There was then nothing to prevent the entrance of the American Squadron; the mines, torpedo boats and narrow channels only existed in the imagination of some American newspaper correspondents. But Admiral Dewey's exploit does not need any such enhancing, it speaks for itself. To any one having a knowledge of the Spanish navy, and especially of the squadron of the Philippines, the result of an action against an American Squadron of similar force could not be doubtful. As a matter of fact the Spanish ships, except the two small cruisers built at Elswick in 1887, were quite obsolete. The Castilla and Reina Cristina were wooden vessels, standing very high out of the water, and making admirable targets, whilst their guns were small, some of them had been landed at Corregidor, though never placed in battery. The boilers of one vessel were in the arsenal. But even allowing for the fact that the tonnage of the American Squadron was half as much again as that of the Spaniards, and that they had more than twice as many, and heavier guns, no one would have supposed it possible that the Spanish Squadron could have been completely destroyed without inflicting any damage upon the enemy. It was indeed a brilliant victory, reflecting great credit upon Admiral Dewey and the officers and crews of the American ships, not only for what they did that day, but for their careful preparation that enabled them to score so decided a success. The Spanish sailors put up a good fight and showed pluck, but they had no skill as gunners, and so failed in the hour of their country's need. Admiral Montojo bravely commanded his fleet, but as soon as the action was over he seems to have considered that his duty had terminated, for he returned to his Villa in San Miguel, leaving the remnants of his squadron and the Cavite arsenal to its fate. We must infer that Admiral Dewey's victory and its consequences were not foreseen by the American Government, for they had made no preparations to send troops to Manila, and from the time they learned of the destruction of the Spanish Squadron, till they had assembled a force strong enough to take and hold the city, three weary months elapsed. This was a very hap-hazard way of making war, and the delay cost many thousands of lives as will be seen later on. General Aguinaldo. On the 19th May, 1898, Don Emilio Aguinaldo, former chief of the insurgents, arrived in Manila in pursuance of an arrangement with the American Consul-General at Singapore. He came with a suite of seventeen persons on board an American gunboat, and after an interview with Admiral Dewey, was landed at Cavite and given two field-pieces, a number of rifles and a supply of ammunition. He soon reasserted himself as the leader of the insurrection, which was already in active progress, and gained some signal successes against the Spaniards. On the 24th May he issued a proclamation enjoining his followers to make war in a civilized manner and to respect property.