was also ablaze. Amid the crash and roar of the ponderous guns sounded
the shrieks and cries of mortal agony from the Spanish crews, victims
to the matchless gunnery of the Americans.

[Illustration: THE "OLYMPIA" IN MANILA BAY.]

The latter pressed their advantage remorselessly. The _Don Juan de
Austria_ was the centre of the heaviest fire, and suddenly a part of the
deck flew upward in the air, carrying with it scores of dead and
wounded. A shot had exploded one of her magazines, and at the sight of
the awful results Admiral Montojo threw up his arms in despair. The crew
refused to leave the blazing ship, and cursing and praying they went
down with her. Then the _Castilla_ burst into one mass of roaring flame,
and the rest of the defeated fleet skurried down the long narrow isle
behind Cavité. Others dashed up a small creek, where they grounded, and
those that were left ran ashore. By half-past eleven the batteries of
Cavité were silenced, the Spanish fleet was destroyed, and the
victorious Americans broke into ringing cheers. The battle of Manila,
one of the most remarkable in naval annals, was won and Commodore Dewey
took rank among the greatest of all the heroes of the sea.

What a marvellous record! Of the Spaniards, the dead and wounded
numbered nearly a thousand, while not a single life had been lost by the
American squadron. Several were wounded, but none seriously. No such
victory between ironclads has thus far taken place in the history of
the world. In the face of mines, torpedoes and shore batteries,
Commodore Dewey had won an overwhelming and crushing victory. The power
of Spain in the Philippines was forever destroyed, and another glorious
victory had been added to the long list that illumines the story of the
American navy.