d frothy caldron. Loud rolled
the drum, loud brayed the bugle, and loud huzzas echoed from the
adjacent shores.

Already the foe was alarmed and alert. Light horsemen with streaming
haste galloped up the coast. Lancers, with gay trappings and long
pennons, appeared through the openings of the hills. Foaming, prancing
steeds flew with light artillery over the naked ridges, dashing madly
down deep defiles, and crushing the cactus with their whirling wheels.
"Andela! Andela!" was their cry. In vain they urged their horses, in
vain they drove the spur deep and bloody into their smoking sides. The
elements were against them, and in favour of their foes.

The earth and the water were their impediments, while the air and the
water were the allies of their enemies. _They_ clung and sweltered
through the hot and yielding sand or sank in the marshy borders of the
Mandinga and the Medellin, while steam and the wind drove the ships of
their adversaries like arrows through the water.

The alarm spread up the coast. Bugles were sounding, and horsemen
galloped through the streets of Vera Cruz. The alarm-drum beat in the
plaza, and the long roll echoed in every _cuartel_.

Signal rockets shot up from San Juan, and were answered by others from
Santiago and Concepcion.

Thousands of dark forms clustered upon the roofs of the city and the
ramparts of the castle; and thousands of pale lips whispered in accents
of terror, "They come! they come!"

As yet they knew not how the attack was to be made, or where to look for
our descent.

They imagined that we were about to bombard their proud fortress of San
Juan, and expected soon to see the ships of these rash invaders
shattered and sunk before its walls.

The fleet was almost within long range, the black buoyant hulls bounded
fearlessly over the water. The eager crowd thickened upon the walls.
The artillerists of Santiago had gathered around their guns, silent and
waiting orders. Already the burning fuse was sending forth its
sulphurous smell, and the dry powder lay temptingly on the touch, when a
quick, sharp cry was heard along the walls and battlements, a cry of
mingled rage, disappointment, and dismay.

The foremost ship had swerved suddenly from the track; and bearing
sharply to the left, under the _manege_ of a skilful helmsman, was
running down under the shelter of Sacrificios.

The next ship followed her guide, and the next, and the next; and,
before the astoni