ops,
and in a couple of hours was followed by the cruiser _Don Juan de
Austria_, also bringing reinforcements under the command of General
Tejeiro (a former Governor of Cebu Is.). The total fresh troops
amounted to about 500 men of the 73rd Native Regiment and Spanish
_cazadores_. Whilst these troops were landing, many of the rebels
hastened out of the city towards San Nicolas. General Montero and
the Spanish refugees then emerged from the _cotta_. After General
Tejeiro had strategically deployed his troops, a squad of them,
crossing the General Lono Square (now called _Plaza de Rizal_)
drove the rebels before them and dislodged them from the vicinity
of the Recoleto Convent. At the same time the rebels were attacked
at the _mestizo_ quarter called the Parian and at Tiniago, whence
they had to retreat, with severe loss, towards San Nicolas, which
practically adjoins Cebu and is only separated therefrom by a narrow
river. Simultaneously, the _Don Juan de Austria_ threw a shell into
the corner house of the (chiefly Chinese) shopping-quarter, Lutao,
which killed several Chinese and set fire to the house. The flames,
however, did not catch the adjoining property, so the troops burst open
the doors, poured petroleum on the goods found therein, and caused
the fire to extend until the whole quarter was, as I saw it, a mass
of charred ruins with only the stone walls remaining. To complete
the destruction of Lutao, once a busy bazaar, situated in that part
of the city immediately facing the sea, another bomb was thrown into
the centre. The troops then marched to San Nicolas, and a third shell
fired at the retreating enemy entered and completely destroyed a large
private residence. An attempt was made to procure supplies from the
little Island of Magtan, which lies only half a mile off the coast
of Cebu, but the expedition had to return without having been able
to effect a landing at the capital town of Opon, which had risen in
rebellion. On April 8 the loyal troops continued their pursuit of the
rebels, who suffered severe losses at San Nicolas and Pili, on the road
south of Cebu city. The corpses collected in the suburbs were carted
into the city, where, together with those lying about the streets,
they were piled into heaps, partly covered with petroleum-bathed logs,
and ignited. The stench was very offensive for some hours, especially
from a huge burning pile topped with a dead white horse in the General
Lono Square. Practica