THE TAKING OF GUANTANAMO. 327 elsewhere, and the arrivalof the invading army was not so near at hand as had been anticipated when the occupation of the village and pier was ordered, though the embarkation of thetroops at Tampa had actuallybegun.

had been hoped that on the appearance of the squadron the Cuban insurgents would come down in force and secure thegroundon the east of the port,but they failed to put in anappearance, so the actual occupation of Playa del Este had to bedeferred tillthe arrivalof troops from the States. The American staff seems at this period not tohave actually decided when the descent was to be made, for on theday that Daiquiri was evacuatedAdmiralSampsontook stepsto occupy Port Guantanamo,nearlyfortymiles east of Santiago. Athalf-past five onTuesday morning the cruiserMarblcliead,theauxiliary cruisersSt.Louis and Yankee, and two gunboats, steamed into the outer bay of Port Guantanamo,just as the sun rose over the sea. The Spaniards were evidently unprepared for the visit, and made a very small show of resistance. An old battery on the east point, at the entrance to the inner bay, and another near the town of Caimamera, fired a few shots at the largeships, failing,however, to hit them, but under the storm of shells discharged from the quick-firers in reply the gunners rapidly evacuated the batteries. On the point at the eastern side of the outer bay known as Playa del Este there was a telegraph station, into which ran the shore ends of cables connected with the Haytian submarine telegraph, and another cable ran across the bay to Caimamera, linking the cable station with the landlines to Santiago. TheMarblclieadknocked the cable hut to pieces with a couple of shells, and the gunboats grappled and cut three of the cables. This operation deprived the Spaniards at Santiago of the line by which they usually communicated with Europe. Henceforth they were only able to send messages by a roundabout route through Havana, Cienfuegos, and the South American lines.

The first of these, a battalion of marines,850 strong, under Colonel Huntington, arrived off Guantanamo on board the transport Panther from New York on the Friday morning. A formidable squadron had been detached from the blockading fleet to cover their landing. The Marblchcad, the Yankee, and the two gunboats had been watching the port since the bombardment of Tuesday. On Thursday evening she wasjoinedby the battleship Oregon,the torpedo boatPorter, and two colliers. Early on Friday afternoon the ships entered the outer bay, the Oregon leading the line. A Spanish camp and blockhouse on the shore were so hurriedly evacuated when the ships opened fire that the first landing parties found watches and other personal property in the tents, and the Spanish flag was still flying from the flagstaff. It was hauled down and the Stars and Stripes raised in its place. The Spaniards, as they abandoned Caimamera, set fire to the little town. The marines encamped on the hill near Playa del Este, andpushed out a line of pickets into the dense bush and broken ground in their front.

All was quiet during the Friday night, but about three on the following afternoon firing began in the bush. Spanish guerillas, well armedwith Mauser rifles and evidently experts in bush fighting, were stalking and driving in the pickets. As they fell back towards the ridge the fire became heavier, always from invisible foes, and bullets began to whistle into the camp. A sergeant and two men were shot dead while the pickets wereretiring, and their bodies lay for awhile on the ground held by the enemy. They were recovered a little later. The Spaniards had taken their hats, boots,and cartridge belts. The shots that killedthem had been fired at close quarters. At long range the bullet of the Mauser repeating-rifle makes a small clean-cut wound, but at short ranges, or if the bullet has been deformed by a ricochet, the wound is large, jagged, and gaping. The sight of such wounds was something unfamiliar to the American officers and soldiers, and they formed the hast}' conclusion that the marks on the bodies of their comrades indicated brutal There wa a small Spanish gunboat lying off Caimamera, but she took refuge in the inner bay, where report said there were a couple of colliers waiting for Cervera. No attempt was made to capture and bring them out, for it was believed that the entrance to Joa Bay was heavily mined. So far as it went the operation was a complete success, but this was only its first stage. Sampson meant to securepossession of the Playa del Este point in order to establish cable communication thence with the United States;he further wished to holdGuantanamo Bay as a shelter for his small craft in case of bad weather,and a place where he could form a coaldepot for the blockadingfleet. It might also be used as a landing-place for the army, though the distance from Santiago was against this. It