individual ships were not the equal of the American vessels, they had they had, moreover, the assistance of the shore batteries and the powerful fort. A glance at their vessels will not come amiss to the reader who wishes to know some of the particulars of this stirring encounter.
The real flagship of the Spanish fleet was the cruiser Reina Cristina, of 3100 tons, carrying twenty guns of small and large caliber, including six rapid-firing guns supposed to be of first-class pattern and efficacy. Like the Olympia, she carried about four hundred officers and men.
Next in size to the flagship came the cruiser Castilla, the temporary flagship, of 3300 tons, carrying a mixed battery of eighteen guns, and manned by three hundred well-trained Spanish tars. Two other cruisers were the Don Antonio de Ulloa and the Don Juan de Austria, of about 1100 tons burden each, and each carrying nine guns and manned by a crew of one hundred and seventy-three. There was another cruiser at hand, the Velasco, but she was out of repair, and her best guns had been placed near the fort, for use from shore.
Of the gunboats, of which there were quite a number, the principal ones were the Isla de Luzon
