THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 326 till he died. Hobson was much affected when told of his gallant and chivalrous adversary's death. Three times the shells set the Mercedes on fire, but the flames were promptly extinguished. Two officers werekilled and four men wounded at the Morro barracks, the totalloss of the troops being three killed and eighteen wounded. Some houses nearMorro and Socapa and on Smith Cay were damaged, an ironbridge on the coast line was injured, andinplaces rails and sleepers were broken,and the roadbed torn upby the shells. The ground beyond the line for a couple of miles inland was strewn in places with thefragmentsof shells,chiefly six-and eightinch projectiles. Altogether it was a smallresult for such an expenditure of ammunition, and affords a striking proof of the uncertainty of bombardments even by skilled gunners with modern weapons, and without having to face any return fire.

matter of fact, he did not evendismount a gun, and the Socapa battery fired twenty-sevenshots, and that of Punta Gorda three. They did not fire more because between the heavy rain and the smoke from the tremendous fire of the Americans they could not see ; andImyself happened to see the three shots fired from the Punta Gorda battery, two of which weretowards the end, and the third wasthe last shot fired, as Iremarkedat the time."

No wonder there were no casualties in the American fleet. The only ship hit was the Massachusetts,whichhad oneofher fighting-tops damaged. The two squadrons were in action against batteries which attempted no reply. Evenif theyhadanswered therewereonly three modernlong-range guns on the whole sea front of Santiago. The fleet thereforehad no opposition to overcome. It fired at least 1,500 heavy shells,perhaps twice that number. The fire was at times terrific in its intensity. Mr.Ramsden notes how his wife asked him " whatthe sound like a railway moving in the air was, and was considerably surprised to find it proceededfrom the shells flying about." Hobson watched the bombardment from his window in the Morro tower,and tellshow furious the fire was. " Each shell," he says, " sang a different tune. The smaller shells moaned and screeched as they passed, but the 13-inch shells (each weighing nearlyhalf a ton) left a sound behind them like that of the sudden and continued smashing of a huge pane of glass. The crackling was sharp and metallic, something like sharp thunder withoutthe roar, and the sound continued,but decreased after the shell had gone. In many instances the shells struck projecting points of rock, and ricochetting, spun end overend across the hills. The sound they made as theystruck again andagain waslike the short sharp puffs of a locomotivestarting with a heavy train." No wonderthere wassomething like a panic among the civil populationof the city;butfor all that, thetroopsandthevolunteers turnedoutpromptly whenthe rumour came that the Americans were trying to land to the eastward. And now as to the actual damage done by this heavy fire. Several shells fell in the bay, but the only ship hit was theReina Mercedes. Six were killed and seventeen woundedonboardof her. One of the fatally injured was Lieutenant Acosta, whohad taken care of Hobson when he wasbrought on board a few days before. A shell took off his right leg, buthe bravely continued togiveorders as to the removal and care of the other wounded The rumour current in Santiago during the bombardment that the Americans were trying to land was well founded, though the descent wasmadenot near thecity, but seventeen miles away to the eastwardat Daiquiri or Baiquiri, a seaside village betweenthe Sierra Maestra and the shore. At Daiquiri there w-as a smalliron pier,usedin shipping minerals from the neighbouring mines, and close to the pier was a station on the coast line. The possession of the pier, the only one on the coast for miles, would be of great value to an invading army, and if the Spaniards had known their business better they would havepromptly destroyedit. During the bombardment the lighter cruisers ran down to Daiquiriand opened with their quick-firers on the village, which washeldby a Spanish detachment of cavalry and infantry under Colonel Aldea. At the same time a small force of insurgents appeared on the wooded slopes above the place. Aldea withdrew his men, and his report asserted that he had no casualties, and that the only men hit by the American shells were some of the Cubans who approached the village before the gunners on the ships realised that it was evacuated. As soon as Daiquiri was clear of the eneury 500 Americanmarines were landed at the pier and joined hands with the insurgents. Aldea fell back into the hills, skirmishing at long range. The Americans held Daiquiri till next day and then re-embarked.

The reasons for this retreat are not quiteclear. They seem to have been that the Cubans were not so strong in the neighbourhood ashad been anticipated; the marines were wanted for work