ded in Santiago, I made a
number of interesting excursions to points in the vicinity of the
harbor, for the purpose of ascertaining the real nature and strength of
the Spanish fortifications and intrenchments. From the front of our
army, after the battle of July 1-2, I had carefully examined, with a
strong glass, the blockhouses and rifle-pits which defended the city on
the land side; and from the bridge of the _State of Texas_, two weeks
later, I had obtained a general idea of the appearance of Morro Castle
and the batteries at the mouth of the harbor which protected the city
from an attack by water; but I was not satisfied with this distant and
superficial inspection. External appearances are often deceptive, and
forts or earthworks that look very formidable and threatening from the
front, and at a distance of half a mile, may prove to have little real
strength when seen from the other side and at a distance of only a few
yards. I wished, therefore, to get into these forts and batteries before
any changes had been made in them, and before their guns had been
removed or touched, so that I might see how strong they really were and
how much damage had been done to them by the repeated bombardments to
which they had been subjected.

The first excursion that I made was to Morro Castle and the
fortifications at the entrance to the harbor. It was my intention to
start at 4 A.M., so as to reach the castle before it should get
uncomfortably hot; but as I had no alarm-clock, and as no one in the
club ever thought of getting up before six, I very naturally overslept
myself, and by the time I had dressed, eaten a hasty breakfast of
oatmeal, hard bread, and tea, and filled my canteen with boiled water,
it was after seven. The air ought to have been fresh and cool even then;
but on the southeastern coast of Cuba the change from the damp
chilliness of night to the torrid heat of the tropical day is very
rapid, and if there is no land-breeze, the rays of the unclouded sun,
even as early as seven o'clock in the morning, have a fierce, scorching
intensity that is hardly less trying than the heat of noon. The only
really cool part of the day is from four to six o'clock in the morning.

I put a can of baked beans and a-few crackers of hard bread into my
haversack for lunch, threw the strap of my field-glass over my shoulder,
took my canteen in my hand, and hurried down Gallo Street to the pier of
the Juragua Iron Company, where I had en