A wooden statue of Del Cano was found at Cavite on the surrender of that port to Commodore Dewey. It was sent to Washington. It should be replaced by some worthy work of art.
The island of Guam, of the Ladrones, which broke the long voyage of Magellan over the Pacific, and which is some fifteen hundred miles from Luzon, was captured by Captain Glass, of the United States cruiser Charleston, July 21, 1898. It is a connecting link between the West and the Orient. A memorial of Magellan, Del Cano, and Pigafetta might be suitably placed there.
The author of the Songs of the Sierras has described the spirit of Columbus in a poem which has been highly commended. The interpretation applies as well to Magellan. We quote two verses: genius must overcome obstacles, and all obstacles, to be made divine.
THE PORT.
Behind him lay the gray Azores,
Behind, the gates of Hercules.
Before him not the ghosts of shores,
Before him only shoreless seas.
The good mate said: "Now must we pray,
For, lo! the very stars are gone.
Brave Admiral, speak—what shall I say?"
"Why say—Sail on, sail on, sail on!"
They sailed, they sailed. Then spoke the mate:
"This mad sea shows her teeth to-night;
She curls her lip and lies in wait
With lifted teeth as if to bite.
Brave Admiral, say but one good word,
What shall we do when hope is gone?"
The words leaped as a leaping sword—
"Sail on, sail on, sail on and on!"
SUPPLEMENTAL.
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.—LAGASPI.—THE STRUGGLE OF THE NATIVES WITH SPAIN.—STORY OF THE PATRIOT RIZAL.—AGUINALDO.
The Philippine Islands, which promise to become a republic of the seas, and the first republic in Asiatic waters, were for generations held by Spain. These one thousand and more sea gardens, some eleven thousand miles from New York, number about as few islands of importance as there are American States. The government of the more populous islands has been so restrictive that, before the boom of Dewey's guns in the China Sea, little was known about them to the world.