlights. If these had existed they would probably have had the effect of keeping the garrison on the qui vive with the excitement of working them.

As it was, a very poor look-out seems to have been kept at Corregidor.

shot from the islands touched them. Once past Corregidor, the engines of the squadron slowed down till there was barely steerage way on the ships, and as thefleet went up the bay the men laydown to sleepbeside their guns.

Thecourse takenwasnorth-east,up themiddle c>f thebay. Inthe grey of the Sunday morning the fleet was offManila about five miles from the shore,headingdirectly for Sangley Point, which bore nearly due south. It was perfectly calm, without a breath ofwind,and across the water came the musicalchime of the church bells in the great city.

The first shots were fired a little beforefive a.m. They came from three batteries of heavy guns at the new harbour works. All the shells flew high over the decks of the squadron. The Concordreplied with two shots, but wasimmediately ordered to cease firing, for it would have been impossibleto seriously engage the batteries at Manila without risking the destruction of the city, and this Dewey was anxious to avoid. His objective was Montojo's fleet, which lay ahead of him under theguns of Cavite arsenaland of the battery on SangleyPoint.

Saturday evening was bright and clear with some lightfrom the moon, which was just past its first quarter. At eight p.m.the fleet,cleared tor action, stood in towards the Boca Grande, keepingnearer the mainlandside of the channel towards Corregidor. The formation was " line ahead." The flagship Olympia led the way,then came in succession the Baltimore, the Raleigh, the Petrel, the Concord, the Boston, with the despatch-boatandthe twotransportsastern. The whole line wasmore than a mileand a halflong. The engines were going slowly, all lights were screened, and the dark hulls glided in deep silence between the headlands. All eyes were fixed onCorregidor, whichrose likea black mass in the dim moonlight. Everyone was expecting the flash of a hostilegun as the flagship cameup abreast of the island. But there was no sign of life fin the shore. Were the Dons asleep? or was the Commodore's information incorrect as to the modern guns that hadbeen mountedto protect the Boca Grande ? Now the Baltimore has passed unchallenged, now the Raleigh and the little Petrel. At last the Boston has the island abeam, when suddenly a long red flash leaps from theFraile battery and the report of a heavy gun booms across the sea. The shot went whistling high in air over the R,i Bang went another gun, and this time the fel! short. The Raleigh, Concord and . promptly replied, sending a shower of shells into Corregidor and Fraile, which replied until the ships were out of range, but not a single The Spanish admiraldoes not appear to have beenawareof theapproach ofthe hostilesquadron till he saw it steaming towards Cavite on the Sunday morning. His ships cleared for action, but only about half of them had steam up and were able to get under weigh. The old wooden Castilla had herengines broken down, and was moored fore and aft near Sangley Point, to act as a floating battery. Her starboard guns hael been dismounted and sent to Corregidor, but her port guns were trained on the approaching American squadron. The Velasco and the Dun Antonio de Ulloa were anchored near the arsenal. The)-were in the hands of the dockyard staff, undergoing repair. Montojo's flagship steamed out towards the open water of the bay, accompanied by some of the smaller ships. They formed in line of battle across the opening of Cavite Bay, their left near Sangley Peiint.

All was now grim silence for a few minutes, as Dewey's fleet — the Stars and Stripes flying from every mast, the Olympia leading— bore down in "line ahead" on the expectant Spaniards. Pearly as it was, the heat of the tropical summer day was already intense,andthe men in turreit ami batter) were stripped to the waist. The crews Stood beside their guns. The Commodore was on the bridge of his flagship.

with three of hisofficers;butGridley, thecaptain