to remain in
command of his vessel, although his relief arrived before leaving
Hong Kong. Assistant Surgeon Kindelberger, of the Olympia, and Gunner
J.C. Evans, of the Boston, also volunteered to remain, after orders
detaching them had arrived. The conduct of my personal staff was
excellent. Commander B.P. Lamberton, chief of staff, was a volunteer
for that position, and gave me most efficient aid. Lieutenant Brumby,
Flag Lieutenant, and Ensign E.P. Scott, aide, performed their duties
as signal officers in a highly creditable manner; Caldwell, Flag
Secretary, volunteered for and was assigned to a subdivision of the
five-inch battery. Mr. J.L. Stickney, formerly an officer in the
United States Navy, and now correspondent for the New York _Herald_,
volunteered for duty as my aide, and rendered valuable service. I
desire especially to mention the coolness of Lieutenant C.G. Calkins,
the navigator of the Olympia, who came under my personal observation,
being on the bridge with me throughout the entire action, and giving
the ranges to the guns with an accuracy that was proven by the
excellence of the firing.

"On May 2d, the day following the engagement, the squadron again went
to Cavite, where it remains. On the 3d the military forces evacuated
the Cavite arsenal, which was taken possession of by a landing party.
On the same day the Raleigh and the Baltimore secured the surrender
of the batteries on Corregidor Island, paroling the garrison and
destroying the guns. On the morning of May 4th, the transport Manila,
which had been aground in Bakor Bay, was towed off and made a prize."

[Illustration: THE MOUTH OF THE PASIG RIVER.

The city of Old Manila is surrounded by water. On the west is the sea,
to the north is the Pasig River, while moats, connected with the river
by sluices, flank the other two sides. All the principal warehouses of
the city are on the Pasig, and ships deliver and receive their cargoes
direct, without the necessity of cartage.]

OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED).

THE LADRONE, OR MARIANA ISLANDS.

It was a welcome sight to Magellan and his crew when, one day in March,
nearly 400 years ago, they beheld the verdant and beautifully sloping
hills of the Ladrone Islands. Eighteen weary months before they had
sailed from the coast of Spain, and all that time, first to the
southwest and then to the northwest, they had followed the sett