who enjoy the same rights as the Cubans, and who live with them in fraternal harmony.  This fact and that of the many Spaniards incorporated into our army, fully demonstrate that our revolution is not the result of personal hatred, but an uprising inspired only by the natural love of liberty and free institutions.  The war in Cuba has for its only object the overthrow of Spanish power, and to establish an independent republic, under whose beneficent laws the Spaniards may continue to live side by side with the Cubans as members of the same community and citizens of the same nation.  This is our programme and we strictly adhere to it.

“The revolution is powerful and deeply rooted in the hearts of the Cuban people, and there is no Spanish power, no power in the world, that can stop its march.  The war, since General Weyler took command of the Spanish army, has assumed a cruel character.  His troops shoot the Cuban prisoners, pursue and kill the sick and wounded, assassinate the unarmed, and burn their houses.  The Cuban troops, on their part, destroy, as a war measure, the machinery and buildings of the sugar plantations and are firmly resolved not to leave one stone upon another during their campaign.

“Let those who can put an end to this war reflect that our liberty is being gained with the blood of thousands of Cuban victims, among whom is numbered Jose Marti, the apostle and martyr of our revolution.  Let them consider that before the sacred memory of this new redeemer there is not a single Cuban who will withdraw from the work of emancipation without feeling ashamed of abandoning the flag which on the 24th of February, 1895, was raised by the beloved master.

“It is time for the Cuban people to satisfy their just desire for a place among the free nations of the world and let them not be accused if to accomplish their noble purpose they are obliged to reduce to ashes the Cuban land.

Tomas Estrada Palma.”

CHAPTER XVIII.

Key west and the Cubans.

Cuban Refugees in Key West—­Their Devotion to the Cause—­
Peculiarities of the Town—­Odd Sights and Sounds—­Filibusters and
Their Work—­The First Authorized Expedition—­It Is a Failure—­The
Second More Successful—­Landing Supplies for the Insurgents—­
Captain Jose Lacret, and Some of His Adventures.

The island of Key West lies sixty miles south of Cape Sable, the most southerly point of the mainland of Florida, and is seven miles long and from one to two miles broad.  The city covers nearly one-half of the island and has a population of about 25,000.  Key West has been described as being “to Cuba what Gibraltar is to Ceuta, to the Gulf of Mexico what Gibraltar is to the Mediterranean.”  It is one of the chief naval stations of the United States and is strongly fortified.