keep their secret they will be able to send other expeditions in the
same way.

General Weyler has other anxieties on his mind just now. He is expecting
the arrival of a new floating dock which has been built for him in
England, at a cost of $900,000.

This great dock is intended to be used as a dry-dock; that is to say, it
is so made that ships can be lifted clear out of the water by it, so
that they can be repaired, cleaned, or painted.

There is no dry-dock in Cuban harbors, and it is very necessary to have
one. Ships that cruise long in tropical waters are very apt to get their
hulls covered with barnacles and sea-weed. These growths after a while
prevent the ship from cutting easily through the water, and decrease her
speed. All ships that are long in these southern seas have to have their
hulls scraped every now and then. Many of the war-vessels that are now
in Cuban waters have been a year without this necessary cleaning, and to
make it possible to do the work in Cuba, without the loss of time
necessary to go back to the Spanish navy yards, the Government has gone
to the expense of building the floating dock.

There have been no end of difficulties about the dock. When it was
finished it was so big and heavy that it was very doubtful if any ship
could safely tow it across the Atlantic. The shipbuilders added a false
bow and stem to the dock, to make it cut its way through the water a
little, and in this fashion it is now being brought to Cuba; but the
gravest doubts are entertained as to the possibility of its ever
reaching its destination. It is feared that in case of a severe storm
the hawser, or strong rope by which it is towed, will part, and the