is believed she was not
successful in hitting any of the Spanish vessels. The little _Vixen_
swept along after her predecessors, and banged away with her one
6-pounder with as great an air of importance as if it had been a
13-inch rifle; then she steamed away in a triumphant manner, as much as
to say: "I have done my share." The commodore promptly ordered her to
keep out of danger. The ironclads turned, and a second time bore down on
the harbor, and when within five miles the shells began again to fall
thick and fast around the Spanish vessels, although accurate firing was
almost out of the question, as the vessels were behind the hill out in
sight, and range could not be ascertained. The Spaniards kept up a brisk
cannonade long after our vessels had stopped firing; a tremendous amount
of damage was done--to the Caribbean Sea; their shells did not come
within a mile of our vessels.

June 3d the auxiliary cruiser _St. Paul_ returned to New York, after a
two weeks' cruise in West Indian waters; she had been detailed for guard
and scout duty, and was one of the first to discover the Spanish fleet
in Santiago Bay. She left Key West May 18th, and arrived off Santiago
about the 20th. The St. Louis had been detailed for similar service, and
had been watching Santiago harbor with the expectation that the Spanish
vessels would attempt to enter there; she, however, left on the 19th. It
is supposed that Admiral Cervera must have entered the harbor in the
twenty-four hours between this date and that of the arrival of the _St.
Paul_.

As it was advisable that her whereabouts should not be discovered to the
Spaniards, the _St. Paul_ cruised backward and forward about twenty
miles out; she kept this distance off shore in order that the Spanish
torpedo-boats might not make a dash out of the harbor in the darkness
and torpedo her. It was not until the 23d that anything was seen of the
Spaniards. Captain Sigsbee is quite confident that on this date he
identified the _Vizcaya_, the _Christopher Colon_, and several
torpedo-boat destroyers within the harbor; they were evidently making
preparations for departure, but were too late, as our fleet under
Commodore Schley reached the harbor before they could get away.

The only excitement that the _St. Paul_ had was the capture of the
collier _Restormel_. The vessel was sighted very early one morning about
five miles from the harbor entrance, running with all speed to obtain
the protection of