t. Flags and torches are employed. The
official flag is a red field with a small white square in the centre; the
unofficial flag is the same with the colours reversed. The operator,
having attracted the attention of the ship which is to be signalled by
waving the flag or torch from right to left, transmits his message by
motions right, left, and front, each motion the element of a letter of the
alphabet, the letter being made up of from one to four motions.

When circumstances permit, the heliograph is sometimes used. The rays of
the sun are thrown by a system of mirrors to the point with which it is
desired to communicate, and then interrupted by means of a shutter, making
dots and dashes as used in the Morse telegraph code. This system is used
only when operations ashore are going on, as the rolling of the ship would
prevent the concentration of the sun's rays.

The present systems of flag signalling are products of experience in the
past, and are the natural growth of the cruder flag system in use during
the War of 1812, and in the Civil War. There have been some changes in the
construction of flags, and the scope of communication has been enlarged,
but otherwise our forefathers talked at sea in much the same way as we do
now. Of course the Ardois light signal is something very modern. In old
times they communicated at night either with coloured lights or by
torches, and, as there was no alphabetical code in those days, the process
was by means of flashes (representing numbers in the signal book), and it
was long and tedious.

APPENDIX C.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA.

Santiago is the most easterly city on the southern coast of Cuba, second
only to Havana in its strategic and political importance, and is the
capital of the eastern department, as well as its most flourishing
seaport.

The harbour, now become famous as a theatre of action where American
heroism was displayed, is thus described by Mr. Samuel Hazard, in his
entertaining work on Cuba:

"Some one now remarks that we are near to Cuba; but, looking landward,
nothing is seen but the same continuous mountains which we have had for
the last twelve hours, except where, low down on the shore, there seems to
be a slight opening in the rocky coast, above which stands, apparently,
some dwelling-house. However, time tells, and in a half hour more we
discover the small opening to be the entrance to a val