All this time the American Admiral had to hold on with the naval arm; and it was the obvious game of Spain, if she meant to fight and could not cope with the Americans in the West Indies, to send all her available ships and overwhelm us in the East Indies.

At the same time the German, French, Russian and Japanese men-of-war represented the interest of the live nations of the earth in the Philippines.

As fast as possible Admiral Dewey was re-enforced; but it was not until the two monitors, the Monterey and Monadnock, arrived, the latter after the arrival of General Merritt, that the Admiral felt that he was safely master of the harbor.

He had no heavily armored ships to assail the shore batteries within their range, and might be crippled by the fire of the great Krupp guns.

It was vital that the health of the crews of his ships should be maintained, and the fact that the men are and have been all summer well and happy is not accidental.