Commodore Dewey had four fine ships, the cruisers OLYMPIA, BALTIMORE, RALEIGH, and BOSTON. He had also two gunboats and a despatch-boat, making seven in all. These vessels were at Hong Kong, a British seaport in China. They could not stay there after war with Spain was declared, for Hong Kong was a neutral port, and after war begins fighting ships must leave neutral ports. But Dewey knew where to go, for under the ocean and over the land there had come to him a telegram from Washington, more than ten thousand miles away, which said, "Seek the Spanish fleet and capture or destroy it." Dewey did not waste any time in obeying orders. He knew where to seek the Spanish fleet. A few hundred miles away to the east of China lay the fine group of islands called the Philippines, which then belonged to Spain. In Luzon, the biggest of these islands, was the fine large City of Manila, the centre of the Spanish power in the East. So straight across the China Sea Dewey went at all speed towards this seaport of Spain. On the morning of Saturday, April 30, 1898, the men on the leading ship saw land rising in the distance, green and beautiful, and farther away they beheld the faint blue lines of the mountains of Luzon. Down this green tropical coast they sped, and when night was near at hand they came close to the entrance of Manila Bay. Here there were forts to pass; and the ships were slowed up. Dewey was ready to fight with ships, but he did not want to fight with forts, so he waited for darkness to come before going in. He thought that he might then pass these forts without being seen by the men in them. They waited until near midnight, steaming slowly along until they came to the entrance to the bay. The moon was in the sky, but gray clouds hid its light. They could see the two dark headlands of the harbor's mouth rising and, between them, a small, low island. On this island were the forts which they had to pass. As they came near, all the lights on the ships were put out or hidden, except a small electric light at the stern of each ship, for the next one to see and follow. Steam was put on, and the ships glided swiftly and silently in, like shadows in the darkness. All was silent in the Spanish forts. The sentinels seemed fast asleep. Some of the ships had passed before the Spaniards waked up. Then a rocket shot up into the air, and there came a deep boom and a flash of flame. A shell went whizzing through the darkness over the ships and plunged into the water beyond. Some shots were fired back, but in a few minutes it was all over and Dewey's squadron was safe in Manila Bay. The gallant American sailors had made their way into the lion's den. The Bay of Manila is a splendid body of water, running many miles into the land. The City of Manila is about twenty miles from the harbor's mouth, and the ships had to go far in before its distant lights were seen, gleaming like faint stars near the earth.