than fighting in the field.  The success of the Bermuda expedition, carried out by what may be called direct evasion, quite seriously disturbed the authorities in this country, and excited them to greater precautions and wider activity.  Whatever may have been their personal feelings in the matter, it was their duty to see that the laws of the country were enforced as far as they could be.  The players of the game for the Cubans met the new activities with complicated moves, many of which puzzled the watching officials, and landed a number of expeditions.  Meanwhile, minor expeditions continued.  The official report notes that on March 12, 1896, the Commodore, a 100-ton steamer, sailed from Charleston with men, arms, and ammunition, and landed them in Cuba.  The Laurada, a 900-ton steamer, was reported by the Spanish Legation as having sailed on May 9, meeting three tugs and two lighters, off the coast, from which were transferred men and arms.  The report states that “some of the men landed in Cuba, but the larger part of the arms and ammunition was thrown into the sea,” which may or may not have been the case.  On May 23, the tug Three Friends left Jacksonville, took on men and arms from two small vessels waiting outside, and landed all in Cuba.  A month later, and again two months later, the Three Friends repeated the trip from Florida ports.  On June 17, the Commodore made another successful trip from Charleston.

While these and other minor expeditions were going on, the department of expeditions in New York was busy with a more extensive enterprise.  An order was placed for 3000 rifles, 3,000,000 rounds of ammunition, 3 12-pound Hotchkiss field-guns and 600 shells, machetes, and several tons of dynamite.  The steamer Laurada was chartered, and the ocean-going tug Dauntless was bought in Brunswick, Georgia.  A part of the purchased munitions was ordered to New York, and the remainder, two car loads, shipped to Jacksonville by express.  Ostensibly, the Laurada was to sail from Philadelphia to Jamaica for a cargo of fruit, a business in which she had at times engaged.  Her actual instructions were to proceed to the vicinity of Barnegat, about forty miles from New York, and there, at sea, await orders.  The arms and ammunition came down from Bridgeport on the regular boat from that city, and were left on board until night.  There was no particular secrecy about the shipment, and detectives followed it.  But when, at dark, the big gates of the dock were closed and locked and all seemed over for the day, the watchers assumed that nothing would be done until the next day, and went away.  But, immediately after their departure, a big lighter slipped quietly into the dock across the wharf from the Bridgeport boat, a swarm of men appeared and, behind the closed gates, in the semi-darkness of the wharf, rushed boxes from steamer to lighter.  The work was finished at midnight; a tug slipped up