THE TRANSPORT OF THE TROOPS 341 isequally important. This simpleprinciple had notbeengrasped by the amateur staff officers at Tampa quay, with the result that some of the batteries had their necessaryequipment divided in oddlots betweentwo or even three ships.

On Monday-, June 6th, the troopsbegan to go on board,and on the following day the first detachment put out to sea without waiting for the spatched to bring them back. She overtook them all in the course of the evening and the following morning. They hadnot kept together, and one of them, the liner City of Washington, had made such good speed that she wasalready in sight of the north coast of Cuba when the Castine overtook andsignalled her back.

During the following days the embarkation SPANISH FORT AND W/ I K NEAR MARIANAS,I'UBA.

whole force to be embarked. Before evening there came by telegraph from Washington peremptory orders to recall the transports. Information had reached the government that steamers with fighting-tops and the general appearanceof Spanish cruisers had been seenoff the Atlantic coast. The information was vague andunverified,butit was felt that no risks were to be run of the transports being caught at sea by some daring Spanish raider. They were to get back to Tampa till the news could be investigated. So the cruiser Castine was dewent quietly on. These were the anxiousdays during which Sampson was vainly expecting the port and the American marines were holding doggedly on to the ground they had occupied on theshores of Guantanamo Bay. By theiothof June 16,000 menhadbeenembarked the transports were filled up, and it was under stood that the rest of the expeditionary force would be taken on a second trip. Still,the order' to sail were withheld,for the phantom fleet oi Spanish cruisers was reported as hovering some wherein the North Atlantic. All the while the