rture of the _Philadelphia_ from
Mare Island for Hawaii. She was to carry the flag of the United States to
those islands and include them within the Union. Admiral Miller,
commanding the Pacific station, was charged with the function of hoisting
the flag.

_July 8._ Admiral Camara, commander of the Spanish fleet, which was bound
for the Philippines, informed the Egyptian government that he had been
ordered to return home, and would, therefore, reenter the Suez Canal.

_July 12._ The auxiliary gunboat _Eagle_ sighted the Spanish steamer
_Santo Domingo_, fifty-five hundred tons, aground near the Cuban coast,
off Cape Francis, and opened fire with her 6-pounders, sending seventy
shots at her, nearly all of which took effect.

While this was going on, another steamer came out of the bay and took off
the officers and crew of the _Santo Domingo_. When the men from the
_Eagle_ boarded the latter they found that she carried two 5-inch and two
12-inch guns, the latter being loaded and her magazines open. The steamer
had been drawing twenty-four feet of water and had gone aground in twenty
feet.

The men from the _Eagle_ decided that the steamer could not be floated,
and she was set on fire after fifty head of cattle, which were on board,
had been shot.

The _Santo Domingo_ carried a large cargo of grain, corn, etc. While the
steamer was burning, the vessel which had previously taken off the crew
emerged from the bay, and tried to get off some of the cargo, but failed.
The Spanish steamer burned for three days, and was totally destroyed.

_July 17._ The cruiser _New Orleans_ captured the French steamer _Olinde
Rodriguez_ off San Juan de Porto Rico, as she was trying to enter the port
with passengers and a cargo of coffee and tobacco.

The U. S. S. _Mayflower_ captured the British steamer _Newfoundland_ off
Cienfuegos while the latter was trying to run the Cuban blockade.

The Spanish sloop _Domingo Aurello_ was captured by the U. S. S. _Maple_
as the former was leaving the port of Sagua de Tanamo, province of
Santiago, with a cargo of tobacco.

_July 22._ The following cablegram was received at the Navy Department:

[Illustration: U. S. S. NEW ORLEANS.]

"PLAYA, July 22.

"Expedition to Nipe has been entirely successful, although the mines have
not been removed for want of time.

"The Spanish cruiser _Jorge Juan_, defending the place, was destroye